Romanov definition of Romanov in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Romanov (rō`mənŏf, Rus. rəmä`nəf), ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars boyars (bōyärz`), upper nobility in Russia from the 10th through the 17th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. (great nobles) that traced its beginnings to the 14th cent. Czar Ivan IV took as his first wife Anastasia Romanov. Anastasia's brother, Nikita, was a regent for her son, Czar Feodor I Feodor I (Feodor Ivanovich) (fyô`dər, ēvä`nəvĭch)
..... Click the link for more information. . Nikita's son, Philaret, whom Boris Godunov Godunov, Boris (bərēs` gəd

nôf`), c.
..... Click the link for more information. forced to take monastic vows, was patriarch of Moscow from 1619 until his death in 1633. Michael Michael (Michael Romanov), 1596–1645, czar of Russia (1613–45), founder of the Romanov dynasty; grandnephew of Anastasia, first wife of Ivan IV. His election as czar, following successive appearances of false pretenders (see Dmitri ), ended the so-called
..... Click the link for more information. , Philaret's son, was chosen in 1613 as czar of Russia; his election ended a turbulent period in Russian history. Except for the period from 1722 to 1797, the succession was thereafter regulated by the law of primogeniture.

The direct successors of Michael were Alexis Alexis (əlĕk`sĭs)
..... Click the link for more information. (1645–76) and Feodor III (1676–82). Ivan V and Peter I Peter I or Peter the Great, 1672–1725, czar of Russia (1682–1725), major figure in the development of imperial Russia.

Early Life

..... Click the link for more information. (Peter the Great) reigned jointly under the regency of their sister Sophia Alekseyevna until 1689, when Peter assumed sole rule. In 1721, Peter took the title emperor of Russia in addition to that of czar; the new title was borne by all his successors. His succession decree of 1722 denounced the law of primogeniture and declared that the choice of a successor lay solely with the ruling emperor.

In 1723, Peter made his consort joint ruler as Catherine I Catherine I, 1683?–1727, czarina of Russia (1725–27). Of Livonian peasant origin, Martha Skavronskaya was a domestic when she was captured (1702) by Russian soldiers. As mistress of Aleksandr D.
..... Click the link for more information. , and after his death (1725) she continued to rule until she died in 1727. Peter's son by his first marriage, Czarevich Alexis Alexis (Aleksey Petrovich) (əlyĭksyā` pētrô`vĭch)
..... Click the link for more information. , had been executed in 1718. His second marriage, with Catherine, produced two daughters: Anna, who married Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, and Elizabeth. They were bypassed in the succession of 1727 in favor of Peter II Peter II, 1715–30, czar of Russia (1727–30). A grandson of Peter I and the son of the czarevich Alexis, he succeeded on the death of Catherine I.
..... Click the link for more information. (1727–30), son of Czarevich Alexis.

Peter II was the last of the direct male Romanov line, and on his death Anna Anna (Anna Ivanovna) (än`nə ĭvä`nôvnə)
..... Click the link for more information. , duchess of Courland, a daughter of Ivan V, ascended the throne. She died without heirs and was succeeded (1740) by Ivan VI, a great-grandson of Ivan V. He was a German, son of the duke of Brunswick and of Anna Leopoldovna, a princess of Mecklenburg.

The rule of foreigners was unpopular, and Peter I's daughter Elizabeth Elizabeth, 1709–62, czarina of Russia (1741–62), daughter of Peter I and Catherine I . She gained the throne by overthrowing the young czar, Ivan VI , and the regency of his mother, Anna Leopoldovna.
..... Click the link for more information. executed a coup in 1741 and was proclaimed czarina. Her nephew Peter III Peter III, 1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death of his aunt, Czarina Elizabeth.
..... Click the link for more information. succeeded her in 1762 but was deposed (and probably assassinated) that year in a coup that made his consort, a princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, empress as Catherine II Catherine II or Catherine the Great, 1729–96, czarina of Russia (1762–96).

Rise to Power

A German princess, the daughter of Christian Augustus, prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, she emerged from the obscurity of her
..... Click the link for more information. (Catherine the Great). There was some argument as to the paternity of Catherine's son and successor, Paul I Paul I, 1754–1801, czar of Russia (1796–1801), son and successor of Catherine II. His mother disliked him intensely and sought on several occasions to change the succession to his disadvantage.
..... Click the link for more information. (1796–1801), but it is now generally believed that he was the son of Peter III.

Paul, who was assassinated, restored the succession by primogeniture in 1797. His successors reigned as Alexander I Alexander I, 1777–1825, czar of Russia (1801–25), son of Paul I (in whose murder he may have taken an indirect part). In the first years of his reign the liberalism of his Swiss tutor, Frédéric César de La Harpe , seemed to influence
..... Click the link for more information. (1801–25), Nicholas I Nicholas I, 1796–1855, czar of Russia (1825–55), third son of Paul I . His brother and predecessor, Alexander I , died childless (1825). Constantine, Paul's second son, was next in succession but had secretly renounced (1822) the throne after marrying a
..... Click the link for more information. (1825–55), Alexander II Alexander II, 1818–81, czar of Russia (1855–81), son and successor of Nicholas I . He ascended the throne during the Crimean War (1853–56) and immediately set about negotiating a peace (see Paris, Congress of ).
..... Click the link for more information. (1855–81; assassinated), Alexander III Alexander III, 1845–94, czar of Russia (1881–94), son and successor of Alexander II . Factors that contributed to Alexander's reactionary policies included his father's assassination, his limited intelligence and education, his military background, and
..... Click the link for more information. (1881–94), and Nicholas II Nicholas II, 1868–1918, last czar of Russia (1894–1917), son of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna.

Road to Revolution

Nicholas was educated by private tutors and the reactionary Pobyedonostzev .
..... Click the link for more information. (1894–1917). The marriage of Nicholas II to Princess Alix of Hesse (Czarina Alexandra Feodorovna Alexandra Feodorovna (fēô'dərŏv`nə, Rus.
..... Click the link for more information. ) brought hemophilia into the family; their son, Czarevich Alexis (1904–18), was afflicted with the disease. In 1918, after the Russian Revolution, Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed. The members of the Romanov family who escaped execution fled abroad.

Bibliography

See D. Lieven, Russian Rulers before the Revolution (1989); R. K. Masie, The Romanovs (1995), M. D. Steinberg and V. M. Khrustaëv, The Fall of the Romanovs (1995); J. Van der Kiste, The Romanovs, 1818–1959 (1998), and J. C. Perry and C. V. Pleshakov, The Flight of the Romanovs (1999).