Russian history provides answers to many questions, but there are even more mysteries in it. Particularly interesting are the riddles that the autocrats left behind. They knew how to keep secrets.

Was there Rurik?

This main Russian question, along with "Who is to blame?" and "What to do?" A question to which we are unlikely to ever get an answer.

The personality of Rurik (died in 879) to this day causes a lot of controversy, up to the denial of his existence. For many, the famous Varangian is nothing more than a semi-mythical figure. This is understandable. In the historiography of the 19th - 20th centuries, the Norman theory was criticized, since the idea of ​​the inability of the Slavs to create their own state was intolerable to domestic science.
Modern historians are more loyal to Norman theory. So, academician Boris Rybakov hypothesizes that in one of the raids on the Slavic lands Rurik's squad captured Novgorod, although another historian, Igor Froyanov, supports the peaceful version of the “vocation of the Varangians” to reign.

The problem is that the image of Rurik lacks specificity. According to some sources, it could be the Danish Viking Rörik of Jutland, according to others, the Swede Eirik Emundarson, who raided the lands of the Balts.

There is also a Slavic version of the origin of Rurik. His name is associated with the word "Rerek" (or "Rarog"), which in the Slavic tribe of the Obodrits meant a falcon. And, indeed, during the excavation of the early settlements of the Rurik dynasty, many images of this bird were found.

Secret seal of Ivan III

The two-headed eagle in Russia first appeared on the state seal of Grand Duke Ivan III in 1497. Historians almost categorically claim that the eagle in Russia appeared with the light hand of Sophia Palaeologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor and the wife of Ivan III.

But why Grand Duke decided to use the eagle only two decades later, no one explains. It is interesting that it was at the same time in Western Europe that the two-headed eagle became fashionable among alchemists. The authors of alchemical works put the eagle on their books as a mark of quality.

The double-headed eagle meant that the author received the Philosopher's Stone, capable of turning metals into gold. The fact that Ivan III gathered around him foreign architects, engineers, healers, who probably practiced fashionable alchemy at that time, indirectly proves that the tsar had an idea of ​​the essence of the "feathered" symbol.

The death of the son of Ivan the Terrible

Moscow is the capital of Russia, the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, and Ivan the Terrible killed his son. The main evidence is Repin's painting ... Seriously, the murder of his heir by Ivan Vasilyevich is a very controversial fact. So, in 1963, the tombs of Ivan the Terrible and his son were opened in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Research has led to the assertion that Tsarevich John was poisoned. The content of poison in his remains is many times higher than the permissible norm. Interestingly, the same poison was found in the bones of Ivan Vasilievich. Scientists concluded that royal family for several decades it has been a victim of poisoners.

Ivan the Terrible did not kill his son. This is the version that Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, adhered to, for example. Seeing the famous painting by Repin at the exhibition, he was outraged and wrote to Emperor Alexander III: "The painting cannot be called historical, since this moment ... is purely fantastic." The version of the murder was based on the stories of the papal legate Antonio Possevino, who can hardly be called an uninterested person.

Dmitry with the prefix "false"

We have already accepted that False Dmitry I is a fugitive monk Grishka Otrepiev. The idea that “it was easier to save than to forge Dimitri” was expressed by the famous Russian historian Nikolai Kostomarov. Indeed, it looks very surreal that at the beginning Dmitry (with the prefix "false") was recognized by his own mother, princes, boyars in front of all honest people, and after a while everyone suddenly saw the light.

The pathological situation is added by the fact that the prince himself was completely convinced of his naturalness, as his contemporaries wrote about. Either this is schizophrenia, or he had reasons. Checking the "originality" of Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich, at least today, is not possible. Therefore, we are waiting for the invention of the time machine and, just in case, we keep a fig in our pocket - about the Pretender.

And the king is not real!

This was the conviction of many Russian boyars after the return of Peter I from a 15-month tour of Europe. And the point here was not only in the new tsarist "outfit". Particularly attentive persons found inconsistencies of a physiological nature: firstly, the king grew significantly, and, secondly, his facial features changed, and, thirdly, his legs became much smaller.

Rumors about the substitution of the sovereign spread throughout Muscovy. According to one version, Peter was "thrown into the wall", and instead of him they sent to Russia a similar-faced impostor. According to the other - "the tsar in the Germans was laid in a barrel and launched into the sea." Fuel in the fire was added by the fact that Peter, who returned from Europe, began a large-scale destruction of "ancient Russian antiquity." It is interesting that there were versions that the tsar was replaced in infancy: “The sovereign is not of a Russian breed, and not the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich; taken in infancy from a German settlement, from a foreigner by exchange. The queen gave birth to a princess, and instead of the princess they took ev, the sovereign, and gave the princess instead of ev. "

Pavel I Saltykov

Emperors Paul I unwittingly continued the tradition of generating rumors around the Romanovs' house. Immediately after the birth of the heir in the court, and then throughout Russia, rumors spread that the real father of Paul I was not Peter III, but the first favorite of the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov. Indirectly, this was confirmed by Catherine II, who in her memoirs recalled how Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, so that the dynasty did not die out, ordered the wife of her heir to give birth to a child, regardless of who would be his genetic father. There is also a folk legend of the birth of Paul I: according to it, Catherine gave birth to a dead child from Peter, and he was replaced by a certain "Chukhonsky" boy.

His Majesty Fyodor Kuzmich

The “tabloid” theme of Paul I was continued by his son, Alexander I. First, he became a direct participant in the murder of his father. Well, secondly, and this is the main legend, Alexander left the royal throne, falsifying his own death, and went to wander around Russia under the name of Fyodor Kuzmich.

There are several indirect confirmations of this legend. Thus, the witnesses concluded that on his deathbed Alexander was totally different from himself. In addition, for unclear reasons, Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna, the king's wife, did not participate in the funeral ceremony. The famous Russian lawyer Anatoly Koni conducted a thorough comparative studies handwriting of the emperor and Fyodor Kuzmich and came to the conclusion that "the emperor's letters and the wanderer's notes were written by the hand of the same person."

Mikhail Fedorovich(1596-1645), tsar from 1613. Son of Fyodor (in the monasticism of Filaret) Nikitich Romanov. Elected Zemsky Cathedral... He gave the administration of the country to his father, Patriarch Filaret (until 1633), then to the boyars.

Alexey Mikhailovich(1629-1676), Tsar from 1645. Son of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, the central power strengthened and serfdom took shape ( Cathedral Code 1649); Ukraine was reunited with the Russian state (1654); Smolensk, Seversk land and others were returned; suppressed uprisings in Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov (1648,1650,1662) and Peasant war under the leadership of S. T. Razin; there was a split in the Russian Church.

Wives: Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (1625-1669), among her children Princess Sophia, future tsars Fedor and Ivan V, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (1651-1694) - mother of Peter I.

Fedor Alekseevich(1661-1682), tsar from 1676. Son of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage with MI Miloslavskaya. Under him, various groups of boyars ruled. Household taxation was introduced, localism was abolished in 1682; the unification of the Left-Bank Ukraine with Russia was finally consolidated.

Ivan V Alekseevich(1666-1696), tsar from 1682. Son of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage with MI Miloslavskaya. Painful and incapable of state activities, proclaimed king along with younger brother Peter I; until 1689 sister Sophia ruled for them, after her overthrow - Peter I.

Peter I Alekseevich (the Great)(1672-1725), tsar from 1682 (ruled from 1689), the first Russian emperor (from 1721). Younger son Alexei Mikhailovich - from his second marriage with N.K. Naryshkina. Carried out reforms government controlled(Senate, collegiums, bodies of supreme state control and political investigation were created; the church is subordinate to the state; the country was divided into provinces, new capital- Petersburg). He pursued a policy of mercantilism in the field of industry and trade (the creation of manufactories, metallurgical, mining and other factories, shipyards, marinas, canals). He led the army in the Azov campaigns 1695-1696, the Northern War 1700-1721, the Prut campaign of 1711, Persian campaign 1722-1723 and others; commanded troops during the capture of Noteburg (1702), in the battles at Lesnaya (1708) and near Poltava (1709). Supervised the construction of the fleet and the creation regular army... Contributed to the consolidation of economic and political situation nobility. At the initiative of Peter I, many educational establishments, Academy of Sciences, adopted the civil alphabet, etc. The reforms of Peter I were carried out by cruel means, by extreme exertion of material and human forces, oppression of the masses (per capita tax, etc.), which entailed uprisings (Streletskoe 1698, Astrakhan 1705-1706, Bulavinskoe 1707-1709, etc.), mercilessly suppressed by the government. As the creator of a powerful absolutist state, he achieved recognition for Russia by countries Western Europe the authority of a great power.

Wives: Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, mother of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich; Marta Skavronskaya, later Catherine I Alekseevna.

Catherine I Alekseevna(Marta Skavronskaya) (1684-1727), empress from 1725. The second wife of Peter I. She was enthroned by a guard headed by A. D. Menshikov, who became the de facto ruler of the state. The Supreme Privy Council was created under her.

Peter II Alekseevich(1715-1730), emperor from 1727. Son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich. In fact, AD Mentikov ruled the state under him, then the Dolgorukovs. He announced the cancellation of a number of transformations carried out by Peter 1.

Anna Ivanovna(1693-1740), Empress from 1730. Daughter of Ivan V Alekseevich, Duchess of Courland from 1710. Enthroned by the Supreme Privy Council. The de facto ruler under her was E. I. Biron.

Ivan VI Antonovich(1740-1764), emperor in 1740-1741. Great-grandson of Ivan V Alekseevich, son of Prince Anton Ulrich of Braunschweig. EI Biron ruled for the baby, then his mother Anna Leopoldovna. Overthrown by the guards, imprisoned; killed while trying to release V. Ya. Mirovich.

Elizaveta Petrovna(1709-1761 / 62), Empress from 1741. Daughter of Peter I from marriage to Catherine I. She was enthroned by the Guard. She helped to eliminate the dominance of foreigners in the government, nominated talented and energetic representatives from among the Russian nobility to government posts. The actual leader of domestic policy under Elizaveta Petrovna was PI Shuvalov, whose activities are associated with the abolition of internal customs and the organization of foreign trade; rearmament of the army, its improvement organizational structure and control systems. During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the order and organs created under Peter I were restored. The rise of Russian science and culture was facilitated by the establishment, on the initiative of MV Lomonosov, of Moscow University (1755) and the Academy of Arts (1757). The privileges of the nobles were strengthened and expanded at the expense of the serf peasantry (distribution of land and serfs, the decree of 1760 on the right to exile peasants to Siberia, etc.). The actions of the peasants against serfdom were brutally suppressed. The foreign policy of Elizabeth Petrovna, skillfully directed by Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, was subordinated to the task of fighting against the aggressive aspirations of the Prussian king Frederick II.

Peter III Fedorovich(1728-1762), Russian emperor from 1761. German prince Karl Peter Ulrich, son of Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich and Anna - eldest daughter of Peter I and Catherine I. Since 1742 in Russia. In 1761 he made peace with Prussia, which nullified the results of the victories of the Russian troops in Seven Years War... Introduced German orders in the army. Overthrown in a coup organized by his wife Catherine, killed.

Ekaterina II Alekseevna(Great) (1729-1796), Russian empress from 1762. German princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst. Came to power, overthrowing with the help of the guards Peter III, her husband. Has issued the estate privileges of the nobles. Under Catherine II, the Russian absolutist state was significantly strengthened, the oppression of the peasants intensified, the Peasant War broke out under the leadership of E.I.Pugachev (1773-1775). The Northern Black Sea region, Crimea were annexed, North Caucasus, for the padko-Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian lands (in three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). She pursued a policy of enlightened absolutism. From the late 80s - early 90s. actively participated in the fight against French Revolution; pursued free-thinking in Russia.

Pavel I Petrovich(1754-1801), emperor from 1796. Son of Peter III and Catherine II. He introduced a military-police regime in the state, and Prussian orders in the army; limited the privileges of the nobility. He opposed revolutionary France, but in 1800 formed an alliance with Bonaparte. Killed by conspirators and nobles.

Alexander I Pavlovich(1777-1825), emperor from 1801. The eldest son of Paul 1. At the beginning of his reign, he carried out moderate liberal reforms developed by the Secret Committee and M. M. Speransky. In foreign policy, he maneuvered between Great Britain and France. In 1805-1807 he participated in the anti-French coalitions. In 1807-1812 he temporarily became close to France. He fought successful wars with Turkey (1806-1S12) and Sweden (1808-1809). Under Alexander I, Eastern Georgia (1801), Finland (1809), Bessarabia (1812), Azerbaijan (1813), and the former Duchy of Warsaw (1815) were annexed to Russia. After Patriotic War 1812 headed the anti-French coalition of European powers in 1813-1814. He was one of the leaders of the Vienna Congress 1814-1815 and organizers of the Holy Alliance.

Nikolay 1 Pavlovich(1796-1855), the emperor from 1825. The third son of the emperor Paul I. Honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1826). He ascended the throne after sudden death Alexander I. Suppressed the Decembrist uprising. Under Nicholas I, the centralization of the bureaucratic algorithm was strengthened, the Third Section was created, the Code of Laws was drawn up Russian Empire, new censorship statutes were introduced (1826, 1828). The theory of the official nationality became widespread. Suppressed by the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, the revolution in Hungary 1848-1849-Important party foreign policy there was a return to the principles of the Holy Union. During the reign of Nicholas I, Russia took part in Caucasian War 1817-1864, Russo-Persian War 1826-1828, Russian-Turkish war 1828-1829, Crimean war 1853-1856.

Alexander II Nikolaevich(1818-1881), emperor from 1855. Eldest son of Nicholas I. He abolished serfdom and then carried out a number of other bourgeois reforms (zemstvo, judicial, military, etc.), which contributed to the development of capitalism. After the Polish uprising of 1863-1864, he switched to a reactionary internal political course. Since the late 70s. repressions against revolutionaries intensified. During the reign of Alexander II, the annexation of the Caucasus (1864), Kazakhstan (1865), most of Central Asia(1865-1881). A number of attempts were made on the life of Alexander II (1866, 1867, 1879, 1880); killed by the People's Will.

Alexander III Alexandrovich(1845-1894), emperor from 1881. Second son of Alexander II. In the 1st half of the 80s. in the conditions of the growth of capitalist relations, he abolished the poll tax and lowered the redemption payments. From the 2nd half of the 80s. carried out counter-reforms. Suppressed the revolutionary democratic and workers' movement, strengthened the role of the police and administrative arbitrariness. Into the reign Alexander III In the main, the annexation of Central Asia to Russia was completed (1885), the Russian-French alliance was concluded (1891 -1893).

Nicholas II Alexandrovich(1868-1918), the last Russian emperor (1894-1917). Eldest son of Alexander III. His reign coincided with the rapid development of capitalism. Under Nicholas II, Russia was defeated in Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, which was one of the reasons for the 1905-1907 revolution, during which the Manifesto was adopted on October 17, 1905, which allowed the creation political parties and established the State Duma; Stolypinskaya began agrarian reform... In 1907 Russia became a member of the Entente, as part of which it entered the 1st World War. Since August 1915, the supreme commander-in-chief. During February revolution 1917 abdicated. He was shot with his family in Yekaterinburg.

It is officially believed that the word "king" comes from the Old Roman Ceasar, and kings are called kings only because all emperors in Rome were called Caesars, starting with Gaius Julius Caesar, whose name eventually became a household name. However, in Russian from the Roman Ceasar, a completely different word originated - the word "Caesar". This is how, through [k], this name was read in those ancient times. The word "king" comes from the ancient word "Dzar", it meant a red glow of a red-hot metal, and in this sense it turned into the word "heat", as well as dawn, and in this sense, both dawn and glow come from the word "dzar" , and even lightning.
Remember the golden man dug up in 1969 in the Issyk mound? Judging by his attire, this was a dzar, and, in scales like the heat of grief, he really represented illustrative example man-glow.
At about the same time, about the same people, whose representative was buried in the Issyk mound, had a queen Zarina. She was called Zarina in Persian, and in her native language, which can be conditionally called Scythian, it was called Dzarnya.
The names Zarina and Zara are still popular in the Caucasus. There is also his male counterpart Zaur.
In the modern Ossetian language, which is considered a descendant of the Scythian, the word zærinæ means gold, and in Sanskrit, in which "dz" turned into "x", gold is like हिरण्य (hiranya).
The word Ceasar is related to the word "mower" and he was so named for the reason that his mother's belly was cut with the same scythe, as a result of which Caesar was born.
Tsars in Russia were traditionally called foreign rulers - first the Byzantine Basileus, to whom the Hellenized version of Caesar's name, which sounded like καῖσαρ, had not been applied for a long time, and then to the Horde khans.
After the dominance in our territory passed from the Horde to Moscow, they began to unofficially call the Moscow Grand Dukes as tsars - first Ivan III, and then Basil III... However, only Ivan IV, later nicknamed the Terrible, appropriated this title to himself officially, since in addition to the Moscow principality he already owned two recent kingdoms - Kazan and Astrakhan. From then until 1721, when Russia became an empire, the royal title became the main title of the Russian monarch.

All Russian tsars from Ivan the Terrible to Mikhail the Last

Look

Kings	Period of reign	Notes (edit)
Simeon II Bekbulatovich		He was appointed by Ivan the Terrible, but after some time he was also removed.
Fedor I Ivanovich		The last representative of the Rurik dynasty. He was so religious that he considered marital relations sinful, as a result of which he died childless.
Irina Fedorovna Godunova		After the death of her husband, she was proclaimed queen, but did not accept the throne and went to the monastery.
Boris Fedorovich Godunov		The first king of the Godunov dynasty
Fedor II Borisovich Godunov		The last tsar from the Godunov dynasty. Together with his mother, he was strangled by the archers, who went over to the side of False Dmitry I.
False Dmitry I		According to the generally accepted version, Otrepiev Yuri Bogdanovich, according to some historians, is really Tsarevich Dmitry Ivanovich who survived the assassination attempt.
Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky		The representative of the princely family of Shuisky from the Suzdal branch of the Rurikovich. In September 1610, he was extradited to the Polish hetman Zolkiewski and died in Polish captivity on September 12, 1612.
Vladislav I Sigismundovich Vaza		He was called to the kingdom of the Seven Boyars, but in fact he never entered the rule of Russia and was not in Russia. On his behalf, the power was exercised by Prince Mstislavsky.
Mikhail I Fedorovich		The first king of the Romanov dynasty. The actual ruler until 1633 was his father, Patriarch Filaret.
Alexey I Mikhailovich
Fedor III Alekseevich		He died at the age of 20, leaving no heirs.
Ivan V Alekseevich		From April 27, 1682, he ruled together with Peter I. Until September 1689, the country was actually ruled by Princess Sophia Alekseevna. All the time he was considered seriously ill, which did not prevent him from getting married and having eight children. One of the daughters Anna Ioannovna, later became an empress.
Peter I the Great		On October 22, 1721, the post of the head of state began to be called the All-Russian Emperor. Cm.:
Catherine I
Peter II		The son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, executed by Peter.
Anna Ioannovna		Daughter of Ivan V Alekseevich.
Ivan VI Antonovich		Great-grandson of Ivan V. He ascended the throne at two months of age. Ernst Johann Biron was regents under him, and from November 7, 1740 - his mother Anna Leopoldovna.
Peter III		Grandson of Peter I and Catherine I, son of Princess Anna Petrovna and Duke of Holstein-Gottorp Karl Friedrich.
Catherine II the Great		Sophia Augusta Frederica of Anhalt-Zerbst, wife of Peter III. She became an empress, overthrowing and killing her husband.