The ancestors of Peter the Great.
The family of Peter the Great have been in possession of the throne ever
since the year 1613. Before that time, Russia had undergone revolutions,
which had retarded the reformation of her police, and the introduction
of the liberal arts. This has been the fate of all human societies. No
kingdom ever experienced more cruel troubles. In the year 1597, the
tyrant Boris Godonow assassinated Demetrius (or Demetri, as he was
called), the lawful heir, and usurped the empire. A young monk took the
name of Demetrius, pretending to be that prince who had escaped from his
murderers; and with the assistance of the Poles, and a considerable
party (which every tyrant has against him), he drove out the usurper,
and seized the crown himself. The imposture was discovered as soon as he
came to the sovereignty, because the people were not pleased with him;
and he was murdered. Three other false Demetrius's started up, one after
another. Such a succession of impostors, supposes a country in the
utmost distraction. The less men are civilized, the more easily they are
imposed on. It may readily be conceived, how much these frauds augmented
the public confusion and misfortunes. The Poles, who had begun the
revolutions, by setting up the first false Demetrius, were on the point
of being masters of Russia. The Swedes shared in the spoils on the coast
of Finland, and laid claim to the crown. The state seemed on the verge
of utter destruction.
In the midst of these calamities, an assembly, composed of the principal
boyards, chose for their sovereign a young man of fifteen years of age:
this happened in 1613, and did not seem a very likely method of putting
an end to these troubles. This young man was Michael Romanow,[18]
grandfather to czar Peter, and son to the archbishop of Rotow, surnamed
Philaretes, and of a nun, and related by the mother's side to the
ancient czars.
It must be observed, that this archbishop was a powerful nobleman, whom
the tyrant Boris had obliged to become priest. His wife, Scheremetow,
was likewise compelled to take the veil; this was the ancient custom of
the western tyrants of the Latin church, as that of putting out the eyes
was with the Greek Christians. The tyrant Demetrius made Philaretes
archbishop of Rostow, and sent him ambassador to Poland, where he was
detained prisoner by the Poles, who were then at war with the Russians;
so little was the law of nations known to the different people of these
times. During his father's confinement, young Romanow was elected czar.
The archbishop was exchanged against some Polish prisoners; and, at his
return, his son created him patriarch, and the old man was in fact king,
under his son's name.
If such a government appears extraordinary to strangers, the marriages
of czar Michael Romanow, will seem still more so. The Russian princes
had never intermarried with foreign states since the year 1490, or after
they became masters of Casan and Astracan; they seem to have followed
the Asiatic customs in almost every thing, and especially in that of
marrying only among their own subjects.
This conformity to the ancient customs of Asia, was still more
conspicuous at the ceremonies observed at the marriage of a czar. A
number of the most beautiful women in the provinces were sent for to
court, where they were received by the grand gouvernante of the court,
who provided apartments for them in her own house, where they all eat
together. The czar paid them visits, sometimes incognito, and sometimes
in his real character. The wedding-day was fixed, without its being
declared on whom the choice had fallen. At the appointed time, the
happy she was presented with a rich wedding-suit, and other dresses
were given to the rest of the fair candidates, who then returned home.
There have been four instances of these marriages.
In this manner was Michael Romanow espoused to Eudocia, the daughter of
a poor gentleman, named Streschneu. He was employed in ploughing his
grounds with his servants, when the lords of the bed-chamber came to him
with presents from the czar, and to acquaint him that his daughter was
placed on the throne. The name of the princess is still held in the
highest veneration by the Russians. This custom is greatly different
from ours, but not the less respectable on that account.
It is necessary to observe, that before Romanow was elected czar, a
strong party had made choice of prince Ladislaus, son to Sigismund III.
king of Poland. At the same time, the provinces bordering on Sweden had
offered the crown to a brother of Gustavus Adolphus: so that Russia was
in the same situation then in which we have so frequently seen Poland,
where the right of electing a king has been the source of civil wars.
But the Russians did not follow the example of the Poles, who entered
into a compact with the prince whom they elected; notwithstanding they
had smarted from the oppression of tyrants, yet they voluntarily
submitted to a young man, without making any conditions with him.
Russia never was an elective kingdom; but the male issue of the ancient
sovereigns failing, and six czars, or pretenders, having perished
miserably in the late troubles, there was, as we have observed, a
necessity for electing a monarch; and this election occasioned fresh
wars with Poland and Sweden, who maintained, with force of arms, their
pretended rights to the crown of Russia. The right of governing a nation
against its own will, can never be long supported. The Poles, on their
side, after having advanced as far as Moscow, and exercised all the
ravages in which the military expeditions of those times chiefly
consisted, concluded a truce for fourteen years. By this truce, Poland
remained in possession of the duchy of Smolensko, in which the
Boristhenes has its source. The Swedes also made peace, in virtue of
which they remained in possession of Ingria, and deprived the Russians
of all communication with the Baltic Sea, so that this empire was
separated more than ever from the rest of Europe.
Michael Romanow, after this peace, reigned quietly, without making any
alteration in the state, either to the improvement or corruption of the
administration. After his death, which happened in 1645, his son, Alexis
Michaelowitz (or son of Michael), ascended the throne by hereditary
right. It may be observed, that the czars were crowned by the patriarch
of Russia, according to the ceremonies in use at Constantinople, except
that the patriarch of Russia, was seated on the same ascent with the
sovereign, and constantly affected an equality highly insulting to the
supreme power.