Category Archives: Former Monarchies

Tsarevna Sophia Alexeievna, Regent of Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Tsarevna Sophia Alexeievna, Regent of Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Regent of Russia for seven years during the early co-reign of her brother Ivan V and her half-brother Peter I (the Great), Tsarevna Sophia Alexeievna was the sixth of the thirteen children and the fourth (but the third surviving) of the eight daughters of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia and his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya. She was born on September 27, 1657, in Moscow.

Sophia had twelve siblings:

Neither Sophia nor any of her sisters married. They grew up with their aunts in the terem, the separate living quarters occupied by royal and noble Russian women. They were prevented from socializing with men outside their immediate family and shielded from the public eye in closed carriages or heavily concealing clothing. However, it does seem that Sophia received an education from Simeon Polotsky who also taught her brothers and her father’s heirs Tsarevich Alexei and Tsarevich Feodor.

In 1669, 12-year-old Sophia’s mother Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. The death of Sophia’s brother the heir 15-year-old Tsarevich Alexei in January 1670, so soon after her mother’s death, was especially difficult for father Tsar Alexei because his only surviving sons were the future Tsars, Feodor III, who was disabled by an unknown disease which left him disfigured and partially paralyzed, and Ivan V, who had serious physical and mental disabilities.

Nineteen-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was picked as Tsar Alexei’s second wife. On February 1, 1671, the couple was married in Moscow. Alexei hoped his second marriage would give him a healthy son, and it did, Peter the Great.

Sophia had three half-siblings from her father’s second marriage to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina:

On February 9, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya Kiillovna, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died of a heart attack at the age of 46. He was succeeded by 15-year-old Feodor III, his eldest surviving son from his first marriage. Even though Feodor was well educated and had a fine intellect, his debilitating physical condition prevented him from fully reigning. Throughout Feodor’s reign, the government was largely run by Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev, who had raised Natalya Kirillovna and had become a close friend of her husband Alexei. Feodor married twice but he had no surviving children and died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20.

Feodor’s death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I. Alexei’s son by his first wife, Feodor III, left no surviving heir. Feodor was followed next in the line of succession by his only surviving full brother, the 15-year-old Ivan, who had serious physical and mental disabilities. The family of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, instead wanted her ten-year-old son Peter to succeed. The Boyar Duma, a council of Russian nobles, chose Peter to become Tsar of All Russia with his mother as regent.

To protect the interests of her brother Ivan, Sophia led a rebellion of the Streltsy, an elite military corps, in April – May 1682. During the rebellion, some of Peter’s relatives and allies were murdered, including two of his maternal uncles and his father’s good friend Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev. The rebellion made it possible for Sophia, her maternal family the Miloslavskys, and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being the senior Tsar. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of Ivan and Peter and ruled as an autocrat.

Streltsy Uprising of 1682 – Ivan Naryshkin, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina’s brother, is dragged out of the palace while Peter I consoles his mother and Sophia watches with satisfaction; Credit – Wikipedia

For the first time since Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya ruled as Regent for her son Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) from 1533 – 1538, a woman was in charge of Russia. Prince Vasily Golitsyn was Sophia’s adviser and favorite, and possibly her lover. During her regency, Sophia continued the military reforms of her father Alexei I and her brother Feodor III. Golitsyn oversaw foreign policy and his most important accomplishments were the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686 with Poland and the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk with China. However, the Russian defeat in the Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 began to lead to Sophia’s downfall.

The military defeats meant that Peter I’s reputation increased. His political involvement grew and his popularity with the Russian people increased. Even the infirm Ivan V began to rebel against his sister Sophia. With Peter’s coming of age and his marriage, the possibility of Sophia’s dismissal as Regent seemed very real. Therefore, Sophia and her followers planned to assassinate Peter but he was told of the plot and escaped. Eventually, Sophia had no followers willing to take risks for her interests. She was arrested, forced to give up her position as a member of the royal family, and forced to withdraw to the Novodevichy Convent under guard.

Ilya Repin’s 1879 painting portrays Sophia after her fall from power, confined to a cell in the Novodevichy Convent; Credit – Wikipedia

During the Streltsy Uprising of 1698, the Streltsy secretly contacted Sophia and asked for her help. After Peter put down the rebellion, Sophia was forced to become a nun under the name of Susanna. She remained in the strictest seclusion with the other nuns allowed to see her only on Easter. Sophia Alexeievna died on July 14, 1704, at the age of 46, and was buried in the Smolensk Cathedral at the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.

Smolensk Cathedral at Novodevichy Convent, burial place of Sophia Alexeevna; Photo Credit – By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21361787

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Work Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Sofia Alexejewna. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Alexejewna [Accessed 16 Dec. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Alekseyevna_of_Russia [Accessed 16 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Софья Алексеевна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%84%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 16 Dec. 2017].

Wives of Feodor III of Russia: Agaphia Semenovna Grushevskaya and Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Agaphia Semenovna Grushevskaya, Tsaritsa of All Russia

Patron Icon of Feodor III and Agaphia Semenovna showing the saints Fyodor Stratilat and Great Martyr Agafia; Credit – Wikipedia

Born in 1663, the first wife of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia, Agaphia Semenovna Grushevskaya was one of the three daughters of the noble Semyon Feodorovich Grushetsky and his wife Maria Ivanovna Zaborovskaya.

Agaphia Semenovna had two sisters:

  • Anna Semenovna, married Tsarevich Vasily Alekseevich of Siberia
  • Fyokla Semenovna, married Feodor Semenovich Urusov

Agaphia Semenovna was educated in a Western manner and could speak Russian, Polish, French, and Latin, and play the harpsichord. When she was 14 years-old, Agaphia was sent to live with her maternal uncle Semyon Ivanovich Zaborovsky, who did not wish her to marry. However, on Palm Sunday in 1680, 18-year-old Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia saw Agaphia in the crowd and made inquiries about her. Aware that her uncle did not wish her to marry, Feodor arranged a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country. Of course, Feodor chose Agaphia Semenovna. The couple was married on July 28, 1680, at the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Sometime in early childhood, Feodor was disabled by an unknown disease that left him disfigured and partially paralyzed. However, Feodor was very intelligent, received an excellent education, and had been exposed to the Western European way of life. Agaphia had a strong influence on her husband and played a significant role in court life. Feodor was the first Russian tsar to wear Western dress and to cut his hair and beard. Traditionally, Russian noblewomen lived in the terem, separate living quarters, and were prevented from socializing with men outside their immediate family. Agaphia openly appeared before people and often sat and walked next to the tsar, something that had never happened before.

On July 21, 1681, Agaphia gave birth to a son Tsarevich Ilya Feodorovich. Sadly, Agaphia died of puerperal fever (childbed fever) three days later at the age of 18. Tsarevich Ilya Feodorovich survived his mother by a week. Feodor III was so grief-stricken that he was unable to attend his wife’s funeral. Agaphia was buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noblewomen were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Ascension Convent, Agaphia Semenovna’s original burial place; Credit – Wikipedia

Archangel Cathedral, Agaphia Semenovna’s current burial place; Credit – Wikipedia

Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina

Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina; Credit – Wikipedia

Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina was the second wife of Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia. Born in 1664, she was the daughter of Matvey Vasilyevich Apraksin and Domna Bogdanovna Lovchikova. Marfa had three brothers who all became statesmen and military commanders under Peter the Great.

  • Pyotr Matveyevich Apraksin (1659 – 1728), married (1) Princess Stepanida Matveyevna Obolenskaya, had four children (2) Princess Natalia Alekseevna Lvova
  • Feodor Matveyevich Apraksin (1661- 1728), married Domna Bogdanovna Khrushcheva, no children
  • Andrey Matveyevich Apraksin (1663 – 1731), married Akulin Fedorovna, had two children

At the beginning of 1682, Ivan Yazykov, a friend of Feodor III, suggested that the tsar marry Marfa, expecting his situation at court to improve. Feodor married Marfa Matveyevna Apraksin on February 24, 1682. However, the marriage lasted a little more than two months. Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia died on May 7, 1682, aged twenty, childless, and without making an order concerning the succession to the throne. His death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Feodor’s father Alexei I. This was eventually resolved by the decision to have two tsars at the same time – Feodor’s brother Ivan V and his half-brother Peter I under the regency of Sophia Alexeevna, the eldest surviving daughter of Alexei I and his first wife.

Marfa never remarried but remained a widow for the rest of her life. She lived in Moscow, and then in St. Petersburg in her own palace, at the corner of the Admiralty Square and the Nevsky Prospect. With her skillful behavior, Marfa created a position for herself at the court of Peter I (the Great), her husband’s younger half-brother. Keeping Peter’s trust and respect, she received a financial allowance for the rest of her life and did not engage in the intrigues of political life.

Marfa Matveyevna died in St. Petersburg on January 11, 1716, and was buried in the entrance of Peter and Paul Cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, the fourth Romanov buried at the not yet finished cathedral.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agafja_Semjonowna_Gruschezkaja
  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Marfa Matwejewna Apraxina. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa_Matwejewna_Apraxina [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Agafya Grushetskaya. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agafya_Grushetskaya [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Marfa Apraksina. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa_Apraksina [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Грушецкая, Агафья Семёновна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D1%80%D1%83%D1%88%D0%B5%D1%86%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F,_%D0%90%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%84%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%BC%D1%91%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Апраксина, Марфа Матвеевна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0,_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%84%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 13 Dec. 2017].

Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Born in Moscow on June 9, 1661, Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia was the ninth child and the third but the eldest surviving son of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia and his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya.

Feodor had twelve siblings. None of his sisters married. They lived in seclusion in the terem , the separate living quarters of women, with their sisters and aunts.

Sometime in early childhood, Feodor was disabled by an unknown disease that left him disfigured and partially paralyzed. Scurvy, the vitamin C deficiency disease, is mentioned in some sources as the disease Feodor had. Vitamin C is necessary for the body’s production of enzymes and collagen. The body uses collagen for wound healing and bone growth. Untreated scurvy is usually fatal.

However, Feodor was intelligent and received an excellent education from the monk Symeon Polotsky, a supporter of Eastern Slavic culture and a theologian, poet, playwright, and translator, the tutor of all Alexei’s children. Polotsky exposed Feodor to the Western European way of life.

Feodor’s mother, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

In March 1669, Feodor’s mother Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. The death of Feodor’s younger brother Simeon in June 1669 and the death of his elder brother the heir 15-year-old Tsarevich Alexei in January 1670, so soon after his mother’s death, was difficult for his father Tsar Alexei because his only surviving sons were Feodor who was disabled and Ivan who had serious physical and mental disabilities.

Nineteen-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, daughter of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin and his wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva, was picked as Tsar Alexei’s second wife during a bride-show. On February 1, 1671, the couple was married in Moscow. Tsar Alexei hoped his second marriage would give him a healthy son, and it did, Peter the Great.

Feodor had three half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina:

On February 9, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya Kiillovna, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia unexpectedly died of a heart attack at the age of 46. His eldest surviving son succeeded him from his first marriage, 15-year-old Feodor. Even though Feodor had been well educated and had a fine intellect, his debilitating physical condition prevented him from really reigning. Throughout Feodor’s reign, the government was largely run by Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev, who had raised Natalya Kirillovna and had become a close friend of her husband Alexei.

During Feodor’s reign, many reforms were started, but most of them could not be completed due to his short reign. Military reforms begun during the reigns of the two previous tsars continued. Further reforms strengthened the centralization of the government and reduced the influence of the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in state affairs. Like his father, Feodor was very devout and also wrote some hymns. He was also the first tsar to dress in the Western style and not to have a beard. Under his rule, the Russian Empire moved closer to European influence.

On the advice of his court favorites, Feodor married Agaphia Simeonovna Grushevskaya on July 18, 1680, at the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Feodor’s only child Tsarevich Ilya Feodorovich was born on July 11, 1681, and died ten days later. Agaphia Simeonovna had died three days after her son’s birth. Feodor married a second time to Marfa Matveyevna Apraksin on February 24, 1682, but the marriage was childless.

A little more than two months after his second wedding, Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20, childless and without making an order concerning the succession to the throne. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin. His death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I. This was eventually resolved by the decision to have two tsars at the same time – Feodor’s brother Ivan V and his half-brother Peter I under the regency of Sofia Alexeevna, the eldest surviving daughter of Alexei and his first wife.

Tombs of Tsar Feodor III and his brother Tsar Ivan V; Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Fjodor III.. [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fjodor_III. [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Feodor III of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodor_III_of_Russia [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Фёдор III Алексеевич. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80_III_%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 12 Dec. 2017].

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Tsaritsa of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was the second wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia and the mother of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. The eldest of the seven children of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin and his wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva, Natalya Kirillovna was born in Moscow on September 1, 1651. She was brought up in the Moscow home of her distant relative, the Western-influenced statesman, diplomat, and reformer Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev. Mateev even married a Western woman, Eudoxie Hamilton from Scotland. Because of Mateev’s influence, Natalya Kirillovna’s upbringing was freer and more Western than other Russian women of the period. She certainly had an effect upon her son Peter the Great who was greatly influenced by Western advisers and implemented major reforms to modernize Russia.

Natalya Kirillovna had six younger siblings:

  • Ivan Kirillovich (1658 – 1682), married Praskovia Alexeevna Lykova, no children, killed during the Streltsy Uprising of 1682
  • Afanasii Kirillovich (1662 – 1682), killed during the Streltsy Uprising of 1682
  • Lev Kirillovich (1664 – 1705), married (1) Praskovia Feodorovna, had seven children (2) Anna Petrovna Saltykova, had two children
  • Martemian Kirillovich (1665 – 1697), married Tsarevna Evdokiya Vasilievna of Siberia, had one daughter
  • Feodor Kirillovich (1666 – 1691), married Praskovia Dmitrievna Golitsyna
  • Evdokia Kirillovna (died 1682)

In 1669, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, the first wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia, died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. Nineteen-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was picked as Alexei’s second wife during a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars used to choose a wife from among the most beautiful young women in the country. On February 1, 1671, the couple was married in Moscow. Alexei’s only surviving sons from his first marriage were the future Tsar Feodor III, who was disabled by an unknown disease that left him disfigured and partially paralyzed, and the future Tsar Ivan V, who had serious physical and mental disabilities. Alexei hoped his second marriage would give him a healthy son, and it did, Peter the Great.

Marriage of Natalya and Alexei; Credit – Wikipedia

Natalya Kirillovna and Alexei had three children:

On February 9, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died from a heart attack at the age of 46. 15-year-old Feodor III, his eldest surviving son from his first marriage, became Tsar of All Russia. Even though Feodor was well educated and had a fine intellect, his debilitating physical condition prevented him from reigning as he should. Throughout Feodor’s reign, the government was largely run by Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev, who had raised Natalya Kirillovna and had become a close friend of her husband Alexei. Feodor married twice but he had no surviving children and died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20.

Feodor’s death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I. Alexei’s son by his first wife, Feodor III, left no surviving heir. Feodor was followed next in the line of succession by his only surviving full brother, the 15-year-old Ivan, who had serious physical and mental disabilities. The family of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, instead wanted Natalya’s ten-year-old son Peter to succeed. The Boyar Duma, a council of Russian nobles, chose Peter to become Tsar of All Russia with his mother as regent.

Sophia Alexeevna, Alexei’s eldest surviving daughter from his first marriage and Ivan’s sister, led a rebellion of the Streltsy, an elite military corps, in April – May 1682. During the rebellion, some of Peter’s relatives and allies were murdered, including two of his maternal uncles and his father’s good friend Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev. The young Peter witnessed some of these violent acts.

Ivan Naryshkin, Natalya’s brother, is dragged out of the palace while Peter I consoles his mother and Sophia watches with satisfaction; Credit – Wikipedia

The rebellion made it possible for Sophia Alexeevna, her maternal family the Miloslavskys, and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being the senior Tsar. Sophia acted as regent during the minority of Ivan and Peter and ruled as an autocrat. During this period, Natalya Kirillovna received her only financial support from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. She lived away from the court at Alexei’s former summer residence in Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

In 1689, 17-year-old Peter overthrew his half-sister Sophia Alexeevna. Peter I and Ivan V continued as co-tsars, and Sophia was forced to enter a convent and give up her position as a member of the royal family. Because of his young age, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Instead, the power was controlled by his mother and her brother Lev Naryshkin who was appointed the minister of foreign affairs and was the de facto prime minister.

It was not until his mother died in 1694 and his half-brother’s death in 1696 that Peter assumed complete authority. Natalya Kirillovna died from heart disease at the age of 42 on February 4, 1694, at the Moscow Kremlin. She was buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noble women were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Ascension Convent, Natalya Kirillovna’s original burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Archangel Cathedral, Natalya Kirillovna’s current burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Natalya Naryshkina. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalya_Naryshkina [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Нарышкина, Наталья Кирилловна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8B%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0,_%D0%9D%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%9A%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, Tsaritsa of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, Tsaritsa of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

The first wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya was born in Moscow, Russia on April 11, 1624. She was the youngest of the four daughters of the boyar (noble) and diplomat Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky and his wife Ekaterina Feodorovna Narbekova. Maria was the mother of thirteen children including two Tsars of All Russia, Fyodor III and Ivan V, and Sophia Alexeevna, who served as Regent for her brother Ivan V and half-brother Peter I (the Great).

Maria Ilyinichna had three older sisters:

  • Anna Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (? – 1667), married Boris Ivanovich Morozov, Alexei I’s tutor and advisor, no children
  • Ekaterina Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, married Prince Fyodor Lvovich Volkonsky, statesman and military leader, had two sons
  • Irina Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (? – 1645), married Prince Dmitry Alekseevich Dolgorukov, statesman and military leader, had two children

Tsar Alexei chooses his bride by Grigory Sedov; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1647, a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars used to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country, was arranged for Alexei, who had become Tsar of All Russia two years earlier upon the death of his father Michael I, the first ruler of the Romanov dynasty. Nearly two hundred girls were brought to see Alexei. His choice fell upon Euphemia Feodorovna Vsevolozhskaya, the daughter of a statesman and wealthy landowner. However, the proposed wedding was prevented by Boris Ivanovich Morozov, Alexei’s tutor and advisor, who had great power at court. Morozov wanted to be related to the tsar and had a scheme to marry Alexei to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, a daughter of Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky who was a supporter of Morozov, while Morozov then married Maria’s eldest sister Anna. Morozov bribed a hairdresser who pulled Euphemia Feodorovna’s hair so hard that she fainted. Then a court physician was bribed to diagnose Euphemia Feodorovna with epilepsy. Her father was accused of concealing the disease, the betrothal was annulled, and the whole Vsevolozhsky family was sent into exile.

The first meeting of Alexis Mikhailovich and Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

Morozov then introduced Alexei to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, who was beautiful and declared healthy by the court physicians. The wedding took place on January 16, 1648, in Moscow. Ten days later, Boris Ivanovich Morozov married the new Tsaritsa’s sister Anna Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, strengthening his position at court.

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya and Alexei had thirteen children. None of their daughters married. They lived in seclusion in the terem with their sisters and aunts.

Tsaritsa Maria Ilyinichna; Credit – Wikipedia

During this time, the life of Russian noblewomen, including the Tsaritsa of All Russia, was not a public one. They were expected to live in seclusion with little contact with men. Maria Ilyinichna was mainly involved in charitable and religious activities such as donating to facilities for the poor, sick, and disabled and supporting the work of Feodor Mikhailovich Rtishchev, a boyar and close friend of Alexei who was famous for his piety and work with the poor. She acted as the protector of the cult of St. Mary of Egypt, who eventually became a patron saint of the Romanov dynasty. At that time, the only church in Moscow devoted to St. Mary of Egypt was at the Sretensky Monastery. Alexei and Maria Ilyinichna commissioned an icon for the monastery St. Alexis, a Man of God and St. Mary of Egypt.

On March 13, 1669, 45-year-old Maria Ilyinichna died of puerperal fever (childbed fever) five days after her most difficult childbirth. Her thirteenth child Yevdokia Alexeevna lived for only two days. Maria Ilyinichna and her child were buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noblewomen were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Ascension Convent, Maria Ilyinichna’s original burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Archangel Cathedral, Maria Ilyinichna’s current burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Maria Miloslavskaya. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Miloslavskaya [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Милославская, Мария Ильинична. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F,_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%98%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 4 Dec. 2017].

Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

Born in Moscow on March 19, 1629, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia (Aleksey Mikhailovich) was the fourth of the ten children of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia and his second wife Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshnev.

Alexei had nine siblings but only three sisters reached adulthood:

  • Tsarevna Irina (1627 – 1679), unmarried, engaged to marry Valdemar Christian, Count of Schleswig-Holstein who refused to convert to Russian Orthodoxy so no marriage took place
  • Tsarevna Pelagia (1628 – 1629)
  • Tsarevna Anna (1630 – 1692), unmarried
  • Tsarevna Marfa (1631 – 1632)
  • Tsarevich Ivan (1633 – 1639)
  • Tsarevna Sophia (1634 – 1636)
  • Tsarevna Tatiana (1636 – 1706), unmarried
  • Tsarevna Eudoxia (born and died 1637)
  • Tsarevich Vasili (born and died 1639)

Until he was five years old, Alexei stayed in the terem, the separate living quarters for women. During the 17th century, it was customary for noble and royal women to be confined in separate quarters and to be prevented from socializing with men outside their immediate family. In addition, when in public, women were shielded in closed carriages or heavily concealing clothing. At the age of five, Alexei began his education with his tutor Boris Ivanovich Morozov.  Morozov taught Alexei how to read and write and oversaw his education in the liturgy and rituals of the Russian Orthodox Church. At that time, princes traditionally received only a cursory education but under Morozov, Alexei received a formal education unlike that of any other Moscow prince. He studied foreign languages, science, military strategies, and tactics. His education helped blaze the trail for his son Peter the Great’s Western education and the reforms of his reign.

Alexei’s father died on July 12, 1645, and the sixteen-year-old became the second Tsar of All Russia from the Romanov dynasty. With his accession to the throne, the young Alexei had to deal with many issues that concerned Russian life in the 17th century. Not yet prepared to resolve these kinds of issues, he initially listened to the opinion of his tutor Morozov but soon he began to take an independent part in the affairs of government.

Tsar Alexei chooses his bride by Grigory Sedov; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1647, a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars used to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country, was arranged for Alexei, who had become Tsar of All Russia two years earlier upon the death of his father Michael I, the first ruler of the Romanov dynasty. Nearly two hundred girls were brought to see Alexei. His choice fell upon Euphemia Feodorovna Vsevolozhskaya, the daughter of a statesman and wealthy landowner. However, the proposed wedding was prevented by Morozov, Alexei’s tutor and advisor, who had great power at court. Morozov wanted to be related to the tsar and had a scheme to marry Alexei to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, a daughter of Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky who was a supporter of Morozov, while Morozov then married Maria’s eldest sister Anna. Morozov bribed a hairdresser who pulled Euphemia Feodorovna’s hair so hard that she fainted. Then a bribed court physician diagnosed Euphemia Feodorovna with epilepsy. Her father was accused of concealing the disease, the betrothal was annulled, and the whole Vsevolozhsky family was sent into exile.

The first meeting of Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya; Credit – Wikipedia

Morozov then introduced Alexei to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, who was beautiful and declared healthy by the court physicians. The wedding took place on January 16, 1648, in Moscow. Ten days later, Boris Ivanovich Morozov married the new Tsaritsa’s sister Anna Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, strengthening his position at court.

Alexei and his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya had thirteen children. None of their daughters married. They lived in seclusion in the terem with their sisters and aunts.

Alexei’s government increased the suppression of peasants and increased tax burdens, which led to city uprisings in Moscow, Tomsk, Pskov, and Novgorod. In 1648, the people of Moscow rebelled against a new tax on salt. The Salt Riot was an early challenge to the reign of Alexei I, eventually resulting in the temporary exile of Alexei’s advisor Boris Morozov who later regained some of his power. In 1649, as a result of the city uprisings, the Sobornoye Ulozheniye, a legal code that consolidated Russia’s slaves and free peasants into a new hereditary serf class, was established. In addition, travel between towns without an internal passport was prohibited and the Russian nobility agreed to serve in the army but were granted the exclusive privilege of owning serfs.

Salt Riot on Red Square, by Ernest Lissner; Credit – Wikipedia

By 1651, the 22-year-old Alexei no longer needed a “parental” advisor as Morozov had been. He needed an advisor who was also a friend and he found this in Nikon, at that time Metropolitan (Bishop) of Novgorod. In 1646, Nikon had come to Moscow to pay homage to the young tsar. Alexei, who was very pious, was impressed with Nikon and appointed him archimandrite (prior) of the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow traditionally associated with the House of Romanov. In 1652, began Nikon was elected Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. He then began to exert a direct influence on state affairs, particularly in foreign relations. Although Nikon did advise Alexei, his more important role was that of a colleague and friend to him. This relationship was positive for a while but eventually soured.

Patriarch Nikon; Credit – Wikipedia

Nikon and Alexei’s different views regarding the relationship between church and state caused a dispute that affected their relationship. In addition, Nikon introduced many reforms in the Russian Orthodox Church which eventually led to a lasting schism known as Raskol, the splitting of the Russian Orthodox Church into an official church and the Old Believers. In 1666, Alexei convened the Great Moscow Synod to address the problems caused by Nikon. The synod agreed to formally depose Nikon. He was to be known as the monk Nikon and was sent to a monastery in northern Russia.

During his reign, Alexei continued the reform of the army which started during his father’s reign. New regiments were created using the organizational system of Western Europe: Cavalry, Soldiers, Dragoons, and Hussars. To fulfill the military reform goals, a large number of European military specialists were hired for service. Two major wars were fought during Alexei’s reign: the Russo-Polish War (1654-67) which ended with significant Russian territorial gains and marked the beginning of the rise of Russia as a great power in Eastern Europe, and the Russo-Swedish War (1656–58) which was unsuccessful.

In 1669, Alexei’s wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. The death of Alexei’s heir 15-year-old Tsarevich Alexei in January 1670, so soon after his wife’s death, was especially difficult for Alexei because his only surviving sons were the future Tsars, Feodor III, who was disabled by an unknown disease which left him disfigured and partially paralyzed, and Ivan V, who had serious physical and mental disabilities.

Marriage of Alexei and Natalya; Credit – Wikipedia

Nineteen-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, daughter of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin and his wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva, was picked as Alexei’s second wife during a bride-show. On February 1, 1671, the couple was married in Moscow. Alexei hoped his second marriage would give him a healthy son, and it did, Peter the Great.

Alexei and his second wife Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina had three children:

On February 8, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya Kiillovna, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died of a heart attack at the age of 46. He was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin.

Tombs of (from left to right) Tsar Alexei I, Alexei’s son Tsarevich Alexei, Tsar Michael I and Michael’s infant sons Vasily and Ivan; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Alexei I. (Russland). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_I._(Russland) [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].
  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Alexis of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_of_Russia [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Алексей Михайлович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 9 Dec. 2017].

Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva, Tsaritsa of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva, Tsaritsa of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva was the second wife of the first Romanov ruler, Michael I, Tsar of All Russia. She was probably born in 1608 in Meshchovsk, Kaluga, Russia, the eldest of the five children of Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev and Princess Anne Konstantinovna Volkonskaya.

Eudoxia had four siblings:

  • Maria Anna Lukyanovna Streshneva (died 1635), married Prince Alexei Ivanovich Vorotynsky
  • Feodosya Lukyanovna Streshneva, married Ivan Pavlovich Matyushkin
  • Stepan Lukyanovich Streshnev (died 1666), married Princess Maria Alekseevna Lykova
  • Irina Lukyanovna Streshneva, married Elizar Chebukov

Mikhail Fyodorovich Choosing His Bride, by Ilya Repin; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1624, Michael I, Tsar of All Russia married Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova but she died four months after the wedding. The following year, Michael ordered a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country. Sixty young Russian women were assembled but Michael did not like any of them. Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva had accompanied one of the sixty women. Michael’s parents forced him to make a choice but he called for an examination of all the unmarried women present. He chose Eudoxia for her beauty, courtesy, and gentle temper.

On February 5, 1626, Michael and Eudoxia were married at the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Wedding of Michael and Eudoxia; Credit – Wikipedia

Michael and Eudoxia wife had ten children, but only four reached adulthood:

Eudoxia’s life under the watchful eye of her powerful mother-in-law who dominated the court, the nun Marfa, was not easy. Marfa was ever-present, always accompanying Eudoxia. Eudoxia’s life was concerned with childbearing to continue the new Romanov dynasty and there was much pressure on her to produce a son, especially after her first two children turned out to be girls. Eudoxia became the founder of many charitable institutions that helped the poor and the church. In 1642, she made a large contribution to fund the restoration of St. George Monastery in her birthplace.

Michael I, Tsar of All Russia died in Moscow on July 23, 1645, at the age of 49. Consumed by grief over her husband’s death, Eudoxia survived him by only a few weeks, dying on August 18, 1645, at the age of 36. She was buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noblewomen were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Ascension Convent, Eudoxia’s original burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Archangel Cathedral, Eudoxia’s current burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Eudoxia Streshneva. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudoxia_Streshneva [Accessed 26 Nov. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Стрешнева, Евдокия Лукьяновна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%95%D0%B2%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%8C%D1%8F%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 26 Nov. 2017].

Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, Tsaritsa of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – https://alchetron.com/Maria-Dolgorukova

Born about 1598, Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, the first wife of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia, was the only child of Prince Vladimir Timofeevich Dolgorukov and his first wife Princess Maria Eletskaya. Vladimir Timofeevich served as a military commander for three tsars and was appointed Viceroy of Kazan by Michael I.

Maria Vladimirovna had three half-siblings from her father’s third marriage to Princess Marfa Vasilievna Barbashina:

  • Marfa Vladimirovna Dolgorukova (circa 1600 – 1634 ), married Prince Ivan Ivanovich Pugovka Shuisky, brother of the late Tsar Vasily Shuisky
  • Elena Vladimirovna Dolgorukova (circa 1602 – 1632 )
  • Fetinya Vladimirovna Dolgorukova (circa 1672 ), married Prince Yuri Andreevich Sitsky

In 1616, Michael selected a bride, Maria Ivanovna Khlopova. Michael was naive and inexperienced in court politics and had chosen a bride who had no allies at court. When Maria Ivanovna and her family arrived at court for the betrothal, the court intrigue began. The Saltykovs, relatives of Michael’s mother, arranged to have a strong emetic placed in Maria Ivanovna’s food, resulting in violent spasms. Then the Saltykovs bribed several doctors to tell Michael that Maria Ivanovna suffered from an incurable disease and her family was deceiving him about her health. The wedding never took place and Michael was persuaded to send the Khlopova family to Siberia as punishment.

Michael’s mother, born Xenia Ivanovna Shestova, but now a nun known as Marfa, chose her son’s second wife, Maria Vladimirovna. One of Maria Vladimirovna’s sisters had married a brother of the late Tsar Vasily Shuisky and another sister had married a cousin of Michael’s father. It appears that the betrothal ceremony on July 12, 1623, was held in some secrecy. Records show that the bride’s name was not mentioned and her father’s name was not listed among the names of the nobles in attendance. Perhaps, in order to avoid the intrigues that plagued Maria Ivanovna Khlopova, the identity of the bride was kept secret until three days before the wedding.

Michael and Maria Vladimirovna were married on September 19, 1624, witnessed by many nobles and their wives. Celebrations continued the next day, but the new Tsaritsa became ill and was not present. It is unclear exactly what happened but five months later, on January 17, 1625, Maria Vladimirovna died. There were rumors at the time that she had been poisoned by the enemies of the Dolgorukov family. Chronicles of the time called her death a divine punishment for the fate of Maria Ivanovna Khlopova and her family.  Other contemporary writers said Maria Vladimirovna died giving birth to a stillborn baby.

On January 18, 1625, Maria Vladimirovna, Tsaritsa of All Russia was buried at the Ascension Convent, a Russian Orthodox comvent and cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin where royal and noble women were buried. In 1929, the Ascension Convent was dismantled by the Soviets in order to make room for the Red Commanders School. At that time, the remains of those buried there were moved to the crypt of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Ascension Convent, Maria Vladimirovna’s original burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Archangel Cathedral, Maria Vladimirovna’s current burial place; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Maria Dolgorukova. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Dolgorukova [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Долгорукова, Мария Владимировна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%92%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].

Michael I, Tsar of All Russia

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

Michael I, Tsar of All Russia; Credit – Wikipedia

Michael I (Mikhail Feodorovich) was the first ruler of the House of Romanov. He was born July 22, 1596, in Moscow, the fifth of the six children of Feodor Nikitich Romanov and Xenia Ivanovna Shestova. His father was a boyar (noble) and was the first cousin of Tsar Feodor I, son of Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) by his first wife Anastasia Romanovna. Later Feodor Nikitich became Patriarch of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Michael had four brothers who all died young and one sister:

  • Boris (born and died 1592)
  • Nikita (born and died 1593)
  • Lev (born and died 1597)
  • Tatiana (died 1611), married Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Katyrev-Rostovski, had one daughter
  • Ivan (born and died 1599)

Michael’s grandfather Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev was the elder brother of Tsaritsa Anastasia Romanova, wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible). During the reign of his brother-in-law, Nikita Romanovich served as a general, statesman, and courtier. He refused to serve with the Oprichniki, an organization that suppressed people or groups opposed to the Tsar, often using violence. The honesty and decency of Tsaritsa Anastasia and her brother Nikita Romanovich during the turbulent and violent reign of Ivan the Terrible were remembered by the Russian people for decades. Nikita’s children were the first in Russia to use the surname Romanov, taken from Nikita’s patronymic Romanovich (son of Roman), which eventually became the name of the ruling dynasty of Russia.

In 1598, following the death of Feodor I, the son of Ivan the Terrible and the last of the Rurik dynasty, Russia fell into a succession crisis. Feodor I had no male heirs so the Russian Zemsky Sobor (feudal parliament) elected his brother-in-law Boris Godunov Tsar. Boris Godunov’s reign was marked by famine and anarchy.

In 1601, when Michael was five years old, his father Feodor Nikitich was accused of treason by Tsar Boris Godunov because he considered the Romanov family too powerful. Feodor and his wife were forced to take monastic vows under the names Filaret and Marfa. Filaret was exiled to a monastery and Marfa was separated from her surviving children Tatiana and Michael and exiled to a small village on the shore of Lake Onega 640 miles/1024 kilometers north of Moscow. Michael and his sister were secretly taken to an area that was an old Romanov stronghold by their paternal aunt.

After the death of Boris Godunov in 1605, Michael’s parents could resume a more normal life in Rostov where Filaret was raised to the position of Metropolitan (Archbishop) of Rostov. The couple still had to live apart because they were still under their monastic vows but they were able to spend time with their son and daughter. During the next eight years, a series of four tsars rules Russia. Together with the reign of Boris Godunov, this time period is known in Russian history as the Time of Troubles.

Michael in his coronation robes; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1613, 16-year-old Michael became the first ruler of the House of Romanov when he was elected Tsar of All Russia by the Russian nobility. The nobles rejected several other candidates, and Michael then became the consensus candidate. His ties to his great-aunt Tsaritsa Anastasia and his grandfather Nikita Romanovich made him popular with the Russian people. Michael had no ties to the noble families whose feuds had caused many problems. On July 22, 1613, in the Assumption Cathedral at the Moscow Kremlin, Michael’s coronation was held and the new ruling Romanov dynasty was founded.

In 1616, Michael selected a bride, Maria Ivanovna Khlopova. Michael was naive and inexperienced in court politics and had chosen a bride with no allies at court. When Maria Ivanovna and her family arrived at court for the betrothal, the court intrigue began. The Saltykovs, relatives of Michael’s mother, arranged to have a strong emetic placed in Maria Ivanovna’s food, resulting in violent spasms. Then the Saltykovs bribed several doctors to tell Michael that Maria Ivanovna suffered from an incurable disease and her family was deceiving him about her health. Michael was then persuaded to send the Khlopova family to Siberia as punishment. Several years later, Michael learned the truth and banished the Saltykovs from the court and took away some of their estates.

Filaret, Michael’s father, attempted to find a bride from Europe’s lesser royal families but Europe’s royalty was not yet willing to ally themselves with the new dynasty. On September 19, 1624, Michael married Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova, his mother’s choice, but she died four months after the wedding.

Mikhail Fyodorovich Choosing His Bride, by Ilya Repin; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1625, Michael ordered a bride-show, a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country. Sixty young Russian women were assembled and Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva was Michael’s choice. On February 5, 1626, Michael and Eudoxia were married at the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Eudoxia Lukyanovna Streshneva; Credit – Wikipedia

Michael and Eudoxia had ten children, but only four reached adulthood:

Although Michael was inexperienced at the beginning of his reign, his reign had many accomplishments including:

  • Making peace with Sweden (Treaty of Stolbovo) and Poland (Truce of Deulino) who were occupying parts of Russia
  • Restoring the economy and trade after the Times of Troubles
  • Reorganizing the army
  • Establishing strong centralized power throughout the country
  • Making an inventory of all land for tax purposes
  • Founding the first iron-making plant so weapons could be made in Russia
  • Founding a German settlement in Moscow for German engineers and military specialists – this would prove important for the reforms during the reign of Michael’s grandson Peter I (the Great)

Michael had a horse accident when he was younger and the results of that injury plagued him for the rest of his life. By the time he was 30-years-old, he was often carried around in an armchair. Michael I, Tsar of All Russia died in Moscow on July 23, 1645, at the age of 49 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin where many of the earlier rulers of Russia were buried. His wife Eudoxia survived him by only a few weeks, dying on August 18, 1645.

Tomb of Michael I, Tsar of All Russia (third from the left). Photo Credit – Wikipedia

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Michael I of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_I_of_Russia [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].
  • Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday.
  • Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Михаил Фёдорович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].

A Month Plus of Romanovs

Russian Imperial Coat of Arms; Credit – Wikipedia

Beginning with yesterday’s article about the execution of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich on the 100th anniversary of his death, we will be having a month plus of articles about the Romanovs leading up to the 100th anniversary of the execution of Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia and his family on July 17. Starting on June 17, an article about a Romanov Tsar, Emperor, Empress, Grand Duke or Grand Duchess will be published daily. On July 17 and for a couple more days, articles about the Romanovs who were killed will be published.  After that, we will play a little catch-up with articles about the children of Alexander II, Emperor of All and Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia.
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Michael I, Tsar of All Russia, the first Romanov ruler of Russia, began his reign as a 16-year-old in 1613. In 1913, the Romanov Tercentenary, a country-wide celebration marking 300 years of Romanov rule, was observed but the ruling dynasty lasted only a few more years. Check out the Unofficial Royalty: Russian Index where we already have articles on some Romanovs and be sure to check back each day for another Romanov article.