Fedor Alekseevich

Born May 30 (June 9), 1661, in Moscow; died there Apr. 27 (May 7), 1682. Russian tsar from Jan. 29, 1676. Son of Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich and Mariia Il’inichna Miloslavskaia.

Fedor Alekseevich implemented a series of sweeping measures. In 1678 he ordered a general census of the population, and in 1679 he introduced taxation by household, thereby increasing the tax burden. In 1682 he abolished mestnichestvo (a system for ranking members of the nobility and assigning them government posts in accordance with their ranks) and ordered the burning of the razriadnye knigi (books containing lists of yearly appointments). He also combined several closely related prikazy (central administrative offices) under a single head in order to centralize governmental administration, and he attempted to weaken the influence of the patriarch on affairs of state. Because the measures affected broad strata of several classes, they caused an intensification of social conflicts and contradictions. The discontent of the lower urban strata, including the strel’tsy (semiprofessional musketeers), led to the Moscow Uprising of 1682.

From 1676 to 1681, Fedor Alekseevich waged a war with the Ottoman Empire. The hostilities ended with the Peace Treaty of Bakhchisarai (1681), in accordance with which the Ottoman Empire recognized the transfer of the Left-bank Ukraine to Russia.

Tutored by Simeon Polotskii, Fedor Alekseevich became a man of great learning, who knew Polish and ancient Greek. He was instrumental in founding the Slavonic-Greco-Latin Academy. He loved music, particularly singing, and composed several choral pieces himself.