420 years ago, on July 22, 1596, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Russian tsar of the Romanov dynasty, was born. The boyar clans elected the young, obedient and inexperienced Mikhail to the throne in 1613 so that they could easily carry out their decisions behind his back. His coming to power was to end the long period of Troubles in the Russian kingdom. Michael ruled until 1645.

Major milestones

The son of boyar Fyodor Nikitich Romanov, Metropolitan (later Patriarch Filaret), and Xenia Ivanovna Shestova (later nun Martha), he lived in Moscow for the first years. In 1601, together with his parents, Tsar Boris Godunov fell into disgrace, being the nephew of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. He lived in exile, from 1608 he returned to Moscow, where he was captured by the Poles who seized the Kremlin. In November 1612, freed by the militia of D. Pozharsky and K. Minin, he left for Kostroma.

On February 21, 1613, in Moscow, after the expulsion of the Poles, the Zemsky Sobor took place, which elected a new tsar. Among the applicants were the Polish prince Vladislav, the Swedish prince Karl-Philip and others. Michael's candidacy arose because of his female relationship with the Rurik dynasty, the Romanovs were one of the most noble families. She suited the service nobility, which sought to end the turmoil and did not want a monarchy on the Polish model and a boyar oligarchy, which was going to use the youth and weakness of the new tsar. “Misha-de is young, he hasn’t got his mind yet and he will be in the habit of us,” they said in the Duma, hoping that all issues would be resolved “on the advice” of the Duma. The moral character of Mikhail as the son of a metropolitan and a young man who was not marked in atrocities, met the interests of the church and popular ideas about the tsar. It was supposed to become a symbol of a return to order, peace and antiquity.

Thus, the young and sickly Romanov was elected tsar in order to keep power and wealth behind him, and not a warrior tsar, who was necessary to fight internal and external enemies.

On June 11, 1613, Mikhail Fedorovich in Moscow was married to the throne in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. The celebrations lasted three days. The tsar gave, according to the testimony of a number of contemporaries, a crucifixion record that he undertakes not to rule without the Zemsky Sobor and the Boyar Duma (like Vasily Shuisky). According to other sources, Mikhail did not give such a record.

In the first years after the election of Mikhail as tsar, the main task was to end the turmoil in the Russian kingdom itself and the end of the war with the Commonwealth and Sweden. In 1617, the Treaty of Stolbovo was signed with Sweden, which received the Korelu fortress and the coast of the Gulf of Finland. In 1618, the Deulinskoe truce was concluded with Poland: Russia ceded Smolensk, Chernigov and a number of other cities to it. The Nogai Horde came out of Moscow's subordination. In addition, the tsarist government annually sent expensive gifts to Bakhchisarai, however Crimean Tatars continued their robbery raids.

Lack of money was a big problem. The first concern of the new government was the collection of the treasury. The Tsar and the Zemsky Sobor sent letters everywhere with orders to collect taxes and government revenues, with requests for a loan for the treasury of money and everything that could be collected with things. They tried to get money by all sorts of measures, even borrowed money from the British, giving them the right to duty-free trade. The service people who lived in the posads were imposed by the general posad tax. Customs and tavern taxes began to be farmed out, they tried to make people drink more, increasing the income of the treasury. In addition to customs duties, various levies were imposed on all trade, even daily activities (they took for washing clothes, drinking cattle, etc.).

The Russian state in the late 1610s was in political isolation. To get out of it, the Moscow government made an unsuccessful attempt to marry the young tsar, first to a Danish princess, then to a Swedish one. Having received refusals in both cases, the mother and the boyars married Mikhail to Maria Dolgorukova, but the marriage turned out to be childless. The second marriage with Evdokia Streshneva brought Mikhail 7 daughters (Irina, Pelageya, Anna, Martha, Sophia, Tatiana, Evdokia) and 2 sons, the eldest Alexei Mikhailovich (the future tsar) and the youngest, who died in infancy, Vasily.

The most important national task of Moscow was the struggle for the reunification of the West Russian and South Russian (Little Russian) lands in a single Russian state. The first attempt to solve this problem during the war for Smolensk (1632-1634), which began after the death of the Polish king Sigismund in connection with the claims of his son Vladislav to the Russian throne, ended unsuccessfully. After her, by order of Mikhail, the construction of the Great Zasechnaya Line, fortresses of the Belgorod and Simbirsk lines began in Russia. When 1637-1637. the Don Cossacks took Azov, the majority of the members of the Zemsky Sobor strongly spoke in favor of a war with the Turks, the government decided not to take Azov under its arm and not to start a war.

Mikhail's government continued the policy of enslaving the peasantry (the bulk of the population). Mikhail's government introduced in 1637 the term for capturing fugitive peasants up to 9 years, in 1641 it increased it by another year, while those taken out by other owners were allowed to search for up to 15 years. The Moscow government, preparing for a war with the Commonwealth, carried out a series of military reforms. The formation of the "regiments of the new system" according to the Western model began, the rank and file of which were "eager free people" and homeless boyar children, the officers were foreign military specialists. At the end of Michael's reign, dragoon cavalry regiments were formed.

Tsar Michael was not in good health from birth. He greatly "grieved with his feet" and by the end of his reign could not walk, he was taken in a cart. The tsar's body weakened from “sitting too much,” contemporaries noted in him “melancholy, that is, torpor”. He died on February 13, 1645 in Moscow.

"Tsar-parsley"

Tsar Michael was not an outstanding statesman. The young and inexperienced Mikhail was chosen to reign in 1613 so that he could easily carry out his decisions behind his back. First, his mother ruled for him - the "great empress", the great eldress Martha (in the world Xenia Ioannovna Romanova, before the marriage of Shestov) and her relatives. Then the king's father, Patriarch Filaret (in the world Fedor Nikitich Romanov), who returned from Polish captivity, took over the reins of government. As a parent of the sovereign, Filaret was officially his co-ruler until the end of his life (1633). He used the title "Great Sovereign" and actually directed Moscow politics.

The beginning of the reign of the first Romanov was extremely difficult times for the Russian people of the country. Contrary to popular belief, the Troubles did not end with the liberation of Moscow from the Poles and the election of Mikhail to the kingdom. Another six years after the liberation of the Kremlin by the people's militia, a bloody war was going on in Russia. The gangs of Lisovsky, Zarutsky and others quietly moved from one end of the Russian land to another, robbed and raped, in the end ruining the Russian kingdom. The lands of the western, southern and southwestern parts of Russia were burned literally to Moscow itself. Moscow itself was also badly destroyed and devastated. Detachments of interventionists and various thieves' bastards ravaged the eastern cities and lands. So, a detachment of Poles in 1616 ruined Murom. Various bandit formations devastated the lands up to Vologda, Ustyug and Kargopol. And this after the victory of 1612, which was just one of the stages of the ongoing Troubles. In fact, the Moscow government initially controlled only Moscow and several cities, hiding behind the fortress walls. The rest of the country was ruled by Polish and Swedish invaders, all sorts of adventurers, gangs of thieves and bandit formations. Individual successful military operations of the Moscow government could not change the general situation.

They were able to get rid of the bandit formation of Zarutsky in the southeast of the country in the summer of 1614, in the fall they defeated the gang of Ataman Balovnya in the upper reaches of the Volga. The most dangerous detachment of Lisovsky could only be defeated by 1616. The most dangerous enemies were Sweden and Poland. The Swedes seized Novgorod and the Vodskaya pyatina, planning to annex them to Sweden, and also demanded that Russia recognize the prince Philip as its king, to whom the Novgorodians had already sworn allegiance. Fighting Russian troops under the command of Prince D. Trubetskoy went unsuccessfully. The only thing that saved the situation was that the Swedes were more interested in keeping the Russians out of the Baltic and did not develop an offensive. In the end, they agreed to the mediation of England and Holland in concluding peace.

Only two shameful worlds saved Russia from the aggression of Sweden and the Commonwealth. The Stolbov peace of 1617 led to the fact that Russia ceded to Sweden Ivangorod, Yam, Koporye, Oreshek, Korel. Moscow renounced claims to Livonia and Karelian land. As a result, Russia lost access to the Baltic Sea, which it returned only under Peter Alekseevich. And Russia was able to completely return the lost lands in the Baltic only under Peter I, after a long and bloody Northern War. In addition, Moscow had to pay Sweden an indemnity of 20 thousand rubles, a large sum for those times (20,000 silver rubles were equal to 980 kg of silver). At the same time, the Swedes, Dutch and British procured important trade privileges for themselves in Russia.

It is not for nothing that the Swedish king Gustav Adolf believed that Sweden won a historic victory over the Russian state: “One of the greatest blessings bestowed on Sweden by God is that the Russians, with whom we have long been in dubious relations, should henceforth abandon that backwater, from which we have so often bothered. Russia is a dangerous neighbor. Its possessions stretched to the seas of the North and Caspian, from the south it borders almost on the Black Sea. Russia has a strong nobility, many peasants, populated cities and large troops. Now, without our permission, the Russians cannot send a single boat to the Baltic Sea. Large lakes Ladoga Lake and Peipus, Narvskaya Polyana, swamps 30 miles wide and solid fortresses separate us from them. Now the Russians have been deprived of access to the Baltic Sea, and I hope it will not be so easy for them to step over this brook. "

In December 1618, the Deulinsky truce was signed. The truce was signed in the village of Deulino near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, near Moscow. The camp of the Polish prince Vladislav was located there. And during the campaign of 1618, the Poles stormed Moscow, albeit unsuccessfully. According to the armistice for 14 years, the Russian state ceded to the Commonwealth of the city of Smolensk, Roslavl, Dorogobuzh, Belaya, Serpeisk, Putivl, Trubchevsk, Novgorod-Seversky, Chernigov, Monastyrsky with the surrounding lands. This agreement was a great victory for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The border between the two states moved far to the east, almost returning to the borders of the times of Ivan III. At the same time, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania still retained the formal right to the Russian throne.

It is also worth noting that Moscow was very lucky at that time - in Europe in 1618 the fierce Thirty Years' War broke out, which some researchers consider a "World War", since its significance was enormous. Rzeczpospolita and Sweden grappled with each other and were distracted from Russian affairs. The Russian kingdom at once got rid of two formidable enemies who threatened its existence, was able to rest.

If you remove the propaganda during the Romanovs' reign and the current one about the revival of "spiritual bonds", it will become clear that the head of the Russian kingdom was far from the most the best people... Mikhail Romanov himself did not have state experience, did not differ in great abilities, was sick (already at the age of 30 he could hardly walk), so his parents and other relatives ruled for him. Obviously, the new Tsar of Russia could have been chosen better. For example, Dmitry Pozharsky. It is obvious that the boyar oligarchy, which actually organized the Troubles, needed a weak and incompetent tsar.

The tsar's father, Patriarch Filaret, if to judge by the truth, has a very dubious reputation. Boyarin, the son of the influential Nikita Zakharyin-Yuriev, nephew of Tsarina Anastasia, the first wife of Ivan the Terrible, he was considered a possible rival of Boris Godunov in the struggle for power after the death of Fyodor Ivanovich. Boyarin Fyodor Nikitich Romanov under Boris Godunov on charges of treason, apparently (especially in his future behavior and life path), not without reason, was exiled and tonsured a monk. Under the first impostor False Dmitry (Grigory Otrepiev), he was released and elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Rostov. Fyodor Romanov remained in opposition to the overthrowing of False Dmitry, Vasily Shuisky, and from 1608 he played the role of "named patriarch" in the Tushino camp of the new impostor, False Dmitry II. In 1610, the "patriarch" became one of the main participants in the conspiracy against Tsar Vasily Shuisky and an active supporter of the Seven Boyars, a boyar government that betrayed national interests. Filaret headed the embassy to Poland with the aim of elevating the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne. Unlike Patriarch Hermogenes, he, in principle, did not object to the election of Vladislav Sigismundovich as the Russian tsar. However, he did not agree with the Poles in the final version of the agreement and was arrested. Filaret was able to return from Polish captivity only after an armistice, in 1619.

It is also worth noting that the main figures of the Semboyarshchyna, which "committed an act of treason" when on the night of September 21, 1610, secretly let the Polish troops into Moscow, almost all of them entered the government of Mikhail and played leading roles in the Russian state for a long time. And one of the first decisions of the Seven Boyars was the decree not to elect representatives of the Russian families as tsar. The boyar government summoned the son of the Polish king Sigismund III, Vladislav, to the throne and, fearing the resistance of ordinary Russian people and not trusting the Russian troops, admitted foreign troops into the capital.

All the living figures of this "government", which changed Russian civilization, not only were not executed or at least disgraced, but continued to occupy high posts in the Russian kingdom. The head of the boyar government, Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavsky, was one of the contenders for the throne at the Council of 1613, and remained a prominent nobleman until his death in 1622. Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky also claimed the throne in 1613, served as a voivode in Kazan, was the first ambassador at a congress with Polish ambassadors in Smolensk. In 1620 and 1621, in the absence of Mikhail Fedorovich, he ruled Moscow with the rank of first voivode. Prince Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky, the son-in-law of Patriarch Filaret, rose even more under Mikhail Romanov. He headed the Rogue Order, was a voivode in Kazan, headed a number of important orders (Sysknoy, Kazan Palace, Siberian, etc.). Boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov, Filaret's younger brother and uncle of the first tsar, at the Council of 1613 (like a significant part of the boyars) supported the candidacy of the Swedish prince Karl Philip. Under Tsar Mikhail Romanov, he was in charge of foreign policy. Boyarin Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev, who together with the Polish troops withstood the siege and left Moscow only after its release by Dmitry Pozharsky, most actively contributed to the election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the throne. Sheremetev participated in all important events reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, before the arrival of Filaret in 1619, led the Moscow government, then was the head of government after the death of Filaret - 1633-1646, retired due to old age. Only two - Prince A.V. Golitsyn and A.V. Trubetskoy, died in 1611.

Thus, it turns out to be quite sad. The traitors-boyars betray the Russian people, Russia, let enemies into the capital, agree to elect a Polish prince to the Russian throne. Honest Russian people, not sparing their belly, are at war with enemies, liberating Moscow. And the traitors, instead of answering for the black betrayal with their own heads, almost all enter the new government and elect a king who is advantageous for themselves, young, meek, without ability and sick.

So it turns out that during the Great Troubles, power was seized by those who started this troubles, kindled and supported! According to many researchers of the Time of Troubles, the Romanovs and Cherkasskys were behind False Dmitry (I.B. Cherkassky was married to Filaret's sister). The Romanovs, Cherkassky, Shuisky and other boyars staged the Troubles, in which tens of thousands of people died and most of the Russian state was deserted. So, in many counties of the historical center of the state, the size of arable land has decreased by 20 times, and the number of peasants by 4 times. In a number of areas, and by the 20-40s of the 17th century, the population was still below the level of the 16th century. The military-strategic, demographic and economic consequences of the Troubles, which the boyar clans staged in the struggle for power, had an effect for decades. The lost lands in the west and north-west and north were returned after decades and at the cost of a lot of blood, the mobilization efforts of the entire Russian civilization. The Russian Baltics could be completely liberated only under Tsar Peter.

Almost the only success of the new government of Mikhail Romanov is the end of the internal Troubles. Moscow in a few years managed to put an end to anarchy and permissiveness (according to the principle - "whoever has more sabers, he is right"). In addition, it should be borne in mind that the main boyar clans were satisfied with the situation, tired of the war and stopped supporting the turmoil. In a few years, the new government was able to suppress the thieves' revelry, to destroy the bandit formations, which had lost the support of the "elite". And folk heroes, having received their portion of glory, were pushed into the shadows.

In foreign policy, Mikhail's government ceded a number of important territories to Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The struggle for the return of Western Russian lands did not lead to success. The statehood restored in 1613 did not solve a single internal national problem. So, the enslavement-enslavement of the peasantry, begun by Godunov during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, continued, was continued. The life of the majority of the people has deteriorated. This led to the fact that the people responded to social injustice with mass uprisings and the 17th century went down in history as a "rebellious century".

Thus, in historical terms, the rule of the Romanovs did not eradicate the main premise of the Troubles in Russian civilization - social injustice, when most of the Russian people were enslaved, and the "elite" was cut off from the people and took a course towards Westernization (Westernization). This ultimately led to the second Great Troubles - 1905-1917, when the Romanov empire collapsed.

The response of the Russian civilization and the Russian super-ethnos to social injustice is the Troubles, during which there is a chance for the victory of a new, nationally oriented elite. As in 1917-1920, when the Bolsheviks seized power, who created a social, essentially just state (this was most clearly manifested in the Stalinist period), therefore they received the support of most of the people. After 1991, a split of the people occurred again, and its aggravation in our days, when we observe the emergence of a stratum of “new nobility” in the Russian Federation, again puts on the agenda the possibility of a new turmoil. And this, in conditions of constant external threat from the West and the East and the beginning of a global redistribution of the Fourth World War, threatens the death of the entire Russian civilization. The only way out is a new Russian project based on the principle of social justice, ethics of conscience and the creation of a society of service and creation, which will again unite society and adopt the best elements of the Russian kingdom, Russian Empire and the Red Empire.

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The future tsar was born in 1596 in the family of the boyar Fyodor Nikitich and his wife Ksenia Ivanovna. Mikhail Fyodorovich's father was a relatively close relative of the last tsar from the Rurik dynasty, Fyodor Ioannovich. However, the elder Romanov, Fyodor Nikitich, was tonsured a monk and therefore could not claim the royal throne.

With the elevation of Archimandrite Filaret (in the world Fyodor Nikitich Romanov) to the rank of Metropolitan of Rostov, his wife Ksenia was tonsured as a nun under the name Martha and lived with her son Mikhail in the Ipatiev Monastery of Kostroma, which belonged to the Rostov diocese.

With the arrival of the Poles in Moscow, Martha and Mikhail were in their hands and fully felt all the hardships of the siege of the city by the Nizhny Novgorod militia. With the end of the siege, they again moved to the Ipatiev Monastery.

Election to the kingdom

On February 21, 1613, the Great Zemsky Sobor met in Moscow to elect the tsar. The elections were very difficult, with a lot of disagreements, intrigues and proposals. In addition to the fact that representatives of the Russian nobility (for example, D. Pozharsky) were proposed as candidates for the throne, there were also applicants from abroad. The Polish prince Vladislav and the Prince of Sweden Karl Philip were especially eager for Russian power. After lengthy disputes, preference was given to Mikhail Fedorovich. There was an opinion among the people that the most correct decision would be if the choice fell on a person closely related to the terminated dynasty. And the Russian boyars liked Mikhail Fedorovich more. They were satisfied with his young age, meek and gentle nature. On July 1, 1613, Mikhail Romanov's royal wedding took place in Moscow.

The reign of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich

The young king was primarily concerned with the pacification of the state. Despite the fact that the Troubles seemed to be over, the country was also tormented by gangs of Cossacks, fugitive peasants, Lithuanian and Polish detachments, which acted more at their own peril and risk. Gradually managed to destroy most of them.

Problems remained with the "official" invaders. The Swedes still held Novgorod, and the Poles claimed the Moscow throne.

A new page in the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich was opened by his father, Metropolitan Filaret. He was held by the Poles for a long time and finally returned to Moscow in 1619. The Tsar very quickly elevated him to the rank of Moscow Patriarch with the title “ great sovereign". His influence on his son was very significant. Many state decisions were made only with the approval of the patriarch. A similar dual power existed until the death of Filaret in October 1633.

In 1623, the young tsar married Princess Marya Vladimirovna Dolgoruka, who soon died. In 1626, a wedding took place with Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva, who was the daughter of an ordinary nobleman.

Mikhail Fedorovich did not conduct a very active foreign policy. I tried not to get involved in large military campaigns. The Second Polish War ended in failure, and the Poles managed to save all the previously captured Russian lands. The Cossack campaign ended ingloriously. They captured the Turkish fortress of Azov, but the king, not wanting to quarrel with the Turks, did not defend it.

Domestic policy of Mikhail Fedorovich

The internal problems of the state worried the king much more. His efforts were aimed at boosting the economy and streamlining finances. Elected people were called from Russian cities, who informed the government about the state of the land and suggested ways to improve their situation.

During the reign of Mikhail Romanov, 12 Zemsky Councils took place, which greatly facilitated the work of the government.

The military service class was analyzed in the country and a new cadastre was started.

Under Mikhail Fedorovich, the country became more open to foreigners. The practice of inviting foreign scholars and correcting church books began. The first government school is being created in Moscow.

Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the founder of the dynasty, died on July 13, 1645, leaving three daughters and a son, Alexei Mikhailovich, who succeeded him on the throne.

UMK line I. L. Andreev, O. V. Volobueva. History (6-10)

Russian history

How did Mikhail Romanov end up on the Russian throne?

On July 21, 1613, Mikhail's wedding to the kingdom took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, marking the foundation of the new ruling dynasty of the Romanovs. How did it happen that Michael was on the throne, and what events preceded this? Read in our material.

On July 21, 1613, Mikhail's wedding to the kingdom took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, marking the foundation of the new ruling dynasty of the Romanovs. The ceremony, which took place in the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, was not performed according to the order. The reasons for this lay in the Time of Troubles, which disrupted all plans: Patriarch Filaret (by coincidence - the father of the future tsar), was in captivity by the Poles, the second head of the Church after him - Metropolitan Isidor - was in the territory occupied by the Swedes. As a result, the wedding was performed by Metropolitan Ephraim, the third hierarch of the Russian Church, while the rest of the heads gave their blessings.

So, how did it happen that Michael ended up on the Russian throne?

Events in the Tushino camp

In the fall of 1609, a political crisis was observed in Tushino. The Polish king Sigismund III, who invaded Russia in September 1609, managed to split the Poles and Russians, who united under the banner of False Dmitry II. The growing disagreements, as well as the disdainful attitude of the gentry towards the impostor, forced False Dmitry II to flee from Tushino to Kaluga.

On March 12, 1610, Russian troops solemnly entered Moscow under the leadership of the talented and young commander M.V.Skopin-Shuisky, the tsar's nephew. There was a chance of a complete defeat of the impostor's forces, and then the liberation of the country from the troops of Sigismund III. However, on the eve of the Russian troops' march (April 1610) Skopin-Shuisky was poisoned at a feast and died two weeks later.

Alas, on June 24, 1610, the Russians were utterly defeated by Polish troops. At the beginning of July 1610, the troops of Zholkevsky approached Moscow from the west, and the troops of False Dmitry II again approached from the south. In this situation, on July 17, 1610, through the efforts of Zakhary Lyapunov (brother of the rebellious Ryazan nobleman P.P. Lyapunov) and his supporters, Shuisky was overthrown and on July 19 forcibly tonsured a monk (in order to prevent him from becoming king in the future). Patriarch Hermogenes did not recognize this tonsure.

Semboyarshina

So, in July 1610, power in Moscow passed to the Boyar Duma, headed by the boyar Mstislavsky. The new provisional government was called "seven-boyars". It included representatives of the most noble families F.I.Mstislavsky, I.M. Vorotynsky, A.V. Trubetskoy, A.V. Golitsyn, I.N. Romanov, F.I.Sheremetev, B.M. Lykov.

The balance of forces in the capital in July - August 1610 was as follows. Patriarch Hermogenes and his supporters opposed both the impostor and any foreigner on the Russian throne. Potential candidates were Prince V.V. Golitsyn or 14-year-old Mikhail Romanov, the son of Metropolitan Filaret (former Tushino Patriarch). This is how the name of M.F. Romanov. Most of the boyars, led by Mstislavsky, nobles and merchants supported the invitation of the prince Vladislav. They, firstly, did not want to have any of the boyars as tsar, remembering the unsuccessful experience of the reign of Godunov and Shuisky, secondly, they hoped to receive additional benefits and benefits from Vladislav, and thirdly, they feared ruin when the impostor took over. The urban lower classes sought to plant False Dmitry II on the throne.

On August 17, 1610, the Moscow government signed an agreement with Hetman Zholkiewski on the conditions for inviting the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne. Sigismund III, under the pretext of anxiety in Russia, did not let his son go to Moscow. In the capital, hetman A. Gonsevsky ruled on his behalf. Polish king, possessing a significant military force, did not want to fulfill the conditions of the Russian side and decided to annex the Moscow state to his crown, depriving it of political independence. The Boyar government could not interfere with these plans, and a Polish garrison was sent to the capital.

Liberation from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders

But already in 1612, Kuzma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, with part of the forces remaining near Moscow from the First Militia, defeated Polish army under Moscow. The hopes of the boyars and Poles did not come true.

You can read more about this episode in the article: "".

After the liberation of Moscow from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders at the end of October 1612, the combined regiments of the first and second militias formed a provisional government - the "Council of the Whole Earth", headed by princes DT Trubetskoy and DM Pozharsky. The main purpose of the Council was to collect a representative Zemsky Sobor and the election of a new tsar.

In the second half of November, letters were sent to many cities with a request to send them to the capital by December 6 " for state and regional affairs"Ten kind people. Among them could have been abbots of monasteries, protopopes, inhabitants of the settlement, and even black-nosed peasants. They were all supposed to be " reasonable and persistent"Capable of" to speak freely and fearlessly about state affairs, without any cunning».

In January 1613, the Zemsky Sobor began to hold its first sessions.
The most significant cleric at the cathedral was Metropolitan Kirill of Rostov. This happened due to the fact that Patriarch Hermogenes died in February 1613, the Novgorod Metropolitan Isidor was under the rule of the Swedes, Metropolitan Filaret was in Polish captivity, and the Kazan Metropolitan Ephraim did not want to go to the capital. Simple calculations based on the analysis of the signatures under the letters show that at least 500 people were present at the Zemsky Sobor, representing various strata of Russian society from various places. These included clergymen, leaders and commanders of the first and second militias, members of the Boyar Duma and the sovereign's court, as well as elected representatives from about 30 cities. They were able to express the opinion of the majority of the country's inhabitants, so the decision of the council was legitimate.

Who did they want to choose as king?

The final letters of the Zemsky Sobor indicate that a unanimous opinion on the candidacy of the future tsar was far from immediately developed. Before the arrival of the leading boyars, the militia probably had a desire to elect Prince D.T. Trubetskoy.

It was proposed to put some foreign prince on the Moscow throne, but most of the participants in the council firmly declared that they were categorically against the Gentiles "because of their untruth and the crime of the cross." They also objected to Marina Mnishek and the son of False Dmitry II Ivan - they called them "the thieves' queen" and "thief".

Why did the Romanovs have an advantage? Kinship issues

Gradually, the majority of voters came to the conclusion that the new sovereign should be from Moscow families and be related to the previous sovereigns. There were several such candidates: the most notable boyar - Prince F. I. Mstislavsky, boyar Prince I. M. Vorotynsky, princes Golitsyn, Cherkassky, boyars Romanov.

The voters expressed their decision as follows:

« We came to the common idea of ​​choosing a relative of the righteous and great sovereign, the Tsar and Grand Duke, the blessed memory of Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia, so that it would be eternal and constant, just as under him, the great sovereign, the Russian kingdom in front of all states like the sun shone and widened on all sides, and many of the surrounding sovereigns became subject to him, the sovereign, in citizenship and obedience, and no blood and war with him, the sovereign, did not happen - all the esmas lived in silence and prosperity under his royal power».

In this respect, the Romanovs had only advantages. With the former kings, they were in a double blood relationship. The great-grandmother of Ivan III was their representative Maria Goltyaeva, and the mother of the last tsar from the dynasty of Moscow princes Fyodor Ivanovich was Anastasia Zakharyina from the same family. Her brother was the famous boyar Nikita Romanovich, whose sons Fyodor, Alexander, Mikhail, Vasily and Ivan were cousins ​​of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. True, because of the repressions of Tsar Boris Godunov, who suspected the Romanovs of an attempt on his life, Fyodor was tonsured a monk and later became Metropolitan Filaret of Rostov. Alexander, Mikhail and Vasily died, only Ivan survived, from childhood suffering from cerebral palsy, because of this ailment he was not suitable for a king.

It can be assumed that most of the participants in the cathedral have never seen Mikhail, who was distinguished by his modesty and quiet disposition, and had not heard anything about him before. Since childhood, he had to experience many hardships. In 1601, at the age of four, he was separated from his parents and, together with his sister Tatyana, was sent to the Belozersk prison. Only a year later, the emaciated and ragged prisoners were transferred to the village of Klin, Yuryevsky district, where they were allowed to live with their mother. The real liberation took place only after the accession of False Dmitry I. In the summer of 1605, the Romanovs returned to the capital, to their boyar house on Varvarka. Filaret, by the will of the impostor, became the Rostov metropolitan, Ivan Nikitich received the boyar rank, and Mikhail, due to his young age, was enrolled in the steward. New tests the future tsar had to go through during the Time of Troubles. In 1611-1612, by the end of the siege of Kitai-gorod and the Kremlin by the militia, Mikhail and his mother had no food at all, so they even had to eat grass and tree bark. The elder sister Tatiana could not survive all this and died in 1611 at the age of 18. Mikhail miraculously survived, but severely undermined his health. Due to scurvy, he gradually developed a leg ailment.
Among the close relatives of the Romanovs were the princes Shuisky, Vorotynsky, Sitsky, Troekurovs, Shestunovs, Lykovs, Cherkassky, Repnins, as well as the boyars Godunovs, Morozovs, Saltykovs, Kolychevs. All together, they formed a powerful coalition at the sovereign's court and were not averse to placing their protege on the throne.

Announcement of the election of Michael as Tsar: details

The official announcement of the election of the sovereign took place on February 21, 1613. Archbishop Theodorite with clergy and boyar V.P. Morozov came to the Execution Ground on Red Square. They told the Muscovites the name of the new tsar - Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. This news was greeted with general rejoicing, and then messengers left for the cities with a joyful message and the text of the crucifixion note, which the residents were to sign.

The representative embassy went to the chosen one only on March 2. It was headed by Archbishop Theodorite and Boyar F.I.Sheremetev. They had to inform Michael and his mother of the decision of the Zemsky Sobor, get their consent to "sit on the kingdom" and bring the elect to Moscow.

On the morning of March 14, in ceremonial clothes, with images and crosses, the ambassadors moved to the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail and his mother were. Having met at the gates of the monastery with the people's choice and eldress Martha, they saw on their faces not joy, but tears and indignation. Mikhail categorically refused to accept the honor conferred on him by the cathedral, and his mother did not want to bless him with the kingdom. I had to beg them for a whole day. Only when the ambassadors announced that there was no other candidate for the throne and that Michael's refusal would lead to new bloodshed and unrest in the country, Martha agreed to bless her son. In the monastery cathedral, the rite of naming the chosen one for the kingdom took place, and Theodorite handed him a scepter - a symbol of monarchical power.

Sources:

1. Morozova L.E. Election to the kingdom // Russian history. - 2013. - No. 1. - S. 40-45.
2. Danilov A.G. New phenomena in the organization of power in Russia during the Time of Troubles // Questions of history. - 2013. - No. 11. - S. 78-96.

The end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries became a period of socio-political, economic and dynastic crisis in Russian history, which was called the Time of Troubles. The beginning of the Time of Troubles was laid by the catastrophic famine of 1601-1603. A sharp deterioration in the situation of all strata of the population led to mass unrest under the slogan of the overthrow of Tsar Boris Godunov and the transfer of the throne to the "legitimate" sovereign, as well as the emergence of impostors False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II as a result of the dynastic crisis.

"Seven Boyarshina" - the government formed in Moscow after the overthrow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky in July 1610, signed an agreement on the election of the Polish prince Vladislav to the Russian throne, and in September 1610 let the Polish army into the capital.

Since 1611, patriotic sentiments began to grow in Russia. The First Militia, formed against the Poles, did not manage to drive the foreigners out of Moscow. And in Pskov, a new impostor, False Dmitry III, appeared. In the fall of 1611, on the initiative of Kuzma Minin, the formation of the Second Militia began in Nizhny Novgorod, led by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. In August 1612, it approached Moscow and liberated it in the fall. The leadership of the zemstvo militia began preparations for the electoral Zemsky Sobor.

At the beginning of 1613, elected representatives of "the whole earth" began to come to Moscow. It was the first undoubtedly all-estates Zemsky Sobor with the participation of townspeople and even rural representatives. The number of “Soviet people” gathered in Moscow exceeded 800, representing at least 58 cities.

The Zemsky Sobor began its work on January 16 (January 6, old style), 1613. Representatives of the "all earth" annulled the decision of the previous council on the election of the prince Vladislav to the Russian throne and decided: "Foreign princes and Tatar princes should not be invited to the Russian throne."

Council meetings took place in an atmosphere of fierce rivalry between various political groups that took shape in Russian society during the years of the Troubles and sought to consolidate their position by electing their pretender to the royal throne. The members of the council nominated more than ten contenders for the throne. Various sources mention Fyodor Mstislavsky, Ivan Vorotynsky, Fyodor Sheremetev, Dmitry Trubetskoy, Dmitry Mamstryukovich and Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky, Ivan Golitsyn, Ivan Nikitich and Mikhail Fedorovich Romanovs, Pyotr Pronsky and Dmitry Pozharsky among the candidates.

The data of the "Report extract on estates and estates of 1613", which records land grants made immediately after the election of the tsar, make it possible to identify the most active members of the "Romanov" circle. The candidacy of Mikhail Fedorovich in 1613 was supported not by the influential clan of the Romanov boyars, but by a circle that spontaneously formed during the work of the Zemsky Sobor, made up of minor persons of the previously defeated boyar groups.

A decisive role, according to a number of historians, in the election of Mikhail Romanov to the kingdom was played by the Cossacks, who during this period became an influential social force. Among the servicemen and Cossacks, a movement emerged, the center of which was the Moscow courtyard of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and its active inspirer was the monastery's cellarer Avraamy Palitsyn, a very influential person among both the militia and Muscovites. At the meetings with the participation of the cellar Abraham, it was decided to proclaim the king of 16-year-old Mikhail Fedorovich, the son of the Rostov metropolitan Filaret, captured by the Poles.

The main argument of Mikhail Romanov's supporters boiled down to the fact that, unlike the elected tsars, he was elected not by people, but by God, since he comes from a noble royal root. Not kinship with Rurik, but closeness and kinship with the dynasty of Ivan IV gave the right to occupy his throne.

Many boyars joined the Romanov party, it was also supported by the highest Orthodox clergy - the Consecrated Cathedral.

The election took place on February 17 (February 7, old style), 1613, but the official announcement was postponed until March 3 (February 21, old style), so that during this time it became clear how the people would receive the new king.

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

March 23 (13, according to other sources March 14, old style), 1613, the ambassadors of the Cathedral arrived in Kostroma. In the Ipatiev Monastery, where Mikhail was with his mother, he was informed about his election to the throne.