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Catherine II – #4 Best Russian Ruler

By on April 17, 2013 in Catherine the Great, Peter the Great, Russian Empire, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Royal Family, Tsar
Catherine II

Catherine posing for the painter Rokotov.

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great makes it to #4 on my list as best Russian ruler. Born in 1729 in Stettin, Prussia as Sophia Augusta Fredricka, she was betrothed to the orphaned grandson of Peter the Great whom she married in 1745. This loveless marriage was to produce one son, likely not her husband’s, a boy who would become Paul I. The one most associated with fathering Paul was Sergei Saltykov.

Her early years in the court of Empress Elizabeth were difficult. The empress was a controlling women who had little tolerance for independent thinkers such as Catherine. She wrote a autobiography of the times in the court of Elizabeth which showed how isolated she felt.

When Elizabeth died, Catherine’s husband, now known as Peter III, assumed the throne. He proved to be extremely unpopular in the court as he ended the war with Prussia and immediately declared was on Denmark. To make things worse, he alienated the house guard units and the influential Russian Orthodox Church. There was one issue that made Catherine nervous and that was the very real threat of her being divorced and sent to a convent as he had taken and flaunted his mistress Yekaterina Dashkova.

On July 9, 1762, Peter III was deposed and strangled to death. Some believe Catherine was in on the murder but that is highly unlikely. The new empress was crowned on October 3rd of the same year and quickly consolidated her power. She quickly began to focus the early years of her reign on the promotion of administrative efficiency and expansion of educational opportunities. Catherine was also a patron of the arts as seen by her founding of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Her international flair culminated in the victorious Russo-Turkish which was somewhat tarnished by a domestic rebellion. Emelian Pugachev led thousands of disgruntled Cossacks and serfs in 1773-75. The city of Kazan was burned by the rebels but their army was eventually brutally quashed by the Russian army.

She did much to raise the world’s image of Russia and greatly improved the administration of local laws and taxes within the country. While she has numerous flaws, overall Catherine made Russia a better place than she left it. Unfortunately, her son Paul I, would unravel much of her work and put the Romanov dynasty on a death spiral that would culminate with the abdication of Nicholas II in 1917.

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Vladimir I – #8 On The Best List

By on January 10, 2013 in Kievan Rus, Old Russia, Russian Orthodox Church
St. Vladimir

Vladimir the Great

Vladimir I, also known as Vladimir the Great (Norse – Volodmyr) was one of the most influential Russian rulers in history. Born in 958, he was the son of Sviatoslav who died in 972. Vladimir’s brother Yaropolk assumed the throne violently by killing their other brother Oleg. Forced to flee to Novgorod, Vladimir hired a band of Varangian mercenaries to help him overthrow Yaropolk.

In June of 980, Vladimir seized the capital in Kiev with the help of the boyar Blud who turned on Yaropolk who was eventually captured and killed. Once settled in his role as Grand Prince, he began to expand Kievan influence by attacking the Bulgars, pushing towards the Polish border in  Galicia and northwest towards Lithuania. On his way, the Grand Prince attacked the land of Polotsk, whose Prince refused Vladimir’s request for his daughter Rogneda in marriage. Not one to be told no, the Kievan prince took the young woman anyway.

This was not to be the only wife or concubine that the pagan Prince had. Some estimates believe he had over 800 women in his service. While the country had a smattering of Christians throughout the land due to his grandmother Olga’s influence, paganism was still the religion of the land. Vladimir promoted the Perun, who was the god of thunder as the lead diety. Human sacrifice was the norm until the Grand Prince began to see a growing population of Christians. He saw a political opening to expand his power base but he had to act prudently and wisely.

According to the Primary Chronicle, he sent emissaries to the centers of a number of religions to bring back information about each. The reports on the Jewish, Catholic, Muslim and Orthodox religions were brought back. At the time, Constantinople was the seat of the Orthodox religion as well as being the capital of the most powerful civilization in the world, Byzantium.

It is said that Vladimir chose Orthodoxy because of divine inspiration but it is likely because of political benefits of being allied with such a great power. He decided to press the issue by attacking the Byzantine city of Chersonesos and demanded the hand of the Emperor Basil II’s sister, Anna. This was an impossible request as the Grand Prince was still a pagan. To make the deal, Vladimir was baptized in Cherson, taking the name Christian name Basil and Anna was sent to be his wife.

On his return to Kiev, the Grand Prince ordered all pagan statues destroyed and the people mass converted to Orthodox Christianity under threat of death. His conversion of the people was one of the most important events in Russian history. Vladimir’s rule marks the end of the Varangian era and the beginning of the Christian era which was to last until 1917.

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Alexander I of Russia

By on December 23, 2012 in Catherine the Great, Military Actions, Russian Empire, Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Royal Family
Alexander I of Russia

Tsar Alexander I

Tsar Alexander I, also known as Alexander the Blessed was born on December 23, 1777. His rule of Russia from March 24, 1801 following the assassination of his father Paul I, was a tumultuous one. The crowning glory of his reign of course was the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars.

Born to Paul Petrovich Romanov and Maria Feodorovna née Sophie Dorothea, he was raised primarily by his grandmother, Catherine the Great. She had little faith in his father Paul which caused Alexander a great deal of difficulty later in his life. He tried to appease both his grandmother and his father which led to his doing the same when he became Tsar in 1801. Throughout his reign, Alexander tried to make everyone happy but he was also a master manipulator as well.

After the murder of his father Paul in March of 1801, Alexander assumed the mantle of the Russian Empire with a great deal of guilt. Some say he knew that the conspirators led by Counts Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen and Nikita Petrovich Panin were planning the murder, others thought not. It is clear that he knew of the plot to remove his unpopular father from the throne. It is equally clear that they did not tell him of their nefarious plans. Nonetheless, Alexander did take over (Episode 53) for his father at the age of 23 with the admonition “Time to grow up! Go and rule!” by General Nicholas Zubov.

Early on in his reign, Alexander began to try to reform the country especially the government. Led by the liberal  Mikhail Speransky reforms were drawn up and ready for action. Some of the reforms came to be, but for the whole, not a lot was done partly due to a problem that was cropping up in Europe; the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte to the world stage.

It was his battles with Napoleon (Episode 54) that made Alexander I the hero that he became to his people. Starting in 1807 and finishing in 1814, the war against Napoleon had its ups and downs but eventually, Alexander and his Russian army prevailed. After this though, the Tsar’s personality took a conservative and somewhat mystic turn.

In 1825, in the town of Taganrog Alexander supposedly died after a short illness. Rumor though has it that he did not die that he became the monk Feodor Kuzmich. Some in the Romanov family were told that the two men were one and the same and there is actually a book called Imperial Legend: The Mysterious Disappearance of Tsar Alexander I by Troubetzkoy that claims the same thing. Whatever the truth, his brother Nicholas I takes over for him and begins the slide that the Romanov’s never recovered from.

 

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Alexander Nevsky Day

By on November 23, 2012 in Kievan Rus, Military Actions, Old Russia, Russian Orthodox Church
Saint Alexander Nevsky

Icon of Saint Alexander Nevsky

Today is the feast day for Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (Episode 5)  in the Russian Orthodox Church. Nevsky is one of the heroes of the early years of Russian history. He was both Grand Prince of Novgorod and Vladimir during the 1200’s.

From 1228 to 1233, Alexander Yaroslavich ruler Novgorod together with his brother Fyodor. When his brother died in 1233, Alexander enlisted his brother Andrei to help expand Novgorod’s lands. Quickly they began to encroach upon Finnish lands which caused the Swedes, Teutonic Knights and Livonian Swordbearers to challenge Alexander. In 1240, the Swedes attacked at the Neva River but were defeated by Alexander’s small army. This is how he came to acquire the name Nevsky.

After winning the battle, he quarreled with the citizens of Novgorod and left, heading to Pereyaslavl Zalessky. In short order, a German army seized nearby Pskov and threatened Novgorod which cause the populace to beg Alexander to return. After coming back in 1241, he began to recapture lost territory including Pskov.

In 1242 the famous “Battle on the Ice” occurred between Nevsky’s army and the main force of the Teutonic Knights on Lake Peypus (aka Lake Chud). This legendary battle increased Alexander Yaroslavich’s stature among his people but especially with the Khan of the Golden Horde. The Mongols admired military courage so when Alexander went to Sarai to visit Khan Batu he was sent all the way to Mongolia to see the Great Khan in Karakorum. There, he received the title of Grand Prince of Kiev and of all the Rus in 1249.

He served the Mongols well, often times putting down rebellions within his lands. While some felt that this was a traitorous act, he was able to prevent mass executions which was the preferred method of meting out punishment by the Horde.

After his fourth visit to the Golden Horde in 1262, Alexander Nevsky fell ill. On his way home, he became a monk and died on November 14, 1263 in the town of Gorodets. He was canonized as saint in the Russian Orthodox Church during the reign of Ivan IV (the Terrible).

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Mikhail of Tver

By on November 22, 2012 in Kievan Rus, Military Actions, Old Russia, Russian Orthodox Church
Prince Mikhail of Tver

Prince Mikhail of Tver presenting himself to the Khan of the Golden Horde

Prince Mikhail of Tver, the second son of Grand Prince Yaroslav III of Kiev was born on November 22, 1318. Mikhail Yaroslavich was the Prince of both Tver and had two rules over the principality of Vladimir (1304-14 and 1315-18). He was made a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Prince Mikhail had alienated the Russian Orthodox Church during his reign. Metropolitan Petr came to power despite Mikhail’s nomination of another person. The hostility between the church and Mikhail carried on for the rest of his life which makes his elevation to sainthood quite curious.

The time of his rule was the period in which Russia was ruled by the Golden Horde of the Mongols who were based in Sarai.  It was also a time where Tver battled Moscow as a dominant city in the eyes of the Khan. Prince Yuri of Moscow (Episode 5)  was his main rival. At the time the rivalry was fought out not just on the battle field but at the court of the khan of the Golden Horde. At first, Mikhail had a good relationship with Tokhta khan and his successor Uzbeg but Yuri was able to circumvent this by marrying Uzbeg’s sister.

Uzbeg then decided that he would take back Tver and Vladimir from Mikhail by sending troops to aide Yuri in his fight. Mikhail was able to defeat the combined forces and captured Yuri’s wife and Uzbeg’s sister. Unfortunately for Mikhail, his hostage died while in his custody. This obviously infuriated the khan. He sent recalled his general Kavgadii to Sarai who accused Mikhail of murdering the khan’s sister and warring against the Horde. This was to be Mikhail death sentence.

 

Mikhail had no choice but to go to Sarai to face the charges but his plea that he was not guilty and that his hostages death was accidental was of little help. He was summarily executed.

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Avvakum – Archpriest leader of the Old Believers

By on November 20, 2012 in Old Russia, Russian Orthodox Church
The Burning at the Stake of Archpriest Avvakum

The Burning at the Stake of Archpriest Avvakum

Archpriest Avvakum, was one of the most influential of the Old Believers movement which was started in opposition to the reforms of Patriarch Nikon between the years 1652-66. Avvakum believed that the changes were abominations in the eyes of God and would not agree to them. The following of the old ways continues to present day where there is an estimated 2 million followers in Russia.

The schism, known as the raskol (which means cleaving apart) caused great consternation within the Church and Russia. The reforms were caused by findings that the Russian Orthodox rituals and writings had deviated from the Greek Church over the centuries. It was thought that the changes were due to poor transcription and translation from the original Greek.

Patriarch Nikon had full support from Tsar Alexis I (Episode 25) who called a synod (meeting of the church hierarchy). It was agreed that major deviations occurred which led to an over 400 page report making the changes law of the church. Many church goers refused to follow the changes. Many fled Russia and headed to the north and east. Those that remained were harassed and persecuted. The leaders were arrested and sent to exile in Siberia.

Avvakum was imprisoned countless times for the rest of his life after first opposing the changes. He began to write an autobiography which has been reprinted and translated numerous times over the centuries. His final 14 years were spent in a sunken, log-framed hit in the ground in the town of Pustozyorsk which was above the Arctic Circle before he burned at the stake.

Over the years, the Old Believers were persecuted. Peter the Great double taxed them for refusing to shave their beards. Nicholas I viewed them as a threat to his rule and harassed them mercilessly.

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