The name "Fyodor" is not the most successful in the history of the Russian monarchy. Tsar Fedor Ioannovich, middle son Ivan the Terrible, died without leaving offspring, thus completing the genus Rurikovich on the Russian throne.

Fyodor Godunov who inherited the throne from his father, Boris Godunov, not having received real power, was killed during a riot.

The life of the third bearer of this name, Fedor Alekseevich Romanov, too, was not long and happy. Nevertheless, in Russian history, he managed to leave a noticeable mark.

Born on June 9, 1661, Fedor Romanov was the third son of the Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya. The first son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Dmitry, died in infancy. The second son, the father's namesake, was declared heir to the throne, Alexey Alekseevich.

But in January 1670, before reaching the age of 16, "The Great Sovereign, Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexei Alekseevich" died. The 9-year-old Fedor was proclaimed the new heir.

Like all boys born in the marriage of Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Miloslavskaya, Fedor was not in good health, and throughout his life he was often sick. He inherited scurvy from his father, and the new monarch was forced to devote the first months of his reign to treatment.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in 1676. Drawing by an unknown Dutch artist. Source: Public Domain

Horse breeding as a passion

He came to the throne in 1676, after the death of his father, Alexei Mikhailovich, 15 years old.

His coming to power was marked by a struggle between the parties of relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich Maria Miloslavskaya and his second wife Natalia Naryshkina.

The Naryshkin party cherished the dream of placing the youngest son of the deceased monarch on the throne, Petra but he was only 4 at the time.

Fedor Alekseevich, despite his illnesses, was an active and well-educated young man. One of his teachers was a Belarusian monk Simeon Polotsky. The young tsar spoke Polish, Latin, and ancient Greek. Among his hobbies were music, archery and horse breeding.

Horses were his true passion: stud stallions were brought from Europe on his orders, and people who knew horses could count on rapid career growth at court.

True, the passion for horses caused a serious injury, which also did not add health to Fedor Alekseevich. At the age of 13, the horse threw him under the runners of a heavily loaded sleigh, which drove over the prince with all his weight. Pain in the chest and back after this incident constantly tormented him.

Having recovered from the illness of the first months of his reign, Fedor Alekseevich took the reins of government of the country into his own hands. Later writers have sometimes argued that the reign of Peter the Great's elder brother passed unnoticed, but this is not so.

Drawing by V.P. Vereshchagin from the album “History of the Russian State in the images of its sovereign rulers with a brief explanatory text”. Source: Public Domain

Operation "Kyiv is ours"

Fedor Alekseevich began a large-scale restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin and Moscow as a whole. At the same time, special emphasis was placed on the construction of secular buildings. By order of the king, new gardens were planted.

Fedor, whose education focused not on ecclesiastical, but on secular disciplines, seriously limited the influence of the patriarch on state policy. He established increased fees from church estates, thereby starting the process that Peter I would complete.

Fedor Alekseevich showed a serious interest in European politics and made plans for Russia to go to the Baltic coast. Like Peter later, Tsar Fedor was faced with the fact that the implementation of plans in the north-west was hindered by the activity in the south of nomads, the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire.

To combat the nomads, a large-scale construction of defensive structures in the Wild Field was started. In 1676, the war of Russia against the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate began, which lasted almost the entire period of the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The result of the war was the conclusion of the Treaty of Bakhchisaray, according to which the Ottomans recognized Russia's right to own the Left-Bank Ukraine and Kiev.

Having big military plans, Fedor Alekseevich devoted a lot of time to reforming the army, including the so-called "regiments of the new system." We can say that the army reforms of Peter the Great began under his older brother.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Source: Public Domain

Do not cut your hands, call foreigners to the service!

Significant changes under Fyodor Alekseevich also occurred in the internal life of Russia. A census of the population was carried out, Alexei Mikhailovich's decree on the non-extradition of fugitives who signed up for military service was canceled, household taxation was introduced (the development of which was the poll tax of Peter I).

Tsar Fedor reformed the criminal law, excluding from it punishments related to self-mutilation - in particular, cutting off the hands of those convicted of theft.

In 1681, the voivodship and local prikaz administration was introduced - an important preparatory measure for the provincial reform of Peter I.

The main reform of Fyodor Alekseevich was the abolition of localism, the decision on which was made in January 1682.

The order that existed until that time assumed that everyone received ranks in accordance with the place that his ancestors occupied in the state apparatus. Localism led to constant conflicts within the nobility, and did not allow for effective government.

After the abolition of parochialism, the digit books, which contained records of what kind of representative held this or that post, were burned. Instead, there were genealogical books, where all noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Boyar Duma.

Burning digit books. Source: Public Domain

Under Fyodor Alekseevich, the process of inviting foreigners to the Russian service went more actively. Many foreign associates of Peter came to Russia just during the years of his brother's reign.

Taking care of the development of education in Russia, the tsar became one of the founders of the Typographic School at the Zaikonospassky Monastery - the forerunner of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy.

If the Miloslavsky and Naryshkin clans waged an irreconcilable struggle among themselves, then Fyodor Alekseevich himself had a milder attitude towards his stepmother and brother. The tsar sincerely loved the younger Peter, and all attempts of the courtiers from the Miloslavsky camp to harm him were nipped in the bud.

Royal happiness and sorrow

At the age of 18, Fedor saw a pretty girl in the crowd during the procession, and instructed the royal bedkeeper Ivan Yazykov inquire about her. 16 year old turned out to be a beauty Agafya Grushetskaya, the governor's daughter Grushetsky's seeds, of Polish origin.

The king announced that he intended to marry her. This caused a murmur among the boyars - the girl did not belong to a noble family, and her appearance next to the tsar was in no way included in the plans of the courtiers. They began to slander Agafya, accusing her of licentiousness, but Fedor showed stubbornness and achieved his goal. On July 28, 1680, they were married in the Assumption Cathedral.

Agafya's influence manifested itself very quickly - she introduced a new fashion for Polish hats that left her hair open, as well as for the "Polish style" in clothing in general.

The changes were not limited to women. Cutting beards, wearing European dress and even smoking tobacco at the Russian court began after the marriage of Tsar Fedor to Agafya Grushetskaya.

The young, apparently, were truly happy, but fate only gave them a year. On July 21, 1681, the queen gave birth to her first child, who was named Ilya. Fedor Alekseevich accepted congratulations, but Agafya's condition began to deteriorate. On July 24, she died of postpartum fever.

The death of his beloved wife crippled Fedor. He could not even attend the burial, being in an extremely difficult physical and moral condition.

Following the first blow, the second one followed - on July 31, having lived only 10 days, the heir to the throne, Ilya Fedorovich, died.

A few lines in a textbook

Having lost his wife and son at the same time, Fedor Alekseevich began to fade himself. He continued to engage in public affairs, but attacks of the disease visited him more and more often.

The courtiers sought to improve the situation by finding a new bride for the king. On February 25, 1682, Tsar Fedor married a 17-year-old Marfa Apraksina.

Marfa Apraksina. Source: Public Domain

Marfa never managed to become a wife in the full sense - the sick Fedor could not fulfill his marital duty. When the dowager queen died in 1716, the inquisitive and cynical Peter the Great took part in the autopsy, wishing to personally verify that the deceased was a virgin. The examination, as they say, confirmed the facts.

71 days after the second wedding, Fedor Alekseevich Romanov died, a month before his 21st birthday.

Like his namesakes on the throne, he left no heirs. The state initiatives conceived by him are largely implemented by the younger brother Pyotr Alekseevich.

And Fedor Romanov himself will be given only a few lines in school textbooks.

Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich

Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich

The Last Tsar of Moscow

"Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich? But was it like that? - many are surprised when they first hear about this sovereign from the Romanov family. Indeed, the achievements of Peter I completely overshadowed the six-year reign of his elder brother. But this last Muscovite tsar began much of what the first Russian emperor then carried out.

Why is Fyodor Alekseevich almost forgotten? Why did the Romanovs themselves rarely and reluctantly remember him?

Heir and legacy

On the morning of January 30, 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died quietly, as if confirming his nickname of the Quietest.

Portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

Neighbor boyars, duma people came to the mansions of Tsarevich Fedor and announced: “Alexey Mikhailovich of all Great and Small and White Russia, autocrat, leaving the kingdom of the earth, settled in eternal cloisters.” The prince was ill, his legs were swollen, and there was such a shock. But they grabbed him by the arms, led him to the Faceted Chamber and seated him on the throne. The courtiers immediately began to swear allegiance to the new tsar, after the inhabitants of the Kremlin appeared Moscow nobles and the military.

Fedor Alekseevich, who became tsar at the age of less than 16

Two years ago, the prince was "announced" church, court and people as the heir to the throne, and yet the death of his father and his accession to the throne turned out to be unexpected, and the oath near the uncooled body of the former king was indecently fast. There were good reasons for this. The late sovereign was married twice. From the first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya, three sons were born - Alexei, Fedor and Ivan, and six more daughters, including Sophia.

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya

After the death of his wife, already in his advanced years, Alexei Mikhailovich married Natalya Naryshkina, and Peter and Natalya were born in this marriage.

Unfortunately, all the boys from their first marriage suffered from a hereditary disease similar to scurvy or beriberi, all three did not live long, and the youngest, Ivan, was also weak-minded. But the son from the second marriage, Petrusha, a healthy and active boy, as they said, "I didn't walk, I ran."

The noble relatives of the Naryshkins had a formal reason to push back the legitimate heir under the pretext of his illness and try to put ten-year-old Peter on the throne. Such a development of events was unlikely, no one wanted a new turmoil, and yet the Miloslavsky party decided not to delay the oath.

Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich

At the funeral of Father Fyodor Alekseevich they carried him on a stretcher. But in this frail body was an indomitable spirit. Fedor succumbed to illness only on days of severe attacks, the rest of the time he was extremely active. Since childhood, he loved horseback riding, hunting with birds of prey, excellent archery, was fond of an outdoor game, like modern tennis. He was the first to have a small amusing squad with toy weapons made by the best craftsmen of the Armory.

Falcon hunting

On the other hand, Fedor Alekseevich was a European-educated and developed young man. He was given his first picture book at the age of two, and since then books have become his constant companions. The personal library of Fyodor Alekseevich consisted of more than two hundred volumes - at that time the richest collection. His teacher was Simeon Polotsky, an outstanding church figure, philosopher and poet.

It is not surprising that his student “composed a very fair verse”, appreciated painting and music (he even composed the chant “It is worthy to eat”, which is often performed today), knew the Polish language and Latin.

It was, if you will, a man of the Renaissance, however strange it may sound. Europe was already on the threshold of the New Time, but in Russia, given its constant lagging behind and in connection with the consequences of the Time of Troubles, which further retarded its development, the 17th century was only the late Middle Ages. And Fedor Alekseevich, as we shall see, was already absorbing "enlightenment spirit".

Unknown Dutch artist. Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in 1676

Subsequent events showed that the young man, almost a boy, was thinking about the upcoming reign ahead of time. Because already in the solemn rite of the wedding to the kingdom, he made significant changes. Previously, Russian tsars justified their right to power primarily on the law of kinship and succession to the throne. Now it was announced that the tsar was taking supreme power, firstly, according to church law, and secondly, as the only Orthodox sovereign in the world, and only in the last place - "according to the custom of the ancient tsars and grand dukes of Russia."

Posthumous parsuna of the king by B. Saltanov (1686)

Immediately the question is: how independent was Fyodor Alekseevich in his actions, was there someone standing behind him? Of course, he had smart advisers, smart performers, but he himself supervised all the work, was the initiator of reforms, and an active participant in the development of projects and important documents. Incidentally, some of employees" older brother passed "by inheritance" to the reformer Peter.

Tsar Fedor Alekseevich with officials

So the sixteen-year-old Tsar Fedor II Alekseevich began to rule Russia without two months. Was it an enviable legacy? Russia under Alexei Mikhailovich became the most extensive state in Europe, moreover, its borders continuously moved east and south. But it was sparsely populated, poor, undeveloped, few taxes were collected, the state constantly needed money. There was practically no government in the European sense: there were too many departments (orders) with unclear functions and the willfulness of the Boyar Duma. Weak organization of the troops and, as they would now say, power structures. Weak legal system. The court is by no means quick and right. And wherever you go, extortion and arbitrariness are everywhere.

The former tsar, Alexei Mikhailovich, was called the Quietest, but his reign was not at all quiet: two wars, Swedish and Russian-Polish, stretching intermittently for thirteen years, a church schism, the uprising of Stepan Razin and the Copper Riot. And this is not the whole list of upheavals of "quiet" rule. The unification with Ukraine has become a truly "troubled economy" for Moscow, and most importantly, it has complicated the already tense relations with Poland, Turkey and the Crimea.

Let the Duma - think

The Tsar and the Boyar Duma

The change of power is always associated with the elimination of former associates and the rise of new ones. With the accession of Fyodor Alekseevich, his mother's relatives, the Miloslavskys and others like them, demanded reprisals against the actual head of government under the late sovereign - the boyar Artamon Matveev - and the removal of the queen-widow and her children from the court.

Artamon Sergeevich Matveev

In relation to Matveev, the young tsar, as they say, caved in. But Fedor Alekseevich still did not go to extreme measures, limited himself to exile with confiscation (he left one estate to the boyar for food). And in relation to the stepmother and half-brother and sister, he rested. They continued to live in the Kremlin, in the royal palace.

Petrusha was Fyodor Alekseevich's favorite at all, and besides, his godson. It was the elder brother who introduced the future emperor to military games, taught him to shoot from a bow, gave him a whole game room with a camping tent, a toy horse, a regimental drum and toy weapons.

Young Peter on a parsoon

When later the Miloslavskys again began to demand the resettlement of Natalya Kirillovna with the children from the palace, Fyodor Alekseevich thought and thought - and built new mansions for himself.

However, change had to start somewhere. We know about the Boyar Duma mainly from historical novels. In them, the boyars are represented as caricatured elders fighting over who should sit closer to the tsar, and also desperately resisting everything new and progressive. But the boyars in the Duma were different: some cared for the good of the state, others cared about their own. The boyars were the highest assessors, but, in addition to them, “dumny clerks” sat in the Duma - the actual leaders of the orders (formally, the boyars were at the head of the orders). It was these "duma members" who knew the state of affairs better than others, and there was no personal self-interest in their judgments.

Meeting of the Boyar Duma

The young tsar found an original solution - he sharply, by a third, increased the number of assessors in the Duma. The new Duma members were not part of the groupings, moreover, the Duma became a permanent body: "Boyars, and devious, and thoughtful people, to gather in Verkh at the first hour (at dawn) and sit down for business",- ordered the young king. He set working hours for both orders and courts. At that time, Russian people usually rested after lunch, so the working day was divided into two parts: "from the light" before noon five hours and the same before dark.

The tsar then set about reorganizing the orders. The tsar increased the number of clerks, clerks, clerks and other employees in order to cope with paperwork. He set deadlines for making decisions on all cases, and in difficult cases ordered that cases be transferred to the Duma or to him personally. Above all orders, he elevated the Reprisal Chamber (Reprisal not in the sense of reprisal, but in the sense of coping with important matters). In order to strengthen the authority of the leaders, Fedor Alekseevich allowed judges and duma clerks of humble origin to be called by their full name with a patronymic: an unheard of honor. But the responsibility of the authorities was also increased: the heads of orders were forbidden to sign papers jointly with comrades (deputies), but only individually; It was forbidden to consider the cases of relatives and friends.

Actually, since then we can consider that a government has appeared in Russia. But Fedor Alekseevich extended the same rules to the courts. He limited the term for consideration of cases - 100 days (now it would be so!). In case of excess, he demanded the case to himself, and a fine was imposed on the judge. Punishments became more humane: the king canceled "harmful", like cutting off a hand for theft, and replaced them with a link to Siberia. Moreover, he forbade the exile of children (it used to be like that). He also ordered to improve the content in prisons and to release those who had served their sentences without the necessary bails or guarantees.

The state, as is well known, receives money in the form of taxes, which in the 17th century were called "hard". Many direct and indirect taxes were levied, the system was confused. Fedor Alekseevich conducted a census throughout the country, clearly defined who and what should bear the tax. Then he introduced, so to speak, a single tax - "streltsy money and bread".

The money went mainly to military needs, and the bread was brought to the state granaries. For the grain collection, standard copper measures with a coat of arms were introduced, so they were called "eagles". All other taxes were abolished, former arrears were forgiven, but strict penalties for non-payers were also established from now on. In decrees on taxes, the king not only commanded, but also explained why it was beneficial to the population, “so that the rich and stout people are privileged before the poor, and the poor are not a burden before the rich.”

Reformed and local government. According to his decrees, all local power was concentrated in the hands of city governors, a great many leadership positions - "feeders has been cancelled. Only in one voivode were seriously limited: now they had no relation to the state treasury.

Fedor III Alekseevich

The secret of the Chigirin fortress

The Russian army was, if not the most powerful in Europe, then one of the strongest. But there were few permanently combat-ready units. Streltsy, noble cavalry, local army, and now even Ukrainian Cossacks - all these units were formed, lived and served in accordance with the old charters and the ancient way of life.

The inconsistency in the numerical composition of the formations, in the name of the commanders, interfered. This resulted in confusion in the ranks.

Russian autocrat Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Fyodor

True, even under the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, “foreign regiments” appeared in the Russian army, organized according to the European model, under the command of foreign officers. Under Fyodor Alekseevich, such infantry regiments, dragoons and reiters (heavy cavalry in cuirasses and helmets) already made up an impressive part of the army. Even his father began to serve the glorious colonel, and then General Patrick Gordon, the first military teacher of Peter, under him came to serve in Russia, the unknown Swiss Franz Lefort, who became the favorite of the future emperor.

Patrick Leopold Gordon of Ochluchris

Franz Yakovlevich Lefort

The tsar got rid of the units recruited on a temporary basis, and returned such servicemen to the plow - it would be better if they bear the tax. In the border regions, he organized military districts with their headquarters - command huts. All regular units were now subdivided into thousandth regiments, all commanders and officers wore combined arms ranks. Finally, Fedor Alekseevich created a guard - the so-called "elected soldiers" camped on the outskirts of Moscow in Butyrki.

Nobles, of course, served as commanders of various levels. The state paid the nobles for their service with estates, they were also called salaries. "To sit on the salary" meant just to serve on the real one. If the son of a nobleman went to serve after his father, then the right of the family to the estate was confirmed. The estates of the nobility became hereditary property later, but the peasants were already serfs, however, for the time being with the right to transfer to other estates. The state paid the servicemen money only on campaigns - it was believed that at that time they could not manage the household. Fedor Alekseevich, like Peter later, wanted all the nobles to serve. The royal decree ordered all the nobles to be recorded in the regimental service, then the thought "sentenced" that the families of the evaders will lose their estates.

But to fully attract the nobility to the service, a lot of land was required. Fedor Alekseevich decided to take these lands beyond the southern border, in the so-called "Wild Field", from where from time immemorial the raids of the steppe nomads and Crimeans were expected. The tsar resolutely moved the line of border fortifications far to the south, cutting off 30,000 square kilometers of black soil to Russia. And in order to finally secure the future population of this region, Alexei Mikhailovich deployed the main forces of the renewed army precisely there. The influx of the nobility into the army began. The peasants also reached out to the fertile and well-protected lands.

But the complexity of the military transformations of Fedor Alekseevich was that they were carried out during the war, on the go. The all-European threat at that time was the aggressive Turkey and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate. In October 1672, the Turks took Kamyanets-Podilsky and were preparing to march on Kyiv, so Russia declared war on the Sultan.

Kamianets-Podilskyi

But she had to fight alone: ​​her ally, the Commonwealth, betrayed and concluded a separate peace with the Turks.

The first onslaught of the Turks and Crimeans was terrible. The Turkish sultan personally commanded the offensive in the Right-Bank Ukraine, and the Crimean Khan tried to break through the southern defensive lines of the Russians. The fighting went on a wide front from the Dniester to Azov. Russian troops managed not only to repel the offensive, but also to break through to the Sea of ​​Azov. For the first time, a galley fleet built at the Voronezh shipyards was launched on the sea. Russian galleys with a landing of Ukrainian Cossacks raided the Crimea. As a result, the khan was forced to go home in order to protect his own possessions. The Sultan also retreated. The defeat made a stunning impression on the Turks and Tatars.

In the future, the theater of military operations focused on the Right-Bank Ukraine. Hetman Doroshenko, who ruled there, first served the Poles, then defected to the Turks.

Petr Dorofeevich Doroshenko

He handed over to the Ottomans the headquarters of the right-bank Cossacks - the fortress of Chigirin. Since then, the name of this fortress has become as much a symbol of the war with Turkey as Ochakov did in the next century. In September 1676, Russian regiments and Ukrainian Cossacks approached Chigirin. After a short siege and as a result of successful negotiations, the garrison of the fortress surrendered.

In the summer of next year, the 60,000-strong Turkish army under the command of Ibrahim Pasha, nicknamed Shaitan, set out to recapture Chigirin from the Russians. This army included selected spagi cavalry and about 15,000 Janissaries.

Crimea reluctantly put up 40,000 horsemen. And Chigirin was defended by only 5 thousand Moscow archers and elected soldiers. They held out for three weeks, waiting for the approach of Russian troops and Ukrainian Cossacks.

Our forces crossed the Dnieper under continuous enemy fire, overturned the barrier of the Crimeans and went on the offensive. The Russians had not yet completed the crossing, and Shaitan's army had already fled, leaving artillery and baggage.

The following year, 1678, the Turkish army was even larger, and it was commanded by the vizier Kara-Mustafa, an experienced commander who had recently stood under the walls of Vienna.

Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha

Chigirin's garrison also increased to 13,600 people, the artillery consisted of 82 guns and 4 mortars. Major General Gordon led the defense.

But the main forces of the Russians this time moved slowly to help, making strange maneuvers. After a month of resistance, having suffered heavy losses, the surviving defenders of the fortress made their way to their own. Those who could not escape blew up the powder magazines, taking with them 4,000 enemies. Gordon was furious, but wrote in his diary: "Chigirin was abandoned, but not subdued." Rumors circulated in Moscow about the betrayal of the governor.

And there was no betrayal, there was big politics. The king understood this and now sought peace. The truce with Poland was expiring, after which Russia was supposed to return Kyiv to her. And then there's Chigirin! It turned out that Russia not only annexed the Left-Bank Ukraine, but also raked in the Right-Bank Ukraine.

So let the Turks get Chigirin (they have already been taught a lesson), and then it will be possible to agree on Kyiv with Poland. And Fedor Alekseevich sent a secret decree to the commander of the main forces, Prince Romodanovsky: not to hand over Chigirin openly, but to make it so that the Turks would get it.

Prince Fyodor Yurievich Romodanovsky

It must be said that Fyodor Alekseevich more than once gave secret decrees to his trusted people, so to speak, under the heading "top secret": "to be known to you and me." The tsar even mastered the art of encryption and, as a boy, wrote to his father in secret writing congratulations on the holidays.

Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich

Russian-Turkish "unknown» The war of 1672-1681 turned out to be "white spot" in national history. But during this war, for the first time in Europe, a decisive rebuff was given to the Turkish Empire, brilliant victories were won over the most powerful enemy. By the way, the Prut campaign of Peter I against the Turks ended thirty years later ingloriously: the Russian troops were defeated, surrounded, and the emperor himself was almost captured.

Both a music lover and a carpenter

From an early age, the future king was drawn to beauty. As a child, he had a clockwork music box with dancing men, there was a small organ; he loved his indoor garden, which was decorated with songbirds. Later, he mastered musical notation, collected a unique library of notes, and when he became king, he replaced the old hook notation of music with a generally accepted linear one. At the court it became customary to hold vocal concerts, they were called partes singing. True, theatrical performances, which became a custom in the last years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, for some reason did not like his son, and the theater in Preobrazhensky fell into disrepair.

Moscow Kremlin

Court poets appeared in the Kremlin, Simeon Polotsky and Sylvester Medvedev wrote verses "on the occasion of" chanting

The most important events in the life of the state. This tradition was picked up in the next century by Trediakovsky, Sumarokov and Lomonosov.

Under Fyodor Alekseevich, many chambers of the Kremlin were decorated with paintings on biblical subjects and intricate ornaments. The painters took a decisive step from icon painting to realistic painting, a reliable portrait appeared - "parsuna". The Kremlin itself during his reign was decorated with new palaces, temples and gardens (gardens).

Wooden Moscow often burned, citizens throughout Russia were forbidden to heat stoves in the summer, cooking on fire was allowed only at a distance from their homes. The losses from the fires were enormous, the view of the burned-out streets and entire settlements depressed the sovereign - he often went to the fires himself and supervised the extinguishing. Fedor Alekseevich provided Muscovites with a soft loan for the construction of stone houses. At the same time, he first introduced building standards for stone blocks, bricks, and the sizes of buildings of various types. Identified reliable suppliers and contractors. He also ordered to pave the streets, which were previously buried in mud and stench. Under his rule, the first sewage system was carried out, so far only in the Kremlin. Fyodor Alekseevich ordered to remove the stalls from the main square, and it became really Red, that is, beautiful. Moscow gradually acquired the capital

A. Vesnetsov. Moscow at the end of the 17th century

The tsar understood that many of Russia's troubles were due to ignorance, and he took care of the distribution of books. At the Printing Yard, he opened a printing house, independent of church censorship. The first translations of Latin authors appeared, secular books, the first scientific work on the history of Russia - "Genealogy" Archimandrite Ignatius Rimsky-Korsakov (ancestor of the great Russian composer). After all, until then, the Russians represented the history of their homeland according to legends and legends, although entertaining, but unreliable. The tsar also wanted to create an Academy similar to European universities, he himself drew up a project in which he gave the educational institution unprecedented liberties and palace privileges for Russia, it is no coincidence that the project itself was called "Privilege". Alas, this project remained unfulfilled. But on the other hand, he founded the Slavic-Latin School at his own expense, as if the first stage of spiritual and secular education.

It housed the Slavic-Latin Academy

Fyodor Alekseevich made mercy a consistent policy of the state: “Poor, crippled and old people who cannot work at all ... but have no shelter for themselves - and must feed them after death.” He also took care of the orphans and homeless children: he ordered them to be collected in special yards, kept and taught there the sciences and crafts necessary for the state. It was not only a charitable deed, but also extremely useful. The streets of the cities teemed with beggars, among whom there were many pretenders (they were called "prudents"), and this environment was a hotbed of theft, robbery and drunkenness.

inner circle

He was an independent ruler and had no clear favorites. The co-authors and executors of his transformations were young and not very noble noblemen Ivan Yazykov and Alexei Likhachev. Princes Vasily Golitsyn advanced from the well-born (it was he who led " Operation Chigirin") and Grigory Romodanovsky, to whom the tsar more than once entrusted command of the entire army (later Romodanovsky was an associate of Peter, was appointed chief prosecutor - "governor's eye"). In matters of education and literature, the tsar relied on the advice and assistance of Sylvester Medvedev, it was he who headed the first free printing house.

Simeon Agafonovich Medvedev

This gentle and kind by nature ruler knew how to be tough. It was on his orders that Archpriest Avvakum was burned at the stake.

Petrov Avvakum

Probably, such a decision was not easy for the king. But the rebellious fanatic reached the point of extreme bitterness, his inflammatory speeches and letters were more terrible "thieves' letters" False Dmitry. It got to the point that Avvakum wished the Turks victory over "Nikonian" Moscow.

Burning of Habakkuk and his supporters

Almost at the same time, Fyodor Alekseevich freed the aforementioned Nikon from strict imprisonment in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery and allowed him to live in his beloved New Jerusalem monastery near Moscow. But on the way, this famous hierarch of the Russian Church died. At the end of his reign, the sovereign returned from exile the boyar Artamon Matveev, his father's favorite.

Even at the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest, Joachim, an influential and strong-willed church figure, became patriarch.

Patriarch Joachim

He crowned the young sovereign to the kingdom. However, European learning, especially Latin language and writings, seemed too dangerous to the patriarch and his Greek supporters. They did not approve of the project of the Academy, they hated the publications of the free printing house and the Slavic-Latin School that had opened. But they could not prevent the king. But after his death, the printing house was destroyed, the books published by Sylvester Medvedev were cursed, and the publisher himself paid for them with his head.

However, the church and the patriarch supported one of the most "volitional decisions" king - the abolition of parochialism. The essence of this ancient order was that the nobility of the family was directly related to the official rank or position. And Fedor Alekseevich wanted the ranks to be assigned exclusively "according to merit". He decided to act "from below"- Having gathered representatives from different classes and services, he purposely included in their composition the elected officers of the new regiments, since they were interested in receiving ranks on merit, and not on kinship.

As expected, the elected ones recommended: “To be among ourselves without places, and no one should be considered with anyone in the future, and discharge cases and places should be set aside and eradicated.” Now it was necessary to announce this to the court and the boyar elite. Previously, Fedor Alekseevich persuaded the patriarch to his side, arguing that God himself teaches: “ Do not exalt yourself over the little man."

On January 12, 1682, before the Duma, the court and noble nobles, the tsar announced a petition of elected people. From myself he added that localism "all over" enemy of the human race and only harms "for the common good". The patriarch, for his part, announced that the church considers what the tsar had planned as " multiplication of love between Christians. Boyars expressed their consent: "Let it be so!" The tsar ordered that local local books be brought immediately, which were solemnly burned.

Burning of class books under Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Drawing by A. Charlemagne

At the same time, Fyodor Alekseevich ordered the compilation of a genealogical book containing a detailed inventory of the boyars and the nobility, and even created a special Chamber of Genealogical Affairs. These measures served to unite the old and new Russian nobility.

Love and death

The king is also a man. Even an Orthodox Russian sovereign in the 17th century.

In the third year of his reign and the nineteenth year of his life, Fedor Alekseevich was still single. For the Russian tsar, the case is not quite usual, in the old days they generally got married early. There was a religious procession in the Kremlin, the tsar, as usual, followed the patriarch. Immersed in prayer, he absentmindedly glanced at the crowd surrounding the procession. And suddenly he met the eyes of a pretty youth. The prayerful mood was blown away by the wind. He immediately called Yazykov to him and ordered him to find out about the stranger, who she was.

Estimated portrait of Fyodor Alekseevich

Yazykov soon reported that this girl was the daughter of the Smolensk nobleman Grushevsky, and her name was Agafya Simeonovna. She lives in the house of her aunt, the wife of the roundabout Zaborovsky. Now the tsar sent Yazykov to the house of the roundabout Zaborovsky to find out more and to announce that “he should keep that niece of his and not marry him without a decree.” “that she herself is not ashamed to tell the truth to these great gentlemen” and “so that they don’t have any doubts about her honor, and she affirms them in that, under the loss of her stomach!”

Boyarishni Konstantin Makovsky.

The king, having learned about this, rejoiced and, in order to test his feelings, immediately jumped on his horse and galloped back and forth in front of the Zaborovskys' house. I saw Agafya in the window and was sure: it's her! The wedding was played soon, on July 18, 1680, very modestly and without the usual shuffling in the court deck in such cases, the distribution of ranks and awards.

Makovsky K.E. - Wedding boyar feast in the XVII century. .

Fedor Alekseevich was angry with the boyar Miloslavsky and wanted to completely excommunicate him from the court. The queen persuaded him to forgive the boyar, seeing in his act only one "human weakness". But Miloslavsky was again unlucky. Once he carried sables and rich materials to the queen, not from himself, but according to his position. And he was caught by the sovereign, moreover, in a rather dark place. The king decided that Miloslavsky was going to the queen with offerings, and became angry: “You used to vilify her indecently, but now you want to close your tricks with your gifts!” Boyarin almost fell into exile, but then they stood up for him "young lions" Yazykov and Likhachev.

Theodore Stratilat and Great Martyr Agafya. Patronal icon of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and Tsaritsa Agafya. 1681, Masters of the Armory. GIM. (Contribution of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and Tsarina Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya to the Alexander Assumption Monastery)

Alas, the beloved wife of the sovereign died three days after the birth of her first child, Tsarevich Ilya. Fedor Alekseevich was in such grief that he could not attend the funeral. But the son did not live long.

Almost two years passed, and Fedor Alekseevich married a second time, again to the noble daughter of an humble family, Marfa Matveevna Apraksina.

Marfa Matveevna Apraksina

Marfa Matveevna is depicted in the brocade dress of the Russian empress of the 17th century, on her head is a kokoshnik embroidered with pearls with precious stones.

The wedding was even more modest, even the doors of the Kremlin were locked, as if in confirmation of the homeliness of what was happening. Sylvester Medvedev read to the newlyweds his verses composed for this occasion. There were lines like this:

Nothing in the world is better than the head

A strong body, always smart, healthy ...

Unknown artist of the second half of the 17th century. Armory School. Portrait of Tsarina Marfa Matveevna, wife of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich.

As for the head, everything is true, but the body ... The Tsar was ill and was able to accept the congratulations of the elected from all classes only a week after the wedding. He was in the prime of his creative, but, alas, not physical strength. The disease consumed him. The government continued to perform its functions, but as if with caution: who will be next and how to become pleasing to him? The courtiers ascended, entering the patient's chambers. Actually, at the bedside of the dying Fyodor Alekseevich, a knot of future "shooter tragedy". Streltsy of one of the Moscow regiments complained about Colonel Semyon Griboyedov, who was deducting half (!) of their salary from them. The king ordered to sort it out.

Tsar Fedor III Alekseevich

The Sovereign of All Russia, Fedor Alekseevich, died in the sixth year of his reign, in 1682, as recorded in the discharge book, "April on the 27th day, sins for the sake of the entire Moscow state."

The death of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. From a painting by K. Lebedev

And there were many sins, and they all climbed out at once. Three days before his death, Fedor Alekseevich, in response to the petition of the archers, ordered: "Send the seeds to Totma, and take away the estates, and set aside from the colonels." This was the dying man's last command. Griboedov was indeed taken into custody, but released a day later. Instead of fulfilling the royal decree, they preferred "inflict on the petitioners, the best people, a cruel punishment." In response, a Moscow uprising broke out, and not only a streltsy uprising.

He was stopped only by Princess Sofya Alekseevna, sister of the late tsar, regent under the young tsars Peter and Ivan. Sophia the Wise, as she was sometimes called, was not the organizer of the Streltsy rebellion, but its suppressor.

Romanova Sofya Alekseevna - (1657-1704)

"There was an eternal worker on the throne"- this Pushkin's characterization of Peter the Great can be safely attributed to his older brother. Of course, when you list the main achievements of his reign, a suspiciously blissful picture emerges. In reality, it was more complex and dramatic. But, undoubtedly, the transformations of Fedor Alekseevich represent an important experience of non-violent reforms, moreover, mostly not borrowed, but only including foreign experience where appropriate. Here is the answer to the question why the reign of Fedor Alekseevich is not known to many people. The younger brother Pyotr Alekseevich, when he came to power, would say: "We'll go the other way!" And went. And everyone went. And when everyone is marching along the same path, it somehow does not occur to me that there are other paths.

Sergey MAKEEV

http://lemur59.ru/node/9205

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_III_Alekseevich

Fedor Alekseevich, declared heir to the throne after the death of his elder brother Alexei, was very weak and sickly, like all the sons of Alexei Mikhailovich from Maria Miloslavskaya. Researchers claim that Fedor suffered from scurvy. A symptom of this disease was swelling of the legs, which the king suffered from. He ascended the throne at the age of 15.

“By the grace of God, the Tsar and Grand Duke of all Great and Small and White Russia, Autocrat of Moscow, Kyiv, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Siberia, Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgarian and others, the Sovereign and Grand Duke of Novgorod of the Nizovsky lands, Chernigov, Rezan, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozersky, Udora, Obdorsky, Kondinsky and all Northern countries, Sovereign and Sovereign of the Iberian lands, Kartalinsky and Georgian kings, and Kabardian lands, Cherkasy and Mountain princes, and many other states and lands, eastern, and western, and northern, stepchild, and grandfather, and heir, and Sovereign and Possessor.

One of his teachers was the educated monk from the Commonwealth, Simeon of Polotsk, who instilled in him a penchant for all things Polish. The Tsar spoke Polish fluently. Some researchers suggest that he knew Latin. Fedor Alekseevich was interested in European politics. At meetings of the Boyar Duma, reviews of the Western press (chimes) compiled in the Ambassadorial Order were read to him and the boyars. He was fond of music and singing. For the wedding of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich and Agafya Grushetskaya, Simeon of Polotsk and the new court piit and student of Simeon, the monk Sylvester Medvedev, composed broadcast odes to this "great and joyful celebration for the whole Russian land."

In the first months of his reign, Fedor Alekseevich was seriously ill and the actual rulers of the state were A. S. Matveev, Patriarch Joachim and I. M. Miloslavsky. However, by the middle of 1676, the tsar took power into his own hands, after which Matveev was sent into exile.

The short reign of Fyodor Alekseevich was marked by some important actions and reforms. In 1678, a general census of the population was carried out, and in 1679, household taxation with direct taxes was introduced, which increased the tax burden. In military affairs in 1682 paralyzing leadership in the army localism was abolished, in connection with this, category books were burned. Thus, an end was put to the dangerous custom of boyars and nobles to reckon with the merits of their ancestors when occupying a position, personal abilities and length of service became the main criterion for promotion. Genealogical books were introduced to preserve the memory of ancestors. In order to centralize state administration, some related orders were combined under the leadership of one person. The regiments of the foreign system received a new development.

Under the influence of young royal favorites - bed

Fedor III Alekseevich Romanov
Years of life: 1661–1682
Reign: 1676-1682

From the Romanov dynasty.

Russian Tsar in 1676-1682 One of the most educated rulers of Russia.

Was born Fedor Alekseevich Romanov May 30, 1661 in Moscow. Since childhood, he was weak and sickly (suffered from paralysis and scurvy), but at the age of twelve he was officially declared heir to the throne.

In 1675, Alexei Mikhailovich declared his son Fyodor heir to the throne after the death of his elder brother Alexei. A year later, on January 30, 1676, Fedor Alekseevich became the sovereign of All Russia. On June 18, 1676, he was crowned in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The education of Fedor III Alekseevich

Fedor Alekseevich was a pupil of the famous theologian, poet and scientist Simeon of Polotsk. Fyodor knew several foreign languages ​​well, was fond of versification, and, under the guidance of Simeon of Polotsk, he transcribed Psalms 132 and 145 of Psalms into verse. Tsar Fedor understood painting and church music.
At first, Fyodor's stepmother, N.K. Naryshkina, tried to lead the country,
who managed to be eliminated from business by the relatives of Fedor, sending her along with her son Peter (the future Peter I) into exile in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

For 6 years of his reign, Fedor Alekseevich could not completely rule on his own, he was constantly influenced. Power was concentrated in the hands of Fyodor's maternal relatives, the boyars Miloslavsky.

In 1680 Tsar Fedor Alekseevich brought B.M. Yazykov and steward A.T. Likhachev, as well as Prince. V.V. Golitsyn, who became his advisers in all state affairs. Under their influence, under Fedor, the main center in state decision-making was transferred to the Boyar Duma, the number of members of which increased from 66 to 99. But despite the influence of various courtiers, Tsar Fedor was also inclined to personally take part in governance, but without despotism and cruelty .

The years of the reign of Fedor Alekseevich

In 1678–1679 Fedor's government conducted a census and canceled Alexei Mikhailovich's decree on the non-extradition of fugitives who signed up for military service, introduced household taxation (this immediately replenished the treasury, but strengthened the serfdom).

In 1679–1680 an attempt was made to mitigate criminal penalties, in particular, chopping off hands was abolished for theft. Thanks to the construction of defensive structures in the south of Russia (Wild Field), it became possible to endow the nobles with estates and estates. In 1681, the voivodship and local prikaz administration was introduced - one of the most important preparatory measures for the provincial reform of Peter I.

The most important event of the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich was the destruction of localism during a meeting of the Zemsky Sobor in 1682, which made it possible for not very noble, but educated and intelligent people to be promoted. At the same time, all category books with lists of positions were burned as the “main culprits” of local disputes and claims. Instead of discharge books, it was ordered to have a Genealogy Book, in which all noble and noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Duma.

Also in 1682, new dioceses were established at the church council and measures were taken to combat the schism. In addition, commissions were created to develop a new system of taxes and "military affairs". Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich issued a decree against luxury, which determined for each estate not only the cut of clothes, but also the number of horses. In the last days of Fedor's reign, a project was drawn up to open a Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy and a religious school for thirty people in Moscow.

Under Fyodor Alekseevich, a project was being prepared on the introduction of ranks in Russia - the prototype of the Petrine Table of Ranks, which was supposed to separate civil and military authorities. Dissatisfaction with the abuses of officials, the oppression of the archers led to an uprising of the city's lower classes, supported by the archers, in 1682.

Having received the basics of a secular education, Fedor Alekseevich was opposed to the interference of the church and Patriarch Joachim in secular affairs. He established increased rates of fees from church estates, starting a process that ended under Peter I with the liquidation of the patriarchate. During the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, construction was carried out not only of churches, but also of secular buildings (orders, chambers), new gardens were planted, and the first general sewerage system of the Kremlin was created. Also, to spread knowledge, Fedor invited foreigners to teach in Moscow.

The policy of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich

In foreign policy, Tsar Fedor tried to return to Russia access to the Baltic Sea, which was lost during the years of the Livonian War. However, the solution of this issue was hindered by the raids of the Crimean and Tatars and Turks from the south. Therefore, the successful Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, which ended with the Bakhchisaray peace treaty, which secured the unification of the Left-Bank Ukraine with Russia, became a major foreign policy action of Fyodor Alekseevich. Russia received Kyiv even earlier under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. During the war of 1676–1681, the Izyumskaya notch line was created in the south of the country, later connected with the Belgorodskaya line.

By decree of Tsar Fedor, the Zaikonospassky School was opened. Repressions against the Old Believers continued, in particular, Archpriest Avvakum was burned with his closest associates, according to legend, who allegedly predicted the imminent death of the king.

Fedor Alekseevich - family life

The king's private life was unhappy. The first marriage with Agafya Grushetskaya (1680) ended after 1 year, Tsarina Agafya died in childbirth along with Fedor's newborn son, Ilya. According to rumors, the queen had a strong influence on her husband, it was at her "suggestion" in Moscow that men began to cut their hair and shave their beards, wear Polish kuntushi and sabers.

On February 14, 1682, Fedor was married to Marfa Apraksina, the sister of the future associate of Peter I, Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin, but 2 months after the wedding, on April 27, 1682, the tsar died suddenly in Moscow at the age of 21, leaving no heir. Two of his brothers, Ivan and Peter Alekseevich, were proclaimed kings. Fedor Alekseevich was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

The most important source on the history of the reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich is the Contemplation of the Years 7190, 7191 and 7192, which was compiled by the writer Sylvester Medvedev, a well-known contemporary of the tsar.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich is called a predecessor both in the succession to the throne and in the preparation of reforms. The half-brother of Peter the Great for 6 years of reign (from 1676 to 1682) began much of what the Emperor of All Russia successfully completed. The heir to the Russian throne, Fedor Alekseevich Romanov, was born in the capital in 1661.

The marriage of the king, who was nicknamed the Quietest for his good temper, with Maria Miloslavskaya turned out to be rich in heirs: the spouses had five sons and seven daughters. But all the offspring were not distinguished by good health. Three sons died in infancy. Ivan Alekseevich, the youngest of the Quietest children, was diagnosed with mental retardation by doctors.

The monarch pinned all his hopes on Fedor, who was intelligent and loved science. But he also turned out to be unhealthy: the royal heir suffered from scurvy, walked leaning on a stick, and rarely got out of the palace. The education of Fyodor Alekseevich fell on the shoulders of Simeon Polotsky, a philosopher, theologian, poet and playwright, famous for his universal knowledge.

Under his leadership, the heir studied Polish, ancient Greek and Latin, translated psalms and composed poetry. He also became interested in music and singing. Fyodor Alekseevich was crowned in 1676, when he was 16 years old. The ceremony of crowning the kingdom took place in the Kremlin, in the Assumption Cathedral. I had to hurry because of the sudden death of my father, Alexei Mikhailovich.

Beginning of the reign

The first months of the reign of the young tsar were marked by the serious illness of Fyodor Alekseevich. The state was ruled by Patriarch Joachim, close boyar Artamon Matveev and governor Ivan Miloslavsky. But in the middle of 1676, Romanov recovered and sent Matveev, who tried to take power into his own hands, into exile.

Fedor Alekseevich, after the first two years of his reign, canceled his father's decree on the non-extradition of fugitives who entered the military service. In the same 1678, he conducted a census of the population, and a year later he imposed a direct tax on it, which was paid from income on property. Later, his younger half-brother Peter the Great introduced the poll tax. Taxation, begun by Fyodor Alekseevich, filled the treasury with money, but raised the murmur of the serfs, dissatisfied with the intensified oppression.

The tsar, imitating Western European rulers, banned self-mutilation and mitigated criminal penalties. The attempt was partially successful. On the southern borders of the state (Wild Field), Fedor Alekseevich ordered the construction of defensive fortifications. This helped the nobles to increase their estates and expand their land holdings. The tsar prepared the provincial reform introduced by his successor, establishing a command administration for the governor and the population.

Historians call the main internal political reform of Fyodor Alekseevich the abolition of the "emergency sitting" of the Zemsky Sobor. According to these outdated laws, a person received a rank that corresponded to the place of service of his father. This state of affairs did not allow the state to develop effectively, hindering its progress.

Digit books, in which lists of positions were stored, were burned by order of the king, and instead of them books of genealogies were introduced. They entered the names of the Russian nobility, without indicating the place in the Duma. Fedor Alekseevich, who received a secular education, removed the church from interfering in state affairs, and increased the collection from church estates. Soon, Peter completed the process begun by his brother, liquidating the patriarchate.

Politics

Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov moved the center of gravity of state decisions to the Duma, increasing the number of members from 66 to 99. The tsar directed a number of reforms towards the centralization of power, strengthening the positions of the nobility. The years of the reign of the predecessor of Peter the Great were marked by the construction of palace churches, chambers and orders, the first sewerage system was laid under the Kremlin buildings.

Order was restored in the capital, deporting beggars and beggars to Ukrainian cities and monasteries. Until the age of 20, they worked at monasteries, learned crafts, and at 20 young people were enrolled in the service or in tax (tax duty). Fedor Alekseevich did not have time, as planned, to build yards for teaching the craft to homeless children.

The educational intentions of the king were embodied in the invitation of foreign scientists and teachers to the capital. In the early 1680s, the monarch developed a project for the first academy, but Peter Alekseevich managed to realize his plan 6 years later. The reforms of Fyodor Alekseevich met with rejection by different classes and exacerbated social contradictions. In 1682, the Streltsy uprising took place in Moscow.

The foreign policy of the monarch is an attempt to return to the state access to the Baltic Sea, which Russia lost during the Livonian War. Fedor Alekseevich paid much more attention to the training and uniforms of the troops than his father. The Turks and Crimean Tatars, who raided the southern borders of Russia, prevented the "Baltic task" from being unleashed. Therefore, the autocrat from the Romanov family in 1676 began the Russian-Turkish war, which successfully ended in the 1681 peace treaty in Bakhchisarai.

Under the terms of the agreement, Russia united with the left-bank Ukraine. By order of the tsar, the Izyum line, 400 versts long, appeared in southern Russia, covering Sloboda Ukraine from the devastating Turko-Tatar raids. Later, the defensive line was continued, connecting with the Belgorod notch line.

Fedor Alekseevich made the main reforms in the last three years of his reign. Having stopped the medieval torture of those convicted of criminal offenses, he raised the state to a new level of civilization. Taxation has undergone changes, the collection of taxes has been streamlined.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, being an educated person, stood at the origins of the creation of a typographic school at the monastery in Kitai-Gorod, which is called the forerunner of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Romanov undertook a project on the introduction of ranks in the state (Peter the Great completed the reform by introducing the Table of Ranks) and divided military and civilian power. Fedor Alekseevich developed a project for a military academy, but did not manage to implement it.

Personal life

The favorites of Fyodor Alekseevich in the first years of his reign were the dexterous, but rootless bed-keeper Ivan Yazykov and the steward Alexei Likhachev. They played a significant role in the personal life of the tsar, introducing Romanov to a girl whom he spotted while participating in the procession. Yazykov and Likhachev found out that the name of the beauty was Agafya Grushetskaya. Dyak Zaborovsky, Agafya's guardian, was ordered not to marry the girl and wait for the decree.

Agafya Grushetskaya, the first wife of Fyodor Alekseevich

In the summer of 1680, Fedor Alekseevich and Agafya Grushetskaya got married, but the marriage ended tragically: a year later, the wife died in childbirth, giving her wife the heir Fedor. Soon the newborn died. The tsarina is credited with a beneficial effect on her husband: at her request, the tsar forced the nobles to cut their hair and shave their beards, wear Polish kuntush and sabers. Schools appeared where children were taught in Polish and Latin.

Marfa Apraksina, the second wife of Fedor Alekseevich

For the ailing widowed king, who lost his heir, they urgently found a bride. The same Yazykov and Likhachev made a fuss. Fedor Alekseevich married Marfa Apraksina, but the marriage lasted two months.

Death

The king died at the age of 21 in the spring of 1682, without leaving an heir to the throne.

Fyodor Romanov was buried in the Moscow Kremlin, in the Archangel Cathedral. The brothers of Fyodor Alekseevich, the half-womb Ivan and the half-blood Peter, were proclaimed kings.