Tsardom of Russia

The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. It is generally regarded as the first phase of Tsarist Russia.

From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew by an average of per year. The period includes the upheavals of the transition from the Rurik to the Romanov dynasties, wars with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire, and the Russian conquest of Siberia, to the reign of Peter the Great, who took power in 1689 and transformed the tsardom into an empire. During the Great Northern War, he implemented substantial reforms and proclaimed the Russian Empire after victory over Sweden in 1721.

Name

While the oldest endonyms of the Grand Principality of Moscow used in its documents were "Rus'" () and the "Russian land" (),Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 3 a new form of its name in Russian became common by the 15th century.Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 13E. Hellberg-Hirn. Soil and Soul: The Symbolic World of Russianness. Ashgate, 1998. p. 54Lawrence N. Langer. Historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia. Scarecrow Press, 2001. p. 186 The vernacular Rus was transformed into Rus(s)iya or Ros(s)iya (based on the Greek name for Rus'). In the 1480s, Russian state scribes Ivan Cherny and Mikhail Medovartsev mention Russia under the name (Rosia), and Medovartsev also mentions the sceptre "of Russian lordship" ().Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 30–38 In the following century, the new forms co-existed with Rus' and appeared in an inscription on the western portal of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery in Yaroslavl (1515), on the icon case of the Theotokos of Vladimir (1514), in the work by Maximus the Greek,Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 55–56 the Russian Chronograph written by Dosifei Toporkov (died 1543 or 1544)Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 61 in 1516–1522, and in other sources.Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 57

On 16 January 1547, Ivan IV was crowned the tsar and grand prince of all Russia (),Robert Auty, Dimitri Obolensky. Companion to Russian Studies: Volume 1: An Introduction to Russian History. Cambridge University Press, 1976. p. 99 thereby proclaiming the Tsardom of Russia, or "the Great Russian Tsardom", as it was called in the coronation document, by Constantinople Patriarch Jeremiah II,Lee Trepanier. Political Symbols in Russian History: Church, State, and the Quest for Order and Justice. Lexington Books, 2010. p. 61: "so your great Russian Tsardom, more pious than all previous kingdoms, is the Third Rome"Barbara Jelavich. Russia's Balkan Entanglements, 1806–1914. Cambridge University Press, 2004. p. 37. Note 34: "Since the first Rome fell through the Appollinarian heresy and the second Rome, which is Constantinople, is held by the infidel Turks, so then thy great Russian Tsardom, pious Tsar, which is more pious than previous kingdoms, is the third Rome" and in numerous official texts.Richard S. Wortman. Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy from Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II. Princeton University Press, 2013. p. 17Maija Jansson. England and the North: The Russian Embassy of 1613–1614. American Philosophical Society, 1994. p. 82: "...the towns of our great Russian Tsardom", "all the people of all the towns of all the great Russian Tsardom".Walter G. Moss. A History of Russia Volume 1: To 1917. Anthem Press, 2003. p. 207Readings for Introduction to Russian civilization, Volume 1. Syllabus Division, University of Chicago Press, 1963. p. 253Hans Georg Peyerle, George Edward Orchard. Journey to Moscow. LIT Verlag Münster, 1997. p. 47William K. Medlin. Moscow and East Rome: A Political Study of the Relations of Church and State in Muscovite Russia. Delachaux et Niestl, 1952. p. 117: Addressing Patriarch Jeremiah, Tsar Feodor Ivanovich declares, "We have received the sceptre of the Great Tsardom of Russia to support and to watch over our pious and present Great Russian Tsardom and, with God's grace". The formula in manuscripts "to all his state of Great Russia" later replaced those found in other manuscripts – "to all the Russian realm" (vo vse Rossisskoe tsarstvo); the former is more typical of the 17th century, when the usage of the term "Great Russia" (Velikaya Rossiya) became widely established. By the 17th century, the form Rossiya replaced Rus' to describe the extent of the tsar's imperial authority in chiny, with Feodor III using the term "Great Russian Tsardom" (Velikorossisskoe tsarstvie) to denote an imperial and absolutist state, subordinating both Russian and non-Russian territories. The old name Rus' was replaced in official documents, though the names Rus and Russian land were still common and synonymous to it.Б. М. Клосс. О происхождении названия "Россия". М.: Рукописные памятники Древней Руси, 2012. С. 4

The Russian state partly remained referred to as Moscovia () throughout Europe, predominantly in its Catholic part, though this Latin term was never used in Russia.Шмидт С. О. Памятники письменности в культуре познания истории России. М., 2007. Т. 1. Стр. 545 The two names Russia and Moscovia appear to have co-existed as interchangeable during the late 16th century and throughout the 17th century with different Western maps and sources using different names, so that the country was called "Russia, or Moscovia" () or "Russia, popularly known as Moscovia" (). In England in the 16th century, it was known both as Russia and Muscovy.Felicity Stout. Exploring Russia in the Elizabethan commonwealth: The Muscovy Company and Giles Fletcher, the elder (1546–1611). Oxford University Press. 2015Jennifer Speake (editor). Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2014. p. 650 Such notable Englishmen as Giles Fletcher, author of the book Of the Russe Common Wealth (1591), and Samuel Collins, author of The Present State of Russia (1668), both of whom visited Russia, were familiar with the term Russia and used it in their works.Marshall Poe (editor). Early exploration of Russia. Volume 1. Routledge. 2003 So did numerous other authors, including John Milton, who wrote A brief history of Moscovia and of other less-known countries lying eastward of Russia, published posthumously,John T. Shawcross. John Milton: The Self and the World. University Press of Kentucky, 2015. p. 120 starting it with the words: "The Empire of Moscovia, or as others call it, Russia...".

According to prominent historians like Alexander Zimin and Anna Khoroshkevich, the continuous use of the term Moscovia was a result of traditional habit and the need to distinguish between the Muscovite and the Lithuanian part of Rus', as well as of the political interests of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which competed with Moscow for the western regions of Rus'. Due to the propaganda of the Commonwealth,Кудрявцев, Олег Фёдорович. Россия в первой половине XVI в: взгляд из Европы. Русский мир, 1997. Тихвинский, С. Л., Мясников, В. С. Восток – Россия – Запад: исторические и культурологические исследования. Памятники исторической мысли, 2001 – С. 69 as well as of the Jesuits, the term Moscovia was used instead of Russia in many parts of Europe where prior to the reign of Peter the Great there was a lack of direct knowledge of the country. In Northern Europe and at the court of the Holy Roman Empire, however, the country was known under its own name, Russia or Rossia.Хорошкевич А. Л. Русское государство в системе международных отношений конца XV – начала XVI в. – М.: Наука, 1980. – С. 84 Sigismund von Herberstein, ambassador of the Holy Roman Emperor in Russia, used both Russia and Moscovia in his work on the Russian tsardom and noted: "The majority believes that Russia is a changed name of Roxolania. Muscovites ("Russians" in the German version) refute this, saying that their country was originally called Russia (Rosseia)".Sigismund von Herberstein. Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii. Synoptische Edition der lateinischen und der deutschen Fassung letzter Hand. Basel 1556 und Wien 1557. München, 2007. p. 29 Pointing to the difference between Latin and Russian names, French captain Jacques Margeret, who served in Russia and left a detailed description of L'Empire de Russie of the early 17th century that was presented to King Henry IV, stated that foreigners make "a mistake when they call them Muscovites and not Russians. When they are asked what nation they are, they respond 'Russac', which means 'Russians', and when they are asked what place they are from, the answer is Moscow, Vologda, Ryasan and other cities".Advertissement au Lecteur // Jacques Margeret. Estat de l'empire de Russie et grande duché de Moscovie, avec ce qui s'y est passé de plus mémorable et tragique... depuis l'an 1590 jusques en l'an 1606 en septembre, par le capitaine Margeret. M. Guillemot, 1607. Modern French-Russian edition: Маржерет Ж. Состояние Российской империи (Тексты, комментарии, статьи). Ж. Маржерет в документах и исследованиях. Серия: Studia historica М. Языки славянской культуры. 2007. С. 46, 117 The closest analogue of the Latin term Moscovia in Russia was "Tsardom of Moscow", or "Moscow Tsardom" (), which was used along with the name "Russia",Vernadsky V. Moscow Tsardom. in 2 v. Moscow: Agraph, 2001 (Russian)"В некотором царстве, в некотором государстве..." Sigurd Schmidt, Doctor of history sciences, academician of RAN, Journal "Rodina", Nr. 12/2004 sometimes in one sentence, as in the name of the 17th-century Russian work On the Great and Glorious Russian Moscow State ().О великом и славном Российском Московском государстве. Гл. 50 // Арсеньев Ю. В. Описание Москвы и Московского государства: По неизданному списку Космографии конца XVII века. М, 1911. С. 6–17 (Зап. Моск. археол. ин-та. Т. 11)

History

Byzantine heritage

By the 16th century, the Russian ruler had emerged as a powerful, autocratic figure, a Tsar. By assuming that title, the sovereign of Moscow suggested that he was a major ruler or emperor on a par with the Byzantine emperor. Tsar () represents the Slavic adaptation of the Roman Imperial title/name Caesar)) Indeed, after Ivan III married Sophia Palaiologina, the niece of the late Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos, in 1472, the Moscow court adopted Byzantine terms, rituals, titles, and emblems such as the double-headed eagle, which survives in the coat of arms of Russia. The Byzantine Empire was ready to be succeeded since it had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453.

At first, the Byzantine term autokrator expressed only the literal meaning of an independent ruler, but in the reign of Ivan IV (1533–1584) it came to imply unlimited (autocratic) rule. In 1547 the Grand Duke Ivan IV was crowned Tsar and thus was recognized – at least by the Russian Orthodox Church – as Emperor. Notably, the hegumen Philotheus of Pskov claimed in 1510 that after Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire, the Russian tsar remained the only legitimate Orthodox ruler, and that Moscow was the Third Rome, becoming the final lineal successor to Rome and Constantinople; these were the two centers of Christianity and of the Western and Eastern Roman empires of earlier periods. The "Third Rome" concept would resonate in the self-image of the Russian people in future centuries.

Early reign of Ivan IV