Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia

Sophia Alekseyevna
Regent of Russian Tsardom
Tsarevna Sophia as the Regent of Russian Tsardom.
Reign	1682-1689 as Regent
House	Romanov
Father	Alexei I of Russia
Mother	Maria Miloslavskaya
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy

Sophia Alekseyevna (anglicization of Russian Царевна Софья Алексеевна Sofia Alekseyevna) (17 September (27), 1657 – 3 July (14), 1704) was a regent of Russian Tsardom (1682–1689) who allied herself with a singularly capable courtier and politician, Prince Vasily Galitzine, to install herself as a regent during the minority of her brothers, Peter I and Ivan V. Her reign was carried out with a firm and heavy fist, she did not hesitate to utilize violent tactics to promote her agenda. The activity of this "bogatyr-tsarevna" (as Sergey Solovyov called her) was all the more extraordinary, as upper-class Muscovite women, confined to the upper-floor terem and veiled and guarded in public, invariably were kept aloof from any open involvement in politics.

Sophia was the thirteenth daughter of Tsar Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya. Educated by Simeon Polotsky according to tradition. After the death of her reigning brother Fyodor Alekseyevich on 27 April 1682, Sophia unexpectedly entered Russian politics, trying to preclude her young half-brother, the 10-year old Peter Alekseyevich, and his Naryshkin relatives, from inheriting the throne.

Rise to Regent

Although Sophia emerged on the scene during the dynastic struggles of 1682, her prior influences can help to explain her regency. At the previous change of rule, Sophia may have acted in the interest of her brother, Fyodor, as various rumors exist of her pleading the dying Alexis not to proclaim Peter the heir. Fyodor’s capability to lead the Russia raised questions, based on his sickly nature and poor health. His mental ability developed quite nicely, however, as he was taught by Simeon Polotsky. During his brief reign, many historians argue that Fyodor actually ‘ruled under the protectorate of Sophia his sister.’ As his health began to decline, more individuals rose up to counsel Fyodor, and Sophia found her influence steadily declining. Taking advantage of a courtroom never open to a woman in her position, she utilized her connections, making allies and formally planning on securing the throne. As Fyodor’s poor health caught up to him, Sophia immediately erupted onto the political scene, attending her late brother’s funeral and causing a commotion while doing so. In Sophia’s age, the female relatives of the Tsar were kept away from the courtroom and other political workrooms, and funerals were traditionally carried on without the women. In her way, Sophia stormed the funeral, insisting on her presence and simultaneously setting off a chain of events that will result in her regency.

The Miloslavsky party took advantage of the Moscow Uprising of 1682 to place Sophia on the seat of power. As Alexis descended from the throne, he left behind him two separate families, both of which boasted at least one rightful heir. As the clans of Alexis’ two wives embraced in conflict, Sophia crafted her scheme to ensure power for her and her family. Promoting the case of her brother Ivan V, a legitimate heir to the throne, Sophia attempted to convince the patriarch and the boyars that their recent decision to crown Peter should be reversed. Insisting that Peter’s election breaks monarchic laws by skipping over her brother, who would have been next in line to rule if not for his ineptitude, she proposed a shared crown with Ivan. Upon the court’s swift and unanimous rejection of dual tsars, Sophia reached to the discouraged military troop, the Streltsy, for their aid and support. The unjust dismissal of Ivan’s reign acted as a catalyst to the already displeased and frustrated troops. Multiple issues, including merciless motivational tactics and lack of rest, drove the Streltsy to violently oppose the ‘unjust’ election of Peter. As the fighting ceased and Peter’s life was left forever scarred by the blood spilt within his Naryshkin clan, the Streltsy received their initial demands. Following the momentum of the Streltsy rebellion, the incompetent Ivan is crowned senior tsar and Peter, of only nine years, junior tsar. Despite her gender, Sophia had been deemed the sole intellectually mature royalty at the time of Fyodor’s death, making her the favorite to govern in place of the child, Peter, and the inept Ivan. Using the education and political savvy she acquired by Fyodor’s side, she convinced the nobles and patriarch of her capacities to rule Russia. As Sophia had arranged before her brother’s death, Vasily Galitzine was installed as a de-facto head of government, responsible for most of the policies during her regency.

Romantic Life

It was even rumoured that Galitzine was Sophia's lover, confirmed by the tone of her correspondence with him in 1689. Although any romantic interaction between the two did not begin when they met under Fyodor’s rule. Fyodor entrusted great confidence in Galitzine, and there remains no evidence Sophia and Vasily acted against customs that would have kept them apart until after his death. There is no suspicion of any relations until the letter in 1689, even during the period of Galitzine’s rise to power.

Regency

When the Old Believers joined the rebels in the fall of 1682 and demanded the reversal of Nikon's reforms, Sophia lost control of the unsteady Streltsy to her once ally, Prince Ivan Khovansky. After aiding Sophia in May, Khovansky used his influence with the troops to force her court to flee the Moscow Kremlin and seek refuge in the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. The streltsy rebels, who instigated the rebellion, hoped to depose Sophia and to make Prince Ivan Khovansky a new regent, to satisfy their increasing desire for concessions. Calling together the gentry militia, Sophia managed to suppress the so-called Khovanshchina with the help of Fyodor Shaklovityi, who succeeded Khovansky in charge of the Muscovite army. Silencing the dissatisfied parties until Peter becomes of age, Sophia executed Khovansky and the other figureheads of the attempted rebellion.

During the seven years of her regency, Sophia made a few concessions to posads and loosened detention policies towards runaway peasants, which caused dissatifaction among the nobles. She also made an effort to further the organization of the military. Notably intrigued by baroque style architecture, Sophia held responsibility for the promotion of the foreign district, and the creation of the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy, the first Russian higher learning institution. The most important highlights of her foreign policy, as engineered by Galitzine, were the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686 with Poland, the 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk with China, and the Crimean campaigns against Turkey. Although spearheaded by Prince Galitzine, Sophia’s reign oversaw two of the earliest diplomatic treaties and underwent inner growth and progress. Despite her other achievements, Sophia’s influence and effect on a young Peter remains as the most historically significant portion of her reign, as the rebellion of 1682 bred a distrust in nobility that came to define his leadership.

Sophia's Downfall

Of course Sophia Alekseyevna’s regency retained the trappings of a typical regent, and the true tsar was growing into his position every year. At the age of 16, Peter I demanded that Galitzine report to him regarding all matters, and the Naryshkin family prepared for their long awaited ascension to power. In 1688, Peter began to promote within his clan and Sophia remained powerless to the gradual shift in control. During this time period, the regent disregards the young tsar, letting him train his Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky Guards in Preobrazhenskoe. Although some historians claim Sophia made conscious attempts to dull Peter, and remove him from the political world, her involvement remains unclear. Sophia and her party had discussed crowning her as tsarina, and in August of 1687 had tried persuading the Streltsy to petition on her behalf. Denying their aid, Sophia and her supporters found themselves on the decline in 1688, as the Crimean war brought rioting and unrest to Moscow. To worsen the situation, Peter finally marries, readying himself for rule, while Ivan V fathers a girl, eliminating any potential claim to the throne. Tensions between the two factions continues to grow, until Peter I turned 17 years of age, his Naryshkin relatives demanded Sophia to step down. In response, Shaklovityi advised Sophia to proclaim herself tsarina and attempted to induce the Streltsy to a new uprising. Most of the Streltsy units, however, deserted downtown Moscow for the suburb of Preobrazhenskoye and later for the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, where the young tsar was living. Feeling the power slipping from her hands, Sophia sent the boyars and the Patriarch to Peter, asking him to join her in the Kremlin. He flatly refused her overtures, demanding Shaklovityi's execution and Galitzine's exile.

After Sophia agreed to surrender her senior boyars, she was arrested and forced to withdraw into the Novodevichy Convent without formally taking the veil. Sophia may have plotted one last attempt at securing power, although her involvement is unclear. Regardless of her conscious effort, Her fate was sealed ten years later, when the Streltsy attempted to reinstate her in the Kremlin during Peter's absence from the country. This uprising was suppressed with an iron hand, and soon the corpses of the rebels were suspended in front of Sophia's windows. Having taken the veil, she was kept in the strictest seclusion, with other nuns not allowed to see her except on Easter day. She died in the Novodevichy Convent 6 years later.

Sophia Alekseyevna in the media

She was fictionally portrayed in Chinese novelist Jin Yong's novel The Deer and the Cauldron in which the young protagonist Wei Xiaobao went to Russia and helped her lead the coup against her half-brother Peter I. It was suggested that this event led to the peace between the Qing Empire and Russia in the Nerchinsk Treaty.

Vanessa Redgrave portrayed the character of Sophia Alekseyevna in the 1986 Peter the Great miniseries. Her performance received an Emmy award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries.

Further reading

• Hughes, Lindsey. Sophia, Regent of Russia: 1657–1704. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press, 1990 (hardcover, ISBN 0-300-04790-8).