The encyclopedia of the Russian language sparingly describes in several lines the origin and meaning of the concept of “king”. This annoying omission becomes all the more incomprehensible, because it is in Russian that this word is very often used. We will try to tell where this concept came from in our language.
Origin of the term
The word "Tsar" is a distorted pronunciation of the Latin concept caesar (Caesar, Caesar), which came into Russian through Byzantium. In ancient Rome, after the era of the brilliant reign of Julius Caesar, this was the name given to a person who has all the fullness of power. The ancient Slavs did not have kings - all power belonged to the princes. It is interesting that the West European early Middle Ages did not have kings, but in the Near and Middle East autocratic kings met at every step. For example, it is enough to recall King Solomon from the Book of Judges, who had unlimited power in ancient Israel.
Medieval Russia
Who knows, if it were not for such a long bondage of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, maybe ancient Russia would have been delivered from tsarism as the highest form of autocracy. But several hundred years of Mongol rule in ancient Muscovy strengthened precisely the eastern form of government. Tsars of Russia possess all the features of eastern despotism and bring cruelty and ruthlessness to enemies in their own forms of government, demanding absolute obedience from their close ones.
Ivan groznyj
The era of the Russian tsars began in the late 16th century. A long period of turmoil and Tatar rule came to an end. Russia gained strength and united around the Moscow principality. The first Russian tsar is Ivan the Terrible, the offspring of the great dynasty of the Rurikovich, who ruled the Russian lands for many centuries. It is interesting that Ivan the Terrible did not immediately call himself king. The first years of his reign on all documents next to his name melted the title of Grand Duke. But Byzantium, which was considered the elder sister of Russia, fell under the onslaught of the Turks. The title of absolute ruler was seized by Ivan the Terrible. In decrees and letters, the word “autocrat” began to appear next to his name - this is how the title of the emperor of Byzantium was translated. In addition, he managed to marry the niece of the current and Byzantine emperor Sofya Paleolog. Becoming the wife of Ivan the Terrible, she shared with him not only power in Russia, but also the ghostly inheritance rights to all the titles of the Eastern Roman Empire. In addition to the title "king of the state", she transferred the rights to the coat of arms. Thus, a double-headed eagle appears on the seal of the autocrat and Tsar Ivan, who once proudly adorned the coats of arms and banners of the Byzantine emperors.
Tsars of Russia
After the death of Ivan the Terrible, there was no one who could take the place of the Moscow Tsar by right of succession. Numerous False Dmitrys and other pretenders were mercilessly expelled from the royal chambers. On March 13, 1613, at the Zemsky Sobor, a decision was made to elect Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov as king and set him on the Moscow throne. Thus began the three hundred year rule of the kings of the Romanov dynasty - one of the most famous monarchist dynasties in the whole world.
Kings and kings
Interestingly, when translated from Russian, the word "tsar" loses its autocratic meaning. Quite often in European languages it is replaced by the term “king”, which is not exactly the same thing. Attitudes towards the king and the king were different. In Russia, the tsar is the viceroy of God on earth, the protector and intercessor, his anger was considered akin to his father, not without reason from ancient times the phrase “tsar-father” came to us.
The concept of “king” is the supreme sovereign of a particular land. If for Russian the word “tsar” is a synonym for the ruler of his own country, then in European thinking the association will be more biblical. Such a misunderstanding of the same word has led to the fact that in some languages an interesting transcription of this mysterious word has appeared. The king is [tsar], [tzar] and other terms similar to this, letter by letter. Sometimes it is replaced by the term king.
Perhaps you might think that in our time, when the rule of kings is no longer relevant, and the concept as such is almost gone. This is not entirely true. If we distract from the state hypostasis of this term, then this concept is often found in the Russian language, only in a figurative sense. Today, the king is something magnificent, rich, powerful, and sometimes just huge. We all know about Tsar Cannon and Tsar Bell.
Praising a dinner or dress, we characterize them with the word "royal." Perhaps this word will surprise us more than once in the very near future.