| Vladimir III Vasiliyevich | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reign | 17 September 1645 - 8 November 1677 |
| Coronation | 9 January 1650 |
| Predecessor | Vasili IV Ivanovich |
| Successor | Fyodor I Vladimirovich |
| Regent | Nikita Ivanovich Romanov (1645-1650) |
| Spouse | Irina Ivanovna Solomeretska (m.1665) |
| Issue | |
| Fyodor I | |
| House | Rurik |
| Father | Vasili IV |
| Mother | Maria Dolgorukova |
| Born | 18 December 1629 |
| Died | 8 November 1677 (aged 48) Moscow, Tsardom of Russia |
| Burial | 5 January 1678 Cathedral of the Archangel, Moscow |
Vladimir III Vasiliyeich (Russian: Владимир III Васильевич; 18 December 1629 – 8 November 1677), known as "the Bookish" was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death. He was the youngest son of Vasiliy IV, but the only child from his second wife, Maria Dolgorukova. In his regin, Russia fought in the Northern War, alongside Poland, winning some territories. He was succeded by his son, Fyodor, and by his wife, Irina.
Early Life[]
Vladimir was born in 1629 to Vasiliy IV and his second wife, Maria Dolgorukova. He had five elder half-siblings: Sophia, Ivan, Olga, Yelena and Nikita, all more than 15 years older than Vladimir. After the death of his eldest son, Ivan, in 1626, Vasili married Maria Dolgorukova, to secure the russian succession, resulting in the birth of Vladimir. His other half-brother, Nikita, was known to be disinterested in rulership and as an preasure-minded prince. Nikita's maternal family, the Romanovs, expected to rule on behalf of the Tsarevich. Seeing that, Vasili provided Vladimir an outstanding education, with some of the most proeminent teachers of the region, trying to make him an good ruler. In 1632, Vladimir recieved the appanage principality of Uglich, previously held by Nikita, who recieved his deceased brothre's seat in Rostov.
Tsarevich[]
In 1635, Tsarevich Nikita engaged himself in a fight, that resulted on his death. 5 year-old Vladimr, as the only remaining son of the Tsar, was now his father's heir. Aged 10, Vladimr was shown to be fluent on Russia, Polish, Lithuanian, Hebrew and Turkish. The young Tsarevich prefered to read in the library than play with oter children, whose violent games scared Vladimir. Foregin ambassadors considered Vladimir to be an promissing and well-learned youth.
Vladimir was deeply devastated by his mother's death, in 1644.
Tsar[]
Regency[]
Tsar Vasili died on 17 September 1645, one year after Maria, and Vladimir became the new Tsar. When his father died, Vladimir was only 15. His father designated boyar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov as Vladimir's regent, but he died before Vasili, and his son, Alexis, was only months elder than Vladimir; so the regency fell to Mikhail's cousin, Nikita Ivanovich Romanov. Nikita's regency marked the end of the Traditionalist and Change factions of Russian court.
In 1648, the growing russian influence in Siberia bothered the Qing Dynasty wich led to the First Russo-Qing War, where siberian cheifdoms chose to allingn either to Russia or to China. The war resulted in russian victory, with an even more territory on the east. Continuing his predecessiors' policies, Vladimir granted autonomy to Siberia, an policy repeated by his successors.
Coronation[]
In 1650, Vladimir came to age, being crowned on 9 January. His coronation was met with a great feast. Nikita, previously regent, was granted the title of Prince by the Tsar, estabilishing the Romanovs as a princely dynasty.
The Northern War[]
Around that period, there was an Cossack uprising in Poland-Lithuania. Their leader, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, sent an envoy to Russia in 1654, seeking an alliance. Tsar Vladimir refused to help Khmelnytsky, because the Cossacks led a massacre of thousands of Jewish people during 1648–1649. The Tsar declared war on the Cossacks, eventually signing an Treaty with Poland, where Russia could annex the Cossack Hetmanate if they helped Poland. Sweden, who had ambitions on Poland, declared war in December 1655, against the Polish-Russian alliance. Sweden quickly conquered most of northern Poland and Russia, because the armies were in the recently defeated Cossack Host. On 1656 they installed an puppet Grand Duchy of Lithuania, under the rule of the Swedish King. In January 1657, when Russian and Polish troops arrived in Swedish occupied Vilnus, they were disastrously defeated by the Swedish army, retreating to the city of Brest.
Polish ambassators eventually convinced Denmark-Norway to join the war of their side, but the swedish continued to conquer more territory in Poland, eventually reaching the city of Ponzán, on 1659. The Habsburg Empire, who had ties with Poland, officialy joined the war on 1660. The first major Polaco-Russian victory was on the Second battle of Vilnus, which marked the beggining of Swedish retreat. In the west, the Habsaburgs won the battle of Ponzán, becoming closer to the port of Gdynia. In Russian territory, the swedish retreat began with the battle of Pskov, on late 1661. From 1662, the Polaco-Russian alliance started to win many consecutive battles, eventually reconquering their territory This was the end of the Defensive War. The Swedish Grand Diuchy of Lithuania was dissolved on January 1663
In November 1663, Russian and Polish Armies sieged the important city of Riga, while the Russians started to enter finland on the east. Denmark-Norway also conquered Skane and Swedish Norway, putting Sweden in a difficult situation. In June 1664, Sweden had lost all their Baltic lands, and they eventually agreed to sign an Peace Treaty.
The Peace of Vilnus granted Russia most of the lands once held by the Cossacks, including the city of Kiev, and some lands nearly Finland, including would-be-city St. Petersburg. Poland also won Courland and southern Livonia.
Marrige to Irina[]
After the war that, which perdured for a long part of Vladimir 's regin, the boyars pressured Fyodor to marry. An bride show was organized, and the Tsar eventually chose Princess Irina Solomeretska, who was from a prestigious princely family, aside from being an descendant of 15th Century pretender Dimitri Shemkaya. The marrige was not a happy one, as Vladimir preferred to stay with his scholar compainons than with his wife. Despite that, they had a child, named Fyodor, born on 1674, who became Tsarevich from birth. The birth of Fyodor amenized the relatinship between Vladimir and his wife. He trusted the education of his son to scholar Simeon of Polotsk.
The Pauline Wars[]
In the 1670s, a young man, Pavel Rostovsky-Romanovsky, who was the illegitimate son of Tsarevich Nikita, started to claim the Russian throne, saying that Nikita annuled his marrige with Xenia Golitsyn and married his mother, thus legitimizing him. Pavel was backed mostly by young militaries and Vladimr's opposers. In 1672, Pavel declared war against Vladimir, crowning himself "Tsar" in the city of Rostov. The armies of Vladimir defeated Paul in 24 October 1672, but he had already left Rostov, starting another uprising in Ryazan. Paul's second revolt was more successiful, with him eventually capturing Uglich in 1674, but he was defeated in January 1675, fleeing to Sweden. Vladimir didn't punish the people of Paul's cities, only revoked the titles of militaries and nobles who supported Paul.
Death[]
Vladimir died in 8 November 1677, leaving the throne to his 3 year old son, with Simeon of Polotsk as regent, but the russian boyars decided to put Irina as co-monarch and regent to Fyodor, ignoring Vladimir's wishes.
He was buried alongside his ancestors, on the Cathedral of the Archangel.