1913 Year.Tercentary.Portraits,photos,celebrations,daily routine

I am intrigued by the Tercentary because I've never heard of another royal dynasty which has celebrated its own accession to the throne like this. I mean, most new dynasties try to stress the continuiation with the former dynasty and thus their legitimacy. Therefore I am puzzled by the Romanovs putting the spotlight on the very fact that Mikhail Romanov was the great-nephew of Ivan the Terrible's first wife and not a Rurikid nor a direct descendant of Alexander Nevsky.

For example I am quite sure that William the Conqueror would not be amused if you suggested that 1066 should be celebrated as the dawn of a new era and the accession of the Rollonids, like we interepret it today. He propagated it as his rightful claiming of his inheritance, as first cousin once removed and designated heir of Edward the Confessor. The accession of William, Prince of Orange, to the British throne as William III, was indeed hailed as a Glorious Revolution and thus a definite break, but of course William himself presented himself as the lawful Protestant heir. The same with the Hanoverians. In these cases religion (and constitutional politics) played a role that you don't find in the Romanov case.

The only comparable examples of the Romanov case must be some German dynasties, like the Hohenzollerns, Habsburgs, Wettins and Wittelsbachs, whose accessions way back in the early Middle Ages were synonymous with the very foundation of the states of Brandenburg-Prussia, Austria, Saxony and Bavaria and as such could be celebrated in the historicizing 19th century. E.g. the Hohenzollern Jubilee in 1915, the Quincentary of the accession of the first Hohenzollern Elector of Brandenburg (1415).

But Russia was there well before the Romanovs entered the scene. I think this "dynastical consciousness" for no explicit religious or political reasons, just for the sake of it, marks the Romanovs as somewhat unique among royalty. Add to this their inofficial use of Romanov as a surname, the official use of the derivation Prince Romanovsky and the use of the family arms (which unlike most other dynastical arms were not territorial!) in the new arms for junior and distant members etc.

That they "dared" to put the spotlight on their own legitimacy like this could of course be interpreted that they were extremely sure of their position, that the mere thought of questioning it didn't even occur to people. But then they did put the spotlight on the first Romanov being elected by a (boyar) duma (and not by the Grace of God), just at the time when they were struggling to uphold autocracy against the new duma. It really is intriguing....

I've been wondering - 1913 was, of course, the 300 year rule of the Romanovs. I know that Nicholas and Alexandra did many things that year, including going to the Winter Palace, having a tour/cruise/boat ride/other (not sure which word to use ) and many other things, but were the family always with them? And does anybody have the order of the things that they did that year, or the dates? Any feedback is appriciated!

You should buy 1) the diary of Olga Nicholaevna for that year 2) the Memories of Spiridovitch 3) Diaries of Nicholas II. You will find a complete, day-per-day information.

If you have a lifelong passion (the diaries one) you can maybe see piece together that year.

I tried, but couldn't find much about the Tencentary.
What they did in 1913;
January 2: Nicky went to Mass with Olga A. and OTMA and returned at 12.15 lunched with Xenia and Alix had pain in face and head. Nicky, Olga A. OTMA and Irina walk in the park.

Jan. 3: Alix stays in bed till tea-time. Nicky and OTMA slide down steep bank of narrow pond.

Jan. 4: Nicky and girls lunch together. The Big Pair go to town, Little Pair walk with Nicky. BP return at 7.30.

Jan. 18: At 4pm Rasputin comes to Tsarskoe Selo and stayed for 90 min.

March 5: Nicky and Alix invited to Sissy's wedding via Wilhelm II

April 18: After tea, Rasputin comes to Tsarskoe Selo.

May 8: Anastasia tries to breed worms. *grins*

May 20: 10am Nicky (and family) arrive at landing stage at Kostroma and go to cathedral. Nicky inspects troops and others go inside the cathedral and join holy procession to foundation of memorial of 300th anniversary of rule. Each puts a stone with their names. Alix and children go to the Epiphany convent and Nicky to Governers House. 8pm a big dinner and at 10.30 they set off further up river.

June 6: Nicky and Alix talk to Xenia about Felix and Irena.

July 16: Alexei's elbow starts to hurt from waving his arms out while playing. He could not sleep.

July 17: Rasputin comes to Peterhof around 7 and talks shortly with everyone and leaves. Alexei feels better afterwards, and Nicky spends evening pasting photographs into his albums.

October 8: They played tennis in afternoon at Livadi. Xenia, Sandro, and Irena came for tea and tell them about Irena and Felix and their engagement.

Oct. 9: The officers stayed for lunch. Tennis played. Olga and Tatiana dine with Nicky at Ai-Todor.

Dec. 22: 4pm Te Deum for the engagement, the Big Pair are there.

Dec. 24: Nicky and OTMA go into Tsarskoe Selo to the Anichkov after tea. Then church with Xenia and all the children. Family Xmas tree in the blue drawing room and a noisy meal in AIII's old study. NAOTMAA return home at 10.30.


That is a lot! I only had A Lifelong Passion, so this is all I could leech out of nicky's diary. I paid little attention to Xenia's, because a lot of it had nothing to do with NAOTMAA.

I only had A Lifelong Passion, so this is all I could leech out of nicky's diary. I paid little attention to Xenia's, because a lot of it had nothing to do with NAOTMAA.

Olga's 1913 diary is a better source. LP apparently skips most of the tercentenary.

From Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra," there is just a bit about OTMA's involvement with the family's festivities...

(This is cut to leave the most important sections that are useful in answering your question. The whole chapter is entirely too long for me to type out by hand and I hope this will do. The rest is just bits where Massie goes on tangents about Rasputin and such anyway.)

In February 1913, Nicholas and Alexandra prepared for the tercentenary celebrations by moving with their children from Tsarskoe Selo to the Winter Palace. None of them was fond of the palace...the tiny enclosed garden was much too small for the children to play...The official tercentenary celebration began with a great choral "Te Deum" in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan. On the morning of the service, the Nevsky Prospekt, down which the Imperial carriages would pass, was jammed with excited crowds. Despite lines of soldiers holding the people back, the crowd, cheering wildly, burst the cordons and mobbed the carriage containing the Tsar and the Empress...The days after the service were crowded with ceremonies. From all parts of the Empire, delegations in national dress arrived to be presented to the Tsar. In honor of the sovereign, his wife and all the Romanov Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses, the nobility of St. Petersburg jointly gave a ball attended by thousands of guests...The strain of these activities, coming only four months after Spala, was intense. At receptions in the Winter Palace, the Empress stood for hours in the middle of the enormous crowds jamming the staterooms...Her daughters appeared in shimmering white gowns, wearing the Order of St. Catherine, a scarlet ribbon blazing with diamonds...

In May, the Imperial family set off on a dynastic pilgrimage to trace the route taken by Michael Romanov...Along the way, peasants lined the banks to watch the little flotilla pass; some even plunged into the water to get a closer look. On this trip, Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna remembered, "Wherever we went, we met with manifestations of loyalty bordering on wildness. When our steamer went down the Volga we saw crowds of peasants wading waist-high in the water to catch a glimpse of Nicky. In some of the towns I would see artisans and workmen falling down to kiss his shadow as we passed. Cheers were deafening."

The climax of the tercentenary came in Moscow. On a brilliant blue day in June, Nicholas rode into the city alone, 60 feet in advance of his Cossack escort. In Red Square, he dismounted and walked, behind a line of chanting priests, across the square and through a gate into the Kremlin. Alexandra and Alexis, following in an open car, were also supposed to walk the last few hundred yards. But Alexis was ill. "The Tsarevich was carried along in the arms of a Cossack of the bodyguard," wrote Kokovtsov, "As the procession paused...I clearly heard exclamations of sorrow at the site of this poor helpless child, the heir to the throne of the Romanovs."

HTH.

I'm particularly intrigued with the diary entry for May 20, 1913 in Talya's response re the family at the Kostroma Cathedral placing stones with their names on them in the tercentary memorial.   Am I correct that the following video is that occasion?   Is that memorial still in existence?   I googled Kostroma Cathedral and found no mention of it.   I also did a search in this forum and found no discussion of same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGxxT2UkndY

I wonder whether the video is later than May 1913 (or perhaps pre-Spala), since Alexei is walking normally (and looking pretty active), whereas only in February 1913 he was having to be carried in the Tercentenary processions and wearing a splint on one leg.

Ann

I'm particularly intrigued with the diary entry for May 20, 1913 in Talya's response re the family at the Kostroma Cathedral placing stones with their names on them in the tercentary memorial.   Am I correct that the following video is that occasion? 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGxxT2UkndY

No, this was probably taken in the first half of 1912, prior to the Spala crisis in September. In addition to the clue Aleksei's mobility provides, Olga's hair is up, which means it's later than November 1911. Tatiana's hair is still down, and her hair was cut due to typhoid fever in February or March of 1913, before she began wearing it up.

[Mathematic, art and history in ♥]

It was taken at Borodino celebrations in late August of 1912, I have been taught, but I am not 100% sure.

It was taken at Borodino celebrations in late August of 1912, I have been taught, but I am not 100% sure.

I thinks this could be  avery interesting clue, Nena! As you stated, the battle took place on 7th september for occidental calendar, so 27th august for orthodox calendar.
Thansk for your help! i wasn't thinking about the centenary of Borodino.

Was looking at The Court of the Last Tsar by King, and found this;

The highlight of the visit came on May 20, when the entire imperial family attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Romanov Dynasty Memorial. Designed by the architect A. I. Adamson, the memorial would include depictions of sixteen of the eighteen Romanov sovereigns, including a statue of Nicholas II-- the first such representation of a living monarch ever to be raised in Russia. The emperor, the empress, and members of the imperial family attended a Te Deum in the Assumption Cathedral that beautiful early-summer day, the blue sky stretching for miles into the distance of that great Russian plain. "Their Majesties," recalled Dzhunkovsky, "were accompanied to the Cathedral by constant shouts of Hurrah!' that drowned the choir." A large white canvas tent, decorated with double headed eagles, had been erected next to the memorial site. Nicholas, Alexandra, Tsesarevich Alexei, the four grand duchhesses, and Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna each laid a foundation stone engraved with his or her name.

The imperial family at the monastery of Tolga, near Iaroslavl, 21 may 1913
See, for example, Olga's diary: "At 5.15 went to the Tolgsky monastery. Very beautiful (AKSH). Mama and Alexei also came. Prayer service, vestry. Came back and had dinner in the middle of the river, a little further.
NA's diary: "Visited the interesting monastery of Tolga, at the left river side of the Volga..."

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v695/clairecher/?action=view&current=0027.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v695/clairecher/?action=view&current=0024.jpg
Sorry for the bad quality: one picture I photograph with my mobil in a book when I was on a bus, another I photograph throug the exhibition window of the monastery!
Here is the actual see of the monastery, with pictures of the miraculous icon the family venerated there.
http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B3%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8B%D1%80%D1%8C