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Feodor Nikitich Romanov (russian: Фео́дор Ники́тич Рома́нов, ; 1553 – 1 October 1633) was a Russian
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
who after temporary disgrace rose to become
patriarch of Moscow The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' (russian: Патриарх Московский и всея Руси, translit=Patriarkh Moskovskij i vseja Rusi), also known as the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, is the official title of the Bishop of Mo ...
as Filaret (russian: Филаре́т, ), and became de facto ruler of Russia during the reign of his son,
Mikhail Feodorovich Michael I ( Russian: Михаил Фёдорович Романов, ''Mikhaíl Fyódorovich Románov'') () became the first Russian tsar of the House of Romanov after the Zemskiy Sobor of 1613 elected him to rule the Tsardom of Russia. He ...
.


Biography

The second son of the prominent boyar
Nikita Romanovich Nikita Romanovich (russian: Никита Романович; born c. 1522 – 23 April 1586), also known as Nikita Romanovich Zakharyin-Yuriev, was a prominent boyar of the Tsardom of Russia. His grandson Michael I (Tsar 1613-1645) founded ...
, Feodor was born in Moscow and was the first to bear the
Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...
surname. During the reign of his first cousin
Feodor I Fyodor I Ivanovich (russian: Фёдор I Иванович) or Feodor I Ioannovich (russian: Феодор I Иоаннович; 31 May 1557 – 17 January (NS) 1598), also known as Feodor the Bellringer (russian: Феодор Звонарь), ...
(1584–1598), young Feodor Romanov distinguished himself both as a soldier and a diplomat, fighting against the forces of John III of Sweden in 1590, and conducting negotiations with the ambassadors of
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
from 1593 to 1594. He was made a
boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...
in 1583. On the death of the childless tsar, he was the popular candidate for the vacant throne; but he acquiesced in the election of
Boris Godunov Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
, and shared the disgrace of his too-powerful family three years later, when Boris compelled both him and his wife,
Xenia Shestova Boyarinya Kseniya Ioannovna (Ivanovna) Shestova (russian: Ксения Ивановна Шестова (or Романова); 1560–1631) was a spouse of Fyodor Romanov and the mother of Mikhail Romanov. Life The origins of Xeniya Ivanovna have b ...
, to take monastic vows under the names of Filaret and Martha respectively. Filaret was kept in the strictest confinement in the
Antoniev Monastery The Antoniev Monastery ("St Anthony's Monastery", russian: Антониев монастырь) rivalled the Yuriev Monastery as the most important monastery of medieval Novgorod the Great. It stands along the right bank of the Volkhov River north ...
of the Russian North, where he was exposed to every conceivable indignity; but when the
False Dmitriy I False Dmitry I ( rus, Лжедмитрий I, Lzhedmitriy I) (or Pseudo-Demetrius I) reigned as the Tsar of Russia from 10 June 1605 until his death on 17 May 1606 under the name of Dmitriy Ivanovich ( rus, Дмитрий Иванович). ...
overthrew the Godunovs, he released Filaret and made him metropolitan of
Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...
(1605).


Patriarch of Moscow

In 1609 Filaret fell into the hands of
False Dmitriy II False Dmitry II ( rus, Лжедмитрий II, Lzhedmitrii II; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called "тушинский вор" ("rebel/criminal of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne w ...
, who named him
Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
of all Russia, though his jurisdiction only extended over the very limited area which acknowledged the
impostor An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but also often for purposes ...
. From 1610 to 1618 he was a prisoner in the hands of the Polish king,
Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...
, whom he refused to acknowledge as tsar of
Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 * Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...
on being sent on an embassy to the Polish camp in 1610. He was released on the conclusion of the
Truce of Deulino The Truce of Deulino (also known as Peace or Treaty of Dywilino) concluded the Polish–Muscovite War (1609–1618) between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia. It was signed on 11 December 1618 and took effect on 4 Jan ...
(13 February 1619), and on 24 June of the same year was canonically enthroned Patriarch of Moscow and all of Russia. Thenceforth, until his death, the established government of Muscovy was a
diarchy Diarchy (from ancient Greek, Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', ...
. From 1619 to 1633 there were two actual sovereigns, Tsar Michael and his father, the ''most holy Patriarch Filaret''. Theoretically they were co-
regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
s, but Filaret frequently transacted affairs of state without consulting the tsar. He replenished the treasury by a more equable and rational system of assessing and collecting the
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
es. His most important domestic measure was the chaining of the
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
ry to the soil, a measure directed against the ever-increasing migration of the down-trodden serfs to the
steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...
s, where they became freebooters instead of taxpayers. The taxation of the tsar's military tenants was a first step towards the proportional taxation of the hitherto privileged classes. Filaret's zeal for the purity of
Orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...
sometimes led him into excesses but he encouraged the publication of theological works, formed the nucleus of the subsequently famous Patriarchal Library, and commanded that every
archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
should establish a
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
for the clergy, himself setting the example. Another great service rendered by Filaret to his country was the reorganization of the Muscovite army with the help of foreign officers. His death in October 1633 put an end to the
Russo-Polish War Armed conflicts between Poland (including the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) and Russia (including the Soviet Union) include: Originally a Polish civil war that Russia, among others, became involved in. Originally a Hungarian revolution b ...
(1632–33), withdrawing the strongest prop from a tsar feeble enough even when supported by all the weight of his authority. Exercising the rights of a sovereign, Filaret issued a royal decree in May 1625 which gave the patriarch the right to judge and oversee the clerical and peasant populations of the patriarchate in all matters except for theft and robbery. Thus, under Filaret the patriarchate ultimately developed into a state within a state. While the administration of the patriarchate became more structured, it also became significantly more complex. The patriarchate's administration was divided into the following departments: the Judicial (Судный) department which oversaw legal affairs; the Ecclesiastical (Церковный) department which oversaw matters regarding parishes; the Treasury (Казенный) department which oversaw tax collections from the clergy; and the Palace (Дворцовый) department which managed the economic matters on the patriarchal estates. Each department was headed by a patriarchal boyar (a member of the highest rank of the Russian aristocracy) and staffed with clerks and scribes. The patriarch personally received and signed reports. Filaret also ordered a full inventory of church and monastery property as well as a review of the land grants issued to the monasteries. In 1620 the new Diocese of Tobolsk was created. In 1625 as a gift from the king of Persia, Filaret received a piece of the supposed
Seamless Robe of Jesus The Seamless Robe of Jesus (also known as the Holy Robe, Holy Tunic, Holy Coat, Honorable Robe, and Chiton of the Lord) is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during or shortly before his crucifixion. Competing traditions claim that the ro ...
. This relic was placed in a shrine in the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral, and today is kept in the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Mosk ...
in Moscow.


Legacy

The patriarch was instrumental in the establishment of the Romanov dynasty through his use of ostentatious ceremonies and architectural projects which succeeded in underlining the importance of the Crown. Due to the
Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...
, mercenaries were common, so he hired English and Scottish officers to modernize the army, helping to push Russia into the modern age.Sebag Monterfiore (2016), p. 33-34


Issue

Filaret's marriage to
Xenia Shestova Boyarinya Kseniya Ioannovna (Ivanovna) Shestova (russian: Ксения Ивановна Шестова (or Романова); 1560–1631) was a spouse of Fyodor Romanov and the mother of Mikhail Romanov. Life The origins of Xeniya Ivanovna have b ...
produced six children, of whom two survived into adulthood: # Tatyana (d. 1612), married Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Katyrev-Rostovsky, no issue # Boris (b. 1592, died in infancy) # Nikita (b. 1593, died in infancy) #
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
(1596-1645), first tsar of Russia from the
House of Romanov The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to th ...
# Lev (b. 1597, died in infancy) # Ivan (b. 1599, died in infancy)


References


Sources

*Sebag Montefiore, Simon. ''The Romanovs: 1613 to 1918''. (Penguin Random House, 2016) {{DEFAULTSORT:Filaret 1553 births 1633 deaths 16th-century Russian clergy 17th-century Russian clergy Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow House of Romanov 16th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 17th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops Married Eastern Orthodoxy clergy