In March 1584, one of the most merciless rulers of the Russian state, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, died after a serious illness. Ironically, his heir turned out to be the complete opposite of his tyrant father. He was a meek, pious man and suffered from dementia, for which he even received the nickname Blessed...
A blissful smile never left his face, and in general, although he was distinguished by extreme simplicity and dementia, he was very affectionate, quiet, merciful and pious. He spent most of the day in church, and for entertainment he liked to watch fist fights, the fun of jesters and fun with bears...
Born for the cell
Fedor was the third son of Ivan the Terrible. He was born on May 11, 1557, and on this day the happy king ordered the foundation of a temple in the Feodorovsky monastery of Pereslavl-Zalessky in honor of the heavenly patron of the son of St. Theodore Stratilates.
It soon became clear that the boy, as they say, “is not of this world.” Looking at his growing son, Ivan the Terrible even once remarked:
- He was born more for a cell and a cave than for sovereign power.
Fyodor was short, plump, weak, pale-faced, with an uncertain gait and a blissful smile constantly wandering on his face.
Tsar Feodor I Ioannovich
In 1580, when the prince was 23 years old, Ivan IV decided to marry him. At that time, brides for royalty were chosen at special bridesmaids, for which girls from the most noble families came to the capital from all over the state.
In the case of Fedor, this tradition was broken. Grozny personally chose his wife - Irina, the sister of his favorite former guardsman Boris Godunov. However, the marriage turned out to be happy, since Fyodor adored his wife until his death.
The only contender
Despite the fact that Fyodor was completely unsuited to become the head of state, after the death of Ivan the Terrible he turned out to be the only contender for the throne. The Tsar's two sons, Dmitry and Vasily, died in infancy.
A worthy successor to Ivan the Terrible could be his second son, his father’s namesake, Tsarevich Ivan, who helped his father rule and took part in military campaigns with him. But he unexpectedly died three years before the death of Ivan IV, leaving no offspring. There were rumors that the king killed him in anger, without meaning to.
Another son, who, like the one who died in infancy, was named Dmitry, was not even two years old at the time of the death of Ivan the Terrible; of course, he could not yet take over the state. There was nothing left but to place the 27-year-old blessed Feodor on the throne.
Realizing that his son was not capable of ruling, Ivan the Terrible, before his death, managed to appoint a regency council to govern the state. It included the Terrible’s cousin Prince Ivan Mstislavsky, the famous military leader Prince Ivan Shuisky, the Tsar’s favorite Bogdan Belsky, as well as Nikita Zakharyin-Yuryev, the brother of the first wife of Ivan IV.
However, there was one more person, although he was not included in the number of regents of the new blessed king, but also thirsted for power - Boris Godunov.
Power of the council
The reign of the regency council began with repression. Ivan the Terrible died on March 18, 1584, and the very next night the Supreme Duma dealt with all the former royal confidants who were objectionable to the new government: some were put in prison, others were expelled from Moscow.
Meanwhile, a rumor spread throughout the capital that Ivan the Terrible did not die a natural death. It was rumored that he was poisoned by Bogdan Belsky! Now the villain, being the regent of Fedor, wants to kill his son in order to place his best friend, 32-year-old Boris Godunov, on the throne.
Portrait of Boris Godunov
A rebellion broke out in Moscow. It got to the point that the rioters laid siege to the Kremlin and even brought up cannons, intending to take it by storm.
- Give us the villain Belsky! - the people demanded.
The nobles knew that Belsky was innocent, however, in order to avoid bloodshed, they convinced the “traitor” to leave Moscow. When the people were informed that the criminal had been expelled from the capital, the riot stopped. Nobody demanded Godunov's head. Of course, he was the brother of the queen herself!
Fyodor was horrified at the sight of the popular uprising. He looked for support and found it - next to him was Boris, the brother of his beloved wife Irina, who, without any malicious intent, contributed to his friendship with the young tsar. Soon Boris became perhaps the main figure in the state.
"Man of God"
On May 31, 1584, as soon as the six-week prayer service for the repose of the soul of Ivan IV ended, Fyodor’s crowning ceremony took place. On this day, at dawn, a terrible storm with a thunderstorm suddenly hit Moscow, after which the sun suddenly began to shine again. Many regarded this as a “foreshadowing of disasters to come.”
The regency council appointed by Ivan the Terrible was not in power for long. Soon after the flight of the first regent Belsky, Nikita Zakharyin-Yuryev became seriously ill. He retired and died a year later. The third regent, Prince Ivan Mstislavsky, contacted the conspirators dissatisfied with the rise of Godunov.
Alexey Kivshenko “Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich puts a gold chain on Boris Godunov.” 19th century painting
Mstislavsky agreed to lure Boris into a trap: invite him to a feast, but in fact bring him to the hired killers. But only the conspiracy was revealed, and Prince Mstislavsky was exiled to a monastery, where he was forcibly tonsured a monk.
So, of the regents appointed by Ivan IV, only one remained - Prince Ivan Shuisky. However, he did not have much power. By that time, everyone understood that only Godunov, who was already openly called the ruler, was at the head of the state.
What about the king? The ascension to the throne did not in any way affect Fedor’s attitude towards state affairs. He “avoided worldly vanity and boredom,” relying entirely on Godunov. If someone addressed a petition directly to the tsar, he sent the petitioner to the same Boris.
Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. Sculptural reconstruction based on the skull.
The sovereign himself spent time in prayer, walked around monasteries, and received only monks. Fyodor loved the ringing of bells and was sometimes seen personally ringing the bell tower.
At times, Fedor’s character still showed his father’s traits - despite his piety, he liked to watch bloody games: he loved to watch fist fights and fights between people and bears. However, the people loved their blessed king, because the weak-minded in Rus' were considered sinless, “people of God.”
Childless Irina
The years passed, and in the capital hatred of Godunov, who usurped power, grew more and more.
– Boris left Fedor only the title of Tsar! - both the nobility and ordinary citizens grumbled.
It was clear to everyone that Godunov occupied such a high position only thanks to his relationship with the tsar’s wife.
“We’ll remove my sister and remove my brother,” Boris’s opponents decided.
Moreover, Irina herself did not suit many people. After all, she did not sit in the mansion with folded arms, as befits a queen, but like her brother, she was involved in state affairs: she received ambassadors, corresponded with foreign monarchs, and even participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma.
However, Irina had a serious drawback - she could not give birth. Over the years of marriage, she became pregnant several times, but was never able to bear a child. The opponents of the Godunovs decided to use this fact.
The wife of the quietest and most humble Russian Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, Tsarina Irina Fedorovna Godunova.
In 1586, a petition was delivered to the palace: “ Sovereign, for the sake of childbearing, accept a second marriage, and release your first queen to the monastic rank" This document was signed by many boyars, merchants, civil and military officials. They asked to send childless Irina to a monastery, as his father had done with one of his childless wives.
The Moscow nobles even chose a new bride for the tsar - the daughter of Prince Ivan Mstislavsky, the same regent whom Godunov exiled to a monastery. However, Fedor flatly refused to part with his beloved wife.
Godunov was furious at this news. He quickly revealed the names of those who were up to no good. As it turned out, the conspiracy was led by the last of the royal regents, Prince Ivan Shuisky, as well as his relatives and friends. As a result, not Irina, but her opponents were forcibly sent to the monastery.
The end of the line
Meanwhile, another heir of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dmitry, was growing up in Uglich. It was he who should have taken power if Fyodor never had children.
And suddenly in 1591 a tragedy occurred. Eight-year-old Dmitry played “poke” with his friends - they threw a sharp nail at a distance from behind the line into the ground. As eyewitnesses later claimed, when it was the prince’s turn, he had an epileptic attack and accidentally hit himself in the throat with a nail. The wound turned out to be fatal.
Since then, Fedor remained the last in the family. And since he refused to accept another woman besides Irina, all the state’s hope was in her. A year after the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, she still managed to give birth to a child, though not an heir, but an heiress.
The granddaughter of Ivan IV was named Feodosia. However, she did not live very long. Blessed Fyodor never had any other children. Therefore, when at the end of 1597 the 40-year-old tsar became seriously ill and died in January of the following year, along with his departure the famous line of Moscow rulers was interrupted.
Thus ended the rule of the Rurik dynasty, which ruled Rus' for 736 years.
Oleg GOROSOV
The Rurikovichs are the descendants of Rurik, who became the first known chronicle prince of ancient Rus'. Over time, the Rurik family split into several branches.
The birth of a dynasty
The Tale of Bygone Years, written by the monk Nestor, tells the story of the calling of Rurik and his brothers to Rus'. The sons of the Novgorod prince Gostomysl died in the wars, and he married one of his daughters to a Varangian-Russian, who gave birth to three sons - Sineus, Rurik and Truvor. They were called by Gostomysl to reign in Rus'. It was with them that the Rurik dynasty began in 862, which reigned in Rus' until 1598.
The first princes
In 879, the summoned prince Rurik died, leaving a young son Igor. While he was growing up, the principality was ruled by Oleg, a relative of the prince through his wife. He conquered the entire Principality of Kiev, and also built diplomatic relations with Byzantium. After Oleg's death in 912, Igor began to reign until he died in 945, leaving two heirs - Gleb and Svyatoslav. However, the eldest (Svyatoslav) was a three-year-old child, and therefore his mother, Princess Olga, took the reign into her own hands.
Having become a ruler, Svyatoslav was more interested in military campaigns and in one of them he was killed in 972. Svyatoslav left three sons: Yaropolk, Oleg and Vladimir. Yaropolk killed Oleg for the sake of autocracy, while Vladimir first fled to Europe, but later returned, killed Yaropolk and became ruler. It was he who baptized the people of Kiev in 988 and built many cathedrals. He reigned until 1015 and left behind 11 sons. After Vladimir, Yaropolk began to reign, who killed his brothers, and after him Yaroslav the Wise.
Yaroslavichy
Yaroslav the Wise reigned in total from 1015 to 1054 (including breaks). When he died, the unity of the principality was disrupted. His sons divided Kievan Rus into parts: Svyatoslav received Chernigov, Izyaslav - Kyiv and Novgorod, Vsevolod - Pereyaslavl and the Rostov-Suzdal land. The latter, and subsequently his son Vladimir Monomakh, significantly expanded the acquired lands. After the death of Vladimir Monomakh, the disintegration of the unity of the principality was finally established, each part of which was ruled by a separate dynasty.
Rus' is specific
Feudal fragmentation is growing due to the laddered right of succession to the throne, according to which power was transferred by seniority to the prince's brothers, while the younger ones were given to them in cities of lesser importance. After the death of the main prince, everyone moved according to seniority from city to city. This order led to internecine wars. The most powerful princes launched a war for Kyiv. The power of Vladimir Monomakh and his descendants turned out to be the most influential. Vladimir Monomakh leaves his possessions to three sons: Mstislav, Yaropolk and Yuri Dolgoruky. The latter is considered the founder of Moscow.
The fight between Moscow and Tver
One of the famous descendants of Yuri Dolgoruky was Alexander Nevsky, under whom an independent Moscow principality arose. In an effort to increase their influence, the descendants of Nevsky begin a fight with Tver. During the reign of the descendant of Alexander Nevsky, the Moscow Principality became one of the main centers of the unification of Rus', but the Tver Principality remained outside of its influence.
Creation of the Russian State
After the death of Dmitry Donskoy, power passes to his son Vasily I, who managed to preserve the greatness of the principality. After his death, a dynastic struggle for power begins. However, under the reign of Dmitry Donskoy's descendant Ivan III, the Horde yoke ends and the Principality of Moscow plays a decisive role in this. Under Ivan III, the process of forming a unified Russian state was completed. In 1478, he appropriated the title “Sovereign of All Rus'”.
The Last Rurikovichs
The last representatives of the Rurik dynasty in power were Ivan the Terrible and his son Fyodor Ivanovich. The latter was not a ruler by nature, and therefore, after the death of Ivan the Terrible, the state was essentially ruled by the Boyar Duma. In 1591, Dmitry, another son of Ivan the Terrible, dies. Dmitry was the last contender for the Russian throne, since Fyodor Ivanovich had no children. In 1598, Fyodor Ivanovich also died, with whom the dynasty of the first Russian rulers, who had been in power for 736 years, was interrupted.
The article mentions only the main and most prominent representatives of the dynasty, but in fact there were much more descendants of Rurik. The Rurikovichs made an invaluable contribution to the development of the Russian state.
Rurikovich.
862 –1598
Kyiv princes.
Rurik
862 – 879
IX century – formation of the Old Russian state.
Oleg
879 – 912
882 - unification of Novgorod and Kyiv.
907, 911 – campaigns against Constantinople (Constantinople); signing a treaty between Rus' and the Greeks.
Igor
912 – 945
941, 944 - Igor's campaigns against Byzantium. /the first one is unsuccessful/
945 - Treaty between Rus' and the Greeks. /not as profitable as Oleg/
Olga
945 –957 (964)
/regetsha of the young prince Svyatoslav/
945 - an uprising in the land of the Drevlyans. Introduction of lessons and graveyards.
Svyatoslav
I957 –972.
964 – 966 - defeat of the Kama Bulgarians, Khazars, Yases, Kosogs. The annexation of Tmutarakan and Kerch, a trade route to the East was opened.
967 – 971 - war with Byzantium.
969 - appointment of his sons as governors: Yaropolk in Kyiv, Oleg in Iskorosten, Vladimir in Novgorod.
Yaropolk
972 – 980
977 - the death of Prince Oleg in the struggle with his brother Yaropolk for leadership in Rus', the flight of Prince Vladimir to the Varangians.
978 - victory of Yaropolk over the Pechenegs.
980g. - Defeat of Yaropolk in the battle with Prince Vladimir. Murder of Yaropolk.
VladimirISaint
980 – 1015
980g. – pagan reform /unified pantheon of gods/.
988 –989 - adoption of Christianity in Rus'.
992, 995 - battles with the Pechenegs.
Svyatopolk the Accursed
1015 - 1019
1015 - the beginning of strife between the sons of Vladimir. The murder of the young princes Boris and Gleb on the orders of Svyatopolk.
1016 - the battle of the princes of the skiatopolk and Yaroslav near Lyubich. Flight of Svyatopolk to Poland.
1018 – return of Svyatopolk to Kyiv. Flight of Yaroslav to Novgorod.
1018 – 1019 -war between Yaroslav and Svyatopolk.
Yaroslav the Wise
1019 –1054
Beginning XI century - compilation of the “Russian Truth” (Yaroslav’s Truth), which consisted of 17 articles (according to academician B.A. Rybakov, this was an instruction on fines for scandals and fights).
1024 - the battle between Yaroslav and his brother Mstislav Listven for control over all territories of Rus'.
1025g. - division of the Russian state along the Dnieper. Mstislav is the eastern, and Yaroslav is the western part of the state.
1035 - death of Mstislav Vladimirovich. Transfer of his inheritance to Yaroslav.
1036 – formation of the Kyiv Metropolis
1037 – the beginning of construction of the Church of St. Sophia in Kyiv.
1043 - Vladimir Yaroslavich’s unsuccessful campaign against Byzantium.
1045 - the beginning of construction of the Church of St. Sophia in Novgorod.
IzyaslavIYaroslavich
1054 – 1073, 1076 – 1078
1068 - defeat of the Yaroslavichs on the river. Alte from the Polovtsians.
1068 – 1072 – popular uprisings in Kyiv, Novgorod, Rostov-Suzdal and Chernigov lands. Supplementation of “Russian Pravda” with “Pravda Yaroslavichs”.
Svyatoslav
II 1073 –1076gg.
Vsevolod
1078 – 1093
1079 - speech of the Tmutarakan prince Roman Svyatoslavich against Vsevolod Yaroslavich.
SvyatopolkIIIzyaslavich
1093 – 1113
1093 - the devastation of Southern Rus' by the Polovtsians.
1097 - Congress of Russian princes in Lyubich.
1103 - defeat of the Polovtsians by Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh.
1113 – the death of Svyatopolk II, the uprising of townspeople, smerds and purchases in Kyiv.
Vladimir Monomakh
1113 – 1125
1113 – addition of “Russkaya Pravda” to the “Charter” of Prince Vladimir Monomakh on “purchases” /debtors/ and “cuts” /interest/.
1113 –1117 - writing “The Tale of Bygone Years.”
1116 - the campaign of Vladimir Monomakh with the sons of the Polovtsians.
Mstislav the Great
1125 – 1132
1127 – 1130 - Mstislav’s struggle with the Polotsk appanage princes. Their exile to Byzantium.
1131 – 1132 – successful campaigns in Lithuania.
Strife in Rus'.
Moscow princes.
Daniil Alexandrovich 1276 – 1303
Yuri Danilovich 1303 –1325
Ivan Kalita 1325 – 1340
Semyon the Proud 1340 – 1355553
IvanIIRed 1353–1359
Dmitry Donskoy1359 –1389
BasilI1389 – 1425
BasilIIDark 1425 – 1462
IvanIII1462 – 1505
BasilIII1505 – 1533
IvanIVGrozny 1533 – 1584
Fyodor Ivanovich 1584 – 1598
The end of the Rurik dynasty.
Time of Troubles.
1598 – 1613
Boris Godunov 1598 – 1605
False DmitryI1605 – 1606
Vasily Shuisky 1606 – 1610
“Seven Boyars” 1610 – 1613.
Romanov dynasty.
1613 –1917
The legends associated with his name and the names of his followers date back to the ninth century and last for seven long centuries. Our article today will examine the Rurik dynasty - its family tree with photos and years of reign.
Where did the old family come from?
The existence of the commander himself and his wife Efanda is still questioned by most scientists. But some researchers of the origins of Rus' claim that the future governor was born between 806 and 808 in the city of Raroga. His name, according to several versions, has Slavic roots and means “falcon”.
When Rurik was still a baby, the possessions of his father Godolub were attacked by the Danes, led by Gottfried. The future founder of the royal family turned out to be half orphan and spent his entire childhood in a foreign land with his mother. At the age of 20, he arrived at the court of the Frankish king and received his father's lands from him as a vassal.
Then he was deprived of all land plots and sent to fight in a squad that helped the Frankish king seize new lands.
According to legend, his grandfather, the Novgorod prince Gostomysl, saw the dynastic diagram of the complete family tree of the Rurik family with dates and years of reign in a dream. The theory about the foreign origin of the entire royal family was refuted by Mikhail Lomonosov. By blood, the future Novgorod ruler belonged to the Slavs and was invited to his native lands at a fairly respectable age - he was 52 years old.
Second generation of rulers
After Rurik's death in 879, his son Igor came to power. The situation was complicated by the fact that he was still too young to become the ruler of Rus'. Oleg, Igor’s uncle, was appointed his guardian. He was able to establish relations with the Byzantine Empire and called Kyiv “the mother of Russian cities.” After Oleg's death, Igor came to power in Kyiv. He also managed to do a lot for the benefit of the Russian lands.
But during his reign there were also unsuccessful military campaigns. The most famous of them is the attack on Constantinople from the sea. Having encountered the famous “Greek fire” as the first of the rulers of Rus', Igor realized that he had underestimated the enemy and was forced to turn the ships back.
The prince died unexpectedly - having fought against enemy troops all his life, he died at the hands of his own people - the Drevlyans. Igor's wife, Princess Olga, brutally avenged her husband and burned the city, turning it into ashes.
Having besieged the Drevlyans, the princess ordered them to send her three doves and three sparrows from each house. When her wish was fulfilled, she ordered her warriors to tie tinder to their paws and set it on fire as soon as dusk came. The warriors carried out the princess's order and sent the birds back. So the city of Iskorosten was completely burned.
Igor left two sons - Gleb and Svyatoslav. Since the heirs to the princely throne were still small, Olga began to lead the Russian lands. When Svyatoslav, Igor’s eldest child, grew up and took the throne, Princess Olga still continued to rule in Rus', since the descendant spent most of his life on military campaigns. In one of them he was killed. Svyatoslav wrote his name in history as a great conqueror.
Scheme of the pedigree chronological tree of the Rurikovich family: Oleg, Vladimir and Yaropolk
In Kyiv, after the death of Svyatoslav, Yaropolk ascended the throne. He began to openly quarrel with his brother Oleg. Finally, Yaropolk managed to kill his own brother in battle and lead Kyiv. During the battle with his brother, Oleg fell into a ditch and was trampled by horses. But the fratricide did not remain in power for long and was overthrown from the Kyiv throne by Vladimir.
The history of the genealogy of this prince is extremely interesting: being illegitimate, according to pagan laws, he could still lead Rus'.
Having learned that one brother had killed the other, the future Kiev ruler gathered his army with the help of his uncle and teacher Dobrynya. Having conquered Polotsk, he decided to marry Rogneda, the bride of Yaropolk. The girl did not want to tie the knot with a “rootless” person, which greatly offended the baptist of Rus'. He took her as his wife by force, and then killed her entire family in front of the future bride.
Next, he sent an army to Kyiv, but decided not to fight directly, but to resort to cunning. Having lured his brother into supposedly peaceful negotiations, Vladimir set a trap for him and, with the help of his warriors, stabbed him to death with swords. So all power over Russia was concentrated in the hands of the bloody prince. Despite such a cruel past, the Kiev ruler was able to baptize Rus' and spread Christianity throughout all the pagan lands under his control.
Rurikovich: tree of the royal dynasty with dates and surnames - Yaroslav the Wise
After the passing of the baptist of Rus', disputes and civil strife began again in the large family. This time, 4 brothers wanted to lead the Kiev throne at once. Having killed his relatives, Svyatopolk the Accursed, the son of Vladimir and his Greek concubine, began to lead the capital. But the Accursed One did not manage to stand at the helm of power for long - he was removed by Yaroslav the Wise. Having won the battle on the Alta River, Yaroslav ascended the princely throne, and declared Svyatopolk a traitor to the family line.
Yaroslav the Wise decided to radically change the style of government. He became related to the European royal family by marrying the Swedish princess Ingigerda. His children were related by marriage to the Greek and Polish heirs to the throne, his daughters became queens of France and Sweden. Before his death in 1054, Yaroslav the Wise honestly divided the lands between his heirs and bequeathed to them not to wage internecine wars.
The most important figures in the political arena of that time were his three sons:
- Izyaslav (ruler of Kiev and Novgorod).
- Vsevolod (Prince of Rostov and Pereyaslavl).
- Svyatoslav (ruled in Chernigov and Murom).
As a result of their unification, a triumvirate was formed, and the three brothers began to reign in their lands. To increase their authority, they entered into many royal marriages and encouraged families created with noble foreigners and foreigners.
Rurik dynasty - complete family tree with years of reign and with photos: the largest branches
It is impossible to talk about any former unity of the family: the branches of the princely family multiplied and intertwined, including with foreign noble families. The largest of them were:
- Izyaslavichy
- Rostislavichy
- Svyatoslavichy
- Monomakhovichi
Let's look at each of the branches in more detail.
Izyaslavichy
The founder of the family was Izyaslav, a descendant of Vladimir and Rogneda. According to legend, Rogneda all the time dreamed of taking revenge on the prince because he forced her to marry him and went on to kill members of her family. One night, she snuck into the bedroom to stab her husband in the heart. But the husband slept lightly and managed to fend off the blow. In anger, the ruler wanted to deal with his unfaithful wife, but Izyaslav ran to the screams and stood up for his mother. The father did not dare to kill Rogneda in front of his son, and this saved her life.
Instead, the baptist of the Slavs sent his wife and child to Polotsk. This is how the line of the Rurikovich family began in Polotsk.
Rostislavichy
After the death of his father, Rostislav could not lay claim to the throne and was an exile. But a warlike spirit and a small army helped him lead Tmutarakan. Rostislav had three sons: Volodar, Vasilko and Rurik. Each of them achieved considerable success in the military field.
Izyaslav Yaroslavich headed Turov. A fierce struggle was waged for this land for many years, as a result of which the prince and his descendants were expelled from their native lands by Vladimir Monomakh. Only Yuri, a distant descendant of the ruler, was able to restore justice.
Svyatoslavichy
The sons of Svyatoslav fought for a long time for the throne with Izyaslav and Vsevolod. Young and inexperienced warriors were defeated by their uncles and lost power.
Monomakhovichi
The clan was formed from the heir of Monomakh - Vsevolod. All princely power was concentrated in his hands. It was possible to unite all the lands, including Polotsk and Turov, for several years. The “fragile” world collapsed after the death of the ruler.
It is worth noting that Yuri Dolgoruky also came from the Monomakhovich line and subsequently became the “gatherer of Russian lands.”
Numerous descendants of representatives of the royal family
Did you know that some members of the famous family had descendants with 14 children? For example, according to historians, Vladimir Monomakh had 12 children from two wives - and that’s just the famous ones! But his son, Yuri Dolgoruky, surpassed everyone. The famous founder of Belokamennaya gave birth to 14 successors of the family. Of course, this gave rise to many problems: every child wanted to reign, considered himself truly right and the most important heir to his famous father.
Family genealogical tree of the Rurikovichs with years and dates of reign: who else belongs to the great dynasty
Among the many outstanding figures, it is important to note Ivan Kalita, Ivan the Terrible, Alexander Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy. The bloody history of the family gave future generations great rulers, generals and politicians.
The most famous cruel king of his time was Ivan IV the Terrible. There were many stories about his bloody glory and the incredible atrocities of the guardsmen loyal to him. But Ivan IV was able to do a lot of good for his country. He significantly expanded the territory of Rus', annexing Siberia, Astrakhan and Kazan.
Theodore the Blessed was to become his successor, but he was weak psychologically and physically, and the tsar simply could not entrust him with power over the state.
During the reign of his son Ivan Vasilyevich, Boris Godunov was the “gray eminence”. He took the throne after the death of the heir.
The Rurikovichs also gave the world great warriors - Alexander Nevsky and Dmitry Donskoy. The first received his nickname thanks to his victory on the Neva in the famous Battle of the Ice.
And Dmitry Donskoy was able to free Rus' from the Mongol invasion.
Who became the last in the family tree of the Rurikovich rule
According to historical data, the last in the famous dynasty was Fyodor Ioannovich. The “blessed” ruled the country purely nominally and passed away in 1589. Thus ended the history of the famous family. The era of the Romanovichs began.
Fyodor Ioannovich was unable to leave offspring (his only daughter died at 9 months). But some facts indicate a relationship between the two families.
The first Russian Tsar from the Romanovich family descended from Filaret - at that time the Patriarch of All Rus'. The head of the church was the cousin of Fyodor the Blessed. Thus, it can be argued that the Rurikovich branch did not break off, but was continued by new rulers.
Studying the history of princely and royal dynasties is a difficult task, to which many scientific studies are devoted. Civil wars and numerous descendants of representatives of an ancient family still remain a relevant topic for the work of specialists.
During the formation of Rus' as the basis of the statehood of the future Russia, a lot of large-scale events took place: the victory over the Tatar and Swedish conquerors, baptism, the unification of princely lands and the establishment of contacts with foreigners. An attempt to unite the history of the glorious family and tell about its milestones was made in this article.
The Rurik dynasty began with the founding of the Moscow Principality in 1263 and lasted only 355 years. During this period of history there were ten generations of kings. The clan, the first representatives of which were distinguished by their remarkable health and died, for the most part, from the enemy’s sword, as befits brave warriors, by the end of its existence had practically become obsolete.
Consanguineous marriages
It is known that the princes of the first four generations of Rurikovich married exclusively the daughters of sovereign rulers. The overwhelming number of marriages - 22 - were concluded with representatives of the Russian principalities: Tver, Mezetsky, Serpukhov, Smolensk and Yaroslavl and others. In three cases, with the permission of the Church, the Rurikovichs married fourth cousins of Moscow origin. 19 alliances were concluded with the Rurikov princesses from the northeastern lands and adjacent principalities in the upper Oka.
Those who married had a common ancestor - Vsevolod the Big Nest - which means that such a union led to incest in one related group. The result was genetic degradation of the offspring. Children often died in infancy. In total, 137 princes and princesses were born from intra-dynastic marriages. 51 children died before reaching 16 years of age.
Thus, Tsar Vasily I was the father of nine children, five of whom died as infants, one as a teenager. The heir of Dmitry Donskoy, who died at the age of 15, grew up weak and frail. The son of Vasily II could not walk and grew apathetic and lethargic. The chronicle notes of 1456 say that a three-year-old child was carried in their arms to church services. And although the prince lived to be 29 years old, he never got back on his feet.
The demon got me wrong
In addition to physiological abnormalities, the heirs of the Rurikovich family had mental illnesses. Historians note that already in the fifth generation of Moscow princes, strange behavior was observed, as well as head diseases unknown at that time, which in our century could be diagnosed as mental disorders.
Since childhood, Ivan IV was distinguished by his hot temper, suspiciousness and cruelty, surpassing the acts of Caligula and Nero. Psychiatrist P.I. Kovalevsky published a work at the end of the 19th century in which he argued that the formidable king had symptoms of paranoia, persecution mania and congenital dementia. By the end of his reign, he was on the verge of madness, showing a strange affection for holy fools and scaring away those close to him with inexplicable rage. In a fit of anger, he committed massacres against his own son, after which he fell into severe depression.
The situation was aggravated by an “overseas illness” - syphilis, which struck the king, who, after the death of his wife, Queen Anastasia, fell into disarray and tasted the “vile delights of voluptuousness.” Chroniclers claim that Ivan the Terrible boasted that he had corrupted a thousand virgins and taken the lives of a thousand of his children. The German pastor Oderborn wrote that the father and eldest son exchanged both mistresses and lovers.
Inappropriate behavior was also noticed in his brother, Tsarevich Yuri. The son of Ivan IV, Fyodor Ioannovich, acquired a reputation as an inferior person. Foreigners reported to their homeland that the Russians called their ruler the word durak. The last son of the formidable Tsar, Dmitry Uglichsky, suffered from a falling illness, now known as epilepsy, from infancy, and was lagging behind in mental development. The events of the era of Ivan the Terrible pushed the princely families to abandon kinship alliances.
Perthes disease
In 2010, with the participation of scientists from Ukraine, Sweden, Great Britain and the USA, a DNA study was carried out on bone remains from sarcophagi found in the Church of St. Sophia of Kyiv. According to Ukrainian anthropologists and archaeologists, the examination helped to identify a hereditary disease that Prince Yaroslav the Wise suffered from - Perthes disease, in which the blood supply to the head of the femur is disrupted, as a result of which the nutrition of the joint deteriorates, leading to its necrosis. Indeed, during his lifetime the Grand Duke limped badly and complained of constant pain.
Apparently, the Rurikovichs could have inherited the gene mutation from their ancestor Prince Vladimir the Great. Pathogenic autosomes as a result of intra-generic marriages were passed on to descendants from Yaroslav Vladimirovich himself and his blood sister Pryamyslava. Chromosomes with a genetic disease were spread to all branches of the princely family, as well as in the dynasty of Hungarian and Polish sovereigns, which was confirmed by DNA analyzes of the remains from burials in Chernigov, Krakow and the Hungarian Tihany, where the daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Queen Anastasia, rested.