Visn'ovec > Vyshnivets Ternopil's'ka Oblast Ukraine

The actual Dmitry, the half-brother of the late Tsar Feodor I,had died under uncertain circumstances, most likely an assassination attempt in 1591, at the age of nine, at his widowed mother's appanage residence in Uglich.

A pretender claiming to be this Dmitry had appeared in Moscow circa 1600, when he made an impression on Patriarch Job with his learning and assurance.

Tsar Boris Godunov, however, had ordered him to be seized and examined, whereupon he had fled to Prince Constantine Ostrogsky at Ostroh, at this time in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and subsequently entered the service of another Ruthenian family, the Wisniowieckis.

Princes Adam and Michał Wisniowiecki find his story to be convincing, as to who he purports to be, and it gives them an opportunity to get involved in the political turmoil that is transpiring in Russia.

There are vague rumors that Dmitry is an illegitimate son of the Polish king, Stefan Batory, who had reigned from 1575 to 1586.

According to a later tale, Dmitry had blurted out his identity when his master had slapped him in anger.

Dmitry himself claims that his mother, the widow of Tsar Ivan, had anticipated Boris Godunov's assassination attempt and had given him into the care of a doctor who hid with him in Russian monasteries.

After the doctor died, he had fled to Poland where he worked as a teacher for a brief time before coming to the service of Wisniowiecki.

A number of people who had known Tsar Ivan will later claim that Dmitry did resemble the young tsarevitch.

Dmitry displays aristocratic skills like riding and literacy and spoke both Russian and Polish.

Regardless of whether they believe the tale of Dmitry, Adam Wisniowiecki, Roman Różyński, Jan Sapieha and several other Polish noblemen decide to support him against Tsar Boris Godunov.