Fire of Moscow (1571)
On the 24th of May 1571, the Fire of Moscow consumed the Russian capital. A witness to the destruction was Heinrich von Staden, a German serving Ivan the Terrible who claimed membership in the Oprichnina guard. His account is unsparing: 'the city, the palace, the Oprichnina palace, and the suburbs burned down completely in six hours. It was a great disaster because no one could escape.' The man who set that fire was Devlet I Giray, the khan of Crimea. His combined Crimean and Ottoman force included Tatar horsemen, 13,000 irregular Turks, and 7,000 janissaries. What drove a Crimean army to the gates of the Russian capital? How did it outmaneuver a Russian force tens of thousands strong? And what did the destruction of his own city force Ivan the Terrible to do next?
In 1556, Muscovite troops crossed into Crimean territory and burned villages and towns in both Western and Eastern Crimea. They came back in 1558. Many Crimean Tatars were killed or captured in those two campaigns. For the Giray dynasty, the raids were not merely an offense. Muscovy had previously sworn an oath not to attack Crimean lands, and the attacks violated that pledge. Three years after those raids, in 1561, a letter arrived in Moscow purporting to come from the Patriarch of Constantinople. It asserted Ivan the Terrible's rights to claim the title of Tsar. The letter was later established to be a forgery. By 1563, relations between Muscovy and the Crimean Khanate had broken down entirely. When Devlet I Giray finally marched, he bypassed the Serpukhov defensive fortifications on the Oka River. He crossed the Ugra River instead, outflanking the Russian army at a stroke.
By the 23rd of May 1571, Tatar forces had established a camp near Kolomenskoye, just outside Moscow. Russian voivodes rushed their troops into defensive positions throughout the city. Ivan Belsky's army took up position on Bolshaya Street. Ivan Mstislavsky and Ivan Sheremetev held Yakimanka. Mikhail Vorotynsky and Pyotr Tatev stationed their regiment on the Tagansky meadow. Vasily Tiomkin-Rostovsky positioned his forces behind the Neglinnaya River.
A chronicle records that Prince Ivan Dmitrievich Belskoy led troops 'against the Crimean people across the Moskva River to the meadow behind the Swamp.' The Russians were pushed back. Belsky was wounded in the fighting. Sentry troops had already been crushed earlier as the Crimean advance rolled forward. The Russian army, unable to hold its positions, retreated into the city. The rural population, fleeing ahead of the invasion, had already swelled Moscow's streets. By the next morning, the two forces were pressed against each other inside and around a city about to catch fire.
The Kremlin powder magazine exploded during the fire, asphyxiating those who had sheltered in the cellar below. Crimean Tatar forces had set the suburbs alight, and a sudden wind drove the flames into the heart of the city. Residents fled to stone churches, hoping the walls would shield them. Many churches collapsed under the heat's ferocity or the pressure of the crowd. Others jumped into the Moscow River to escape. Many who entered the water drowned. When the fires finally died, the tsar ordered bodies found on the streets cast into the river. The Moscow River overflowed its banks and flooded parts of the city. Jerome Horsey later wrote that clearing away all the bodies took more than a year.
Scholars who have examined the 1571 raid consider it the most destructive Crimean Tatar invasion of Russia since the campaign of 1521. It was also said to have outstripped the great fire of Moscow in 1547. Contemporary accounts offered one vivid measure of the damage: not a single pole remained standing in the city to tie a horse to.
The Crimean ambassador in Warsaw claimed that 60 thousand individuals lost their lives during the campaign, with an equal number captured. The English diplomat Giles Fletcher put the death toll far higher, at 800 thousand, though historians regard this as a clear exaggeration. Across different sources, estimates of those killed range from 10 to 120 thousand. Estimates of those enslaved range from 60 to 150 thousand.
The papal legate Antonio Possevino visited in 1580 and reported a population of no more than 30 thousand. In 1520, Moscow had at least 100 thousand inhabitants living in 41,500 houses.
The Oprichnina was disbanded in the wake of the fire. Its agents had proven unable to defend the Russian capital, and a number of influential oprichniks were subsequently executed. The Oprichny Palace was not reconstructed.
After the fire, Moscow's authorities contemplated building a massive stone barrier around the area known as Bely Gorod. The barrier was designed to stop Tatar cavalry from penetrating the city. In the early 1590s, the government of Boris Godunov, who was the tsar's brother-in-law, built what became known as the Belgorod Wall.
Ivan the Terrible also shifted his stance in foreign negotiations. In 1571 he consented to extend trade privileges specifically for English merchants. The Crimeans, backed again by Ottoman support, returned the following year with another assault on Moscow. At the Battle of Molodi, the Russians defeated them.
Common questions
What caused the Fire of Moscow in 1571?
Crimean Tatar forces led by Devlet I Giray set the suburbs of Moscow on fire on the 24th of May 1571, and a sudden wind drove the flames through the entire city. The attack followed Muscovite raids on Crimean territory in 1556 and 1558, and the complete breakdown of relations between Muscovy and the Crimean Khanate by 1563.
Who led the Crimean attack on Moscow in 1571?
Devlet I Giray, the khan of Crimea, led the attack with a combined Crimean and Ottoman force that included Tatar horsemen, 13,000 irregular Turks, and 7,000 janissaries. The army bypassed the Serpukhov defensive fortifications on the Oka River and crossed the Ugra River to approach Moscow.
How many people died in the Fire of Moscow in 1571?
Estimates vary widely. The Crimean ambassador in Warsaw stated that 60 thousand people died and an equal number were captured. The English diplomat Giles Fletcher put the death toll at 800 thousand, a figure historians regard as an exaggeration. Other sources record between 10 and 120 thousand killed.
What happened to the Oprichnina after the Fire of Moscow?
The Oprichnina was disbanded following the fire, which exposed its failure to protect the capital. A number of influential oprichniks were executed in the aftermath, and the Oprichny Palace was never rebuilt.
What was Moscow's population before and after the 1571 fire?
In 1520, Moscow had at least 100 thousand inhabitants living in 41,500 houses. By 1580, the papal legate Antonio Possevino reported a population of no more than 30 thousand residents, reflecting the catastrophic losses from the fire and the raid.
What was the Belgorod Wall and how did the Fire of Moscow lead to its construction?
The Belgorod Wall was a stone barrier encircling the area of Moscow known as Bely Gorod, conceived after the 1571 fire as a defense against Tatar cavalry. It was built in the early 1590s by the government of Boris Godunov, who was the brother-in-law of the tsar.