The Presidential Library’s rare materials illustrate "the kindest of Russian sovereigns" Alexei Mikhailovich “Tishayshy”

Alexei Romanov, the second Russian tsar of the House of Romanov, the son of Mikhail Romanov, the future father of Peter I was born on March 29 (19 according to the old style), 1629.

The Presidential Library’s collection The House Romanov. The Zemsky Sobor in 1613 devotes one section to Tsar Alexei, who received the nickname "Tishayshy" entitled Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676). It includes rare editions of the XIX-XX centuries, telling about the state merits of the tsar and providing interesting details about his private life and personal qualities. These are the works of Russian historians Vasily Berkh The Reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1831), Alexei Belkovsky The Second Tsar from the House of Romanov Alexei Mikhailovich (1913), Ivan Kataev Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and His Time (1901), prose writer Pavel Lvov Panegyric to the Great Sovereign, Tsar, Alexei Mikhailovich, Autocrat of all Russia (1806) and other rare materials.

Professor, correspondent of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Sergei Platonov tells about Alexei's childhood in his work Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1913), which he himself defined as "the experience of characterization": "Tsar Alexei grew quietly in the mansion of the Moscow palace, surrounded by a large staff of mothers until the age of five, and then, from the age of five, was transferred to the care of an uncle, the famous Boris Ivanovich Morozov".

“In character, the young sovereign in many ways resembled his good-natured father and, like him, always needed leaders. ... Boyar Morozov, taking advantage of the affection and full confidence of his pet, did not hesitate to acquire an exclusive influence on the government ... <...> The internal state of the Moscow state still bore the traces of a troubled era, and the calamities complained about by the elected people of 1642 continued: the people suffered under the burden of taxes and duties..." - says the historical essay The Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) and the reign of Feodor Alekseevich ... (1884). But soon "endowed by nature with a bright mind and a kind heart, Alexei Mikhailovich understood the true causes of the misfortunes of the people, stopped trusting greedy favorites, began to delve into the needs of his subjects himself", - said in 1857 in his speech About  the Historical Significance of the Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich historian Sergei Gorsky.

The already mentioned historical essay The Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich ... reports that Alexei "... was an extraordinary sovereign. Outwardly, he was a handsome man: plump, white, ruddy, with a long light-brown beard and large and gentle blue eyes. To my liking, he was an extremely kind and affectionate person. He often went secretly, at night, to city prisons and freed criminals. <…> At the same time, Aleksei Mikhailovich was smart and well-read". For example, the historian Pyotr Medovikov in his work The Historical Significance of the Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1854) said: "So, for the reading of the tsar, many of the European magazines and newspapers were subscribed and translated by the translators of the ambassadorial order ... Several essays on various branches of science were also translated".

The sovereign not only read a lot. “He was very fond of writing and in this respect he was a rare phenomenon of his time...

“The reign of Alexei Mikhailovich ... constitutes one of the most remarkable epochs in our history, an epoch that connects ancient Russia with the new one. <...>

The role of Alexei Mikhailovich in the historical development of Russia is great. After many years of the Russian-Polish war, an agreement was signed in 1667. According to it the city of Smolensk and the territories that became part of Poland as a result of the Time of Troubles were transferred to Russia. In addition, the Rzecz Pospolita recognized the right to the Left Bank "Little Russia" for Russia. The history of the Time of Troubles during the reign of Alexei was finally completed, the uprising of Stepan Razin was suppressed. Under Alexei “Tishayshy”, the centralization of the state and the construction of a vertical of power ended, a reform of government bodies, monetary and military reforms were carried out, the foundations for the construction of the Russian fleet were laid, the colonization of Siberia and the annexation of Ukraine took place.

Tsar Alexei was married twice. 13 children were born during the first marriage, three – during the second one. “The first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, died in 1669. <...> In 1671, the tsar entered into a second marriage with the daughter of a not rich nobleman Kirill Poluekhtovich Naryshkin, Natalia Kirillovna ... From this marriage, in 1672, on May 30 ... Tsarevich Pyotr Alekseevich was born", - Medovikov said.

The death of Tsar Alexei Romanov is spotlighted by Ivan Kataev in his essay Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and His Time: "He was not yet old: he was only 47 years old. But in January 1676 he felt a breakdown and began to prepare for death. On the night of January 30, the "Tishayshy Tsar", the kindest of Russian sovereigns, died quietly".