On May 31, 1557, the future Russian Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich was born, about whose role in Russian history there is still no consensus among experts.

Some consider him a mentally unhealthy monarch who transferred control of the state to his entourage, while others consider him a kind and deeply spiritual person, under whom Russia experienced a political and cultural upsurge.

Son of Ivan the Terrible

Tsarevich Fedor was the third son of Ivan the Terrible and his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna.

However, his older brothers (Dmitry and Ivan) died during the reign of their father, and Fedor became the heir to the throne.

In 1574, Fyodor Ivanovich married Irina Godunova.

Some sources, especially foreign ones, say that Fedor Ivanovich allegedly suffered from a mental illness.

In particular, the English diplomat Giles Fletcher called him "feeble-minded."

However, many historians do not agree with this version.

“There is a point of view that Fedor was born mentally ill, but, apparently, this is not so.

Most likely, he chose a spiritually oriented model of behavior for himself, loved solitude and prayer.

And in this he differed from many tough statesmen of his father's era, ”Alexey Sinelobov, associate professor at Moscow State Pedagogical University, told RT.

At the same time, as noted in an interview with RT, a professor at Moscow State University.

M.V.

Lomonosov, Doctor of Historical Sciences Dmitry Volodikhin, Fedor Ivanovich was actively interested in state affairs.

“Fyodor Ivanovich was deeply religious and inclined to spiritual matters, but he did not look indifferently at what was happening around him, and, of course, he was engaged in political issues,” Volodikhin emphasized.  

  • The birth of Fedor Ivanovich

Shortly before his death, Ivan the Terrible established a council of trustees to help the heir, which included Ivan Mstislavsky, Ivan Shuisky, Nikita Yuryev, and also, presumably, Bogdan Belsky and Fyodor's brother-in-law, Boris Godunov, who at that time was part of the tsar's inner circle.

The day after the death of Ivan the Terrible, on March 29, 1584, Fedor Ivanovich was appointed to the kingdom.

After that, the last wife of Ivan the Terrible, Maria Nagaya, was removed from Moscow to Uglich, along with her son Dmitry and other relatives.

On June 10, 1584, the solemn wedding ceremony of Fyodor Ivanovich to the kingdom took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich

The board of trustees created by Ivan the Terrible soon disintegrated: some of its members left Moscow, while others fell into disgrace.

According to historians, already in the autumn of 1584, Boris Godunov became the most influential figure in the court.

The first years of the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich passed under the sign of overcoming the socio-economic crisis that erupted at the end of his father's reign due to the Livonian War and other reasons.

One of the first measures to resolve it was an administrative reform that eliminated the division of the sovereign's court into special and zemstvo courts.

To strengthen the landlord economy, "reserved years" were introduced, temporarily prohibiting the transfer of peasants from one landowner to another on St. George's Day.

Later, a decree was also issued on a five-year investigation of runaway peasants and serfs.

However, as historians note, the peasants under Fyodor Ivanovich were not attached to the land, and therefore it is incorrect to talk about their “enslavement” during this period.

At the beginning of the reign of Fedor Ivanovich, the Siberian campaign of Ermak Timofeevich ended.

Already in the 1580s, the systematic development of Western Siberia began.

Tyumen, Tobolsk, Berezov, Surgut, Tara and other settlements were founded, from which the Russian pioneers moved further east.

Under Fyodor Ivanovich, the southern borders of the Russian state were also strengthened, on which new fortress cities appeared.

During this period, in particular, Voronezh, Samara, Tsaritsyn (modern Volgograd), Yelets, Kromy and Belgorod were founded.

Also, historians note that it was under Fyodor Ivanovich that Arkhangelsk was finally formed as a port city.

  • Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich

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  • © Viktor Kornushin

Great attention in the 1580s-1590s was paid to architecture, urban planning and infrastructure development.

In Novgorod, Astrakhan and Kazan, old fortifications were repaired and new fortifications were erected, the construction of the White City in Moscow and the Smolensk Kremlin began.

New monastic churches were erected in various regions of the country, a special chapel was built in honor of St. Basil the Blessed Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in Moscow.

In the northern and northeastern regions of Russia, since 1589, the Sudebnik has been in force, which arose in the Podvinye on the basis of the Code of Lipal Affairs of 1556 and the Charter of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich.

This code of laws was not approved officially, but was actually recognized by orders.

It reflected the norms of criminal, civil, administrative and land law that were relevant at that time.

  • Panorama of the Saratov fortress

  • © Wikimedia Commons/IrinaYa/CC BY-SA 4.0

As a result of another war between the Russian state and Sweden, the Tyavzinsky Peace Treaty of 1595 was concluded.

According to its provisions, the settlements of Ivangorod, Koporye, Korela and Yam, lost during the Livonian War, returned to Russia.

The Russian state temporarily restored access to the Baltic Sea.

“In 1589, a patriarchate was established in Russia, which meant the independence of the Russian Church from Constantinople,” said Ivan Privalov, scientific editor of the Russia - My History project, in a comment to RT.

In 1591, the forces of the Crimean Khanate marched on Moscow.

The Russian authorities carried out a successful mobilization and erected temporary fortifications.

On July 15, a fierce battle took place near Moscow.

Russian troops repelled all attacks and launched a counteroffensive, after which the Crimean troops retreated.

The defeat turned out to be so serious that the campaign of 1591 was the last raid on Moscow in the history of the Crimean Khanate.

  • Boris Godunov

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  • © Pavel Balabanov

Fedor Ivanovich died on January 17, 1598.

According to the testimonies of the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Job, before his death, the tsar spoke to someone, calling him the Hierarch.

The king left no heirs.

His only daughter died at the age of about one and a half years, and his younger brother, Tsarevich Dmitry (son of Ivan the Terrible) died under circumstances that were not fully clarified in 1591 in Uglich.

Therefore, the death of the king caused a political crisis.

As a result, the Zemsky Sobor elected brother-in-law Fyodor Ivanovich Boris Godunov as the new monarch, who had previously been the most influential courtier - according to some historians, the de facto ruler of the state.

Thus, Fedor Ivanovich became the last tsar from the Moscow house of Rurikovich.

According to Ivan Privalov, the figure of Fyodor Ivanovich is one of the most controversial and little-studied among Russian rulers, and at the same time, much indicates that he had nothing to do with the actual government of the state.

But there is also an alternative point of view.

“Although Fyodor Ivanovich was in character the direct opposite of his father Ivan the Terrible, his reign can be called triumphant.

It was filled with many successes in various areas of life,” says Dmitry Volodikhin.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Fyodor Ivanovich was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a locally venerated Moscow saint-wonderworker.

Subsequently, he received the nickname Blessed.