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Alexis of Russia

2025-11-01T19:11:37Z

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{{Short description|Tsar of Russia from 1645 to 1676}}
{{For|the heads of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] of the same name|Patriarch Alexy of Moscow (disambiguation)}}
{{Expand Russian|topic=bio|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Alexis
| image = Alexis I of Russia (1670-1680s, GIM).jpg
| caption = Portrait by an unknown Russian artist, {{circa|1670|1680}}
| succession = [[Tsar of all Russia]]
| reign = {{OldStyleDate|23 July|1645|13 July}} – {{OldStyleDate|8 February|1676|29 January}}
| coronation = 28 September 1645
| cor-type = russia
| predecessor = [[Michael of Russia|Michael I]]
| successor = [[Feodor III of Russia|Feodor III]]
| spouse = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya]]|1648|1669|end=d}}
* {{marriage|[[Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina]]|1671}}
}}
| issue = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tsarevich Dmitry Alexeyevich of Russia|Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeevich]]
* [[Tsarevna Yevdokia Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Yevdokia Alekseevna]]
* [[Marfa Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Marfa Alekseyevna]]
* [[Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich of Russia|Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich]]
* [[Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Sofia Alexeevna]]
* [[Catherine Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeevna]]
* [[Maria Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Maria Alexeevna]]
* [[Feodor III of Russia|Feodor III]]
* [[Feodosia Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeyevna]]
* [[Tsarevich Simeon Alexeyevich of Russia|Tsarevich Simeon Alexeyevich]]
* [[Ivan V]]
* [[Peter the Great|Peter I]]
* [[Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia|Tsarevna Natalya Alexeevna]]
}}
| issue-link = #Family and children
| issue-pipe = among others...
| full name = Alexei Mikhailovich
| house = [[Romanov]]
| father = [[Michael of Russia]]
| mother = [[Eudoxia Streshneva]]
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1629|3|19|}}
| birth_place = Moscow, Russia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1676|2|8|1629|3|19|df=y}}
| death_place = Moscow, Russia
| burial_date =
| burial_place = [[Cathedral of the Archangel]]
| religion = [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]]
}}

'''Alexei Mikhailovich'''{{efn|In full '''Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (Tishayshy)''' ({{langx|ru|Алексей Михайлович Романов (Тишайший)|Aleksey Mikhaylovich Romanov (Tishayshy)|Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the Quietest}})}} ({{langx|ru|Алексей Михайлович}},{{efn|Pre-reform spelling: Алеѯі́й Мїха́иловичъ}} {{IPA|ru|ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ|IPA}}; {{OldStyleDate|19 March|1629|9 March}} – {{OldStyleDate|8 February|1676|29 January}}), also known as '''Alexis''',<ref>{{cite book |last=Thompson |first=John M. |title=Russia and the Soviet Union : a historical introduction from the Kievan State to the present |date=2013 |publisher=Westview Press, A member of the Perseus Books Group |location=Boulder, CO |isbn=9780813346977 |edition=Seventh}}</ref> was [[Tsar of all Russia]] from 1645 until his death in 1676.<ref name="Morby">{{cite book |last1=Morby |first1=John |title=Dynasties of the World |date=18 September 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-178007-3 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191780073.001.0001/acref-9780191780073-e-196 |language=en |chapter=Russia, Tsardom of}}</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexis-tsar-of-Russia |title=Alexis |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref> He was the second Russian tsar from the [[House of Romanov]].<ref name="Morby"/>

He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council passed the ''[[Sobornoye Ulozheniye]]'' of 1649, which strengthened the bonds between autocracy and the lower nobility.<ref name=":0"/> In religious matters, he sided closely with [[Patriarch Nikon of Moscow|Patriarch Nikon]] during the [[Schism of the Russian Church|schism in the Russian Orthodox Church]] which saw unpopular liturgical reforms.<ref name="Britannica"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Freeze |first=Gregory L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_xBkabfpfXwC |title=Russia: A History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-956041-7 |location=Great Britain |pages=80–82 |language=en}}</ref>

While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars with [[Russo-Persian War (1651–1653)|Iran]], [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Poland]] (from whom [[left-bank Ukraine]] and [[Smolensk Voivodeship|Smolensk]] were annexed) and [[Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658)|Sweden]], as well as internal instabilities such as the [[Salt Riot]] in Moscow and the [[Cossack]] revolt of [[Stenka Razin]] in southern Russia. At the time of his death, Russia spanned almost {{convert|8.1|e6km2|e6mi2|abbr=unit}}.

==Early life and reign==

Alexis was born on {{OldStyleDate|19 March|1629|9 March}},<ref name="Britannica"/> in [[Moscow]], to [[Michael of Russia|Tsar Michael]] and [[Eudoxia Streshneva]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greener |first=W.O. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MOoQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 |title=The story of Moscow |publisher=Рипол Классик |year=1900 |page=120}}</ref> At the age of sixteen, he acceded to the throne after his father's death on 12 July 1645. In August, the Tsar's [[Eudoxia Streshneva|mother]] died, and following a pilgrimage to [[Sergiyev Posad]] he was crowned on 28 September in the [[Dormition Cathedral, Moscow|Dormition Cathedral]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Sebag Montefiore |first=Simon |author-link=Simon Sebag Montefiore |title=The Romanovs |date=2016 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=United Kingdom |page=43}}</ref> He was committed to the care of his tutor [[Boris Morozov]], a shrewd [[boyar]] open to Western ideas.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Alexius Mikhailovich|volume=1|page=578|first=Robert Nisbet|last=Bain|author-link=Robert Nisbet Bain}}</ref>

Morozov pursued a peaceful foreign policy, securing a truce with the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and carefully avoiding complications with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. His domestic policy aimed at limiting the privileges of foreign traders and abolishing useless and expensive court offices. On 17 January 1648, Morozov procured the marriage of the tsar with [[Maria Miloslavskaya]], himself marrying her sister Anna ten days later;<ref name="EB1911"/> both were daughters of [[Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky]].

Alexis empowered Morozov to conduct reforms to reduce social tensions; however, his measure of tripling the tax burden (arrears for the two years preceding 1648 was demanded) caused heightened popular discontent.<ref name=":0"/> Morozov was regarded as a corrupt, self-seeking boyar and was accused of sorcery and [[witchcraft]]. In May 1648 Muscovites rose against his faction in the [[Salt Riot]], and the young Tsar was compelled to dismiss them and exile Morozov to the [[Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery]]. Four months later, Morozov secretly returned to Moscow to regain some of his power.<ref name=":1"/>

The popular discontent demonstrated by the riot was partially responsible for Alexis' 1649 issuance of a new legal code, the ''[[Sobornoye Ulozheniye]]''.<ref name="Britannica"/>

==Later reign==

=== Military reform ===
In 1648, using the experience of creating regiments of the foreign system during the reign of his father, Alexis began reforming the army.

The main direction of the reform was the mass creation of [[New Order Regiments]]: [[Reiter]]s, Soldiers, [[Dragoon]]s and [[Hussar]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge history of Russia|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|editor-last1=Perrie |editor-first1=Maureen |editor-last2=Lieven |editor-first2=D. C. B. |editor-last3=Suny |editor-first3=Ronald Grigor|isbn=9780521812276|location=Cambridge|oclc=77011698}}</ref> These regiments formed the backbone of the new army of Tsar Alexis. To fulfill the reform goals, a large number of European military specialists were hired for service. This became possible because of the end of the [[Thirty Years' War]], which created a colossal surplus of military professionals in Europe.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Moskovskie vybornye polki soldatskogo stroi︠a︡ v nachalʹnyĭ period svoeĭ istorii, 1656-1671 gg.|last=Malov |first=A. V. (Aleksandr Vital'evich) (Александр|date=2006|publisher=Drevlekhranilishche|isbn=5936461068|location=Moskva|oclc=75971374}}</ref>

===Rebellions===
[[File:Portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.jpg|thumb|Portrait by a Polish painter, 1657]]
Throughout his reign, Alexis faced rebellions across Russia. After resolving the 1648 [[Salt Riot]] Alexis faced rebellions in 1650 in the cities of [[Pskov]] and Great [[Novgorod]]. Alexis put down the Novgorod rebellion quickly, but was unable to subdue Pskov, and was forced to promise the city amnesty in return for surrender. The [[metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] [[Patriarch Nikon of Moscow|Nikon]] distinguished himself at Great Novgorod and in 1651 became the Tsar's chief minister.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|last=Moss|first=Walter|title=A History of Russia: To 1917|year=2002|publisher=Anthem Press|pages=163–166|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&pg=PA164|isbn=9781843310235}}</ref>

By the 1660s, Alexis's wars with Poland and Sweden had put an increasing strain on the Russian economy and public finances. In response, Alexis's government had begun minting large numbers of copper coins in 1654 to increase government revenue but this led to a devaluation of the ruble and a severe financial crisis. As a result, angry Moscow residents revolted in the 1662 [[Copper Riot]], which was put down violently.<ref name=":1"/>

In 1669, the [[Cossacks]] along the [[Don (river)|Don]] in southern Russia erupted in rebellion. The rebellion was led by [[Stenka Razin]], a disaffected [[Don Cossack]] who had captured the Russian terminus of [[Astrakhan]]. From 1670 to 1671, Razin seized multiple towns along the [[Volga]] river. The turning point in his campaign was his failed siege of [[Simbirsk]] in October 1670. Razin was finally captured on the [[Don (river)|Don]] in April 1671, and was [[drawn and quartered]] in Moscow.<ref name=":1"/>

===War against Safavid Iran===
{{Main|Russo-Persian War (1651–1653)}}

In 1651, [[Safavid]] troops attacked Russian fortifications in the [[North Caucasus]]. The main issue involved the expansion of a Russian garrison on the [[Sulak (river)|Koy Su]] river, as well as the construction of several new fortresses, in particular the one built on the Iranian side of the [[Terek (river)|Terek]] river.{{sfn|Matthee|1999|page=169}}{{sfn|Matthee|2012|page=122}} The successful Safavid offensive resulted in the destruction of the Russian fortress and its garrison being expelled.{{sfn|Matthee|1999|page=169}}{{sfn|Matthee|2012|page=122}} In 1653, Alexis, initially thinking about sending the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]], eventually decided to send an embassy to Persia for a peaceful settlement of the conflict. In August 1653 courtier Prince Ivan Lobanov-Rostov and steward Ivan Komynin traveled from [[Astrakhan]] to [[Isfahan]]. Shah [[Abbas II of Persia|Abbas II]] agreed to settle the conflict, stating that the conflict was initiated without his consent.

===Wars against Poland and Sweden===
[[File:Znamia bolshogo polka 1654.JPG|thumb|Banner of Tsar Alexis, 1654]]
{{Main|Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658)}}

In 1653, the weakness and disorder of Poland, which had just emerged from the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]], encouraged Alexis to attempt to annex parts of [[White Ruthenia|White Russia]] and [[Little Russia]] (modern-day Belarus and Ukraine). On 1 October 1653, a [[Zemsky Sobor|national assembly]] met at Moscow to sanction the war and find the means of carrying it out, and in April 1654, the army was blessed by [[Patriarch Nikon of Moscow|Nikon]], who had been elected [[patriarch]] in 1652.<ref name="EB1911"/>

The [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|campaign of 1654]] was an uninterrupted triumph, and scores of towns, including the important fortress of [[Smolensk]], fell into the hands of the Russians.<ref name="EB1911"/> Ukrainian hetman [[Bogdan Khmelnitsky]] appealed to Tsar Alexis for protection from the Poles, and the [[Treaty of Pereyaslav]] brought about Russian dominance of the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] in [[left-bank Ukraine]].
[[File:Tsar Alexey Mihajlovich on review of armies in 1664.jpg|thumb|Tsar Alexei inspecting his troops in 1664, painting by [[Nikolai Sverchkov]], 1864]]

In the summer of 1655, a sudden invasion by [[Charles X of Sweden]] briefly swept the Polish state out of existence, in what became known as the [[Deluge (history)|Deluge]]. The Russians, unopposed, quickly appropriated nearly everything that was not already occupied by the Swedes. When the Poles offered to negotiate, the whole grand duchy of [[Lithuania]] was the least of the demands made by Alexis. However, Alexis and the king of [[Sweden]] quarrelled over the apportionment of the spoils, and at the end of May 1656, with encouragement by the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburg]] [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]] and the other enemies of Sweden, Alexis [[Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658)|declared war]] on Sweden.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Great things were expected by Russia of the Swedish war, but nothing came of it. [[Dorpat]] was taken, but countless multitudes of men were lost in vain before [[Riga]]. In the meantime, Poland had so far recovered herself as to become a much more dangerous foe than Sweden, and, as it was impossible to wage war with both simultaneously, the tsar resolved to rid himself of the Swedes first. In the [[Peace of Kardis]] (2 July 1661), Russia retroceded all her conquests.<ref name="EB1911"/>
[[File:Россия. Портрет царя Алексея Михайловича на коне. ~1670-е гг. ГИМ e1.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Alexis on horseback, 1670s]]

The Polish war dragged on for six years longer and was then concluded by the [[Truce of Andrusovo]] (11 February 1667), nominally for thirteen years, which proved the most durable of treaties. According to the truce, [[Polotsk]] and Polish [[Livonia]] were restored to Poland, but the more important cities of [[Smolensk]] and [[Kiev]] remained in the hands of Russia together with the whole eastern bank of the [[Dnieper]] river. This truce was the achievement of [[Afanasy Ordin-Nashchokin]], the first Russian chancellor and diplomat in the modern sense, who after the disgrace of Nikon became the tsar's first minister until 1670, when he was superseded by the equally able [[Artamon Matveyev]], whose beneficent influence prevailed to the end of Alexis's reign.<ref name="EB1911"/>

These territorial acquisitions allowed Alexis to call himself the "tsar of all the Russias" and claim imperial rank.{{sfn|Wortman|2013|p=14}} The new state seal was introduced in 1667, with three crowns above the eagle symbolizing [[Astrakhan]], [[Kazan]], and [[Siberia]], while the sets of three columns at the borders symbolized Great, White and Little Russia.{{sfn|Wortman|2013|p=14}} According to the decree, the eagle holding the sceptre and orb signified "the most gracious Sovereign, His Imperial Majesty, Autocrat, and Possessor."{{sfn|Wortman|2013|p=14}}

===Response to English Civil War===
[[File:Spas romanovy.jpg|thumb|Icon depicting [[Michael of Russia]] and his son Alexis, 1678]]

When [[Charles I of England]] was beheaded by the Parliamentarians under [[Oliver Cromwell]] in 1649, an outraged Alexis broke off diplomatic relations with England and accepted Royalist refugees in Moscow. He also banned all English merchants from his country (notably members of the [[Muscovy Company]]) and provided financial assistance to "[[Henrietta Maria of France|the disconsolate widow]] of that [[King Charles the Martyr|glorious martyr]], King Charles I."<ref>[[Massie, Robert K.]] ''Peter the Great: His Life and World''. Knopf: 1980. {{ISBN|0-394-50032-6}}. Page 12.</ref>

===Schism with the Old Believers===
{{Main|Raskol}}
In 1653, [[Patriarch Nikon]] established a series of reforms that aimed to bring the practices of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] into line with its [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek counterpart]]. Most notably, the church began to mandate the use of three fingers instead of two in making the [[Sign of the Cross|sign of the cross]]. This resulted in significant dissent among the church community. Nevertheless, Alexis continued to support Nikon until 1658, when Nikon abandoned his post due to a personal insult, leaving the seat of the patriarch vacant.<ref name="Moss 2002 208–209">{{cite book|last=Moss|first=Walter|title=A History of Russia: To 1917|year=2002|publisher=Anthem Press|pages=208–209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BXgNSFIEJ2QC&pg=PA209|isbn=9781843310235}}</ref>

In 1666, the tsar convened the [[Great Moscow Synod]], which was attended by Patriarch [[Macarius III Ibn al-Za'im]] and Patriarch [[Paisius of Alexandria]], in order to address the problems caused by Nikon. The synod agreed to formally depose Nikon, and also decided to excommunicate all who opposed the reforms of the church; those opponents broke away from the official Russian Orthodox Church to form the [[Old Believers]] movement.<ref name="Moss 2002 208–209"/>

Across Russia, Old Believers were harshly persecuted. One such old believer was [[Avvakum]] "the leader of the old Believers". Avvakum "had his wife and children buried alive in front of him; he himself was just exiled".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Montefiore |first=Simon Sebag |title=The Romanovs |publisher=Vintage Books |year=2016 |isbn=9780307280510 |location=United States |pages=43–59 |language=English}}</ref>

Several old believers fled to the monastery of Solovki which had revolted in the [[Solovetsky Monastery uprising]]. The monastery would be besieged for seven years until 22 January 1676 which was a few days before Alexis's death on 8 February 1676.

==Assessment==
[[File:PhilipandNikon.jpg|thumb|Alexis praying before the relics of [[Philip II, Metropolitan of Moscow|Phillip II]] in the presence of [[Patriarch Nikon]], painting by [[Alexander Litovchenko]], 1886]]
According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]]: {{blockquote|It is the crowning merit of the Tsar Alexei that he discovered so many great men (like [[Fyodor Rtishchev]], Ordin, Matveyev, the best of Peter's precursors) and suitably employed them. He was not a man of superior strength of character, or he would never have submitted to the dictation of Nikon. But, on the other hand, he was naturally, if timorously, progressive, or he would never have encouraged the great reforming boyar Matveyev. His last years, notwithstanding the terrible rebellion of [[Stenka Razin]], were deservedly tranquil.<ref name="EB1911"/>}}

Alexis's letters were first published by [[Pyotr Bartenev]] in 1856. They have earned him a place in the history of [[Russian literature]], as assessed by [[D. S. Mirsky]]:

<blockquote>A few private letters and an instruction to his [[Falconry|falconer]]s is all we have of him. But it is sufficient for [[Sergey Platonov]] to proclaim him the most attractive of Russian monarchs. He acquired the moniker ''Tishayshy'', which means "most quiet" or "most peaceful". He received this moniker through the ways he behaved—he would be kind and friendly, but the sounds created from instruments would provoke him. Certain aspects of [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], not its most purely spiritual, but its aesthetic and worldly aspects, found in him their most complete expression. The essence of Alexis's personality is a certain spiritual [[Epicureanism]], manifested in an optimistic Christian faith, in a profound, but unfanatical, attachment to the traditions and ritual of the Church, in a desire to see everyone round him happy and at peace, and in a highly developed capacity to extract a quiet and mellow enjoyment from all things.<ref>Mirsky, D. S. ''A History of Russian Literature''. Northwestern University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8101-1679-0}}. Page 27.</ref></blockquote>

==Personal description==
[[File:1000 Alex Mikh.jpg|thumb|Tsar Alexis on the [[Millennium of Russia]] monument in [[Veliky Novgorod]]]]
In 1666, his doctor [[Samuel Collins (physician, born 1619)|Samuel Collins]] described Alexis (then aged 37) as having "a sanguine complexion with light brown hair, his beard uncut. He is tall and fat of a majestical deportment, severe in his anger, bountiful, charitable".<ref>{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Samuel |title=The Present State of Russia in a Letter to a Friend at London |date=1671 |publisher=John Winter |pages=44, 110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EZFlAAAAcAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

==Title==
The full title of Alexis in 1667 was:<ref>{{cite web|title=1667 г. Именной указ. "О титуле Царском и о Государственной печати"|url=https://base.garant.ru/55097775/|website=garant.ru}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|
[[By the Grace of God]], We, the Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince Alexei Mikhailovich, Autocrat of all [[Great Russia|Great]], [[Little Russia|Little]] and [[White Rus]]sia, [[Moscow]], [[Kiev]], [[Vladimir, Russia|Vladimir]], [[Novgorod]], Tsar of [[Kazan]], Tsar of [[Astrakhan]], Tsar of [[Siberia]], Sovereign of [[Pskov]] and Grand Prince of [[Tver]], [[Yugorsk]], [[Perm, Russia|Perm]], [[Kirov, Kirov Oblast|Vyatka]], Bulgar and others, Sovereign and Grand Prince of [[Nizhny Novgorod|Novgorod of the Lower Land]], [[Chernigov]], [[Ryazan]], [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]], [[Yaroslavl]], [[Beloozero]], [[Udoria]], [[Obdoria]], [[Kondia]], and Ruler of all the [[Severia|Northern Countries]], the Sovereign of the [[Kingdom of Iberia|Iverian]] Lands, the [[Kartli]]an and Georgian Tsars and the [[Kabardians|Kabardian]] Lands, the Cherkasy and Mountainous Princes and many other States and Lands of the East and West, and the North from Father and Grandfather, and Heir, and Sovereign, and Possessor.
}}

==Family and children==
[[File:Alexis I's bride-show by G.Sedov (1882, GTG).jpg|thumb|''Tsar Alexei chooses his bride'', painting by [[Grigory Sedov]], 1882. The winner of the tsardom-wide contest organized by [[Boris Morozov]] was his relative [[Maria Miloslavskaya]].]]

Alexis's first marriage to [[Miloslavsky family|Miloslavskaya]] was harmonious and felicitous. They had thirteen children (five sons and eight daughters) in twenty-one years of marriage, and she died only weeks after her thirteenth childbirth. Four sons survived her (Alexei, Fyodor, Semyon and Ivan), but within six months of her death two of these were dead, including Alexei, the 15-year-old heir to the throne. The couple's children were:
* [[Tsarevich Dmitry Alexeyevich of Russia|Dmitri Alexeevich]] (1648–1649); crown prince; died in infancy
* [[Tsarevna Yevdokia Alekseyevna of Russia|Yevdokia Alekseevna]] (1650–1712)
* [[Marfa Alekseyevna of Russia|Marfa Alekseyevna]] (1652–1707)
* [[Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich of Russia|Alexei Alexeevich]] (1654–1670); crown prince; died unwed aged 15
* Anna Alexeevna (23 January 1655– 8 May 1659); died in infancy
* [[Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia|Sofia Alexeevna]] (1657–1704), regent of Russia (1682–89) for her two younger brothers;<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sophia-regent-of-Russia |title=Sophia |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref> never married
* [[Catherine Alekseyevna of Russia|Ekaterina Alexeevna]] (1658–1718)
* [[Maria Alekseyevna of Russia|Maria Alexeevna]] (1660–1723)
* [[Feodor III of Russia|Fyodor III]] (1661–1682); succeeded his father as [[Tsar of Russia]];<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Fyodor-III |title=Fyodor III |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref> died childless
* [[Feodosia Alekseyevna of Russia|Feodosia Alexeyevna]] (1662–1713)
* [[Tsarevich Simeon Alexeyevich of Russia|Simeon Alexeyevich]] (1665–1669); died in infancy
* [[Ivan V]] (1666–1696); was co-ruler along with his younger half-brother Peter,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Peter-the-Great |title=Peter I |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica |access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref> father of [[Anna of Russia|Empress Anna]]
* Yevdokia Alexeevna (1669–1669)

Alexis remarried on 1 February 1671 to [[Natalya Naryshkina|Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina]] (1 September 1651 – 4 February 1694). She had been brought up in the house of [[Artamon Matveyev]], whose wife was the Scottish-descended Mary [[Clan Hamilton|Hamilton]]. Their children were:
* [[Peter the Great|Peter I]] (1672–1725), later known as "Peter the Great", [[Tsar of Russia|Tsar]] and first [[Emperor of Russia]]
* [[Tsarevna Natalya Alexeyevna of Russia|Natalya Alexeevna]] (1673–1716)
* Fyodora Alexeevna (1674–1678)

==Ancestry==

{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Alexis of Russia'''
|2= 2. [[Michael I of Russia]]
|3= 3. [[Eudoxia Streshneva]]
|4= 4. [[Feodor Nikitich Romanov]], Patriarch Philaret
|5= 5. [[Xenia Shestova]]
|6= 6. Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnyov
|7= 7. Anna Konstantinovna Volkonskaya
|8= 8. [[Nikita Romanovich|Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev]]
|9= 9. Princess Eudoxia Alexandrovna Gorbataya-[[Shuysky|Shuyskaya]]
|10= 10. Ivan Vasiljevich Shestov
|12= 12. Stepan Andrejevich Streshnyov
|14= 14. Konstantin Romanovich Volkonsky
|16= 16. [[Roman Yurievich Zakharyin]]
|17= 17. Juliana Fedorovna [[Rostislavichi|Karpova]]
|18= 18. [[Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky|Prince Alexander Gorbaty-Shuysky]]
|19= 19. Anastasia Petrovna [[Golovin (surname)|Golovina]]
|28= 28. Roman Alexandrovich [[Volkonsky]]
}}

==See also==
* [[Family tree of Russian monarchs]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
{{See also|Bibliography of Russian history (1613–1917)}}
*{{cite book|last=Matthee|first=Rudolph P.|title=The Politics of Trade in Safavid Iran: Silk for Silver, 1600-1730|date=1999|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521641319|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5U0yECMV--wC}}
*{{cite book|last=Matthee|first=Rudi|title=Persia in Crisis: Safavid Decline and the Fall of Isfahan|date=2012|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1845117450}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wortman |first1=Richard S. |title=Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy from Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II - New Abridged One-Volume Edition |date=31 October 2013 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4969-7 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Scenarios_of_Power/ykaVAQAAQBAJ |language=en}}

==Further reading==
===Primary sources===
*[[Grigory Kotoshikhin]]'s ''On Russia during the reign of Alexey Mikhailovich'' (1665) is a key source on domestic life of the tsar and his court.
*[[Yury Krizhanich]]'s treatises from the 1660s are also very informative.

===Secondary sources===
*{{cite book|last=Longworth|first=Philip|title=Alexis, Tsar of All the Russias|date=1984|publisher=Franklin Watts|isbn=978-0531097700}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P7mOPKiKz8&list=TLArItmNkHoCoI8Hl3mX5ol6O44AzY6n8L Romanovs: The first film. Michael I, Alexis I] – Historical reconstruction "The Romanovs". StarMedia. Babich-Design (Russia, 2013)

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box|title=[[Tsar of Russia]]|before=[[Michael of Russia|Michael I]]|after=[[Feodor III of Russia|Feodor III]]|years=1645–1676}}
{{s-end}}

{{Sovereign Rulers of Russia}}
{{Tsarevich of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexis Of Russia}}
[[Category:Alexis of Russia| ]]
[[Category:1629 births]]
[[Category:1676 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Russian monarchs]]
[[Category:Tsars of Russia]]
[[Category:Candidates for the Polish elective throne]]
[[Category:House of Romanov]]
[[Category:Royalty from Moscow]]
[[Category:People of the Russo-Persian Wars]]
[[Category:Tsareviches of Russia]]
[[Category:People of the Khmelnytsky Uprising]]

Christopher of Bavaria

2025-09-27T22:36:45Z

96.245.180.59:

{{short description|King of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under the Kalmar Union (1416–1448)}}
{{stack begin}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Christopher III
| image = Christopher of Bavaria crop.jpg
| succession = [[List of Danish monarchs|King of Denmark]]
| moretext = ([[Style of the Danish sovereign|more...]])
| reign = 9 April 1440 – 5 January 1448
| coronation = 1 January 1443<br/>[[Ribe Cathedral]]
| cor-type = [[Coronation of the Danish monarch|Coronation]]
| predecessor = [[Erik of Pomerania]]
| successor = [[Christian I of Denmark|Christian I]]
| succession1 = [[List of Swedish monarchs|King of Sweden]]
| reign1 = 1441 – 5 January 1448
| coronation1 = 13 September 1441 in [[Uppsala]]
| predecessor1 = [[Erik of Pomerania]]
| successor1 = [[Karl Knutsson]]
| succession2 = [[List of Norwegian monarchs|King of Norway]]
| reign2 = June 1442 – 5 January 1448
| coronation2 = 2 July 1442 in [[Oslo]]
| predecessor2 = [[Erik of Pomerania]]
| successor2 = [[Karl Knutsson]]
| succession3 = [[House of Palatinate-Neumarkt|Count of Palatinate-Neumarkt]]
| reign3 = 1443–1448
| predecessor3 = [[John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt]]
| successor3 = [[Wolfgang of the Palatinate]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Dorothea of Brandenburg]]|1445}}
| house = [[House of Palatinate-Neumarkt|Palatinate-Neumarkt]]
| father = [[John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt]]
| mother = [[Catherine of Pomerania, Countess Palatine of Neumarkt|Catherine of Pomerania]]
| birth_date = 26 February 1416
| birth_place = [[Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz]]
| death_date = 5/{{death date and age|1448|01|6|1416|02|26|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Helsingborg]]
| place of burial = [[Roskilde Cathedral]], Roskilde|
}}
[[File:Christopher III of Denmark c 1853.jpg|thumb|Christopher as portrayed in an 1850s German publication]]
{{stack end}}
'''Christopher of Bavaria''' ([[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: ''Christoffer''; [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''Kristofer''; 26 February 1416 – 5/6 January 1448) was [[King of Denmark]] (1440–48, as '''Christopher III'''), [[King of Sweden|Sweden]] (1441–48) and [[King of Norway|Norway]] (1442–48) during the era of the [[Kalmar Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/christoffer-3-af-bayern-1416-48/
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100508011115/http://www.danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/christoffer-3-af-bayern-1416-48/
|url-status = dead
|archive-date = May 8, 2010
|title=Christoffer 3 af Bayern 1416-48|publisher = Aarhus University|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref> He ruled after the Kalmar Union's King [[Erik of Pomerania]] was deposed. Early in his reign he put down two [[peasant rebellion]]s in [[Funen]] and [[Jutland]]. He was disliked by the Swedish nobles, as they pointed to his inability to manage harvest failures and to stop Erik's plundering. They also questioned his foreign background.

==Biography==

===Coming to power===
[[File:John of Palatinate-Neumarkt.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Christopher's father, Count Palatine John]]
Christopher was the son of [[John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt]] (1383–1443) and [[Catherine of Pomerania, Countess Palatine of Neumarkt|Catherine of Pomerania]] (c. 1390–1426). Catherine was the daughter of [[Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania|Wartislaw VII]], [[Duke of Pomerania]] in [[Pomerania-Stolp]], and sister of the Scandinavian king, Erik of Pomerania. Count Palatine John was a son of King [[Rupert of Germany]] (1352–1410). Christopher was probably born at [[Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz]] in Upper Palatinate, in Bavaria, Germany. In 1445, Christopher married [[Dorothea of Brandenburg]] (1430 – 25 November 1495) in [[Copenhagen]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.mittelalterfreunde-neumarkt.de/geschichtliches/katharina-von-pommern/|title= Katharina von Pommern|publisher= mittelalterfreunde |access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Rupert (king) |volume=23 |short=x}}</ref>

Erik of Pomerania was deposed as king of Denmark and Sweden in 1439. Erik's nephew, Christopher, who was rather unfamiliar with Scandinavian conditions, was elected by the Danish [[rigsraadet|State Council]] as the successor to his uncle, first as [[regent]] from 1439, and then proclaimed King of Denmark at the Viborg Assembly (Danish ''landsting'') on 9 April 1440. He was meant to be a puppet, as evidenced by the saying: "Had the Council demanded the stars of heaven from him, he would have ordered it."<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Arild Huitfeldt|Huitfeldt, Arild]]. Danmarks Riges Krønike</ref> However he succeeded in maintaining some personal control. As a whole his rule, according to the politics of the nobility and his succession, might be called the start of the long period of balance between royal power and nobility which lasted until 1660. He was later elected king of Sweden in 1441, and Norway in June 1442.<ref name=snl>{{cite web|url = https://snl.no/Erik_av_Pommern|title=Erik Av Pommern|publisher = Store norske leksikon|author=Erik Opsahl|access-date=June 1, 2018|date=2018-03-20}}</ref>

For himself Christopher used the otherwise unknown title of ''arch king'' (''archirex)'', because in his opinion he ruled an empire, not simply three different countries, and thus ranked immediately under the [[Holy Roman Empire|European emperor]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=The Union Empire|first1=Michael |last1=Bregnsbo |first2=Kurt Villads |last2=Jensen |title=The Rise and Fall of the Danish Empire |pages=91–114 |year=2022 |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-91441-7_5 |isbn=9783030914417}}</ref>

===Peasant rebellions===
At the start of his reign, he put down [[peasant rebellion]]s in [[Funen]] and [[Jutland]]. Once the rebellion on Funen was suppressed, he turned his attention the uprising in Jutland. North Jutland, especially [[Vendsyssel]], was so restive that a peasant army of 25,000 led by [[Henrik Reventlow|Henrik Tagesen Reventlow]] (executed 1441) posed a serious threat to Christopher's continued reign. Before the king could act, Jutland's noble families raised their own army and marched west of [[Aalborg]] to meet Reventlow's forces.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Landbrug,_skovbrug_og_gartneri/Godsejer/Henrik_Tagesen_Reventlow
|title=Henrik Tagesen Reventlow|date=18 July 2011 |publisher = Den Store Danske|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

The peasants had created a gigantic wagon fortress three layers deep to protect themselves from the mounted knights they knew would come against them. They also placed tree branches across the bog in front of the camp and then cast earth on top to make it look like solid ground. The overconfident army of nobles led by Eske Jensen Brock appeared at St Jorgen's Hill (''St. Jørgensbjerg'') on 3 May 1441. The knights charged the camp, and were quickly mired down in the bog. The peasants moved in for the kill. Brock was killed in the Battle of St Jorgen's Hill (''Slaget ved Skt. Jørgensbjerg'') and dismembered and the pieces sent to the towns in the area as a warning. The peasants then raided [[Aalborghus]] (the area's most important manor) forcing the noble [[Gyldenstierne (noble family)|Niels Guldenstierne]] to flee.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite web|url = https://snl.no/Gyldenstierne |title=Gyldenstierne|publisher = Store norske leksikon|author= Jon Gunnar Arntzen |access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = http://denstoredanske.dk/Dansk_Biografisk_Leksikon/Landbrug,_skovbrug_og_gartneri/Godsejer/Henrik_Tagesen_Reventlow |title=Eske Brock, d. 1441 |date=18 July 2011 |publisher = Den Store Danske|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://runeberg.org/dbl/3/0090.html|title= Brock, Eske Jensen |publisher = Den Store Danske|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

The treatment of the captives after the battle strengthened Christopher's determination to put down the peasants. With his own army Christopher rode north to the rebel camp at [[Husby Hole]] near St Jorgen's Hill in northern Jutland. Because the rebels outnumbered his troops, Christopher sent word that anyone who left the camp and went home would not be punished for rebellion. The men from the island of [[Mors (island)|Mors]] and [[Thisted]] left, for which they were called cowards and traitors ever after. Christopher ordered the attack on the rebel camp on 8 June 1441 and despite fighting ferociously the rebels could not overcome the heavily armed knights. Thousands of rebels were killed, those who survived were fined heavily. The more severe consequence was that rebels lost their free status and became [[serf]]s on the farms where they worked.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The king made it a capital crime for peasants to carry weapons longer than a short knife. The subjugation of Denmark's once free peasants was complete.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_geografi/Jylland/Husby_Hole|title=Husby Hole|date=2 July 2013 |publisher = Den Store Danske
|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

===Coronation, relations with Swedes===
{{more citations needed|section|date=March 2019}}
[[File:Christopher of Bavaria seal.jpg|thumb|King Christopher's royal seal]]
In May 1442 Christopher traveled to [[Lödöse]] to meet with the nobles from all three kingdoms. He was elected [[King of Norway]] there and then went to [[Oslo]] where he was crowned on 2 July 1442. The next year he was proclaimed [[King of Denmark]] at the [[Urnehoved]] Assembly near [[Ribe]]. When his residence at [[Roskilde]] burned down, Christopher moved to [[Copenhagen]] and made it the capital of Denmark.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://denstoredanske.dk/Danmarks_geografi_og_historie/Danmarks_historie/Danmark_f%C3%B8r_Reformationen/Urnehoved |title= Urnehoved |publisher = Den Store Danske|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

The Swedish nobles were not happy to relinquish any power and thus did not like him, claiming he was too German for them and that he allowed his uncle (ex-King Erik) to plunder shipping from his castle on [[Gotland]] without any attempt to stop him. They blamed a series of bad harvests on him. People were so hungry they mixed ground tree bark with the little flour they could find. Christopher was contemptuously nicknamed the "Bark King" in Sweden. On the other hand, he tried to support the cities and their merchants as far as the limits of nobility and [[Hanse]]atic cities allowed. During his reign [[Copenhagen]] was made permanently the capital of Denmark ([[municipal charter]] of 1443).

He carried on an ineffective policy of war and negotiations with Erik in Gotland did little to help the dissatisfaction within both Sweden and the [[Hanseatic League]]. The [[Kalmar Union]] Treaty was changed so that the aristocracy had most of the policy-making powers, and the king lost many of the powers that monarchs had acquired since Viking times.{{When|date=September 2022}} The results of this policy of balance were still not reached when he suddenly died as the last descendant of [[Valdemar IV]] of Denmark.

===Death===
In 1448, Christopher died suddenly at [[Helsingborg]] at age 31. King Christopher was buried in [[Roskilde Cathedral]]. His widow, [[Dorothea of Brandenburg|Queen Dorothea]], married the new king of Denmark, [[Christian I of Denmark|Christian I]].<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.dokpro.uio.no/perl/middelalder/diplom_vise_tekst.prl?b=5595&s=n&str=Hanss%20met%20gudz%20nade|title=Kong Hans
|publisher = Diplomatarium Norvegicum (volumes I-XXI)|access-date=June 1, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

==Other sources==
*''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'', vol. 7, Copenhagen 1980.
*''Politikens Danmarkshistorie'', vol. 4 by Erik Kjersgaard, Copenhagen 1962.
*''Politikens bog om Danske Monarker'' by Benito Scocozza, Copenhagen 1998.

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Palatinate-Neumarkt]]|26 February|1416|5/6 January|1448|[[House of Wittelsbach]]}}
{{s-reg|}}
|-
{{s-vac|rows=3|last=[[Erik of Pomerania]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Denmark]]|years=1440–1448}}
{{s-vac|next=[[Christian I of Denmark|Christian I]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Sweden]]|years=1441–1448}}
{{s-vac|rows=2|next=[[Karl Knutsson]]}}
|-
{{s-ttl|title=[[King of Norway]]|years=1442–1448}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt|John]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Palatinate-Neumarkt|Count Palatine of Neumarkt]]|years=1443–1448}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Otto I, Count Palatine of Mosbach|Otto I]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Monarchs of Denmark}}
{{Monarchs of Sweden}}
{{Monarchs of Norway}}
{{Monarchs of Iceland}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher Of Bavaria}}
[[Category:1416 births]]
[[Category:1448 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century Swedish monarchs]]
[[Category:15th-century Norwegian monarchs]]
[[Category:15th-century regents]]
[[Category:People from Neumarkt (district)]]
[[Category:Kalmar Union]]
[[Category:House of Palatinate-Neumarkt]]
[[Category:Burials at Roskilde Cathedral]]
[[Category:Swedish people of German descent]]
[[Category:15th-century monarchs of Denmark]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic monarchs]]