Romanov

The House of Romanov (????????, pronounced Ro-MAH-nof) was the second and last imperial dynasty of Russia, which ruled Muscovy and the Russian Empire for five generations from 1613 to 1762. From 1762 to 1917 Russia was ruled by a branch of the House of Oldenburg, which retained the Romanov surname.

The era of dynastic crises

Mikhail was succeded by his only son Alexei, who steered the country quietly through numerous troubles. Upon his death, there was a period of dynastic struggles between his children by his first wife (Fyodor III, Sofya Alexeevna, Ivan V) and his son by his second wife, Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, the future Peter the Great. New dynastic struggles followed the death of Peter, who had his only son Alexei executed and never named another heir. The Romanov male line actually expired in 1730, with the death of Peter II on the very day of his projected wedding. The last female Romanovs were his aunts, Empresses Anna Ioannovna (1693-1740) and Yelizaveta Petrovna (1709-1762).

Related Topics:
Alexei - Fyodor III - Sofya Alexeevna - Ivan V - Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina - Peter the Great - Alexei - Peter II - Anna Ioannovna - Yelizaveta Petrovna

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As neither Anna nor Yelizaveta produced a male heir, the succession could devolve either on a Brunswick nephew of Anna (Ivan VI of Russia) or on a Holstein nephew of Yelizaveta (Peter III of Russia), who was also an heir presumptive to the thrones of Sweden and Holstein. Elizabeth naturally favoured her own nephew, although he was sexually impotent and of petulant character. With the accession of Peter III in 1762, begins the new reigning dynasty of Holstein-Gottorp, or Oldenburg-Romanov.

Related Topics:
Brunswick - Ivan VI of Russia - Holstein - Peter III of Russia - Sweden - 1762

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