Alexei Mikhailovich

ALEXY MIKHAILOVICH [9 (19).3.1629, Moscow - 29.1(8.2).1676, Ibid], Russian tsar of the Romanov dynasty, crowned on 28.9(8.10).1645. He was the son of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich; the father of Tsars Fyodor Alexeevich, Ivan V Alexeevich, Tsarevna Sofia Alexeevna (from the first marriage with M. I. Miloslavskaya, descended from Miloslavsky family) and Peter I (from the second marriage with N. K. Naryshkina).

The tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. A fragment of the icon "Our Lady of Vladimir" ("The Tree of the State of Moscow") by Simon Ushakov from the church of the Trinity in Nikitniki (Moscow). 1668.

The ideas of religious and moral perfection of the person and society, disseminated after the Time of Troubles, influenced the formation of A. M.'s world outlook. At the end of the 1640s he came closer to the idea of religious and moral perfection of the person and society. In the 1640s he made friends with the "Circle of Devotees of Piety" which stood for correction of the church "disorder" and religious piety (the head of the circle was Stephan Vonifatiev, the spiritual father of A. M., the Archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral). In the first years of the reign A. M. depended on his tutor, boyar B. I. Morozov, and almost did not interfere in the government of the state. The Salt Riot in 1648 directed against Morozov's government made the tsar change his internal policy. A. M. took part in drawing up and ratification of the Sobor Code in 1649 which codified the law and became a normative base for further strengthening of serfdom and absolutism. During A. M.'s rule the activity of Zemsky Sobor was "fading" and the role of the Boyar Duma was falling. At the same time the importance of clerical bureaucracy was increasing. His social policy was aimed at consolidation of the nobility and promotion of new demands for nobility service, associated with an increase in the number of regiments of the new system. The elements of protectionism and mercantilism were strengthened in economical policy under A. M. (Trade charter 1653, New Trade charter 1667). In A. M.'s rule, active development of Siberia went on, a strait between Eurasia and North America was opened by the expedition of S. I. Dezhnev (1648, but the report of his expedition became known only in the 18th century), a number of cities was founded including Irkutsk (1652), Nerchinsk (1653), Verkhneudinsk (1666).

Under A. M. the split in the Russian Church began. The tsar supported the church reform of Patriarch Nikon, he also pursued a purely political goal: the rapprochement of the Russian and Greek churches, in the opinion of A. M., was a necessary condition for the growth of the authority of the Russian state among the Orthodox nations (especially the population of Ukraine and Belorussia). In 1658 he broke off relations with Nikon because of the exorbitant majesty and theocratic pretensions of the patriarch. At the church council of 1666 A. M. was one of the main accusers of the patriarch. The reaction to A. M.'s church policy was the Solovetsky rebellion. The response to the church policy of A. M. was the rebellion of Solovetskiye in 1667-76, which was put down by the governmental troops.

The most significant success of A. M. in foreign policy was the return of the lands lost in the Truce of Dyulino (1618) and the Peace of Polana (1634) and incorporation of the Left-Bank Ukraine in the Truce of Andrusovo (1667) which finished the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667 (see the article Russian-Polish wars of the 17th century) in which the tsar took part personally (for example, in the siege and capture of Smolensk). This was reflected in the change of the tsar's title, to which in the middle. The words "...Little and White Russia's Autocrat..." were added in the 1650s. At the same time his attempt to gain an access to the Baltic Sea in 1656-58 ended unsuccessfully (see in the article Russian-Swedish wars).

Formulating the main principles of state activity, A. M. demanded from his subjects a strict fulfillment of their duties, defined by "rank" (a person's social status), and unquestioning "service" to his sovereign. He regarded the tsarist power as established by God and intended to rule and judge "in truth, equally for all". A man of deep faith, A. M. zealously performed religious rituals. Contemporaries noted the tsar's even temper, inclination for contemplation, and sometimes his irascibility. His complacency ended wherever his ideas about the role of the sovereign and his authority were affected, which resulted, in particular, in the establishment of the Secret Affairs Prikaz (existed in 1655-76). During the Copper Rebellion of 1662 A. M. ordered to "beat and cut to death" the rebels. He brutally suppressed Razin's rebellion of 1670-71. The widespread perception in mass historical consciousness of A. M. as a "silent" tsar is inaccurate: the Silent is not a characteristic of A. M. by his contemporaries, but an element of the title, which received a limited circulation in eulogy literature and in church practice. A. M. was strongly influenced by Polish-Ukrainian-Belorussian cultural traditions, which formed his peculiar perception of European culture. А. M.'s interest in the new was manifested in the sphere of culture and life: the unique village palace in Kolomenskoye, the theater in Preobrazhenskoe (1672), the system of ponds and channels with mills in Izmailovo were built under his reign. Literary heritage of A. M. includes private and business correspondence, original compositions differing by plot and dynamism of narration, rich in everyday sketches. He contributed to the creation of a new edition of "The Tale of the Assumption of the Mother of God" as well as "Uryadnik...Sokolniki Way", a book about the rules of falconry hunting, continuing the traditions of West-European hunting books. A. M. is the author of "The Story of the death of Patriarch Joseph", or "Article List" (1652), unfinished notes about the Russian-Polish war (1654-67), and "Epistle to Solovki", addressed to the relics of Metropolitan Philip (Kolychev) and based on the traditions of different genres (oratorical prose, "prayers" and epistles).