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Tsar of all Russia
Standard of the Tsar (c. 1693)
Last to Reign Peter I 7 May 1682 – 2 November 1721
Details
Style	His Majesty
First monarch	Ivan IV
Last monarch	Peter I
Formation	16 January 1547
Abolition	2 November 1721
Appointer	Hereditary

The Tsar of all Russia, officially the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, was the title of the Russian monarch from 1547 to 1721. During this period, the state was a tsardom.

The first Russian monarch to be crowned tsar was Ivan IV, who had held the title of sovereign and grand prince. In 1721, Peter I adopted the title of emperor and proclaimed the Russian Empire. The old title tsar continued to be popularly used to refer to the emperor.

Title

The full title varied between tsars. The full title of Alexis was:

By the Grace of God, We, the Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince Alexei Mikhailovich, Autocrat of all Great, Little and White Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Siberia, Sovereign of Pskov and Grand Prince of Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgar and others, Sovereign and Grand Prince of Novgorod of the Lower Land, Chernigov, Ryazan, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, and Ruler of all the Northern Countries, the Sovereign of the Iverian Lands, the Kartlian and Georgian Tsars and the Kabardian Lands, the Cherkasy and Mountainous Princes and many other States and Lands of the East and West, and the North from Father and Grandfather, and Heir, and Sovereign, and Possessor.

History

Following the expansion of his realm and his marriage to Sophia Palaiologina, the grand prince Ivan III took the title of sovereign and claimed inheritance to all the former territories of Kievan Rus', including those under Lithuanian control. His full title was: Ivan, by the Grace of God, the Sovereign of all Russia and the Grand Prince of Vladimir, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Yugorsk, and Perm, and Bulgar and others.

Ivan III also used the title tsar in foreign correspondence and used the title in official documents. In diplomatic correspondence, the Latinized version of his title gospodar' vseia Rusi was dominus totius Russiae, and around the same time, the form Rus' in Russian was transformed into Rus(s)iia or Ros(s)iia.

Vasily III, his son and successor, continued to use the title of tsar. On 4 August 1514, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I sent a letter to Vasily III requesting again an alliance against Poland and Lithuania, where he spoke of the brotherly friendship between them and referred to Vasily as Kayser or imperator. However, the ambassador Sigismund von Herberstein in 1516 still referred to Vasily as rex et dominus totius Russiae.

After 1514, the full title used by Vasily III was: By the Grace of God, the Tsar and Sovereign of all Russia and the Grand Prince of Vladimir, Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Tver, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyatka and Bulgar, and others, the Sovereign and Grand Prince of Novgorod of the Lower Land, and Chernigov, and Ryazan, Volotsk, Rzhev, Belyov, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria and Kondia.

In the Tale of the Princes of Vladimir, dating from the early 15th century, the Rurikid rulers of Moscow are alleged to have descended from not only Rurik, but also a brother of Augustus Caesar, and was used to support the claim of imperial descent going back to Rome. At the age of three, Ivan IV acceded the throne in 1533, when his father Vasily III died. On 16 January 1547, Ivan IV was the first to be crowned tsar, at the age of 16; his ceremony drew upon Byzantine precedents deliberately. The consent of the patriarch of Constantinople to use the title was eventually given. In 1561, the patriarch referred to Ivan IV as "tsar and sovereign of Orthodox Christians of the whole universe", likening him to a Byzantine emperor. In exchange for acceptance of the title of tsar, the papacy hoped to gain recognition of Roman supremacy; one letter written by the pope and drafted for delivery in 1550 addressed Ivan IV as Universorum Ruthenorum imperator, but Polish obstruction prevented any papal mission from occurring. During the reign of Feodor I, the establishment of the patriarchate of Moscow in 1589 was Boris Godunov's biggest contribution to the evolution of the doctrine of "Moscow, the third Rome", with the tsar as the emperor of Christians.

The childless death of Feodor I in 1598 marked the end of the Rurik dynasty and the beginning of the Time of Troubles, a period of political chaos and foreign intervention. One of the imposters to the throne, False Dmitry I, laid claim to the title of imperator or tsesar (tsar), which was rejected by his Polish sponsors, who had long resisted the title of tsar. Eventually, the Romanov dynasty replaced the Rurik dynasty, but the position of the Russian monarch was weakened. In addition, Michael Romanov was an elected ruler, giving him a lower status, which meant he had to secure recognition as both the legitimate ruler and tsar. Most European powers and princes of the Holy Roman Empire eventually recognized Michael, and the emperor accepted de facto recognition of Michael, without the title of Majesty.

The Romanovs strove to recover the imperial dignity of their predecessors. In the Great State Book of 1672, the Romanovs are directly connected to Rurik, with no sign that this succession was broken. During the reign of Alexis, the annexation of Little Russia and White Russia, including Kiev, allowed the tsar to claim the title of tsar of all the Russias. A Russian diplomatic initiative to create a coalition against the Ottoman Empire in the 1670s, with the Russian envoy to Rome, Paul Menzies, instructed to only accept documents containing the title "tsar", was unsuccessful, and it was not until 1685 that the papacy would begin addressing the Russian ruler as tsar. Negotiations for Russia to join the Holy League succeeded after the temporary peace following the Truce of Andrusovo was consolidated and upheld by the Treaty of Perpetual Peace between Russia and Poland.

Peter I realized the need to secure the position of Russia within the European states system, including the importance of securing recognition from the Holy Roman Emperor of the equality of the titles of tsar and emperor. Following his victory at the Battle of Poltava, Peter I brought up the question of the title of emperor to the Viennese court and the rank of Majesty, mentioning that even the Porte in Constantinople addressed the Russian ruler as Majesty, though this was rejected by Vienna. In 1717, Peter I defended his right to use the title of imperator, using the letter from Maximilian I to Vasily III to support his claim. Following Russia's victory against Sweden in the Great Northern War and the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystad in September 1721, the Governing Senate and Synod urged Peter I to accept the titles of Father of the Fatherland, All-Russian Emperor, and Peter the Great. On 2 November [O.S. 22 October] 1721, Peter I formally adopted the title of emperor. Vienna initially refused to accept the title, but eventually conceded after the letter was deemed to be genuine.

List of tsars

Name	Lifespan	Reign start	Reign end	Notes	Family	Image
Ivan IV the Terrible Иван Васильевич (Иван Грозный)	25 August 1530 – 28 March 1584	26 January 1547	28 March 1584	Son of Vasily III and Elena Glinskaya	Rurik
Feodor I the Blessed Фёдор Иванович (Фёдор Блаженный)	31 May 1557 – 17 January 1598	28 March 1584	17 January 1598	Son of Ivan IV and Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva	Rurik
Boris Борис Фёдорович Годунов	1551 – 13 April 1605	21 February 1598	13 April 1605	Brother-in-law of Feodor I Elected by Zemsky Sobor	Godunov [ru]
Feodor II Фёдор Борисович Годунов	1589 – 20 June 1605	13 April 1605	10 June 1605	Son of Boris Godunov and Maria Grigorievna Skuratova-Belskaya Murdered	Godunov [ru]
False Dmitry I Лжедмитрий I	1581 – 17 May 1606	20 June 1605	17 May 1606	Claimed to be son of Ivan IV Murdered	Rurik (claimed)
Vasily IV Василий Иванович Шуйский	22 September 1552 – 12 September 1612	19 May 1606	17 July 1610	Orchestrated a conspiracy against False Dmitry, proclaimed Tsar by the nobles and later desposed Pretender: False Dmitry II (since June 1607)	Shuysky
Michael Михаил Фёдорович	12 July 1596 – 12 July 1645	26 July 1613	12 July 1645	Founder of Romanov Dynasty First cousin once removed of Feodor I Co-ruler: Patriarch Filaret (1619–1633)	Romanov
Alexis the Quietest Алексей Михайлович (Алексей Тишайший)	9 May 1629 – 29 January 1676	12 July 1645	29 January 1676	Son of Michael and Eudoxia Streshneva	Romanov
Feodor III Фёдор III Алексеевич	9 June 1661 – 7 May 1682	29 January 1676	7 May 1682	Son of Alexis and Maria Miloslavskaya	Romanov
Ivan V Иван V Алексеевич	6 September 1666 – 8 February 1696	7 May 1682	8 February 1696	Son of Alexis and Maria Miloslavskaya Younger brother of Feodor III and Sophia Elder half-brother of Peter I Co-ruler: Peter I Regent: princess Sophia (8 June 1682 – 17 September 1689)	Romanov
Peter I Пётр I Алексеевич	9 June 1672 – 8 February 1725	7 May 1682	2 November 1721	Son of Alexis and Natalya Naryshkina Younger half-brother of Feodor III Co-ruler: Ivan V (7 May 1682 – 8 February 1696) Regent: Natalya Naryshkina (7 May – 2 June 1682), Sophia Alekseyevna (8 June 1682 – 17 September 1689)	Romanov

See also

• List of Russian monarchs
• Grand Prince of Vladimir
• Prince of Moscow
• Emperor of Russia

Notes

1. Also rendered as Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Rus'.
2. Russian: Государь, Царь и Великий Князь всея Руси
3. "Kayser vnnd Herscher aller Rewssen und Groszfürste zu Wolodimer".
4. German form used in the Holy Roman Empire.
5. The Romanovs did not directly descend from an ancestor of the Rurik dynasty; Michael Romanov was only the grandson of Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, brother of Anastasia Romanovna, Ivan IV's first wife.

References

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