Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

At the center of the fateful 17th century for Russia stands the figure of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Even during his lifetime, he earned the nickname "The Quietest" among the people, which very accurately reflects the moral and psychological portrait of the second Tsar of the Romanov Dynasty, although the period of his reign was far from peaceful. Exhausting wars with Poland from 1654 to 1667 and Sweden from 1656 to 1658, popular uprisings—the salt riot of 1648, the copper riot of 1662, as well as the anti-government movement led by the Don Cossack Stepan Razin in 1670-1671—became a test of the resilience both of the state structure and of the competence of the authorities. Another upheaval in the Russian national and state existence, closely linked to the era of Alexei Mikhailovich, is known as the Schism. This book is a tribute to the memory of a remarkable Russian person and ruler who left an indelible mark on the tablets of the History of Russia.