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Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyvich) ( 9 June 1672– 8 February 1725 [ 30 May 1672– 28 January 1725 O.S. 1 ]) ruled Russia from 7 May ( 27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. Known as Peter the Great (Пётр I Вели́кий, Pyotr Velikiy), he was at first a joint ruler with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V, who died in 1696. Peter then ruled alone until 1724, whenceforth he ruled jointly with his wife, Catherine I. Peter carried out a policy of " Westernization" and expansion that transformed Russia into a major EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sean power. He abandoned "Tsar" as his primary title in 1721Events Pope Innocent XIII becomes pope Johann Sebastian Bach composes the Brandenburg Concertos April 4 Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister of Britain September 10 Treaty of Nystad is signed, bringing an end to the Great Northern War November and replaced it with "Emperor." Peter was extraordinarily tall at six foot seven inches (2 meters) and a powerful man (although his gangly legs and arms are said to have limited his handsomeness).
1 Early life
Peter, the son of Aleksey IAleksey Mikhailovich Romanov ( March 9, 1629 (O. January 29, 1676 (O. was a Tsar of Russia. The son of Tsar Michael I and Eudoxia Stryeshnevaya, he was a youth at his father's death on July 23, 1645. Acceding to the throne, he was committed to the care of and his second wife, Nataliya Kyrillovna NaryshkinaMother of Peter the Great, Peter I of Russia, born Pyotr Alekseyvich (1672-1725). She was the second wife of Aleksey I of Russia., was born in MoscowMoscow ( Russian: Moskva capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 878. The city's population is rapidly increasing, with 11. 2 million inhabitants counted in 2004. The city is in the federal district called Central Russia (which is. Aleksey I had previously married Maria Miloslavskaya , having five sons and eight daughters by her, although only two of the sons— FeodorFyodor III of Russia (In Russian: III ( June 9, 1661 May 7, 1682) Tsar of all the Russia, son of Alexei I (1629-1676) and Maria Ilinichna Miloslavskaya (1626-1669), reigned from January 29, 1676 to his death. He married, firstly, on July 28, 1680, Agafia and Ivan—were alive when Peter was born. Aleksey I went on to have two further daughters by Nataliya Naryshkina before dying in 1674Events February 19 England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster. A provision of the agreement transfers the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam to England, which renamed it New York May 21 John Sobieski is elected by the nobility to be the King of, to be succeeded by his eldest surviving son, who became Feodor III.
Feodor III's uneventful reign ended within six years; as Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute over the succession between the Naryshkina and Miloslavskaya families broke out. Properly, Ivan was next in the line of succession, but he was an invalid and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the ten-year old Peter to become Tsar, his mother becoming regent. But one of Aleksey's daughters by his first marriage, Sophia Alekseyevna, led a rebellion of the Streltsy (Russia's élite military corps). In the subsequent conflict, many of Peter's relatives and friends were murdered—Peter even witnessed the butchery of one of his uncles by a mob. The memory of this violence may have caused trauma during Peter's later years.
Sophia insisted that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being acclaimed as the senior of the two. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of the two Sovereigns and exercised all power. For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat. Peter, meanwhile, was not particularly concerned that others ruled in his own name. He engaged in such pastimes as ship-building and sailing. The ships he built were used during mock battles. Peter's mother sought to force him to adopt a less unconventional approach and arranged his marriage to Eudoxia Lopukhina in 1689. The marriage was an utter failure, and ten years later Peter forced her to become a nun and thus freed himself from the marriage.
By the summer of 1689, Peter had planned to take power from his half-sister Sophia, whose position had been weakened by the unsuccessful campaigns in The Crimea. When she learnt of his designs, Sophia began to conspire with the leaders of the streltsy. Unfortunately for Sophia, a rival faction of the streltsy had already been plotting against her. She was therefore overthrown, with Peter I and Ivan V continuing to act as co-Tsars.
Still, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Power was instead exercised by his mother, Nataliya Naryshkina. It was only when Nataliya died in 1694 that Peter became truly independent. Formally, Ivan V remained a co-ruler with Peter, although he was still ineffective. Peter became the sole ruler when Ivan died in 1696.
