CHAPTER 1
May 30th 1672
Moscow, Empire of Russia
“A Prince is Born”
Written By Tsarevna Maria Alekseevna Romanova
“Wake up Maria” Governess Darya Petrova shouts as she rushes into the Tsarevna’s room on the third floor of the Imperial Palace in the Kremlin Moscow. The time is shortly after 3am.
“Huh what? It’s still dark” A very groggy Tsarevna Maria replies.
“Hurry and get dressed a great thing has happened. A new prince was born this morning!” Darya Petrova is still shouting excitedly.
“Mama had a baby? A boy?” The Tsarevna is now awake and rises from her bed.
“Yes, Yes! A Prince, and quite healthy too. Hurry now your Father has called all the children downstairs” Darya now lays out a traditional Russian girl’s dress. Primarily red with gold lace and the Muscovite crest emblazoned on the sleeve.
The Tsarevna quickly dresses and heads down stairs. The Palace is warm this morning, the heating has been on for some time. The Tsarevna enters her Fathers room on the lowest level.
“Maria! It’s wonderful! A baby boy, you have a new brother” His Majesty Tsar Alexis I, supreme autocrat of all the Russians standing at an impressive 6ft and sporting a large thick bushy beard runs towards his 12-year-old daughter and wraps here in his powerful arms and kisses her cheek.
“Papa you’re hurting me!” Maria squeals, she can feel her father’s excitement.
“Come lets go see” The Tsar takes the little girl by the hand and walks into the bedroom of the Tsaritsa Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. Natalya is Maria’s step mother her own mother having died several years before.
The Tsar and his daughter enter the Tsaritsa’s bedroom. She is laying there cradling a large healthy infant in her arms. A Priest is standing next to the bed writing on a sheet of paper, he is recording measurements of the infant so that an icon of St. Peter can be made for the baby. (Following the Russian tradition of measuring a new prince when he is born by using an icon of their namesake saint of the exact same size.)
“Come here Maria, come and see” Natlaya beckons her favorite stepdaughter over.
Maria walks over to her mother’s side and looks down at the baby. She looks into his partially open eyes and for just a second he focuses on her. She sees in them something she at her young age could not identify but later when they are both grown up she will remember that look of almost insane drive and genius she saw in her brother’s eyes. A look that all of Russia would know on the face of their Emperor.
‘He’s cute” Maria says and giggles. The family talks for a while in the bedroom and the Tsar goes off to arrange celebrations.
A few hours later Maria is practicing her sewing with her Governess. When all of a sudden every single bell almost 1600 start to ring all at once. Maria jumps at the sudden booming sound.
“For the baby I imagine, the bells of Moscow will ring for three days without rest now” Darya says
“Wow, it sounds so nice” Maria says and listens to the ringing of the bells.
Later that night at a celebration held for the new Tsarevich...
The Star is there with the Tsaritsa's who seems tired but well, she holds the baby in her arms, he is wrapped in a blanket of the finest wool imported from east. The Tsarevich’s Fedor and Ivan are present. As well as the 8 Tsarevna's and other nobles and the Patriarch Joachim.
The Tsar clears his throat loudly “Gentlemen, I know its not tradition to announce a babies name before a proper Christening but I can’t wait”. Alexis takes the baby from his wife.
“I will name him Peter (Pyotr). He is Tsarevich Peter and he is my son” Alexis smiles broadly and hands the baby back to his wife. Natalya smiles and bids everyone goodnight and retires upstairs with the noble women and the Tsarevna’s.
Upstairs in the Terem (The upper levels of a Russian household where the women were kept isolated from the male guests.) There are tables set up along the wall covered in the most fantastic sweets that young Maria has ever seen.
Grabbing the hand of her young blind and retarded brother Ivan, Maria head over to the item on the tables that caught her eye. A huge model of the Kremlin with little people moving in and out of the grounds all made of candy!
“Look at that!” She exclaims. Her older brother Fedor (Tsar Fedor II) is standing nearby.
“Made of spun sugar, it took the cook all day!” He breaks off a piece of the Candy Ivan Bell Tower and hands it to his sister. She breaks part of the spire off and gives it to the 3 year ld Ivan, who doesn’t know what to do with it.
Fedor looks at Maria sadly and bends down to help Ivan put the candy in his mouth. Ivan is a very sick little boy and so is Fedor, Maria and her other sisters on the other hand are very healthy.
The party goes for several hours, Mara and her sisters eat lots of candy and end up feeling quite sick. All of them have a great time except for Sophia who sits in a corner and glares at her stepmother. Natalya and Sophia have never liked each other. The Tsarevna’s are sent off to bed...
Maria gets up after a while and heads to her mother’s room. She hears voices through the door.
“I am worried about Ivan, he is not getting better and Fedor is so weak I always worry that he will catch cold” Natalya says.
“I know, pray to God that Peter will be healthy, otherwise things could get nasty after I die” Alexis replies.
“Don’t talk like that!” Natlaya reproaches her husband.
“It’s the reality my dear, I will die someday and I must make a decision about succession. I will name Fedor as my heir for now, later when peter is older and is healthily by the Grace of God I can always change my mind and name him” Alexis says.
‘Yes of course” Natalya replies. Mariah heads back to her room a little concerned that her father whom she loves very dearly is talking about death. She drifts off to sleep and dreams about her little brother Peter, in her dream he becomes a great Emperor and wins lots of battles for Russia.
Peter was born on the 30th of May 1672 at 1am. His mother was Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina and his father was Tsar Alexis I. He was sized 19.5 inches and was of a healthy weight. He was Christened a week later in Moscow and his brother Fedor was his Godfather.
On February 8th 1676 tsar Alexis died and Peter was only 4 years old. 15 year old Fedor was crowned Tsar Fedor II. Fedor died in 1682 without an heir. 16 year old Ivan was next in line but the Patriarch decided that Ivan who was seriously ill should not be Tsar. So 10 year old Peter become Tsar Pyotr I, Tsar of all the Russians.
This was not to last long as the Tsarevna Sophia had other ideas on who should be Tsar...
Find out what happened in the next Chapter to be posted next week.
