Tsars of Russia

Russian royal family (1613–1917)

–1505	Ivan the Great – Grand Duke of Muscovy from 1462, used the title Tsar	Ivan III (the Great)
1544–1584	Crowned first Tsar of Russia, 1547 (grandson of the above)	Ivan IV (the Terrible)
1584–1598	Son of Ivan the Terrible	Fyodor (Theodore) I
1598–1605	Chosen as regent by Ivan the Terrible during the reign of Ivan's feeble–minded son Fyodor; seized the throne and ruled in his own right following Fyodor's death without issue; subject of a play by Pushkin and an opera by Mussorgsky	Boris Godunov
1605	Son of Boris Godunov: ruled for 79 days (aged 16) following Boris' death, but was foully murdered	Fyodor II
1605–1616	Claimed to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible	False Dmitry I
1606–1610	Boyar (high–ranking nobleman) who had reported that Dmitry's death was suicide; later changed his story to support "False Dmitry"	Vasili IV
c1598–1612	Period when the tsardom was in dispute following the (disputed) murder of Dmitry	Time of Troubles
1613–1645	Great-nephew of Ivan the Terrible, elected Tsar by a national assembly, 1613; founder of the Romanov dynasty	Mikhail (Michael) Romanov
1645–1676	Son of Mikhail I (Michael Romanov)	Alexis I
1676–1682	Eldest son of Alexis, and half brother of Peter the Great	Feodor III
1682–1696	Full brother of Fyodor and another half brother of Peter, with whom he ruled jointly until his own death in 1696	Ivan V
1682–1725	The third son of Alexis I to become Tsar; turned Russia into a major European power, by replacing its traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with modern, scientific, Westernised alternatives, based on the Enlightenment; laid the groundwork for its navy, after capturing ports at Azov and the Baltic Sea; founded St. Petersburg in 1703, and made it his capital; proclaimed Emperor of All Russia in 1721	Peter I ( the Great)
1724–1727	Mistress and wife of Peter the Great	Catherine I
1727–1730	Son of Peter the Great	Peter II
1730–1741	Nephew of Peter the Great	Ivan VI
1741–1762	Daughter of Peter the Great	Elizabeth
1762	Son of the Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna, elder surviving daughter of Peter the Great; adopted by the above (his aunt) following his mother's death less than two weeks after his birth, and succeeded her as Emperor of Russia in 1762; died six months later, in a coup d'état – probably murdered by Alexius Orlov, his wife's lover (see below)	Peter III
1762–1796	Born Princess Sophie of Anhalt–Zerbst, in 1729, daughter of an obscure German prince, who was Governor of the city of Stettin (then in the newly–formed Kingdom of Prussia, now in Poland); married the above, and came to power following a coup d'état six months later during which he was assassinated	Catherine II (the Great)
1796–1801	Son of the above – the first Tsar to succeed his or her parent since Feodor III in 1676. Assassinated by a band of dismissed army officers	Paul I
1801–1825	Son of Paul I; defeated by Napoleon at Austerlitz, 1805	Alexander I
1825–1855	Balkan ambitions led to the Crimean War, 1853–6	Nicholas I
1855–1881	Known as 'the Liberator' for emancipating serfs, 1861	Alexander II
1881–1894	Married the sister of Britain's Queen Alexandra	Alexander III
1894–1917	Last Tsar of Russia; took Russia into war with Japan 1905, and into World War I	Nicholas II

You are here:

Tsars of Russia