The reign of Fyodor Ivanovich dates from 1584–1598. He became the last representative of the Rurik dynasty on the Russian throne, and was the son of Ivan IV the Terrible. Born in 1557 and ascended the throne after the death of his father. The reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich is briefly studied in a school history course in grades 6-7, and then again in grade 10 in preparation for the Unified State Exam.
Biography
Russian Tsar Fedor I the Blessed was the last representative of the ruling dynasty founded by the Novgorod prince Rurik. The son of Ivan IV the Terrible and his first wife Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva ascended the throne in 1584. Historians, not unreasonably, believed that the monarch was indifferent to power. He was canonized and canonized as a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Domestic policy
The activities of Fyodor Ioannovich are connected with the distribution of ranks. From the moment they were crowned kings, many members of the nobility received boyarhood or became okolnichy. In most cases, there is no need to talk about the deservingness of such gifts, but a number of okolnichy were talented governors. These are, in particular, N. Ochin-Pleshcheev, B. Zasekin, I. Buturlin, I. Turenin. At the same time, individual representatives of the nobility did not enjoy the trust and favor of the king. In general, relying on relatives helped Fyodor Ivanovich rule successfully.
The tsar also pursued a policy of enslaving the peasants, which was in the interests of the noble class. Tsar's decrees introduced a ban on peasant output in certain periods. In 1597, a law was passed establishing the practice of a 5-year search for fugitives. Under Tsar Feodor, the issue of indentured servitude was regulated. Decrees of 1586 and 1597 introduced the need for official registration of servitude records. On the other hand, the measures taken under this sovereign helped to stabilize and improve the economic situation in the state. It was also possible to overcome the crisis provoked by the long and difficult Livonian War.
During the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich, another key event took place - Siberia was completely and finally annexed.
Childhood and youth
Tsarevich Fyodor Ioannovich was born in the spring of 1557. His biography began in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, located northeast of Moscow. The baby became the third son in the family of the great sovereign, which had a total of six children.
Monument to Tsar Fedor I Ioannovich.
By his decree, the Tsarev city on Kokshaga, the future Tsarevokokshaisk - Yoshkar-Ola, was founded in 1584 Posted by Denis Tsarev on Saturday, August 4, 2018
Monument to Fyodor I Ioannovich in Yoshkar-Ola
The birth of the next heir was marked by the construction of a chapel and church. The Fedorovsky Monastery, then belonging to the Pereslavl diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, has survived to this day. The boy received his name in honor of the holy great martyr Theodore Stratelates, who was the patron saint of military men and brave pious people.
After the death of his mother, presumably poisoned by court boyars, and the death of four sisters and brothers, the child became the second contender for the grand ducal throne. The father, carried away by thoughts about the oprichnina and absorbed in disagreements with advisers, did not see in his descendant the qualities necessary to govern the state, and gave preference to his older brother, who was distinguished by good health and intelligence.
In November 1581, the situation changed - John the Younger was killed by the king due to a family quarrel. Fyodor, who was brought up under the supervision of nannies and representatives of the clergy, began to prepare for the idea of ruling the state. However, the young man, who did not seriously consider the chances of taking a place on the Russian throne, spent his time in prayer and studied the lives of saints.
Notes[ | ]
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5
Holy Righteous Theodore I Ioannovich, Tsar of Moscow, commemorated January 7 (20)
(unspecified)
. www.eparhia-saratov.ru. Date accessed: March 8, 2021. - ↑ 1 2 Igor Kurukin, Irina Karatsuba, Nikita Sokolov.
Choosing your story. Forks in the path of Russia: from the Rurikovichs to the oligarchs. — Litres, 2019-01-30. — 870 s. — ISBN 978-5-457-66308-4. - Solovyov S. M.
History of Russia since ancient times. - St. Petersburg: Partnership “Public Benefit”, 1851-1879. - T. 7. - ↑ 1 2 3 4 Dmitry Volodikhin.
TSAR FEDOR IOANNOVICH When the blessed one is on the throne
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. Magazine "Foma" (September 21, 2009). - Kobrin V.B.
Tomb in the Moscow Kremlin // Who are you dangerous to, historian? / Vladimir Borisovich Kobrin. - M.: Moscow worker, 1992. - 224 p. - Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov).
Patriarchs of Troubled Times
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(inaccessible link).
cerkov.ru
. Access date: April 21, 2015. Archived July 13, 2015. - Museums of the Moscow Kremlin: ABOUT MUSEUMS (unspecified)
. www.kreml.ru. Date accessed: March 8, 2021. - A monument to Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich was unveiled in the historical park of Belgorod (unspecified)
.
TASS
. Date accessed: November 7, 2021.
Governing body
In the last years of the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible, the hereditary boyar Boris Fedorovich Godunov appeared on the political arena. The son of a landowner, who was related to high-ranking noble families and was a groomsman at the wedding of the Grand Duke with Marfa Vasilievna Sobakina, received the rank of clerk and the status of someone close to the Tsar.
Having married his sister Irina to the heir to the throne, the future founder of the new royal dynasty received guardianship over Fyodor Ivanovich, who was not eager for power and did not shine with intelligence. He became close to a prominent figure in the oprichnina, Bogdan Yakovlevich Belsky, and, according to historians, could have been involved in the death of the son of Vasily III.
Having influence on the members of the Zemsky Sobor, Godunov, aware of the weaknesses of the contender for the Monomakh's cap, persuaded representatives of the boyars and clergy to elect a close descendant of Ivan the Terrible to the kingdom. As a result, in the spring of 1584, Feodor I ascended the throne and became Tsar and Grand Duke of All Rus'.
According to a number of historians, the 27-year-old young man, due to his undeveloped intellectual abilities and weakened immunity, was not able to solve state problems. Unlike his ancestors, who cared about earthly existence, Fyodor was in thoughts of God. Hiding behind a mysterious, detached smile, he prayed for an immortal soul.
Knowing everything about the habits and character of his son, Ivan IV, before his death, ordered the council of nobles, consisting of representatives of the noble classes, to direct the activities of the heir. In 1587, Boris Godunov shouldered the burden of state responsibility and became the de facto ruler and sovereign of the country.
While those close to him were participating in wars, the nominal tsar, who had failed in the sluggish struggle for the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, gave power an ecclesiastical gloss. The monastic lifestyle mitigated rumors of inactivity and dementia. Contemporaries called Fedor a “sanctified” ruler who atone for the sins of the people.
Posted by OD "Donetsk Republic" Voroshilovsky district on Monday, July 13, 2020
Portrait of Fyodor I Ioannovich
Unlike his father, who participated in military campaigns, the pupil of confessors and nannies indifferently watched the victory of Boris Godunov’s army over the armies of the Crimean Khan of Gaza II Geray Bora. But in honor of the soldiers who fought for their homeland, he ordered the construction of the Don Stavropegic Monastery.
In addition, during the reign of the hereditary Rurikovich, the construction of Saratov, Arkhangelsk, Stary Oskol began, and the capital of Siberia and the fortresses of Tara and Surgut were founded. The Russian-Swedish armed conflict was resolved by the annexation of the Baltic Sea coast, the country returned the territories of the previously conquered fortresses of Kexholm, Yama and Koporye.
Fyodor Ioannovich gave the people the Moscow Patriarchate, headed by Boris Godunov’s associate, Saint Job. The former abbot of the Staritsky Assumption Monastery, which was the spiritual center of the oprichnina, became famous for canonizing Saints Joseph of Volotsky and St. Basil the Blessed.
Under the son of Ivan the Terrible, foreigners were able to import tax-free goods into Russia. At the same time, the tsar did not give monopoly status to wealthy British merchants.
According to the rules of “personal presence,” traders did not have the right to offer customers other people’s products. In court cases they depended on the decisions of Polish intermediaries and Russian treasurers.
The consequences of the domestic and foreign policy pursued by Feodor I under the leadership of Boris Godunov were considered to be the strengthening of the local and international status of the boyars concentrated in the capital. The country established relations with a number of overseas khans and princes. Duty-free trade, however, deprived the state of financial investments, but this shortcoming was corrected by subsequent rulers and representatives of merchant families.
Written sources about Fyodor Ioannovich[ | ]
Image of Fyodor Ioannovich, Tsar Cannon
According to the review of the English diplomat Giles Fletcher[4]:
“The current Tsar (named Feodor Ivanovich) regarding his appearance: small in stature, squat and plump, weak in build and inclined to be watery; he has a hawk-like nose, his gait is unsteady due to some relaxation in his limbs; he is heavy and inactive, but he always smiles, so that he almost laughs. As for his other properties, he is simple and weak-minded, but very kind and good in manners, quiet, merciful, has no inclination towards war, has little ability for political affairs and is extremely superstitious. Besides the fact that he prays at home, he usually goes on pilgrimage every week to one of the nearby monasteries.”
Dutch merchant and trading agent in Moscow Isaac Massa[4]:
Very kind, pious and very meek... He was so pious that he often wanted to exchange his kingdom for a monastery, if only this were possible.
The Swedish king Charles IX spoke about him like this:[5]
“Russians in their language call him ‘durak’.”
Clerk Ivan Timofeev gives Fedor the following assessment[4]:
“With his prayers, my king kept the land unharmed from the enemy’s machinations. He was meek by nature, very merciful and blameless to everyone and, like Job, in all his ways he protected himself from every evil thing, most of all loving piety, church splendor and, after the holy priests, the monastic order and even the least brothers in Christ, blessed in the Gospel by the Lord himself. It’s easy to say - he devoted himself entirely to Christ and throughout his holy and venerable reign; not loving blood, like a monk, he spent in fasting, in prayers and supplications with kneeling - day and night, exhausting himself with spiritual exploits all his life... Monasticism, united with the kingdom, without being separated, mutually adorned each other; he reasoned that for the future (life) one is no less important than the other, [being] an unharnessed chariot leading to heaven. Both were visible only to the faithful, who were attached to him with love. From the outside, everyone could easily see him as a king, but inside, through his feats of monasticism, he turned out to be a monk; In appearance he was a crowned man, but in his aspirations he was a monk.”
The evidence of an unofficial, in other words, private historical monument - the “Piskarevsky Chronicler” - is extremely important. So many good things have been said about Tsar Fedor that none of the Russian rulers have ever received. He is called "pious", "merciful", "pious",
on the pages of the chronicle there is a long list of his works for the benefit of the Church.
His death is perceived as a real catastrophe, as a harbinger of the worst troubles of Russia: “The sun is darkened and has ceased from its course, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars have fallen from the sky: for the many sins of Christianity, the last luminary, the collector and benefactor of all the Russian lands, the sovereign, has passed away. Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich...”
Turning to the previous reign, the chronicler speaks with extraordinary tenderness:
“And the faithful and Christ-loving Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich reigned... quietly and righteously, and mercifully, carelessly.
And all people were in peace and in love, and in silence, and in prosperity during that summer. In no other year, under any king in the Russian land, except for the Grand Duke Ivan Danilovich Kalita, has there been such peace and prosperity as under him, the blessed king and Grand Duke Theodore Ivanovich of all Russia” [4].
A contemporary and close to the Sovereign’s court, Prince I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, said about the Sovereign this way:
“He was noble from his mother’s womb and cared for nothing except spiritual salvation.” According to his testimony, in King Theodore, “the kingdom and the kingdom were intertwined without division, and one served as an adornment to the other.”
[1].
The famous historian V. O. Klyuchevsky wrote about Saint Theodore:
“...blessed on the throne, one of those poor in spirit, to whom the Kingdom of Heaven, and not the earthly one, belongs, whom the Church so loved to include in its calendar”
[1].
In an article dedicated to the glorification of the holy Patriarchs Job and Tikhon, Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) noted:
“Tsar Feodor Ioannovich was an amazing, bright man. It was truly a saint on the throne. He was constantly in contemplation and prayer, was kind to everyone, church service was his life, and the Lord did not darken the years of his reign with disorder and turmoil. They started after his death. Rarely has the Russian people loved and pitied a tsar so much. He was revered as a blessed and holy fool, and was called the “sanctified king.” It was not for nothing that soon after his death he was included in the calendar of locally revered Moscow saints. The people saw in him the wisdom that comes from a pure heart and in which the “poor in spirit” are so rich. This is exactly how Alexey Konstantinovich Tolstoy portrayed Tsar Fyodor in his tragedy. But to someone else's eyes, this sovereign was different. Foreign travelers, spies and diplomats (such as Pearson, Fletcher or the Swede Petreus de Erlesund) who left their notes on Russia call him, at best, a “quiet idiot”. And the Pole Lev Sapega argued that “it is in vain that they say that this sovereign has little reason, I am convinced that he is completely devoid of it.”
[6].
Death
In the winter of 1598, Fyodor I the Blessed died for unknown reasons. Eyewitnesses present at the death claimed that the king, who suffered from auditory and visual hallucinations, simply fell asleep.
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Monument to Fyodor I Ioannovich in Belgorod
The day before, he wrote a will, according to which power passed into the hands of his wife Irina. Patriarch Job and Boris Godunov were appointed advisors and guardians of the queen.
The life of the last ruling representative of the Rurik dynasty said that his subjects sincerely mourned their loss. Many people gathered at the grave in the Archangel Cathedral. Rumor said that the Grand Duke ascended to the saint and mother Anastasia Romanovna and was reunited in heaven with the admirers of the churches.
