A message about Alexey Mikhailovich the quietest. The forgotten great king. The true founder of the Russian Empire. Alexey Quiet Romanov. Annexation of Left Bank Ukraine

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, like his father, took the throne at the age of sixteen. Throughout his childhood and youth, the future king was prepared for the kingdom. This was mainly done by B. Morozov, the Tsar’s tutor. This man subsequently had enormous influence on Alexei and could actually rule the state.

The reign of Alexei Mikhailovich began in 1645. However, very soon new uprisings began to occur in the country, which could weaken the royal power. It would be fair to note that the reasons for most of the uprisings were given by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov himself. So on June 1, 16448, a “salt riot” broke out in Moscow. Due to lack of money in the treasury, the tsar, through the head of the Zemsky Prikaz, Pleshcheev, introduced a new large tax on salt. The citizens were indignant, the uprising arose so strong that Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov was forced to hand Pleshcheev over to the people and expel his teacher, Morozov, from the country. Next was the Copper Riot. The country was in a difficult financial situation due to wars. Then the king decided to mint money not from silver, as was done before, but from copper. As a result, money actually depreciated fifteen times. Merchants refused to sell goods for new money. The army stopped receiving salaries. In July 1662, an uprising arose, which led to the king's house. There they were met by an armed army, which crushed the uprising and severely punished the rebels. Many participants in the uprising had their hands, feet, and tongues cut off. This was the verdict of the court. Despite this, the circulation of copper money was cancelled.

Tsar's reforms

In 1670, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov faced a new danger within the country. A powerful uprising broke out again in the country in the spring of that year, led by Stepan Razin. This uprising was suppressed by the end of 1671. Most of Razin's army was destroyed, and Stepan himself was arrested by tsarist troops near the town of Kagalnitsky.

Foreign policy

At this time, the liberation movement began on the territory of modern Ukraine. Ukrainians, led by Bohdan Khmelnytsky, fought with the Poles for independence. The forces were unequal, and in 1652 Khmelnitsky turned to the Russian Tsar to accept Ukraine into Russia. For more than a year, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov hesitated, realizing that accepting Ukraine would mean war with Poland. Khmelnitsky, seeing Moscow's hesitation, set a condition in 1653 that if Russia did not include Ukraine in the country in the near future, then Khmelnitsky would go to Turkey with the same proposal. The possible Russian-Turkish border in this regard seemed to be the worst possible option. On October 1, 1653, the Zemsky Council decided to annex Ukraine.

Immediately after these events began war with Poland. It lasted 15 years. Both of them achieved success alternately. At the very beginning of the war in Ukraine, Khmelnitsky died. Ivan Vygovsky was elected as the new hetman, who declared his allegiance to Poland and sent a notification to the Polish king that Ukraine wished to reunite with Poland. Thus, Ukraine, because of which Russia became embroiled in a war with Poland, betrayed Russia. The Ukrainian people did not recognize Polish power. The war depleted Poland's resources. During these same years they fought against the Swedes and Turks. As a result, the Truce of Andrusovo was concluded in 1667. Russia returned Smolensk and the Northern Lands, as well as left-bank Ukraine.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov organized many campaigns aimed at exploring Siberia and the Far East. As a result of these campaigns, as well as campaigns organized by Alexei’s successors, it was possible to expand the borders of the state to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

In 1675, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov died.

The son of the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, from his marriage to Evdokia Streshneva, was born on March 29 (19, according to other sources, 10 according to the old style) March 1629.

He was brought up under the supervision of the "uncle" boyar Boris Morozov. At the age of 11-12, the prince had his own children's library, among its books was a lexicon (a kind of encyclopedic dictionary), grammar, and cosmography. Alexei was distinguished by Orthodox piety: he strictly observed fasts and attended church services.

Alexei Mikhailovich began his reign at the age of 14, after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor.

In 1645, at the age of 16, having first lost his father, and soon his mother, Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne.

By nature, Alexey Mikhailovich was calm, reasonable, kind and compliant. In history, he retained the nickname “The Quietest.”

The first years of Alexei Mikhailovich's reign were marked by the convening of the Boyar Duma. The financial policy of the government of Alexei Mikhailovich was focused on increasing taxes and replenishing the treasury at their expense. The establishment of a high duty on salt in 1645 led to popular unrest - a salt riot in Moscow in 1648. The rebellious people demanded the “extradition” of boyar Boris Morozov. Alexei Mikhailovich managed to save his “uncle” and relative (Morozov was married to the queen’s sister) by sending him to the Kirillov Monastery. The duty on salt was abolished. The boyar Nikita Odoevsky was placed at the head of the government, who ordered an increase in the salaries of the troops (streltsy) who suppressed the uprising.

Under the leadership of princes Odoevsky, Fyodor Volkonsky and Semyon Prozorovsky, Alexei Mikhailovich signed the text of the Council Code at the beginning of 1649 - the new foundations of Russian legislation. The document affirmed the principle of a centralized state with the authoritarian power of the king.

The abolition of “lesson years” for searching for runaway peasants, enshrined in the Council Code, strengthened the position of the nobles. The position of the lower classes of the townspeople also changed significantly: all urban settlements were now “turned into taxes,” that is, they had to bear the full tax burden.

The response to these changes in the taxation system was the uprisings of 1650 in Pskov and Novgorod. Their suppression was led by the Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon, who had previously earned the tsar’s trust. Back in 1646, being the abbot of the Kozheezersky monastery, having come to Moscow to collect alms, he amazed Alexei Mikhailovich with his spirituality and extensive knowledge. The young tsar appointed him first as archimandrite of the Novo Spassky Monastery in Moscow, where the Romanov family burial vault was located, and then as metropolitan of Novgorod. In 1652 Nikon was ordained patriarch. In the 1650s x 1660s, church reform was carried out, which at first was led by Patriarch Nikon, which led to a split in the Russian Orthodox Church and the excommunication of the Old Believers. In 1658, as a result of a conflict with the Tsar, Nikon left the patriarchate. In 1666, on the initiative of Alexei Mikhailovich, a church council was convened, at which Nikon was deposed and sent into exile.

By order of Alexei Mikhailovich, state reform was carried out - new central orders (central government bodies) were established: Secret Affairs (1648), Monastyrsky (1648), Little Russian (1649), Reitarsky (1651), Accounting (1657), Lithuanian (1656) and Bread (1663). Under Alexei Mikhailovich, the first reform of the Russian army in the 17th century began - the introduction of hired “regiments of the new system.”

Alexey Mikhailovich paid special attention to the foreign policy of the state. A major achievement of Russian diplomacy during his reign was the reunification of Ukraine with Russia. On January 8, 1654, the Pereyaslav Rada approved.

In 1667, the 13-year war with Poland ended victoriously, and Smolensk, Kyiv and the entire left-bank Ukraine were returned to Russia. At the same time, Alexey Mikhailovich personally participated in many of the military campaigns, led diplomatic negotiations, and supervised the activities of Russian ambassadors.

In the east of the country, through the efforts of Russian pioneers Semyon Dezhnev and Vasily Poyarkov, the lands of Siberia were annexed to Russia. The cities of Nerchinsk (1656), Irkutsk (1659), Selenginsk (1666) were founded. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, the struggle for the security of the southern borders of Russia with the Turks and Tatars was successfully waged.

In economic policy, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich encouraged industrial activity and patronized domestic trade, protecting it from competition from foreign goods. These goals were served by the Customs (1663) and New Trade (1667) charters, which promoted the growth of foreign trade.

Miscalculations in financial policy - the issuance of copper money equal to silver, which devalued the ruble - caused discontent among the population, which grew into the Copper Riot in 1662. The revolt was suppressed by the Streltsy, and copper money was abolished. Soon after the Copper Riot, an uprising of those dissatisfied with church reforms broke out in the Solovetsky Monastery (1666). In the south of Russia, popular unrest arose under the leadership of the Don Cossack Stepan Razin (1670-1671).

Until her death, the tsar was an exemplary family man; they had 13 children, including the future tsars Fyodor and Ivan, as well as the princess ruler Sophia. After the death of Maria Miloslavskaya, Alexey Mikhailovich in 1671 married Natalya Naryshkina, a relative of the nobleman Artamon Matveev, who began to exert great influence on the monarch. The young wife bore the Tsar three children and, in particular, the future Emperor Peter I.

Alexei Mikhailovich died on February 8 (January 29, old style) 1676 at the age of 46 and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. According to testamentary documents of 1674, his eldest son from his marriage to Maria Miloslavskaya, Fyodor, was appointed heir to the throne.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources V

Alexei Mikhailovich began his reign at the age of 14, after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor.

In 1645, at the age of 16, having first lost his father, and soon his mother, Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne.

By nature, Alexey Mikhailovich was calm, reasonable, kind and compliant. In history, he retained the nickname “The Quietest.”

The material was prepared based on information from open sources V

Alexey I Mikhailovich Quiet


Predecessor:	Mikhail Fedorovich
Successor:	Fedor III Alekseevich
Birth:
	1676, Moscow
Dynasty:	Romanovs
	Mikhail I Fedorovich
	Streshneva, Evdokia Lukyanovna
	1) Miloslavskaya, Maria Ilyinichna, 2) Naryshkina, Natalya Kirillovna
Autograph:

Biography

The character of Alexei Mikhailovich

Reign

Marriage. Morozov

Patriarch Nikon

Military reform

Monetary reform

Internal unrest

Marriages and children

Monuments

Alexey Mikhailovich Quiet(March 19, 1629 - January 29, 1676) - the second Russian Tsar from the Romanov dynasty (July 14, 1645 - January 29, 1676), son of Mikhail Fedorovich and his second wife Evdokia.

Biography

Childhood

Until the age of five, the young Tsarevich Alexei remained in the care of the royal “mothers.” From the age of five, under the supervision of B.I. Morozov, he began to learn to read and write using the ABC book, then began reading the Book of Hours, the Psalter and the Acts of the Holy Apostles, at the age of seven he began to learn writing, and at the age of nine - church singing. Over time, the child (11-12 years old) developed a small library; Among the books that belonged to him, mention is made, among other things, of the Lexicon and Grammar, published in Lithuania, as well as Cosmography. Among the items of “children’s fun” of the future king are: a horse and children’s armor of “German business,” musical instruments, German maps and “printed sheets” (pictures). Thus, along with the previous educational means, innovations are also noticeable, which were made not without the direct influence of B.I. Morozov. The latter, as is known, dressed the young Tsar with his brother and other children in German dress for the first time. In the 14th year, the prince was solemnly “announced” to the people, and at the age of 16, having lost his father and mother, he ascended the throne of Moscow.

The character of Alexei Mikhailovich

With his accession to the throne, Tsar Alexei came face to face with a number of troubling questions that worried Russian life in the 17th century. Too little prepared to resolve this kind of issues, he initially submitted to the influence of his former uncle B.I. Morozov, but soon he himself began to take an independent part in affairs. In this activity, the main features of his character were finally formed. The autocratic Russian Tsar, judging by his own letters, foreigners (Meyerberg, Collins, Reitenfels, Lisek) and his relations with those around him, had a remarkably gentle, good-natured character, was, according to Mr. Kotoshikhin, “much quiet.” The spiritual atmosphere in which Tsar Alexei lived, his upbringing, character and reading of church books developed religiosity in him. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the king did not drink or eat anything during all fasts and was generally a zealous performer of church rituals. The veneration of external ritual was also accompanied by an internal religious feeling, which developed Christian humility in Tsar Alexei. “And to me, a sinner,- he writes, - "The honor here is like dust". The royal good nature and humility were sometimes, however, replaced by short-term outbursts of anger. One day, the Tsar, who was being bled by a German “doctor,” ordered the boyars to try the same remedy. Rodion Streshnev did not agree. Tsar Alexei personally “humbled” the old man, but then did not know what gifts to appease him with.

In general, the king knew how to respond to other people's grief and joy; remarkable in this regard are his letters to A. Ordin-Nashchokin and Prince N. Odoevsky. Few dark sides can be noted in the character of Tsar Alexei. He had a contemplative, passive rather than a practical, active nature. He stood at the crossroads between two directions, Old Russian and Western, reconciling them in his worldview, but did not indulge in either one or the other with the passionate energy of Peter. The king was not only smart, but also an educated man of his age. He read a lot, wrote letters, compiled the Code of the Falconer's Way, tried to write his memoirs about the Polish war, and practiced versification. He was a man of order par excellence; " time for business and fun“(that is, everything has its time) - he wrote; or: " without rank, every thing will not be established and strengthened».

It is known that Alexey Mikhailovich was personally involved in the organization of the army. The staff list of the Reitar regiment, completed by the sovereign himself, has been preserved. The secretary of the Danish embassy, Andrei Rode, testifies that the sovereign was also involved in artillery. As he wrote in his diary: April 11, 1659 “Colonel (Bauman) also showed us a drawing of a cannon, which was invented by the Grand Duke himself (Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich)”.

Reign

Marriage. Morozov

This rank, however, had to be approved upon the accession of the 16-year-old king to the throne. The young tsar strongly submitted to the influence of Boris Morozov. Having decided to get married, in 1647 he chose Euphemia, the daughter of Raf Vsevolozhsky, as his wife at a show of brides, but abandoned his choice due to intrigues in which Morozov himself was probably involved. In 1648, on January 16, the tsar married Marya Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya; Soon after that, Morozov married her sister Anna. Thus, B.I. Morozov and his father-in-law I.D. Miloslavsky acquired primary importance at court. By this time, however, the results of B. I. Morozov’s poor internal management had already clearly emerged. By royal decree and boyar verdict on February 7, 1646, a new duty on salt was established. This duty replaced not only the previous salt duty, but also Yam and Streltsy money; it exceeded the market price of salt - the main consumer item - by approximately 1¼ times and caused strong discontent on the part of the population. Added to this were the abuses of I.D. Miloslavsky and rumors about the tsar’s and ruler’s predilection for foreign customs. All these reasons caused a popular revolt (Salt riot) in Moscow and riots in other cities; On May 25, 1648, the people began to demand from the tsar the extradition of B. Morozov, then they plundered his house and killed the devious Pleshcheev and the Duma clerk Chisty. The Tsar hastened to secretly send his beloved B.I. Morozov to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, and betrayed Pleshcheev to the people. The new duty on salt was abolished in the same year. After the popular unrest subsided, Morozov returned to the court, enjoyed the royal favor, but did not have primary importance in government.

Patriarch Nikon

Tsar Alexei matured and no longer needed guardianship; he himself wrote to Nikon in 1661, “ that his word became fearful in the palace " “These words, however, were not entirely justified in reality. The king's gentle, sociable nature needed an adviser and friend. Nikon became such a “special”, especially beloved friend. Being at that time a metropolitan in Novgorod, where with his characteristic energy he pacified the rebels in March 1650, Nikon gained the royal trust, was ordained patriarch on July 25, 1652, and began to exert direct influence on state affairs. Among the latter, the government attracted particular attention to foreign relations. Patriarch Nikon was entrusted with carrying out church reform. The reform took place in 1653-1655. and concerned mainly church rituals and books. Baptism with three fingers was introduced, bows from the waist instead of bows to the ground, icons and church books were corrected according to Greek models. Convened in 1654 The Church Council approved the reform, but proposed to bring the existing rituals into conformity not only with the Greek, but also with the Russian tradition. The new patriarch was a capricious, strong-willed man, and in many ways fanatical. Having received immense power over the believers, he soon came up with the idea of the primacy of church power and invited Alexei Mikhailovich to share power with him. However, the king did not want to tolerate the patriarch for long. He stopped going to patriarchal services in the Assumption Cathedral and inviting Nikon to state receptions. This was a serious blow to the patriarch’s pride. During one of the sermons in the Assumption Cathedral, he announced his resignation from patriarchal duties (while retaining his rank) and retired to the New Jerusalem Resurrection Monastery. There Nikon waited for the king to repent and ask him to return to Moscow. However, the king acted completely differently. He began to prepare a church trial of Nikon, for which he invited Orthodox patriarchs from other countries to Moscow. For the trial of Nikon in 1666. A Church Council was convened, to which the Patriarch was brought under guard. The tsar stated that Nikon left the church without the tsar’s permission and renounced the patriarchate, thereby making it clear who held the real power in the country. The church hierarchs present supported the tsar and condemned Nikon, blessing his deprivation of the rank of patriarch and eternal imprisonment in a monastery. At the same time, the Council of 1666-1667. supported church reform and cursed all its opponents, who began to be called Old Believers. The participants of the Council decided to hand over the leaders of the Old Believers to the authorities. According to the Council Code of 1649. they were in danger of being burned at the stake. Thus, Nikon’s reforms and the Council of 1666-1667. marked the beginning of a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Military reform

In 1648, using the experience of creating regiments of a foreign system during the reign of his father, Alexei Mikhailovich began reforming the army.

During the reform of 1648 - 1654, the best parts of the “old system” were strengthened and enlarged: the elite Moscow local cavalry of the Sovereign Regiment, the Moscow archers and gunners. The main direction of the reform was the massive creation of regiments of the new system: reitar, soldiers, dragoons and hussars. These regiments formed the backbone of the new army of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. To fulfill the goals of the reform, a large number of European military specialists were hired. This became possible due to the end of the Thirty Years' War, which created in Europe a colossal market for military professionals for those times.

Affairs in Ukraine. Polish War

At the end of 1647, the Cossack centurion Zinovy Bogdan Khmelnitsky fled from Ukraine to Zaporozhye, and from there to Crimea. Returning with the Tatar army and elected hetman of the Cossack Rada, he raised the whole of Ukraine, defeated Polish troops at Zhovti Vody, Korsun, Pilyava, besieged Zamosc and concluded a profitable peace near Zborov; having failed at Berestechko, he agreed at Bila Tserkva to a peace much less profitable than Zborovsky. During all this time, Alexei Mikhailovich adopted a wait-and-see policy: he did not help either Khmelnitsky or the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, the tsarist troops took part in undermining the Cossack-Crimean alliance aimed at expelling the Poles from Ukraine: on the eve of the Battle of Pilyavtsy, the Don Cossacks, on the orders of the tsar, attacked Crimea and the horde was unable to come to the aid of the Cossack army.

The Belotserkov peace aroused popular displeasure; The hetman was forced to violate all the conditions and, in cramped circumstances, turned to the “king of the east” for help. At a council convened on this occasion in Moscow, on October 1, 1653, it was decided to accept the Cossacks as citizenship and war was declared on Poland. On May 18, 1654, the Tsar himself set out on a campaign, going to the Trinity and the Savvin Monastery to pray. A witness to the events described the king, who rode out at the head of the army: “The king himself rode, surrounded by 24 halberdiers, of which the previous two carried two broadswords. The king was wearing rich armor, over which he had short clothes, decorated with gold braids, open on the chest so that the armor could be seen. On top of this robe, he had another robe, extremely long, hanging from everywhere, closed on one side only, embroidered with gold: on this robe were visible three large protuberances, set with precious stones and pearls. On his head he had a helmet, pointed at the top in the ancient shape, and on it was a royal golden apple with a cross, also set with precious stones. On the front of the helmet was a solitaire set with a large precious stone, valued at several thousand.”.

The army headed towards Smolensk. After the surrender of Smolensk on September 23, the tsar returned to Vyazma. In the spring of 1655, a new campaign was undertaken. On July 30, the tsar made a ceremonial entry into Vilna and took the title of “Sovereign of Polotsk and Mstislavsky,” and then, when Kovno and Grodno were taken, “Grand Duke of Lithuania, White Russia, Volyn and Podolsk.” In November the Tsar returned to Moscow. At this time, the successes of Charles X, King of Sweden, who took possession of Poznan, Warsaw and Krakow, changed the course of hostilities. Moscow began to fear the strengthening of Sweden at the expense of Poland. In order to borrow money to wage war with Poland and Sweden, Alexei Mikhailovich sent diplomat Ivan Chemodanov to Venice in 1656, but his embassy did not fulfill its task. In the fall of 1656, the Vilna Truce was concluded with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

On July 15, 1656, the king set out on a campaign in Livonia and, after capturing Dinaburg and Kokenhusen, besieged Riga. The siege was lifted due to rumors that Charles X was going to Livonia. Dorpat was occupied by Moscow troops. The Tsar retreated to Polotsk and here he waited for the truce concluded on October 24, 1656. In 1657-1658, military operations continued with varying success. On December 20, 1658, the Valiesar Truce was concluded with the Swedes for a period of three years, according to which Russia retained part of the conquered Livonia (with Dorpat and Marienburg). The final peace was concluded in Kardis in 1661; in this world, Russia gave up all the conquered places. The unfavorable conditions of the Kardis Peace were caused by unrest in Little Russia and a new war with Poland.

After the death of Bogdan Khmelnitsky in July 1657 at the Chihyryn Rada, the Cossack elders assigned hetman duties to Ivan Vygovsky, but only until Yuri Khmelnitsky reached his full age.

At the Korsun Rada on October 21, 1657, in an atmosphere of acute contradictions, Ivan Vygovsky was elected hetman of Ukraine. The bright but contradictory personality of the new hetman could only intensify the turmoil in Ukraine. On the one hand, in conditions when Ukraine was still waging a war for national revival, a self-interested clerk, not a “natural Cossack”, but a “Polyakh” bought from the Tatars for a horse, and, in addition, married to the daughter of a Polish magnate, could not become a recognized leader by all. . But on the other hand, from 1648 he served as a general clerk and, being the closest confidant to B. Khmelnitsky, was the only person in Ukraine dedicated to all internal and external political problems. Thus, the very election of I. Vygovsky as hetman caused many contradictions and could not create unity in Ukraine. Already in October 1657, the hetman faced powerful opposition. The hetman, wholly supported by Moscow, initially managed to defeat the oppositionists, led by Poltava Colonel Martyn Pushkar and Koshevoy Ataman Yakov Barabash, but the contradictions within the Cossack society continued to heat up. Seeing the worsening of the civil war, Moscow increasingly persistently offers the hetman its help in pacifying the unrest and “rebellion,” and persuades the opposition to submit to the hetman.

After Vygovsky’s betrayal and defection to the side of Poland, in the civil war that began in Ukraine, in which Vygovsky was supported by the Polish crown, and behind Yuri Khmelnitsky stood his father’s experienced colonels Ivan Bogun, Ivan Sirko, Yakim Somko, actively supported by Alexei Mikhailovich, the supporters won alliance with Moscow, and Vygovsky was forced to lay down the hetman’s mace in favor of the politically inactive Yuri Khmelnitsky, who subsequently became a monk and entered a monastery.

Taking advantage of the hetman's betrayal and the unrest in Little Russia, Poland refused to recognize Alexei Mikhailovich as heir to the Polish throne and did not concede its conquests to Moscow. The consequence of this was the second Polish war. In June 1660, Prince Khovansky was defeated at Polonka, in September - Sheremetev at Chudnov. Things took an even more dangerous turn thanks to the ongoing unrest in Little Russia. Teterya swore allegiance to the king, who appeared on the left side of the Dnieper, but after the unsuccessful siege of Glukhov at the beginning of 1664 and the successful actions of his opponents - Bryukhovetsky, elected hetman on the left side of the Dnieper, and Prince Romodanovsky - went beyond the Desna. A. Ordin-Nashchokin advised the tsar to abandon Little Russia and turn to Sweden. Alexey Mikhailovich rejected this offer; he did not lose hope. The favorable outcome of the struggle was facilitated by internal unrest in Poland and the transfer of Hetman Doroshenko, Teteri's successor, to the citizenship of the Turkish Sultan. On January 13, 1667, peace was concluded in the village of Andrusov. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich acquired Smolensk, Seversk land, the left side of the Dnieper and, in addition, Kyiv for two years.

During the wars of 1654-1658, the tsar was often absent from Moscow; therefore, he was far from Nikon and did not restrain the patriarch’s lust for power with his presence. Returning from his campaigns, he began to feel burdened by his influence. Nikon's enemies took advantage of the tsar's cooling towards him and began to treat the patriarch disrespectfully. The proud soul of the archpastor could not bear the insult; On July 10, 1658, he renounced his rank and left for the Resurrection Monastery. The Emperor, however, did not soon decide to end this matter. Only in 1666, at a spiritual council chaired by the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, Nikon was deprived of his bishopric and imprisoned in the Belozersky Ferapontov Monastery. During the same period of wars (1654-1667), Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich personally visited Vitebsk, Polotsk, Mogilev, Kovno, Grodno, especially Vilna, and here he became acquainted with a new way of life; Upon returning to Moscow, he made changes in the court environment. Wallpaper (gold leather) and furniture based on German and Polish designs appeared inside the palace. On the outside, the carving became figured, in the Rococo style, and not just on the surface of the wood, according to Russian custom.

Monetary reform

In 1654 he ordered the minting of rubles from the thalers accumulated in the treasury. On one side there was an eagle depicted in a square (cartouche) and in ornaments, a date in letters and the inscription “ruble”. On the other side is the Tsar-rider on a galloping horse, in a circle there is an inscription: “By the grace of God, the great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of all Great and Little Russia.” Due to the complexity of making stamps, it was not possible to re-mint all existing thalers. In 1655, thalers began to be stamped on one side with two stamps (a rectangular one with the date “1655” and a round kopeck stamp (a rider on a horse)). This coin was called “Efimok with a sign”. Efimok and ruble were equal to 64 kopecks (by weight), although previously the price varied from 40 to 60 kopecks. The thaler, cut into four parts, was minted, and thus the quarter (half-fifty piece) came into circulation. Another half-efimok coin was introduced (a thaler cut in half with a countermark). “Efimok with a sign” and its shares (half-efimok and quarter) were in circulation mainly in Ukraine.

The copper fifty-kopeck coin was introduced into circulation. The inscription on the fifty-kopeck piece around the rider on a walking horse: “By the grace of God, Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Rus'.” On rubles and fifty kopecks there was a date in Slavic numbers (letters) translated as “summer 7162”, that is, according to chronology from the Creation of the World.

The collection of taxes was ordered to be made in silver, and payments from the treasury - in copper coins. Thus, the king quickly replenished the treasury with silver. However, peasants refused to sell grain, and merchants refused to sell goods for copper, which resulted in a copper riot. Subsequently, copper coins were withdrawn from circulation. The coinage reform of Alexei Mikhailovich is considered unsuccessful and only under Peter the Great began the minting of coins that were not inferior in quality to European coins.

Internal unrest

As soon as the war with Poland had subsided, the government had to pay attention to new internal unrest, to the Solovetsky indignation and Razin’s rebellion. With the fall of Nikon, his main innovation was not destroyed: the correction of church books. Many priests and monasteries did not agree to accept these innovations. The Solovetsky Monastery offered especially stubborn resistance; besieged since 1668, it was taken by governor Meshcherinov on January 22, 1676; the rebels were hanged. At the same time, in the south, the Don Cossack Stepan Razin rebelled. Having robbed the caravan of Shorin's guest in 1667, Razin moved to Yaik, took the Yaitsky town, robbed Persian ships, but confessed to Astrakhan. In May 1670, he again went to the Volga, took Tsaritsyn, Black Yar, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara and raised the Cheremis, Chuvash, Mordovians, Tatars, but near Simbirsk he was defeated by Prince Yu. Baryatinsky, fled to the Don and, given out by Ataman Kornil Yakovlev , executed in Moscow on June 6, 1671.

Soon after Razin's execution, a war began with Turkey over Little Russia. Bryukhovetsky betrayed Moscow, but he himself was killed by Doroshenko’s followers. The latter became the hetman of both sides of the Dnieper, although he entrusted control of the left side to the assigned hetman Mnogohrishny. Mnogohrishny was elected hetman at the Glukhov Rada (in March 1669), again went over to the side of Moscow, but was overthrown by the elders and exiled to Siberia. In June 1672, Ivan Samoilovich was elected to his place. Meanwhile, the Turkish Sultan Mohammed IV, to whom Doroshenko succumbed, did not want to give up the left bank of Ukraine. A war began, in which the Polish king Jan Sobieski, who was the crown hetman, became famous. The war ended with a 20-year peace only in 1681.

Results and achievements of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich

From the internal orders under Tsar Alexei, the following can be distinguished: a ban on Belomestians (monasteries and persons in state, military or civil service) to own black, taxable lands and industrial and commercial establishments (shops, etc.) in the suburbs; the final attachment of the tax classes, peasants and townspeople, to their place of residence; the transition was prohibited in 1648 not only to the peasant owners, but also to their children, brothers and nephews. (According to the Council Code of 1649)

New central institutions were founded, what are the orders: Secret Affairs (no later than 1658), Grain (no later than 1663), Reitarsky (from 1651), Accounting Affairs (mentioned from 1657), engaged in checking the receipt, expenditure and balances of money. , Little Russian (mentioned since 1649), Lithuanian (1656-1667), Monastic (1648-1677).

In financial terms, several transformations were also made: in 1646 and the following years, a census of tax households was completed with their adult and minor male population, and the unsuccessful above-mentioned attempt was made to introduce a new salt duty; by decree of April 30, 1653, it was forbidden to collect small customs duties (myt, travel duties and anniversary) or farm them out and was ordered to be included in the ruble duties collected at customs; At the beginning of 1656 (no later than March 3), due to a lack of funds, copper money was issued. Soon (from 1658) the copper ruble began to be valued at 10, 12, and in the 1660s even 20 and 25 times cheaper than the silver one; the resulting terrible high prices caused a popular revolt (Copper Riot) on July 25, 1662. The rebellion was pacified by the king's promise to punish the perpetrators and the expulsion of the Streltsy army against the rebels. By decree of June 19, 1667. it was ordered to begin building ships in the village of Dedinovo on the Oka River; however, the ship built at the same time burned down in Astrakhan.

In the field of legislation: the Council Code was compiled and published (printed for the first time on May 7-20, 1649) and supplementing it in some respects: New Trade Charter of 1667, New Decree Articles on Robbery and Murder Cases of 1669, New Decree Articles on Estates of 1676 years, military regulations in 1649. Russia also united with Ukraine in 1654.

Under Tsar Alexei, the colonization movement into Siberia continued. The following became famous in this regard: A. Bulygin, O. Stepanov, E. Khabarov and others. Nerchinsk (1658), Irkutsk (1659), Penza (1663), Selenginsk (1666) were founded.

Matveev

In the last years of the reign of Tsar Alexei, Artamon Sergeevich Matveev especially rose to prominence at court. Two years after the death of M.I. Miloslavskaya (March 4, 1669), the tsar married his relative Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, on January 22, 1671. Matveev, an admirer of Western European customs, gave theatrical performances, which were attended not only by the tsar himself, but and the queen, princes and princesses (for example, November 2, 1672 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye). On September 1, 1674, the tsar “announced” his son Fedor to the people as the heir to the throne, and on January 30, 1676, he died at the age of 47.

Marriages and children

Alexey Mikhailovich was the father of 16 children from two marriages. Three of his sons subsequently reigned. None of Alexei Mikhailovich's daughters married.

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (13 children):

Dmitry Alekseevich (1649 - October 6, 1649)
Evdokia (February 1650 - March 1712)
Marfa (August 1652 - July 1707)
Alexey (February 1654 - January 1670)
Anna (January 1655 - May 1659)
Sophia (September 1657 - July 1704)
Catherine (November 1658 - May 1718)
Maria (January 1660 - March 1723)
Fedor (May 1661 - April 1682)
Feodosia (May 1662 - December 1713)
Simeon (April 1665 - June 1669)
Ivan (August 1666 - January 1696)
Evdokia (February 1669 - February 1669)

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (3 children):

Peter (May 30, 1672 - January 28, 1725)
Natalia (August 1673 - June 1716)
Theodora (September 1674 - November 1678)

Monuments

In August 2010, a monument to the city’s founder, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was unveiled in Novy Oskol.
In Penza, for the 350th anniversary of the city, it is planned to erect a monument to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

Alexey Quiet

But the current king was elected to the kingdom, but he did not give any letter to himself, which the previous kings gave, and did not ask, because they understood him to be much quiet, and therefore he is written by the autocrat and rules his state according to his own will.

Grigory Kotoshikhin.

After the death of Michael, there were no problems with succession to the royal throne. Marital happiness did not come to the first Romanov right away. In 1616, he chose the daughter of a poor nobleman, Marya Khlopova, as his wife. The king's mother categorically opposed and prevented the marriage. Eight years later, in 1624, the Tsar married the daughter of Prince Vladimir Dolgoruky, also named Maria. She died 4 months later, apparently from poisoning. Only in 1626 did Mikhail finally find a wife who suited everyone, the daughter of an ordinary nobleman, Evdokia Streshneva. She bore him ten children, but six died in their youth. After the death of the tsar, the heir Alexei and three daughters survived - Irina, Anna, Tatyana.

Alexei ascended the throne, like his father, at the age of 16. Contemporaries were amazed at the gentle, benevolent character of the tsar, and he entered Russian history under the name of the Quiet One. Alexei Mikhailovich's letters - he loved to write them and wrote a lot - confirm the impression of those who met with the sovereign. The royal good nature was sometimes replaced by outbursts of anger, but it passed quickly. At the age of five, the prince began to be taught to read and write: the first reading was books of hours, psalters, and the acts of the apostles. He would not stop reading religious books throughout his life - deep religiosity, manifested, in particular, in the zealous performance of church rituals, was one of the most important traits of his character.

Biographers mention that in the small library of the future king, among the religious books were a lexicon and a grammar published in Lithuania, as well as “Cosmography” and “printed sheets”, i.e. Pictures. They emphasize that as a child he and his brother were dressed in “German dress.” New, unconventional forms of educating the heir were introduced by the educator, “uncle,” as he was officially called, boyar Boris Morozov. After Alexei's accession to the throne, Morozov was the Tsar's chief adviser for many years. The relationship between the monarch and the adviser was very friendly, which was generally characteristic of Alexei: he became very attached to close people, had difficulty parting with them, even when circumstances required it. Possessing a contemplative, passive nature, he easily succumbed to influence, which, as a rule, advisers took advantage of. Agreeing with the opinion of his contemporaries, primarily foreigners, Sergei Solovyov considers Boris Morozov an intelligent ruler who, as the historian puts it, “failed to rise to the point of not becoming a temporary worker.”

Smart, educated for his time, not only read a lot all his life, but also wrote - he owns a book about falconry, which he was very keen on (“The Falconer’s Way Officer”), excerpts of memories of the Polish war (started and unfinished), experiments versification, - Alexey Mikhailovich ruled the Moscow state in difficult times. It was called the Quietest, but the second half of the 17th century. was unusually noisy in Rus'. The reign of Alexei's son, Peter the Great, will eclipse the years of his father's reign. But in terms of their significance in Russian history, they are perhaps no less important. In any case, it is indisputable that without the successes achieved during the reign of Alexei, the reforms of Peter I would have been impossible.

The relativity of the concept of “success” does not need proof. In history, this is especially obvious: yesterday's success turns out to be tomorrow's failure - and vice versa. The Moscow state under Alexei wages endless wars, most of them unsuccessful, it is shaken by riots, insurrections, uprisings, tax oppression presses harder and harder, the Orthodox Church is going through the most difficult test in its history. And at the same time, despite everything, Moscow is becoming stronger and stronger. Mighty neighbors. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, which at the beginning of the century seemed to have signed its death warrant, are weakening and by the beginning of the next century will cease to be significant factors in the history of Europe.

At the very beginning of the 16th century. the prediction of the monk Philotheus (Moscow - the third Rome) was an expression of a crazy dream, an irrational belief in Divine destiny, in the election of the capital of a small principality, lost in the forests, as the center of a truly Christian empire. In the 17th century after all the upheavals experienced by the Moscow state, a material basis appears that allows one to believe in the possibility of the prophecy being realized.

Historians, philosophers, sociologists, and ideologists have given many different explanations. The peculiarities of Russian history and Russian character were found in geography (space and climate, forests and rivers), in ethnography (mixing of Slavs, Finns, Tatars), in geopolitics (location in Eurasia). The common denominator of various historiosophical theories: highlighting the phenomenon of relations between the state and its subjects as the most important factor. Vasily Klyuchevsky outlined Russian history in a laconic formula: the state grew fat, the people grew weaker.

Klyuchevsky’s view did not and does not raise any objections. Assessments vary depending on the views of historians: some believe that the growth of the state’s strength is a success, despite the decline of the people. Others, these were, first of all, Soviet Marxists, who placed the state and the people equally highly, saw the class struggle as one of the tools for strengthening the state. Nikolai Berdyaev, stating “the spiritual failure of the idea of Moscow as the Third Rome,” explains it by the fact that “the ideology of Moscow as the Third Rome contributed to the strengthening and power of the Moscow state, the tsarist autocracy, and not to the prosperity of the church, not to the growth of spiritual life”28.

Nikolai Berdyaev, one might say, paraphrases Klyuchevsky: the state grew fat, spiritual life grew weaker. The question arises, why did this happen? And there are many answers to this question. First of all - messianic. The people of the Moscow kingdom, writes N. Berdyaev, considered themselves the chosen people. The philosopher adds: “The Russian religious vocation, an exceptional vocation, is associated with the strength and greatness of the Russian state, with the exceptional significance of the Russian Tsar”29. Pre-revolutionary historians explained the need for a powerful state by the need for protection from foreign invaders, the inevitability of a strong state on the Eurasian plain. Soviet historians, who called the centralized state progressive, because it was stronger than a fragmented one, saw its mission in building socialism.

In the second half of the 19th century. historian Ivan Zabelin outlined in detail the idea of the “tribal origin” as an explanation of the Russian attitude towards autocracy, towards the state. He began with a reference to Grigory Kotoshikhin, who, explaining why foreign ambassadors were never allowed to convey gifts from their monarchs to Russian queens in person, wrote: “For the fact that the female sex of the Moscow state is uneducated and not a custom, but is simple-minded by breed. , and they are foolish and bashful to make excuses: from infancy until their marriage, they live with their fathers in secret chambers, and besides their closest relatives, strangers, no one can see them, and they cannot see people.”30 I. Zabelin sees in the description of the position of women in Russian society a characteristic of society itself, the state of its mental and moral strength, the state of its education and civil freedom. The historian reasons: why should such a society be so much smarter and braver, i.e. free when it is unlearned, mentally undeveloped; when from infancy to old age it lives in secret chambers, i.e. under all mental and moral guardianship and censorship and never sees anything, i.e. knows nothing except the closest, related teachings and punishments of Domostroy. Keeping society, like the women in the mansion, closed, explains “why the living force of human freedom does not operate in it and there are no cheeky free movements of the mind and will in it”31.

Ivan Zabelin writes this in the second half of the 60s of the 19th century, during the era of great reforms that changed the life of society and awakened “cheeky free movements of the mind and will.” In search of reasons and explanations for the characteristic features of Russian society, man and state, the historian turns to ancient times and discovers a family of families, i.e. clan, as the original cell of ancient Russian society. Therefore, ancient power was predominantly tribal power. The father ruled and ruled in the family, the parent ruled in the clan. He ruled the state: “Wherever, in whatever form, tribal power arose, it was always and everywhere paternal power with all its properties: on the one hand, with the exorbitant cruelty of unaccountable arbitrariness; and on the other, with that loving kinship in relationships that always placed her in direct family, brotherly relationships with the subject environment”32.

Family relations are the relations between father and children, guardian and ward. This was, writes I. Zabelin, “the beginning of our development, such a strong beginning according to which the Russian people, even to this day, are understood and led as youngsters, undergrowth, demanding at every step, in all their life aspirations and movements, vigilant concerns and parental care." I. Zabelin writes “until now” in 1869. He could repeat these words more than a century later: the tribal principle remains, as the author of “The Household Life of Russian Tsarinas” wrote, “our moral and political everyday air, which we lived and breathed.” throughout our history."33

The nature of tribal relations determines the fundamental difference between Russian society and Western society. The tribal spirit prevents strict distribution and delimitation of rights; everything merges into one inseparable mass of kinship. Personality is understood only in relation to the father: older or younger. Society in the West, writes I. Zabelin, is “a collection of independent individuals with equal rights, in our case a collection of relatives”34. The historian illustrates his point with an example. The ideal of Western medieval society was the knight: he became a knight not because he was initiated into this title, but because with his personal qualities and virtues he embodied the ideal of a worthy person. In Rus', “the individual looked for the ideal of a good, worthy person not in himself, but in his fatherland, in his clan, in his clan seniority”35. According to our old concepts, - explains I. Zabelin, - a person was considered worthy in society not because he was actually high in his moral or mental qualities or what merits and virtues, but first and foremost because he was high in his family seniority , i.e. seniority of one’s clan or seniority in one’s clan”36. A person’s place in society was indicated by his family, his fatherland, and not by personal merit, talents or valor. This also meant a special understanding of honor. Knightly honor strictly protected the inviolability of the individual. The knight's honor lay in the idea of his own dignity. The honor of the Russian personality lay in the idea of the dignity of the clan or fatherland. I. Zabelin suggests that the word honor itself comes from the word “otchit”, i.e. treat a person like a father, give a person fatherly respect. In this regard, for the Russian boyar there was no dishonor in the punishment to which the sovereign, the incarnation of his father, could subject him.

Ivan Zabelin rejects the assumption, the explanation given by some Russian historians, that the Moscow autocracy was a “Tatar idea,” a form of power brought and imposed by Batu. In his opinion, “autocracy in its autocratic form in the 16th and 17th centuries. was a luxurious flower, the fruit of the ancestral culture that carefully raised us from the very first times of our history”37.

During the reign of Alexei the Quiet, which lasted 31 years, events of exceptional historical importance took place: Ukraine passed “under the hand” of the Moscow Tsar; The Orthodox Church split into supporters of the reform of Patriarch Nikon and into “Old Believers”, believers who refused to accept innovations. In addition, the state waged wars with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, and Turkey. Against the background of these events, there was a strengthening of autocratic power, which grew stronger in conditions of a deep social crisis.

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