Ivan V

Timeline

1. 1666–1682Moscow · MoscowBorn in Moscow, he was the younger son of Tsar Alexis and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya, sharing the same mother as Sophia and Feodor III. Contemporaries widely described his eyesight and mind as weak. His brother Feodor acceded in 1676; Feodor died childless in April 1682, and a court dispute over whether Ivan or Peter should succeed became the trigger for the Streltsy uprising.
2. 1682–1689Moscow Kremlin · MoscowOn June 25, 1682, he was crowned simultaneously with ten-year-old Peter in the Cathedral of the Dormition, a special double throne being made to signify their joint rule. Ivan was recognized as the senior tsar, providing the legal basis for Sophia's regency. Sophia treated him with great ceremonial respect but did not consult him on major decisions. He married Praskovia around 1684, living sequestered in the palace and spending his days in fasting and prayer.
3. 1689–1696Moscow · MoscowAfter Sophia's coup failed in 1689 and she was confined, real power passed to Peter and the Naryshkin faction. Ivan did not interfere in government, continuing to live in the palace with his wife and daughters. Foreign envoys described his later years as nearly paralyzed and almost blind. He died in February 1696 and was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel. With no male heir, Peter became sole tsar and was free to launch the Azov campaigns and subsequent westernizing reforms.