Prince Alexey Mikhaylovich Lvov (Russian ''Алексей Михайлович Львов'', 158?-1653 or 1654) was a Russian Court Marshal for 20 years, and one of the most influential members of Michael of Russia's government. Lvov began his career as a deputy governor of

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

(1610), Rylsk (1615), and

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

(1618–20). In 1621 he was sent to the court of Danish king

Christian IV Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

with a Tsar's proposition to marry one of Christian's nieces, the

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

ian princesses, but the mission failed completely. After his return, he was made a deputy chief of

Pomestny Prikaz A prikaz (russian: прика́з, ''prikaz''; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in Muscovy and in Russia from the 15th to the 1 ...

. In 1634, Lvov was one of two heads of Russian delegation in Russo-Polish negotiations which resulted in signing the

Treaty of Polyanovka The Treaty of Polyanovka ( pl, Polanów, also known as the ''Peace of Polyanovka / Polanów'') was a peace treaty signed on 14 June 1634 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia in the village of Semlevo located near ...

. After this success he was sent to Poland in 1635 as a head of an embassy to witness

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa; lt, Vladislovas Vaza; sv, Vladislav IV av Polen; rus, Владислав IV Ваза, r=Vladislav IV Vaza; la, Ladislaus IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of ...

's oath of "eternal peace". In 1644 he once again went to Poland as Ambassador Plenipotentiary. In 1644, Lvov and Boris Morozov became main opponents of Tsar Mikhail's plan to marry his daughter Irina to Dutch prince Valdemar Christian (they feared this marriage would generate an independent center of power). Finally, in 1645 they have managed to ruin it after a lot of intrigue. In January 1626, Lvov was appointed to serve as a

majordomo A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...

of the Tsar's court, in 1627 was made an

okolnichy Okolnichy (russian: око́льничий, ) was an old Muscovite court official position. According to the ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'', directives on the position of ''okolnichy'' date back to the 14th century. Judging by t ...

and official head of the Prikaz Bolshogo Dvortsa ('Prikaz of the Great Palace'), a government office dealing with the Tsar's palace economy and judging monasteries. Due to his efforts, this post was gradually turned into a place of great significance. After

Ivan Cherkassky Prince Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky (Rus. ''Ива́н Бори́сович Черка́сский''; c. 1580 – 4 April 1642) was a Russian statesman who served as the head of government for 20 years under his cousin Tsar Mikhail, the first Tsar of ...

's death in 1642 it was actually Lvov who might be called a Tsar's "Chancellor", not weak and despised nominal head of government

Fedor Sheremetev Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev (russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Шереме́тев, c. 1570–1650) was a Russian statesman in Tsar Mikhail's times, head of government in 1613–18 and 1642–46. Life Sheremetev descended from the same old ...

(Lvov's close friend). Since 1645 he shared power with

Boris Morozov Boris Ivanovich Morozov (russian: Борис Иванович Морозов; 1590 – 1661) was a Russian statesman and boyar who led the Russian government during the early reign of Tsar Alexis. Morozov came from a long noble line, yet was poor ...

. In 1647 he, Lvov retired.

References

Sources

* * Андреев И. Алексей Михайлович. М., 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lvov, Alexey 1580s births 1653 deaths Russian princes Tsardom of Russia people Boyars