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

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

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

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

By his nature, Alexei Mikhailovich was calm, reasonable, kind and compliant. In history, the nickname "The Quietest" has been preserved for him.

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

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

The abolition of "lesson years" for the investigation of fugitive peasants, fixed by the Council Code, strengthened the position of the nobles. The position of the lower ranks of townsmen also changed significantly: from now on, all urban settlements were "turned into tax", that is, they had to bear the full tax burden.

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

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

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

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

In the east of the country, the lands of Siberia were annexed to Russia by the labors of Russian pioneers Semyon Dezhnev and Vasily Poyarkov. The cities of Nerchinsk (1656), Irkutsk (1659), Selenginsk (1666) were founded. The struggle for the security of the southern borders of Russia against the Turks and Tatars was successfully carried out under Alexei Mikhailovich.

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

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

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

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

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources in

The Russian Tsar was called "the quietest" in the 16th century. “The quietest” (later replaced by “the most merciful”) is an honorary title that was used to call the ruler of the Kremlin during prayers and toasts in his honor. However, in history, only Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the second representative of the Romanov dynasty on the Russian throne, remained the quietest of all Russian monarchs.

He was loved by the people, religious, kind, reasonable and well educated for his time. It would seem that the reign of the "quietest" sovereign should have been distinguished by calmness, regularity and prosperity. However, during the years of his reign (1645 - 1676) there were many popular unrest within the country and military conflicts with neighboring states.

The life story of the Russian monarch by Mikhailovich Romanov is a biography of a significant personality who made a significant contribution to the history and culture of the Russian state.

At the behest of the Quietest Tsar, who ruled in the "rebellious" century, transformations were carried out in the army and monetary reform. In his reign, the first warship was built, "comedy performances" (theatrical performances) were performed, European culture penetrated into various spheres of life, and secular literature and secular painting appeared in traditional Russian culture.

Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov died on January 29, 1676, having blessed his son Fyodor to reign.

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname "the quietest." What does it mean?

It would seem that the answer lies on the surface. It is generally believed that the second Romanov was so called for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man. However, he was not at all "the quietest" in this sense of the word.- neither by nature nor by deeds.Consider first his character.

If the second Romanov showed some "quietness", then only in the first years of his reign, when he was young. But his natural irascibility very quickly made itself felt. The king easily lost his temper and gave free rein to his tongue and hands. So, once, having quarreled with Patriarch Nikon, he publicly scolded him as a man and a son of a bitch. In general, Alexei Mikhailovich knew how to swear in a very inventive and sophisticated way, not like the current foul-mouthed with their miserable high school vocabulary. Here, for example, is the letter the tsar sent to the treasurer of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, father Nikita, who, having drunk, fought with the archers stationed at the billet: “From the Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Russia to the enemy of God and the God-hating and Christ-seller and the destroyer of the miracle-working house and like-minded Satan, the enemy of the damned, unnecessary spur and the evil sly villain Treasurer Mikita».

Such was the king's tongue. Let's talk about hands. Once the question of a war with Poland was discussed in the Duma, and the tsar's father-in-law, the boyar Miloslavsky, who had never been on campaigns, unexpectedly announced that if the sovereign appointed him governor, he would bring him the Polish king himself as a prisoner. This impudent boasting outraged the king so much that he gave the old man a slap in the face, pulled his beard and kicked him out of the ward. And this is the quietest king? Hardly.

Archpriest Avvakum denounces: "...And the enemy of God has darkened the king, and, moreover, he magnifies, flattering, on the transfer: “the most pious, quietest, most autocratic sovereign of ours, such and such, great, - more than all the saints from the age! - may the Lord God remember in his kingdom, always, and now, and forever, and forever and ever».
But the king turned out to be different, not the quietest at all: "And the tsar, to sing, in those days one hopes and imagines that he really is such, there is no holier than him! And where is the greater pride of that!" etc.

As for business, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, there was the least peace and quiet. The king demanded from his henchmen to serve tirelessly. Remembering "their incessant work", the boyar Artamon Matveev noted that "this has never happened before". And according to the recall of Archpriest Avvakum, the king "he did a lot in this life, like a goat hopping over the hills and chasing the wind". Yes, and when was Alexei Mikhailovich to rest, if in his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war. The contemporaries themselves called the 17th century- "rebellious age".

But it is precisely this last circumstance that provides the key to the correct understanding of the nickname "The Quietest". Its origins lie in the ancient formula "peace and quiet", which symbolized a well-organized and prosperous state. Prayer for "peace and silence", for "peace and silence, and prosperity" from the time of Boris Godunov into the "sovereign's cup" (a special verbal and musical genre). Impostors and rebels in the terminology of the time- "violators of silence".

Alexei Mikhailovich precisely “calmed down” Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. In one document of that time it is said that after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich Monomakhov he put on a hat “his noble son, the most pious, quietest, most autocratic great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, in the whole kingdom, piety was firmly observed, and all Orthodox Christianity shone serenely with silence.».

This is the meaning our ancestors put into the epithet "the quietest"- it was the official sovereign title, which was related to the rank, and not to the character of the king. It is also found in the mourning inscription "the last voice of the most pious, quietest, most luminous Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, who sanctified in the Lord in the Lord".

And such a “quietest” sovereign, by the way, was officially not Aleksey Mikhailovich alone, but also his sons, successors on the throne: first Fedor Alekseevich, then the brothers Ivan and Peter, and then for 30 years one Peter, whom you can’t suspect of “ quiet" behavior and excessive softness.

On June 18, 1676, on the day of the wedding to the kingdom of Fedor Alekseevich, Simeon Polotsky brought him "Gusl good-voiced" - a book dedicated to "to the newly reigning most pious, quietest, most luminous Great Sovereign".
In 1701, the professor of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, the Chudov monk Job, who compiled the Primer, Rekshe Socrates of the Christian Teaching, indicated in the preface that he worked for glory "the clearest and most sovereign ... Pyotr Alekseevich"Peter is simply called "the quietest" in the inscription of Stefan Yavorsky's "Rhetorical Hand" - more precisely, in its Russian translation belonging to Feofan Prokopovich. He also translated "the quietest" as serenissimus in the Trilingual Lexicon, which epithet was used in the title of Roman emperors. And this finally debunks the myth that Alexei Mikhailovich earned the nickname "the quietest" among his contemporaries due to his meekness and humility.

References:
Klyuchevsky V.O. Alexei Mikhailovich (in the course of "Lectures on Russian history").
Panchenko A. About Russian history and culture. SPb., 2000. S. 17-21.

The historian Klyuchevsky called Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich a glorious Russian soul and was ready to see in him the best man of ancient Russia. Let's try to figure out why this sovereign was awarded such a flattering assessment.

Childhood. Upbringing

Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne in 1645, at the age of 16. He received the usual old Moscow education, that is, he could smartly read the clock in church and, not without success, sing with the deacon on the kliros according to hook notes. At the same time, he studied the rite of church worship to the smallest detail and could argue with any monk in subtle sophistication in terms of prayers and fasting. The prince of the old time would probably have stopped there. But Alexei was brought up in a different time, when Russian people vaguely felt the need for something new, and therefore foreign. As a child, Alexei already held intricate overseas toys in his hands: a German-made horse, German engravings, and even children's armor made for him by the German craftsman Peter Schalt.

In addition, at the age of 11-12, Alexei already owned a small library containing a dozen volumes. Over time, reading became his daily need. It was said about the mature Alexei Mikhailovich that he was "accustomed to many philosophical sciences." The tsar also loved to write, tried to tell the story of his military campaigns, tried his hand at poetry and compiled a charter for falconry, remarkable for its figurative language and desire for selfless admiration of beauty.

This attractive combination of fidelity to the old Russian tradition with a penchant for useful and pleasant innovations was the root of Alexei Mikhailovich's character. The tsar was a model of piety: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during the Great and Assumption Lent he ate once a day, and his meal consisted of cabbage, milk mushrooms and berries - all without oil. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during all fasts, he did not eat or drink anything. Sometimes he stood in the church for five or six hours in a row, made thousands of prostrations to the earth, and on other days even one and a half thousand. At the same time, carried away by new trends, he often deviated from the Old Testament order of life. Alexei Mikhailovich traveled in a German carriage, took his wife with him on a hunt, arranged the first theatrical performances in Russia, took care of the development of the fleet and gave the children a bookish monk as a teacher, who taught them not only the Book of Hours and the Psalter, but also Latin and Polish.

Why be surprised that it was in the family of Alexei Mikhailovich that the future window cutter to Europe grew up.

And finally, let us not forget the extraordinary humility with which Alexei Mikhailovich perceived his royal rank. In one of his letters we read amazing words. The autocrat of all Russia complains that he has exhausted the long-suffering of the Lord, for in many of his sins he is not fit to be a dog, let alone a king. “It is better to be a little star there, at the heavenly throne, than the sun here on earth,” he writes elsewhere. Here, by the way, we recall that Alexei Mikhailovich was a contemporary of another sovereign, Louis XIV, who, in his exorbitant vanity, appropriated the title of “Sun King” to himself and did not see anything bad or even funny in singing the laudatory hymns composed in his honor court sycophants.

Why is the Quietest?

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname "Quiet". But what does it mean?

It is generally believed that Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed so for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man. However, he was by no means the "quietest" in this sense of the word - neither in his nature, nor in his deeds. Consider first his character.

If the second Romanov showed some "quietness", then only in the first years of his reign, when he was young. But his natural irascibility very quickly made itself felt. The king easily lost his temper and gave free rein to his tongue and hands. So, once, having quarreled with Patriarch Nikon, he publicly scolded him as a man and a son of a bitch. In general, Alexei Mikhailovich knew how to swear in a very inventive and sophisticated way, not like the current foul-mouthed with their miserable high school vocabulary. Here, for example, is the letter the tsar sent to the treasurer of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, father Nikita, who, having drunk, fought with the archers stationed at the lodge: “From the tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Russia to the enemy of God and the hater of God and the seller of Christ and the destroyer of the miracle-working house and like-minded satan , the cursed enemy, the useless bastard and the evil sly villain Treasurer Mikita. Such was the king's tongue.
Let's talk about hands. Once the question of a war with Poland was discussed in the Duma, and the tsar's father-in-law, the boyar Miloslavsky, who had never been on campaigns, unexpectedly announced that if the sovereign appointed him governor, he would bring him the Polish king himself as a prisoner. This impudent boasting outraged the king so much that he gave the old man a slap in the face, pulled his beard and kicked him out of the ward. And this is the Quietest King? Hardly.

As for business, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, there was the least peace and quiet. The king demanded from his henchmen to serve tirelessly. Remembering "his unceasing work," the boyar Artamon Matveev remarked that "this has never happened before." And according to the recall of Archpriest Avvakum, the tsar "had done a lot in this life, like a goat galloping over the hills and chasing the wind." Yes, and when was Alexei Mikhailovich to rest, if in his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war. The contemporaries themselves called the 17th century “the rebellious age”.

But it is precisely this last circumstance that provides the key to the correct understanding of the nickname "The Quietest". Its origins lie in the ancient formula "peace and quiet", which symbolized a well-organized and prosperous state. Alexei Mikhailovich precisely “calmed down” Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. In one document of that time, it is said that after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich Monomakhov, the hat was put on by “his noble son, the most pious, quietest, most autocratic great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, piety was firmly observed throughout the kingdom, and all Orthodox Christianity shone with serene silence.
This is the meaning our ancestors put into the epithet "the quietest" - it was the official title of the sovereign, which was related to the rank, and not to the character of the king. And such a “quietest” sovereign, by the way, was officially not Aleksey Mikhailovich alone, but also his sons, successors on the throne: first Fedor Alekseevich, then the brothers Ivan and Peter, and then for 30 years one Peter, whom you can’t suspect of “ quiet" behavior and excessive softness.

"Salt Riot"

Already at the very beginning of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the first major rebellion broke out - the so-called "salt riot".

In the first years of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, his former tutor boyar Boris Ivanovich Morozov had a great influence on him. To further strengthen his position at court, Morozov betrothed the 18-year-old tsar to his wife's younger sister, Maria Miloslavskaya. Maria's father, Ilya Miloslavsky, took advantage of his unexpected elevation only to quickly fill his pocket. For bribes, he handed out various trade monopolies to merchants. But the sharp increase in the tax on salt was especially hard on the well-being of the people, since salted fish was the main food of the then common people. Miloslavsky shared the income from these machinations with his assistants and minions - the Duma clerk Nazar Chisty and two clerk clerks - Peter Trakhaniotov and Leonty Pleshcheev. The people hated this company with the most sincere hatred.

On June 29, 1649, the accumulated discontent turned into open indignation. On this day, the tsar accompanied the patriarch in the church procession. When Alexei Mikhailovich returned to the Kremlin, he saw himself surrounded by a large crowd that had broken through here before the tsar. Among the Moscow mob, merchants, artisans, there were also service people in the crowd. While one part of the rebels kept the king, the other rushed to smash Morozov's palace. The pogromists did not take expensive things for themselves, but broke them into pieces, trampled them underfoot or threw them through the windows shouting: “Here is our blood!” They wanted to destroy the palace itself, but Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to declare that the building belongs to him. Then the crowd, having killed three servants of the hated temporary worker, scattered around Moscow in search of Morozov, Miloslavsky and their honest company.

Nazar the Pure did not escape the people's wrath. They caught him, beat him, threw him on a pile of manure, where they finally finished him off. The rest managed to hide in safe shelters. But the next day Muscovites reappeared in front of the royal palace, demanding their extradition. Meanwhile, the situation was heating up, and the city was already on fire, set on fire by the rebels from four corners.

Alexei Mikhailovich had to enter into humiliating negotiations with the rebels. He asked not to touch Morozov, promising to send him away, and managed to defend his favorite. But Pleshcheev and Trakhaniotov were handed over for reprisal to the crowd, which immediately literally tore the clerks to pieces. This terrible sight had such an effect on the 20-year-old king that with tears in his eyes he began to beg the rebels for mercy, swearing to destroy the monopolies, improve financial management and give the country a just government. Little by little the excitement of the people subsided and the rebellion ceased.

But that was only the beginning. The "rebellious age" inexorably ascended to its bloody zenith.

Split

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Russian spirit gave the first deep crack, which was called the church schism. This crack has not yet healed. So what kind of wedge split the Russian people into two parts - Orthodox and Old Believers?

By the middle of the 17th century, during the more than 600 years of Christianity in Russia, some local customs and rituals had arisen and established themselves in the Russian Church, different from those accepted in the Greek Church, from which Russia at one time adopted a new faith. Such were the two-fingered sign of the cross, the inscription and pronunciation of the name Jesus with one “and” - Jesus, the singing of a double, not triple, “hallelujah” during worship, and the like. In addition, with repeated handwriting of liturgical books, a mass of clerical errors and disagreements accumulated in them, and the printing press only multiplied these misunderstandings and gave them the value of the printed word. As you can see, church disagreements with the Greeks did not concern deep issues of faith and church dogmas, but were purely ritual in nature. But the people of that time attached great importance to the rite - they saw in its observance the guarantee of spiritual salvation.

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, these accumulated malfunctions and disagreements began to hurt the eyes of educated Russian people very much. There was a natural desire to rewrite church books according to ancient patterns. Under Patriarch Nikon, from the Orthodox East and from different parts of Russia, mountains of old handwritten books - Greek and Church Slavonic - were brought to Moscow. New editions corrected according to them were sent to Russian churches with orders to select and destroy old printed and old written books. It was here that confusion and fermentation began in the minds. Many Orthodox, having looked into the books sent, were horrified, not finding in them either a two-fingered sign, or Jesus, or a double hallelujah, or other habitual and time-honored beliefs, customs, and inscriptions. The new books were seen as an attempt by church authorities to introduce some new faith. But the Russian people firmly believed that the ancient holy fathers were saved precisely by the custom that was adopted in Russia, and that the Orthodox should die “for the single letter az” in the church text.
Part of the Russian clergy cursed the new books as heretical and continued to serve and pray according to the old books. At the Moscow church council of 1666-1667, the disobedient were anathematized for opposing church authority and excommunicated from the Church. And the excommunicated, in turn, ceased to recognize the church hierarchy as the legitimate church authority. Since then, this church division of the Russian people has been going on, which has brought many troubles to Russia.

Let us also note that the nerve of the church schism was by no means a blind attachment to the old rites. In the retreat of the church authorities from the ancient orthodoxy, the schismatics saw a terrible sign of the approach of the end of time. The schism was a kind of social-apocalyptic utopia, frenetic expectation of the coming of the Antichrist. This ecstatic mood gave rise to a kind of soulful type of "splitting teachers" of the first generation - rather obsessed fanatics than good shepherds.

Let's say a few words about the most prominent of them.

Let's start with the martyrs. The first place among them should, of course, be given to Archpriest Avvakum. He was a large nugget, intelligent by nature, although an uneducated person. “Even if I don’t have much sense, an unlearned person,” he said of himself, “is not learned in dialectics and rhetoric and philosophy, but the mind of Christ in itself is an imam - an ignoramus in word, and not in reason.”

Such self-confidence was caused not only by exorbitant self-conceit, of which Avvakum really had more than enough. In fact, he sacredly believed in the gift of direct communication with God sent down to him. His rejection of church reform was sincere and profound. “We thought, having come together among ourselves,” he tells about his impressions of the innovations of Patriarch Nikon, “we see how winter wants to be: the heart is frozen and the legs are trembling.”

By the nature of his nature, Avvakum was a zealous fanatic, and if he happened to win, he would have tormented and tortured his opponents with pleasure. But history doomed him to defeat, which he met courageously and firmly, with full presence of mind. In one of his petitions to the king, Avvakum calmly says: “I know how sad it is for you, sovereign, from our dokuki ... It’s not sweet for us when our ribs are broken, tortured with a whip and languishing in the frost. And all the churches suffer for the sake of God.”
He died, true to himself, a martyr's death. By royal order (Fyodor Alekseevich, son of the Quietest Tsar), he was burned in a log house along with his three comrades.

A high example of spiritual fortitude was also set by the sisters - the noblewoman Fedosya Morozova and Princess Evdokia Urusova. They were arrested for repeated insults to the highest church authorities and the king himself. Stripped to the waist, the sisters were reared up, tortured with fire, then thrown into the snow for several hours. However, they did not renounce their beliefs and were imprisoned forever in a monastery.

However, not all schismatics chose passive resistance. The elders of the Solovetsky monastery, for example, actually separated from the church and the state, having spent 11 years behind the strong walls of a distant monastery. Alexei Mikhailovich tried for a long time to reason with the rebellious elders with exhortations, sent them letters in a conciliatory spirit. But when he was informed that the monks were holding between themselves a “black cathedral” (that is, self-proclaimed, illegal), on which the sovereign was anathematized, Alexei Mikhailovich reluctantly ordered to take the monastery by storm.

The massacre of the governor Meshcherinov over the participants of the Solovetsky uprising

Finally, among the schismatics were outright fanatics who pushed people to self-immolation - the infamous schismatic "burns". Despite all the efforts of the government, it turned out to be impossible to stop this fiery epidemic - it gradually calmed down by itself, like other types of general insanity.

Patriarch Nikon

Just as a story about Louis XIII is impossible without a mention of Cardinal Richelieu, so the story of Alexei Mikhailovich cannot do without the name of Patriarch Nikon, the second person in the state.

Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. 17th century drawing

In 1648, hegumen Nikon of the Kozheozersk monastery appeared to bow to the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This native of the Nizhny Novgorod peasants turned out to be surprisingly well-read, intelligent, and pious. Conversations with him sunk into the soul of the young king, and sincere affection arose between them. Alexey Mikhailovich left Nikon in the capital, brought him closer to him and began to call him his "sobin" friend, that is, close, sincere.
The royal favorite quickly went uphill: he was consecrated archimandrite of the Novospassky Monastery, then became the Metropolitan of Novgorod, and in 1652 the church council decided to elect him head of the Church instead of the deceased patriarch. Alexei Mikhailovich himself, in the Assumption Cathedral, in full view of the boyars and the people, bowed at Nikon's feet and with tears begged him to accept the patriarchal rank. “Will they honor me as an archpastor and supreme father, and will they allow me to organize the Church?” Nikon asked. The tsar, the priesthood and the boyars swore this to him.
Having received unlimited power and the title of "Great Sovereign" from the Tsar and the Council, the new Patriarch began work on correcting the liturgical books and the church service itself. Not having sufficient education and experience to carry out such reforms, Nikon without looking back broke some traditions that had been established for centuries. It was Nikon's tough, autocratic policy that split the Russian people into "Nikonian" and Old Believers.
Having made many enemies among the clergy and boyars, the Patriarch prepared his fall with his own hands. Over the years, the tsar lost interest in his friend. At the church council of 1666, Nikon was deprived of his patriarchal rank and exiled as a simple monk to the distant Ferapontov Monastery.
In 1676, by royal decree, Nikon was transferred under the supervision of two elders to the St. Cyril Monastery. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, at the request of Grand Duchess Tatyana Mikhailovna and at the request of many clergy and secular persons, the new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich ordered in 1681 to transfer the disgraced Patriarch to the Resurrection Monastery near Moscow. But the aged Nikon could not bear the hardships of the journey and died on August 17, 1681 near Yaroslavl. He was buried in New Jerusalem according to the patriarchal rank.

Razin rebellion

The “rebellious” 17th century, from the spiritual side, was most fully expressed in the church schism, and from the side, so to speak, physical, material, in the Razin rebellion.

The popular movement, which shook the foundations of the Muscovite state, began as a purely Cossack "getting zipuns", that is, it was the most ordinary, albeit major robbery. His leader was Stenka Razin, who made himself a gang of the so-called "naked" - poor Cossacks, always ready to take a walk at someone else's expense. With these reckless people, Stenka robbed first on the Volga, and then on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Having plundered the Persian coast enough, the Cossacks with rich booty returned in 1669 to the Don, where the fame and importance of the successful ataman grew incredibly. Now Stenka was called none other than Stepan Timofeevich, and thousands of runaway thieves and lazy people considered it a blessing to get into his service.

After wintering on the Don, Razin again moved to the Volga in the summer of 1670, but not with robbery, but with a riot. Proclaiming everywhere that he was going to war against the Moscow boyars, the ataman took Astrakhan almost without a fight and, moving up the Volga, reached Simbirsk. This is where the Cossack raid turned into a "Russian rebellion, senseless and merciless."

The peasants, stirred up by Razin's calls to beat the boyars, robbed and killed their landlords, united in detachments and joined the Cossacks. Following them, the foreigners of the Volga region rose up - Zyryans, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Cheremis, Bashkirs, who rebelled and cut themselves, not knowing why. Stenka's army, drunk on wine and blood, breathed the blackest revenge and envy. Laws, society, religion - in short, everything that in one way or another restricts personal instincts and motives, aroused the most fierce hatred in these people. Their victory would mean the quick end of the Russian state. To all this rebellious bastard, Stenka promised complete freedom in everything. "I'm going to the boyars, clerks and all authorities, and between you I will make equality," he proclaimed in his "charming letters." In fact, he took everyone into the cruelest bondage, into complete slavery. Suffice it to say that before this champion of equality, everyone had to bow down.

Razin's forces reached enormous proportions. It seemed that the road to Moscow really opened before him. Suddenly, his hordes suffered a complete failure near Simbirsk. Stenka was defeated by Prince Baryatinsky, from whom part of the army was trained in the European system. Then, leaving the peasant gangs to the mercy of fate, Razin fled with the Cossacks to the Don, but was captured there by the "house-loving", or otherwise, "old" Cossacks, who remained faithful to the tsar, and sent to where he so persistently sought to get - to Moscow. On the chopping block, he said to his brother Frol, who was shaking with fear: “Don't be a woman! We had a nice walk, now you can suffer!” In these words, the whole of Stenka, who came not at all to give the people freedom, but to take a walk on the people's misfortune, had an effect.

Innovations

The powerful genius of Peter the Great left such an indelible imprint on everything he touched that at first glance it seems that Russia owes all the most important innovations to him. Meanwhile, in almost all areas of his activity, Peter just followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, completing the program outlined by them. And in order not to be unfounded, I offer you a brief overview of European innovations that appeared in Russia during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Let's start with the fact that in 1672 the first theatrical performance in Russia took place. In the suburban Kolomna Palace of Alexei Mikhailovich, a French poetic play on the biblical story "Esther and Artaxerxes" was played, translated into Russian by the church writer Simeon Polotsky, a close friend of the tsar. Actors for an unprecedented overseas action were recruited from the troupe of Pastor Gregory, who lived in the German Quarter.

Even earlier, the first Russian newspaper was printed in Moscow, called the Chimes, following the example of many newspapers published in Germany, Holland and Poland. Moscow Chimes were published in the Posolsky Prikaz in the amount of 20 issues per year and informed readers about events in foreign countries.
In the field of military affairs, Alexei Mikhailovich carried out an important reform, significantly increasing the number of regiments of a foreign system. He willingly recruited foreign officers and specialists. In this way, Russia acquired many of the future commanders and associates of Peter I, such as generals Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort and Jacob Bruce.

Finally, none other than Alexei Mikhailovich took care of getting a navy in Russia. Moreover, he was by no means a pioneer in this matter. Back in 1635, under his father Mikhail Fedorovich, a Holstein master, with the help of Russian carpenters, built the Friedrich military ship in Nizhny Novgorod, which reached the Caspian Sea along the Volga, but, however, immediately sank off the coast of Dagestan.
This unsuccessful experience, however, did not discourage Alexei Mikhailovich. Since the Holsteiners were not at the height of their business, new shipbuilders were discharged from Holland, a recognized maritime power of their time.

In 1667, in the village of Dedinovo on the Oka, in the neighborhood of Kolomna, a shipyard was founded, at the disposal of which forests in the Vyazemsky and Kolomensky districts, as well as Tula foundries, were given. And already in September 1668, the first Russian squadron entered the water, consisting of one 22-gun ship "Eagle", a yacht, two boats and one shuttle. Captain David Butler, who arrived from Amsterdam with a crew of 14, took command of the new squadron.

Butler was given the task of destroying piracy off the coast of the Caspian Sea. Autumn bad weather delayed the departure of the squadron to the south. Only in the following year, 1669, the Eagle, ferried to the Volga, finally anchored in the Astrakhan roadstead. Unfortunately, Astrakhan was soon captured by Razin's thieves, and the handsome "Eagle", set on fire by order of Stenka, burned to the ground along with the entire squadron. The next time the Russian squadron of the glorious skipper Peter broke through to the southern seas only 28 years later, but now - forever.

Power Increment

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, Russia, although shaken by endless riots and internal turmoil, nevertheless achieved great success in foreign policy. It can be said that the quietest tsar returned to the Muscovite state the title of a great power, lost since the time of the Great Troubles.

Historically, the most important foreign policy issue of that time was the question of Little Russia, as Ukraine was called at that time. In 1648, the Cossack centurion Bohdan Khmelnitsky raised Zaporozhye against the Commonwealth. He was unanimously supported by the Ukrainian peasantry, who rebelled against their masters - the Polish pans. A formidable force was formed, with which Khmelnitsky expelled the Poles from the whole country in some six months. But the Poles quickly recovered from the surprise and launched a counteroffensive, inflicting one defeat after another on the Cossacks. Khmelnitsky, who at first dreamed of an independent Ukraine, had no choice but to strike the Moscow sovereign with a request to accept Ukraine under his high hand. In 1654, Moscow ambassadors sent to Ukraine took an oath of allegiance to the Moscow Tsar from the Cossacks. In the ensuing protracted Russian-Polish war, Russian troops also managed to return Smolensk. From that time on, Moscow seized the offensive role from Poland and began to consistently seek the return of the Western Russian regions.

In the late 60s - early 70s of the XVII century, the first serious clash between Russia and Turkey took place. The huge army of the Turkish sultan, with the participation of the Crimean horde and the betrayed Ukrainian hetman Doroshevich, tried to seize the Ukrainian lands annexed to Moscow, but was stopped by the brave defense of the border fortresses.

In the east, Russian colonization, which crossed the Urals at the end of the 16th century, went far into the depths of Siberia. The Russian pioneers, followed by the sovereign archers and governors, went to the Amur, penetrated the Arctic Circle and reached the shores of the Bering Strait. For the first time, the Russian-Chinese border was established and diplomatic relations were established with the great eastern neighbor.

In general, the visits of various foreign ambassadors then became a common occurrence in Moscow. Yes, and the Moscow ambassadors themselves often visited all sorts of European courts, reaching Paris, London, the capitals of the Italian states, and even faraway Madrid. Never before has Russian diplomacy entered such a broad field.

By the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Russian state had achieved impressive success. It fought off all external enemies, concluded peace treaties with Poland, Turkey, Sweden, and gained no less than seventy thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian and Siberian land. A country that developed at such a pace had a grandiose future ahead of it.

Alexei Mikhailovich died of a heart attack in January 1676, only 47 years old.

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Nicknamed the Quietest, he is perceived as "not a very successful king", and his nickname is more often interpreted as a sign of weakness and aloofness from politics. However, great things are done in silence.

At the same time, critics of the autocrat point to the salt and copper riots that occurred during his reign, to the beginning of the church schism and the separation of the Old Believers, followed by persecution of them.

Protracted wars with not very clear results with the Principality of Lithuania and Sweden are also often the subject of criticism. Well, the king's passion for dog and falconry, when the country is restless, also complement this portrait.

But such an opinion is somewhat superficial, and in fact, everything was much more complicated with both the nickname and politics. Because if you look at the results of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, it turns out that he received this nickname because of his understanding that great things are done in silence. Actually, this was indeed the characteristic style of his reign.

Alesei Mikhailovich became the Russian Tsar at the age of 16, contemporaries really spoke of him as a quiet and kind person, sincerely and deeply believing. At the beginning of his reign, he relied on the advice of his tutor boyar Boris Ivanovich Morozov. However, after the unsuccessful introduction of an increased duty on salt and a salt riot, he became an increasingly independent figure.

After this very salt riot, the Quietest showed himself as a systemic politician and lawmaker. In 1649, under the leadership of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Cathedral Code was developed, which became the main legislative base for Russia for the next 200 years. This legislation was unique in its own way; in fact, it codified and systematized all the laws of Russia, bringing legal clarity and enabling adequate law enforcement practice.

At the same time, the Quietest Tsar used Polish-Lithuanian, Venetian, and Byzantine developments to develop the Code, combining them with the original Russian legal traditions. There was some Westernism in the policy of this tsar, but even it was quiet and unhurried, and not sharp and public, like his son, the first Russian emperor, Peter the Great.

Alexei Mikhailovich borrowed from the West only what he considered truly useful, and was in no hurry with innovations, trying not to destroy the traditional Russian way of life.

army reformer

These borrowings were also reflected in the reform of the army, which by that time was already overdue. In 1648, Reiter, hussar and soldier regiments were introduced into the tsarist army. As for the Reiter, this was the first experience of such extensive use of foreign mercenaries.

As a result, this reform made it possible to defeat the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1657 to conclude the Andrusovo truce. And here again Alexei Mikhailovich acted like a perspicacious diplomat. He only returned the lands taken from Russia during the Time of Troubles, giving the Poles all the latest conquests. As a result, Russia still increased its territories, including receiving part of Ukraine. And at the same time, "without offending" the Commonwealth, the king led to the rapprochement of the two states in the fight against the Ottoman Empire.

The era of Alexei Mikhailovich

Here, again, it is important to remember the context of the era. All these reforms and state building with the gathering of land took place at a time when the country was just recovering from the most difficult consequences of the Time of Troubles, which almost destroyed the Russian kingdom.

Internal troubles also happened regularly. Here is the uprising of Stepan Razin, and the plague of 1654-1655, and the constant civil war in Ukraine. As well as the "good Western neighbors" who tried to get a direct benefit from these Russian troubles, and even the Ottoman Empire, which also lived on expansion.

But even under these conditions, the Quietest Tsar continued to slowly but surely restore and develop the state with the expansion of territories.

The first sailing ship

By the way, Alexei Mikhailovich can be considered the progenitor of the Russian fleet. It was he who ordered the construction of the first sailing, Western-style ship "Eagle". Historians agree that this project was only the beginning to create a full-fledged Russian fleet.

Tellingly, according to a number of versions, for the first time the Russian tricolor, which is the Russian flag now, was raised on the Orel. The descendants of Alexei Mikhailovich appreciated the creation of this ship, although later destroyed. The figurine of the ship on the spire of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg is most likely the figurine of the "Eagle". Alexei Mikhailovich simply did not have enough time and did not have enough opportunities to continue naval construction. It was already Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov who had to develop ideas.

Difficult falconry

As for falconry, here, too, not everything is so simple. Yes, indeed, it was one of the favorite royal amusements. But the Order of Secret Affairs oversaw the issues of this hunt. A new division in the Russian state, whose main tasks were intelligence and counterintelligence.

And in this context, keeping the king's hawks and gyrfalcons looks like a very clever cover, and not like a "useless whim" of the king. By the way, an interesting detail: Alexei Mikhailovich himself was the author and developer of some ciphers that were used in intelligence and diplomatic correspondence of the Secret Order.

Of course, the reign of this monarch was not cloudless, and his decisions were not always successful. But the quiet, methodical work of the Quietest Tsar created the foundation, thanks to which the already “loud” reforms of Peter the Great became possible, and the Russian Tsardom turned into the Russian Empire.