Peter I of Russia
Overview
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
. All other dates in this article are New Style
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar, also known as the Western calendar, or Christian calendar, is the internationally accepted civil calendar. It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, after whom the calendar was named, by a decree signed on 24 February 1582, a papal bull known by its opening words Inter...
. ruled the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
and later the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V
Ivan V of Russia
Ivan V Alekseyevich Romanov was a joint Tsar of Russia who co-reigned between 1682 and 1696. He was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya. His reign was only formal, since he had serious physical and mental disabilities...
. He carried out a policy of modernization and expansion that transformed the Tsardom into a 5000000 square miles (12,949,940.6 km²) Empire, and a major European power.
From an early age, Peter's education (commissioned by Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors, most notably Nikita Zotov
Nikita Zotov
Count Nikita Moiseevich Zotov was a childhood tutor and life-long friend of Russian Tsar Peter the Great. Historians disagree on the quality of Zotov's tutoring. Robert K...
, Patrick Gordon
Patrick Gordon
Patrick Leopold Gordon was general of the Imperial Russian army, of Scottish origin. He was descended from a Scottish family of Aberdeenshire, holders of the small estate of Auchleuchries, the family were connected with the house of Haddo.- Life :He was raised and remained a lifelong Catholic, at...
, and Paul Menesius
Paul Menesius
Paul Menesius was a Scottish soldier and diplomat, who spent most of his life in the service of the Russian Tsar Alexei.-Life:...
.
Discussions
Timeline
1698 In an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry.
1703 Tsar Peter the Great founds the city of Saint Petersburg.
1708 Peter the Great defeats the Swedes at the Battle of Lesnaya.
1718 Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
1724 The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.