Tsar: Encyclopedia II - Tsar - Russia

Tsar - Russia

In 1547, Ivan IV of Russia, of the Moscovian dynasty, changed his title from "Veliki Kniaz (Grand Duke) of the whole Rus" to "tsar of the whole Rus" as a symbol of change in the nature of the Russian state. In 1721 Peter I adopted the title Emperor (Император [Imperator]), by which he and his heirs were recognised, and which continued to be used informally as a synonym of Tsar.

Actually, the new style was adopted precisely to underline a claim that Russia, by now a rising major power in Europe, invoking a marriage to a Byzantine princess considered heiress to the (since the Ottoman conquest fictitious) imperial crown, was the Orthodox "third Rome", succeeding in every respect to Byzantium, the orthodox "second Rome".

Tsar - Full title of Russian tsars

The full title of Russian emperors started with By the Grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias (Божию Милостию, Император и Самодержец Всероссийский [Bozhiyu Milostiyu, Imperator i Samodyerzhets Vserossiysky]) and went further to list all ruled territories. For example, according to the art. 59 of the Russian Constitution of April 23, 1906, "the full title of His Imperial Majesty is as follows: We, ------ by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Khersones, Tsar of Georgia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalia, Samogitia, Białystok, Karelia, Tver, Yugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria, and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Nizhni Novgorod, Chernigov; Ruler of Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all northern territories ; Ruler of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories - hereditary Ruler and Lord of the Cherkess and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth."

For example, Nicholas II of Russia (1 November 1894 - 15 March 1917) was titled as follows (notice the archaic spelling):

• The Emperor's subsidiary title of Tsar in chief of Kazan proclaimed the chief orthodox dynasty as successor in law to the mighty Islamic khanate of Kazan, not maintaining its 'heathen' title (as the Ottoman Great Sultans did in several cases) but christening it
• The Emperor's subsidiary title of Tsar in chief of Siberia is a bizarre forging, almost historical forgery, as there never was such a kingdom, only a very weak Tartar (heathen Islamic) Khanate of Sibir, easily subdued in the early stages of the exploration and annexation of hugely larger Siberia, most of it before inhabited by nomadic tribal people without a state in the European sense.
• The subsidiary title of Tsar in chief of Transcausasian Georgia is the continuation of a royal style of a native dynasty, that had as such been recognized by Russia.
• The subsidiary title of Tsar of Poland is not in chief of another 'Russian' realm but of the 20 June 1815 - 5 November 1916 legally separate (actually subordinate) Polish Kingdom, nominally in personal union with Russia, established by the Congress of Vienna (also called "Congress Poland"), in a sense reviving the royal style of the pre-existent national kingdom of Poland, which however had used as its native royal title Król before it was carved up in three successive partitions between Russia, Prussia and Austria.

Tsar - Titles in the Russian Royal/Imperial family

Tsaritsa (царица) is the term used for an Empress, though in English contexts this seems invariably to be altered to tsarina (since 1717, from Italian czarina, from German Zarin). In Imperial Russia, the official title was Empress (Императрица). Tsaritsa (Empress) could be either the ruler herself or the wife (Empress consort) of tsar.

Tsesarevich (Цесаревич) (literally, "son of the tsar") is the term for a male heir apparent, the full title was Heir Tsesarevich ("Naslednik Tsesarevich", Наследник Цесаревич), informally abbreviated in Russia to The Heir ("Naslednik") (from the capital letter).

Tsarevich (царевич) was the term for a son. In older times the term was used in place of "Tsesarevich" (Цесаревич). A son who was not a heir was formally called Velikii Kniaz (Великий Князь) (Grand Duke). The latter title was also used for grandsons (through male lines).

Tsarevna (царевна) was the term for a daughter and a granddaughter of a Tsar or Tsaritsa. The official title was Velikaya Kniaginya (Великая Княгиня), translated as Grand Duchess or Grand Princess.

See also Grand Duchess for more details on the Velikaya Kniaginya title.

Tsesarevna (Цесаревна) was the wife of the Tsesarevich.

Tsar - Notes

1. When Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 he abdicated not just on his own behalf but also on behalf of his teenage son, who was too ill to take up the throne. He named as his heir his own brother Mikhail. Mikhail initially considered accepting the throne, conditional upon the people accepting him as their ruler. But a day or two later he decided against this course. He saw no need to formally abdicate a throne he had never formally accepted. He was never proclaimed as "Tsar Mikhail II". Historians and lists of tsars differ as to whether to regard Mikhail or Nicholas II as the last tsar. Nicholas II was undoubtedly the last tsar to rule Russia and so was the last effective tsar. Mikhail, if he can be said to have been tsar at all, exercised no governmental functions and merely reigned nominally for a very short time. Mikhail, like his brother Nicholas, was executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.
2. In 1924 Grand Duke Cyril Romanov proclaimed himself Emperor in exile.
3. Moscow and Saint-Petersburg are the two tsar's capitals.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Russia", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki