boyars

Examples of boyars in the following topics:

• Ivan the Terrible

  • Some say his years as the child vice-regent of Moscow under manipulative boyar powers shaped his views for life.
  • However, a group of boyars went to beg Ivan to return in order to keep the peace.
  • The boyar council oversaw the rest of the Russian lands.
  • This new proclamation also started a wave of persecution and against the boyars.
  • Ivan IV executed, exiled, or forcibly removed hundreds of boyars from power, solidifying his legacy as a paranoid and unstable ruler.

• The Time of Troubles

  • Godunov was a leading boyar and had accomplished a great deal under the reign of the mentally-challenged and childless Feodor.
  • However, his position as a boyar caused unrest among the Romanov clan who saw it as an affront to follow a lowly boyar.
  • However, the boyars and mercenaries were still displeased with this new ruler.
  • The boyars quarreled amongst themselves over who should rule Moscow while the throne remained empty.
  • His short-lived reign was beset by famine and resistance from the boyars.

• The Westernization of Russia

  • He also commanded all of his courtiers and officials to wear European clothing and cut off their long beards, causing great upset among boyars, or the feudal elites. 
  • One of Peter's major goals was reducing the influence of the boyars, who stressed Slavic supremacy and opposed European influence.
  • While their clout had declined since the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Boyar Duma, an advisory council to the tsar, still wielded considerable political power.
  • He specifically targeted boyars with numerous taxes and obligatory services.
  • A new generation of technocrats soon supplanted the old boyar class and dominated the civil service in Russia.

• Peter the Great

  • In order to avoid more civil war, the great nobles, or boyars, cooperated with the first Romanovs, enabling them to finish the work of bureaucratic centralization.
  • In return, the tsars allowed the boyars to complete the process of enserfing the peasants.
  • Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose 10-year-old Peter to become Tsar with his mother as regent.
  • The move provoked opposition from the boyars.

• Peter's Domestic Reforms

  • Unlike most of his predecessors, not only did Peter the Great recognize the weaknesses of the Russian state, which at the time was greatly influenced by the class of boyars (feudal elites), but also aspired to reform it following Western European models.
  • Seeing boyars as obstacles standing in the way of Europeanization and reform, Peter introduced changes into a relatively antiquated system of Russian administration.
  • Peter's distrust of the elitist and anti-reformist boyars culminated in 1722 with the creation of the Table of Ranks: a formal list of ranks in the Russian military, government and royal court.
  • While all these administrative reforms aimed to weaken the position of the old boyar class, they also moved Russia towards the authoritarian rule, where power was largely concentrated in the hand of the head of the state.

• The Romanovs

  • Sources say he was a boyar under the leadership of the Rurikid prince Semyon I of Moscow in 1347.
  • He unified the boyars and satisfied the Moscow royalty as the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov (now Patriarch Philaret) and the nephew of the Rurikid Tsar Feodor I.

• The Formation of Russia

  • He stripped the boyars of their localized and state power and essentially created a sovereign state that paid homage to Moscow.
  • He limited the power of the boyars and the once-powerful Rurikid dynasties in newly conquered provinces.

• Vladimir I and Christianization

  • On his return in 988, Vladimir baptized his twelve sons and many boyars in official recognition of the new faith.