The Presidential Library’s materials to mark the birthday of the founder of the House of Romanov

Marking the 425th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov, the first tsar from the dynasty that ruled Russia for 304 years, the Presidential Library has updated the collection Zemsky Sobor of 1613. The Accession of a New Dynasty, adding a variety of materials, including rare ones.

New acquisitions available on the institution ‘s portal show a detailed picture of the difficult Times of the Troubles that preceded the accession of Mikhail Feodorovich: wars, occupation, uprisings, famine, self-appointed rulers, interregnum. This is described in the historical essay Events of the Time of Troubles in Russia (1912) by the historiographer Nikolai Korolkov. Artistic interpretation of these events is presented in the collection of poems and prose The Time of Troubles in Russia and the election of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the throne... (1911), compiled by the teacher and historian Konstantin Yelpatievsky, which included the works of Pushkin, Zhukovsky, Ostrovsky, Ryleev and others.

The future tsar, Mikhail Feodorovich, was born on July 22 (12 old style) July 1596 in Moscow. The House of Romanov was persecuted during the reign of Boris Godunov, accused of intending to poison the tsar. Father Mikhail, Fyodor Nikitich, was forcibly tonsured into a monk under the name of Filaret, mother, Ksenia Ivanovna - under the name of Martha. Their young son, Mikhail Fedorovich, together with his sister and aunt Anastasia Nikitichnaya, was exiled to Lake Beloye. “Such a difficult childhood, without the cares and caresses of mother and father, put a shade of sadness on the whole life of the future tsar”, - says the essay of history professor Vladimir Nazarevsky Great Historical Anniversaries (1911).

The publications now available on the portal provide the circumstances of the election of the Zemsky Sobor and the call of Mikhail Romanov to the throne in February 1613, for example, the publication The election of Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the throne (1913).

The role of the mother in Mikhail's life was emphasized by the Russian historian Nikolai Kostomarov in the study Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich (1921): “The young Tsar was in obedience to the nun's mother ... The Tsar did not dare to start anything without the mother's blessing, and her main strength was that the Tsar brought to myself and listened to the advice of such people to whom she favored. <...> The life of the tsar was enmeshed in many rituals, which were of a more or less ecclesiastical or monastic character. This was to the liking of Mikhail, who was generally quiet, gentle and focused".

The author also reports little-known details of the tsar's first matchmaking in 1616 to Marya Khlopova.

The digitized editions that have entered the collection - About the Russian army during the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich... (1846) by the historian Ivan Belyaev, Higher government officials of the times of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich (1857) by the academician Konstantin Arsenyev, and others, give an idea of ​​the life of Russia under Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov ... So, in the aforementioned book by Vladimir Nazarevsky, one can find a detailed illustrated story about the restoration by the tsar of Moscow: the construction of churches, the arrangement of settlements and Kitai-gorod, the restoration and decoration of the Kremlin.

Of particular interest in the renewed collection are authentic evidences of that era, for example, The order of the sovereign, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, given to the ruling of the city of Kokshaisk... (1913), a description of the journey of the German scientist Olearius (Adam Elschleger) across Russia in 1634-1638 About the state of Russia during the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich (1861), A photocopy of the letter of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich to V. G. Potulov in 1618 . For example, the publication Everyday palace time of the Tsars of Tsars and Grand Princes Mikhail Feodorovich and Alexei Mikhailovich, the notes (1769) makes it possible to find out first-hand that on September 4, 1632, the meeting of Feodor Mikhailovich, Patriarch Filaret and the Ambassador of the Danish king "...gold in the subscription chamber. The sovereign was in his royal dress and in a tiara with a sciffet, the boyars and Okolnichies, and the Nobles and Stolniki were in gold. <…> Rynda were in a white dress…”.

Mikhail Fedorovich died on 23 (13 according to the old style) July 1645 in Moscow. After living for 49 years and reigning for 32 years, the first tsar from the House of Romanov was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.