Michael Romanov Michael Romanov

24 March

On March 24, 1613, Michael Romanov accepted the throne as tsar at the age of sixteen. So began the most famous and interesting family dynasty in Russia, the House of Romanov, which lasted for 300 years.

Michael was elected tsar by a council of nobles during the "Time of Troubles", a period of internal disorder and invasions. The council comprised representatives from fifty cities throughout the land. Together with the people of Moscow they chose Michael, the son of Fyodor Romanov (whose family descended from boyar aristocracy), to be tsar.

The council decided Michael to be the best candidate to be crowned tsar for many reasons. First he was related to Fyodor I, the last tsar of the Rurik dynasty; and that he was the grandnephew of Anastasia, the much loved wife of Ivan the Terrible, making Michael connected to royalty. The Romanovs were also enemies with the previous disfavored ruler Boris Godunov, whose reign took Russia into the Times of Troubles. Godunov exiled Michael’s family to Poland, forcing his father to become a monk and mother to become a nun.

Crowning Michael was not going to be easy. The chosen tsar at the time was hiding in the Ipatiev monastery with his mother. When the news reached them, Michael refused to take the role. His mother was scared for her son’s safety and would not give her blessing, but the nobles persisted, declaring that the whole country would fall apart due to the struggle for power. They appealed to his patriotism and Michael finally agreed and left to Moscow.

Michael’s reign was dominated by his parents; together they brought order to Russia and obtained peace with some previous foreign enemies, marking the start of the great dynasty. 300 years later, however, the Romanov rule would end where it all began: in the Ipatiev House, where Michael’s descendant Nicholas II would be executed with his family, bringing an end to tsarism in Russia.