book m id c]le o f t h e f o u r t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d w h o f e im m e d i a t e de~
.. ' . fccndants enjoyed the moft canfiderable honours and the
higheft offices under the fovereigns of this country. Feodor
wàs fon of NikitaRomanovitch, great grandfon of Andrew,
and nephew of Anaftafia firft wife of Ivan Vaffilievitch IL
By the will of that monarch he was, in conjunction with two
other-noblemen, appointed to fuperintend the adminiilration
of government under Feodor Ivanovitch, who-was extremely
deficient in his underitanding ; but fupplanted by the arts
of Boris Godunof,. whofe lifter had efpoufedthe young tzar,
he was excluded from all fhare in the direction of affairs
during the whole reign o f that weak prince- When Boris
himfelf was elevated to the throne, the high birth, great
abilities, and popularity, of Feodor Romanof rendered him fo
obnoxious to the new monarch, that he was compelled to
allume the priefthood, and was confined iti a tnonaftery ;
when, according to the Ruffian cuftom, he changed his name
to Philaretes.
1605. Upon the acceffion of the fov-ereign, whom the Ruffians
call the Falfe Demetrius, he was releafed from his confinement;
and appointed to the archbiihoprick ofRoftof; but in this
period of his life he feemed doomed to a fucceffion of imr
prifonments. Soon after the depofition of Vaffili. Shui/ki,,
when a itrong party among the nobles had agreed.to eleit
Ladiflaus, fon of Sigifmond 111- king of Poland', tzar of Ruf-
fi-a, Philaretes was, in 161-o., difpatcbsd at the head of an
embafiy to Sigifmond, in order to fettle the conditions of his
fon’s election. He found the Polilh monarch engaged in the
fiege of Smoleniko ;. and when the. king, demanded, the immediate
ceffion of that town, Philaretes warmly returned,
“ When your fon. has afcended our throne, he will poffefs
“ not only Smoleniko, but all Ruffia 3 and it ill becomes' you
- n - ' < < t 0
« to difmember his territories.” Sigifmond, exafperated at C^ P-
this fpirited reply, and ftill farther inflamed by the remon- »— ,—
ft ranees which Philaretes and the embafladors urged againft
his conduCl towards Ruffia, arrelfed and threw them into
prifon. Philaretes languiihed nine years in the caille of
Marienburgh *, in Pruifia, under a moil rigorous confinement,
during which even many of the common neceflTari.es
were frequently with-held from him. His abfence, however,
did not diminiffi the refpeCt and veneration which the Ruffians
entertained for his charaCler : the whole nation una-
nimoufly conferred the crown upon his fon Michael, a youth
only in the feventeenth year of his age, in hopes that a
peace with Poland would reilore Philaretes to his country,
and render him thé director of that power with which they
had inveiled his fon. This expectation was gratified at the
peace of Viafma, concluded in 17 19, between Ruffia and Poland,
which gave Philaretes to the wifhes of the people.
Immediately upon his arrival at Mofcow he was confecrated
patriarch, and became the real, though not the oftenfible,
fovereign of this country, as the fon may be faid to
have held the reins of government under his abfolute di-
reClion. He was inverted with the adminiilration of affairs ;
his name was frequently aflociated in the public aCls with
that of the tzar t ; he gave audience to embaffadors £■; a'nd
upon many public occafions was permitted to take precedence
of his fon §. His: experience, moderation, and abilities,
rendered him worthy of thefe high honours, and this
unbounded authority ; and the profperity of Michael’s reign
proclaimed the wifdom of his fage monitor. Philaretes died
* Bufching. Hift. Mag. v. II, p. 40$., f Schmid. Ruff, Gef. v. II. p. 13.
$ Bufching. Hill. Mag. v- V II. p.. 329. - - § Oleàriùs, .