There were many outstanding personalities among Russian monarchs, such as Peter I or Catherine II. There were also less famous rulers. But there are kings that most people know almost nothing about. These kings were forgotten, and some were completely undeserved.
They called him "Durak"
Fyodor Ioannovich, Fyodor Godunov, Fyodor Alekseevich, Ivan Alekseevich, Peter II - all of them can be classified as "forgotten tsars". However, let's start in order.
The first Russian tsar - Ivan the Terrible - died in 1584. His son Fyodor Ioannovich ascended the throne. And he reigned for 14 years. But his reign seemed to be lost between two eras - the bloody, but bright reign of Ivan the Terrible and the tragic Time of Troubles.
Tsar Fyodor did not resemble his cruel and energetic father. Fedor, one might say, was his complete opposite. “Small in height, squat and overweight, weak in physique … he is heavy and non-active, but he always smiles, so he almost laughs,” the English diplomat Fletcher describes Fyodor Ioannovich. And he continues: "He is simple and feeble-minded, but very amiable and good in handling, quiet, merciful, has no inclination to war, little capable of political affairs and extremely superstitious."
The French mercenary Jacques Margeret says approximately the same: "The power was inherited by Fyodor, a very simple sovereign, who often amused himself by ringing the bells, or spent most of his time in church."
“He was so pious that he often wanted to exchange his kingdom for a monastery, if only that was possible,” writes the Dutch merchant Isaac Massa. The Swedish king is the most categorical: in his opinion, Russians call Fyodor Ioannovich the word "durak".
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But if we take Russian sources, then we will not find any word "durak" there. On the contrary, all chroniclers - even unofficial ones, even those who are critical of Ivan the Terrible - write about Fyodor Ioannovich exclusively in enthusiastic tones. It is especially noted that people in his reign lived "in peace and love, and in silence, and in prosperity." If Ivan the Terrible in Russian sources is a controversial figure, then Tsar Fyodor is definitely positive.
Fyodor Ioannovich was indeed an extremely devout man. And he really liked to ring the bells. This, by the way, irritated Ivan the Terrible, who believed that Fyodor looked more like the son of a sexton, and not like the tsar's son. And the successor of Ivan the Terrible was hardly involved in political affairs. This is all true. But can we talk about his dementia? Hardly.
Golden age
It is known that Fyodor Ioannovich made speeches several times. And most importantly, he could show firmness. His wife, Irina Godunova, remained childless for a long time. Ivan the Terrible, who changed wives like gloves, demanded that his son divorce. But Fedor withstood the onslaught of his father and did not agree. When he ascended the throne, the boyars began to demand divorce. But Fyodor did not give in again. It doesn't sound like a moron, does it?
Ivan the Terrible is considered an outstanding tsar. But he lost the main war of his life - the Livonian one. Under Fedor Ioannovich, Russia fought with Sweden. And she fought successfully: the Russians returned the territories lost during the Livonian War - Yam, Koporye, Ivangorod, Korela. Moreover, the first - and most successful - campaign Fyodor Ioannovich headed personally.
Under Tsar Fedor, Russian explorers explored Siberia. Cities were built on the southern and eastern outskirts. Ivan the Terrible in 1571 allowed the Crimean Tatars to burn down Moscow. Fyodor Ioannovich did not allow this.
Finally, during the reign of Fyodor, a patriarchate was established in Moscow - the Russian Orthodox Church became independent.
Contemporaries perceived the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich as a kind of "golden age". Of course, Boris Godunov, the brother of the tsar's wife, really ruled the country. But it was Fyodor who provided Godunov with legitimacy, and peace for the country. After the horrors of the oprichnina and the Livonian War, Russia received a respite. Alas, not long. In 1598 Fyodor died, and Boris Godunov became tsar. His reign ended in Troubles.
The first Russian cartographer
In October 1604, False Dmitry I crossed the Russian-Polish border. In January of the following year, the Pretender suffered a crushing defeat at Dobrynichy and took refuge in Putivl. Meanwhile, the army of Boris Godunov unsuccessfully besieged Kromy.
There was a stalemate. But on April 13, 1605, Boris died unexpectedly. The boyars and the clergy named his son Fyodor Godunov to the kingdom. Muscovites unquestioningly swore allegiance to the new tsar.
Fyodor Godunov reigned for only a month and a half. Least of all of the Russian tsars. A month and a half is so short that this reign seems to have disappeared from Russian history. It seems that there never was such a king.
But the 16-year-old Fedor Borisovich showed great promise. He was a very educated youth. Suffice it to say that Fyodor Godunov made the first map of Russia (maps existed before him, but their authors were foreigners).
Fyodor Godunov was considered a co-regent of his father, participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma, communicated with foreign ambassadors. So he had some experience. But there was no authority.
The Godunovs were not popular. And Fyodor's mother - the daughter of the oprichnaya executioner Malyuta Skuratov - had a very bad reputation. And yet, at first, Tsar Fyodor's position did not look hopeless. He was ruined by treason.
Rope around the neck
The army stationed near Kromy rebelled. One part ran to False Dmitry, and the other just fled. The impostor took Oryol and Tula without a fight, but he could not cross the Oka - he was stopped by the troops loyal to Godunov.
It was restless in Moscow. And on June 1, 1605, the envoys of False Dmitry - Gavrila Pushkin and Naum Pleshcheev - under the cover of the Cossacks of Ataman Korela, reached Red Square and read the Pretender's appeal. Muscovites revolted. They destroyed the courtyards of the Godunovs and their relatives. There were even victims: "Many people drank wine and died."
Fyodor Godunov, along with his mother and sister, were arrested. Boyars sent a delegation to False Dmitry. The delegates renounced the Godunovs, repented and recognized the power of False Dmitry. The impostor received the Moscow envoys harshly. And he set the condition: "Let them also remove the young Fyodor Borisovich and his mother from the road, only then will he come and be their gracious sovereign."
On June 10, the former oprichniks Molchanov and Sherefedinov, at the head of the archers 'detachment, appeared at the Godunovs' courtyard, where Fyodor was with his mother and sister. Mother - Tsarina Maria - and Fyodor were strangled, and the 16-year-old teenager resisted for a long time. Ksenia Godunova was not touched, she was to become the concubine of False Dmitry.
The people were told that Fyodor and Maria were poisoned. Few believed in this. “I saw the traces of the rope with which they were strangled with my own eyes, along with many thousands of people,” wrote the Swede Peter Petrei.
Fyodor Godunov could become an enlightened and active king. Fate decreed otherwise. The boyars were betrayed, and the people believed not him, but the Pretender.
Sick but smart
The Troubles ended with the accession of the Romanovs. The first kings from this dynasty ruled for a long time: Mikhail Fedorovich - 32 years, Alexei Mikhailovich - 31 years. But the third tsar - Fyodor Alekseevich - was on the throne for only six years. He took the throne when he was not yet 15 years old, and died before he was 21 years old.
Fyodor Alekseevich was painful: he was tormented by scurvy, his legs were swollen. At the funeral of Alexei Mikhailovich, the new tsar had to be carried on a stretcher. But poor health did not affect mental abilities in any way.
Fedor received a good education by the standards of that time. He read a lot and even wrote poetry. He was fond of music and painting. Despite his illness, he loved horses and was known as a great specialist in archery.
One of Fyodor's teachers was the educator Simeon Polotsky, a native of Poland. Simeon instilled in his pupil a love of Western, primarily Polish, culture. It was Fedor (not Peter I) who made the courtiers wear European caftans. The archers were simply not allowed into the Kremlin, people dressed in old ohabny and one-row.
Fedor Alekseevich established his own printing house, which printed books without church censorship. When the king died, Patriarch Joachim gave all these books to a curse.
The young monarch intended to open a university that would have autonomy and in which representatives of all classes could study. Unfortunately, death did not allow the king to realize this plan.
It is often written that the sickly Fedor was not involved in management affairs. It is not true. During periods of exacerbation of the disease, he did temporarily "drop out", but, having slightly recovered, he again got down to business. He had no clear favorites. For example, a relative of Tsar Ivan Miloslavsky in 1679 headed as many as ten orders (something like ministries), but by the end of 1680 only one order remained in his jurisdiction.
An alternative route to Europe
The Tsar carried out a military reform, strengthening the regular units to the detriment of the ineffective noble militia. Under him, Moscow was actively built up with stone buildings, and the tsar issued loans for construction. Fedor carried out a general population census and reformed the tax system. True, here the opinions of historians differ: some claim that taxes have been reduced, while others believe that the tax burden has increased.
Fyodor Alekseevich did a lot to strengthen the centralized power. He even planned to create a clear hierarchy of civil, military and court ranks - something like the Table of Ranks of Peter I.
Perhaps the most important measure was the abolition of parochialism - a system in which a person was appointed to a position depending on the nobility of his family. The abolition of parochialism allowed notable, but capable people to occupy the highest military and civilian posts.
As you can see, a lot has been done in six years. Especially when you consider that Fedor died at the age of 20. Peter, nicknamed the Great, at this age did not manage to do anything yet.
Had Fyodor Alekseevich lived longer, and he, quite possibly, would have carried out a lot of necessary reforms, and the country would have gone along the European path of development, but without those monstrous upheavals that awaited her under Peter I. However, Fyodor died early and remained forever in the shadow of his younger brother.
Unhappy Ivans
If Fyodor Alekseevich is in the shadows, then Tsar Ivan Alekseevich is rarely remembered at all. But he was co-ruler of Peter I for 14 years. And those were turbulent years.
After Fyodor's death, not 16-year-old Ivan was proclaimed tsar, but 10-year-old Peter. But the archers revolted, and both began to reign. Reign but not rule. Tsarevna Sophia took power into her own hands. Seven years later, Peter overthrew her and imprisoned her in a monastery.
Where is Ivan? And Ivan, frankly, is not visible. He, sick in body and weak in mind, is just a toy in the hands of the groups fighting for power - the Naryshkins and Miloslavsky. He, like Sophia, is from the Miloslavskys. But when Peter deposed the princess, Ivan met him in Moscow "with the utmost brotherly love."
Ivan V, if required, took part in official events, that is, he sat on the throne. The rest of the time he was little cared for. Once he was filled with wood in the toilet - no one noticed.
Tsar Ivan lived for 30 years. At the end of his life, he looked quite decrepit, had poor vision and, according to some reports, was paralyzed.
However, at the age of 18, Ivan Alekseevich got married. This was the initiative of Princess Sophia, who expected that over time, the throne would pass to Ivan's children, bypassing Peter. The wife gave birth to the king of five children, but they were all female. However, there were rumors that their father was not Ivan, but the steward Vasily Yushkov.
There is nothing definite to say here - no one was holding a candle. But one of the daughters of Tsar Ivan - Anna Ioannovna - in 1730 became the Russian empress. And she handed over the throne to Ivan V's great-grandson - Ivan VI Antonovich.
This monarch can also be included in the list of forgotten kings. But there is nothing to say about him as a king, since he was overthrown at the age of 1 year and 3 months.
Juvenile hunter
Before Anna Ioannovna, there was another king who was rarely honored with attention. This is Peter II - the grandson of Peter I and the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei.
Peter II owed the crown to Alexander Menshikov. The “half-sovereign ruler” persuaded Catherine I to bequeath the throne to the 11-year-old grandson of Peter. Menshikov hoped that the emperor would become his puppet. In addition, the Most Serene Prince intended to marry the monarch to his daughter Mary.
And at first everything went as planned. The emperor became engaged to Maria Menshikova, moved to live in the Menshikov Palace, and Alexander Danilovich became a generalissimo.
Menshikov tried to be near Peter all the time. And overdid it. He just bored the little emperor. Besides Menshikov forced the tsar to study. The generalissimo himself, being illiterate, could not teach anything. The role of the teacher was assigned to Andrei Osterman.
Peter had no passion for science. Osterman was not particularly zealous as a teacher. And when the child began to scold Menshikov, he did not argue.
It is difficult to say how it would have ended if Menshikov had not been crippled by the disease. While the Most Serene Prince was ill, Peter found himself other mentors. He became friends with 19-year-old
drunkard and rowdy Ivan Dolgoruky.
With Ivan, the tsar was much more interesting than with Menshikov, who recovered from his illness, but lost influence on the monarch. Alexander Danilovich, together with his family, fell into exile, and began to run the Dolgoruky clan in business.
“The tsar is like his grandfather in the sense that he stands his ground, does not tolerate objections and does what he wants,” the Saxon envoy Lefort wrote about Peter II. And the king wanted one thing - to have fun.
Most of all, Peter II loved hunting. In the autumn of 1729, he hunted four thousand hares, fifty foxes and five lynxes. The tsar did not like hunting near St. Petersburg, so the capital was moved to Moscow.
Quickly forgetting his first bride, Maria Menshikova, Peter II became engaged to the sister of his bosom friend, Ekaterina Dolgoruka. The wedding was scheduled for January 19, 1730. The long-armed ones rejoiced. But it's too early. On January 19, Peter II, who fell ill with smallpox, died.
Ekaterina Dolgorukaya ended up in the same Berezovo as Maria Menshikova. And Ivan Dolgoruky ended his life on the chopping block.
It is difficult to say what kind of tsar Peter II would have become if he were destined to live longer. Most likely, nothing good awaited Russia.
“One can guess that he will be hot-tempered, decisive and cruel,” - this is how the Spanish ambassador de Liria saw the future of the 14-year-old emperor. But these are just guesses. In reality, for many years the country fell under the rule of women - Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine II. And these were far from the worst years.
Alexander SKABICHEVSKY