On such people, the Russian State has been and will remain. In the battle, he was among the first, did not take bribes, appeared before the court on libel, entrusted himself to justice and did not lose.
The biographies of people who lived in difficult times for the state are always amazing. If we are talking about a courageous warrior, then his example can be instructive for posterity.
Childhood
Misha was born in Moscow during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. From an early age, he saw the future politician and commander. His father was the famous diplomat, the duma nobleman, Eustache Pushkin. This statesman was governor during the Livonian War, and later traveled with the embassy to Poland. The king praised the merits of his subject, who managed to find out a lot of interesting things about the court of Stefan Batory.
Family coat of arms of the Pushkin family
The education of the heirs of the boyar family, and there were five of them in the family, was carried out by the mother, since his parent was rarely at home. Michael grew up as a patriot and dreamed of defending the Fatherland on the battlefield. He was given a good education, taught to own weapons and behave in high society. The teenager was proud of his parent, but some actions of the priest did not arouse understanding in his son. After the death of John Vasilyevich, Eustathius came into trust in Fedor Ioannovich, but only in order to bring closer the triumph of Boris Godunov.
Hard times
Having ascended the throne in 1598, Godunov originally thanked his faithful servant. He was afraid that Pushkin would begin to intrigue against him, so he decided to give the old man an important assignment and send him away from the capital. The grown-up sons of the boyar also aroused concern among the emperor - his father must have talked with them about politics, and they knew very well how he fooled the feeble-minded Fyodor and how he brought Tsar Boris to power. In 1601, Eustathius received an appointment to Tobolsk, which even chroniclers called disgrace. He was ordered to take his children with him.
Tobolsk Kremlin (2015). Artist Oleg Rak
The health of the boyar was shaken. Arriving in the northern city, he lived there only 2 years and died in 1503. Misha by that time was already fit for military service. He did not leave Tobolsk in order to incur the wrath of the monarch, he defended the borders of Russia in the north, where Russia was disturbed by the raids of troubled nomads. In 1508, news came from the capital about the death of Tsar Boris and the accession of the impostor, posing as the miracle of the surviving Tsarevich Dmitry. Our hero disappeared from such news any desire to leave the border town.
Militia
In 1511, our hero abandoned everything and went to Nizhny Novgorod. The reason for this was a letter from the patriarch Germogen. The holy husband called on the Russian aristocracy to repulse the Polish invaders. Mikhail Pushkin wanted to make his contribution to the great cause, therefore he joined the militia, which was collected by the governor Prikopiy Lyapunov. The detachment of the nobility was led by Prince Dmitry Trubetskoy, who sided with the rebels. When the army approached Moscow, he ordered his people not to get involved in the battle, thereby damaging coherence.
Mikhail Pushkin spent the whole year in a camp under the walls of his native city, in which the Poles settled. In 1612, the army of Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky brought here. Some comrades of our hero, sensing that a great battle was coming, fled. He himself joyfully joined the ranks of the new militia and participated in battles that convinced the interventionists to surrender and leave.
The expulsion of Polish interventionists from the Moscow Kremlin in 1612. Artist Ernest Lissner
Royal mercy
In 1613, Mikhail Pushkin, on behalf of his noble family, signed a conciliar letter on the election of Mikhail Romanov to the Moscow throne. The young sovereign made a number of important appointments. A militia familiar with the Russian north received the post of governor of Great Ustyug. To make such a brilliant career, returning from exile, few managed. Our hero in 1614 arrived at the duty station and began to fulfill his duties. The monarch knew that this man was doing his job honestly, because it was he who was instructed to prepare Tikhvin for a likely attack by the Livonians.
Great Ustyug. Artist Vladimir Latyntsev
When there was a threat from the Tatars, the sovereign ordered Mikhail Pushkin to go to Cheboksary. The voivode arrived in this city in 1620, without ever stopping in Moscow. His wife lived there with her son Peter. It was not often possible to see relatives, because the boyar asked the king to resign him and allow him to devote more time to his personal life. In 1621, the ruler allowed the old servant to return home.
