Crowning and coronation

Crowning of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1547
Page from the Illustrated Chronicle.
Miniature of the XVIth century
Crowning of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in 1547
Page from the Illustrated Chronicle.
Miniature of the XVIth century
Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich on a throne
Murals on the southern wall of the Faceted Chamber. Fragment.
1881-1882
Anointing with Holy Chrism of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich
Miniature from the "Book about election for the most high throne of great Sovereign, Tsar and Great Prince Michael Fyodorovich". Fragment.
Moscow, 1672-1673
Feast in the Faceted Chamber
Lithograph, 1856.
Miniature from the "Book about election for the most high throne of great Sovereign, Tsar and Great Prince Michael Fyodorovich". Fragment.
Moscow, 1672-1673
Coronation of Empress Catherine I
Decorative dish.
Moscow, second half of the XVIIIth century

The Crowning ceremonial in Russia followed the Byzantine pattern. A Metropolitan, and later a Patriarch, the head of the Orthodox Church, was the person to crown a Tsar. The ceremonial was held in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In the very center of the cathedral there stood the royal throne on a pretty high stepped base. The Metropolitan's chair was near. Close to the base there were benches for hierarchs. The royal regalia were brought into the cathedral and placed on the altar stand, covered with precious fabrics.

The first crowning ceremonial took place in 1547. Great Moscow Prince Ivan IV became the first Tsar of Russia. In the Assumption Cathedral, Metropolitan Makary set a cross, golden chain, barmas (shoulder collar) and the Crown of Monomakh, the inheritable Crown of Russian Rulers, on Ivan IV. The rite of chrismation gave a sacral turn to the crowning.

In the XVIth century, the ceremonial changed as the prestige of royal power grew. So, Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, son of Ivan the Terrible, besides the cross, the golden chain, barmas and the Crown got a sceptre. The regalia complex was completed while the crowning of Tsar Boris Godunov as he accepted an orb from the Head of the Church.

By 1613, when Michael Romanov, the first Tsar of the Romanov Dynasty was crowned, the regalia set included a cross, a golden chain, barmas, the Crown of Monomakh, sceptre and orb. Russian rulers were crowned in accordance to the tradition of the XVIIth century. The last crowning for reigning was held in 1682, when children Ivan and Peter Alekseevich became co-regents.

Crowning ceremopnials were really gorgeous. In the Assumption Cathedral there were not only hierarchs but the most noble boyars as well. the ceremony was accompanied by a magnificent feast in the Faceted Chamber. For three days the Kremlin and Moscow bells kept ringing. All the people were treated and fed. There proclaimed amnesty.

Under Peter the Great, Russia was proclaimed to be Empire. The crowning ceremonial was replaced by coronation, inauguration of an emperor. The capital of Russia was officially transferred to Saint-Petersburg. However. the coronation ceremonial still tokk place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The first person to be coronated to the Russian imperial throne was Empress Catherine I, wife of Peter I. The last coronation in Russia, that of Emperor Nicholas II, was held in 1896.