"Whether the Lord putted Moscow and neighbouring cities empty?": Moscow pest of 1654

Abstract

The first ten years of the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich were distinguished by extreme turbulence. The unsuccessful actions of the "government" of the boyar Morozov provoked chain of city riots which reached their apogee in famous "Salt Riot" in the capital. After that, religious feuding began that in near future resulted in the Schism. Afterwards, Russia, after long hesitation, entered the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that as it turned out, prolonged 13 years. Finally, in 1654, after long break, the plague again visited Russia. The plague pestilence of 1654-1655 was relatively transient (it began in summer and gradually faded away with the onset of winter), however very deadly and shook both the Russian state and Russian society to the ground. It disrupted habitual regular way of life and unsettled all and everything. The authors propose original version of origin of this epidemic and reconstruct its course and consequences on the basis of evidence of contemporaries and extant documents.