Yuri left two sons, Vasiliy and Fedor, whose descendants played a prominent role at the Muscovite court. Among them, , son of Vasiliy, and , grandson of Fedor, stood out in particular. Vasily the Pale was dispatched by
Ivan III to govern
Pskov and then
Nizhny Novgorod (1478–80). The following year, he devastated
Livonia and was sent as a governor to
Novgorod. In 1487, he was recorded as leading a Russian contingent against
Kazan.
The regency during the minority of Ivan IV Vasily Shuysky the Mute was Grand Prince
Vasily III's taciturn aide-de-camp who accompanied him on every military campaign and became an
éminence grise of Muscovite politics. In 1517, he defeated forces of Poland and Lithuania under
Konstanty Ostrogski as part of the
4th Muscovite-Lithuanian War. Six years later, Vasily the Mute led a Russian expedition along the
Volga against
Kazan. Upon the death of Vasily III's widow,
Elena Glinskaya, he challenged the authority of Prince Ivan
Belsky, procured his incarceration, married Anastasia of Kazan (
Ivan III's granddaughter), and proclaimed himself
regent for Vasily III's heir, the young
Ivan IV, in 1538. Vasily the Mute died later that year, and the power of the regency devolved upon his younger brother, Prince Ivan Vasilievich Shuysky, who began his rule by ousting
Metropolitan Daniel from office and contriving the election of
Joasaphus Skripitsin as the new head of the
Russian Orthodox Church. He also released from prison his cousin, Prince , who had governed
Yugoria and Nizhny Novgorod during Vasily III's reign before having been incarcerated on charges of high treason. Pending
Ivan IV's majority, Ivan and Andrey were de facto rulers of Russia. Their arrogant and unruly behavior provoked the anger and frustration of the young sovereign, thus sowing seeds for his future
wide-scale crackdown on the Russian nobility. In one of his letters to
Prince Kurbsky, Ivan painfully recalls that Prince Andrey Shuysky had put his dirty boots on his bed. The matter ended with Andrey being thrown into a cell full of hungry dogs and devoured by them (1543). In 1540, Metropolitan Joasaphus managed to recall Ivan Belsky from exile, helping him clear the court of the Shuyskys. Two years later, Ivan Shuysky instigated a military revolt and again gained power. He had
Macarius elected the new metropolitan and regent, but Macarius gradually ousted him from the
Kremlin and persuaded him to resign his powers. Ivan Vasilevich Shuysky died in semi-obscurity in 1546.
Military service Andrey Mikhailovich's elder brother, Prince , was one of the leading Muscovite generals between 1531 and his death in 1559. During the regency of
Elena Glinskaya he served as the governor of
Moscow and of
Kholmogory. In 1540, he was put in charge of the Russian army operating in
Livonia. In 1542 he routed the
Crimean Tatars. Two years later, he was recorded as operating against
Kazan. In the late 1540s, he administered the royal palaces. In 1553, Ivan the Fence signed an armistice with the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During the later part of
Ivan IV's reign, the Shuyskys stood aloof from the macabre politics of the
Oprichnina. Probably the most skillful of Ivan's generals was Prince
Alexander Borisovich Gorbaty-Shuysky, who advised the Tsar on military reform in the 1550s and presided over the Russian army during the siege and capture of
Kazan in 1552. He was executed on fabricated charges in February 1565. Prince Ivan Petrovich Shuysky, also from a
cadet line of the family, commanded the defence of
Pskov during
its prolonged siege by
Stefan Báthory.
Tsar Feodor, upon making Ivan Petrovich his military advisor, devolved on him enormous revenues supplied by
Pskov's merchants. Soon enough, however, the Pskovian hero was found guilty of conspiring against
Boris Godunov and exiled into
Belozersk, where he died on November 16, 1588.
The last of the Shuiskys The last members of the Russian Shuisky family were four brothers:
Vasily Ivanovich Shuysky, Dmitry Ivanovich Shuysky (notoriously remembered for poisoning his cousin,
Mikhail Vasilyevich Skopin-Shuysky), Alexander Ivanovich Shuysky, and Ivan Ivanovich Shuysky, nicknamed "Pugovka" ("the Button"). All four held the rank of boyar and were grandsons of Andrey Mikhailovich. During the
Time of Troubles, following the death of Tsar Ivan IV and his son
Feodor, a period of fierce struggle for the Russian throne began. In 1605,
False Dmitry I ascended the throne. The Shuysky brothers conspired against him and, with the support of other boyars, successfully carried out a coup. In 1606, the eldest brother, Vasily, was crowned Tsar. However, his reign was short-lived: by 1610, following a series of defeats in the war against Poland, he was deposed and forced to take monastic vows. In 1611, he was taken to Poland by the Grand Crown Hetman
Stanisław Żółkiewski, along with his brothers Dmitry and Ivan. They were imprisoned in the castle at
Gostynin, where Vasily and Dmitry soon died. Ivan was released in 1635 as part of the
Treaty of Polanów and returned to Moscow with the remains of his brothers. There, his boyar status was restored. He died in 1638. None of the brothers left any descendants. Ivan Dmitrievich "Gubka" (the Sponge) Szujski's descendants received an Jasnahorodka estate (near
Makariv), and one branch reportedly survives in
Poland, who do not use their title. == Polish branch ==