99 The Romanovs
Learning Objective
- Explain the rise of power of the House of Romanov and the first major Russian Tsars of this dynasty
Key Points
- The Romanovs were exiled during the Time of Troubles but brought back when Romanovs Patriarch Philaret and his son Michael were politically advantageous.
- Michael I was the first Romanov Tsar and began a long line of powerful rulers.
- Alexis I successfully navigated Russia through multiple uprisings and wars and created long-lasting political bureaus.
- After a long dynastic dispute, Peter the Great rose to power and changed Russia with the new capital of St. Petersburg and western influences.
Terms
Old Believers
Followers of the Orthodox faith the way it was practiced before Alexis I convened the Great Moscow Synod and changed the traditions.
Duma chancellory
The first provincial administrative bureau created under Alexis I. In Russian it is called Razryadny Prikaz.
Rurikid
A descendent of the Rurik Dynasty, which dominated seats of power throughout Russian lands for over six centuries before the Romanov Dynasty began.
The House of Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second major royal dynasty in Russia, and arose after the Rurikid Dynasty. It was founded in 1613 with the coronation of Michael I and ended in 1917 with the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II. However, the direct male blood line of the Romanov Dynasty ended when Elizabeth of Russia died in 1762, and Peter III, followed by Catherine the Great, were placed in power, both German-born royalty.
Roots of the Romanovs
The earliest common ancestor for the Romanov clan goes back to Andrei Kobyla. Sources say he was a boyar under the leadership of the Rurikid prince Semyon I of Moscow in 1347. This figure remains somewhat mysterious with some sources claiming he was the high-born son of a Rus’ prince. Others point to the name Kobyla, which means horse, suggesting he was descended from the Master of Horse in the royal household.
Whatever the real origins of this patriarch-like figure, his descendants split into about a dozen different branches over the next couple of centuries. One such descendent, Roman Yurievich Zakharyin-Yuriev, gave the Romanov Dynasty its name. Grandchildren of this patriarch changed their name to Romanov and it remained there until they rose to power.
Michael I
The Romanov Dynasty proper was founded after the Time of Troubles, an era between 1598 and 1613, which included a dynastic struggle, wars with Sweden and Poland, and severe famine. Tsar Boris Godunov’s rule, which lasted until 1605, saw the Romanov families exiled to the Urals and other remote areas. Michael I’s father was forced to take monastic vows and adopt the name Philaret. Two impostors attempting to gain the throne in Moscow attempted to leverage Romanov power after Godunov died in 1605. And by 1613, the Romanov family had again become a popular name in the running for power.
Patriarch Philaret’s son, Michael I, was voted into power by the zemsky sober in Jul