Alexis (1629–1676) was the
tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death. Born in
Moscow on 29 March 1629, the son of
Tsar Michael and
Eudoxia Streshneva, the sixteen-year-old Alexis acceded to the throne after his father's death.
Boris Morozov, a shrewd
boyar open to Western ideas, took charge of Russia in the early years of Alexis's reign, but was exiled from Moscow following
a popular uprising. Alexis responded to the uprising with
a new legal code. His reign saw wars
with Poland and
with Sweden,
a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, and the major Cossack revolt of
Stenka Razin. Alexis was married twice and had sixteen children, including tsars
Fyodor III;
Ivan V;
Peter the Great; and
Sofia, who ruled as regent for her brothers from 1682 to 1689.
This oil painting, made by an unknown artist in the 1670s, is now located in a museum in Ptuj, Slovenia.Painting: Unknown