The last Rurikovich, who won power, was weak in body and mind and could not rule the country, as he could not have heirs. The reign of Fedor Ivanovich was in difficult years for Russia. The legacy of the great father remained in a disordered state, which required urgent reform.
General political environment
The kingdom of Ivan Vasilievich ended under adverse conditions. Firstly, an unsuccessful war with Lithuania, and secondly, in the fight against the Swedes for free duty-free trade on the Baltic Sea, Russia not only did not get what it wanted, but lost part of its land.
Oprichnaya system undermined the economic power of a large aristocracy and physically exterminated its most prominent figures, who could be a pillar in the reign of Fedor Ivanovich. St. George’s Day was canceled, and the peasants accumulated hatred of the state, because they had to fulfill more and more high duties for the estate and landowners. Increased and state taxes. The boyars and princes themselves, the patriarchs, tried to belittle the nobility and strengthen their own positions, to regain the influence lost under Grozny. The nobles fought against the dominance of the boyars.
The identity of the heir
Fedor Ivanovich was born in 1557. In commemoration of this event, a church was built in honor of his eponymous saint Fyodor Stratilat in Pereslavl-Zalessky. In 1881, Ivan, the direct heir to the throne, died. With 23 years old, Fedor Ivanovich became the heir, clearly not born for power. The king’s son thought only of one thing - the salvation of the soul. In prayer and silence, in pilgrimages to holy places, he spent his days. At the age of 17, the Tsarevich married Irina Godunova, a beauty and a clever girl, brought up in the royal chambers.
There was not even a bridesmaid show, which was a long tradition. Just so Grozny decided. This marriage served as the first step for the exaltation of Boris Godunov. But Ivan IV stipulated that there might not be any children in the marriage, therefore in this case he commanded Fedor to marry Princess Irina Mstislavskaya in a will. However, the intrigues of Boris Godunov sent this princess to the monastery. At the age of 27 in 1584, the reign of Fedor Ivanovich began.
But he did not change his habits - he still surrounded himself with holy fools, monks, loved to climb the bell tower to ring the bells. Meanwhile, the country was waiting for action. Ivan IV established a board of trustees with his idiot son, but the council members all quarreled, and Shuisky and Godunov remained in the political arena, who ultimately won. Tsarevich Dmitry, who did not have the right to the throne, was removed with his mother to Uglich. This was required to weaken the Nagih clan.
In the kingdom
When the Board of Trustees finally collapsed, the rapid rise of Boris Godunov, the brother of Tsarina Irina, began. Cunning and efficiency made him the most influential person in the reign of Fedor Ivanovich. He received the right to drive a horse during the ceremonial trips of the king. Then it was real power. According to the instructions of the "stable" important tsarist decisions were made. Understanding the precariousness and insecurity of his position, Godunov sought support from the nobility. During the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, at the instigation of Godunov, a five-year deadline was set for the search for fugitive peasants (decree of 1597), since the nobles more than the estate, suffered from a shortage of people cultivating the land. Another gift was made to the nobles. The poorest landowners who cultivated the land themselves were exempted from taxes.
State position
During the reign of Fedor Ivanovich (1584–1598), the economy began to recover and the economic situation improved. Abandoned empty land plowed up. Godunov took the land from the boyars and distributed them to the landlords, thereby strengthening his position.
But only those who served served on the earth. Moreover, in 1593-1594, the legality of land ownership by monasteries was clarified. Those who did not have documents lost their inheritance in favor of the sovereign. These lands, too, could already be written off by posad and service people. Thus, Godunov relied on the poor and the "thin".
Church reform
Moscow believed that the dignity of the Russian Orthodox Church was belittled. In 1588, the patriarch from Constantinople arrived in the capital and agreed to independence in church affairs, that is, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church from the metropolitan became the patriarch.
On the one hand, this kind of independence emphasized the prestige of Russian Orthodoxy, and on the other, it separated it from the world, delaying development and preventing new ideas from entering. The patriarchate was formally elected, but in fact only one candidate was proposed, who was chosen - Job. Spiritual authority was subordinate to the state and strongly supported it. Such a strengthening of secular power occurred in the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich.
The completion of the conquest of Siberia
The beginning was made by the merchants Stroganovs, who called for the help of Ermak. After his death, the remnants of his detachment left Siberia, but in 1587 Moscow sent help, and the city of Tobolsk was laid. Movement to the East continued the reign of Fedor Ivanovich and Boris Godunov.
Little war in the West
The war for free trade in the Baltic Sea began in 1590 and ended five years later. This allowed Godunov to return the Russian cities on the Finnish shores and make trade with Sweden brisk, which brought him popularity among Russian merchants.
The southern borders were also strengthened, and the Crimean Tatars from 1591 no longer annoyed Moscow. In the north, in Arkhangelsk, in 1586 a new White Sea bargaining was opened. The country gradually grew rich and lived relatively quietly, so the chroniclers recalled the times when there was a “great silence” in Moscow.
Despite the weakness of the sovereign, the years of the reign of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich, thanks to the clever policy of Godunov, were successful. In 1598, blessed Tsar Fedor passed away. He was forty years old. He left no heirs, and with it the Rurik dynasty was interrupted .