Peter the Great

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 23. Chapters: Nikita Zotov, Bronze Horseman, Government reform of Peter I, Executions of Cossacks in Lebedin, Church reform of Peter I, The All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters, Cabin of Peter the Great, Andrew Vinius, Toy army of Peter I, Grand Embassy of Peter I, Czar Peter House. Excerpt: Peter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov (Russian: ) (9 June 1672 - 8 February 1725) ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from 7 May 1682 until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V. He carried out a policy of modernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into a 5 million mi (12 milion km) Russian Empire, a major European power. From an early age his unique education (commissioned by Tsar Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors; most notably Nikita Zotov, Patrick Gordon and Paul Menesius. On 29 January 1676, Tsar Alexis died, leaving the sovereignty to Peter's elder half-brother, the weak and sickly Feodor III. Throughout this period, the government was largely run by Artamon Matveev, an enlightened friend of Alexis, the political head of the Naryshkin family and one of Peter's greatest childhood benefactors. This position changed when Feodor died six years later in 1682. As Feodor did not leave any children, a dispute arose between the Naryshkin and Miloslavsky families over who should inherit the throne. Peter's other half-brother, Ivan V, was the next for the throne, but he was chronically ill and of infirm mind. Consequently, the Boyar Duma (a council of Russian nobles) chose the 10-year-old Peter to become Tsar, his mother becoming regent. This arrangement was brought before the people of Moscow, as ancient tradition demanded, where the people ratified it. But one of Alexis' daughters from his first marriage, Sophia Alekseyevna, led a rebellion of the St...