Stories about the events of the "Time of Troubles" for many decades were the favorite reading of Russian people. In the 17th century and in the next century, they continued to be rewritten both in Moscow and on the periphery. Some works have come down to us in dozens and hundreds of lists, while others have been preserved in just one manuscript. The overwhelming majority of writings about the events of the early seventeenth century came from the ruling class. The rebels, and above all the Cossacks, who were the core of the rebel armies and played a major role in the liberation of Moscow in 1612, are usually called rebels, "thieves", "breeders of all evil". Until recently, the only exceptions were Pskov stories (preserved in the Pskov chronicles), the anti-feudal nature of which drew the attention of Academician M. N. Tikhomirov1 .That is why it is so important to find a Story about the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, which clearly reflected the anti-court, democratic sentiments of its author. Two lists of this story were found. The first one is preserved in a manuscript acquired by the State Literary Museum (inv. N 53173) in 1983 from a private person who indicated its origin in the Kalinin region. The manuscript is written on 814 large-format sheets (in a sheet) in a clear semi-articulation of the late 17th century. Watermarks: the coat of arms of the "7 provinces" and the coat of arms of Amsterdam in several versions; one of them, with a monogram of the letters GVH, has an exact analogy in the manuscript of the State Historical Museum in 1691 2 ; the other, with the letters CS, dates from 1695 3 . The binding is the latest, the boards are covered with embossed leather. The available records of the 19th century point to the existence of the manuscript in the Old Believers ' environment.
The manuscript contains a chronograph with news about the events of Russian history up to 1647 (ll. 1-705ob.), an additional story from the beginning of the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich to 1613 ...
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