Fyodor Romodanovsky
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. He was the country's first head of secret police
Secret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
.
An influential boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
from the Romodanovsky family, Prince Fyodor was given the post of the head of the Preobrazhenskoye prikaz
Prikaz
Prikaz was an administrative or judicial office in Muscovy and Russia of 15th-18th centuries. The term is usually translated as "ministry", "office" or "department". In modern Russian "prikaz" means administrative or military order...
in 1686. His integrity and resolution won him the admiration of young Tsar Peter
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
, who made him Generalissimo
Generalissimo
Generalissimo and Generalissimus are military ranks of the highest degree, superior to Field Marshal and other five-star ranks.-Usage:...
of his toy army
Toy army of Peter I
The toy army of Peter I was initially called hi kiel evans and was a collection of young Peter's playmates, noblemens' sons and attendants of his father Aleksei's court....
.
Romodanovsky was the one to whom Peter entrusted governing the country during his frequent absence from the capital between 1695 and 1699. When the Streltsy Uprising
Streltsy Uprising
The Streltsy Uprising of 1698 was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments. Some Russian historians believe that the Streltsy uprising was a reactionary rebellion against progressive innovations of Peter the Great...
erupted in Peter's absence, it was Romodanovsky who ruthlessly suppressed it. For his vital services to the crown Peter had him jocundly styled "His Caesarean
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
Majesty" (кесарское величество) and "Prince Caesar" (князь-кесарь). Romodanovsky also had the right to keep his own court at Ropsha
Ropsha
Ropsha is a settlement in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated about 20 km south of Peterhof and 49 km south-west of central Saint Petersburg, at an elevation of 80 metres to 130 metres above sea level.-History:...
and to promote officers. The Tsar addressed him in German as "Min Herr Koenig" ("My Lord King") and signed his own letters "Your Majesty's humblest servant Piter".
Until his death (September 17, 1717), Romodanovsky remained in charge of the secret police, the Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
n prikaz, and the Apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
; basically he was the second most powerful man (and the most feared man) in Russia till his death. Only after his death he was described as a "monstrum by the appearance, vicious tyrant by the character" by Klyuchevsky
Vasily Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky dominated Russian historiography at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is still regarded as one of three most reputable Russian historians, alongside Nikolay Karamzin and Sergey Solovyov.-Early life:...
.
Most of Peter the Great's biographies tend to overlook the role of Romodanovsky, who was unconditional supporter of Peter and his most feared and very effective official. While other Peter's adherents built and fought, Romodanovsky ensured, with an iron hand, that there was no opposition.
See also
- Preobrazhensky RegimentPreobrazhensky regimentThe Preobrazhensky Regiment was one of the oldest and elite regiments of the Russian army. Along with the Semenovsky regiment also served as a gendarmie unit for the state Secret Chancellery in the 18th century, headed by the Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky.It was formed by Peter the Great in the late...