Genealogical tree of the royal family. Genealogical tree of the Romanov royal family

The Romanovs are a great dynasty of tsars and emperors of Russia, an ancient boyar family that began its existence at the end of the 16th century. and still in existence.

Etymology and history of the surname

The Romanovs are not quite the correct historical family name. Initially, the Romanovs went from the Zakharievs. However, Patriarch Filaret (Fyodor Nikitich Zakharyev) decided to take the surname Romanov in honor of his father and grandfather, Nikita Romanovich and Roman Yuryevich. So the genus got the surname, which is still used today.

The boyar family of the Romanovs gave history one of the most famous royal dynasties in the world. The first tsarist representative of the Romanovs was Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, and the last was Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov. Although the royal family was interrupted, the Romanovs still exist (several branches). All representatives of the great family and their descendants today live abroad, about 200 people have royal titles, but none of them has the right to head the Russian throne in the event of the return of the monarchy.

The large Romanov family was called the House of Romanov. Huge and branched family tree has connections with almost all the royal dynasties of the world.

In 1856 the family received an official coat of arms. It depicts a vulture holding a golden sword and a tarch in its paws, and eight cut-off lion heads are located along the edges of the coat of arms.

Prehistory of the emergence of the royal dynasty of the Romanovs

As already mentioned, the Romanov clan descended from the Zakharievs, but where the Zakharievs came to the Moscow lands is unknown. Some scholars believe that the family members were natives of the Novgorod land, and some say that the first Romanovs came from Prussia.

In the 16th c. the boyar family received a new status, its representatives became relatives of the sovereign himself. This happened due to the fact that he married Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina. Now all the relatives of Anastasia Romanovna could count on the royal throne in the future. The opportunity to take the throne fell very soon, after the suppression. When the question of further succession to the throne arose, the Romanovs entered the game.

In 1613, the first representative of the family, Mikhail Fedorovich, was elected to the kingdom. The era of the Romanovs began.

Tsars and emperors of the Romanov family

Starting from Mikhail Fedorovich in Russia, several more kings from this family ruled (five in total).

These were:

Fedor Alekseevich Romanov;
Ivan the 5th (John Antonovich);

In 1721, Russia was finally reorganized into the Russian Empire, and the sovereign received the title of emperor. The first emperor was Peter the 1st, who until recently was called the tsar. In total, the Romanov family gave Russia 14 emperors and empresses. After Peter the 1st, they ruled:

End of the Romanov dynasty. The last of the Romanovs

After the death of Peter the 1st, the Russian throne was often occupied by women, but Paul 1st passed a law according to which only the direct heir, a man, can become emperor. Since then, no women have ascended the throne.

The last representative of the imperial family was Nicholas 2, who received the nickname Bloody for the thousands of people who died during the two great revolutions. According to historians, Nicholas 2nd was a rather mild ruler and made several unfortunate mistakes in the internal and foreign policy which led to the tension of the situation inside the country. Unsuccessful and also heavily undermined prestige royal family and personally the sovereign.

In 1905, it broke out, as a result of which Nikolai was forced to give the people the desired civil rights and freedoms - the power of the sovereign weakened. However, this was not enough, and in 1917 it happened again. This time, Nicholas was forced to resign his powers and renounce the throne. But this was not enough: the royal family was caught by the Bolsheviks and imprisoned. The monarchical system of Russia was gradually collapsing in favor of a new type of government.

On the night of July 16-17, 1917, the entire royal family, including Nikolai's five children and his wife, was shot. The only possible heir, the son of Nicholas, also died. All relatives who were hiding in Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg and other places were found and killed. Only those Romanovs who were abroad survived. The reign of the imperial family of the Romanovs was interrupted, and with it the monarchy in Russia collapsed.

The results of the reign of the Romanovs

Although during the 300 years of the rule of this family there were many bloody wars and uprisings, in general, the power of the Romanovs benefited Russia. It was thanks to the representatives of this surname that Russia finally moved away from feudalism, increased its economic, military and political power and turned into a huge and powerful empire.

The last more than 300 years of Russian autocracy (1613-1917) are historically associated with the Romanov dynasty, which gained a foothold on the Russian throne during the period known as the Time of Troubles. The appearance of a new dynasty on the throne is always a major political event and is often associated with a revolution or coup, that is, the forcible removal of the old dynasty. In Russia, the change of dynasties was caused by the suppression of the ruling branch of the Rurikids in the offspring of Ivan the Terrible. Problems of succession to the throne gave rise to a deep socio-political crisis, accompanied by the intervention of foreigners. Never in Russia have the supreme rulers changed so often, each time bringing a new dynasty to the throne. Among the contenders for the throne were representatives from different social strata, there were also foreign candidates from among the "natural" dynasties. The descendants of the Rurikovichs (Vasily Shuisky, 1606-1610), then came from among the untitled boyars (Boris Godunov, 1598-1605), then impostors (False Dmitry I, 1605-1606; False Dmitry II, 1607-1610) became kings .). No one managed to gain a foothold on the Russian throne until 1613, when Mikhail Romanov was elected to the kingdom, and finally a new ruling dynasty was established in his person. Why did the historical choice fall on the Romanov family? Where did they come from and what did they look like by the time they came to power?
The genealogical past of the Romanovs was quite clearly represented already in the middle of the 16th century, when the rise of their family began. In accordance with the political tradition of that time, the genealogies contained the legend of the “departure”. Having become related to the Rurikovichs (see table), the boyar family of the Romanovs also borrowed the general direction of the legend: Rurik in the 14th “knee” was derived from the legendary Prussian, and the native “from the Prussian” was recognized as the ancestor of the Romanovs. The Sheremetevs, Kolychevs, Yakovlevs, Sukhovo-Kobylins and others known in Russian history childbirth.
The original interpretation of the origin of all clans that have a legend about leaving “from the Prussians” (with a predominant interest in the ruling house of the Romanovs) was given in the 19th century. Petrov P.N., whose work was reprinted in large numbers already today. (Petrov P.N. History of the birth of the Russian nobility. Vol. 1–2, St. Petersburg, - 1886. Reprinted: M. - 1991. - 420s. ; 318 p.). He considers the ancestors of these families to be Novgorodians who broke with their homeland for political reasons at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. and went to the service of the Moscow prince. The assumption is based on the fact that in the Zagorodsky end of Novgorod there was a Prussian street, from which the road to Pskov began. Its inhabitants traditionally supported the opposition against the Novgorod aristocracy and were called "Prussians". “Why should we look for other people's Prussians? ...” - asks Petrov P.N., calling on “to dispel the darkness of fairy-tale fictions, which were still accepted as truth and who wanted to impose a non-Russian origin on the Romanov family at all costs.”

Table 1.

The genealogical roots of the Romanov family (XII - XIV centuries) are given in the interpretation of Petrov P.N. (Petrov P.N. History of the birth of Russian nobility. T. 1-2, - St. Petersburg, - 1886. Reprinted: M. - 1991. - 420s.; 318 p.).
1 Ratsha (Radsha, Christian name Stefan) is the legendary founder of many noble families Russia: Sheremetevs, Kolychevs, Neplyuevs, Kobylins, etc. A native of the "Prussians", according to Petrov P. N. Novgorod, a servant of Vsevolod Olgovich, and maybe Mstislav the Great; according to another version of Serbian origin
2 Yakun (Christian name Mikhail), Novgorod mayor, died in monasticism with the name Mitrofan in 1206
3 Aleksa (Christian name Gorislav), in monasticism Varlaam St. Khutynsky, died in 1215 or 1243.
4 Gabriel, hero of the Battle of the Neva in 1240, died in 1241
5 Ivan is a Christian name, in the Pushkin family tree - Ivan Morkhinya. According to Petrov P.N. before baptism was called Gland Kambila Divonovich, moved "from the Prussians" in the 13th century, the generally accepted ancestor of the Romanovs .;
6 Petrov P.N. considers this Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla, whose five sons became the founders of 17 families of the Russian nobility, including the Romanovs.
7 Grigory Aleksandrovich Pushka, the founder of the Pushkin family, is mentioned under 1380. From him the branch was called the Pushkins.
8 Anastasia Romanova - the first wife of Ivan IV, the mother of the last Tsar Rurikovich - Fedor Ivanovich, through her the genealogical relationship of the Rurik dynasties with the Romanovs and Pushkins is established.
9 Fedor Nikitich Romanov (born between 1554-1560, died 1663) from 1587 - boyar, from 1601 - tonsured a monk with the name Filaret, patriarch from 1619. Father of the first king of the new dynasty.
10 Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the founder of a new dynasty, was elected to the kingdom in 1613 by the Zemsky Sobor. The Romanov dynasty occupied the Russian throne until the 1917 revolution.
11 Alexei Mikhailovich - Tsar (1645-1676).
12 Maria Alekseevna Pushkina married Osip (Abram) Petrovich Gannibal, their daughter Nadezhda Osipovna is the mother of the great Russian poet. Through it - the intersection of the Pushkin and Hannibal families.

Without discarding the traditionally recognized ancestor of the Romanovs in the person of Andrei Ivanovich, but developing the idea of the Novgorod origin of the "leaving the Prussians", Petrov P.N. believes that Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla is the grandson of the Novgorodian Iakinf the Great and is related to the Ratsha family (Ratsha is a diminutive of Ratislav. (See Table 2).
In the annals, he is mentioned under 1146 among other Novgorodians on the side of Vsevolod Olgovich (son-in-law of Mstislav, the great Kyiv prince 1125-32). At the same time, Gland Kambila Divonovich, the traditional ancestor, “a native of the Prussian”, disappears from the scheme, and until the middle of the 12th century. the Novgorod roots of Andrei Kobyla are traced, who, as mentioned above, is considered the first documented ancestor of the Romanovs.
The formation of the reigning from the beginning of the XVII century. genus and the allocation of the ruling branch is presented in the form of a chain of Kobylina - Koshkina - Zakharyina - Yurievs - Romanovs (see Table 3), reflecting the transformation of a family nickname into a surname. The rise of the clan dates back to the second third of the 16th century. and is connected with the marriage of Ivan IV to the daughter of Roman Yuryevich Zakharyin - Anastasia. (See Table 4. At that time, it was the only non-titled surname that remained in the forefront of the old Moscow boyars in the stream of new titled servants who flooded the sovereign’s Court in the second half of the 15th century - the beginning of the 16th century. (Princes Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Mstislavsky , Trubetskoy).
The ancestor of the Romanov branch was the third son of Roman Yuryevich Zakharin - Nikita Romanovich (d. 1586), the brother of Empress Anastasia. His descendants were already called Romanovs. Nikita Romanovich - a Moscow boyar since 1562, an active participant in the Livonian War and diplomatic negotiations, after the death of Ivan IV, headed the regency council (until the end of 1584). One of the few Moscow boyars of the 16th century who left a good memory among the people: name preserved folk epic depicting him as a good-natured mediator between the people and the formidable Tsar Ivan.
Of the six sons of Nikita Romanovich, the eldest stood out especially - Fedor Nikitich (later - Patriarch Filaret, the unspoken co-ruler of the first Russian tsar of the Romanov family) and Ivan Nikitich, who was part of the Seven Boyars. The popularity of the Romanovs, acquired by their personal qualities, increased from the persecution they were subjected to by Boris Godunov, who saw in them potential rivals in the struggle for the royal throne.

Table 2 and 3.

Election to the kingdom of Mikhail Romanov. Rise to power of a new dynasty

In October 1612, as a result of the successful actions of the second militia under the command of Prince Pozharsky and the merchant Minin, Moscow was liberated from the Poles. The Provisional Government was created and elections to the Zemsky Sobor were announced, the convocation of which was planned for the beginning of 1613. There was one, but extremely painful issue on the agenda - the election of a new dynasty. They unanimously decided not to choose from foreign royal houses, and there was no unity regarding domestic candidates. Among the noble candidates for the throne (princes Golitsyn, Mstislavsky, Pozharsky, Trubetskoy) was 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov from an old boyar, but untitled family. By himself, he had little chance of winning, but the interests of the nobility and the Cossacks, who played a certain role during the Time of Troubles, converged on his candidacy. The boyars hoped for his inexperience and expected to maintain their political positions, which had strengthened during the years of the Seven Boyars. The political past of the Romanov family was also at hand, as mentioned above. They wanted to choose not the most capable, but the most convenient. Agitation was actively conducted among the people in favor of Michael, which also played an important role in his approval on the throne. The final decision was made on February 21, 1613. Michael was chosen by the Council, approved by "the whole earth." The outcome of the case was decided by a note by an unknown ataman, who stated that Mikhail Romanov was the closest in kinship to the former dynasty and could be considered a “natural” Russian tsar.
Thus, autocracy of a legitimate nature (by birthright) was restored in his face. The possibilities of alternative political development of Russia, laid down during the Time of Troubles, or rather, in the then formed tradition of electiveness (and hence the replacement) of monarchs, were lost.
Behind Tsar Mikhail for 14 years stood his father, Fyodor Nikitich, better known as Filaret, Patriarch of the Russian Church (officially since 1619). The case is unique not only in Russian history: the son occupies the highest state post, the father - the highest church. This is hardly a coincidence. Reflections on the role of the Romanov clan during the Time of Troubles are suggested by some Interesting Facts. For example, it is known that Grigory Otrepiev, who appeared on the Russian throne under the name of False Dmitry I, was a servant of the Romanovs before being exiled to the monastery, and he, having become a self-proclaimed tsar, returned Filaret from exile, elevated him to the rank of metropolitan. False Dmitry II, in whose Tushino headquarters Filaret was, made him a patriarch. But be that as it may, at the beginning of the XVII century. a new dynasty was established in Russia, with which the state functioned for more than three hundred years, experiencing ups and downs.

Tables 4 and 5.

Dynastic marriages of the Romanovs, their role in Russian history

During the XVIII century. Genealogical ties between the Romanov dynasty and other dynasties were intensively established, which expanded to such an extent that, figuratively speaking, the Romanovs themselves were dissolved in them. These ties were formed mainly through the system of dynastic marriages that had become established in Russia since the time of Peter I (see Tables 7-9). The tradition of equal marriages in the conditions of dynastic crises, so characteristic of Russia in the 20-60s of the 18th century, led to the transfer of the Russian throne into the hands of another dynasty, whose representative acted on behalf of the vanished Romanov dynasty (in male offspring - after his death in 1730 Mr. Peter II).
During the XVIII century. the transition from one dynasty to another was carried out both along the line of Ivan V - to representatives of the Mecklenburg and Brunswick dynasties (see Table 6), and along the line of Peter I - to members of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty (see Table 6), whose descendants occupied the Russian throne on behalf of the Romanovs from Peter III to Nicholas II (see Table 5). The Holstein-Gottorp dynasty, in turn, was a younger branch of the Danish Oldenburg dynasty. In the 19th century the tradition of dynastic marriages continued, genealogical ties multiplied (see Table 9), giving rise to the desire to "hide" the foreign roots of the first Romanovs, so traditional for the Russian centralized state and burdensome for the second half of the 18th - 19th centuries. The political need to emphasize the Slavic roots of the ruling dynasty was reflected in the interpretation of Petrov P.N.

Table 6

Table 7

Ivan V was on the Russian throne for 14 years (1682-96) together with Peter I (1682-1726), initially under the regency of his older sister Sophia (1682-89). He did not take an active part in governing the country, had no male descendants, his two daughters (Anna and Ekaterina) were married, based on the state interests of Russia at the beginning of the 18th century (see Table 6). In the conditions of the dynastic crisis of 1730, when the male offspring of the line of Peter I was cut short, the descendants of Ivan V established themselves on the Russian throne: daughter - Anna Ioannovna (1730-40), great-grandson Ivan VI (1740-41) under the regency of mother Anna Leopoldovna , in the person of which representatives of the Brunswick dynasty actually ended up on the Russian throne. The coup of 1741 returned the throne to the descendants of Peter I. However, having no direct heirs, Elizaveta Petrovna transferred the Russian throne to her nephew Peter III, who belonged to the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty by his father. The Oldenburg dynasty (through the Holstein-Gottorp branch) is connected with the Romanov dynasty in the person of Peter III and his descendants.

Table 8

1 Peter II is the grandson of Peter I, the last male representative of the Romanov family (by his mother, a representative of the Blankenburg-Wolfenbüttel dynasty).

2 Paul I and his descendants, who ruled Russia until 1917, from the point of view of origin, did not belong to the Romanov family (Paul I was a representative of the Holstein-Gottorp dynasties on his father, and Anhalt-Zerbt dynasties on his mother).

Table 9

1 Paul I had seven children, of which: Anna - the wife of Prince Wilhelm, later King of the Netherlands (1840-49); Catherine - since 1809 the wife of the prince
George of Oldenburg, since 1816 married to Prince Wilhelm of Württemburg, who later became king; Alexandra - the first marriage with Gustav IV, the Swedish king (until 1796), the second marriage - since 1799 with Archduke Joseph, the Hungarian stole.
2 Daughters of Nicholas I: Maria - since 1839 the wife of Maximilian, Duke of Leitenberg; Olga - since 1846 the wife of the Württemberg Crown Prince, then - King Charles I.
3 Other children of Alexander II: Maria - since 1874 married to Alfred Albert, Duke of Edinburgh, later Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; Sergei - married to Elizabeth Feodorovna, daughter of the Duke of Hesse; Pavel - since 1889 married to the Greek Queen Alexandra Georgievna.

On February 27, 1917, a revolution took place in Russia, during which the autocracy was overthrown. On March 3, 1917, the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, in a military trailer near Mogilev, where the Headquarters was located at that time, signed his abdication. This ended the history of monarchical Russia, which on September 1, 1917 was declared a republic. The family of the deposed emperor was arrested and deported to Yekaterinburg, and in the summer of 1918, when there was a threat of the capture of the city by the army of A.V. Kolchak, they were shot by order of the Bolsheviks. Together with the emperor, his heir, the minor son Alexei, was liquidated. The younger brother Mikhail Alexandrovich, the heir of the second circle, in whose favor Nicholas II abdicated the throne, was killed a few days earlier near Perm. This is where the story of the Romanov family should end. However, excluding all legends and versions, it can be reliably said that this family has not died out. Survived lateral, in relation to the last emperors, branch - the descendants of Alexander II (see table 9, continued). Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938) was next in line to the throne after Mikhail Alexandrovich, the younger brother of the last emperor. In 1922, after the end of the civil war in Russia and the final confirmation of information about the death of the entire imperial family, Kirill Vladimirovich declared himself Guardian of the Throne, and in 1924 he took the title of Emperor of All Russia, Head of the Russian Imperial House Abroad. His seven-year-old son Vladimir Kirillovich was proclaimed heir to the throne with the title Grand Duke Heir Tsesarevich. He succeeded his father in 1938 and was Head of the Russian Imperial House Abroad until his death in 1992 (see Table 9, continued.) He was buried on May 29, 1992 under the vaults of the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. His daughter Maria Vladimirovna became the head of the Russian Imperial House (abroad).

Milevich S.V. - Methodological guide for studying the course of genealogy. Odessa, 2000.

The first known ancestor of the Romanovs was Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla. Until the beginning of the 16th century, the Romanovs were called the Koshkins, then the Zakharyins-Koshkins and the Zakharyins-Yuryevs.

Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva was the first wife of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible. The ancestor of the clan is the boyar Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev. From the house of the Romanovs reigned Alexei Mikhailovich, Fedor Alekseevich; during the early years of the tsars Ivan V and Peter I, their sister Sofya Alekseevna was the ruler. In 1721, Peter I was proclaimed emperor, and his wife Catherine I became the first Russian empress.

With the death of Peter II, the Romanov dynasty ended in a direct male generation. With the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Romanov dynasty ended in a direct female line. However, the surname Romanov was Peter III and his wife Catherine II, their son Paul I and his descendants.

In 1918, Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov and members of his family were shot in Yekaterinburg, other Romanovs were killed in 1918-1919, some emigrated.

https://ria.ru/history_infografika/20100303/211984454.html

It just so happened that our Motherland has an unusually rich and diverse history, a huge milestone in which we can confidently consider the dynasty of Russian emperors who bore the surname Romanovs. This rather ancient boyar family actually left a significant mark, because it was the Romanovs who ruled the country for three hundred years, until the Great October Revolution of 1917, after which their family line was practically interrupted. The Romanov dynasty, whose genealogical tree we will definitely consider in detail and intently, has become a landmark, reflected in the cultural and economic aspects of the life of Russians.

The first Romanovs: a family tree with years of reign

According to the well-known tradition in the Romanov family, their ancestors arrived in Russia around the beginning of the fourteenth century from Prussia, but these are only rumors. One of the famous historians of the twentieth century, academician and archaeologist Stepan Borisovich Veselovsky believes that this family has its roots in Novgorod, but this information is also rather unreliable.

The first known ancestor of the Romanov dynasty, the family tree with a photo is worth considering in detail and thoroughly, was a boyar named Andrei Kobyla, who “walked” under the prince of Moscow Simeon the Proud. His son, Fedor Koshka, gave the family the surname Koshkins, and already his grandchildren received a double surname - the Zakharyins-Koshkins.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, it happened that the Zakharyin family rose significantly, and began to claim their rights to the Russian throne. The fact is that the notorious Ivan the Terrible married Anastasia Zakharyina, and when the Rurik family was finally left without offspring, their children began to aim for the throne and not in vain. However, the Romanov family tree as Russian rulers began a little later, when Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was elected to the throne, perhaps this is where our rather lengthy story should begin.

Magnificent Romanovs: the tree of the royal dynasty began with disgrace

The first tsar from the Romanov dynasty was born in 1596 in the family of a noble and rather wealthy boyar Fyodor Nikitich, who later took the rank and began to be nicknamed Patriarch Filaret. His wife was nee Shestakova, named Ksenia. The boy grew up strong, savvy, grasped everything on the fly, and to everything else, he was also practically the direct cousin-nephew of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, which made him the first contender for the throne, when the Rurik dynasty, due to degeneration, simply stopped. It is from this that the Romanov dynasty begins, the tree of which we consider through the prism of the past.

Sovereign Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, Tsar and Grand Duke of All Russia(ruled from 1613 to 1645) was not elected by chance. The time was troubled, there was talk of an invitation to the nobility, the boyars and the kingdom English king Jacob the First, however, the Great Russian Cossacks became enraged, fearing a lack of bread allowance, which they received. At the age of sixteen, Michael ascended the throne, but gradually his health deteriorated, he was constantly "mournful on his legs", and died a natural death at the age of forty-nine.

Following his father, his heir, the first and eldest son, ascended the throne. Alexey Mikhailovich, nicknamed the quietest(1645-1676), continuing the Romanov family, whose tree turned out to be branched and impressive. Two years before his father's death, he was "presented" to the people as an heir, and two years later, when he died, Michael took the scepter in his hands. During his reign, a lot happened, but the main merits are considered to be reunification with Ukraine, the return of Smolensk and the Northern Land to the state, as well as the final formation of the institution of serfdom. It is also worth mentioning that it was under Alexei that the well-known peasant revolt of Stenka Razin took place.

After Alexei the Quietest, a naturally weak man, fell ill and died, his blood brother took his place.Fedor III Alekseevich(reigned from 1676 to 1682), who from early childhood showed signs of scurvy, or as they said then, scurvy, either from a lack of vitamins, or from an unhealthy lifestyle. In fact, various families ruled the country at that time, and nothing good came of the king’s three marriages, he died at the age of twenty, without leaving a will on the account of succession to the throne.

After the death of Fedor, strife began, and the throne was given to the first brother in seniority. Ivan V(1682-1696), who was just fifteen years old. However, he was simply not able to manage such a huge power, because many believed that his ten-year-old brother Peter should take the throne. Therefore, both were appointed kings, and for the sake of order, their sister Sophia, who was smarter and more experienced, was assigned to them as a regent. By the age of thirty, Ivan had died, leaving his brother as the legitimate heir to the throne.

Thus, the family tree of the Romanovs gave history exactly five kings, after which Clio's anemone took a new turn, and a fresh turn brought a novelty, the kings began to be called emperors, and one of the the greatest people in world history.

Imperial tree of the Romanovs over the years of reign: scheme of the post-Petrine period

The first Emperor and Autocrat of the All-Russian in the history of the state, and in fact, also its last tsar, wasPeter I Alekseevich, who received his great merits and honorable deeds, the Great (the years of reign from 1672 until 1725). The boy received a rather poor education, which is why he had great respect for the sciences and learned people, hence the passion for a foreign lifestyle. He ascended the throne at the age of ten, but actually began to rule the country only after the death of his brother, as well as the conclusion of his sister in the Novodevichy Convent.

Peter's merits to the state and people are innumerable, and even a cursory review of them would take at least three pages of dense typewritten text, so it's worth doing it yourself. In terms of our interests, the Romanov family, whose tree with portraits should definitely be studied in more detail, continued, and the state became an Empire, strengthening all positions on the world stage by two hundred percent, if not more. However, a banal urolithiasis brought down the emperor, who seemed so indestructible.

After the death of Peter, power was taken by force by his second legal wife,Ekaterina I Alekseevna, whose real name is Marta Skavronskaya, and the years of her reign stretched from 1684 to 1727. In fact, the notorious Count Menshikov, as well as the Supreme Privy Council, created by the Empress, had real power at that time.

The riotous and unhealthy life of Catherine gave its terrible fruits, and after her, the grandson of Peter, who was born in his first marriage, was elevated to the throne,Peter II. He came to reign in the year 27 of the eighteenth century, when he was barely ten, and by the age of fourteen he was struck down by smallpox. The Privy Council continued to rule the country, and after it fell, the boyars Dolgorukovs.

After the untimely death of the young king, something had to be decided and she ascended the throneAnna Ivanovna(the years of the reign from 1693 to 1740), the disgraced daughter of Ivan V Alekseevich, the Duchess of Courland, widowed at the age of seventeen. A huge country was then ruled by her lover E.I. Biron.

Before her death, Anna Ionovna managed to write a will, according to him, the grandson of Ivan the Fifth, a baby, ascended the throneIvan VI, or simply John Antonovich, who managed to be emperor from 1740 to 1741. At first, the same Biron was engaged in state affairs for him, then his mother Anna Leopoldovna seized the initiative. Deprived of power, he spent his entire life in prison, where he would later be killed by the secret order of Catherine II.

Then the illegitimate daughter of Peter the Great came to power, Elizaveta Petrovna(reigned 1742-1762), who climbed the throne literally on the shoulders of the brave warriors of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. After her accession, the entire Brunswick family was arrested, and the favorites of the former empress were put to death.

The last empress was completely barren, therefore she left no heirs, and transferred her power to the son of her sister Anna Petrovna. That is, we can say that at that time it again turned out that there were only five emperors, of which only three had the opportunity to be called Romanovs by blood and origin. After the death of Elizabeth, there were no male followers at all, and the direct male line, one might say, was completely stopped.

Permanent Romanovs: the tree of the dynasty was reborn from the ashes

After Anna Petrovna was married to Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp, the Romanov family was to be cut short. However, he saved the dynastic treaty, according to which the son from this unionPeter III(1762), and the genus itself was now called Holstein-Gottorp-Romanovsky. He managed to sit on the throne for only 186 days and died under completely mysterious and unclear circumstances to this day, and even then without a coronation, and he was crowned after his death by Paul, as they say now, retroactively. It is remarkable that this unfortunate emperor left behind a whole heap of “False Peters”, which appeared here and there, like mushrooms after rain.

After the short reign of the previous sovereign, the real German princess Sophia Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, better known as the Empress, made her way to power through an armed coup.Catherine II, Great (starting from 1762, and up to 1796), the wife of that same, unpopular and stupid Peter the Third. During her reign, Russia has become much more powerful, its influence on the world community has been significantly strengthened, but inside the country she has done a lot of work, reunited the lands, and so on. It was during her reign that the peasant war of Emelka Pugachev broke out and was suppressed with noticeable effort.

Emperor Pavel I, Catherine's unloved son from a hated man, ascended the throne after the death of his mother in the cold autumn of 1796, and ruled for exactly five years, without a few months. He carried out many reforms useful for the country and the people, as if in spite of his mother, and also interrupted the succession palace coups, abolishing the female inheritance of the throne, which from now on could be transmitted exclusively from father to son. He was killed in March 1801 by an officer in his own bedroom, not even having time to really wake up.

After the death of his father, his eldest son ascended the throneAlexander I(1801-1825), a liberal and a lover of the silence and charm of rural life, and also who was going to give the people a constitution, so that later he could lie on his laurels until the end of his days. At the age of forty-seven, all that he received in life as a whole was an epitaph from the great Pushkin himself: “I spent my whole life on the road, caught a cold and died in Taganrog.” It is remarkable that the first memorial museum in Russia was created in his honor, which existed for more than a hundred years, after which it was liquidated by the Bolsheviks. After his death, brother Konstantin was appointed to the throne, but he immediately refused, not wanting to take part in this pandemonium of disgrace and murder.

Thus, the third son of Paul ascended the throne -Nicholas I(reign from 1825 to 1855), the direct grandson of Catherine, who was born during her lifetime and memory. It was under him that the Decembrist uprising was suppressed, the Code of Laws of the Empire was finalized, new censorship laws were introduced, and many very serious military campaigns were won. It is believed according to the official version that he died of pneumonia, but it was rumored that the king himself laid hands on himself.

Conductor of large-scale reforms and great asceticAlexander II Nikolaevich, nicknamed the Liberator, came to power in 1855. In March 1881, Ignaty Grinevitsky, a Narodnaya Volya member, threw a bomb under the sovereign's feet. Shortly thereafter, he died from his injuries, which turned out to be incompatible with life.

After the death of his predecessor, his own, younger brother was anointed to the throneAlexander III Alexandrovich(from 1845 to 1894). During his time on the throne, the country did not enter into a single war, thanks to a uniquely correct policy, for which he received the legitimate nickname of the Tsar-Peacemaker.

The most honest and responsible of the Russian emperors died after the wreck of the tsar's train, when for several hours he held the roof in his hands, threatening to collapse on his relatives and friends.

An hour and a half after the death of his father, right in the Livadia Holy Cross Church, without waiting for a memorial service, the last emperor of the Russian Empire was anointed to the throne,Nicholas II Alexandrovich(1894-1917).

After the coup in the country, he abdicated the throne, passing it to his half-brother Michael, as his mother wished, but nothing could be fixed, and both were executed by the Revolution, along with their descendants.

At this time, there are quite a few descendants of the imperial Romanov dynasty who could claim the throne. It is clear that there is no smell of purity of the family there, because the “brave new world” dictates its own rules. However, the fact remains, and if necessary, a new king can be found quite easily, and the Romanov tree in the scheme today looks quite branched.

According to some sources, the Romanovs are not of Russian blood at all, but came from Prussia, according to the historian Veselovsky they are still Novgorodians. The first Romanov appeared as a result of the plexus of childbirth Koshkin-Zakharyin-Yuryev-Shuisky-Rurik in the guise of Mikhail Fedorovich, elected tsar of the Romanov dynasty. The Romanovs, in different interpretations of surnames and names, ruled until 1917.

The Romanov family: a story of life and death - a summary

The era of the Romanovs is a 304-year-old usurpation of power in the expanses of Russia by one boyar family that was born. According to the social classification of the feudal society of the 10th - 17th centuries, the boyars were called large landowners in Moscow Russia. AT 10th - 17th for centuries it was the upper stratum of the ruling class. According to the Danube-Bulgarian origin, "boyar" is translated as "noble". Their history is a time of unrest and an irreconcilable struggle with the kings for complete power.

Exactly 405 years ago, a dynasty of kings of this name appeared. 297 years ago, Peter the Great took the title of All-Russian Emperor. In order not to degenerate by blood, leapfrog began with its mixing along the male and female lines. After Catherine the First and Paul II, the branch of Mikhail Romanov sank into oblivion. But new branches sprang up, mixed with other bloodlines. Fyodor Nikitich, Patriarch of Russia Filaret, also bore the surname Romanov.

In 1913, the tercentenary of the Romanov dynasty was splendidly and solemnly celebrated.

The highest officials of Russia, invited from European countries, did not even suspect that a fire was already warming up under the house, which would burn the ashes of the last emperor and his family in just four years.

In the times under consideration, members of the imperial families did not have surnames. They were called crown princes, grand dukes, princesses. After the Great October Socialist Revolution, which critics of Russia call a terrible coup for the country, its Provisional Government decided that all members of this house should be called Romanovs.

More on the main reigning persons of the Russian state

16-year-old first king. Appointment, election of essentially inexperienced in politics or even young children, grandchildren during the transition of power is nothing new for Russia. Often this was practiced in order for the curators of minor rulers to solve their own tasks before they came of age. In this case, Mikhail First raked to the ground " Time of Troubles”, brought peace and brought the almost collapsed country together. Of his ten family offspring, also 16-year-old Tsarevich Alexei (1629 - 1675) succeeded Michael as king.

The first attempt on the Romanovs by relatives. Tsar Theodore the Third dies at the age of twenty. The tsar, who was in poor health (even barely survived the time of the coronation), meanwhile, turned out to be strong in politics, reforms, organization of the army and civil service.

The Romanov family - the story of life and death (photo)

In March 1917, under pressure from the masses, Nicholas II terminated his imperial powers in favor of his brother Mikhail. But he was even more cowardly, and refused the throne. And that meant only one thing: the end of the monarchy. At that time, there were 65 people in the Romanov dynasty. Men were shot by the Bolsheviks in a number of cities in the Middle Urals and in St. Petersburg. Forty-seven managed to escape into exile.

The emperor and his family were put on a train and sent to Siberian exile in August 1917. Where all those objectionable to the authorities were driven into severe frosts. The small city of Tobolsk was briefly identified as the place, but it soon became clear that Kolchak’s men could capture them there and use them for their own purposes. Therefore, the train was hastily returned to the Urals, to Yekaterinburg, where the Bolsheviks ruled.

Red terror in action

Members of the imperial family were secretly placed in the basement of a house. The shooting took place there. The emperor, members of his family, assistants were killed. The execution was given a legal basis in the form of a resolution of the Bolshevik Regional Council of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies.

In fact, without a court decision, and it was an illegal action.

A number of historians believe that the Yekaterinburg Bolsheviks received the sanction from Moscow, most likely from the weak-willed All-Russian headman Sverdlov, and maybe personally from Lenin. According to testimony, the people of Yekaterinburg rejected the court hearing because of the possible advance of Admiral Kolchak's troops to the Urals. And this is legally not a repression in retaliation for tsarism, but a murder.

The representative of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Solovyov, who investigated (1993) the circumstances of the execution of the royal family, argued that neither Sverdlov nor Lenin had anything to do with the execution. Even a fool would not have left such traces, especially the top leaders of the country.

On the Ivan IV the Terrible (†1584) The Rurik Dynasty ended in Russia. After his death began Time of Troubles.

The result of the 50-year reign of Ivan the Terrible was sad. Endless wars, oprichnina, mass executions led to an unprecedented economic decline. By the 1580s, a huge part of the previously prosperous lands was deserted: abandoned villages and villages stood all over the country, arable lands were overgrown with forests and weeds. As a result of the protracted Livonian War, the country lost part of the western lands. Noble and influential aristocratic clans aspired to power and waged an uncompromising struggle among themselves. A heavy inheritance fell on the share of the successor of Tsar Ivan IV - his son Fyodor Ivanovich and guardian Boris Godunov. (Ivan the Terrible had one more son-heir - Tsarevich Dmitry Uglichsky, who at that time was 2 years old).

Boris Godunov (1584-1605)

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, his son ascended the throne Fedor Ioannovich . The new king was unable to rule the country (according to some reports, he was weak in health and mind) and was under the tutelage first of the council of boyars, then of his brother-in-law Boris Godunov. At the court, a stubborn struggle began between the boyar groups of the Godunovs, Romanovs, Shuiskys, and Mstislavskys. But a year later, as a result of the "undercover struggle", Boris Godunov cleared his way from rivals (Someone was accused of treason and exiled, someone was forcibly tonsured a monk, someone "went to another world" in time). Those. the boyar became the de facto ruler of the state. During the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, the position of Boris Godunov became so significant that overseas diplomats sought audiences with Boris Godunov, his will was law. Fedor reigned, Boris ruled - everyone knew this both in Russia and abroad.

S. V. Ivanov. "Boyar Duma"

After the death of Fedor (January 7, 1598), a new tsar was elected at the Zemsky Sobor - Boris Godunov (thus, he became the first Russian tsar who received the throne not by inheritance, but through elections at the Zemsky Sobor).

(1552 - April 13, 1605) - after the death of Ivan the Terrible, he became the de facto ruler of the state as the guardian of Fedor Ioannovich, and since 1598 - Russian Tsar .

Under Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov was at first a guardsman. In 1571 he married the daughter of Malyuta Skuratov. And after the marriage in 1575 of his sister Irina (the only "Queen Irina" on the Russian throne) on the son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Fyodor Ioannovich, he became a close person to the king.

After the death of Ivan the Terrible, the royal throne went first to his son Fyodor (under the guardianship of Godunov), and after his death - to Boris Godunov himself.

He died in 1605 at the age of 53, at the height of the war with False Dmitry I, who moved to Moscow. After his death, Boris's son, Fedor, an educated and extremely intelligent young man, became king. But as a result of the rebellion in Moscow, provoked by False Dmitry, Tsar Fedor and his mother Maria Godunova were brutally murdered.(The rebels left only the daughter of Boris, Xenia, alive. The bleak fate of the impostor's concubine awaited her.)

Boris Godunov wasburied in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. Under Tsar Vasily Shuisky, the remains of Boris, his wife and son were transferred to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and buried in a sitting position at the northwestern corner of the Assumption Cathedral. In the same place in 1622 Xenia was buried, in monasticism Olga. In 1782, a tomb was built over their tombs.

The activity of Godunov's board is assessed positively by historians. Under him, a comprehensive strengthening of statehood began. Thanks to his efforts, in 1589 he was elected first Russian patriarch , which became Moscow Metropolitan Job. The establishment of the patriarchate testified to the increased prestige of Russia.

Patriarch Job (1589-1605)

Unprecedented construction of cities and fortifications unfolded. To ensure the safety of the waterway from Kazan to Astrakhan, cities were built on the Volga - Samara (1586), Tsaritsyn (1589) (future Volgograd), Saratov (1590).

In foreign policy, Godunov proved himself to be a talented diplomat - Russia regained all the lands transferred to Sweden following the unsuccessful Livonian War (1558-1583).The rapprochement between Russia and the West began. Before there was no sovereign in Russia who would have been so kind to foreigners as Godunov. He began to invite foreigners to serve. For foreign trade, the authorities created the most favored nation regime. At the same time, strictly protecting Russian interests. Under Godunov, nobles began to be sent to the West to study. True, none of those who left did not bring any benefit to Russia: having studied, none of them wanted to return to their homeland.Tsar Boris himself really wanted to strengthen his ties with the West, becoming related to a European dynasty, and made a lot of efforts to profitably marry his daughter Xenia.

Having begun successfully, the reign of Boris Godunov ended sadly. A series of boyar conspiracies (many boyars harbored hostility towards the "upstart") gave rise to despondency, and soon a real catastrophe broke out. The silent opposition that accompanied Boris' reign from beginning to end was no secret to him. There is evidence that the tsar directly accused the close boyars of the fact that the appearance of the impostor False Dmitry I was not without their assistance. In opposition to the government was urban population, dissatisfied with the heavy exactions and arbitrariness of local officials. And the rumors about the involvement of Boris Godunov in the murder of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Dmitry Ioannovich, "warmed up" the situation even more. Thus, hatred for Godunov by the end of his reign was universal.

Troubles (1598-1613)

Famine (1601 - 1603)

AT 1601-1603 broke out in the country catastrophic famine , lasting 3 years. The price of bread has increased 100 times. Boris forbade selling bread more than a certain limit, even resorting to the persecution of those who inflated prices, but he did not achieve success. In an effort to help the starving, he spared no expense, widely distributing money to the poor. But bread became more expensive, and money lost its value. Boris ordered the royal barns to be opened for the starving. However, even their supplies were not enough for all the hungry, especially since, having learned about the distribution, people from all over the country reached out to Moscow, leaving the meager supplies that they still had at home. In Moscow alone, 127,000 people died of starvation, and not everyone had time to bury them. There were cases of cannibalism. People began to think that this was God's punishment. There was a conviction that the reign of Boris is not blessed by God, because it is lawless, achieved by untruth. Therefore, it cannot end well.

The sharp deterioration in the situation of all segments of the population led to mass unrest under the slogan of overthrowing Tsar Boris Godunov and transferring the throne to the "legitimate" sovereign. The ground for the appearance of the impostor was ready.

False Dmitry I (1 (11) June 1605 - 17 (27) May 1606)

Rumors began to circulate around the country that the "born sovereign", Tsarevich Dmitry, miraculously escaped and is alive.

Tsarevich Dmitry (†1591) , the son of Ivan the Terrible from the last wife of Tsar Maria Feodorovna Nagoya (in monasticism Martha), died under circumstances not yet clarified - from a stab wound to the throat.

Death of Tsarevich Dmitry (Uglichsky)

Little Dmitry suffered from mental disorders, fell into unreasonable anger more than once, threw his fists even at his mother, and fell into epilepsy. All this, however, did not change the fact that he was a prince and after the death of Fyodor Ioannovich († 1598) was to ascend to his father's throne. Dmitry posed a real threat to many: the boyar nobility had suffered enough from Ivan the Terrible, so they watched the violent heir with concern. But most of all, the prince was dangerous, of course, to those forces that relied on Godunov. That is why, when the news of his strange death came from Uglich, where 8-year-old Dmitry was sent along with his mother, the popular rumor immediately, without any doubt that he was right, pointed to Boris Godunov as the customer of the crime. The official conclusion that the prince killed himself: while playing with a knife, he allegedly had an attack of epilepsy, and in convulsions he stabbed himself in the throat, few people were convinced.

The death of Dmitry in Uglich and the subsequent death of the childless Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich led to a crisis of power.

It was not possible to put an end to the rumors, and Godunov tried to do it by force. The more actively the tsar fought against people's rumor, the wider and louder it became.

In 1601, a man appeared on the scene, posing as Tsarevich Dmitry, and went down in history under the name False Dmitry I . He, the only one of all Russian impostors, managed to seize the throne for a while.

- an impostor who pretended to be the miraculously saved youngest son of Ivan IV the Terrible - Tsarevich Dmitry. The first of three impostors who called themselves the son of Ivan the Terrible, who claimed the Russian throne (False Dmitry II and False Dmitry III). From June 1 (11), 1605 to May 17 (27), 1606 - Tsar of Russia.

According to the most common version, False Dmitry is someone Grigory Otrepiev , fugitive monk of the Chudov Monastery (which is why he received the nickname Rasstriga among the people - deprived of spiritual dignity, i.e. the degree of priesthood). Before monasticism, he was in the service of Mikhail Nikitich Romanov (brother of Patriarch Filaret and uncle of the first Tsar of the Romanov family, Mikhail Fedorovich). After the persecution of the Romanov family by Boris Godunov began in 1600, he fled to the Zheleznoborkovsky monastery (Kostroma) and became a monk. But soon he moved to the Euphemia Monastery in the city of Suzdal, and then to the Moscow Miracle Monastery (in the Moscow Kremlin). There he quickly becomes a "cross clerk": he is engaged in the correspondence of books and is present as a scribe in the "Tsar's Duma". OTrepyev becomes quite familiar with Patriarch Job and many of the Duma boyars. However, the life of a monk did not attract him. Around 1601, he flees to the Commonwealth (Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), where he declares himself a "miraculously saved prince." Further, his traces are lost in Poland until 1603.

Otrepiev in Poland declares himself Tsarevich Dmitry

According to some sources, Otrepievconverted to Catholicism and proclaimed himself a prince. Although the impostor treated matters of faith lightly, having indifference to both Orthodox and Catholic traditions. There, in Poland, Otrepiev saw and fell in love with the beautiful and proud Panna Marina Mnishek.

Poland actively supported the impostor. In exchange for support, False Dmitry promised, after accession to the throne, to return half of the Smolensk land to the Polish crown, together with the city of Smolensk and Chernigov-Seversk land, to support the Catholic faith in Russia - in particular, to open churches and admit Jesuits to Muscovy, to support the Polish king Sigismund III in his claims to the Swedish crown and contribute to the rapprochement - and ultimately the merger - of Russia with the Commonwealth. At the same time, False Dmitry turns to the Pope with a letter promising favor and help.

The oath of False Dmitry I to the Polish King Sigismund III for the introduction of Catholicism in Russia

After a private audience in Krakow with King Sigismund III of Poland, False Dmitry began to form a detachment for a campaign against Moscow. According to some reports, he managed to gather more than 15,000 people.

On October 16, 1604, False Dmitry I, with detachments of Poles and Cossacks, moved to Moscow. When the news of the offensive of False Dmitry reached Moscow, the boyar elite, dissatisfied with Godunov, was willing to recognize a new pretender to the throne. Even the curses of the Moscow Patriarch did not cool the enthusiasm of the people on the path of "Tsarevich Dmitry".

The success of False Dmitry I was caused not so much by a military factor as by the unpopularity of the Russian Tsar Boris Godunov. Simple Russian warriors were reluctant to fight against someone who, in their opinion, could be the “true” prince, some governors said out loud that it was “not right” to fight against the true sovereign.

On April 13, 1605, Boris Godunov died unexpectedly. The boyars swore allegiance to the kingdom to his son Fyodor, but already on June 1 an uprising took place in Moscow, and Fyodor Borisovich Godunov was overthrown. On June 10, he and his mother were killed. The people wished to see the "God-given" Dmitry as king.

Convinced of the support of the nobles and the people, on June 20, 1605, to the festive ringing of bells and the cheers of the crowds crowding on both sides of the road, False Dmitry I solemnly entered the Kremlin. The new king was accompanied by the Poles. On July 18, False Dmitry was recognized by Tsarina Maria, the wife of Ivan the Terrible and the mother of Tsarevich Dmitry. On July 30, False Dmitry was crowned king by the new patriarch Ignatius.

For the first time in Russian history, Western foreigners came to Moscow not at the invitation and not as dependent people, but as the main characters. The impostor brought with him a huge retinue that occupied the entire center of the city. For the first time Moscow was filled with Catholics, for the first time the Moscow court began to live not according to Russian, but according to Western, more precisely, Polish laws. For the first time, foreigners began to push the Russians around as if they were their serfs, defiantly showing them that they were second-class people.The history of the stay of the Poles in Moscow is full of bullying by uninvited guests over the owners of the house.

False Dmitry removed obstacles to leaving the state and movement within it. The British, who were in Moscow at that time, noticed that not a single European state had known such freedom. In most of his actions, False Dmitry is recognized by some modern historians as an innovator who sought to Europeanize the state. At the same time, he began to look for allies in the West, especially with the Pope and the Polish king, it was supposed to include the German emperor, the French king and the Venetians in the proposed alliance.

One of the weaknesses of False Dmitry was women, including the wives and daughters of the boyars, who actually became the king's free or involuntary concubines. Among them was even the daughter of Boris Godunov, Ksenia, whom, because of her beauty, the impostor spared during the extermination of the Godunov family, and then kept with him for several months. In May 1606, False Dmitry married the daughter of a Polish governor Marina Mnishek , who was crowned as a Russian queen without observing Orthodox rites. Exactly a week the new queen reigned in Moscow.

At the same time, a dual situation developed: on the one hand, the people loved False Dmitry, and on the other, they suspected him of imposture. In the winter of 1605, the Chudov monk was captured, who publicly declared that Grishka Otrepyev was sitting on the throne, whom "he himself taught to read and write." The monk was tortured, but having achieved nothing, they drowned him in the Moscow River along with several of his companions.

Almost from the first day, a wave of discontent swept through the capital due to the tsar’s non-observance of church posts and violation of Russian customs in clothing and life, his disposition towards foreigners, promises to marry a Pole and the war being started with Turkey and Sweden. The dissatisfied were headed by Vasily Shuisky, Vasily Golitsyn, Prince Kurakin and the most conservative representatives of the clergy - Kazan Metropolitan Germogen and Kolomna Bishop Joseph.

The people were annoyed by the fact that the tsar, more and more clearly, mocked Moscow prejudices, dressed in foreign clothes and, as if on purpose, teased the boyars, ordering them to serve veal, which the Russians did not eat.

Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610)

May 17, 1606 as a result of a coup led by Shuisky's people False Dmitry was killed . The disfigured corpse was thrown to the Execution Ground, putting a buffoon cap on his head, and putting a bagpipe on his chest. Subsequently, the body was burned, and the ashes were loaded into a cannon and fired from it towards Poland.

1 May 9, 1606 Vasily Shuisky became king (he was crowned by Metropolitan Isidore of Novgorod in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin as Tsar Vasily IV on June 1, 1606). Such an election was illegal, but this did not bother any of the boyars.

Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky , from the family of the Suzdal princes Shuisky, who descended from Alexander Nevsky, was born in 1552. From 1584 he was a boyar and head of the Moscow Judicial Chamber.

In 1587 he led the opposition to Boris Godunov. As a result, he was disgraced, but managed to regain the favor of the king and was forgiven.

After the death of Godunov, Vasily Shuisky tried to carry out a coup, but was arrested and exiled along with his brothers. But False Dmitry needed boyar support, and at the end of 1605 the Shuiskys returned to Moscow.

After the murder of False Dmitry I, organized by Vasily Shuisky, the boyars and the crowd bribed by them, gathered on the Red Square of Moscow, on May 19, 1606, elected Shuisky to the kingdom.

However, 4 years later, in the summer of 1610, the same boyars and nobles overthrew him from the throne and forced him and his wife to take the veil as monks. In September 1610, the former "boyar" tsar was extradited to the Polish hetman (commander-in-chief) Zholkiewski, who took Shuisky to Poland. In Warsaw, the tsar and his brothers were presented as prisoners to King Sigismund III.

Vasily Shuisky died on September 12, 1612, in custody in the Gostynin castle, in Poland, 130 miles from Warsaw. In 1635, at the request of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the remains of Vasily Shuisky were returned by the Poles to Russia. Vasily was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

With the accession to the throne of Vasily Shuisky, the Troubles did not stop, but entered an even more difficult phase. Tsar Vasily was not popular among the people. The legitimacy of the new king was not recognized by a significant number of the population, who were waiting for the new coming of the "true king." Unlike False Dmitry, Shuisky could not pretend to be a descendant of Ruriks and appeal to the hereditary right to the throne. Unlike Godunov, the conspirator was not legally elected by the cathedral, which means that he could not, like Tsar Boris, claim the legitimacy of his power. He relied only on a narrow circle of supporters and could not resist the elements that were already raging in the country.

In August 1607 a new pretender to the throne appeared, reanimated "by the same Poland, -.

This second impostor received in Russian history the nickname Tushino thief . In his army there were up to 20 thousand multilingual rabble. All this mass scoured the Russian land and behaved as the occupiers usually behave, that is, they robbed, killed and raped. In the summer of 1608, False Dmitry II approached Moscow and camped at its walls in the village of Tushino. Tsar Vasily Shuisky with his government was locked up in Moscow; under its walls, an alternative capital arose with its own governmental hierarchy -.

The Polish governor Mniszek and his daughter soon arrived at the camp. Oddly enough, Marina Mnishek "recognized" her ex-fiance in the impostor and secretly married False Dmitry II.

False Dmitry II, in fact, ruled Russia - he distributed land to the nobles, considered complaints, met foreign ambassadors.By the end of 1608, a significant part of Russia was under the rule of the Tushins, and Shuisky no longer controlled the regions of the country. The Muscovite state seemed to have ceased to exist forever.

In September 1608 began siege of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery , and infamine came to besieged Moscow. Trying to save the situation, Vasily Shuisky decided to call on mercenaries for help and turned to the Swedes.

The siege of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra by the troops of False Dmitry II and the Polish hetman Jan Sapieha

In December 1609, due to the offensive of the 15,000th Swedish army and the betrayal of the Polish military leaders, who began to swear allegiance to King Sigismund III, False Dmitry II was forced to flee from Tushin to Kaluga, where he was killed a year later.

Interregnum (1610-1613)

Russia's position worsened day by day. The Russian land was torn apart by civil strife, the Swedes threatened war in the north, the Tatars constantly rebelled in the south, and the Poles threatened from the west. During the Time of Troubles, the Russian people tried anarchy, military dictatorship, thieves' law, tried to introduce a constitutional monarchy, to offer the throne to foreigners. But nothing helped. At that time, many Russians agreed to recognize any sovereign, if only peace finally came to the exhausted country.

In England, in turn, the project of an English protectorate over all Russian land, not yet occupied by the Poles and Swedes, was seriously considered. According to the documents, King James I of England "was carried away by a plan to send an army to Russia in order to manage it through his commissioner."

However, on July 27, 1610, as a result of a boyar conspiracy, the Russian Tsar Vasily Shuisky was removed from the throne. In Russia, the period of government "Seven Boyars" .

"Seven Boyars" - "provisional" boyar government, formed in Russia after the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky (died in Polish captivity) in July 1610 and formally existed until the election of Tsar Mikhail Romanov to the throne.

It consisted of 7 members of the Boyar Duma - princes F.I. Mstislavsky, I.M. Vorotynsky, A.V. Trubetskoy, A.V. Golitsyna, B.M. Lykov-Obolensky, I.N. Romanov (Uncle of the future Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and younger brother of the future Patriarch Filaret) and F.I. Sheremetiev. The head of the Seven Boyars was elected prince, boyar, governor, an influential member of the Boyar Duma Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky.

One of the tasks of the new government was the preparation of the election of a new king. However, "military conditions" required immediate solutions.
To the west of Moscow, in the immediate vicinity of Poklonnaya Hill near the village of Dorogomilovo, the army of the Commonwealth, led by Hetman Zholkevsky, stood up, and in the southeast, in Kolomenskoye, False Dmitry II, with whom the Lithuanian detachment of Sapieha was also. The boyars were especially afraid of False Dmitry, because he had many supporters in Moscow and was at least more popular than them. In order to avoid the struggle of the boyar clans for power, it was decided not to elect representatives of the Russian clans as tsar.

As a result, the so-called "Semibarshchyna" concluded an agreement with the Poles on the election of the 15-year-old Polish prince Vladislav IV to the Russian throne. (son of Sigismund III) on the terms of his conversion to Orthodoxy.

Fearing False Dmitry II, the boyars went even further and on the night of September 21, 1610 secretly let the Polish troops of Hetman Zholkievsky into the Kremlin (in Russian history this fact is regarded as an act of national treason).

Thus, the real power in the capital and beyond was concentrated in the hands of the governor Vladislav Pan Gonsevsky and the military leaders of the Polish garrison.

Ignoring the Russian government, they generously distributed lands to supporters of Poland, confiscating them from those who remained loyal to the country.

Meanwhile, King Sigismund III was not at all going to let his son Vladislav go to Moscow, especially since he did not want to allow him to accept Orthodoxy. Sigismund himself dreamed of taking the throne of Moscow and becoming king in Muscovite Russia. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Polish king conquered the western and southeastern regions of the Muscovite state and began to consider himself the sovereign of all Russia.

This changed the attitude of the members of the government of the Seven Boyars to the Poles they had called. Taking advantage of the growing discontent, Patriarch Hermogenes began sending letters to the cities of Russia, urging them to resist the new government. For this, he was taken into custody and subsequently executed. All this served as a signal for the unification of almost all Russians in order to expel the Polish invaders from Moscow and elect a new Russian tsar not only by the boyars and princes, but "by the will of the whole earth."

People's militia of Dmitry Pozharsky (1611-1612)

Seeing the atrocities of foreigners, the robbery of churches, monasteries and the episcopal treasury, the inhabitants began to fight for the faith, for their spiritual salvation. The siege by Sapieha and Lisovsky of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and its defense played a huge role in strengthening patriotism.

The defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, which lasted almost 16 months - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610

The patriotic movement under the slogan of the election of the "original" sovereign led to the formation in the Ryazan cities First militia (1611) who began the liberation of the country. In October 1612, detachments Second militia (1611-1612) led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin, they liberated the capital, forcing the Polish garrison to surrender.

After the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow, thanks to the feat of the Second militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, for several months the country was ruled by a provisional government headed by princes Dmitry Pozharsky and Dmitry Trubetskoy.

At the very end of December 1612, Pozharsky and Trubetskoy sent letters to the cities, in which they summoned to Moscow from all cities and from every rank the best and most reasonable elected people, "for the Zemstvo Council and for state election." These elected people were to elect a new tsar in Russia. Zemstvo government of the militia ("Council of the whole earth") began preparations for the Zemsky Sobor.

Zemsky Sobor of 1613 and the election of a new tsar

Before the beginning of the Zemsky Sobor, a 3-day strict fast was declared everywhere. Many prayer services were served in the churches so that God would enlighten the elected people, and the matter of election to the kingdom was accomplished not by human desire, but by the will of God.

On January 6 (19), 1613 Zemsky Sobor began in Moscow , which decided the question of the election of the Russian Tsar. It was the first indisputably all-class Zemsky Sobor with the participation of townspeople and even rural representatives. All segments of the population were represented on it, with the exception of serfs and serfs. The number of "soviet people" gathered in Moscow exceeded 800 people representing at least 58 cities.

Council meetings took place in an atmosphere of fierce rivalry between various political groups that had taken shape in Russian society during the years of the ten-year Troubles and sought to strengthen their position by electing their pretender to the royal throne. The participants of the Council nominated more than ten pretenders to the throne.

At first, the Polish prince Vladislav and the Swedish prince Karl-Philip were called pretenders to the throne. However, these candidates were opposed by the vast majority of the Council. The Zemsky Sobor annulled the decision of the Seven Boyars on the election of Prince Vladislav to the Russian throne and decided: "Foreign princes and Tatar princes should not be invited to the Russian throne."

Candidates from old princely families also did not receive support. In various sources, Fyodor Mstislavsky, Ivan Vorotynsky, Fyodor Sheremetev, Dmitry Trubetskoy, Dmitry Mamtryukovich and Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky, Ivan Golitsyn, Ivan Nikitich and Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov and Pyotr Pronsky are named among the candidates. They also offered Dmitry Pozharsky as king. But he resolutely rejected his candidacy and was one of the first to point to the ancient family of the Romanov boyars. Pozharsky said: “By the nobility of the family, and by the number of services to the fatherland, Metropolitan Filaret from the Romanov family would have come up to the king. But this good servant of God is now in Polish captivity and cannot become king. But he has a son of sixteen years old, so he, by the right of antiquity of his kind and by the right of pious upbringing by his mother-nun, should become king.(In the world, Metropolitan Filaret was a boyar - Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. Boris Godunov forced him to take the veil as a monk, fearing that he might depose Godunov and sit on the royal throne.)

The Moscow nobles, supported by the townspeople, offered to enthrone 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the son of Patriarch Filaret. The decisive role, according to a number of historians, in the election of Mikhail Romanov to the kingdom was played by the Cossacks, who during this period become an influential social force. Among the service people and the Cossacks, a movement arose, the center of which was the Moscow courtyard of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and its active inspirer was Avraamy Palitsyn, the cellar of this monastery, a person very influential among both the militias and Muscovites. At meetings with the participation of the cellarer Avraamy, it was decided to proclaim Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov Yuryev, the son of Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov, captured by the Poles, as Tsar.The main argument of Mikhail Romanov's supporters boiled down to the fact that, unlike elected tsars, he was elected not by people, but by God, since he comes from a noble royal root. Not kinship with Rurik, but proximity and kinship with the dynasty of Ivan IV gave the right to occupy his throne. Many boyars joined the Romanov party, he was supported by the highest Orthodox clergy - consecrated cathedral.

On February 21 (March 3), 1613, the Zemsky Sobor elected Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom, marking the beginning of a new dynasty.

In 1613, the Zemsky Sobor swore allegiance to 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich

Letters were sent to the cities and counties of the country with the news of the election of the king and the oath of allegiance to the new dynasty.

On March 13, 1613, the ambassadors of the Council arrived in Kostroma. In the Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail was with his mother, he was informed of his election to the throne.

The Poles tried to prevent the new tsar from coming to Moscow. A small detachment of them went to the Ipatiev Monastery to kill Mikhail, but along the way they got lost, because the peasant Ivan Susanin , agreeing to show the way, led him into a dense forest.

June 11, 1613 Mikhail Fedorovich was married to the kingdom in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The celebrations lasted 3 days.

The election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom put an end to the Time of Troubles and gave rise to the Romanov dynasty.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK