Research work on the history of the “quiet” king. Why is Alexey Mikhailovich the quietest

Alexey Mikhailovich - the second sovereign from the Romanov clan, who ascended to Russian throne. The tsar is known for his many years of war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Copper and Salt riots. The birth of the future Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was recorded in the New Chronicle. It said that on March 17, 1629, an heir appeared.

The christening of the newborn took place at the Chudov Monastery. Patriarch Filaret Nikitich was present at the boy’s baptism. Godfather Troitsk cellarer Alexander became Alexei. The parents chose a name for the future ruler in accordance with the calendar. The royal “mothers” raised children up to the age of 5. After passing this age limit, Alexei Mikhailovich was handed over to the boyar Boris Morozov. The first teacher taught the Tsarevich literacy and reading.

Among board books the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the Book of Hours and the Psalter were present. The future king gradually mastered such sciences as writing and church singing. Books were Alexei Mikhailovich's passion. By the age of 13, the boy had accumulated a small library, which included the Lithuanian “Grammar” and “Lexicon”, “Cosmography”.

The Tsarevich had other hobbies, including musical instruments, children's armor and even a horse. B.I. Morozov had a direct influence on the development of Alexei Mikhailovich. The teacher used German clothes for the boy for the first time. Only at the age of 14 was the heir to the throne presented to the public. Already after 2 years to a young guy I had to take the reins of government into my own hands. Alexey Romanov made Kolomenskoye his official residence.

Beginning of reign

Alexei's training was somewhat one-sided, therefore, when the tsar ascended the throne, he was faced with a number of problems for which he was not prepared. This contributed to a rapprochement with Uncle Morozov. At first, Alexey Mikhailovich listened to the boyar’s advice, but later formed a personal opinion regarding state issues.

This helped strengthen the king's character. Foreign guests in their memoirs described Alexei as a gentle, good-natured and quiet ruler. Such qualities were highlighted by S. Collins, A. Meyerberg and even G.K. Kotoshikhin. Alexey Mikhailovich zealously followed church rituals and abstained from food and water three times a week. Thanks to his religiosity, the king received the nickname the Quietest.

Boris Morozov's influence was still too great. When the tsar decided to get married at the age of 18, he chose the daughter of Raf Vsevolozhsky as his wife. The wedding never took place due to the intervention of the boyar. However, a year later the wedding of Alexei Mikhailovich and Marya Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya took place. Soon Morozov also followed the beaten path. The faithful teacher married the girl’s sister, Anna.

From this time on, the influence of Miloslavsky and Morozov on the royal court increased noticeably. Despite this, Alexey Mikhailovich revealed negative points in internal government. The boyar had a hand in this. The king decides to introduce a tax on salt. The new tax replaced the salt duty, Streltsy and Yam money. But this did not cause rejoicing among the people; on the contrary, the population showed dissatisfaction with the innovations. The situation was aggravated by the abuse of power by the Miloslavskys and talk about the tsar’s love for foreign customs.

The Salt Riot broke out. Riots took place in Moscow and other cities of the country. Ordinary citizens wanted to get their hands on Boris Morozov. Not getting what they wanted, the people attacked the boyar’s house, killed the Duma clerk Chistoy and the devious Pleshcheev. The Tsar had no choice but to secretly transport Morozov to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.

The revolt helped the people achieve the abolition of the new duty on salt. Gradually the discontent faded away and the boyar returned to the palace. From that time on, Morozov lost the opportunity to govern the state, but the royal favor remained. The new duty on salt was abolished in the same year. After the popular unrest subsided, Morozov returned to the court, enjoyed the royal favor, but did not have primary importance in government.

Domestic policy

The tsar's internal policy includes several important orders for the state. The reign of Alexei the Quiet introduced a ban on Belomest residents owning lands and establishments, including commercial and industrial ones. In accordance with the adopted Council Code, peasants were prohibited from passing from one owner to another. This also applied to families.

Historians identify several main orders that played a role in the internal life of the state. These include Secret Affairs, Khlebny, Reitarsky orders, Accounting Affairs, Lithuanian, Monastic and Little Russian.

Romanov did not ignore the financial side. The king ordered a census of tax households to be carried out and the number of male representatives to be established. Alexey Mikhailovich made an attempt to introduce an updated salt duty, but the idea was unsuccessful.

Minor customs duties were eliminated by order of the tsar. The only one possible option to collect money or an anniversary - farm it out. Due to lack of money, the treasury was forced to release additional funds. We are talking about copper coins. This caused copper money to become virtually worthless compared to silver coins. Again, an unsuccessful decision led to a riot, which was dubbed the Copper Riot.

Alexey Mikhailovich made a strange decision in 1667 to build several ships. The shipyard was established on the Oka River near the village of Dedinovo. It is unknown how the king planned to use the ships. There was no particular need for ships. One of the buildings left the port only once and sailed to Astrakhan.

Alexey Tishaishy made minor changes in legislation. By order of the king they developed Cathedral Code, which included the New Trade Charter, New Decree Articles on estates, robbery and murder, and military regulations.

Foreign policy

Alexey Mikhailovich tried to protect the western borders. This became the reason for the outbreak of wars against states located in the west of the continent. The main enemy for Russia was the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. For a century, the rulers of Russia tried to defend their territories and conquer others.

Military actions did not help Romanov pave the way to the Baltic Sea. There were positive steps in foreign policy. In particular, the Chernigov and Smolensk lands, which were separated during the Time of Troubles, became part of the larger country again. Alexey Mikhailovich did not allow raids by the Crimean Tatars, pushing back the southern borders.

During the reign of Alexei the Quiet, part of Ukraine belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian state. Serfdom made it difficult for local residents to live in peace, so discontent resulted in trouble for the local authorities. The Zaporozhye Cossacks went into battle against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Success was on the side of the Cossacks. The country's rulers had to start negotiations. Ukraine became an autonomous state. But the Poles did not agree with this decision. The Cossacks had no choice but to accept defeat. The leader of the Cossack movement began searching for a strong ally. Numerous attempts to improve relations with Russia took effect within a few years. Zemsky Sobor gave the go-ahead for the start of joint military operations with the Cossacks against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The year 1654 became a landmark year for Ukraine and Russia. The two states united and became one. The Ukrainian lands were led by a hetman, assisted by a large Cossack army. The authorities of the Polish-Lithuanian side were dissatisfied with this decision. The war has begun. The first months were successful for the Romanovs: 30 cities were captured, including Smolensk.

Unexpectedly, the Swedish king attacked the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The state could not resist the Western army, so Sweden received some lands, including Warsaw. Alexey Mikhailovich did not want to give in and concluded a temporary peace with the Polish-Lithuanian country. This was a strategically wrong decision.

After his death, the new hetman goes over to the Polish side and organizes a war against Russia. The tsar could not resist Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Having lost many soldiers, the countries decide on a truce. Russia lost its lands in the Baltic states.

Personal life

The biography of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich speaks of two marriages. Romanov first joined the union at a young age. His wife is Miloslavsky's daughter Maria. At the age of 44, the woman died. The heiress of a famous family left her wife 13 children. Less than two years have passed since the news spread across Russia - the Tsar married for the second time. Natalya Naryshkina became his wife. The young woman gave her husband three children.

Alexey Mikhailovich raised 16 boys and girls. Only three sons ascended to the throne. This is Ivan V and. The king could not arrange the marriage of his daughters. Interestingly, children from different mothers did not communicate with each other. Historians claim enmity between them. In those days there were no photographs, so only paintings with portraits of the royal family have survived to this day.

Death

Death overtook Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov unexpectedly. Shortly before his 47th birthday, the ruler suffered a heart attack. Health problems turned out to be fatal for the king.

Two years before his death, Alexey Mikhailovich publicly announced that Fedor would become the heir to the throne in the event of the ruler’s death.

Memory

1939 – " "
1956 – “300 years ago...”
1988 – “Walking People”
2010 – monument to Alexei Mikhailovich in Novy Oskol
2011 – “Split”
2013 – “The Romanovs. Film one"

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname “the quietest”. What does it mean?

It would seem that the answer lies on the surface. It is generally believed that the second Romanov was so nicknamed for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man. However, he was not at all “quiet” in this sense of the word - neither by nature nor by deeds. Let us first consider his character.

This was the king's language. Let's talk about hands now. Once the issue of war with Poland was discussed in the Duma, and the Tsar’s father-in-law, Boyar Miloslavsky, who had never been on a campaign, unexpectedly announced that if the Tsar appointed him governor, he would bring him the Polish King himself as a prisoner. This impudent boasting so outraged the king that he slapped the old man in the face, tore his beard and kicked him out of the room. And this the quietest king? Hardly.

Archpriest Avvakum denounces: "... And the enemy of God darkened that king, and besides, he magnifies, flatteringly, in the transference: “our most pious, quietest, most autocratic sovereign, so-and-so, great, - more than all the saints from the ages! - may the Lord God remember him in his kingdom, always, now, and ever, and forever and ever».
But the king turned out to be different, not quiet at all: " And he reigns, sing, at that time he dreams and imagines that he really is, there is no holier than him! And where is there more than that pride!" etc.

As for affairs, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich there was least peace and quiet. The king demanded that his henchmen serve tirelessly. Remembering “his incessant work,” boyar Artamon Matveev noted that “ this has never happened before" And according to the review of Archpriest Avvakum, the king “ I've messed up a lot in this life, like a goat galloping over the hills and driving the wind" Yes and when was it Alexey Mikhailovich rest if during his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war. Contemporaries themselves called the 17th century the “rebellious century.”

But it is precisely this last circumstance that provides the key to the correct understanding of the nickname “The Quietest.” Its origins lie in the ancient formula “peace and quiet,” which symbolized a well-ordered and prosperous state. Prayer for “peace and silence”, for “peace and silence, and prosperity” since the time of Boris Godunov in the “sovereign cup” (a special verbal and musical genre). Impostors and rebels, according to the terminology of that time, were “debauchers of silence.”

Alexei Mikhailovich precisely “calmed down” Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. In one document of that time it is said that after death Mikhail Fedorovich Monomakhov put on his hat his noble son, the most pious, the quietest, the most autocratic great sovereign, king and Grand Duke Alexey Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, piety was firmly observed throughout the entire kingdom, and all Orthodox Christianity glowed serenely with silence».

This is the meaning our ancestors put into the epithet “quietest” - it was an official sovereign title that had to do with the rank, and not the character of the king. It is also present in the mourning inscription the last voice of the most pious, quiet, most illustrious Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, who reposed in holiness in the Lord, to the Lord God".

And such a “quiet” sovereign, by the way, was officially not only Alexei Mikhailovich, but also his sons, successors on the throne: in the beginning Fedor Alekseevich, then the brothers Ivan and Peter, and then for 30 years only Peter, whom you would certainly suspect of “quiet” behavior and excessive gentleness.

On June 18, 1676, on the day of Fyodor Alekseevich’s coronation into the kingdom, Simeon of Polotsk presented him with “The Good Glasle” - a book dedicated to “ to the newly reigned most pious, quiet, most illustrious Great Sovereign".
In 1701, the professor of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, the miracle monk Job, who compiled the “Primer, Socrates’ recitation of Christian teaching,” indicated in the preface that he worked for the glory of “ the clearest and most powerful of all... Pyotr Alekseevich". Peter is simply called "the quietest" in the inscription of the "Rhetorical Hand" Stefan Jaworski- more precisely, in its Russian translation, owned by Feofan Prokopovich. In the Trilingual Lexicon, he translated “quietest” as serenissimus, which epithet was used in the title of Roman emperors. And this finally debunks the myth that Alexey Mikhailovich earned the nickname “the quietest” from his contemporaries thanks to his meekness and humility.

References:
Klyuchevsky V.O. Alexey Mikhailovich (in the course "Lectures on Russian history").
Panchenko A. About Russian history and culture. St. Petersburg, 2000. pp. 17-21.

CONTENT

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………...3

2. Main part………………………………………………………………………………….5

3. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………...8

List of references……………………………………………………………….9

Application

INTRODUCTION

It is known that many rulers of Russia received nicknames during their lifetime for their character, exploits, and reforms. For example, Prince Vladimir the Holy - “Red Sun”, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich - “Donskoy”, Prince Alexander Yaroslavich - “Nevsky”, Prince Ivan I - “Kalita”, Tsar Ivan IV - “The Terrible”, Tsar Alexander I - “Winner” , Tsar Alexander II – “Liberator”.

Were these popular nicknames always true? In our work, we conducted a study that enlightened Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, namely the nickname “The Quietest” assigned to him.

The more than thirty-year reign of the second tsar from the Romanov family was marked by riots, wars and rebellions, because of which the entireXVIIThe century was called the “rebellious century.” However, despite this, Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed “The Quietest.” So who is he: the “quiet” king who strived for peace and justice, or a tyrant who continuously fought throughout his long reign - with the Poles, Swedes, Little Russian hetmans, Crimean Tatars, Turks, Stenka Razin and even monks Solovetsky Monastery?

The existence of this problem determinesrelevance our research.

Our survey of schoolchildren in grades 5-7 showed that they all associate the nickname “The Quietest” either with the personality of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, or with the fact that there were no wars during his reign. Are they right? This is what becameobject of this study.

Goal of the work: based various sources about personality, board and activities, find out why Alexei Mikhailovich is called the Quietest.

Tasks:

1. Study and analyze Internet resources and literature about Alexei Mikhailovich.

2. Compare the assessments of contemporaries and historians about the personality of the king.

3. Find out what Alexei Mikhailovich’s nickname is connected with.

Hypothesis: if Alexei Mikhailovich is called “The Quietest”, then is this connected with his personal qualities?

To achieve the purpose of the study, we used the followingmethods: study and analysis of literature and documents, generalization, comparison, survey.

MAIN PART

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname “The Quietest.”

It is believed that Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed this way for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man.In the study by S.M. Solovyov “History from ancient times” the tsar, from his point of view, was distinguished by “kindness” and “gentleness,” like his father, Mikhail Fedorovich. A more detailed description of the king is given by V.O. Klyuchevsky: “I’m ready to see in him better man In ancient Rus', at least, I don’t know of another ancient Russian person who would have made a more pleasant impression - but not on the throne.” This “best” person, according to Klyuchevsky, was passive and unstable, incapable of “defending or carrying out anything,” “easily lost his composure and gave excessive scope to his tongue and hands.” . K.F. Valishevsky writes that “despite his gentleness and good nature, ... Alexey loved cruel jokes” , in addition, he punished “severely and mercilessly for innocent offenses,” however, according to the author, “one cannot help but pay attention to him as one of the most highly moral monarchs of all times and peoples.”

Thus,Alexey Mikhailovich, according to historians, was not at all “the quietest” - neither by nature nor by deeds.

As for affairs, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich there was least peace and quiet. The king demanded that his henchmen serve tirelessly. Remembering “his incessant work,” boyar Artamon Matveev noted that “this has never happened before.” And when did Alexei Mikhailovich have time to rest, if during his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war? Contemporaries themselves called the 17th century the “rebellious century.” In real life, the king was a man of the cruel 17th century. In business government controlled he was an autocratic monarch who did not recognize limitations on his power. This was the Russian feudal tsar, it was under him that many riots flared up and were very cruelly suppressed - Solyanoy, Medny, Pskov, the grandiose uprising of Stepan Razin, under him the enslavement of the peasants was completed, the process of subordinating the church to the state began.

However, in everyday life, in everyday life, this was a completely different person. Tough in power and in everyday life, Tsar Alexei appears as an educated, very emotional, very lively and inquisitive person, sometimes soft, even indecisive and fearful. He loved all sorts of news and curiosities, and was very warm and sincere to his friends and relatives. To different foreign things the king either treated them favorably, or at least did not interfere with them, or even did not disdain to use them himself. At the same time, he was quick-tempered and quick to anger, despite his outward good nature and real kindness. Alexey Mikhailovich often gave vent to his displeasure, became angry, scolded and even fought. Moreover, the boyars also suffered. At one of the Duma meetings, the sovereign cursed, beat and kicked his father-in-law Miloslavsky out of the room. However, Alexey Mikhailovich quickly cooled down and never kept a grudge for long.

Relatively much is known about foreign evidence that tells about Alexei Mikhailovich: there are notes, diaries, reports of people who visited Russia, including as part of embassies, there are preserved stories of Europeans who came to “Muscovy” with the honorary rights of specialists in various fields. His contemporaries wrote about the tsar - Patrick Gordon, Balthasar Coyet, Adolf Lisek, Augustin Mayerberg, Andrei Rode, Johann de Rodes.Having considered in general outline Information from contemporaries about Alexei Mikhailovich, especially foreigners, is hardly possible to create a comprehensive image of the ruler. And yet, their writings provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the extraordinary personality of the Russian Tsar,

see him like real person with his interests and hobbies, with a certain worldview, lifestyle, attitude towards himself and towards people.

The epithet “quietest” is not used by contemporaries as a characteristic of the king. We found this epithet only in Archpriest Avvakum, but not as a nickname, but as part of an unofficial title, which he considers inappropriate to the personal qualities of Alexey Mikhailovich. Habakkuk denounces: “And the enemy of God darkened that king, and therefore, flatteringly, he magnifies: “The most pious,quietly , our most autocratic sovereign - more than all the saints from the century! - May the Lord God remember you in His kingdom, always, now, and ever, and forever and ever...But it is precisely this statement that gives the key to the correct understanding of the nickname “The Quietest.” Its origins lie in the ancient formula “peace and quiet,” which symbolizes a well-ordered and prosperous state. Alexei Mikhailovich precisely “calmed down” Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. In one document of that time it is said that after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich Monomakh’s hat was put on by “his noble son, the most pious,quietest , autocratic great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, piety was firmly observed throughout the entire kingdom, and all Orthodox Christianity shone with serene silence.”

This is the meaning our ancestors put into the epithet “quietest” - it was an official sovereign title that had to do with the rank, and not the character of the king. And such a “quiet” sovereign, by the way, was officially not only Alexei Mikhailovich, but also his sons, successors on the throne: first Fyodor Alekseevich, then the brothers Ivan and Peter, and then for 30 years only Peter, whom you would never suspect of “quiet” behavior and excessive softness.

Opinions of historians about Alexei Mikhailovich -

CONCLUSION

In the course of the research, we became acquainted with the characteristics of the tsar, documents of that era, and his main actions in order to agree or doubt the nickname “The Quietest” given to Tsar Alexei. While working on this topic, we came to the conclusion that Alexey Mikhailovich was not the quietest either by nature or in his deeds. He was quick-tempered, sometimes lost his temper and even let his hands run wild. He loved speed in both thoughts and actions, he loved energetic and active people. Why was he called the quietest, that is, humble and meek? The fact is that Alexei Mikhailovich was the giver of “silence,” that is, he knew how to maintain order, there was no unrest under him, and the word “quietest” was one of the royal titles of that time. Thus, our hypothesis was not confirmed. The nickname “The Quietest” is only partly related to the personal qualities of Alexei Mikhailovich and to a greater extent relates to his unofficial title, which indicates his state policy.

We hope that our research will help schoolchildren get rid of stereotypes and take a fresh look at the personality of Alexei Mikhailovich, and think about his role in the history of Russia.

LIST OF REFERENCES AND SOURCES

1. Valishevsky K. The First Romanovs, Moscow, “Soviet Writer”, 1990, p. 25, 116

2. History of Russia from ancient times to the endXVIIcentury/ A.P.Novoseltsev, A.N.Sakharov, V.I. Buganov, K.F. Waliszewski 1990, p. 270-298

3. Klyuchevsky V.O. Historical portraits. M., 1991, p. 151-170

4. Klyuchevsky V.O On Russian history (compiled by author. Foreword and note by V.V Artyomov), M., 1998

5. Ozersky V.V. Rulers of Russia. From Rurik to Putin. History in portraits. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2004.

6. Ryzhkov K.V. 100 great Russians - M.: Veche, 2008.- p.177-178

7. Encyclopedia “Avanta +” Great people of the world, M., 2005, p. 167-178

8. I explore the world “History” (F. Platonov, V. O. Klyuchevsky). Author compiled by N.V. Chudakova. Publishing house "AST" Moscow, 2001.

List of used Internet resources:

The historian Klyuchevsky called Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich a glorious Russian soul and was ready to see in him the best man of ancient Rus'. Let's try to figure out why this sovereign received such a flattering assessment.

Childhood. Upbringing

Alexei Mikhailovich ascended the throne in 1645, as a 16-year-old boy. He received the usual old Moscow education, that is, he could quickly read the clock in church and, not without success, sing with the sexton in the choir along the hook notes. At the same time, he studied the rite of church worship to the smallest detail and could compete with any monk in his subtle sophistication in terms of prayers and fasting. The prince of the old time would probably have stopped there. But Alexey was brought up in a different time, when the Russian people vaguely felt the need for something new, and therefore foreign. As a child, Alexey was already holding intricate overseas toys in his hands: a horse German work, German engravings, and even children's armor made for him by the German master Peter Schalt.

In addition, at the age of 11-12, Alexey was already the owner of a small library containing a dozen volumes. Over time, reading became his daily need. They said about the mature Alexei Mikhailovich that he was “accustomed to many philosophical sciences.” The tsar also loved to write, tried to tell the history of his military campaigns, tried his hand at poetry and drew up a falconry charter, remarkable for its figurative language and the desire for selfless admiration of beauty.

This attractive combination of loyalty to the old Russian tradition with a penchant for useful and pleasant innovations was the root of Alexei Mikhailovich’s character. The Tsar was a model of piety: during Lent and the Dormition, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he ate once a day, and his food consisted of cabbage, milk mushrooms and berries - all without butter. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during all fasts, he did not eat or drink anything. Sometimes he stood in the church for five or six hours at a time, making thousands of prostrations, and on other days even one and a half thousand. At the same time, carried away by new trends, he often retreated from the Old Testament order of life. Alexey Mikhailovich traveled in a German carriage, took his wife hunting with him, organized the first theatrical performances in Russia, took care of the development of the fleet and gave the children a bookish monk as a teacher, who taught them not only the Book of Hours and the Psalter, but also the Latin and Polish languages.
Is it any wonder that it was in the family of Alexei Mikhailovich that the future opener of the window to Europe grew up.

And finally, let us not forget the extraordinary humility with which Alexey Mikhailovich perceived his royal rank. In one of his letters we read amazing words. The autocrat of all Rus' complains that he has exhausted the long-suffering of the Lord, for due to his many sins he is not fit to be a dog, let alone a king. “It is better to be a little star there, at the heavenly throne, than to be the sun here on earth,” he writes in another place. Here, by the way, let us remember that Alexei Mikhailovich was a contemporary of another sovereign, Louis XIV, who in his exorbitant vanity appropriated the title of “Sun King” and did not see anything bad or even funny in humming hymns of praise composed in his honor by court sycophants.

Why - Quiet?

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname “The Quietest.” But what does it mean?

It is usually believed that Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed so for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man. However, he was not at all “quiet” in this sense of the word - neither by his nature nor by his deeds. Let us first consider his character.

If the second Romanov showed a certain “quietness,” it was only in the first years of his reign, when he was young. But his natural temper quickly made itself felt. The king easily lost control and gave free rein to his tongue and hands. So, once, having quarreled with Patriarch Nikon, he publicly cursed him as a man and a son of a bitch. In general, Alexey Mikhailovich knew how to swear in a very inventive and sophisticated way, not like today’s foul-mouthed people with their wretched high school vocabulary. Here, for example, is the letter the tsar sent to the treasurer of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, Father Nikita, who, having drunk, got into a fight with the stationed archers: “From the tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Rus' to the enemy of God and the hater of God and the seller of Christ and the destroyer of the miracle-working house and the like-minded Satan , the damned enemy, the useless spy and the evil, nosy villain, Treasurer Mikita.” This was the king's language.
Let's talk about hands now. Once the issue of war with Poland was discussed in the Duma, and the Tsar’s father-in-law, Boyar Miloslavsky, who had never been on a campaign, unexpectedly announced that if the Tsar appointed him governor, he would bring him the Polish King himself as a prisoner. This impudent boasting so outraged the king that he slapped the old man in the face, tore his beard and kicked him out of the room. And this is the Quiet King? Hardly.

As for affairs, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich there was least peace and quiet. The king demanded that his henchmen serve tirelessly. Remembering “his incessant work,” boyar Artamon Matveev noted that “this has never happened before.” And according to Archpriest Avvakum, the king “has made a lot of messes in this life, like a goat galloping over the hills and driving the wind.” And when could Alexei Mikhailovich rest, if during his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war. Contemporaries themselves called the 17th century the “rebellious century.”

But it is precisely this last circumstance that provides the key to the correct understanding of the nickname “The Quietest.” Its origins lie in the ancient formula “peace and quiet,” which symbolized a well-ordered and prosperous state. Alexei Mikhailovich precisely “calmed down” Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. One document from that time says that after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich, Monomakh’s hat was put on by “his noble son, the most pious, quietest, most autocratic great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, piety was firmly observed throughout the entire kingdom, and all Orthodox Christianity shone with serene silence.”
This is the meaning our ancestors put into the epithet “quietest” - it was an official sovereign title that had to do with the rank, and not the character of the king. And such a “quiet” sovereign, by the way, was officially not only Alexei Mikhailovich, but also his sons, successors on the throne: first Fyodor Alekseevich, then the brothers Ivan and Peter, and then for 30 years only Peter, whom you would certainly suspect of “ quiet" behavior and excessive gentleness.

"Salt Riot"

Already at the very beginning of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the first major rebellion broke out - the so-called “salt riot”.

In the first years of Alexei Mikhailovich's reign, his former teacher, boyar Boris Ivanovich Morozov, had a great influence on him. To further strengthen his position at court, Morozov betrothed the 18-year-old Tsar to his wife’s younger sister, Maria Miloslavskaya. Maria's father, Ilya Miloslavsky, took advantage of his unexpected rise only to quickly fill his pocket. For bribes, he distributed various trade monopolies to merchants. But the sharp increase in the tax on salt had a particularly difficult impact on the well-being of the people, since salted fish was the main food of the common people of that time. Miloslavsky shared the income from these frauds with his assistants and minions - the Duma clerk Nazar Chisty and two clerks - Pyotr Trakhaniotov and Leonty Pleshcheev. The people hated this company with the most sincere hatred.

On June 29, 1649, the accumulated discontent resulted in open indignation. On this day, the Tsar accompanied the Patriarch in a church procession. When Alexei Mikhailovich returned to the Kremlin, he saw himself surrounded by a large crowd that had broken through here before the tsar. Among the Moscow mob, merchants, and artisans, there were also service people in the crowd. While one part of the rebels held the tsar, the other rushed to destroy Morozov’s palace. The rioters did not take expensive things for themselves, but broke them into pieces, trampled them under their feet or threw them at the windows shouting: “Here is our blood!” They wanted to destroy the palace itself, but Alexey Mikhailovich ordered to declare that the building belonged to him. Then the crowd, having killed three servants of the hated temporary worker, scattered throughout Moscow in search of Morozov, Miloslavsky and their honest company.

Nazar the Clean did not escape the people's anger. They caught him, beat him, threw him on a pile of manure, where they finally finished him off. The rest managed to hide in safe shelters. But the next day, Muscovites again appeared in front of the royal palace, demanding their extradition. Meanwhile, the situation was heating up, and the city was already burning, set on fire by the rebels at all four ends.

Alexei Mikhailovich had to enter into humiliating negotiations with the rebels. He asked not to touch Morozov, promising to send him away, and managed to defend his favorite. But Pleshcheev and Trakhaniotov were handed over to the crowd, who immediately literally tore the clerks into pieces. This terrible sight had such an effect on the 20-year-old tsar that with tears in his eyes he began to beg the rebels for mercy, vowing to destroy monopolies and improve financial management and give the country a fair government. Little by little, the unrest of the people subsided and the riot stopped.

But that was just the beginning. " Rebellious Age" inexorably ascended to its bloody zenith.

Split

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Russian spirit gave its first deep crack, which was called the church schism. This crack has not healed yet. So what kind of wedge split the Russian people into two parts - Orthodox and Old Believers?

TO mid-17th century Over the course of more than 600 years of the existence of Christianity in Rus', some local customs and rituals arose and became established in the Russian Church, different from those accepted in the Greek Church, from which Rus' at one time adopted a new faith. Such were the two-fingered sign of the cross, the inscription and pronunciation of the name Jesus with one “and” - Jesus, the singing of double rather than triple “hallelujah” during worship, and the like. In addition, with the repeated rewriting of liturgical books by hand, a lot of typos and disagreements accumulated in them, and the printing press only multiplied these misunderstandings and gave them the value of the printed word. As you can see, church disagreements with the Greeks did not concern deep issues of faith and church dogmas, but were purely ritual in nature. But the people of that time attached to the ritual great value- in its observance they saw the guarantee of spiritual salvation.

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, these accumulated faults and disagreements began to seriously hurt the eyes of educated Russian people. A natural desire arose to rewrite church books according to ancient models. Under Patriarch Nikon, mountains of ancient handwritten books - Greek and Church Slavonic - were brought to Moscow from the Orthodox East and from different corners of Russia. New editions corrected from them were sent to Russian churches with orders to select and destroy old printed and ancient written books. This is where the confusion and fermentation in the minds began. Many Orthodox Christians, looking at the books they sent, were horrified to find in them neither the sign of two fingers, nor Jesus, nor the double hallelujah, nor other familiar and time-honored beliefs, customs and characters. The new books were seen as an attempt by the church authorities to introduce some new faith. But the Russian people firmly believed that the ancient holy fathers were saved by precisely the custom that was adopted in Rus', and that the Orthodox should die “for the single letter az” in the church text.
Part of the Russian clergy cursed the new books as heretical, and continued to serve and pray from the old books. At the Moscow Church Council of 1666-1667, the disobedient were anathematized for opposing church authority and excommunicated from the Church. And those excommunicated, in turn, ceased to recognize the church hierarchy as legitimate church authority. Since then, this ecclesiastical division of the Russian people has continued, which has brought many troubles to Russia.

Let us also note that the nerve of the church schism was not blind attachment to old rituals. In the retreat of the church authorities from ancient orthodoxy, schismatics saw a terrible sign of the approaching end of times. The schism was a kind of social-apocalyptic utopia, frantic anticipation of the coming of the Antichrist. This ecstatic mood gave rise to a peculiar spiritual type of “schismatic teachers” of the first generation—obsessed fanatics rather than good shepherds.

Let's say a few words about the most outstanding of them.

Let's start with the martyrs. The first place among them should, of course, be given to Archpriest Avvakum. He was a big genius, a naturally intelligent, although uneducated person. “Even though I am not very intelligent, an unlearned man,” he said about himself, “I am not a student of dialectics and rhetoric and philosophy, but the mind of Christ is an imam in myself—an ignoramus in words, not in reason.”
Such self-confidence was caused not only by exorbitant conceit, of which Avvakum really had more than enough. He truly believed strongly in the gift of direct communication with God that had been bestowed upon him. His opposition to church reform was sincere and deep. “We thought, having come together,” he says about his impressions of Patriarch Nikon’s innovations, “we see how winter wants to be: our hearts are cold and our legs are trembling.”
By his nature, Avvakum was a zealous fanatic, and if he had been victorious, he would have enjoyed tormenting and torturing his opponents. But history doomed him to defeat, which he faced courageously and firmly, with full presence of mind. In one of his petitions to the Tsar, Avvakum calmly says: “I know how sorrowful you are, sir, from our torment... It’s not sweet for us either when our ribs are broken, tortured with whips and languished in the cold with hunger. And all the churches suffer for God’s sake.”
He died true to himself martyrdom. By order of the tsar (Fyodor Alekseevich, son of the Quiet Tsar), he was burned in a log house along with his three comrades.

The sisters, noblewoman Fedosya Morozova and princess Evdokia Urusova, also showed a high example of spiritual fortitude. They were arrested for repeated insults to the highest church authorities and the tsar himself. Stripped to the waist, the sisters were strung up on a rack, tortured with fire, and then thrown into the snow for several hours. However, they did not renounce their beliefs and were forever imprisoned in a monastery.

However, not all schismatics chose passive resistance. The elders of the Solovetsky Monastery, for example, actually separated from the church and state, having spent 11 years behind the strong walls of a distant monastery. Alexey Mikhailovich tried for a long time to reason with the rebellious elders with exhortations, and sent them letters in a conciliatory spirit. But when he was informed that the monks were holding a “black cathedral” among themselves (that is, a self-proclaimed, illegal one), at which they anathematized the sovereign, Alexei Mikhailovich reluctantly ordered the monastery to be taken by storm.

The reprisal of Voivode Meshcherinov against the participants of the Solovetsky Uprising

Finally, among the schismatics there were also outright fanatics who pushed people to commit self-immolation - the notorious schismatic “burnings”. Despite all the efforts of the government, it turned out to be impossible to stop this fiery epidemic - it gradually died down on its own, like other types of general insanity.

Patriarch Nikon

Just as a story about Louis XIII is impossible without mentioning Cardinal Richelieu, so the story of Alexei Mikhailovich cannot do without the name of Patriarch Nikon, the second person in the state.

Patriarch Nikon and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. 17th century drawing

In 1648, abbot Nikon of the Kozheozersk monastery came to bow to the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. This native of Nizhny Novgorod peasants turned out to be surprisingly well-read, smart, and pious. Conversations with him sank into the soul of the young king, and sincere affection arose between them. Alexey Mikhailovich left Nikon in the capital, brought him closer to him and began to call him his “sobin’s” friend, that is, close, sincere.
The Tsar's favorite quickly went uphill: he was ordained Archimandrite of the Novospassky Monastery, then became Metropolitan of Novgorod, and in 1652 the church council decided to elect him head of the Church instead of the deceased patriarch. Alexei Mikhailovich himself, in the Assumption Cathedral, in full view of the boyars and people, bowed at Nikon’s feet and with tears begged him to accept the patriarchal rank. “Will they honor me as an archpastor and supreme father and will they allow me to establish a Church?” - Nikon asked. The Tsar, the priesthood and the boyars swore to him of this.
Having received unlimited power and the title “great sovereign” from the tsar and the council, the new Patriarch began work on correcting the liturgical books and the church service itself. Lacking sufficient education and experience to carry out such reforms, Nikon recklessly broke some centuries-old traditions. It was Nikon’s tough, autocratic policy that split the Russian people into “Nikonians” and Old Believers.
Having made many enemies among the priesthood and boyars, the Patriarch prepared his own downfall with his own hands. Over the years, the king lost interest in his friend. At a church council in 1666, Nikon was deprived of his patriarchal rank and exiled as a simple monk to the distant Ferapontov Monastery.
In 1676, by royal decree, Nikon was transferred under the supervision of two elders to the Kirillov Monastery. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, at the request of Grand Duchess Tatyana Mikhailovna and at the request of many clergy and secular persons, the new Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich ordered in 1681 to transfer the disgraced Patriarch to the Resurrection Monastery near Moscow. But the elderly Nikon could not bear the hardships of the journey and died on August 17, 1681 near Yaroslavl. He was buried in New Jerusalem according to the patriarchal rank.

Razinsky revolt

The “rebellious” 17th century from the spiritual side was most fully expressed in church schism, and from the, so to speak, physical, material side - in Razin’s rebellion.

The popular movement, which shook the foundations of the Moscow state, began as a purely Cossack “getting zipuns,” that is, it was the most ordinary, albeit large-scale robbery. Its leader was Stenka Razin, who formed a gang of the so-called “golytba” - poor Cossacks, always ready to take a walk at someone else’s expense. With these reckless people, Stenka robbed first on the Volga, and then on the banks of the Caspian Sea. Having plundered the Persian coast to their fill, the Cossacks returned with rich booty in 1669 to the Don, where the fame and importance of the successful chieftain grew incredibly. Now Stenka was called nothing less than Stepan Timofeevich, and thousands of fugitive thieves and lazy people considered it lucky to get into his service.
Having spent the winter on the Don, Razin again moved to the Volga in the summer of 1670, but not with robbery, but with rebellion. Proclaiming everywhere that he was going to war against the Moscow boyars, the ataman took Astrakhan almost without a fight and, moving up the Volga, reached Simbirsk. It was here that the Cossack raid developed into a “Russian revolt, senseless and merciless.”
The peasants, agitated by Razin’s calls to beat the boyars, robbed and killed their landowners, united in detachments and joined the Cossacks. Following them, foreigners of the Volga region rose up - Zyryans, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Cheremis, Bashkirs, who rebelled and cut themselves, without knowing why. Stenka's army, drunk on wine and blood, breathed the blackest revenge and envy. Laws, society, religion - in short, everything that in one way or another constrains personal instincts and motives aroused the most fierce hatred in these people. Their victory would mean a quick end to the Russian state. Stenka promised all this rebellious bastard complete freedom in everything. “I’m going against the boyars, clerks and all authorities, and among you I will create equality,” he proclaimed in his “lovely letters.” In fact, he took everyone into the cruelest bondage, into complete slavery. Suffice it to say that everyone had to prostrate themselves before this champion of equality.

Razin's forces reached enormous proportions. It seemed that the road to Moscow was indeed opening before him. Suddenly his hordes suffered complete failure near Simbirsk. Stenka was defeated by Prince Baryatinsky, from whom part of the army was trained in the European system. Then, abandoning the peasant gangs to the mercy of fate, Razin fled with the Cossacks to the Don, but was captured there by the “homely”, or otherwise, “old” Cossacks who remained loyal to the tsar, and sent to where he so persistently sought to get - to Moscow. On the scaffold he said to his brother Frol, who was shaking with fear: “Don’t be a woman! We had a nice walk, now we can get hurt!” These words expressed the whole of Stenka, who came not at all to give the people freedom, but to enjoy the people’s misfortune to their heart’s content.

Innovations

The powerful genius of Peter the Great left such an indelible imprint on all matters that he touched that at first glance it seems that Russia owes all the most important innovations to him. Meanwhile, in almost all areas of his activity, Peter merely followed in the footsteps of his predecessors, completing the program they had outlined. And in order not to be unfounded, I suggest you short review European innovations that appeared in Russia during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Let's start with the fact that in 1672 the first theatrical performance in Russia took place. In the suburban Kolomensky Palace of Alexei Mikhailovich, a French poetic play based on the biblical story “Esther and Artaxerxes” was performed, translated into Russian by the church writer Simeon of Polotsk, a close friend of the tsar. The actors for the unprecedented overseas performance were recruited from the troupe of Pastor Gregory, who lived in the German Settlement.

Even earlier, the first Russian newspaper was printed in Moscow, called “Chimes,” following the example of many newspapers published in Germany, Holland and Poland. The Moscow Chimes were published in the Ambassadorial Prikaz in the amount of 20 issues per year and informed readers about events in foreign countries.
In the field of military affairs, Alexey Mikhailovich carried out an important reform, significantly increasing the number of regiments of the foreign system. He willingly accepted foreign officers and specialists into his service. In this way, Russia acquired many of Peter I's future commanders and associates, such as generals Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort and Jacob Bruce.
Finally, none other than Alexey Mikhailovich took care of establishing a navy in Russia. Moreover, he was by no means a pioneer in this matter. Back in 1635, under his father Mikhail Fedorovich, a Holstein master, with the help of Russian carpenters, built the warship Friedrich in Nizhny Novgorod, which reached the Caspian Sea along the Volga, but, however, immediately sank off the coast of Dagestan.
This unsuccessful experience, however, did not discourage Alexei Mikhailovich. Since the Holsteins were not up to the task, new shipwrights were ordered from Holland, a recognized maritime power of their time.
In 1667, in the village of Dedinovo on the Oka, next to Kolomna, a shipyard was founded, at the disposal of which forests in Vyazemsky and Kolomensky districts, as well as Tula foundries, were given. And already in September 1668, the first Russian squadron entered the water, consisting of one 22-gun ship "Eagle", a yacht, two boats and one shuttle. Captain David Butler, who arrived from Amsterdam with 14 crew members, took command of the new squadron.
Butler was given the task of eliminating piracy off the coast of the Caspian Sea. Autumn bad weather delayed the squadron's departure to the south. Only in the next 1669, the Eagle, transported to the Volga, finally dropped anchor in the Astrakhan roadstead. Unfortunately, Astrakhan was soon captured by Razin’s thieves, and the beautiful Eagle, set on fire on Stenka’s orders, burned to the ground along with the entire squadron. The next time the Russian squadron of the glorious skipper Peter broke through to the southern seas only 28 years later, but now - forever.

Increment of power

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, Russia, although shaken by endless riots and internal turmoil, nevertheless achieved great success in foreign policy. We can say that the quiet tsar returned to the Moscow state the title of a great power, lost since the time of the Great Troubles.

Historically, the most important foreign policy issue of that time was the question of Little Russia, as Ukraine was called at that time. In 1648, the Cossack centurion Bogdan Khmelnitsky raised Zaporozhye against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was unanimously supported by the Ukrainian peasantry, who rebelled against their masters - the Polish lords. A formidable force was formed, with which Khmelnitsky expelled the Poles from the entire country in just six months. But the Poles quickly recovered from the surprise and launched a counter-offensive, inflicting one defeat after another on the Cossacks. Khmelnitsky, who initially dreamed of an independent Ukraine, had no choice but to hit the Moscow sovereign with a request to accept Ukraine under his high hand. In 1654, Moscow ambassadors sent to Ukraine took an oath of allegiance to the Moscow Tsar from the Cossacks. In the protracted Russian-Polish war that followed, Russian troops also managed to regain Smolensk. From then on, Moscow took over the offensive role from Poland and began to consistently strive for the return of Western Russian regions.
In the late 60s - early 70s of the 17th century, the first serious clash between Russia and Turkey took place. Huge army Turkish Sultan with the participation of the Crimean horde and the traitorous Ukrainian hetman Doroshevich, they tried to take possession of the Ukrainian lands annexed to Moscow, but were stopped by the brave defense of the border fortresses.
In the east, Russian colonization, which crossed the Urals at the end of the 16th century, went far into the depths of Siberia. Russian pioneers, followed by the sovereign's archers and governors, went to the Amur, penetrated the Arctic Circle and reached the shores of the Bering Strait. For the first time, the Russian-Chinese border was established and diplomatic relations were established with the great eastern neighbor.
In general, visits by various foreign ambassadors then became a common occurrence in Moscow. And the Moscow ambassadors themselves frequented all sorts of European courts, reaching Paris, London, the capitals of Italian states, and even distant Madrid. Never before has Russian diplomacy entered such a wide field.
By the end of the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Russian state has achieved impressive success. It fought off all external enemies, concluded peace treaties with Poland, Turkey, Sweden and grew by no less than seventy thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian and Siberian land. A country that was developing at such a pace had a great future ahead of it.

Alexei Mikhailovich died of a heart attack in January 1676, only 47 years old.

Why was Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov called “the quietest”?

The quietest (lat. clementissimus) honorary title of Latin origin, meaning silence (tranquility, prosperity) in the country during the reign of the sovereign. It has nothing to do with the character qualities of Alexei Mikhailovich. Subsequently, when the Latin language was replaced by French in diplomacy, the former dignification clementissimus was translated into French (French tres gracieux), and in Russia it was translated from French as the most merciful, and this name was also applied to the sovereign title, instead of the previous quietest.
Why is Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich “the quietest”?
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich remained in history with the nickname the quietest. What does it mean?
It would seem that the answer lies on the surface. It is generally believed that the second Romanov was so nicknamed for his gentle kindness. Indeed, the king was a good-natured man. However, he was not at all the quietest in this sense of the word, either by nature or by deeds.

Let us first consider his character.
If the second Romanov showed a certain quietness, it was only in the first years of his reign, when he was young. But his natural temper quickly made itself felt. The king easily lost control and gave free rein to his tongue and hands. So, once, having quarreled with Patriarch Nikon, he publicly cursed him as a man and a son of a bitch. In general, Alexey Mikhailovich knew how to swear in a very inventive and sophisticated way, not like today’s foul-mouthed people with their wretched high school vocabulary. Here, for example, is the letter the tsar sent to the treasurer of the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery, Father Nikita, who, having drunk, got into a fight with the stationed archers:
From the Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich of All Rus' to the enemy of God and the hater of God and the seller of Christ and the destroyer of the wonderworker's house and
like-minded Satan, a cursed enemy, an unnecessary spy and evil
to the sneaky villain Treasurer Mikita.
This was the king's language. Let's talk about hands now. Once the issue of war with Poland was discussed in the Duma, and the Tsar’s father-in-law, Boyar Miloslavsky, who had never been on a campaign, unexpectedly announced that if the Tsar appointed him governor, he would bring him the Polish King himself as a prisoner. This impudent boasting so outraged the king that he slapped the old man in the face, tore his beard and kicked him out of the room. And this is the quietest king? Hardly.
Archpriest Avvakum denounces: “...And the enemy of God darkened that king, and besides, flatteringly, he calls him the most pious, the quietest,
our most autocratic sovereign, so-and-so, great, greater than all the saints from the ages! May the Lord God remember him in his kingdom, always, now, and ever, and forever and ever.
But the king turned out to be different, not the quietest at all: “And the king, he sings, at that time he dreams and imagines that he really is, there is no holier than him! And where is more than that pride!” etc.
As for affairs, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich there was least peace and quiet. The king demanded that his henchmen serve tirelessly. Remembering his incessant work, boyar Artamon Matveev noticed that this had never happened before. And according to the opinion of Archpriest Avvakum, the king made a lot of messes in this life, like a goat galloping over the hills and driving the wind. And when could Alexei Mikhailovich rest, if during his reign rebellion followed rebellion, war after war. Contemporaries themselves called the 17th century a rebellious century.
But it is precisely this last circumstance that provides the key to the correct understanding of the nickname Quiet. Its origins lie in the ancient formula of peace and quiet, which symbolized a well-ordered and prosperous state. Prayer for “peace and silence”, for “peace and silence, and prosperity” from the time of Boris Godunov into the “sovereign cup”
(special verbal and musical genre). Impostors and rebels, according to the terminology of that time, were “debauchers of silence.”
Alexei Mikhailovich precisely calmed Russia, torn apart by riots and splits. In one document of that time it is said that after the death of Mikhail Fedorovich, Monomakh’s hat was put on by his noble son, the most pious, quietest, most autocratic great sovereign, tsar and grand duke Alexei Mikhailovich. Then, under his sovereign hand, piety was firmly observed throughout the entire kingdom, and all Orthodox Christianity shone with serene silence.