In Russian history, there are several cases where rebels against the tsarist regime were covered by a desire to protect the rights of the “real” sovereign or his legal heir. One example of such falsification is the announcement by Stepan Razin that he has in his camp Nechay - Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich, whose biography is presented below.
Parents
Alexey Alekseevich was the grandson of the first Russian tsar from the Romanov clan and the second male child in the family of his parents. His mother was Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, who was distinguished by exceptional piety and was known as a great philanthropist. The boy’s father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who was one of the most educated people of his time and largely gravitated to Westernism, also had a kind and flexible character.
In total, the couple had 13 children, including 5 sons. After the death of Tsarina Mary, Alexei Petrovich married a second time. In his second marriage with Natalya Naryshkina, a son was born to him, later known as Tsar Peter the Great, as well as two daughters.
Interestingly, despite the fact that the father and son bore the name Alexei, their name day was not celebrated on the same day, as they had different heavenly patrons.
Childhood
Alexey Alekseevich was born in 1654. 2 years after birth, he was declared heir to the throne, as his elder brother Demetrius died several years before his birth.
Among others, the education of the boy involved Simeon Polotsky, who is considered one of the most prominent representatives of Russian poetry before the era of Trediakovsky. He taught the prince and his younger brother Fedor Latin and Polish. In addition, Alexey Alekseevich also studied arithmetic, Slavic grammar and philosophy. My father was kind to the heir and specially for him from abroad wrote out illustrated books and all sorts of "children's fun." According to contemporaries, the prince had a good memory, was inquisitive and proved to be a diligent student.
Youth
According to the laws of that time, at the time of his father’s absence in the capital, Aleksei Alekseevich was considered the interim ruler of the state, and official letters were signed on his behalf.
As a teenager, he preferred to spend most of his time reading. Among his favorite books were Lexicon and Grammar, brought from Lithuania, as well as the famous scientific work Cosmography. Alexei Alekseevich was greatly influenced by one of the most famous Westerners at the Russian court - the boyar Artamon Matveev, who often arranged theatrical performances. He invariably invited the prince to them, to which the tsarina and princesses often joined. In addition, Matveev introduced Alexei Alekseevich with educated foreigners living in Moscow or coming there on business.
Matchmaking
During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, it was decided to marry young people at a fairly early age. The heir to the throne was no exception. Moreover, not only his father, but also the Polish queen dealt with the question of the structure of his personal life. The wife of Jan Second Casimir was going to give her niece for him and contributed in every way to this marriage. The union of the Russian prince with the Polish princess seemed attractive to her relatives, because after the death of the heir to the throne of the Commonwealth in 1951, Alexei Alekseevich was considered a good contender for this title. In addition, the ambassadors who came to Moscow in order to find out the attitude of the royal family to such a marriage were absolutely fascinated by the young man and admired his welcoming speech, which he read in their native language, which he was fluent in.
Her plans were not destined to come true, since after the death of Tsarina Maria, Alexei Mikhailovich himself began to claim the girl’s hand. He ordered the boyar Matveev to tell the Poles that the prince was still young, and the Orthodox faith was far from the Roman one.
Alexey Alekseevich: death
Being sixteen years old, the heir to the throne suddenly died. This was not preceded by any illness, so various rumors spread among the people. The young man was buried in the Archangel Cathedral. The funeral service was held by Patriarch Joasaph II, as well as the eastern patriarchs who were in the capital at that time. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was inconsolable, as he had high hopes for his son, who, among other things, enjoyed the love of the people, spoke several foreign languages and in the future could become a wise and fair ruler.
Alexey Alekseevich - Tsarevich Nechay
Nearly 20 years after the death of the heir to the Russian throne, Stenka Razin decided to use his name in order to legitimize his rebellion. His people started a rumor that Alexey Alekseevich was alive and healthy in their ranks (the biography of the prince is briefly presented above). Since, according to them, he appeared in their camp unexpectedly, they called him Nechay. Soon, this nickname became a war cry, with which the Razin people began to attack the people of the king.
Many peasants, and especially merchants and service people, would hardly have joined the chieftain Stenka if they had not thought that he was fighting for a charitable cause — the return of the throne to the prince, who was declared dead and illegally circumvented, seating his brother on the throne.
The authorities in the capital quickly realized the danger of the impostor, so even for the pronunciation of the word “nothing” alone, it was ordered to be taken to prison.
Andrey Kambulatovich
It is known for certain about three people who in different years pretended to be such a famous personality as Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich (see the photo of the most famous portrait of the heir to the Russian throne). First of all, his role was played by Prince Andrei, who is the son of the Kabardian Murza of Prince Kambulat Pshimakhovich Cherkassky. He was baptized as a child, he spoke Russian well and had aristocratic manners. When capturing Astrakhan, the young man was captured, and Razin decided to use it to maintain the legend of Prince Nechay. He ordered one of the plows to be upholstered with red velvet and gave it to the “heir to the throne” for personal use. There are several versions of the fate of Andrei Kambulatovich. It is only known for certain that after a while he disappeared, and Razin had to look for another “prince”.
Maxim Osipov
Since the uprising was already in full swing, and the power of the rebels was growing every day, they decided that now Nechay would be one of their most daring and cruel leaders. The choice fell on Maxim Osipov. Under the guise of Tsarevich Alexei, he captured the cities of Alatyr, Temnikov, Kurmysh, Yadrin and Lyskov. There is a known case when his army shouted "Good night!" attacked the Makaryevsky Zheltovodsky monastery, but could not ruin the monastery.
After the failure, Osipov retreated to Murashkino, where new crowds of Mordovians, Tatars and Chuvash poured to him. Lzhetsarevich even decided to go with his army to Nizhny Novgorod, where he was called by the local mob. However, a messenger from Stepan Razin arrived with an order to come to him to help Simbirsk.
Ivan Kleopin
Another impostor is also known, who declared himself Alexei II. The name of this man is Ivan Kleopin, and he appeared in 1671. It is known that the impostor was born around 1648 in the local village of Zasapinye, Novgorod district.
At the age of 15-16 he was drafted into the noble militia and sent to Dinaburg, on the border with the Commonwealth. In the fall of 1666, he returned home, according to one version, due to bouts of insanity. In 1671, Ivan declared home that he was Alexei Alekseevich (a photo with a portrait of the impostor was not preserved), and fled to the forest. Then he tried to move to the Commonwealth, but was detained, subjected to questioning and torture. Although it was proved that Ivan is crazy, he was executed as a warning to all others who want to impersonate representatives of the royal family.
Now you know who Alexey Alekseevich was. Interesting facts from his biography are almost unknown to the general public, but they allow historians to better understand what life was like at the Russian court in the second half of the 17th century.