maria died in 1669, giving birth to her 13th child. the heir to the throne, tsarevich Alexei died before he was 16. none of the remaining surviving sons of tsar Alexei was strong physically, which was a pretty good justification for Alexei to marry again. he chose Natalia Narishkina, who was the pupil of Alexei's colse friend Mateyev. Samuel Collins describes her as 'tolerably beautiful' but most of the other accounts are more flattering. the marriage took place in 1671 and was not looked upon very well by the family of the former tsarina, the Miloslavskis. the fact that soon after that Natalia gave birth to a healthy son (Peter) intensified their hatered. a lot of the later conflict between Sophia and Peter can find its roots in that period.
i don't have much data about the two wives of tsar Alexei. Maria was the daughter of prince Ilia Miloskalvski, who was at first one of the tsar's councilors. the Miloslavski family was suspected of corruption and abuse of influence on the tsar, and that was partly responsible for the Salt Rebellion in 1648.
Natalia Narishkina, was at first the regent of Russia, since Peter was 10 when he was first crowned. but the older children's family, the Miloslavskis encouraged a rebellion, which led to the joint coronation of Peter and his older half-brother Ivan V. at that point Sophia, their sister, was named regent. Natalie came in power again after Sophia's forced retirement to the convent. she and her friends pretty much controlled the government until her death in 1694.
i'm afraid that's all i can tell you right now.
