Mikhail Fedorovich became the first Russian tsar from the Romanov dynasty. At the end of February 1613 he would be elected ruler of the Russian kingdom at the Zemsky Sobor. He became a king not by tribal heritage, not by seizing power and not of his own free will.
Mikhail Fedorovich was elected by God and people, and at that time he was only 16 years old. His reign came at a very difficult time. By the will of fate, Mikhail Fedorovich had to solve serious economic and political problems: to lead the country out of the chaos in which it was after the Time of Troubles, to raise and strengthen the national economy, to preserve the territory of the Fatherland, torn to pieces. And most importantly - to arrange and secure the Romanov’s house on the Russian throne.
The Romanov Dynasty. Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov
In the Romanov family, the boyar Fedor Nikitich, who later became the patriarch Filaret, and Ksenia Ivanovna (Shestova), on July 12, 1596, a son appeared. They called him Michael. The Romanov family was related to the Rurik dynasty and was very famous and rich. This boyar surname owned vast estates not only in northern and central Russia, but also in the Don and Ukraine. At first Mikhail lived with his parents in Moscow, but in 1601 his family fell out of favor and was disgraced. The ruling Boris Godunov at that time was informed that the Romanovs were plotting and wanted to kill him with a magic potion. The reprisal followed immediately - many representatives of the Romanov clan were arrested. In June 1601, at a meeting of the Boyar Duma , a verdict was issued: Fedor Nikitich and his siblings: Alexander, Mikhail, Vasily and Ivan - should be deprived of their property, forcibly trimmed as monks, exiled and imprisoned in different places far from the capital.
Fyodor Nikitich was sent to the Anthony-Siya Monastery, which was located in a deserted, deserted place 165 miles from Arkhangelsk, up the Dvina River. It was there that Mikhail Fyodorovich’s father was cut as a monk and named Filaret. The mother of the future autocrat, Ksenia Ivanovna, was accused of complicity in the crime against the tsarist government and sent to exile in the Novgorod district, in Tol-Yegoryevsky churchyard, which belonged to the Vazhitsky monastery. Here she was trimmed as a nun, named Martha and imprisoned in a small building surrounded by a high picket fence.
Link of Mikhail Fedorovich to Beloozero
Little Mikhail, who was in his sixth year at that time, was exiled with his eight-year-old sister Tatyana Fedorovna and aunts, Martha Nikitichnaya Cherkasskaya, Ulyana Semenova and Anastasia Nikitichnaya, to Belozero. There, the boy grew up in extremely harsh conditions, malnourished, suffered hardships and want. In 1603, Boris Godunov somewhat commuted the sentence and allowed Mikhail’s mother, Martha Ivanovna, to come to Beloozero with her children.
And some time later, the autocrat allowed the exiled to move to Yuryev-Polsky district, to the village of Klin, the native estate of the Romanov family. In 1605, False Dmitry I, who seized power, wishing to confirm his kinship with the Romanov surname, returned to Moscow her surviving representatives from exile, including the family of Mikhail and himself. Fedor Nikitich was granted the Rostov Metropolis.
Troubles. The siege of the future king in Moscow
In difficult times from 1606 to 1610, Vasily Shuisky ruled. During this period, many dramatic events happened in Russia. In particular, the movement of "thieves" appeared and expanded, a peasant uprising led by I. Bolotnikov. Some time later, he teamed up with the new impostor, the "Tushino thief" False Dmitry II. The Polish intervention began. The troops of the Commonwealth captured Smolensk. The boyars overthrew Shuisky from the throne because he thoughtlessly concluded the Vyborg Treaty with Sweden. Under this agreement, the Swedes agreed to help Russia fight against False Dmitry, and in return received the territory of the Kola Peninsula. Unfortunately, the conclusion of the Vyborg Treaty did not save Russia - the Poles defeated the Russian-Swedish troops in the Battle of Klushinskaya and discovered the approaches to Moscow.
At this time, the boyars who ruled the country swore allegiance to the son of the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Sigismund, Vladislav. The country split into two camps. In the period from 1610 to 1613, an anti-Polish uprising arose. In 1611, a militia was formed under the leadership of Lyapunov, but it was defeated on the outskirts of Moscow. In 1612, a second militia was created. It was headed by D. Pozharsky and K. Minin. At the end of the summer of 1612, a terrible battle took place, in which the Russian troops won. Hetman Khodkevich retreated to the Sparrow Hills. By the end of October, the Russian militia cleared Moscow of the Poles who had settled in it, awaiting help from Sigismund. The Russian boyars, including Mikhail Fedorovich and his mother Martha, captured, exhausted by hunger and deprivation, were finally released.
Attempted murder of Mikhail Fedorovich
After the hardest siege of Moscow, Mikhail Fedorovich went to the Kostroma patrimony. Here, the future king almost died at the hands of a gang of Poles who were in the Zhelezno-Borovsky monastery and were looking for a way to Domnino. Mikhail Fedorovich was saved by the peasant Ivan Susanin, who volunteered to show the robbers the road to the future tsar and led them in the opposite direction, to the swamps.
And the future king took refuge in the Yusupov Monastery. Ivan Susanin was tortured, but he never revealed the location of Romanov. So difficult were the childhood and adolescence of the future king, who at 5 years old was forcibly separated from his parents and when his mother and father were alive, he became an orphan, experienced the hardships of isolation from the outside world, the horrors of siege and hunger.
Zemsky Sobor 1613 Election to the kingdom of Mikhail Fedorovich
After the invaders were expelled by the boyars and the militia led by Prince Pozharsky, a decision was made on the need to choose a new king. On February 7, 1613, at a preliminary election, a nobleman from Galich proposed to enthrone Filaret’s son, Mikhail Fedorovich, to the throne. Of all the applicants, he was the closest to the Rurikovich family by kinship. In many cities, messengers were sent to find out the opinion of the people. The final elections were held on February 21, 1613. The people decided: "To be sovereign Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov." Having made such a decision, the embassy was equipped to notify Mikhail Fedorovich of his election as king. On March 14, 1613, the ambassadors, accompanied by a religious procession, came to the Ipatiev Monastery and beat the brow of the nun Martha. Long persuasions finally succeeded, and Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov agreed to become king. Only on May 2, 1613, the emperor’s magnificent solemn entry into Moscow took place when, in his opinion, the capital and the Kremlin were ready to accept him. On July 11, a new autocrat, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, was crowned reign. The ceremony was held in the Assumption Cathedral.
The beginning of the reign of the sovereign
Mikhail Fedorovich took the reins of a torn, destroyed and impoverished country. In difficult times, the people needed just such an autocrat - generous, charming, gentle, kind and at the same time generous in spiritual qualities. No wonder the people called him "meek". The personality of the king contributed to the strengthening of the power of the Romanovs. The domestic policy of Mikhail Fedorovich at the beginning of his reign was aimed at restoring order in the country. An important task was the elimination of gangs of robbers, rampaging everywhere. A real war was waged with the ataman of the Cossacks, Ivan Zarutsky, which ultimately ended in the capture and subsequent execution. The question of peasants was acute. In 1613, state land was distributed to the needy.
Important Strategic Decisions - Armistice with Sweden
Foreign policy of Mikhail Fedorovich was concentrated on concluding a truce with Sweden and ending the war with Poland. In 1617, the Stolbovsky Treaty was drawn up. This document officially ended the war with the Swedes, which lasted for three years. Now the Novgorod lands were divided between the Russian kingdom (the captured cities returned to him: Veliky Novgorod, Ladoga, Gdov, Porkhov, Staraya Russa, as well as the Sumerian region) and the Swedish kingdom (he got Ivangorod, Koporye, Yam, Korela, Oreshek, Neva). In addition, Moscow had to pay Sweden a serious amount - 20 thousand silver rubles. The Stolbovsky world cut off the country from the Baltic Sea, but for Moscow, the conclusion of this truce allowed its war with Poland to continue.
The end of the Russian-Polish war. Return of Patriarch Filaret
The Russian-Polish war lasted with varying success, starting in 1609. In 1616, the enemy army, led by Vladislav Vaza and the hetman Jan Khodkevich, invaded Russian borders, wanting to overthrow Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich from the throne. It could only reach Mozhaisk, where it was suspended. Since 1618, the army of Ukrainian Cossacks joined the army with the hetman P. Sagaidachny at the head. Together, they launched an assault on Moscow, but it was unsuccessful. Troops of the Poles withdrew and settled down next to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. As a result, the parties agreed to negotiations, and in the village of Deulino on December 11, 1618, a truce was signed, which put an end to the Russo-Polish war. The terms of the contract were unprofitable, but the Russian government agreed to accept them in order to end internal instability and restore the country. Under the agreement, Russia ceded the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Roslavl, Dorogobuzh, Smolensk, Novgorod-Seversky, Chernihiv, Serpeysk and other cities. Also during the negotiations, it was decided to exchange prisoners. On July 1, 1619, prisoners were exchanged on the Polyanovka River, and Filaret, the king’s father, finally returned to his homeland. Some time later he was ordained a patriarch.
Dual power. Wise decisions of two rulers of the Russian land
The so-called dual power was established in the Russian kingdom. Together with his patriarch father, Mikhail Fedorovich began to rule the state. He, like the king himself, was given the title of "great sovereign."
At 28, Mikhail Fedorovich married Maria Vladimirovna Dolgoruky. However, a year later she died. The second time, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich married Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva. Over the years of marriage, she bore him ten children. In general, the policies of Mikhail Fedorovich and Filaret were aimed at centralizing power, restoring the economy and filling the treasury. In June 1619, it was decided that taxes on the sentinel or scribe books would be taken from the ravaged lands. It was decided to conduct a population census again to establish the exact size of tax collections. Scribes and sentinels were sent to the region. In the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, scribal books were drawn up twice to improve the tax system. Since 1620, voivods and elders began to be appointed on the ground, following the order.
Moscow restoration
During the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, the capital and other cities that were destroyed during the Time of Troubles were gradually being restored. In 1624, a Stone tent and a watch with a battle over the Spasskaya Tower were built, and the Filaret Belfry was also built. In the years 1635-1636 stone mansions were erected for the king and his offspring in place of the old wooden ones. On the territory from Nikolsky to Spassky Gates, 15 churches were built. In addition to the restoration of the destroyed cities, the policy of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov was aimed at further enslaving the peasants. In 1627, a law was created that allowed the nobles to transfer their lands by inheritance (for this it was necessary to serve the king). In addition, a five-year investigation of fugitive peasants was established, which in 1637 was extended to 9 years, and in 1641 to 10 years.
Creation of new army regiments
An important area of activity of Mikhail Fedorovich was the creation of a regular national army. In the 30s. XVII century appeared "regiments of the new system." They included boyar children and free people, and foreigners were accepted as officers. In 1642, the training of military men in the foreign system began. In addition, raider, soldier, and cavalry dragoon regiments began to form . Also, two Moscow elected regiments were created, which were later called Lefortovsky and Butyrsky (from the settlements in which they were located).
Industry development
In addition to creating an army, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov sought to develop various crafts in the country. The government began to call on foreign industrialists (ore miners, casters, gunsmiths) on favorable terms. A German settlement was founded in Moscow, where engineers and foreign military men lived and worked. In 1632, a plant was built for casting cores and guns near Tula. Textile production also developed: the Velvet Yard opened in Moscow. Here velvet training was provided. In Kadashevskaya settlement textile production was launched.
Instead of a conclusion
Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov died at the age of 49. It happened on July 12, 1645. The result of his government activities was the reassurance of the state excited by the Time of Troubles, the establishment of centralized power, the rise of prosperity, the restoration of economy, industry and trade. During the reign of the first Romanov, the wars with Sweden and Poland were stopped, and, in addition, diplomatic relations were established with European states.