False Dmitriy I
Having lost his father, Vasili Feodorovich Skopin-Shuisky, at an early age, Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky was educated by his mother. During the reign (1598-1605) of Boris Godunov, he was appointed "stolnik" (tsar's assistant). False Dmitriy I made Mikhail his "mechnik" (sword carrier), and asked him personally to bring Marfa Ivanovna - mother of the future Tsar Mikhail I - to Moscow from exile. During the reign (1606-1610) of Tsar Vasili IV, Skopin-Shuisky became a close associate of his cousin, the Tsar.