Fedor III Alekseevich Romanov
Years of life: 1661–1682
Reign: 1676-1682
From the Romanov dynasty.
Russian Tsar in 1676-1682. One of the most educated rulers of Russia.
Was born Fedor Alekseevich Romanov May 30, 1661 in Moscow. From childhood he was weak and sickly (he suffered from paralysis and scurvy), but already at the age of twelve he was officially declared heir to the throne.
In 1675, Alexei Mikhailovich declared his son Fyodor heir to the throne after the death of his elder brother Alexei. A year later, on January 30, 1676, Fyodor Alekseevich became the sovereign of All Rus'. On June 18, 1676, he was crowned in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Education of Feodor III Alekseevich
Fyodor Alekseevich was a student of the famous theologian, poet and scientist Simeon of Polotsk. Fyodor knew several foreign languages well, was fond of versification and, under the guidance of Simeon of Polotsk, translated the psalms of the 132nd and 145th Psalter into verse. Tsar Fedor was knowledgeable in painting and church music.
At first, Fyodor’s stepmother, N.K. Naryshkina, tried to lead the country, 
which Fyodor’s relatives managed to remove from business by sending her and her son Peter (the future Peter I) into exile in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.
During the 6 years of his reign, Fyodor Alekseevich could not completely rule on his own; he was constantly influenced. Power was concentrated in the hands of Fedor's maternal relatives, the Miloslavsky boyars.
In 1680 Tsar Fedor Alekseevich brought the bedside B.M. closer to him. Yazykov and steward A.T. Likhachev, as well as Prince. V.V. Golitsyn, who became his advisers in all government affairs. Under their influence, under Fyodor, the main center in making government decisions was transferred to the Boyar Duma, the number of members of which increased from 66 to 99. But despite the influence of various courtiers, Tsar Fyodor was also inclined to personally take part in government, but without despotism and cruelty .
Years of reign of Fedor Alekseevich
In 1678–1679 Fedor's government conducted a population census and canceled Alexei Mikhailovich's decree on the non-extradition of fugitives who had enlisted in military service, and introduced household taxation (this immediately replenished the treasury, but increased serfdom).
In 1679–1680 An attempt was made to soften criminal penalties, in particular, cutting off hands for theft was abolished. Thanks to the construction of defensive structures in the south of Russia (Wild Field), it became possible to endow nobles with estates and fiefdoms. In 1681, voivodeship and local administrative administration was introduced - one of the most important preparatory measures for the provincial reform of Peter I.
The most important event of the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich was the destruction of localism during the meeting of the Zemsky Sobor in 1682, which gave the opportunity for promotion to not very noble, but educated and intelligent people. At the same time, all rank books with lists of positions were burned as the “main culprits” of local disputes and claims. Instead of rank books, it was ordered to create a Genealogical Book, in which all well-born and noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Duma.
Also in 1682, at a church council, new dioceses were established and measures were taken to combat the schism. In addition, commissions were created to develop a new system of taxes and “military affairs.” Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich issued a decree against luxury, which determined for each class not only the cut of clothing, but also the number of horses. In the last days of Fedor's reign, a project was drawn up to open a Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and a theological school for thirty people in Moscow.
Under Fyodor Alekseevich, a project was being prepared to introduce ranks in Russia - a prototype of Peter the Great’s Table of Ranks, which was supposed to separate civil and military authorities. Dissatisfaction with the abuses of officials and the oppression of the Streltsy led to an uprising of the urban lower classes, supported by the Streltsy, in 1682.
Having received the basics of a secular education, Fyodor Alekseevich was an opponent of the intervention of the church and Patriarch Joachim in secular affairs. He established increased rates of collections from church estates, beginning a process that ended under Peter I with the liquidation of the patriarchate. During the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, construction was carried out not only of churches, but also of secular buildings (prikas, chambers), new gardens were laid out, and the first general sewer system of the Kremlin was created. Also, to spread knowledge, Fedor invited foreigners to teach in Moscow.
Politics of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich
In foreign policy, Tsar Fedor tried to return to Russia access to the Baltic Sea, which was lost during the Livonian War. However, the solution to this issue was hampered by the raids of the Crimean and Tatars and Turks from the south. Therefore, Fyodor Alekseevich’s major foreign policy action was the successful Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, which ended with the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty, which secured the unification of Left Bank Ukraine with Russia. Russia received Kyiv even earlier under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. During the war of 1676–1681, the Izyum serif line was created in the south of the country, later connected to the Belgorod line.
By decree of Tsar Fedor, the Zaikonospassky School was opened. Repressions against the Old Believers continued, in particular, Archpriest Avvakum, who, according to legend, allegedly predicted the imminent death of the king, was burned with his closest associates.
Fedor Alekseevich - family life
The king's private life was unhappy. The first marriage with Agafya Grushetskaya (1680) ended after 1 year, Queen Agafya died in childbirth along with Fyodor’s newborn son, Ilya. According to rumors, the queen had a strong influence on her husband; it was at her “suggestion” that men in Moscow began to cut their hair and shave their beards, and wear Polish kuntushas and sabers.
On February 14, 1682, Fyodor was married to Marfa Apraksina, the sister of the future associate of Peter I, Admiral Fyodor Matveevich Apraksin, but 2 months after the wedding, on April 27, 1682, the tsar suddenly died in Moscow at the age of 21, leaving no heir. His two brothers, Ivan and Peter Alekseevich, were proclaimed kings. Fyodor Alekseevich was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
The most important source on the history of the reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich is the Contemplation of the Years 7190, 7191 and 7192, which was compiled by the famous contemporary of the Tsar, writer Sylvester Medvedev.
Tsar Theodore III Alekseevich: born in 1661, anointed king in 1676, died in 1682. Alas, this man did not live long - only twenty years, but he managed to do a surprising amount. A historical stereotype has developed regarding the personality of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, which greatly distorts the image of a real person.
Tsar Feodor Alekseevich Romano in, thanks to the famous spiritual writer who taught him, he was a very well-read person for his time, knew Latin and Greek and took issues of, let’s say, public education very seriously.
However, Polotsky instilled in his pupil much of the Poles’ way of life. For example, Theodore was the first Russian to wear European dress and long hair, abolishing the custom of shaving his head.
The Emperor was in extremely poor health; the fact is that as a child he was seriously injured when he was run over by a sleigh, as a result of which his spine was apparently seriously damaged.
Family feuds
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, an avid hunter, often took his son with him to “amuse himself” (hunt). The prince almost always rode with his father in the same carriage, and along the way they would certainly stop by to venerate the relics and icons at one or another monastery or church.
On the night of January 29-30, 1676, Alexei Mikhailovich died, but three hours before his death he managed to declare Theodore, who was not yet fifteen, heir to the throne.
There were a lot of relatives who wanted to seize power and rule the country on behalf of the young king. The closest were the aunts - the sisters of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, six sisters of Theodora, one of whom was Princess Sophia, stepmother Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina - the last wife of the sovereign - with Tsarevich Peter and princesses Natalya and Theodora. But there were also numerous relatives of the tsar’s first wife - the Miloslavsky family, who did not at all want to give way to the Naryshkins. In such a very difficult situation, the 15-year-old sovereign, who, moreover, was not in good health, had to begin to reign.
Reforms
Historians claim that much of what Peter I later brought to life was prepared and started by his elder brother (half-brother) Feodor Alekseevich.
Very pious, he nevertheless built not only palace churches, but also secular buildings. If we look at the royal decrees and orders that were issued and given in the last two years of his life, we will see that they concerned the construction of more than fifty new facilities.
Moreover, the sovereign opposed Patriarch Joachim’s intentions to interfere in secular affairs, and at the same time increased the rates of collections from church estates. This process would later be carried to the absolute extreme by Peter I, who would abolish the patriarchate altogether.
Theodore loved nature and ordered the creation of gardens and flower beds in Moscow wastelands, and under him the first sewerage system in the Kremlin was built.
In 1681, the sovereign established voivodeships and local administrative administration, which became the forerunner of the provincial reform of Peter I.
And his main internal political reform radically changed the existing practice of receiving ranks in accordance with the place occupied by ancestors in the state apparatus - the so-called localism. Instead of rank books with lists of positions that were simply ordered to be destroyed, genealogical books were created in which the names of all noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Duma.
It was not Peter I, but Tsar Theodore who was the first to understand the need to disseminate knowledge and began to invite Europeans to Moscow who taught various sciences. After the death of the sovereign, in 1687, the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was established in the capital, but the project for its creation was developed under Theodore Alekseevich.
Meanwhile, the urban lower classes, including the archers, who later became the main participants in the Moscow uprising, were dissatisfied with the tsar’s reforms.
Victory
Tsar Theodore III Alekseevich tried to resolve the “Baltic issue”, that is, to return free access to the Baltic Sea to Russia. But a major victory awaited him in the south - the Russian-Turkish War of 1676-1681 ended with the victory of the Russians and the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty, which secured the reunification of Left Bank Ukraine with Russia in addition to Kyiv, which was annexed in 1678.
Under Theodore Alekseevich, the famous Izyum serif line was created, stretching for 400 miles and protecting the so-called Sloboda Ukraine from attacks by the Turks.
Personal life
During the 20 years of his life, Feodora Alekseevich managed to marry twice. At the age of 19, as one legend says, the sovereign noticed a girl during a religious procession and asked one of his closest associates to find out who she was. It turned out that this was Agafya Grushetskaya, the niece of the Duma clerk Zaborovsky. To comply with the custom, the tsar ordered possible candidates for the queen, including Grushetskaya, to be convened for a viewing.
Soon they got married. There is a version that the young wife was of Polish origin. She did not live long, dying on July 11, 1681, that is, three days after giving birth. Theodore took this tragedy seriously; he was not even able to attend the funeral, and then did not appear at funeral services for the entire fortieth day. Moreover, immediately after the mother’s funeral, the baby, Tsarevich Ilya, also died.
After grieving for six months, the tsar remarried the young seventeen-year-old Marfa Apraksina, although he was already quite ill and the doctors strongly dissuaded him from marriage. But the wedding took place on February 15, 1682.
Demise
On April 16, 1682, on Easter, Feodor Alekseevich made a ceremonial entrance to Matins at the Assumption Cathedral, after which he immediately fell ill. By the evening of April 27, he was gone.
During the funeral, the widow of the deceased and the heir were supposed to follow the coffin. Since there was no direct heir, Theodore’s ten-year-old brother Pyotr Alekseevich and his mother, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, walked.
The widow was carried to the Red Porch in the arms of first the steward, and then the nobles. Everyone was surprised that along with the elected Tsar Peter and his mother, Princess Sophia, the daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich from his marriage to Miloslavskaya, also came out.
Theodore did not have time to make orders regarding the heir to the throne, so this issue caused unrest. To calm everyone down, it was decided to crown two kings at the same time - the young brothers of Feodor Alekseevich - Ivan V (native) and Peter I (half-blood) under the regency of their older sister.
Theodore was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Politics of Fedor Alekseevich
Fyodor Alekseevich, having heard in 1679 from a monk who returned from a trip to the Holy Land about how Greek sciences had fallen, was inspired by the idea of establishing a school in Moscow to “plant and multiply” these same Greek sciences on Russian soil - a year later he signed a manifesto on the establishment of the academy and its charter; and soon the Typographic School began to operate in the Zaikonospassky Monastery, on the basis of which the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was subsequently created.
In the feud caused by the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich firmly took a position “above the fray” and gave a sharp rebuff to any attempts to somehow infringe on the rights of his half-brother Peter, whom he dearly loved. The young sovereign did not succumb to special influence, and expanded the boyar duma so that nothing too personal would play a big role in public administration. At the same time, he actively fought against localism, transformed the army according to the Western style, strengthened the southern borders of Russia by creating new defensive features and fortresses, which was more than relevant in the conditions of the difficult war he inherited from his father with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate.
Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich acted as a wise politician - as soon as he ascended the throne, he tried to negotiate with the Swedish king on the return to Russia of the northern lands that had originally belonged to it with access to the Baltic Sea. Later, the sovereign managed to decently, without any significant losses, end the war with Turkey.
Surprisingly: if we begin to objectively compare the great deeds of Peter I and the “small”, as it is considered, deeds of his elder brother, it turns out that almost all the fundamental transformations of the first Russian emperor have their source in the thoughts and undertakings of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, which were not continued and were completed for one single reason - the early death of their author.
And if Fyodor Alekseevich was unlucky with longevity, then let us at least not detract from what he managed to accomplish during his life, which was interrupted during takeoff.
Fyodor Alekseevich died in 1682 at the age of 21, losing the throne to his younger brothers (his own Ivan and his step-Peter). This period in the history of Russia is called. Ivan Alekseevich, who lived after that for another fourteen years, did not take part in the affairs of governing the state, and it so happened that it was the unusually energetic Peter Alekseevich who ultimately remained the sole ruler - and such that during the years of his reign he changed Russia beyond recognition, turning it into powerful empire.
Fedor III Alekseevich born May 30, 1661. Russian Tsar since 1676, from the Romanov dynasty, son of the Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and queens Maria Ilyinichna , elder brother of Tsar Ivan V and half-brother of Peter I. One of the most educated rulers of Russia.
Biography
Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov was born in Moscow on May 30, 1661. During the reign Alexey Mikhailovich
The question of succession to the throne arose more than once. The prince died at the age of sixteen Alexey Alekseevich
. The Tsar's second son Fedor was then nine years old. Fedor inherited the throne at the age of fourteen. They were crowned kings in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on June 18, 1676. His ideas about royal power were largely formed under the influence of one of the philosophers of that time, Simeon of Polotsk, who was the prince’s educator and spiritual mentor. Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov was well educated. He knew Latin well and spoke fluent Polish. His teacher was the famous theologian, scientist, writer and poet Simeon of Polotsk. Unfortunately, Fyodor Alekseevich was not in good health; he was weak and sickly from childhood. He ruled the country for only six years.
Good health to the king Fedor Alekseevich
bad luck. As a child, Fyodor Alekseevich was run over by sleighs, and he also suffered from scurvy. But God rewarded him with a clear mind, a bright soul and a kind heart. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, guessing that Fedor’s life would not be long, gave him, like other children, an excellent education, for which Simeon of Polotsk, a monk from White Russia, was responsible. Tsarevich Fyodor is credited with rhyming translations of psalms into Russian. Poetry for him could have become his life's work, but his business was different. September 1, 1674 Alexey Mikhailovich took his son to the Execution Ground and declared him heir to the throne. Fyodor Alekseevich made a speech, but his health did not allow him to pamper the public with his art for long. It was difficult for him to walk, stand, or sit. Boyar F. F. Kurakin and okolnichy I. B. Khitrovo, responsible for raising the heir, stood nearby. Before his death, the Tsar called Fedor, without a shadow of a doubt, handed the holy cross and scepter into his weak hands and said: “I bless you, son, for the kingdom!”
Tsar's reign and reforms
Part of the reignFedor Alekseevich The war with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate over Ukraine took place. Only in 1681 in Bakhchisarai the parties officially recognized the reunification with Russia, Left Bank Ukraine and Kyiv. Russia received Kyiv under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. In matters of internal government of the country, Fyodor Alekseevich is best known for two innovations. In 1681, a project was developed to create the subsequently famous Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Many figures of science, culture and politics came out of its walls. It was there in the 18th century. studied by the great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov. And in 1682 Boyar Duma abolished the so-called localism. In Russia, according to tradition, government and military people were appointed to various positions not in accordance with their merits, experience or abilities, but in accordance with the place that the ancestors of the appointed person occupied in the state apparatus. The son of a man who once occupied a lower position could never become superior to the son of an official who at one time occupied a higher position, regardless of any merit. This state of affairs irritated many and interfered with the effective management of the state.
The short reign of Fyodor Alekseevich was marked by important actions and reforms. In 1678, a general population census was carried out, and in 1679, direct household taxes were introduced, which increased tax oppression. In military affairs, in 1682, the paralyzing local leadership in the army was abolished, and in connection with this, rank books were burned. This put an end to the dangerous custom of boyars and nobles to consider the merits of their ancestors when taking up a position. To preserve the memory of ancestors, genealogical books were introduced. In order to centralize public administration, some related orders were combined under the leadership of one person. The regiments of the foreign system received a new development.
The main internal political reform was the abolition of localism at the “extraordinary sitting” of the Zemsky Sobor on January 12, 1682 - the rules according to which everyone received ranks in accordance with the place occupied in the state apparatus by the ancestors of the appointee. At the same time, rank books with lists of positions were burned as the “main culprits” of local disputes and claims. Instead of the ranks, it was ordered to create a Genealogical Book. All well-born and noble people were included in it, but without indicating their place in the Duma.
Foreign policy of Fedor Alekseevich
In foreign policy, he tried to return to Russia access to the Baltic Sea, lost during the Livonian War. Much more attention than Alexey Mikhailovich paid to the regiments of the “new system”, staffed and trained in the Western style. However, the solution to the “Baltic problem” was hampered by the raids of the Crimean and Tatars and Turks from the south. Therefore, Fedor’s major foreign policy action was the successful Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, which ended with the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty, which secured the unification of Left Bank Ukraine with Russia. Russia received Kyiv even earlier under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. During the war of 1676-1681 in the south of the country, the Izyum serif line (400 versts) was created, connected to the Belgorod line.
Internal management
In matters of internal government of the country Fedor Alekseevich left a mark on Russian history with two innovations. In 1681, a project was developed to create the subsequently famous, Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy
, which opened after the death of the king. It was here that the Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov studied in the 18th century. Moreover, representatives of all classes were to be allowed to study at the academy, and scholarships were awarded to the poor. The king was going to transfer the entire palace library to the academy. Patriarch Joachim was categorically against the opening of the academy; he was generally against secular education in Russia. The king tried to defend his decision. Fyodor Alekseevich ordered the construction of special shelters for orphans and teaching them various sciences and crafts. The sovereign wanted to place all the disabled in almshouses, which he built at his own expense. In 1682, the Boyar Duma abolished the so-called localism once and for all. According to the tradition that existed in Russia, government and military people were appointed to various positions not in accordance with their merits, experience or abilities, but in accordance with localism, that is, with the place that the ancestors of the appointee occupied in the state apparatus.
Russo-Turkish War
In the 1670s there was Russo-Turkish War, which was caused by Turkey’s desire to subjugate Left Bank Ukraine. In 1681, the Treaty of Bucharest was concluded between Russia and Turkey, according to which the border between these countries was established along the Dnieper. The cities of Kyiv, Vasilkov, Trypillya, Stayki, located in the Dnieper Right Bank, remained with Russia. Russians received the right to fish in the Dnieper, as well as to mine salt and hunt in the lands adjacent to the Dnieper. During this war, the Izyum serif line, about 400 miles long, was created in the south of the country, which protected Slobodskaya Ukraine from attacks by the Turks and Tatars. Later, this defensive line was continued and connected to the Belgorod abatis line.
Wedding and first wife of Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov
In the summer of 1680 the king Fedor Alekseevich I saw a girl at the religious procession whom he liked. He instructed Yazykov to find out who she was, and Yazykov told him that she was the daughter Semyon Fedorovich Grushetsky, by name Agafya. The Tsar, without violating his grandfather’s customs, ordered a crowd of girls to be called together and chose Agafya from among them. Boyar Miloslavsky tried to upset this marriage by blackening the royal bride, but did not achieve his goal and he himself lost influence at court. On July 18, 1680, the king married her. The new queen was of humble birth and, as they say, was Polish by origin. At the Moscow court, Polish customs began to be introduced, they began to wear kuntushas, cut their hair in Polish and learn the Polish language. The Tsar himself, raised by Simeon Sitiyanovich, knew Polish and read Polish books.
But soon, amid the worries of the government, the queen died Agafya
(July 14, 1681) from childbirth, and behind her a newborn baby, baptized under the name of Elijah.
Second wedding of the king
Meanwhile, the king weakened day by day, but his neighbors supported him with hope for recovery, and he entered into a new marriage with Marfa Matveevna Apraksina, a relative of Yazykov. The first consequence of this union was Matveev's forgiveness.
The exiled boyar wrote petitions to the tsar from exile several times, justifying himself from the false accusations brought against him, asked for the patriarch's petition, turned to various boyars and even to his enemies. As a relief, Matveev was transferred to Mezen with his son, with his son’s teacher, the nobleman Poborsky, and servants, up to 30 people in total, and they gave him 156 rubles in salary, and, in addition, they released grain grain, rye, oats, and barley. But this did little to ease his fate. Begging the sovereign again to grant him freedom, Matveev wrote that in this way “we will have three money a day for your slaves and our orphans...” “Church opponents,” Matveev wrote in the same letter, “Avakum’s wife and children receive a penny each.” per person, and small ones are three money each, and we, your slaves, are not opponents of either the church or your royal command.” However, the Mezen governor Tukhachevsky loved Matveev and tried in every way he could to alleviate the fate of the exiled boyar. The main disadvantage was that it was difficult to get bread in Mezen. The inhabitants ate game and fish, which were in great abundance there, but due to the lack of bread, scurvy raged there. In January 1682, as soon as the tsar announced Marfa Apraksina as his bride, the captain of the stirrup regiment Ivan Lishukov was sent to Mezen with a decree to announce to the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev and his son that the sovereign, recognizing their innocence, ordered them to be returned from exile and the court returned to them. in Moscow, Moscow region and other estates and belongings left behind by distribution and sale; granted them the estate of the palace villages of Upper Landeh and the villages and ordered them to freely release the boyar and his son to the city of Lukh, giving them road and pit carts, and in Lukh to wait for a new royal decree. Matveev owed this favor to the request of the royal bride, who was his goddaughter. Although the tsar announced that he recognized Matveev as completely innocent and falsely slandered, although before Matveev’s release he ordered one of his slanderers, doctor David Berlov, to be sent into exile, but did not dare, however, return the boyar to Moscow - obviously, the tsar’s sisters, who hated Matveev, interfered , and the young queen did not yet have enough strength to lead the king to such an act that would irritate the princesses to the extreme. Nevertheless, the young queen in a short time acquired so much power that she reconciled the tsar with Natalya Kirillovna and Tsarevich Peter, with whom, according to a contemporary, he had “indomitable disagreements.” But the king did not have to live with his young wife for long. A little over two months after his wedding, on April 27, 1682, he died, not yet 21 years old.
Marriage and children
Wives:
1) from July 18, 1680 Agafia Semyonovna Grushetskaya(died July 14, 1681);
2) from February 15, 1682 Marfa Matveevna Apraksina(died Dec. 31, 1715). + Apr 27 1682
Having become king, Fyodor elevated his favorites - bed servant Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov and room steward Alexei Timofeevich Likhachev. These were humble people, they arranged the marriage of the king. They say that Fedor saw a girl whom he really liked. He instructed Yazykov to inquire about her, and he reported that she was Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya, the niece of the Duma clerk Zaborovsky. The clerk was told not to marry his niece until the decree, and soon Fyodor married her. All five sons of Alexei Mikhailovich, born to him by his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, were weak and sickly people. Three died during their father’s lifetime, and the youngest, Ivan, added mental underdevelopment to physical weakness. The eldest, Fyodor, suffered from severe scurvy, could hardly walk, leaning on a stick, and was forced to spend most of his time in the palace. He received a sufficient education: he spoke Polish well, knew Latin, learned to fold verses, and even helped his mentor Simeon of Polotsk translate psalms. Being 14 years old, in 1674 Fedor was solemnly declared heir to the throne, and just two years later he was supposed to take the place of the suddenly deceased Alexei Mikhailovich.
Death of the King
The last months of the tsar's life were overshadowed by great grief: his wife, whom he married for love against the advice of the boyars, died from childbirth. The newborn heir also died along with his mother. When it became obvious that Fedor Alekseevich will not live long, yesterday's favorites began to seek friendship from the king's younger brothers and their relatives. After the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, both brothers ascended the throne - Ivan And Peter. Ivan Alekseevich was a sickly person and could not actively help his younger brother, but always supported him. And Peter I was able to create the Russian Empire from the Moscow State.
Russian Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov was born on June 9 (May 30, old style) 1661 in Moscow. The son of the Tsar and Maria Ilyinichna, the daughter of the boyar Ilya Miloslavsky, was not in good health, and was weak and sickly from childhood.
On June 18, 1676, Fyodor Alekseevich was crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin.
His ideas about royal power were largely formed under the influence of one of the talented philosophers of that time, Simeon of Polotsk, who was the educator and spiritual mentor of the young man. Fyodor Alekseevich was well educated, knew Latin, Ancient Greek and spoke fluent Polish. He was interested in music, especially singing.
Much of what Peter I did later was prepared or begun during the short reign of his elder brother Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682).
In 1678, the government conducted a population census and canceled the decree of Alexei Mikhailovich on the non-extradition of fugitives who had signed up for military service. In 1679, household taxation was introduced - the first step towards the poll tax of Peter I (this immediately replenished the treasury, but increased serfdom).
In 1679-1680, an attempt was made to soften criminal penalties in a Western manner. A law was passed prohibiting self-harm.
Thanks to the construction of defensive structures in the south of Russia (Wild Field), it became possible to widely allocate estates and estates to nobles who sought to increase their land holdings.
In 1681, voivodeship and local administrative administration was introduced - an important preparatory measure for the provincial reform of Peter I.
The main internal political reform was the abolition of localism at the “extraordinary sitting” of the Zemsky Sobor on January 12, 1682 - the rules according to which everyone received ranks in accordance with the place that his ancestors occupied in the state apparatus. This state of affairs did not suit many people and, moreover, interfered with the effective management of the state. At the same time, rank books with lists of positions were burned. In return, they were ordered to create genealogical books in which all noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Duma.
Fyodor, who received the basics of secular education, was opposed to the intervention of the church and Patriarch Joachim in secular affairs, and established increased rates of collections from church estates, thereby beginning a process that ended under Peter I with the liquidation of the patriarchate.
During the reign of Fedor, construction was carried out not only of palace churches, but also of secular buildings (prikas, chambers), new gardens were laid out, and the first general sewage system of the Kremlin was created. The personal orders of Fyodor Alekseevich for the years 1681-1682 contain decrees on the construction of 55 different objects in Moscow and palace villages.
Young beggars were sent from Moscow to “Ukrainian cities” or monasteries to perform various jobs or learn crafts (once they reached the age of 20, they were enrolled in service or tax duty). Fyodor Alekseevich’s intention to build yards for “beggarly children” where they would be taught a craft was never realized.
Understanding the need to spread knowledge, the Tsar invited foreigners to teach in Moscow. In 1681, a project was developed to create a Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, although the academy itself was established later, in 1687.
The reforms affected wide sections of different classes, which caused an aggravation of social contradictions. The discontent of the urban lower classes (including the Streltsy) led to the Moscow Uprising of 1682.
In foreign policy, Fyodor Alekseevich tried to return to Russia access to the Baltic Sea, lost during the Livonian War. He paid much more attention than Alexey Mikhailovich to the regiments of the “new system”, staffed and trained in the Western manner. However, the solution to the “Baltic problem” was hampered by the raids of the Crimean Tatars and Turks from the south. Fyodor Alekseevich’s major foreign policy action was the successful Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, which ended with the Bakhchisarai Peace Treaty, which secured the unification of Left Bank Ukraine with Russia.
Russia received Kyiv even earlier under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. During the war, the Izyum serif line, about 400 versts long, was created in the south of the country, which protected Slobodskaya Ukraine from attacks by the Turks and Tatars. Later, this defensive line was continued and connected to the Belgorod abatis line.
On May 7 (April 27, old style), 1682, Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov died suddenly in Moscow, leaving no heir. Fedor was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. His two brothers, Ivan and Peter Alekseevich, were proclaimed kings.
In July 1680, the Tsar entered into a marriage with Agafya Grushetskaya, which lasted about a year, the Tsarina died in childbirth, and the newborn son Fyodor also died.
In February 1682, the tsar married Marfa Apraksina, the marriage lasted just over two months, until the death of Fyodor Alekseevich.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
Fedor Alekseevich
(1661 - 1682)
“The history of Fyodor can be looked at as a transition from the great deeds of Alexei Mikhailovich to the transformations carried out by Peter the Great: history should fairly judge every sovereign and note with gratitude how much has already been prepared by the father and brother of Peter the Great”
Miller R. F. “Brief historical sketch
reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich."
Reigned 1676-1682
Fyodor Alekseevich, the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, was born in Moscow on May 30, 1661.
During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the question of inheriting the throne arose more than once. Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich died at the age of sixteen. The Tsar's second son Fedor was nine years old at the time and was not in good health.
Fyodor inherited the throne at the age of fourteen, and was crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on June 18, 1676. Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov was well educated. He knew Latin well and spoke fluent Polish. The educator, teacher and spiritual mentor of the prince was the famous theologian, talented philosopher of that time, scientist, writer and poet Simeon of Polotsk. Fyodor Alekseevich's ideas about royal power were largely formed under his influence. Unfortunately, Fyodor Alekseevich was not in good health; he was weak and sickly from childhood. Fyodor Alekseevich ascended the throne in 1676, and the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev was appointed ruler of the state. Matveev's attempt to depose Fedor ended in his exile to Pustozersk.
Fyodor Alekseevich was in very poor health and always walked leaning on a stick. At receptions in the Kremlin for foreign ambassadors, he could not even remove the royal crown from his head without outside help. In addition to general weakness of the body, he suffered from scurvy. During his reign there was a fierce struggle between the Miloslavsky and Naryshkin parties. The Miloslavskys, through intrigue, managed to remove the Naryshkins from the court.
Under Fyodor Alekseevich, Polish cultural influence was also strongly felt in Moscow. He ruled the country for only six years. Part of this time was occupied by the war with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate over Ukraine. Only in 1681 in Bakhchisarai the parties officially recognized the reunification with Russia, Left Bank Ukraine and Kyiv. (Russia received Kyiv under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh).
In matters of internal government of the country, Fyodor Alekseevich is best known for two innovations. In 1681, a project was developed to create the subsequently famous, and then the first in Moscow, Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Many figures of science, culture and politics came out of its walls. It was there in the 18th century. studied by the great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov.
And in 1682, the Boyar Duma once and for all abolished the so-called localism. The fact is that, according to the tradition that existed in Russia, government and military people were appointed to various positions not in accordance with their merits, experience or abilities, but in accordance with localism, that is, with the place that the ancestors of the appointed person occupied in the state apparatus. The son of a man who once occupied a lower position could never become superior to the son of an official who at one time occupied a higher position, regardless of any merit. This state of affairs irritated many and, moreover, interfered with the effective management of the state.
At the request of Fyodor Alekseevich, on January 12, 1682, the Boyar Duma abolished localism, and the rank books in which “ranks” were recorded, that is, positions, were burned. Instead, all the old boyar families were rewritten into special genealogies so that their merits would not be forgotten by their descendants.
The last months of the tsar's life were overshadowed by great grief: his wife, whom he married for love against the advice of the boyars, died from childbirth.
Fyodor Alekseevich did not leave offspring from any of his spouses. The tsar's first wife was a girl of humble birth - Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya, who a year after the wedding died at the birth of her son, Tsarevich Ilya, who outlived his mother by 3 days. In February 1682, the tsar entered into a second marriage with Marfa Matveevna Apraksina. When it became obvious that Fyodor Alekseevich would not live long, yesterday’s favorites began to seek friendship from the Tsar’s younger brothers and their relatives.
Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov died on April 27, 1682 at the age of 22, not only without leaving a direct heir to the throne, but also without naming his successor. He is buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
The death of Fyodor Alekseevich immediately opened up a fierce struggle for power between the court parties - the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins.
“Reign Fedor for another 10-15 years and leave behind your son. Western culture would flow to us from Rome, not from Amsterdam.”
Klyuchevsky V. O. Letters. Diaries.
QUESTIONNAIRE
- the level of education
elementary literacy, languages, rhetoric, poetics, history and theology, church singing. Guys-educators: boyar F.F. Kurakin, Duma nobleman I.B. Khitrovo. Teachers: clerk P. T. Belyaninov, later S. Polotsky.
- Foreign language skills
Latin, Polish
- Political Views
A supporter of the absolute power of the Tsar and his entourage, a desire to weaken the Boyar Duma and the power of the Patriarch.
- wars and results
With Turkey 1676-1681 against Turkish aggression in Ukraine. Turkey's recognition of Russia's rights to Ukraine.
- reforms and counter-reforms
The introduction of a new direct tax (streltsy money) instead of numerous fees, a household tax distribution, a new structure for the organization of military forces, strengthening the power of local governors, and the abolition of localism.
- cultural endeavors
organization of a school at the Printing Yard, an attempt to create schools of general and industrial training at almshouses, preparation of an “academic privilege,” creation of the “UPPER” (palace printing house).
- correspondents (correspondence)
With S. Medvedev, Patr. Joachim and others.
- travel geography
pilgrimage trips to monasteries close to Moscow.
- leisure, entertainment, habits:
paid a lot of attention to clothing, wore and introduced Western caftans and hairstyles into court use. He loved to look at horses that were specially trained in various “tricks”. He spent a lot of time talking with old people and listening to storytellers.
- sense of humor
There is no information about a sense of humor.
- appearance
tall and thin, with long hair. Mustacheless face. The eyes are a little swollen.
- temperament
melancholic and soft, but decisive in certain situations.
Literature
1. Bestuzheva-Lada S. Forgotten Tsar// Change. - 2013. - N 2. - P. 4-21: photo.
Fyodor Alekseevich ascended the throne at the age of fifteen. He was power-hungry, but possessed inner nobility, a trait that not all Russian sovereigns could boast of. The king's passion was war games and construction. Fyodor Alekseevich died at the age of 22.
2. Geller M. Waiting for Peter// History of the Russian Empire: in 2 volumes / M. Geller. - M., 2001. - T. 1. - P. 382-393.
Reforms, the struggle for power after the death of Fyodor Alekseevich.
3. Kushaev N. A. Education and upbringing of Russian sovereigns: (essay)// Art and education. - 2004. - N 5. - P. 63-81.
How the tsars, including Fyodor Alekseevich, were educated and brought up.
4. Perkhavko V. Enlightener Simeon of Polotsk// Historical magazine. - 2009. - N 9. - P. 18-31.
The life and work of the educator Simeon of Polotsk, teacher and educator of the princes, including Fyodor.
5. Platonov S. F. The time of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682)// Complete course of lectures on Russian history / S. F. Platonov. - M., 2001. - P. 456-461.
6. Sedov P.V. Construction in Moscow under Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich// National history. - 1998. - N 6. - P. 150-158.
Moscow architecture of the 17th century.
7. Fedor Alekseevich // Russian royal and imperial house: [essays on the life and activities of Russian tsars and emperors] / ed. V. P. Butromeeva, V. V. Butromeeva. - M., 2011. - P. 103-106: ill.
Main events in the life of the king.
8. Tsareva T. B. Uniforms, weapons, awards of the Russian Empire: From Mikhail Romanov to Nicholas II: an illustrated encyclopedia. - Moscow: Eksmo, 2008. - 271 p. : ill.
9. The reign of Fyodor Alekseevich and the reign of Princess Sophia// Three centuries: Russia from the Time of Troubles to our time: historical collection. In 6 volumes / ed. V. V. Kallash. - Moscow, 1991. - T. 2. - P. 140-200.
The fate of the dynasty, foreign and domestic policy of Russia.
10. Shcherbakov S. N. State activities of Prince Yu. A. Dolgorukov during the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich// History of state and law. - 2008. - N 1. - P. 30-32.
Prince Yu. A. Dolgorukov was appointed guardian of the young Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich.
11. Yablochkov M. Reign of Fyodor Alekseevich (1676-1682)// History of the nobility in Russia / M. Yablochkov. - Smolensk, 2003. - Ch. XIII. - P. 302-312.
Prepared by:
T. M. Kozienko, S. A. Alexandrova.