Curious facts from the life of the sister of Peter I, Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna (part 1)

Curious facts from the life of the sister of Peter I, Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna (part 1). Like all princesses of the 17th century, Sophia spent her childhood and youth in the tower, away from people's eyes and gossip. Marriage did not threaten either her or her sisters: a worthy party in the country could not be found, and foreigners did not fit in by religion.

Childhood

The father of the princess, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, was child-loving in every sense. Sophia was already the sixth child in a large royal family. All children during the life of Alexei Mikhailovich received the usual education for the royal descendants.

For girls, it ended at the age of 10: to read, write, count and the Law of God. What else is needed for godliness? But Sophia had a sharp mind by nature and she liked to study. Therefore, she begged her father and her mentor Simeon of Polotsk to continue their studies with their brothers.

Thus, she received the full education provided for the future sovereign.

Board of Fedor Alekseevich

After the death of their father, the lives of all the children of the king changed greatly. The stepmother, Nalalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was almost the same age as Sophia. Therefore, the children of Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya did not want to obey her, and did not have good feelings for her, being jealous of their father.

Fyodor, who became tsar after his father's death in 1676, was sickly and in need of care. Sophia was constantly next to her brother, helping to cope with the disease. Gradually, the boyars got used to conducting state affairs in her presence. Yes, and she listened to what they say and delved into state affairs. And sometimes she gave good advice.

The election of the king

After the death of the childless Fyodor in 1682, the question of succession to the throne arose. Which of the two remaining male representatives of the royal dynasty to choose: the 16-year-old feeble-minded son of Maria Miloslavskaya, Ivan, who held the championship, or the 10-year-old intelligent son of Natalya Naryshkina, Peter?

Neither one nor the other could rule independently. If you choose Ivan, then with him the power of Sophia will grow, and if Peter, the power of the boyars will grow.

The opinions of the boyars were divided. Then the question was put to the elected representatives. They were for Peter.

Peter was declared sovereign. The patriarch blessed him, and the inhabitants began to take the oath.

However, the Miloslavskys did not like this. They took advantage of the discontent of the archers, which accumulated throughout the reign of the sick Fyodor Alekseevich.

And now, in 1682, the largest streltsy uprising of the 17th century began, which went down in history as the Khovanshchina.

Khovanshchina

The direct participation of Sophia in the events that began was not proven. But she, of course, knew about everything that was happening. On her behalf, the archers were given money.

There were many rumors among them, which were spread not without the knowledge of the Miloslavskys: that the Naryshkins were opposed to the archers, that Tsar Peter's uncle, Ivan Naryshkin, put on royal vestments and sat on the royal throne instead of his nephew. That he almost strangled Tsarevich Ivan, who, together with Sophia, began to reproach him.

And when the boyars once again gathered on the Council on May 15, a rumor was spread among the archers that Ivan Naryshkin had nevertheless exhausted Tsarevich Ivan. A crowd of armed archers rushed to the Kremlin.

Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna took Ivan and Peter by the hand, and together with the boyars and the patriarch went out onto the porch of the palace. Since none of the archers knew Ivan by sight, many did not believe that it was him, while others shouted that Peter should give the crown to his elder brother, and everyone demanded to extradite the hated relatives of the queen.

Some of the boyars fled in fear. And the rest were killed. The queen with the princes took refuge in the Faceted Chamber.

The fact that the performance was carefully and well prepared in advance is evidenced by the fact that the archers had a list of 40 objectionable people whom they were looking for. The archers raged for three days - until the royal family betrayed the queen's brother Ivan Naryshkin

Apparently, even the Miloslavskys were frightened by the magnitude of events. Princess Sophia gave Natalya Kirillovna an icon with the Mother of God, so that she would pass it on to her brother, who received communion in the cathedral before being handed over to the archers.

However, the icon did not help: the archers executed Ivan Naryshkin on Red Square.

Meanwhile, the lackeys of the boyars joined the archers, who broke into the Kholopy order and liquidated the bonded lists.

Sophia gathered the most influential archers and promised them many favors, including the payment of underpaid salaries for several years. She accepted all the numerous demands to appease them.

On Red Square, at the request of the archers, at the expense of the treasury, a monument was erected in honor of their victory over the boyars.

She appointed Prince Ivan Khovansky as the head of the archers, who had great authority among them.

It is obvious that in the entire capital there was no more resolute, strong-willed and courageous person for negotiations with the army that had gone out of obedience than the 25-year-old princess.

Khovansky, realizing that the debt is red, taught the archers to give Sophia two petitions. In one, they demanded to enthrone two tsars at the same time: Ivan and Peter, and in the other, to make Sophia their regent.

The Boyar Duma and the impromptu Zemsky Sobor unanimously supported these demands. Sagittarians openly said that if someone opposes their will, they will continue their performances.

Her rights and obligations were stipulated: Sophia had to attend the meetings of the boyars, accept reports on state affairs, sign all documents with the names of the kings.

However, she failed to take the capital under full control: the archers demanded more and more new benefits. Their demands were strictly followed.

Seeing the success of the archers, the Old Believers began to rise, of which there were a lot in Moscow. And among the archers, probably half. Prince Khovansky was also an Old Believer.

Together with the archers, the Old Believers demanded that a "debate about faith" be held between them and the patriarch on Red Square. There, with the help of the people, they hoped to restore the old faith. The Patriarch and Sophia managed to convince Khovansky to hold a debate on July 5 in the Chamber of Facets, which included very few people.

In addition to Sophia, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna and princesses Tatyana Mikhailovna and Marya Alekseevna were present at the dispute.

Khovansky promised the Old Believers participating in the dispute security. The main speaker from the Old Believers was Nikita Pustosvyat. His opponent was the patriarch.

Of all the members of the royal family present, only Sophia spoke during the debate. Possessing oratorical abilities, she split the unity of the archers and the Old Believers.

After the debate was over, the Old Believers were sure of their victory.

However, in the evening Sophia invited faithful archers to her place and ordered to seize the schismatics - participants in the dispute. Nikita Pustosvyat was executed, many were sent into exile.

Sophia understood that now the danger for her came from Prince Khovansky, who gave her power, and whom she herself appointed to a high position.

Meanwhile, Prince Khovansky understood his strength. He boasted of his descent from the Lithuanian prince Gediminas, that the kingdom was kept only by him.

In August 1682, Khovansky quarreled with the Boyar Duma, which refused to impose a tax on the palace parishes in favor of the archers.

On August 19, a traditional religious procession was to take place in the Donskoy Monastery with the participation of the royal family. However, there was a rumor that the archers were going to exterminate the royal family in order to elevate Khovansky to the throne.

In this regard, Sophia, with the royal family, instead of the Donskoy Monastery, went in a roundabout way to the village of Vozdvizhenskoye, where she founded her residence. Here she began to gather the noble militia and people loyal to her.

Khovansky was agitated by these events and went to Vozdvizhenskoye for negotiations. But along the way, he was arrested by Sophia's people and immediately convicted along with his son Andrei. The court sentence was carried out immediately, after which Sophia and her family moved to the Trinity - Sergius Monastery, under the protection of stone walls and cannons.

The archers, left without a head and knowing that Sophia had gathered an army against them, were waiting for her to go to them in Moscow. But, without waiting, they sent elected officials to her, who obeyed, asked for forgiveness and were forgiven.

In November 1682 the royal family returned to the capital.

The Streltsy order was headed by Fyodor Shaklovity, who quickly brought order among the archers. They themselves had to demolish the monument to their victories on Red Square. Many were transferred to serve in the border fortresses. The protection of the Kremlin was transferred to the noble regiments.