The last years of the Romanov dynasty. Cheat Sheet: The Romanov Dynasty

Appendix 3. Family tree of the genus

Candidates

There were many contenders for the Russian throne. Two of the most unpopular candidates - the Polish prince Vladislav and the son of False Dmitry II - were “weeded out” at once. The Swedish prince Karl-Philip had more supporters, among them was the leader of the Zemsky army, Prince Pozharsky. Why did the patriot of the Russian land choose a foreign prince? Perhaps, the antipathy of the "thin-born" Pozharsky to the domestic applicants - the noble boyars, who in the Time of Troubles more than once betrayed those to whom they swore allegiance, had an effect. He feared that the “boyar tsar” would sow the seeds of new turmoil in Russia, as happened during the short reign of Vasily Shuisky. Therefore, Prince Dmitry stood for the calling of the "Varangian", but most likely it was Pozharsky's "maneuver", since in the end only Russian applicants - noble princes - took part in the struggle for the royal throne. The leader of the notorious "Seven Boyars" Fyodor Mstislavsky compromised himself by cooperating with the Poles, Ivan Vorotynsky renounced his claim to the throne, Vasily Golitsyn was in Polish captivity, the leaders of the militia Dmitry Trubetskoy and Dmitry Pozharsky were not distinguished by nobility. But the new tsar must unite the country split by the Troubles. The question arose: how to give preference to one family so that a new round of boyar feuds does not begin?

Mikhail Fedorovich did not pass the first round

The candidacy of the Romanovs as the main contenders did not arise by chance: Mikhail Romanov was the nephew of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich. Mikhail's father, Patriarch Filaret, was respected among the clergy and Cossacks. Boyar Fedor Sheremetyev actively campaigned in favor of the candidacy of Mikhail Fedorovich. He assured the obstinate boyars that Mikhail was "young and will be our favorite." In other words, it will become their puppet. But the boyars did not allow themselves to be persuaded: in the preliminary voting, the candidacy of Mikhail Romanov did not receive the required number of votes.

No show

When Romanov was elected, an overlap arose: the Cathedral demanded the arrival of the young applicant to Moscow. The Romanov party could not allow this: an inexperienced, timid young man inexperienced in intrigues would have made an unfavorable impression on the delegates of the Council. Sheremetyev and his supporters had to show miracles of eloquence, proving how dangerous the path from the Kostroma village of Domnino, where Mikhail was staying, to Moscow. Was it not then that the legend of the exploit of Ivan Susanin, who saved the life of the future tsar, arose? After heated debate, the Romanovites managed to convince the Cathedral to cancel the decision on Mikhail's arrival.

Tightening

On February 7, 1613, the orderly tired delegates announced a two-week break: "February was postponed from February 7 to 21 for a large fortification." Messengers were sent to the cities "in all sorts of people, see them out." The voice of the people is, of course, the voice of God, but isn't it not enough two weeks to monitor public opinion in a large country? For example, it is not easy for a messenger to get to Siberia in two months. Most likely, the boyars expected the most active supporters of Mikhail Romanov - the Cossacks - to leave Moscow. The villagers will get bored, they say, to sit idle in the city, they will disperse. The Cossacks really dispersed, so much so that the boyars did not seem to be enough ...

Role of Pozharsky

Let's return to Pozharsky and his lobbying for the Swedish claimant to the Russian throne. In the fall of 1612, the militia captured a Swedish spy. Until January 1613, he languished in captivity, but shortly before the beginning of the Zemsky Sobor, Pozharsky frees the spy and sends him to Novgorod, occupied by the Swedes, with a letter to the commander Jacob De la Gardie. In it, Pozharsky says that he himself and most of the noble boyars want to see Karl-Philip on the Russian throne. But, as subsequent events showed, Pozharsky misinformed the Swede. One of the first decisions of the Zemsky Sobor was that a foreigner should not be on the Russian throne; the sovereign should be elected "from Moscow families, God willing." Was Pozharsky so naive that he did not know the mood of the majority? Of course not. Prince Dmitry deliberately fooled De la Gardie with "general support" for the candidacy of Charles-Philippe in order to prevent Swedish interference in the election of the tsar. The Russians could hardly repulse the Polish onslaught; the march on Moscow for the Swedish army could be fatal. Pozharsky's "cover operation" was successful: the Swedes did not budge. That is why on February 20, Prince Dmitry, happily forgetting about the Swedish prince, proposed to the Zemsky Sobor to elect a tsar from the Romanov family, and then put his signature on the cathedral charter on the election of Mikhail Fedorovich. During the coronation of the new sovereign, it was Pozharsky that Mikhail showed a high honor: the prince presented him with one of the symbols of power - the tsarist state. Modern political strategists can only envy such a competent PR move: the savior of the Fatherland entrusts the power to the new tsar. Handsomely. Looking ahead, we note that until his death (1642) Pozharsky faithfully served Mikhail Fedorovich, taking advantage of his constant location. It is unlikely that the king would have favored someone who wanted to see on the throne of Rurik not him, but some Swedish prince.

Cossacks

The Cossacks play a special role in the king's election. An interesting story about this is contained in the "Tale of the Zemsky Sobor in 1613". It turns out that on February 21, the boyars decided to choose the tsar by casting lots, but the hope for "maybe", in which any forgery is possible, angered the Cossacks. Cossack orators smashed the boyar "tricks" to smithereens and solemnly proclaimed: "By God's will, there will be Tsar, Sovereign and Grand Duke Mikhailo Fedorovich in the reigning city of Moscow and all Russia!" This cry was immediately picked up by the supporters of the Romanovs, and not only in the Cathedral, but also among the large crowd of people in the square. It was the Cossacks who cut the "Gordian knot", having achieved the election of Mikhail. The unknown author of The Tale (probably an eyewitness to what is happening) does not regret the colors, describing the reaction of the boyars: “Bolyar was at that time obsessed with fear and trembling, and their faces were changing with blood, and no one could slap them”. Only Mikhail's uncle, Ivan Romanov, nicknamed Kasha, who for some reason did not want to see his nephew on the throne, tried to argue: "Mikhailo Fedorovich is still young and not fully intelligent." To which the Cossack witches objected: "But you, Ivan Nikitich, are a mile old, in full mind ... you will be a strong force for him." Uncle did not forget the assessment of his mental abilities, and later removed Ivan Kasha from all state affairs. The Cossack demarche came as a complete surprise to Dmitry Trubetskoy: "His face is blackened, and falling into ailment, and lying for many days, not leaving his courtyard from the slope, which he exhausted the treasury as a Cossack, and they are flattering in words and deception." The prince can be understood: it was he, the leader of the Cossack militia, who counted on the support of his comrades in arms, generously endowed them with "treasury" - and suddenly they were on the side of Mikhail. Perhaps the Romanov party paid more?

British recognition

On February 21 (March 3), 1613, the Zemsky Sobor made a historic decision: to elect Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom. The first country to recognize the new sovereign was England: in the same year, 1613, the embassy of John Metrick arrived in Moscow. This is how the history of the second and last tsarist dynasty of Russia began. It is significant that throughout his reign, Mikhail Fedorovich showed a special attitude towards the British. So, after the Troubles, Mikhail Fedorovich restored relations with the British "Moscow Company" and although he curtailed the freedom of action of the British merchants, he nevertheless put them on preferential terms not only with other foreigners, but also with representatives of Russian "big business".

Prehistory of the Romanovs. Genus name changes

According to the ancestral tradition, the ancestors of the Romanovs left for Russia "from Prussia" at the beginning of the XIV century. However, many historians believe that the Romanovs are from Novgorod.

The first reliable ancestor of the Romanovs and a number of other noble families is considered Andrei Ivanovich Kobyla - the boyar of the Moscow prince Ivan Kalita. Andrei Ivanovich had five sons: Semyon Stallion, Alexander Yolka, Vasily Ivantey, Gabriel Gavsha and Fedor Koshka. They were the founders of many Russian noble houses.

The descendants of Fyodor Koshka began to be nicknamed Koshkin. The children of Zakhari Ivanovich Koshkin became the Koshkin-Zakharyins, and the grandchildren were simply Zakharyins. From Yuri Zakharievich went the Zakharyins-Yurievs, and from his brother Yakov - the Zakharyins-Yakovlevs.

The rise of the clan

Thanks to the marriage of Ivan IV the Terrible with Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina, the Zakharyin-Yuryev family became close to the royal court in the 16th century, and after the suppression of the Moscow branch of the Rurikovich, it began to claim the throne. In 1613, Anastasia's grand-nephew Mikhail Fedorovich was elected to the kingdom, and his offspring (which is traditionally called the "House of the Romanovs") ruled Russia until 1917.

Romanov-Holstein-Gottorp branch

After Anna Petrovna's marriage with Duke Karl of Holstein-Gottorp, the Romanov family actually passed into the Holstein-Gottorp family, however, according to a dynastic agreement, the son from this marriage (the future Peter III) was recognized as a member of the House of Romanov. Thus, according to genealogical rules, the genus is called the Romanovs-Holstein-Gottorp, which is reflected in the family coat of arms of the Romanovs and the coat of arms of the Russian Empire.

Surname "Romanovs"

Legally, members of the royal, and then the imperial, families did not bear any surnames at all (“Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich”, “Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich”, etc.). In addition, since 1761, the descendants of the daughter of Anna Petrovna and the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl-Friedrich reigned in Russia, who did not descend from the Romanovs in the male line, but from the Holstein-Gottorp (the youngest branch of the Oldenburg dynasty, known since the 12th century). In genealogical literature (especially foreign), representatives of the dynasty, starting with Peter III, are called Romanovs-Holstein-Gottorp. Despite this, the names "Romanovs" and "House of Romanovs" were practically universally used for the unofficial designation of the Russian Imperial House, the coat of arms of the Romanov boyars was included in official legislation, and in 1913 the three hundredth anniversary of the Romanov dynasty was widely celebrated.

After 1917, almost all members of the reigning house began to bear the name of the Romanovs officially (according to the laws of the Provisional Government, and then in exile). The only exception is the descendants of the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. He was one of the Romanovs who recognized Kirill Vladimirovich as emperor in exile. The marriage of Dmitry Pavlovich to Audrey Emery was recognized by Cyril as a morganatic marriage of a member of the reigning house, and his wife and children received the title of princes of the Romanovsky-Ilyinsky (now it is carried by two of Dmitry Pavlovich's grandchildren - Dmitry and Michael / Mikhail, as well as their wives and daughters). The rest of the Romanovs also entered into morganatic (from the point of view of the Russian law on succession to the throne) marriages, but did not consider it necessary to change their surname. After the creation of the Association of Princes of the House of Romanov in the late 1970s, the Ilyinsky became its members on a general basis.

Romanovs after 1917

At the beginning of 1917, the Romanov dynasty consisted of 32 males, 13 of whom were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918-19. Those who avoided this settled in Western Europe (mainly in France) and the USA. In the 1920s and 1930s, a significant part of the dynasty's representatives continued to hope for the collapse of Soviet power in Russia and the restoration of the monarchy.

All representatives of the dynasty are descendants of the four sons of Nicholas I:
Alexandrovichs, descendants of Alexander Nikolaevich. This branch has two living representatives - brothers Dmitry and Mikhail Pavlovich Romanovsky-Ilyinsky, the youngest of whom was born in 1961.
Konstantinovichi, descendants of Konstantin Nikolaevich. In the male line, the branch was cut short in 1973 (with the death of Vsevolod, the son of John Konstantinovich).
Nikolaevichs, descendants of Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder. Two living male representatives are brothers Nikolai and Dmitry Romanovich Romanovs, the youngest of whom was born in 1926.
Mikhailovich, descendants of Mikhail Nikolaevich. This branch includes all the other living Romanov men (see below), the youngest of them was born in 1987.

In total, in September 2008, the Romanov family consisted of 12 male representatives. Among them, only four (the grandchildren of Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich) are no more than forty years old.

Dynasty supremacy

After the liquidation of the monarchy in Russia, a number of members of the dynasty continued to adhere to the imperial legislation on succession to the throne, according to which, however, none of the living members of the dynasty entered the Imperial House, since they were all born in unequal marriages and, naturally, their parents did not ask permission to marry from the emperor.

If the imperial legislation is recognized as null and void in 1917, then the order of supremacy in the dynasty under the semi-salal inheritance scheme approved by Paul I is as follows:
1917-1938 - Kirill Vladimirovich (1876-1938), cousin of Nicholas II
1938-1992 - Vladimir Kirillovich (1917-1992), his son
1992-2004 - Pavel Dmitrievich (1928-2004), second cousin of Vladimir Kirillovich
from 2004 - Dmitry Pavlovich (b. 1954), son of Pavel Dmitrievich

Further order of dynastic seniority:
Mikhail Pavlovich (b. 1961), brother of Dmitry Pavlovich
Nikolai Romanovich (b. 1922), great-grandson of Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder
Dimitri Romanovich (b. 1926), brother of Nikolai Romanovich
Andrey Andreevich (b. 1923), grandson of Alexander Mikhailovich
Alexey Andreevich (b. 1951), son of Andrei Andreevich
Pyotr Andreevich (b. 1961), son of Andrei Andreevich
Andrei Andreevich (b. 1963), son of Andrei Andreevich
Rostislav Rostislavovich (b. 1985), great-grandson of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
Nikita Rostislavovich (b. 1987), brother of Rostislav Rostislavich
Nikolai-Christopher Nikolaevich (b. 1968), great-grandson of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich
Daniil Nikolaevich (b. 1972), brother of Nikolai Nikolaevich

However, neither Pavel Dmitrievich, nor his sons Dmitry and Mikhail, who live in the United States, have ever made claims to the dynasty. This role is claimed by the daughter of Vladimir Kirillovich, Maria Vladimirovna, who calls herself the head of the Imperial House, and Nikolai Romanovich, who heads the Association of Members of the House of Romanov, which includes most of the living representatives of the dynasty. Nikolai Romanovich believes that the question of the monarchy in Russia, as well as who should take the throne, should be decided at a national referendum.

Famous representatives of the Zakharyin-Yuryev-Romanov family
Zakhary Ivanovich.
Yuri Zakharievich.
Mikhail Yurievich.
Pyotr Yakovlevich, okolnichny since 1510; in 1512-1514 he participated in the Lithuanian war, in 1521 - in campaigns against the Crimeans.
Ivan Vasilievich, nicknamed Lyatsky. Participated in the Lithuanian War of 1514-1519 and especially distinguished himself in 1517, when he defeated the six thousandth enemy army near Konstantinov; then he was on a campaign against the Crimeans (1522) and Kazan (1524); in 1526 he was sent to Warsaw to approve the treaty; in 1534 he fled, together with his son Ivan and Belsky, to Lithuania and died there.
Roman Yurievich - okolnichy; was a voivode in the campaign in 1531. He died in 1543.
Grigory Yurievich was a voivode in the campaigns of 1531, 1536 and 1543. In 1547 - a boyar. About 1556 he accepted monasticism under the name of Guria and died in 1567. He was an opponent of the Glinsky princes and contributed much to the revolt against them of the mob during the Moscow fire of 1547.
Vasily Mikhailovich, Tver butler and boyar, was in 1547 “at the bedside at the wedding of Prince. Yuri Vasilievich ". In 1548 he ruled in Kazan. Mentioned among the boyars who remained in Moscow in 1559 to govern the state, then his name is found in a letter of reply (1566) to the ambassadors of the Polish king. He died in 1567.
Daniil Romanovich, brother of Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna, okolnichny (1547), boyar (1548). Participated in the Kazan campaign of 1551-1552, and especially distinguished himself during the capture of Arsk fort and in campaigns against the Crimeans and Lithuanians in 1556-1557, 1559 and 1564. He died in 1571.
Nikita Romanovich is the grandfather of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Participated in the Swedish campaign in 1551; was a voivode during the Lithuanian campaign (1559, 1564-1557). In 1563 he was made a butler and boyar. In 1584-1585 he took part in the government. He died in 1585, having taken monasticism with the name of Nifont.
Fyodor Nikitich - Filaret, Patriarch.
Alexander Nikitich was in the palace in 1585 on the day of the reception of the Lithuanian ambassador. In 1586 he was the governor of Kashira. In 1591 he took part in the campaign against Gaza II Giray. In 1598 - a boyar. Boris Godunov stripped him of his boyar rank in 1601 and exiled him to Usolye-Luda, where, according to the chronicler, he was strangled.
Mikhail Nikitich was a steward in 1597, an okolnichy in 1598. In 1601 he was exiled to Nyrob, where he soon died.
Vasily Nikitich, a steward (1597), exiled to Yaransk in 1601, a month later transferred to Pelym, where he was kept chained to the wall. He died in 1602.
Ivan Nikitich, nicknamed Kasha, steward (1591). In 1601 he was exiled to Pelym, in 1602 he was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod; soon returned to Moscow. On the day of the coronation, False Dmitry I was made a boyar. In 1606-1607 he was a voivode in Kozelsk and defeated Prince Masalsky, a supporter of False Dmitry II, on the banks of the Vyrka River (1607). Under Mikhail Fedorovich, he played a very prominent role, leading primarily external affairs. He died in 1640.
Nikita Ivanovich, the last boyar of the non-royal line of the Romanovs. He was a steward in 1644, a boyar in 1646. He died in 1655.

The ancient Moscow courtyard of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich or the so-called Chamber of the Romanovs was restored under the Emperor Alexander II. Here are kept things that belonged to Patriarch Filaret, Mikhail Fedorovich and Tsarina Evdokia. All materials related to the Romanovs were collected in a special Romanov department, founded by N.N. Selifontov in 1896, at the Kostroma Scientific Archive Commission.

Historical coincidences

The royal dynasty of the Romanovs began with the rite of calling to the kingdom in the Ipatiev Monastery (in Kostroma) and ended with the execution of the royal family in the Ipatiev House (in Yekaterinburg).
- Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov crossed 23 steps, ascending to the throne during the coronation. In 1918, the last Romanov, after 23 years of rule, stepped 23 steps down to the basement of the Ipatiev House.

Based on materials from the Wikipedia encyclopedia

More and more people are talking about the Romanov dynasty today. Her story can be read like a detective story. And its origin, and the history of the coat of arms, and the circumstances of accession to the throne: all this still causes ambiguous interpretations.

Prussian dynasty origins

Boyar Andrey Kobyla at the court of Ivan Kalita and his son Simeon the Proud is considered to be the ancestor of the Romanov dynasty. We know practically nothing about his life and origins. The chronicles mention him only once: in 1347 he was sent to Tver for the bride of the Grand Duke Simeon the Proud, the daughter of the Prince of Tver Alexander Mikhailovich.

Finding himself, during the unification of the Russian state with the new center in Moscow, in the service of the Moscow branch of the princely dynasty, he thus chose the "golden ticket" for himself and his family. The genealogists mention his numerous descendants, who became the ancestors of many noble Russian families: Semyon Stallion (Lodygins, Konovnitsyn), Alexander Elka (Kolychevs), Gabriel Gavsha (Bobrykins), Childless Vasily Vantey and Fedor Koshka - the ancestor of the Romanovs, Sheremetevs, Golitsyakovs and Toothless. But the origin of the Mare himself remains a mystery. According to the family legend of the Romanovs, he traced his ancestry to the Prussian kings.

When a gap is created in genealogies, it provides an opportunity for falsification. In the case of noble families, this is usually done with the aim of either legitimizing their power, or gaining extra privileges. As in this case. The blank spot in the genealogies of the Romanovs was filled in the 17th century under Peter I by the first Russian herald master Stepan Andreevich Kolychev. The new history corresponded to the "Prussian legend" fashionable even under Rurikovich, which was aimed at confirming the position of Moscow as the successor of Byzantium. Since Rurik's Varangian origin did not fit into this ideology, the founder of the princely dynasty became the 14th descendant of a certain Prus, the ruler of ancient Prussia, a relative of the Emperor Augustus himself. Following them, the Romanovs "rewrote" their history.

The family tradition, later recorded in the "General Armorial of Noble Clans of the All-Russian Empire", says that in 305 AD the Prussian King Prutheno gave the kingdom to his brother Veydevut, and he himself became the high priest of his pagan tribe in the city of Romanov, where the evergreen sacred oak grew.

Before his death, Weidevut divided his kingdom between twelve sons. One of them was Nedron, whose clan owned part of modern Lithuania (Samogit lands). His descendants were brothers Russingen and Glanda Kambila, who were baptized in 1280, and in 1283 Kambila came to Russia to serve the Moscow prince Daniel Alexandrovich. After baptism, he began to be called the Mare.

Who nurtured False Dmitry?

The personality of False Dmitry is one of the greatest mysteries of Russian history. In addition to the insoluble question of the identity of the impostor, his "shadow" accomplices remain a problem. According to one version, the Romanovs, who fell into disgrace under Godunov, had a hand in the conspiracy of False Dmitry, and the eldest descendant of the Romanovs, Fyodor, a pretender to the throne, was tonsured a monk.

The adherents of this version believe that the Romanovs, Shuisky and Golitsins, dreaming of a "Monomakh cap", organized a conspiracy against Godunov, using the mysterious death of the young Tsarevich Dmitry. They prepared their contender for the royal throne, known to us as False Dmitry, and led a coup on June 10, 1605. After that, having dealt with their most important rival, they themselves joined the struggle for the throne. Subsequently, after the accession of the Romanovs, their historians did everything to connect the massacre of the Godunov family exclusively with the personality of False Dmitry, and leave the hands of the Romanovs clean.

The Mystery of the Zemsky Sobor 1613

The election of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the kingdom was simply doomed to be covered with a thick layer of myths. How did it happen that in a country torn apart by turmoil, a young inexperienced young man was elected to the kingdom, who at his 16 years old did not differ in either military talent or a sharp political mind? Of course, the future tsar had an influential father - Patriarch Filaret, who himself once aimed at the royal throne. But during the Zemsky Sobor, he was held captive by the Poles and could hardly have any influence on the process. According to the generally accepted version, the decisive role was played by the Cossacks, who at that time were a powerful force to be reckoned with. Firstly, under False Dmitry II, they and the Romanovs found themselves in "the same camp", and secondly, they were certainly satisfied with the young and inexperienced prince, who did not pose a danger to their liberties, which they inherited during the turmoil.

The warlike shouts of the Cossacks forced the followers of Pozharsky to propose a break of two weeks. During this time, widespread campaigning in favor of Mikhail developed. For many boyars, he also represented an ideal candidate, allowing them to hold power in their hands. The main argument put forward was that the allegedly late Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, before his death, wanted to transfer the throne to his relative Fyodor Romanov (Patriarch Filaret). And since he languished in Polish captivity, the crown passed to his only son, Mikhail. As the historian Klyuchevsky wrote later, "they wanted to choose not the most capable, but the most convenient."

Nonexistent coat of arms

In the history of the dynastic coat of arms of the Romanovs, there are no less white spots than in the history of the dynasty itself. For some reason, for a long time, the Romanovs did not have their own coat of arms at all, they used the state coat of arms, with the image of a two-headed eagle, as a personal one. Their own family coat of arms was created only under Alexander II. By that time, the heraldry of the Russian nobility had practically taken shape, and only the ruling dynasty did not have its own coat of arms. It would be inappropriate to say that the dynasty did not have much interest in heraldry: even under Alexei Mikhailovich, "The Tsar's Titular" was published - a manuscript containing portraits of Russian monarchs with the coats of arms of the Russian lands.

Perhaps such loyalty to the two-headed eagle is due to the need for the Romanovs to show legitimate succession from the Rurikovichs and, most importantly, from the Byzantine emperors. As you know, starting with Ivan III, they begin to talk about Russia as the successor of Byzantium. Moreover, the tsar married Sophia Palaeologus, the granddaughter of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine. They took the Byzantine double-headed eagle symbol as their family coat of arms.

In any case, this is just one of the many versions. It is not known for certain why the ruling branch of the huge empire, which was related to the noble houses of Europe, so stubbornly ignored the heraldic order that had been developing for centuries.

The long-awaited appearance of the Romanovs' own coat of arms under Alexander II only added to the questions. The development of the imperial order was undertaken by the then herald master, Baron B.V. Kene. The basis was taken by the warrant officer of the governor Nikita Ivanovich Romanov, at one time the main opposition leader Alexei Mikhailovich. More precisely, its description, since the banner itself had already been lost by that time. It depicted a golden griffin on a silver background with a small black eagle with raised wings and lion heads on its tail. Perhaps Nikita Romanov borrowed it from Livonia during the Livonian War.

The new coat of arms of the Romanovs was a red griffin on a silver background, holding a golden sword and tarch, crowned with a small eagle; on the black border there are eight torn off lion heads; four gold and four silver. First, the changed color of the griffin is striking. Historians of heraldry believe that Kene decided not to go against the rules established at that time, which forbade the placing of a golden figure on a silver background, with the exception of the coats of arms of such high persons as the Pope. Thus, by changing the color of the griffin, he lowered the status of the family coat of arms. Or the "Livonian version" played a role, according to which Kene emphasized the Livonian origin of the coat of arms, since in Livonia from the 16th century there was a reverse combination of coat of arms: a silver griffin on a red background.

There is still a lot of controversy about the symbolism of the Romanov coat of arms. Why is so much attention paid to lion heads, and not to the figure of an eagle, which, according to historical logic, should be in the center of the composition? Why is he with lowered wings, and what, in the end, is the historical background of the Romanov coat of arms?

Peter III - the last Romanov?

As you know, the Romanov family was interrupted by the family of Nicholas II. However, some believe that the last ruler of the Romanov dynasty was Peter III. The young infantile emperor did not develop a relationship with his wife at all. Catherine told in her diaries how anxiously she was waiting for her husband on her wedding night, and he came and fell asleep. This continued and further - Peter III did not harbor any feelings for his wife, preferring her to his favorite. But the son, Pavel, was still born, many years after the marriage.

Rumors of illegitimate heirs are not uncommon in the history of world dynasties, especially in a turbulent time for the country. And so the question arose here: is Paul really the son of Peter III? Or else Catherine's first favorite, Sergei Saltykov, took part in this.

A significant argument in favor of these rumors was that the imperial couple had not had children for many years. Therefore, many believed that this union was completely fruitless, which the empress herself hinted at, mentioning in her memoirs that her husband suffered from phimosis.

Information that Sergei Saltykov could be Pavel's father is also present in Catherine's diaries: “Sergei Saltykov made me understand what was the reason for his frequent visits ... I continued to listen to him, he was as beautiful as day, and, of course, no one I could not compare with him at court ... He was 25 years old, in general by birth, and in many other qualities he was an outstanding cavalier ... I did not give in all spring and part of the summer. " The result was not long in coming. On September 20, 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son. But from whom: from her husband Romanov, or from Saltykov?

The choice of a name for members of the ruling dynasty has always played an important role in the political life of the country. First, the names were often used to emphasize intradynastic relations. So, for example, the names of the children of Alexei Mikhailovich were supposed to emphasize the connection of the Romanovs with the Rurik dynasty. Under Peter and his daughters, they showed a close relationship within the ruling branch (despite the fact that this did not correspond at all to the real situation in the imperial family). But under Catherine the Great, a completely new order of nomenclature was introduced. The former tribal affiliation gave way to other factors, among which the political one played a significant role. Her choice was based on the semantics of names that go back to the Greek words: "people" and "victory".

Let's start with Alexander. The name of the eldest son of Paul was given in honor of Alexander Nevsky, although another invincible commander, Alexander the Great, was also meant. She wrote the following about her choice: “You say: Catherine wrote to Baron F. M. Grimm, - that he has to choose whom to imitate: a hero (Alexander the Great) or a saint (Alexander Nevsky). You don't seem to know that our saint was a hero. He was a courageous warrior, a firm ruler and a clever politician and surpassed all other appanage princes, his contemporaries ... So, I agree that Mr. Alexander has only one choice, and it depends on his personal gifts which path he will enter - holiness or heroism ".

The reasons for choosing the name Constantine, which is not typical for Russian tsars, are even more interesting. They are associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bCatherine's "Greek project", which implied the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the restoration of the Byzantine state led by her second grandson.

It is unclear, however, why Paul's third son was named Nikolai. Obviously, he was named after the most revered saint in Russia - Nicholas the Wonderworker. But this is just a version, since the sources do not contain any explanation for this choice.

Catherine had nothing to do only with the choice of a name for Paul's youngest son, Mikhail, who was born after her death. Here the father's long-standing passion for knighthood has already played a role. Mikhail Pavlovich was named in honor of the Archangel Michael, the leader of the heavenly army, the patron saint of the knight emperor.

Four names: Alexander, Constantine, Nikolai and Mikhail - formed the basis of the new imperial names of the Romanovs.

In February 1613, among the dirt and debris left by foreign invaders in the Grand Kremlin Palace, the sixteen-year-old prince Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov, hiding and persecuted for a long time, was proclaimed Tsar of Russia. Mikhail is the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, who took the royal throne, after which an amazing family history began and the fate of Russia for the next three centuries was determined.

The line of the Romanov rulers has several peak points, whose reign left a mark on history: Tsar Alexei Romanov was the first to raise Russia to positions that were very important in Eastern Europe; Tsar Peter the Great created an invincible army and proclaimed St. Petersburg the new capital of the country; Empresses Anna, Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, who in the 18th century forcibly "pushed" Russia from the Middle Ages to the present. Empress Catherine the Great, who became one of the women of the Romanov family who interrupted the tradition of male rule, also brought the ideas of the Enlightenment to the country and became famous in the exquisite decoration of the royal palace. But it did not always go smoothly, and the Romanovs went through many dark times.

The Romanovs: the history of the Russian dynasty

Where did the Romanovs come from? There are several versions on this score, but only one has been approved. The Moscow boyar, from whom the Romanov dynasty originated, was called Roman. It is known that the date of his death is 1543. Over time, two children from the Romanovs broke into the history of the dynasty. One of them was the wife of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible - Anastasia, and the second was her brother, Nikita Romanov, who gave all of himself in the service, but nevertheless remained innocent of the atrocities of his son-in-law.

Tsars Romanovs

Nikita Romanov had a lot of heirs, especially his son Fedor, who in his declining years was recognized as the patriarch of All Russia, after which he took the church name Filaret, distinguished himself. Filaret had a son, Mikhail, and therefore, in the 17th century, when Russia suffered from the war with Sweden and civil wars did not stop, sixteen-year-old Mikhail was proclaimed tsar. His reign lasted as much as thirty-two years! The years of reign of the first Tsar Mikhail Romanov 1613-1645. in 1945, his father was replaced by Alexei, who ruled for a little over thirty years. Alexei's son, Theodore, became tsar in 1676, but he ruled for only 6 years. After his death in 1682, the rule was continued not by his heir, as was customary, but by his brothers Peter I and Ivan V. Peter the Great and Ivan the Fifth exercised dual power and ruled Russia for 14 years. But the kings were not so experienced and wise as to competently dispose of their power, and therefore, through the hole in the double throne, their own elder sister Sophia whispered advice to them, who in fact solved all issues and was involved in the country's foreign and domestic politics.

The end of the underground rule and the power of Peter the Great

When Peter I was seventeen years old, he got tired of listening to Sophia and, having taken power into his own hands, according to the good old tradition of the Romanov dynasty, sends his sister to the monastery to live out her years behind stone walls. Peter I was a very strong man among other members of the Romanov family, and he was nicknamed "Peter the Great" - the first emperor of all Russia. Emperor Peter the Great stood out for his particular cruelty, he became famous as a heartless tyrant. He could well be compared with his predecessor, the husband of Anastasia Romanova - Ivan the Terrible.

Having decided that it was time for Russia to reorganize in a "Western" manner, he hurried to implement his idea into life using clumsy methods, that after his untimely death the country returned to what it had started before Peter I. As history shows, it is impossible to change the people quickly, even if you force men to shave their beards, build a new imperial capital from scratch and threaten people to go to political rallies. A more significant contribution of Peter Romanov was his reforms, but they did not last long. Peter the Great ruled for 43 years.

Empress Catherine I

During the reign of Catherine I, the reign of the Romanov dynasty acquired completely different facets. The military dictatorship decided to put a woman on the throne, hoping that it would be easier to govern her, but in reality it turned out to be quite the opposite.

After Peter the Great ruled Russia for forty-three years, it was dangerous for a woman to ascend the throne. From the very beginning, the history of the Romanovs' reign was full of conspiracies, blood, murder and secrets, and all this was done by the family members themselves, in order to quickly take the throne themselves or seize a "larger" piece of power

The Romanov dynasty distinguished itself by its rulers. And not only men, but also women. The ascension to the throne of Catherine I was not easy: Catherine was born into an ordinary peasant family, and she got into the family only as the mistress of Peter I. Her real name is Martha, and after the death of her parents, the poor young girl was forcibly given as mistress to many powerful men, until did not fall into the hands of Peter the Great. In his letters, Tsar Peter I called the woman Catherine. Even before marriage, she gives birth to him two adorable daughters, and after the wedding, two sons, who soon die. Catherine married the Tsar legally only in 1712, and in 1724 Peter the Great crowned Catherine I and proclaimed her co-ruler of the state. A year later, the tsar dies and Catherine I becomes the unified ruler.

During her reign, the ruler was mainly engaged in small state affairs, and the Supreme Council was engaged in everything else. Although Catherine reigned for only 2 years, during her reign there were no wars or devastation in the country, and the people adored their queen, since she never refused to help.

Emperor Nicholas II

The Emperor of All Russia, the Tsar of Poland and the Grand Duke of Finland Nicholas II Romanov ascended the throne in 1884. During his reign, Russia made a leap forward in economics. At the same time, various social and political contradictions were also rapidly growing in the state, as a result of which a revolutionary movement appeared that rebelled against the ruler in 1905-1907, and also a great revolution took place in 1917, when the entire Romanov family was destroyed by the movement.

Nicholas II was a very gentle and kind man, a real brave and wise politician. But his disadvantage was his excessive stubbornness, since most often he did not listen to the opinion of experienced dignitaries, but did everything at his own discretion. One of the reasons for his "betrayal of the people" was his love for his unbalanced wife, which discredited the supreme power, because Nikolai's wife also had the right to vote in public affairs, which was not in the spirit of many.

The autocracy of Nicholas the Bloody was shaken when practically all power was in the hands of his wife, who was under the rule of Rasputin. Thus, Nicholas II was unable to implement all the promised reforms, which is why a bloody revolution took place, wiping out the entire Romanov family from the earth.

Bloody revolution of 1917

A terrible tragedy occurred at night in 1917 in Yekaterinburg. The entire Romanov family, including their three faithful servants and the family doctor Botkin, were shot by the revolutionaries. The Great Dynasty was not even buried humanly: their dead bodies were taken out of the city and simply thrown into an abandoned mine. But the Romanovs did not rest in the mine for long, as the new government feared that the royal family would be found by whites, and therefore carried out a reburial. Immediately on the second day after the shooting, the bodies of parents and children were taken out by car along an abandoned road, but then there was an attack: the wheels got bogged down in a swamp, and it was impossible to go further. The decision was made to burn the bodies, but this apparently failed. Therefore, they were finally buried right on that road, and the ground was leveled so that no one could even think that someone was buried here.

There is a generally accepted fact that the entire royal family was exterminated during the attempt to evacuate them. Nobody could help the last tsar to escape, since the entire noble ruling circle "rotted" through and through, and the rest simply managed to escape from the "sinking ship". Who gave the order to shoot the last of the Romanov family is still unknown, but there are about 164 people involved in their murder. The main reason for the execution was the general assertion that the emperor was an enemy of the people.

Chronology of the kings and emperors of the Romanov dynasty

• Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov;
• Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov;
• Fedor Alekseevich Romanov;
• Ivan V (John Antonovich);
• Peter I (Peter Alekseevich Romanov).

In 1721, Great Russia finally became the Russian Empire, as a result of which the sovereign was now not a tsar, but an emperor. Starting from Peter I, who only recently was a tsar and only then an emperor, Russia was ruled by 14 Romanov emperors:

• Catherine I (Catherine Petrovna);
• Peter II (Peter Alekseevich);
• Anna Ioannovna;
• Ivan VI (Ioann Antonovich);
• Elizaveta (Elizaveta Petrovna);
• Peter III (Peter Fedorovich);
• Catherine II the Great (Ekaterina Alekseevna);
• Paul I (Pavel Petrovich);
• Alexander I (Alexander Pavlovich);
• Nicholas I (Nikolai Pavlovich);
• Alexander II (Alexander Nikolaevich);
• Alexander III (Alexander Alexandrovich);
• Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich).

The Romanov dynasty years of government: from 1613 to 1917.

Romanovs. Mysticism of the royal dynasty