the populace with heavy taxes, harassed the free cossacks, and in 1597, introduced a slave law converting contract slaves into slaves for life.

Between 1601 and 1603, Russia experienced a famine, potentially caused by the eruption of the Peruvian volcano Huaynaputina. This led to extremely poor harvests, with nighttime temperatures in the summer months often below freezing. Famine enveloped the country in 1602, followed by disease, claiming a third