by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

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

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

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.

• Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeievich (1648–1649); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeievna (1650–1712)
• Tsarevna Marfa Alexeievna (1652–1707)
• Tsarevich Alexei Alexeievich (1654–1670); died unmarried, age 15
• Tsarevna Anna Alexeievna (1655–1659); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Sofia Alexeievna (1657–1704), Regent of Russia (1682–89) for her younger brother Ivan V and younger half-brother Peter I; unmarried
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeievna (1658–1718)
• Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna (1660–1723)
• Fyodor III, Tsar of All Russia (1661–1682); succeeded his father as Tsar of Russia; married (1) Agaphia Simeonovna Gruszewska, no surviving children (2) Marfa Matveievna Apraksina, no children
• Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeievna (1662–1713)
• Tsarevich Simeon Alexeievich (1665–1669); died in early childhood
• Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (1666–1696); was co-ruler along with his younger half-brother Peter I; married Praskovia Saltykova, had five daughters including Anna, Empress of All Russia
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeievna (born and died 1669)

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

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

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].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Credit – Wikipedia

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

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.

• Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeievich (1648–1649); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alekseevna (1650–1712)
• Tsarevna Marfa Alexeievna (1652–1707)
• Tsarevich Alexei Alexeievich (1654–1670); died unmarried, aged 15
• Tsarevna Anna Alexeievna (1655–1659); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Sofia Alexeievna (1657–1704), Regent of Russia (1682–89) for her two younger brothers Ivan V and Peter I; unmarried
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeievna (1658–1718)
• Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna (1660–1723)
• Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia (1661–1682); succeeded his father; married (1) Agaphia Simeonovna Gruszewska, no surviving children (2) Marfa Matveievna Apraksina, no children
• Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeievna (1662–1713)
• Tsarevich Simeon Alexeievich (1665–1669); died in infancy
• Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (1666–1696); was co-ruler along with his younger half-brother Peter I; married Praskovia Saltykova, had five daughters including Anna, Empress of All Russia
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeevna (1669–1669)

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:

• Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (1672–1725), married (1) Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, had three sons including Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (2) Martha Skavronskaya (Catherine I, Empress of All Russia), had eleven children, only two daughters survived childhood Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (mother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia) and Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia
• Tsarevna Natalya Alexeievna (1673–1716), unmarried, a playwright and founder of the first public theater in Russia
• Tsarevna Fyodora Alexeievna (1674–1677)

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

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

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].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

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

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

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:

• • 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)
  • Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia (1629 – 1676), married  (1) Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, had 13 children including Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia, Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and Sofia Alexeievna, Regent of Russia  (2) Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, had three children including Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
  • 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)

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

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

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].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

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

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

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

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

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].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

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:

• 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)
• Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia (1629 – 1676), married  (1) Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, had 13 children including Fyodor III, Tsar of All Russia, Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and Sofia Alexeevna, Regent of Russia  (2) Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, had three children including Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia
• 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)

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

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

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].

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.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin in 1916; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

• Unofficial Royalty: Grigori Efimovich Rasputin

On November 26, 1894, in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nicholas II, Emperor of All the Russias married Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, the youngest surviving daughter of Ludwig, Grand Duke IV of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, a daughter of Queen Victoria.  Upon her conversion to Russian Orthodoxy, Alix was given the name Alexandra Feodorovna. After giving birth to four daughters during the first seven years of her marriage, Alexandra felt great pressure to provide an heir. Finally, in 1904, she gave birth to a son, Alexei. However, it would soon become apparent that she was a carrier of hemophilia, and her young son was a sufferer. This would cause great pain to Alexandra, and great measures were taken to protect him from harm and to hide the illness from the Russian people. When Alexei’s illness eventually became public knowledge, it led to more dislike for Alexandra, with many of the Russian people blaming her for the heir’s illness.

• Unofficial Royalty: Hemophilia in Queen Victoria’s Descendants

After working with many physicians to help Alexei who suffered greatly, Alexandra turned to mystics and faith healers. This led to her close, disastrous relationship with Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, a Russian peasant and mystical faith healer. Several times Rasputin appeared to have brought Alexei back from the brink of death, which further cemented Alexandra’s reliance on him. To many historians and experts, this relationship would contribute greatly to the fall of the Russian monarchy.

Rasputin with Alexandra Feodorovna, her children, and the children’s nurse in 1908; Credit – Wikipedia

Rasputin became an influential figure in Saint Petersburg, especially after August 1915, when Nicholas II took supreme command of the Russian armies fighting in World War I. Eventually, a group of conspirators plotted to murder Rasputin in hopes of ending his influence over the Imperial Family.

Rasputin, Nicholas, and Alexandra, anonymous caricature in 1916; Credit – Wikipedia

The conspirators were led by two men, one a member of the Imperial Family and one who married into the Imperial Family. Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia was the second child and only son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich, a son of Alexander II, Emperor of All the Russias, and Princess Alexandra of Greece, a daughter of King George I of Greece and Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna of Russia. Therefore, Dmitri was the first cousin of Nicholas II as their fathers were brothers. (A side note, Dmitri is also the first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh as Dmitri’s mother and Philip’s father were siblings.) Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov was a Russian aristocrat who was wealthier than any of the Romanovs. Felix married Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, Nicholas II’s only niece, the daughter of his sister Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna of Russia and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia.

Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia, before 1917; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Felix Yusupov, 1914; Credit – Wikipedia

Along with Dmitri and Felix, Vladimir Purishkevich, a deputy of the Duma, the Russian legislature, was one of the main conspirators. Dr. Stanislaus de Lazovert, a physician, and Sergei Mikhailovich Sukhotin, a lieutenant in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, also were participants. On the night of December 29-30, 1916, Felix invited Rasputin to Moika Palace, his home in St. Petersburg, promising Rasputin that his wife Irina would be there, although she was not there. According to his memoir, Felix brought Rasputin to a soundproof room in a part of the wine cellar and offered Rasputin tea and petit fours laced with a large amount of cyanide, but the poison had no effect.

Felix then offered Rasputin wine, and after an hour Rasputin was fairly drunk. The other conspirators were waiting in a room on another floor of the palace and Felix then went upstairs and came back with Dmitri’s revolver. He shot Rasputin in the chest and the wounds appeared to be serious enough to cause death. However, Rasputin escaped, struggling up the stairs and opening an unlocked door to the courtyard. Apparently, Purishkevich heard the noise, went out to the courtyard, and shot Rasputin four times, missing three times. Rasputin fell down in the snow. Again, Rasputin should have been dead, but he was still moving. One of the conspirators shot him in the forehead. Rasputin’s body was thrown off the Bolshoy Petrovsky Bridge into an ice-hole in the Malaya Neva River. Rasputin’s body was found a few days later.

Rasputin was buried on January 2, 1917, at a small church at Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg. His funeral was attended by members of the Imperial Family. Rasputin’s body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers shortly after Nicholas II abdicated in March 1917 to prevent his burial site from becoming a place of pilgrimage.

Police photograph of Rasputin’s corpse, found floating in the Malaya Nevka River, 1916; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

After Rasputin’s murder, the St. Petersburg authorities refused to arrest the conspirators because the murder they committed was considered acceptable. Instead, Dmitri was exiled to Persia (now Iran), a move that most likely saved his life during the Russian Revolution, and Felix was exiled to his estate in Rakitnoje, near Belgorod, Russia and the Ukraine border.

After the Russian Revolution, Dmitri lived in exile in Paris where he had an affair with the fashion designer Coco Chanel. He married American heiress Audrey Emery in 1926, but the couple divorced in 1937. The marriage produced one child, Paul Ilyinsky, who was an American citizen, served as a US Marine in the Korean War, and was elected mayor of Palm Beach, Florida. Dmitri died from tuberculosis at a Swiss sanatorium in 1942 at the age of 50.

Dmitri with his wife Audrey Emery, 1920s; Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Felix and his wife Irina escaped Russia in 1919 aboard the British battleship HMS Marlborough along with Irina’s grandmother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (born Princess Dagmar of Denmark) and other members of the Imperial Family. Felix and Irina lived in exile in Paris. Felix died in 1967 at the age of 80 and Irina died three years later at the age of 74.

Felix and Irina in exile, 1930s, 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.