Who is Fedor Ioannovich? Rulers of Rus' and Russia - Blessed Feodor Ivanovich

IN late XVI century, Russia entered a period of acute crisis of power. The Rurik dynasty, whose representatives had ruled the country for centuries, was fading away. The last king from this dynasty became Fedor Ioannovich, ascended the Russian throne in March 1584.

Fyodor Ioannovich was born on May 20, 1557 in Moscow. He was the third son Ivan the Terrible and his first wife Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yuryeva.

Fedor was one of the few children of Ivan the Terrible who lived to adulthood. Fedor's older brother Tsarevich Dmitry, tragically died in an accident. By a mystical coincidence, his full namesake, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, born thirty years later, most likely also became the victim of an accident rather than murder.

The second son of Ivan the Terrible began to be considered the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich. Contemporaries noted that he was similar to his father not only in appearance, but also in his cruel character. It is known that the heir, together with his father, participated in the reprisals against the boyars and could well continue his policy.

Fedor, born three years after Ivan, was not considered by his father as a successor. Like most of the children of Ivan the Terrible, Fedor was very sickly from his youth, and his aspirations were far from government.

Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich makes Boris Godunov ruler of Russia. 1584 Engraving by B. Chorikov. XIX century

Theodore I Ioannovich(nicknamed Blessed; May 11, 1557, Moscow - January 7, 1598, Moscow) - Tsar of All Rus' and Grand Duke Moscow since March 18, 1584, third son of Ivan IV the Terrible and Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna, last representative Moscow branch of the Rurik dynasty.

Upon the birth of his son, Ivan the Terrible ordered the construction of a church in the Feodorovsky Monastery in the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky. This temple in honor of Theodore Stratelates became the main cathedral of the monastery and has survived to this day.

Shortly before the death of Ivan the Terrible, on November 19, 1581, his son, the heir to the throne, Ivan, tragically died. From that time on, Fedor became the heir to the royal throne.

On the royal throne, where the formidable king had recently sat, sat a twenty-seven-year-old monarch, who, in the words of Ivan the Terrible himself, was “a faster and a silent person, born more for the cell than for the power of the sovereign.” From marriage with Irina Fedorovna Godunova had one daughter, Theodosia, who lived only nine months and died in 1594. Fedor’s son was never born. At the end of 1597 he fell ill with a fatal illness and on January 7, 1598. died at one o'clock in the morning. The Moscow line of the Rurik dynasty (descendant of Ivan I Kalita) ended there.

Most historians believe that Fedor was incapable of government activities, and according to some sources, weak in health and mind; took little part in governing the state, being under the tutelage first of the council of nobles, then of his brother-in-law Boris Fedorovich Godunov, who from 1587 was actually sole ruler state, and after the death of Fedor became his successor. Boris Godunov's position under royal court was so significant that overseas diplomats sought an audience with Boris Godunov, his will was the law. Fedor reigned, Boris ruled - everyone knew this both in Rus' and abroad.

From “Russian history in the biographies of its main figures” by N. I. Kostomarov:

Main events during the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich

Moscow Zemsky Sobor in 1584 elected king youngest son Ivan the Terrible - Fyodor Ioannovich (the only living son of the Tsar).

In 1584 Don Cossacks took an oath of allegiance to Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich.

In 1585-1591, the Russian architect Fyodor Savelyevich Kon erected the walls and towers of the White City. The length of the walls is 10 kilometers. Thickness - up to 4.5 meters.

In 1586, the Russian cannon foundry Andrei Chokhov cast the famous Tsar Cannon.

1589 - the establishment of the patriarchate in Russia, Job, an ally of Boris Godunov, became the first patriarch. Fyodor Ivanovich, although he was not canonized, was nevertheless recognized as such by Patriarch Job, who compiled his life.

1590-1593 - Russian-Swedish war. Return of the cities to Russia: Yama, Ivangorod, Koporye, Korela.

The founder of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, was a cousin of Fedor I (since Fedor’s mother, Anastasia Romanovna, was the sister of Mikhail’s grandfather, Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin); The Romanovs' rights to the throne were based on this relationship.

Contemporaries about Fyodor Ioannovich

According to the British diplomat Giles Fletcher, new king was

Dutch merchant and trading agent in Moscow Isaac Massa:

Clerk Ivan Timofeev gives Fedor the following assessment:

They also wrote about him that he discussed state affairs with the boyars in the Front Chamber, and he discussed particularly sensitive issues with his associates in his office.

Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich (also known by his nickname "Blessed") was the son of Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia Romanovna.

After the tragic death of the heir to the throne, John, in 1581, the twenty-year-old young man Fyodor the Blessed, who was completely unprepared for reign, became king (even his father said about him that his place was not in power, but in his cell).

According to researchers, Fyodor Ivanovich was in very poor health (both physically and psychologically). Moreover, he took no part in the public administration, relying in this complex matter on the opinions of Godunov’s brother-in-law Boris and nobles. It was Godunov, according to historians, who ruled the state through the words of the Blessed One (he became the successor after the death of Fyodor Ivanovich).

Tsar Feodor the Blessed married Irina Godunova, from whom they had a daughter, who died at the age of one. Fedor did not wait for an heir.

Literary monuments of that time describe Fyodor Ivanovich this way: overweight, short in stature, unprepossessing with a heavy, uncertain gait. However, he is always smiling (for this he was nicknamed Blessed). The king never raised his tone, was not rude, was superstitious and did not like manifestations of aggression. He spent most of his time in a nearby monastery in prayer. Fyodor also got up very early and began the day with a conversation with his confessor and washing himself with holy water. He also loved fun: buffoonery, songs and stories after Vespers.

Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich loved ringing very much church bells and even at one time he was a bell ringer. He walked around the monasteries, however, the fatherly disposition was also in his nature - the king liked battles with strong bears, as well as fist fights.

All of the above was also known to diplomats from other countries visiting Fedor, but who asked for an audience with Boris Godunov.

In 1598, Tsar Fedor Ivanovich died of a fatal illness. At the same time, the Moscow Rurik family was also ended. During the reign of Tsar Fedor, towers and walls were erected White City, whose authorship is attributed to a talented architect Fedor Savelyevich Kon. In addition, during the same period, the famous foundry A. Chokhov cast the Tsar Cannon.

Under Tsar Fyodor the Blessed, the international situation also improved slightly. As a result of the Russian-Swedish war, some Novgorod lands were returned.

After the death of the great Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1584, the Russian throne went to his son. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich was cold towards state affairs and was practically not involved in governing the country. Nature blessed him with poor health, so the new king spent most of his time in bed or in prayer. Realizing that Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich would not be able to rule the country, Boris Godunov, the brother of Fyodor’s wife Irina, undertook to make decisions on his behalf.

The beginning of Fedor's reign promised to be difficult, since he, as well as those ruling on his behalf, had to unite Russian society, first of all, boyars and nobles, the families of most of whom were at enmity due to the oprichnina introduced by Ivan the Terrible. One of the ways to achieve this goal was to publish decree on " reserved summers» . The essence of this decree was the ban on peasants going into the service of a new owner without the consent of the old one. This was a temporary measure, but in Rus' there is nothing more eternal than temporary. This decree was never subsequently canceled.

The era in which Tsar Feodor Ivanovich reigned was distinguished by a great increase in the construction of churches, temples and monasteries. Many children of nobles at this time were forcibly sent to Europe for education. This was a necessary step, because without the development of science in the country, Russia could forever lag behind European countries.

In 1586 it happened important event For foreign policy Russia. This year, King Stephen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth died. Taking advantage of this fact, Boris Godunov, on behalf of the Russian Tsar, made peace with the Poles until 1602. This was an important step, allowing our army to focus on its only enemy - the Swedes. At this time Swedish state was extremely powerful and openly declared its claims to lands in the Baltic states. As a result, the Russian-Swedish war began in 1590. It lasted 3 years. According to its results Russian kingdom regained the cities of Yam, Korela, Koporye and Ivangorod, thereby significantly strengthening its position in this region. At the same time great forces was thrown to strengthen the southern borders of the state, which was supposed to protect Russia from the raids of the Crimean Khan.

In 1587, Alexander, king of the state of Kakheti, in the Caucasus, asked for his country to join Russia. This request was granted. The expansion of the state's borders continued. By 1598, the resistance of the local Khan in Siberia was completely defeated, and this region became part of Russia.

May 15, 1591 became a landmark day for the history of Russia of this era. From Uglich, where Maria, the wife of Ivan the Terrible, and her son Dmitry lived, news of Dmitry's death came on this day. A special commission was sent to Uglich, the activities of which, however, can hardly be called productive, since the conclusion they issued stated that Dmitry himself had wounded himself with a knife. The importance of this event lies in the fact that Tsar Fedor Ivanovich had no children, and Dmitry, as the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, was to inherit the Russian kingdom.

Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. Reconstruction based on Gerasimov's skullShakko Photos

Fyodor Ivanovich was born on May 11, 1557 and was the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible from Anastasia Romanovna. Shortly before the death of Ivan the Terrible, on November 19, 1582, Fyodor's elder brother, John, was killed by his father, and from that time Fyodor began to be considered the heir to the royal throne. After the death of Grozny (March 18, 1581), Fyodor Ioannovich became king, after the turmoil started by adherents of Grozny's youngest son (from Maria Nagaya), Dimitri. This unrest was tamed thanks to the energy of Boris Godunov, whose sister, Irina Fedorovna, Fedor married in 1580, at the behest of his father. Fyodor Ioannovich was an inactive and weak-minded man; he loved church services and various entertainments more than engaging in government affairs. All management of the state passed into the hands of the Tsar's brother-in-law Boris Fedorovich Godunov, who was, in essence, the real Russian Tsar. All events of the reign of Fyodor Ioannovich are directly connected with the name of Boris Godunov. Fedor died on January 7, 1598, leaving no offspring. With his death, the Rurik dynasty on the royal throne in Moscow ended.

Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron

Konstantin Ryzhov - Fyodor I Ivanovich (1584-1598)

From the Moscow family he led. book The son of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible and Anastasia Romanovna Yuryeva-Zakharova. Genus. May 11, 1557 Tsar of All Rus' in 1584 - 1598. Wife: since 1580 Irina Fedorovna Godunova (d. September 26, 1603). Died January 7 1598

Of all the crimes of Ivan the Terrible, the murder of Ivan’s son and the subsequent suppression of the line of the Grand Dukes of Moscow, perhaps, had the heaviest impact on Russian history. The second son Fedor was distinguished from birth by pronounced dementia, but by an unfortunate coincidence it was he who was to inherit Grozny after his death. younger brother Fedora Dmitry also had supporters among the Moscow boyars. Fyodor established himself on the throne, not without troubles. Prince Bogdan Belsky intrigued a lot in favor of Dmitry, but the boyars and people hostile to him besieged Belsky in the Kremlin, forced him to surrender and exiled him to Nizhny Novgorod.

The news has also been preserved that eminent people from all the cities came to Moscow and prayed with tears to Tsarevich Fyodor so that he would become king of the Moscow state and be crowned with a royal crown. On May 31, Fyodor was crowned king. It was no secret that he was not capable of ruling. After the death of Ivan the Terrible, there was a stubborn struggle among the boyars for influence on the Tsar. In the end, everyone was overpowered by the Tsar's brother-in-law, boyar Boris Fedorovich Godunov, who was the true arbiter of the destinies of the state throughout Fedorov's reign.

Fyodor was short, squat, puffy, had an unsteady gait, and was heavy and inactive in character. A blissful smile never left his face, and in general, although he was distinguished by extreme simplicity and dementia, he was very affectionate, quiet, merciful and pious. He spent most of the day in church, and for entertainment he liked to watch fist fights, fun of jesters and fun with bears. If anyone had anything to do with the Tsar, he sent him to Godunov. Fyodor's son was never born, and his daughter died in infancy. At the end of 1597, he himself fell ill with a fatal illness and died on January 7, 1598 at one o'clock in the morning. It stopped with his death princely dynasty Rurikovich, who continuously ruled Russia since 862.

Konstantin Ryzhov. All the monarchs of the world. Russia

V. O. Klyuchevsky - Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich

An instructive phenomenon in the history of the old Moscow dynasty is represented by its last Tsar Feodor. Kalitino tribe that built Moscow State, was always distinguished by an amazing ability to handle his everyday affairs, suffered from a family excess of concern for earthly things, and this very tribe, dying out, flashed with complete renunciation from everything earthly, died out by Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, who, as his contemporaries put it, spent his whole life in the vanity and boredom of the world, thinking only about heavenly things. The Polish ambassador Sapega describes Fyodor this way: the tsar is small in stature, rather thin, with a quiet, even obsequious voice, with a simple-minded face, has a meager mind or, as I heard from others and noticed myself, has none, for, sitting on the throne during the ambassadorial reception, he did not stop smiling, admiring first his scepter, then the orb.

Fyodor Ivanovich miniature from the Tsar's titular book

Another contemporary, the Swede Petrey, in his description of the Moscow state (1608 - 1611), also notes that Tsar Fedor was almost devoid of reason by nature, found pleasure only in spiritual objects, and often ran around churches to ring bells and listen to mass. His father bitterly reproached him for this, saying that he was more like a sexton than a king's son. There is undoubtedly some exaggeration in these reviews, and there is a sense of caricature. The pious and respectful thought of Russian contemporaries tried to make Tsar Fedor into a familiar and beloved image of a special kind of asceticism. We know what significance and honor the foolishness for Christ’s sake enjoyed in ancient Rus'. The holy fool, the blessed one, renounced all the blessings of life, not only physical, but also spiritual comforts and attractions, honors, glory, respect and affection from his neighbors. Moreover, he made a combative challenge to these benefits and lures: beggar and homeless, walking the streets barefoot, in rags, acting unhumanly, like a freak, speaking inappropriate speeches, despising generally accepted decency, he tried to become a laughing stock for the unreasonable and how would mock the goods that people love and value, and the people themselves who love and value them. In such humility to the point of self-abasement ancient Rus' I saw the practical development of the high commandment about the blessedness of the poor in spirit, to whom the kingdom of God belongs.

This spiritual poverty in the person of the holy fool was a walking worldly conscience, a “facial” denunciation of human passions and vices in a living image, and enjoyed great rights in society, complete freedom of speech: the mighty of the world Therefore, nobles and kings, the Terrible himself, patiently listened to the bold, mocking or scolding speeches of the blessed street vagabond, not daring to touch him with a finger. And Tsar Fyodor was given by his Russian contemporaries this familiar and beloved appearance: in their eyes he was the blessed one on the throne, one of those poor in spirit, to whom the kingdom of heaven, and not earthly, belongs, whom the church so loved to include in its calendar, as a reproach to dirty thoughts. and the sinful inclinations of the Russian people. “He was a noble fool from his mother’s womb and cared for nothing except spiritual salvation,” this is how Prince I.M. Katyrev-Rostovsky, a contemporary close to the court, speaks of Fyodor. As another contemporary put it, in Tsar Fyodor the kingdom was intertwined with the kingdom without division, and one served as an adornment to the other. He was called the “sanctified king,” destined from above to holiness, to the heavenly crown. In a word, in a cell or cave, to use Karamzin’s expression, Tsar Fedor would have been more in place than on the throne.

And in our time, Tsar Fedor became the subject of poetic treatment: for example, the second tragedy of Count Al’s dramatic trilogy is dedicated to him. Tolstoy. And here the image of Tsar Fyodor is very close to his ancient Russian image; the poet, obviously, painted a portrait of the blessed king from his ancient Russian chronicle icon. Thin line This portrait also shows an inclination towards a benevolent joke, with which the ancient Russian saint softened his harsh denunciations. But through the outward piety with which contemporaries were touched by Tsar Fyodor, Al. Tolstoy's moral sensitivity clearly shows through: he is a prophetic simpleton who, with an unconscious, mysteriously illuminated instinct, was able to understand things that the greatest clever men could never understand. He is sad to hear about party discord, about the enmity of supporters of Boris Godunov and Prince Shuisky; he wants to live until everyone is supporters of only one Rus', he wants to reconcile all enemies, and Godunov’s doubts about the possibility of such a nation-wide global world heatedly objects:

No, no!
You don’t understand this, Boris!
You know there, as you know, the state,
You are good at that, but here I understand more,
Here you need to know the heart of a person.

In another place he says to the same Godunov:

What kind of king am I? me in everything
And it’s not difficult to confuse and deceive,
There is only one thing I will not be deceived about:
When between what is white and black,
I must choose - I will not be deceived.

One should not lose sight of the historical background of edifying or poetic images historical person by contemporaries or by later writers. Tsarevich Fyodor grew up in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, among the ugliness and horrors of the oprichnina. Early in the morning, his father, the abbot of the Shutovo Sloboda Monastery, sent him to the bell tower to ring for matins. Born weak from his mother Anastasia Romanovna, who began to fall ill, he grew up as a motherless orphan in a disgusting oprichnina environment and grew up as a short and pale-faced runt, prone to dropsy, with an uneven, senilely slow gait from premature weakness in the legs. This is how he describes the king when he was 32 years old, who saw him in 1588 - 1589. English ambassador Fletcher. In the person of Tsar Fedor, the dynasty was dying out in person. He always smiled, but with a lifeless smile. With this sad smile, as if begging for pity and mercy, the prince defended himself from his father’s capricious anger. A calculated, pitiful facial expression over time, especially after terrible death elder brother, by force of habit turned into an involuntary automatic grimace, with which Fyodor ascended the throne. Under the yoke of his father, he lost his will, but retained forever the learned expression of downtrodden submission. On the throne, he was looking for a person who would become the master of his will: the smart brother-in-law Godunov carefully took the place of his mad father.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. Russian history. Full course lectures. Lecture 41