Family of Alexei, the Mild Tzar, father of Peter the Great

[cimbrio]

Thank you both for your answers. I'm afraid my sources said 1699, easily explained by a typo of 1669... Have you any idea if Maria Miloslavskaya's last child, Yevdokia, died straight away? I'd like to know the dates of christening of these early Romanovs, but perhaps there are no records that survive which account these dates... My sources say that Maria Miloslavakaya's last child was named Yevdokia, but according to the same sources her first daughter (1650-1712) was also named the same. Is this another typo? I've seen so many different transliterations of these early Romanov names that one loses track.

Cimbrio

[ilyala]

my sources also mention two evdokias, one born in 1650 and one in 1669, the second one being the one at who's birth maria miloslavskaia died. as far as i remember, she didn't survive. the fact that she had the same name as an older sister suggests the fact that that one didn't survive either. i think it's highly unlikely that alexei would have named two of his daughters the same while both alive

[Macedonsky]

my sources also mention two evdokias, one born in 1650 and one in 1669

First:
born February 17, 1650
died May 10, 1712
buried in Virgin of Smolensk Cathedral of New Maiden Convent (http://mymoscow4you.narod.ru/4.htm)

Second:
born February 26, 1669
died February 28, 1669
buried February 28, 1669 in Ascension Cathedral

[Macedonsky]

What became of Peter "the Great"'s sister Natalya (1674-1716)?

You can read short bio at http://pushkareva.narod.ru/zr/11natalia.htm or http://www.rulex.ru/01140010.htm

Founder of the Russian theatre, she died at St.Petersburg. Her body waiting Peter's return from abroad more than a year, and five years later was re-buried:

[bell_the_cat]

It seems to be that the daughters of Tsars Michael and Alexei were not expected to marry but live their lives in the women's quarters of the palace. It was called the "Terem" I think, but I might be wrong!

They couldn't marry the Tsars subjects and couldn't marry non-Orthodox royalty so that was it.

The first princesses to marry German princelings were Peter the Great's nieces Catherine and Anna in about 1710-11. Catherine married the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Anna, the Duke of Courland.

[LisaDavidson]

It seems to be that the daughters of Tsars Michael and Alexei were not expected to marry but live their lives in the women's quarters of the palace. It was called the "Terem" I think, but I might be wrong!

They couldn't marry the Tsars subjects and couldn't marry non-Orthodox royalty so that was it.

The first princesses to marry German princelings were Peter the Great's nieces Catherine and Anna in about 1710-11. Catherine married the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Anna, the Duke of Courland.

Terem is the correct term. The thought was that the daughters could not marry subjects, could not marry non-Orthodox, and therefore could not marry at all.

Peter the Great changed this, which is why his descendants began marrying into other royal houses.

[David_Pritchard]

Terem is the correct term. The thought was that the daughters could not marry subjects, could not marry non-Orthodox, and therefore could not marry at all.

Just five years prior to the Great Schism of 1054, there is one example of a Rurikid princess of the Byzantine Rite marrying a foreign prince of the Roman Rite. Princess Anna Yaroslavna, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of the Kievan Rus, married King Henri I of France on 4 August 1049 in Rheims. Queen Anna went on to be Regent of France during the minority of her son King Phillip I.

David

[Macedonsky]

They thought was that the daughters could not marry subjects, could not marry non-Orthodox, and therefore could not marry at all.

AFAIK, the last such marriage was that of Maria Vladimirovna (daughter of John the Terrible first cousin) to Magnus, King of Livonia, in 1573.

There were also negotiations about Tsar Boris and Tsar Michael's daughters. Thus Peter the Great was not the first in this matter.

[Marc]

[Marc]

Maria Miloslavskaya...

[Marc]

[Marc]

Natalia Narishkina...

[Romanov_fan]

It seems that Natalya, Peter the Great's sister, was a bit more modern than her half sisters. I think she dressed in a Western way, and acted less Muscovite if I remember correctly. She never married a foreign Prince, but she had a better than average life in Russia. I don't think she was so much of those Terem Princesses. I have seen a portrait of her, and she greatly resembles her mother, and brother, but she was rather plump, and not that pretty.

[ilyala]

peter's mother was also a very modern woman. natalia narishkina grew up in the house of artamon matveiev, a boyar that was married to a scottish woman, therefor more open to the modern ideas. unlike other boyar houses, the woman were not locked away, they took part in every event of the house. the tsar alexei was a friend of matveiev, and that's how he met natalia.

i believe that was a strong influence on peter and his strong desire to westernize russia.

[Romanov_fan]

I agree there. And it's true about Natalya, Peter the Great's mother. She was a more modern consort, and had it not been for the example of his mother, Peter might not have thought about westernizing Russia, although he certainly would have been a driving force in one way or another.