History of Russia
Heads of the stateTHE ROMANOVS
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676)
Reign
1645-1676.Parents: Tsar Michael Fedorovich and Tsarina Eudokia Lukianovna Streshneva
Wifes:
Maria Ilinichna Miloslavskaya (1625-1669).
Married: 16 January 1648.
Natalia Kirilovna Naryshkina (1651-1694)
Married: 22 January 1671.
Children of Alexis and Maria Miloslavskaya:
Dmitry (1648-1649)
Eudokia (1650-1712). Although Eudokia formally lived at the convent, she herself never took the veil. Her personal icon - Holy Virgin Mary Portaitissa Iviron (Balkans, 17 th century) - still hangs in her former cell.
Martha (1652-1707). Baptised at the Monastery of the Miracle.At the age of forty-six, she was forced by Peter the Great to enter the Covent of the Dormition in the Alexander Suburb for supporting his half-sister Sophie. Took the veil as Sister Margaret.
Alexei (1654-1670).
Anna (1655-1659)
Sophia (see Sophie)
Ekaterina (1658-1718). St Catherine's Hermitage was founded near the village of Tsaritsyno in her honour. Her godparents were the future Empress Catherine I and the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. Had an extramarital affair with Yagor Yeliseyev, a priest from Kostroma.
Maria (1660-1723). Suspected of complicity in a plot headed by Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, imprisoned at Schlusselburg Fortress and placed under house arrest in 1718. Released in 1721. Buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Fedor (see Fedor II)
Feodosia (1662-1713). Lived in St Petersburg from 1707. Buried alongside her sister Martha at the Convent of the Dormition in the Alexander Suburb.
Simeon (1665-1669).
Ioann (see Ioann V)
Eudokia was born and died in Moscow on 26-27 February 1669.
Children of Alexis and Natalia Naryshkina:
Peter (see Peter I)
Natalia (1673-1716)
Feodora (1674-1677).
Important events:
......1645-1676 Alexis had a soft nature and a kind heart. Although he could be angry and strict, he was always fair, attempting to make peace with anyone who had aroused his wrath. He was deeply religious, observing all the Orthodox fasts and spending long hours in his private chapel. Although his subjects called him "Alexis the Most Meek", he was no coward, often accompanying the army into battle. He had a dignified poise and regal manners. Besides literature, landscape gardening and the theatre. Alexis also enjoyed chess and hunting.
......1635-1637 In the second half of the 17th century, the Terem palace became the main residence of Russian tsars. On the lower floor there were service areas and kitchens, and on the first floor articles of ceremonial attire were made in the Workshop Room. The second floor was occupied by the women's part, while the tsar's apartments took up the entire third floor. The palace interiors display a variety of fanciful ornaments and impress the visitor by their unusual planning.
......1645-1648 The Terem Palace interiors comprised the Dining Room, Golden Porch and Throne Room, Bedroom and Prayer Room. At the entrance to the Throne Room, or Tsar's Study, there is a pair of gilded statues of heraldic lions. As all the tsats wanted to emphasise the principle of royal succession, there are many representations of lions in the palace decor. A lion was a symbol of the ancient capital of Vladimir inherited by Moscow, the new capital of Russia. The colour of the walls decorated with the golden emblems of Russian principalities and cities used to be bright red, now it is crimson
......1671 One of the most outspoken opponents of Nikon's reforms was an archpriest called Avvakum. Avvakum was supported by Feodosia Morozova, the wife of a boyar called Morozov and a supported of the old ways. Popularly known as "Boyarinya Morozova" she corresponded with Avvakum and gave financial assistance to his family. She was arrested in 1671 and incarcerated in the St Paphnutius of Borovsk Monastery, where she died in 1675.
......1670-1671 Stepan (Stenka) Razin (1630-1671) was a Don Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the Russian government. A colourful personality, he is the hero of many folk songs and legends. Razin's galleys raided the Persian coast of the Caspian Sea and occupied towns along the River Volga. When government forces eventually quelled the revolt, his commander fled to the River Don. Stepan Razin was betrayed by accomplices and brought to Moscow chained to a callows, on an open scaffold. He was quartered alive on Red square.
Alexis was the eldest son of Tsar Michael. He was born in Moscow on 9 March 1629 and baptised by Patriarch Filaret. Until the age of five, he was brought up by various wet-nurses. The boy's education was then entrusted to two boyars - Boris Morozov and Basil Streshnev. He also had a retinue of twenty stewards from distinguished Russian families.
Boris Morozov was influenced by Western ideas and Alexis developed an interest in European culture. The tsarevich was taught from primers and church books. He began writing at seven and, by the age of eleven, had his own small library of Russian and foreign literature, including grammar books, dictionaries and works on cosmography. His curriculum included music and the study of foreign maps and pictures. He grew up into a chubby, cheerful boy with red cheeks, a low forehead and twinkling eyes.
Alexis inherited the throne from his father at the age of sixteen and was crowned on 28 September 1645. The young tsar initially relied on the advice of others, particularly the cunning and ambitious Boris Morozov.
Alexis had a soft nature and a kind heart. Although he could be angry and strict, he was always fair, attempting to make peace with anyone who had aroused his wrath. He was deeply religious, observing all the Orthodox fasts and spending long hours in his private chapel. Although his subjects called him "Alexis the Most Meek", he was no coward, often accompanying the army into battle. He had a dignified poise and regal manners.
Alexis enjoyed reading and had a large library. He composed poem and prose and collected art. The tsar built a magnificent palace (unsurviving) at Kolomenskoe near Moscow. A landscape park, including ponds, greenhouses, gardens and the first Russian zoo, was laid out in Izmailovo, another estate outside Moscow. The first theatre in Russia was opened at Preobrazhenskoe, where religious plays, comedies and ballets were staged.
When the Time of Troubles was over and Tsar Michael Fyodorovich ascended the throne, there arose a necessity to renovate the royal residence demolished and burnt by the Poles. The temporary palace put up in 1614 was replaced in 1620 by another one constructed by the royal carpenter Isayev.
But as fires were frequent in Moscow, the building of a new stone palace was started by the masons Bazhen Ogurtsov, Lazar Ushakov, Trifon Shartin, Antip Konstantinov and others. Its facades have come to us almost unaltered. The building looks very festive and picturesque thanks to its numerous pillars, cornices and entablature with tiled friezes as well as bands ornamented with polychrome tiles.
Besides literature, landscape gardening and the theatre, Alexis also enjoyed chess and hunting, particularly falconry. He kept over three thousand falcons and a hundred thousand pigeon-nests to provide them with fresh meat. The tsar did not only spend his time amusing himself, however. He coined the phrase "a time for work, an hour for play", which is now a national saying.
In 1647, Alexis decided that the time had come to marry. He ordered two hundred of the most beautiful girls from leading Russian families to be assembled in Moscow. The tsar's choice fell on a maiden called Euphemia, the daughter of Fedor (Raf) Vsevolozhsky, a landlord from the Kasimov district. As soon as Alexis's choice became known, rivals began plotting against Euphemia. Boris Morozov spells that she suffered from fainting spells and was unable to bear children. The girl and her father were subsequently sent to Siberia for daring to conceal such important information from the tsar.
Boris Morozov immediately offered Alexis his own alternative - Maria Miloslavskaya, daughter of the steward Ilya Miloslavsky. The tsar agreed with his choice and married Maria. Maria's sister Anna married Boris Morozov, making the two men relatives. This factor helped to save Morozov from an unpleasant death in May 1648, when an angry mob invaded the Kremlin and demanded the execution of the hated boyars. Although the tsar gave the crowd two boyars - Plescheyev and Trakhanoiotov - he begged them to spare his brother-in-law, promising to remove him form all government posts. Boris was extremely unpopular in Moscow, where he was regarded as one of the main causes of national calamities. His house was ransacked during a second wave of disorders in 1662.
Alexis's wife was extremely religious and they enjoyed a happy marriage. Maria bore him thirteen children before she died in 1669. Alexis was grief-stricken and made lavish gifts to the church in memory of her soul. After just over a year had passed, Alexis decided to remarry. He assembled seventy brides and selected the nineteen-year-old Natalia Naryshkina, the handsome daughter of a nobleman from Ryazan, Kirill Naryshkin. This beautiful young wife seemed to have a beneficial effect on the tsar, who began to look much younger. They lived together for five years and had three children.
Alexis backed the reform of the Russian Orthodox Church implemented by Patriarch Nikin in 1652. The original reason was the need to correct a number of errors that had crept into church books during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Nikon decided to correct the mistakes by referring to the original Greek sources. As there were fundamental differences between the two churches, this led to important changes in the rites of tht Russian Orthodox Church. Russian were now expected to cross themselves with three fingers, not two. Instead of bowing down to the ground, they were told to only genuflect as far as the waist.
Besides the mistakes in the church literature, Nikon also sought to correct many elements of Russian icon-painting. As all Russian icons depicted saints blessing with two fingers, many priests and members of the population regarded this as a direct attack on Orthodoxy. The Russian church divided into two irreconcilable groups - the supporters of Nikon and the Old Believers. between 1654 and 1656, the opponents of Nikon's reforms were exiled or defrocked. In 1666, the church council officially condemned the Old Believers, calling on the civil authorities to burn to death anyone "daring to revile the Lord God".
One of the most outspoken opponents of Nikon's reforms was an archpriest called Avvakum. When he was asked to cross himself with three fingers, "his heart froze and his legs shook". Although Alexis personally sympathised with Avvakum, he was determined to overcome the Old Believers and banished the fiery priest to Tobolsk in 1653. Patriarch Nikon overreached himself, however, by openly encroaching upon the power of the tsar and he was defrocked in 1667.
After Nikon"s dismissal, Avvakum was returned to Moscow by the enemies of the deposed patriarch. Yet Avvakum had no intention of reconciling himself to the reforms. He created special congations of Old Believers, wrote letters condemning Nikon's supporters and demanded that the tsar repeal the reforms. Alexis regarded his actions as tantamount to treason and he was exiled to Pustozersk in 1664. After a period of imprisonment in an "earth dungeon", he was burnt at the stake in 1681. Avvakum was supported by Feodosia Morozova, the wife of a boyar called Morozov and a supported of the old ways. Boyarinya Morozova, she corresponded with Avvakum and gave financial assistance to his family. She was arrested in 1671 and died in 1675.
There was a whole host of less important events during the reign of Tsar Alexis. One was a decree requiring people to sign petitions to the tsar in the diminutive - "Ivashko" for Ivan or "Petrushko" for Peter. Another was the execution of the rebel Stenka Razin in Moscow in 1671.
Alexis once launched a campaign against swearing in Russia. He formed special detachments of Streltsy guards, who patrolled markets and other places where crowds gathered. Whenever they heard anyone swearing, they were ordered to beat the culprit with knouts and cudgels (themselves uttering even coarser oaths in the process).
Alexis died in Moscow on 29 January 1676 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral.
Wifes:
Maria Ilinichna Miloslavskaya (1625-1669).
Married: 16 January 1648.
Natalia Kirilovna Naryshkina (1651-1694)
Married: 22 January 1671.
Children of Alexis and Maria Miloslavskaya:
Dmitry (1648-1649)
Eudokia (1650-1712). Although Eudokia formally lived at the convent, she herself never took the veil. Her personal icon - Holy Virgin Mary Portaitissa Iviron (Balkans, 17 th century) - still hangs in her former cell.
Martha (1652-1707). Baptised at the Monastery of the Miracle.At the age of forty-six, she was forced by Peter the Great to enter the Covent of the Dormition in the Alexander Suburb for supporting his half-sister Sophie. Took the veil as Sister Margaret.
Alexei (1654-1670).
Anna (1655-1659)
Sophia (see Sophie)
Ekaterina (1658-1718). St Catherine's Hermitage was founded near the village of Tsaritsyno in her honour. Her godparents were the future Empress Catherine I and the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. Had an extramarital affair with Yagor Yeliseyev, a priest from Kostroma.
Maria (1660-1723). Suspected of complicity in a plot headed by Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, imprisoned at Schlusselburg Fortress and placed under house arrest in 1718. Released in 1721. Buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Fedor (see Fedor II)
Feodosia (1662-1713). Lived in St Petersburg from 1707. Buried alongside her sister Martha at the Convent of the Dormition in the Alexander Suburb.
Simeon (1665-1669).
Ioann (see Ioann V)
Eudokia was born and died in Moscow on 26-27 February 1669.
Children of Alexis and Natalia Naryshkina:
Peter (see Peter I)
Natalia (1673-1716)
Feodora (1674-1677).
Important events:
- 1646 - Waves of public disorders, including the Salt Riots in Moscow
- 1648 - Establishment of an unlimited period to track down and capture runaway peasants. Annexation of Smolensk and Chernihiv. Abolition of the Land Council and the growing power of the autocracy.
- 1649 - Compilation of a code of Russian laws.
- 1650 - Annexation of western Ukraine (Pereyaslavl Rada).
- 1654-67 - War with the Rzecz Pospolita or Polish-Lathuanian Commonwealth and the signing of the Treaty of Andrusovo (30 January 1667).
- 1656-58 - War with Sweden and the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde (20 December 1658).
- 1658 - Construction of new towns in Siberia - Nerchinsk, Irkutsk and Selenginsk.
- 1662 - Copper Riot in Moscow.
- 1662-66 - foundation of regular infantry commanded by more than one hundred foreign officers.
- 1668-76 - The Solovki Uprising
- 1670-71 - A revolt led by Stenka Razin. Construction of the first Russian naval vessels in the village of Dedilovo on the River Oka.
......1645-1676 Alexis had a soft nature and a kind heart. Although he could be angry and strict, he was always fair, attempting to make peace with anyone who had aroused his wrath. He was deeply religious, observing all the Orthodox fasts and spending long hours in his private chapel. Although his subjects called him "Alexis the Most Meek", he was no coward, often accompanying the army into battle. He had a dignified poise and regal manners. Besides literature, landscape gardening and the theatre. Alexis also enjoyed chess and hunting.
......1635-1637 In the second half of the 17th century, the Terem palace became the main residence of Russian tsars. On the lower floor there were service areas and kitchens, and on the first floor articles of ceremonial attire were made in the Workshop Room. The second floor was occupied by the women's part, while the tsar's apartments took up the entire third floor. The palace interiors display a variety of fanciful ornaments and impress the visitor by their unusual planning.
......1645-1648 The Terem Palace interiors comprised the Dining Room, Golden Porch and Throne Room, Bedroom and Prayer Room. At the entrance to the Throne Room, or Tsar's Study, there is a pair of gilded statues of heraldic lions. As all the tsats wanted to emphasise the principle of royal succession, there are many representations of lions in the palace decor. A lion was a symbol of the ancient capital of Vladimir inherited by Moscow, the new capital of Russia. The colour of the walls decorated with the golden emblems of Russian principalities and cities used to be bright red, now it is crimson
......1671 One of the most outspoken opponents of Nikon's reforms was an archpriest called Avvakum. Avvakum was supported by Feodosia Morozova, the wife of a boyar called Morozov and a supported of the old ways. Popularly known as "Boyarinya Morozova" she corresponded with Avvakum and gave financial assistance to his family. She was arrested in 1671 and incarcerated in the St Paphnutius of Borovsk Monastery, where she died in 1675.
......1670-1671 Stepan (Stenka) Razin (1630-1671) was a Don Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the Russian government. A colourful personality, he is the hero of many folk songs and legends. Razin's galleys raided the Persian coast of the Caspian Sea and occupied towns along the River Volga. When government forces eventually quelled the revolt, his commander fled to the River Don. Stepan Razin was betrayed by accomplices and brought to Moscow chained to a callows, on an open scaffold. He was quartered alive on Red square.
Alexis was the eldest son of Tsar Michael. He was born in Moscow on 9 March 1629 and baptised by Patriarch Filaret. Until the age of five, he was brought up by various wet-nurses. The boy's education was then entrusted to two boyars - Boris Morozov and Basil Streshnev. He also had a retinue of twenty stewards from distinguished Russian families.
Boris Morozov was influenced by Western ideas and Alexis developed an interest in European culture. The tsarevich was taught from primers and church books. He began writing at seven and, by the age of eleven, had his own small library of Russian and foreign literature, including grammar books, dictionaries and works on cosmography. His curriculum included music and the study of foreign maps and pictures. He grew up into a chubby, cheerful boy with red cheeks, a low forehead and twinkling eyes.
Alexis inherited the throne from his father at the age of sixteen and was crowned on 28 September 1645. The young tsar initially relied on the advice of others, particularly the cunning and ambitious Boris Morozov.
Alexis had a soft nature and a kind heart. Although he could be angry and strict, he was always fair, attempting to make peace with anyone who had aroused his wrath. He was deeply religious, observing all the Orthodox fasts and spending long hours in his private chapel. Although his subjects called him "Alexis the Most Meek", he was no coward, often accompanying the army into battle. He had a dignified poise and regal manners.
Alexis enjoyed reading and had a large library. He composed poem and prose and collected art. The tsar built a magnificent palace (unsurviving) at Kolomenskoe near Moscow. A landscape park, including ponds, greenhouses, gardens and the first Russian zoo, was laid out in Izmailovo, another estate outside Moscow. The first theatre in Russia was opened at Preobrazhenskoe, where religious plays, comedies and ballets were staged.
When the Time of Troubles was over and Tsar Michael Fyodorovich ascended the throne, there arose a necessity to renovate the royal residence demolished and burnt by the Poles. The temporary palace put up in 1614 was replaced in 1620 by another one constructed by the royal carpenter Isayev.
But as fires were frequent in Moscow, the building of a new stone palace was started by the masons Bazhen Ogurtsov, Lazar Ushakov, Trifon Shartin, Antip Konstantinov and others. Its facades have come to us almost unaltered. The building looks very festive and picturesque thanks to its numerous pillars, cornices and entablature with tiled friezes as well as bands ornamented with polychrome tiles.
Besides literature, landscape gardening and the theatre, Alexis also enjoyed chess and hunting, particularly falconry. He kept over three thousand falcons and a hundred thousand pigeon-nests to provide them with fresh meat. The tsar did not only spend his time amusing himself, however. He coined the phrase "a time for work, an hour for play", which is now a national saying.
In 1647, Alexis decided that the time had come to marry. He ordered two hundred of the most beautiful girls from leading Russian families to be assembled in Moscow. The tsar's choice fell on a maiden called Euphemia, the daughter of Fedor (Raf) Vsevolozhsky, a landlord from the Kasimov district. As soon as Alexis's choice became known, rivals began plotting against Euphemia. Boris Morozov spells that she suffered from fainting spells and was unable to bear children. The girl and her father were subsequently sent to Siberia for daring to conceal such important information from the tsar.
Boris Morozov immediately offered Alexis his own alternative - Maria Miloslavskaya, daughter of the steward Ilya Miloslavsky. The tsar agreed with his choice and married Maria. Maria's sister Anna married Boris Morozov, making the two men relatives. This factor helped to save Morozov from an unpleasant death in May 1648, when an angry mob invaded the Kremlin and demanded the execution of the hated boyars. Although the tsar gave the crowd two boyars - Plescheyev and Trakhanoiotov - he begged them to spare his brother-in-law, promising to remove him form all government posts. Boris was extremely unpopular in Moscow, where he was regarded as one of the main causes of national calamities. His house was ransacked during a second wave of disorders in 1662.
Alexis's wife was extremely religious and they enjoyed a happy marriage. Maria bore him thirteen children before she died in 1669. Alexis was grief-stricken and made lavish gifts to the church in memory of her soul. After just over a year had passed, Alexis decided to remarry. He assembled seventy brides and selected the nineteen-year-old Natalia Naryshkina, the handsome daughter of a nobleman from Ryazan, Kirill Naryshkin. This beautiful young wife seemed to have a beneficial effect on the tsar, who began to look much younger. They lived together for five years and had three children.
Alexis backed the reform of the Russian Orthodox Church implemented by Patriarch Nikin in 1652. The original reason was the need to correct a number of errors that had crept into church books during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Nikon decided to correct the mistakes by referring to the original Greek sources. As there were fundamental differences between the two churches, this led to important changes in the rites of tht Russian Orthodox Church. Russian were now expected to cross themselves with three fingers, not two. Instead of bowing down to the ground, they were told to only genuflect as far as the waist.
Besides the mistakes in the church literature, Nikon also sought to correct many elements of Russian icon-painting. As all Russian icons depicted saints blessing with two fingers, many priests and members of the population regarded this as a direct attack on Orthodoxy. The Russian church divided into two irreconcilable groups - the supporters of Nikon and the Old Believers. between 1654 and 1656, the opponents of Nikon's reforms were exiled or defrocked. In 1666, the church council officially condemned the Old Believers, calling on the civil authorities to burn to death anyone "daring to revile the Lord God".
One of the most outspoken opponents of Nikon's reforms was an archpriest called Avvakum. When he was asked to cross himself with three fingers, "his heart froze and his legs shook". Although Alexis personally sympathised with Avvakum, he was determined to overcome the Old Believers and banished the fiery priest to Tobolsk in 1653. Patriarch Nikon overreached himself, however, by openly encroaching upon the power of the tsar and he was defrocked in 1667.
After Nikon"s dismissal, Avvakum was returned to Moscow by the enemies of the deposed patriarch. Yet Avvakum had no intention of reconciling himself to the reforms. He created special congations of Old Believers, wrote letters condemning Nikon's supporters and demanded that the tsar repeal the reforms. Alexis regarded his actions as tantamount to treason and he was exiled to Pustozersk in 1664. After a period of imprisonment in an "earth dungeon", he was burnt at the stake in 1681. Avvakum was supported by Feodosia Morozova, the wife of a boyar called Morozov and a supported of the old ways. Boyarinya Morozova, she corresponded with Avvakum and gave financial assistance to his family. She was arrested in 1671 and died in 1675.
There was a whole host of less important events during the reign of Tsar Alexis. One was a decree requiring people to sign petitions to the tsar in the diminutive - "Ivashko" for Ivan or "Petrushko" for Peter. Another was the execution of the rebel Stenka Razin in Moscow in 1671.
Alexis once launched a campaign against swearing in Russia. He formed special detachments of Streltsy guards, who patrolled markets and other places where crowds gathered. Whenever they heard anyone swearing, they were ordered to beat the culprit with knouts and cudgels (themselves uttering even coarser oaths in the process).
Alexis died in Moscow on 29 January 1676 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral.
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