Ruled from 1676 to 1682. Fedor Alekseevich Romanov - an outstanding and creative personality

The name "Fyodor" is not the most successful in the history of the Russian monarchy. Tsar Fedor Ioannovich, middle son Ivan the Terrible, died without leaving offspring, thus completing the genus Rurikovich on the Russian throne.

Fyodor Godunov who inherited the throne from his father, Boris Godunov, not having received real power, was killed during a riot.

The life of the third bearer of this name, Fedor Alekseevich Romanov, too, was not long and happy. Nevertheless, in Russian history, he managed to leave a noticeable mark.

Born on June 9, 1661, Fedor Romanov was the third son of the Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya. The first son of Alexei Mikhailovich, Dmitriy, died in infancy. The second son, the father's namesake, was declared heir to the throne, Alexey Alekseevich.

But in January 1670, before reaching the age of 16, “The Great Sovereign, Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexey Alekseevich" died. The 9-year-old Fedor was proclaimed the new heir.

Like all boys born in the marriage of Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Miloslavskaya, Fedor was not in good health, and throughout his life he was often sick. He inherited scurvy from his father, and the new monarch was forced to devote the first months of his reign to treatment.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in 1676. Drawing of an unknown Dutch artist. Source: Public Domain

Horse breeding as a passion

He came to the throne in 1676, after the death of his father, Alexei Mikhailovich, 15 years old.

His coming to power was marked by a struggle between the parties of relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich Maria Miloslavskaya and his second wife Natalia Naryshkina.

The Naryshkin party cherished the dream of placing the youngest son of the deceased monarch on the throne, Petra but he was only 4 at the time.

Fedor Alekseevich, despite his illnesses, was an active and well-educated young man. One of his teachers was a Belarusian monk Simeon Polotsky. The young tsar spoke Polish, Latin, and ancient Greek. Among his hobbies were music, archery and horse breeding.

Horses were his true passion: stud stallions were brought from Europe on his orders, and people who knew horses could count on a swift career at the yard.

True, the passion for horses caused a serious injury, which also did not add health to Fedor Alekseevich. At the age of 13, the horse threw him under the runners of a heavily loaded sleigh, which drove over the prince with all his weight. Pain in the chest and back after this incident constantly tormented him.

Having recovered from the illness of the first months of his reign, Fedor Alekseevich took the reins of government of the country into his own hands. Later writers have sometimes argued that the reign of Peter the Great's elder brother passed unnoticed, but this is not so.

Drawing by V.P. Vereshchagin from the album “History of the Russian State in the images of its sovereign rulers with a brief explanatory text”. Source: Public Domain

Operation "Kyiv is ours"

Fedor Alekseevich began a large-scale restructuring of the Moscow Kremlin and Moscow as a whole. At the same time, special emphasis was placed on the construction of secular buildings. By order of the king, new gardens were planted.

Fedor, whose education focused not on ecclesiastical, but on secular disciplines, seriously limited the influence of the patriarch on state policy. He established increased fees from church estates, thereby starting the process that Peter I would complete.

Fedor Alekseevich showed a serious interest in European politics and made plans for Russia to go to the Baltic coast. Like Peter later, Tsar Fedor was faced with the fact that the implementation of plans in the north-west was hindered by the activity in the south of nomads, the Crimean Khanate and Ottoman Empire.

To combat the nomads, a large-scale construction of defensive structures in the Wild Field was started. In 1676, the war of Russia against the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate began, which lasted almost the entire period of the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich. The result of the war was the conclusion of the Treaty of Bakhchisaray, according to which the Ottomans recognized Russia's right to own the Left-Bank Ukraine and Kiev.

Having big military plans, Fedor Alekseevich devoted a lot of time to reforming the army, including the so-called "regiments of the new system." We can say that the army reforms of Peter the Great began under his older brother.

Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich. Source: Public Domain

Do not cut your hands, call foreigners to the service!

Significant changes under Fyodor Alekseevich also occurred in inner life Russia. A population census was carried out, Alexei Mikhailovich's decree on the non-extradition of fugitives who signed up for military service was canceled, household taxation was introduced (the development of which was the poll tax of Peter I).

Tsar Fedor reformed the criminal law, excluding from it punishments related to self-mutilation - in particular, cutting off the hands of those convicted of theft.

In 1681, the voivodship and local prikaz administration was introduced - an important preparatory measure for the provincial reform of Peter I.

The main reform of Fyodor Alekseevich was the abolition of localism, the decision on which was made in January 1682.

The order that existed until that time assumed that everyone received ranks in accordance with the place that his ancestors occupied in the state apparatus. Localism led to constant conflicts within the nobility, and did not allow for effective government.

After the abolition of parochialism, the digit books, which contained records of what kind of representative held this or that post, were burned. Instead, there were genealogical books, where all noble people were entered, but without indicating their place in the Boyar Duma.

Burning digit books. Source: Public Domain

Under Fyodor Alekseevich, the process of inviting foreigners to the Russian service went more actively. Many foreign associates of Peter came to Russia just during the years of his brother's reign.

Taking care of the development of education in Russia, the tsar became one of the founders of the Typographic School at the Zaikonospassky Monastery - the forerunner of the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy.

If the Miloslavsky and Naryshkin clans waged an irreconcilable struggle among themselves, then Fyodor Alekseevich himself had a milder attitude towards his stepmother and brother. The tsar sincerely loved the younger Peter, and all attempts of the courtiers from the Miloslavsky camp to harm him were nipped in the bud.

Royal happiness and sorrow

At the age of 18, Fedor saw a pretty girl in the crowd during the procession, and instructed the royal bedkeeper Ivan Yazykov inquire about her. 16 year old turned out to be a beauty Agafya Grushetskaya, the governor's daughter Grushetsky's seeds, of Polish origin.

The king announced that he intended to marry her. This caused a murmur among the boyars - the girl did not belong to a noble family, and her appearance next to the tsar was in no way included in the plans of the courtiers. They began to slander Agafya, accusing her of licentiousness, but Fedor showed stubbornness and achieved his goal. On July 28, 1680, they were married in the Assumption Cathedral.

Agafya's influence manifested itself very quickly - she introduced new fashion on Polish hats that left their hair open, as well as on the “Polish style” in clothing in general.

The changes were not limited to women. Cutting beards, wearing European dress and even smoking tobacco at the Russian court began after the marriage of Tsar Fedor to Agafya Grushetskaya.

The young, apparently, were truly happy, but fate only gave them a year. On July 21, 1681, the queen gave birth to her first child, who was named Ilya. Fedor Alekseevich accepted congratulations, but Agafya's condition began to deteriorate. On July 24, she died of postpartum fever.

The death of his beloved wife crippled Fedor. He could not even attend the burial, being in an extremely difficult physical and moral condition.

Following the first blow, the second one followed - on July 31, having lived only 10 days, the heir to the throne, Ilya Fedorovich, died.

A few lines in a textbook

Having lost his wife and son at the same time, Fedor Alekseevich began to fade himself. He continued to engage in public affairs, but attacks of the disease visited him more and more often.

The courtiers sought to improve the situation by finding a new bride for the king. On February 25, 1682, Tsar Fedor married a 17-year-old Marfa Apraksina.

Marfa Apraksina. Source: Public Domain

Marfa never managed to become a wife in the full sense - the sick Fedor could not fulfill his marital duty. When the dowager queen died in 1716, the inquisitive and cynical Peter the Great took part in the autopsy, wishing to see for himself that the deceased was a virgin. The examination, as they say, confirmed the facts.

71 days after the second wedding, Fedor Alekseevich Romanov died, a month before his 21st birthday.

Like his namesakes on the throne, he left no heirs. The state initiatives conceived by him are largely implemented by the younger brother Pyotr Alekseevich.

And Fedor Romanov himself will be given only a few lines in school textbooks.

Reign: 1676-1682

From the biography

• Fedor Alekseevich is the eldest son of Alexei Mikhailovich and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya.
• He ascended the throne at the age of 14. Was a sickly child.
• He was well educated, knew Latin and Polish well, since his teacher - eminent writer, theologian and preacher Simeon of Polotsk, who instilled in the tsar a love for everything Polish. He became a tutor to the royal children in 1667. Fedor Alekseevich understood painting, loved church singing, poetry.
• At first, his stepmother, Natalya Naryshkina, tried to take part in the board. But she was removed from business and, together with her son Peter, was sent to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Then the boyar Miloslavsky, the princes Dolgoruky and Odoevsky, and later Golitsyn began to play an important role, but Fedor himself actively took part in politics, despite his illness and physical weakness.
• Fedor Alekseevich ruled a little, but during this time he managed to carry out several important reforms - public administration, military, financial, socio-economic reforms.

Historical portrait of Fedor Alekseevich

Activities

1. Domestic policy

2. Foreign policy

RESULTS OF ACTIVITIES

• State administration was improved, the centralization of power in the hands of the king increased.
• Centralization of military administration through military reform, the beginning of the creation of a regular army.
• Strengthening the role of the nobility in society, assessing the activities of people on personal merit.
• The financial and monetary system of the country was improved.
• Further reduction of the role of the church in the affairs of the state.
• Successes have been achieved in the cultural and economic development of the country, the country is developing along the path of Europeanization.
• In foreign policy not all tasks were solved, but Turkey recognized the entry of Left-bank Ukraine into Russia. However, there was no access to the Baltic and Black Seas.

Thus, the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich largely predetermined the reforms that he would carry out. brother - Peter 1. Russia was strong economically, politically and militarily, had great international prestige.

Chronology of the life and work of Fedor Alekseevich

A bright personality during the reign of Fedor Alekseevich was Simeon Polotsk. Material about it can be found

Alexey Mikhailovich "The Quietest" was prolific - he had 16 children from two marriages. TO interesting facts refers to the fact that none of the nine daughters did not marry, and the boys born in the first marriage with Miloslavskaya were very painful. The only one of them, Ivan V, being struck by all diseases (from scurvy to paralysis), reached the age of 27. He became the father of five girls, one of whom, Anna, ruled Russia for 10 years.

Who belongs to whom

Ivan's older brother, Fyodor Alekseevich, lived to be 20 years old, of which he was king for 6 years - from 1676 to 1682. In his first marriage, a son, Ilya, was born, who died with his mother immediately after childbirth. There were no heirs left, so the throne was inherited by the younger brothers - Ivan and his father's father Peter, whose mother was Naryshkina. He became the great ruler of Russia.

Young but determined king

Fedor Alekseevich himself received the throne passing to his eldest son after his two older brothers died - Dmitry (in infancy) and Alexei (at the age of 16).

The tsar-father declared him the heir in 1675, and a year later he became tsar. Fedor Alekseevich had a very long title, because Russia was not yet a single state, and all the principalities and khanates under its jurisdiction were listed.

The king was young. Naturally, there was no end to those wishing to become mentors. True, many ended up with a “voluntary” and not very exile. Naryshkin's stepmother was exiled to Preobrazhenskoye along with Peter. Maybe luckily? After all, the Life Guards come from those events. By the middle of 1676, A. S. Matveev, his father’s brother-in-law, the first Russian “Westerner”, who had previously had almost unlimited power in the country, was also sent into exile.

Natural talent and excellent teacher

Fedor Alekseevich was creative person- composed poetry, owned musical instruments and quite decently sang, versed in painting. According to contemporaries, in his dying delirium he read from Ovid's memory. Not all monarchs, dying, remember the classics. The personality was clearly uncommon.

Fedor was lucky with the teacher. Simeon Polotsky, a Belarusian by origin, a writer and theologian, a major Rus, was engaged in his education. As a mentor to the royal children, he did not leave public and literary activity- founded a printing house in Moscow, opened a school, wrote poems and plays, treatises and poems. Fedor Alekseevich, under his guidance, translated and rhymed some of the psalms from the Psalter. Fedor Alekseevich Romanov was well educated, knew Polish, Greek and Latin. Especially for him, secretaries under the leadership of Simeon Polotsky prepared a kind of review of international events.

historical injustice

Due to the fact that his reign was short (there was not enough month before the 6-year term) and pale between bright significant periods (the reign of his father, Alexei Mikhailovich "The Quietest", and the brother of Peter I the Great), Fedor Alekseevich Romanov himself remained a little-known sovereign . And representatives of the dynasty do not really brag about them. Although he possessed the mind, and the will, and talents. He could be a great reformer and reformer, the author of the first Russian perestroika. And he became a forgotten king.

At the beginning of his reign, all power was concentrated in the hands of the Miloslavskys and their entourage. Fedor III had the will, but he was a teenager, to push them into the shadows, and also to bring closer people who were not very noble, but smart, active, enterprising - I. M. Yazykov and V. V. Golitsyn.

Tsar Reformer

The reign of Fedor Alekseevich was marked by significant transformations.
Born in 1661, already in 1678 he ordered the start of a census and introduced household taxation, as a result of which the treasury began to replenish. The strengthening of the state through the tightening of serfdom was facilitated by the abolition of the father's decree on the non-extradition of fugitive peasants, provided that they enter the army. These were just the first steps. The reign of Fedor Alekseevich laid the foundation for some of the reforms adopted by Peter I. So, in 1681, a number of events were carried out that formed the basis and allowed Peter to carry out the Provincial reform, and in Last year life, Fedor III prepared a project, based on which Peter's "Tables of Ranks" were created.

The first man with that name in the Romanov family was Fedor Koshka, one of the direct ancestors of the dynasty. The second was (Fyodor Nikitich Romanov). The third was Tsar Fedor Alekseevich Romanov - an unusual, strong and unfairly forgotten personality. In addition to severe hereditary diseases, he suffered from an injury - at the age of 13, during his winter holidays the sledge on which the sisters rode ran over. There were such times - mothers died during childbirth along with newborns, it was impossible to cure scurvy (it took the form of pestilence), there were no fastening belts in the royal sleigh. It turns out that the person was doomed to an early death and the inability to complete the transformations that had begun. As a result, he was forgotten, and the glory went to others.

All in the name of the country

The internal policy of Fyodor Alekseevich was aimed at the benefit of the state, and he sought to improve the existing situation without cruelty and despotism.
He transformed the Duma, increasing the number of its representatives to 99 people (instead of 66). The king gave them the main responsibility in making state decisions. And it was he, and not Peter I, who began to give way to people who were not noble, but educated and active, capable of serving the good of the country. He destroyed the system of granting public positions, directly dependent on the nobility of origin. The local system ceased to exist in 1682 right at the meeting of the Zemsky Sobor. So that this law would not remain only on paper, Fedor III ordered the destruction of all rank books in which it was legal to receive positions by tribal affiliation. It was the last year of his life, the king was only 20 years old.

Broad reorganization of the state

The policy of Fyodor Alekseevich was aimed at mitigating, if not eliminating, the cruelty of criminal prosecution and punishment. He abolished the cutting off of hands for theft.

Is it not surprising that a law against luxury should be passed? Before his death, he decides to establish the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. At the same time, a religious school was to be opened. What is most surprising, Fedor Alekseevich is the first to start inviting teachers from abroad. Even beards were shaved and hair was shortened under Tsar Fedor.

The tax system and the structure of the army were transformed. Taxes became reasonable, and the population began to pay them more or less regularly, replenishing the treasury. And, most surprisingly, he curtailed the rights of the church, significantly limited its interference in secular and state affairs, and began the process of liquidating the patriarchate. You read and wonder, because all this was attributed to Peter! Obviously, despite all the intrigues of the royal court, he loved his older brother, was able to appreciate the reforms and transformations he had begun and completed them with dignity.

Building reform

The policy of Fedor Alekseevich Romanov covered all the national economic sectors. Active construction of temples and public institutions was carried out, new estates appeared, boundaries were strengthened, gardens were planted. Hands reached the sewer system of the Kremlin.

Special words deserve dwellings designed by his order, many of which still exist today. Fedor Alekseevich managed to almost completely rebuild wooden Moscow into stone. He provided Muscovites for the construction of standard chambers. Moscow was changing before our eyes. Thousands of houses were erected, thus solving the housing problem of the capital. For some, this irritated, the king was accused of squandering the treasury. Nevertheless, Russia under Fedor turned into a major power, and its heart, Red Square, became the face of the country. His environment was no less amazing - enterprising, well-educated people from humble families worked alongside him for the glory of Russia. And here Peter followed in his footsteps.

Successes in foreign policy

The internal reorganization of the state was supplemented by the foreign policy of Fedor Alekseevich. He was already trying to return access to the Baltic Sea to our country. Bakhchisaray peace treaty in 1681 annexed to Russia. In exchange for three cities, Kyiv became part of Rus' in 1678. A new southern post appeared nearby in this way, most of the fertile lands were annexed to Russia - about 30 thousand square kilometers, and new estates were formed on it, provided to the nobles who served in the army. And this justified itself completely - Russia defeated the Turkish army, which was superior in number and equipment.

Under Fyodor Alekseevich, and not under Peter, the foundations were laid for a regular army in the field, formed according to a completely new principle. The Lefortovsky and Butyrsky regiments were created, which later did not betray Peter at the Battle of Narva.

A flagrant injustice

The silence about the merits of this tsar is inexplicable, because under him literacy in Russia increased three times. In the capital - at five. Documents testify that it was under Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov that poetry flourished, under him, and not under Lomonosov, the first odes began to be composed. It is impossible to count what this young king managed to do. Now many people talk about the triumph of historical justice. It would be good, when it is restored, to pay tribute to this king not at the level of abstracts, but to perpetuate his name on the pages of history books so that everyone knows from childhood what a wonderful ruler he was.

Fedor III Alekseevich born May 30, 1661. Russian tsar since 1676, from the Romanov dynasty, son of the tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and queens Maria Ilyinichna , the elder brother of Tsar Ivan V and the half-brother of Peter I. One of the most educated rulers of Russia.

Biography
Fedor Alekseevich Romanov was born in Moscow on May 30, 1661. During the reign Alexey Mikhailovich more than once the question of succession to the throne arose. The prince died at the age of sixteen Alexey Alekseevich . Second the king's son Fedor was then nine years old. Fedor succeeded to the throne at the age of fourteen. They were crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin on June 18, 1676. His ideas about royal power were largely formed under the influence of one of the philosophers of that time, Simeon of Polotsk, who was the tutor and spiritual mentor of the prince. Fedor Alekseevich Romanov was well educated. He knew Latin well and spoke Polish fluently. His teacher was the famous theologian, scientist, writer and poet Simeon of Polotsk. Unfortunately, Fedor Alekseevich did not differ good health, since childhood was weak and painful. He ruled the country for only six years.
With health to the king Fedor Alekseevich bad luck. As a child, Fyodor Alekseevich was run over by sledges, he also suffered from scurvy. But God rewarded him with a clear mind, a bright soul and good heart. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, guessing that the age of Fedor would be short, but gave him, like other children, an excellent education, for which Simeon Polotsky, a monk from White Russia, was responsible. Tsarevich Fedor is credited with rhymed translations of psalms into Russian. Poetry for him could become a matter of life, but his business was different. September 1, 1674 Alexei Mikhailovich took his son to Place of execution and declared him heir to the throne. Fedor Alekseevich delivered a speech, but his health did not allow him to spoil the public with his art for a long time. It was difficult for him to walk, stand, sit. Boyarin F.F. Kurakin and okolnichiy I.B. Khitrovo, responsible for the upbringing of the heir, stood nearby. Before his death, the tsar called Fedor, without a shadow of a doubt handed over the holy cross and scepter into his fragile hands and said: “I bless you, son, to the kingdom!”.

The reign and reforms of the king
Part of the reignFedor Alekseevich occupied the war with Turkey and Crimean Khanate because of Ukraine. Only in 1681, in Bakhchisarai, the parties officially recognized the reunification with Russia, the Left-Bank Ukraine and Kyiv. Russia received Kyiv under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. In matters of internal government of the country, Fedor Alekseevich is best known for two innovations. In 1681, a project was developed to create the subsequently famous Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Many figures of science, culture and politics came out of its walls. It was in it in the XVIII century. the great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov. And in 1682 Boyar Duma abolished the so-called localism. In Russia, by tradition, state and military people were appointed to various positions not in accordance with their merits, experience or abilities, but in accordance with the place that the ancestors of the appointed person occupied in the state apparatus. The son of a man who once occupied a lower position could never rise above the son of an official who once occupied a higher position. high position regardless of merit. This state of affairs irritated and hindered many. good governance state.
The short reign of Fyodor Alekseevich was marked by important actions and reforms. In 1678 a general census of the population was carried out, and in 1679 household direct taxes were introduced, which increased the tax burden. In military affairs, in 1682 localism, which paralyzed command in the army, was abolished; in connection with this, digit books were burned. Thus, an end was put to the dangerous custom of the boyars and nobles to reckon with the merits of their ancestors when occupying a position. Genealogical books were introduced to preserve the memory of ancestors. In order to centralize state administration, some related orders were combined under the leadership of one person. The regiments of the foreign system received a new development.
The main of the domestic political reforms was the destruction of the "emergency seat" Zemsky Cathedral January 12, 1682 - localities - the rules by which everyone received ranks in accordance with the place that the ancestors of the appointee occupied in the state apparatus. At the same time, category books with lists of positions were burned as the “main culprits” of local disputes and claims. Instead of bits, it was ordered to have a genealogical book. All well-born and noble people were entered into it, but already without indicating their place in the Duma.

Foreign policy of Fedor Alekseevich
In foreign policy, he tried to return to Russia access to the Baltic Sea, lost during the years of the Livonian War. Much more attention than Alexei Mikhailovich paid to the regiments of the "new system", staffed and trained in the Western manner. However, the solution of the "Baltic problem" was hampered by the raids of the Crimean and Tatars and Turks from the south. Therefore, Fedor's major foreign policy action was the successful Russian-Turkish war of 1676-1681, which ended with the Bakhchisaray peace treaty, which secured the unification of the Left-Bank Ukraine with Russia. Russia received Kyiv even earlier under an agreement with Poland in 1678 in exchange for Nevel, Sebezh and Velizh. During the war of 1676-1681 in the south of the country, the Izyumskaya notch line (400 versts) was created, connected with Belgorodskaya.

Internal management
In matters of internal government of the country Fedor Alekseevich left a mark in the history of Russia with two innovations. In 1681, a project was developed to create the subsequently famous, Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy , which opened after the death of the king. It was in it that the Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov studied in the 18th century. Moreover, representatives of all classes were supposed to be allowed to study at the academy, and scholarships were awarded to the poor. The tsar was going to transfer the entire palace library to the Academy. Patriarch Joachim was categorically against the opening of the academy, he was generally against secular education in Russia. The king tried to defend his decision. Fedor Alekseevich ordered to build special shelters for orphans and teach them various sciences and crafts. The sovereign wanted to arrange all the disabled in almshouses, which he built at his own expense. In 1682, the Boyar Duma once and for all abolished the so-called localism. According to the tradition that existed in Russia, state and military people were appointed to various positions not in accordance with their merits, experience or abilities, but in accordance with localism, that is, with the place that the ancestors of the appointed person occupied in the state apparatus.

Russo-Turkish War
In the 1670s there was Russo-Turkish War, which was caused by Turkey's desire to subjugate Left-bank Ukraine. In 1681, the Bucharest Peace Treaty was concluded between Russia and Turkey, according to which the border between these countries was established along the Dnieper. The cities of Kyiv, Vasilkov, Trypillya, Staiki, located in the Dnieper Right Bank, remained with Russia. Russians received the right to fish in the Dnieper, as well as to extract salt and hunt in the lands adjacent to the Dnieper. During this war, in the south of the country, the Izyumskaya serif line, about 400 versts long, was created, which covered Sloboda Ukraine from the attacks of the Turks and Tatars. Later, this defensive line was extended and connected to the Belgorod zasechnaya line.

The wedding and first wife of Fedor Alekseevich Romanov
In the summer of 1680 the king Fedor Alekseevich saw on procession girl he liked. He instructed Yazykov to find out who she was, and Yazykov told him that she was the daughter Semyon Fedorovich Grushetsky, by name Agafya. The king, without violating grandfather's customs, ordered to convene a crowd of girls and chose Agafya from them. Boyar Miloslavsky tried to upset this marriage, blackening the royal bride, but did not achieve the goal and he himself lost influence at court. On July 18, 1680, the tsar married her. The new queen was of an humble family and, as they say, was of Polish origin. At the Moscow court, Polish customs began to enter, they began to wear kuntushi, cut their hair in Polish and learn the Polish language. The tsar himself, brought up by Simeon Sitiyanovich, knew Polish and read Polish books.
But soon, among the cares of the government, the queen died Agafya (July 14, 1681) from childbirth, and after her a newborn baby, baptized under the name of Elijah.

The second wedding of the king
Meanwhile, the king was weakening day by day, but his neighbors supported in him the hope of recovery, and he entered into new marriage With Marfa Matveevna Apraksina, a relative of Yazykov. The first consequence of this union was the forgiveness of Matveev.
The exiled boyar several times wrote petitions to the tsar from exile, justifying himself from the false accusations leveled against him, asked for the patriarch's petition, turned to various boyars and even to his enemies. Matveev, as a relief, was transferred to Mezen with his son, with his son's teacher, the gentry Poborsky, and servants, up to 30 people in total, and they gave him 156 rubles in salary, and, in addition, they released grain, rye, oats, and barley. But that didn't make things any easier for him. Begging again the sovereign to grant him freedom, Matveev wrote that in this way "it will be for a day for us your serfs and our orphans three coins each ..." "Church opponents," wrote Matveev in the same letter, "Avakum's wife and children receive a penny per person, and small three coins, and we, your serfs, are not opponents of either the church or your royal command. However, the Mezen governor Tukhachevsky loved Matveev and tried in every way he could to alleviate the fate of the exiled boyar. Main disadvantage was that it was difficult to get bread in Mezen. The inhabitants ate game and fish, which were there in great abundance, but scurvy raged there from lack of bread. In January 1682, as soon as the tsar announced Martha Apraksina as his bride, the captain of the stirrup regiment Ivan Lishukov was sent to Mezen with a decree to announce to the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev and his son that the sovereign, recognizing their innocence, ordered them to be returned from exile, to return the court to them in Moscow, Moscow region and other estates and belongings left for distribution and sale; granted them the estate from the palace villages of Upper Landekh with villages and ordered them to freely release the boyar and his son to the city of Lukh, giving them road and pit carts, and in Lukh to wait for a new royal decree. Matveev owed this favor to the request of the royal bride, who was his goddaughter. Although the tsar announced that he recognized Matveev as completely innocent and falsely slandered, although before the release of Matveev he ordered one of his slanderers, doctor David Berlov, to be sent into exile, he did not dare, however, to return the boyar to Moscow - apparently, the royal sisters who hated Matveev prevented , and the young queen did not yet have enough strength to lead the king to such an act that would irritate the princesses to the extreme. However, the young queen a short time gained so much strength that she reconciled the tsar with Natalya Kirillovna and Tsarevich Peter, with whom, in the words of a contemporary, he had "indomitable disagreements." But the king did not have long to live with his young wife. A little over two months after his wedding, on April 27, 1682, he died before he was 21 years old.

Marriage and children
Wives:
1) from July 18, 1680 Agafia Semyonovna Grushetskaya(died 14 July 1681);
2) from February 15, 1682 Marfa Matveevna Apraksina(died 31 Dec. 1715). + 27 Apr. 1682

Having become king, Fyodor exalted his favorites - the bed-keeper Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov and the room attendant Alexei Timofeevich Likhachev. These were people of no nobility, they arranged the marriage of the king. They say that Fedor saw a girl who he really liked. He instructed Yazykov to inquire about her, and he reported that this was Agafya Semenovna Grushetskaya, the niece of the Duma clerk Zaborovsky. The deacon was given to know that he would not give his niece in marriage until the decree, and soon Fyodor married her. All five sons of Alexei Mikhailovich, born to him by his first wife, Maria Ilinichnaya Miloslavskaya, were weak and sickly people. Three died during the life of his father, and the youngest, Ivan, added mental underdevelopment to physical weakness. The eldest, Fedor, suffered from severe scurvy, could hardly walk, leaning on a stick, and was forced to spend most of his time in the palace. He received a sufficient education: he spoke Polish well, knew Latin, learned to compose verses, and even helped his mentor Simeon of Polotsk to translate psalms. Being 14 years old, in 1674 Fedor was solemnly declared heir to the throne, and only two years later he was supposed to take the place of the suddenly deceased Alexei Mikhailovich.

death of the king
The last months of the tsar's life were overshadowed by great grief: his wife died of childbirth, whom he married for love, contrary to the advice of the boyars. Together with his mother, the newborn heir also died. When it became obvious that Fedor Alekseevich will not live long, yesterday's favorites began to seek friendship from the younger brothers of the king and their relatives. After the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, both brothers came to the throne - Ivan And Peter. Ivan Alekseevich was a sickly person and could not actively help his younger brother, but he always supported him. And Peter I was able to create the Russian Empire from the Muscovite state.