The real identity of Tsar Fedor I Ivanovich, despite the relatively short historical period of time (460 years) that separates us from him, is hidden. The whole question revolves around whether he was moronic or not. We will try to answer this. There are few sources giving his true image. This powerful emperor is obscured by two powerful figures: father Ivan the Terrible and co-ruler Boris Godunov. Our historians recreate, and writers interpret it as a person and ruler.
The end of the Rurik dynasty
In the XVI century, the first Russian Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich ascended the throne. He ruled for a long time, more than 50 years, but extremely unevenly, shaking his lands and his family with a fiercely brutal character.
Of the eight wives, only three gave birth to his children. And even the elder whom he was preparing for the kingdom, the king himself killed in a fit of uncontrollable anger, which he bitterly regretted. The heir was Fedor Ivanovich, the son of Ivan IV the Terrible from his first marriage.
Family in childhood
The royal parents loved each other and lived at the time of the birth of Fedor for ten years, sharing both joy and sorrow. The prince had an older brother, Ivan. The age difference was three years. Growing up, they will play together, and loving parents watch them. But in the year of the birth of the prince, who was baptized in the Miracle Monastery, in 1557, no one yet knows that peace and silence are only standing above the country. This is the last serene year. In 1558, a long, a quarter century, bloody Livonian war will begin. She will overshadow all his childhood. And after the death of his mother about the prince, who was then three years old, there is almost no information. The father goes on pilgrimage and does not take his son with him. He leaves, leading the army, to the war, and the five-year-old boy, seeing him off, does not know whether he will return. And then in the royal chambers there will be a series of wives who see in Ivan and Fedor an obstacle for their children to the throne, and there is no need to talk about warmth here. The boys, of course, experienced an enmity. But the sources have practically no information on how Ivan Vasilievich raised the youngest. It is known that from the age of eight he took him with him to pray, and later ordered him to attend government ceremonies. Even when the tsarevich was not yet seven years old, he participated in the elevation to the rank of Metropolitan of Moscow, and with the establishment of the oprichnina, he, together with his family and court, left for Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. At 10, his father took him with him to Vologda for examination. So little by little Tsarevich Fedor was eyeing state affairs.
Marriage
The father himself chose his son a bride from the strong reliable Godunov clan, but not too generous, such that they depended on the royal family in everything and were grateful for such a high fate. And the prince, not thinking about political motives, simply became attached with his soul to his wife, clever Irina.
Death of the heir
The tsar of all Russia did not get their hands on the full education of the youngest son Fedor. Always in the foreground was Ivan Ivanovich. And when he died in 1581, he had to seriously accustom Fedor's heir to state affairs at 24. And he no longer had an interest in them. After all, before all the attention was paid to Ivan, and you, Fedenka, advised him to go to the church of God, talk to the monks, listen to the singers, yes the deacon’s bass, or else go on a hunt.
The prince was surrounded by mothers, nannies and monks. They taught him the book knowledge and the law of God. So the prince grew timid, meek, and praying. But God gave him the royal crown.
The wedding to the kingdom
The death of Grozny in 1584 is surrounded by omissions and secrets. There are suggestions that he was poisoned or strangled, which, however, is not reliably proven. But the boyars, rejoicing in the liberation from the powerful oppression of the tyrant who held them with an iron hand, raised an uprising, using the rumors about the mysterious death of the king, and brought him to the walls of the Kremlin. Negotiations with the rebels ended with the fact that they retreated, and the instigators were exiled. Just in case, they removed the young Dmitry with his mother in Uglich. Who was behind these actions? Well, not Fedor Ivanovich. The tsar was not interested in these matters; he was passive. The princes of Shuisky, Mstislavsky, Yuryev ruled everyone.
Shortly before the uprising, there was a wedding to the kingdom, this happened on the birthday of Fedor. He was exactly 27 years old. The ceremony was like this. Ahead was Fedor Ivanovich - the tsar, dressed in rich clothes. Behind him - the higher clergy and further know everything by rank. A crown was placed on his head. The clergy from Athos and Mount Sinai were invited to the festival, which meant the importance of the event for the entire Orthodox world. The celebration lasted a week.
So got the right and opportunity to dispose of everything Fedor Ivanovich. The king became an unlimited master. In his hands was all the fullness of power - legislative, executive, judicial and military.
Fedor Ivanovich, Tsar: historical portrait
Foreigners, British, French, Swedes, Poles are trying to convince us that Fedor Ivanovich was too simple, sensitive and overly devout and superstitious, even stupid. He spent too much time in monasteries. But, getting up at 4 a.m., according to the same foreigners, having prayed, passing greetings to his wife, who occupied separate chambers, he received boyars, military leaders, and members of the Duma. This suggests that Fedor Ivanovich is the tsar: he listens to the nobles and gives instructions.
True, he does not devote too much time to these matters, since they do not take him very much, but he nevertheless fulfills affairs, like a true sovereign. Yes, he prefers prayer to politics, but there is no sign of dementia in this. He is simply not a statesman by nature, but an ordinary person who loves to talk with his wife, look at the persecution of a bear or hand-to-hand combat, and laugh at the jesters. Intrigues, political moves, thought out like chess for a long time to come, are not his element. Fyodor I Ivanovich is a kind, calm, pious man. Other foreigners, Austrians, for example, to whom the tsar showed a gracious welcome and promised assistance in the fight against the Turks, nowhere give indications that the tsar was weak-witted. Perhaps the whole point is in biased assessments of the same Swedes, since political affairs were resolved by force of arms in an unfavorable direction for them?
Perception of the Tsar by Russian people
All of them note that Fedor I Ioannovich is extremely pious and exhausts himself with spiritual exploits. And during the wedding to the kingdom, he delivered speeches in which there was no sign of stupidity. A poor man would not have survived the entire ceremony and could not make a speech. And the king behaved with proper dignity. Russian chroniclers call him gracious, and his demise was perceived as a great sorrow that could bring great disasters. Which, by the way, came true.
Patriarch Job, who saw the king every day and knew him well, expressed his lively admiration for the sovereign. The Tsar appears before us as a true ascetic of faith, and a well-fed, calm life with him was perceived as the grace of God, which came down with his prayers to the Russian land. All emphasize his incredible piety. Therefore, the nickname of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich was Blessed. And one of the princes close to him, I.A. Khvorostinin noted the king's love of reading. His father Ivan the Terrible himself, drawing up a will when the eldest son Ivan was still alive, warned the 15-year-old Fedor against rebellion against his brother. But a complete fool, as other foreigners are trying to imagine him, could hardly go to war on his brother. So, Ivan Vasilievich imagined his son not a simpleton at all. Further showed that the king was an excellent governor, leading a campaign against the Swedes. He got into the Russian army, being mentally healthy, and not a holy fool. The defeat of the Swedes in the Livonian War is a great act of Fyodor Ivanovich.
Co-rulers
Godunov stood behind the throne, but besides him, the crafty one, there were aristocrats whom Fedor Ivanovich had to reckon with. And who could keep in check the Shuysky, Mstislavsky, Odoevsky, Vorotynsky, Zakharyins-Yuryevs-Romanovs? Only a king who was above all. Yes, he could afford to pet the cat in the meeting of the Duma boyars, leaving the throne, but his eyes are clear and full of wisdom.
Theodore the Blessed, listening to high husbands, could also think of his thoughts that every God's creation is worthy of love and affection, like his own people, which flourished under him. And let the nobles rejoice that he would not cut his head off their shoulders, like his father. Godunov, listening to the tsar’s opinion, became co-ruler of the tsar’s will. He was the best possible. Together they made a harmonious couple when Tsar Fedor Ivanovich ruled (1584 - 1598).
Refusal of divorce
The king revered the sacrament of marriage. And although God gave him one child who died in infancy, despite the demands of the boyars to divorce his wife and marry again and have legal heirs, the emperor resolutely refused. In this position it was required to show courage, will and perseverance, so great was the pressure of aristocrats. The fact that the king did not have children partly explains the long hours spent in prayer and the frequent pilgrimage trips that the couple made on foot, of course, accompanied by guards and retinues. Faith and hope led them.
Patriarchate
After Byzantium fell, the Russian state was the largest of all Orthodox. But the head of the church was ordained only the metropolitan, which was clearly not enough. But could a king, incapable of long negotiations, intrigues, play such a complex and delicate political game? He always eschewed this kind of worries, as he was quiet and possessed the mindset of a monk monk, who was far from everyday affairs. Chronists write that the sovereign, in consultation with Tsarina Irina, submitted to the council of the boyars the idea of establishing the patriarchate. They needed to fulfill the sovereign decision. And no matter whose initial version this thought may be, but the king voiced it, and the matter slowly, but began to develop.
It took several years of negotiations and intrigues of the Greeks to complete it, as required by the autocrat in
1589. Job became the patriarch of Moscow and all Russia. The king, carried away by this idea, himself was developing a new, more magnificent ceremony than the Greeks had.
Typography in Moscow
At the direct request of Fedor Ivanovich, as sources say, the printing house was restored in Moscow. It was intended for the propagation of liturgical books, but the beginning of book printing was laid. Further it will develop, carrying enlightenment, first churchly, and then secular. Could a stupid, mentally retarded person put forward such a thought? The answer suggests itself. Of course not. And the country needed books. Under Fyodor Ivanovich, cities, temples, monasteries were built, and everything required the attainment of scholarship and, therefore, books.
Death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich
The king, who had been on the throne for 13 years and seven months, was sick for a long time, but died quickly. He did not have time before death to become a monk, as he desired. In his life there were three great deeds: the establishment of a patriarchate, the liberation of Russian lands from Swedish occupation, and the construction of the Don Monastery. In them, he took an active action. It remains unclear to this day to whom he transferred the throne. Perhaps no one deciding that "God will judge." He took the devastated country, and left it stronger, expanding its borders. When it was cast, the "Tsar Cannon." A quiet, deeply believing in God's providence, the king saw that the Lord ruled his country and preserved his kingdom. Such was the last Rurikovich, Fedor Ivanovich - the king, whose biography and deeds left a good mark in the history of the country.