11 June 2013 will mark the 400th anniversary of the enthronement
of MikhailFyodorovich, the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty.
The election of Mikhail as tsar by the Zemsky Sobor put an end
to the Smuta, an era of great political instability. During the
following three centuries, the Romanov dynasty did much to make
Russia the world’s largest country… strong, united, and
influential in the world politics. In 1598, the Rurikid dynasty,
which ruled Russia for more than 700 years, died out. The next
15 years were a period of political instability. Within this
rather short period, many rulers sat on the Russian throne.
Finally, in 1613, Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov ascended it. In
fact, few people expected Mikhail to become tsar. The two main
pretenders for the throne were from the boyar families of the
Godunovs and the Shuyskys. Neither of them looked upon Mikhail
Romanov, the 16-year-old son of the First Hierarch of the
Patriarchate of Moscow and all the Russias, Patriarch Philaret
Nikitich Romanov as a serious