Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode 1. Episode 193, Michael Filare, Alexis and Fielder.

Today's episode will cover the reins of three czars, the first Romanovs, Michael, Alexis, and

Fyodor, along with Patriarch Filaret, Michael's father. My reason for this is that these leaders after the time of

troubles had to face similar challenges. Recovering from the most challenging time

in Russian history was their primary focus.

The three czars were also responsible for laying the groundwork for Peter the Great's reforms.

While I'll be discussing the time of trouble's next episode, I want to talk about it here briefly.

It was a period known as the Sputnoi Vremia in Russian. Between the session of Boris Goudenov to the Muscovite throne in 1598,

until the election of Michael Romanov in 1613.

Now in the next episode, I'm going to argue that it was a longer period

of time and it started earlier than 1598. But I don't want to get into that next time. I'm already writing the script for that episode.

When Fyodor the first, the son of Ivan the Terrible died in 1598, without an error, it marked the end of the Ruric line, which began in the year 862.

Ivan's reign had wiped out a broad swath of Boyars, which, with the Tsar's death, led to a destabilized country.

We also have to understand that the land we now call Russia was not really in existence, at least not to the people of the 17th century.

It was referred to as the Muscovite state with central authority based obviously in Moscow.

The upenage great princes of old were now for the most part gone.

So with the extinction of the old dynasty, a void was created a vacuum which almost led to the destruction

of the future Russian state in 1613 with pressure being exerted on the muscovite state by the Poles in Sweden, a new

Zemsky Sabor was convened to pick a new leader, but more importantly a new dynasty to take control.

The selection of the Romanovs as the new family in charge

was really not surprising.

...