Michael Romanov

Michael Romanov I (1613 – 1645)

Michael Romanov (Mikhail I  Fyodorovich Romanov) took the throne as Tsar of Russia after being unanimously elected by the Russian Grand National Assembly at the age of 16. Because of the recent destruction of Moscow, he did not officially take the crown until June 22, 1613. The first thing that the Tsar did was rid Russia of any foreigners, probably to prevent what happened from happening again. Peace treaties were signed with Sweden and Poland in 1617 and 1618 respectively. Part of the peace treaty with Poland was an agreement that Russia would not seek to gain land off the Baltic Sea. Michael was a very pious ruler was known through mostly his counselors.

Michael prepared Russia for a possible war with Poland and had to increase taxes in order to do so. After the Time of Troubles, Poland still had control of Smolensk. Global trade under Michael's reign increased in Russian, bringing some improvements to the economic situation of some citizens.

In 1632, the King of Poland, King Sigismund died leaving behind a very unstable Poland. Russia and Poland went to war between 1632 and 1634, however, not much progress was made on either side. Russian wasn't even able to regain Smolensk.

Under Tsar Michael, Russia gained control of the Ural Mountain region as well as other regions further south, expanding the size of Russia. It was also under Michael's reign that Russian pioneers reached the Pacific Ocean. This occurred in 1638. Michael did have a son named named Alexis I. (Aleksey Mikhailovich Romanov). When Michael died in 1645, Alexis took the throne and continued the stable Romanov Dynasty in Russia.