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Aleksey Mikhailovich (Russian: Алексей Михайлович) was the tsar of Russia from 12 July 1645 until his death, 29 January 1676. His reign saw wars with Poland and Sweden, schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the major Cossack revolt of Stenka Razin. Nevertheless, at the time of his death Russia spanned almost 8,100,000 km2.
Born in Moscow on 29 March 1629, the son of Tsar Michael and Eudoxia Streshneva, the sixteen year old Alexei acceded to the throne after his father's death on 12 July 1645. In August, the Tsar's mother died, and following a pilgrimage to Sergiyev Posad he was crowned on 28 September in the Dormition Cathedral. He was committed to the care of his tutor Boris Morozov, a shrewd boyar open to Western ideas.
Morozov's pursued a peaceful foreign policy, securing a truce with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and carefully avoiding complications with the Ottoman Empire. His domestic policy aimed at limiting the privileges of foreign traders and abolishing a useless and expensive court offices. |
