Boris Ivanovich Morozov (russian: Борис Иванович Морозов; 1590 – 1661) was a Russian statesman and boyar who led the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n government during the early reign of

Tsar Alexis Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

. Morozov came from a long noble line, yet was poor before his appointments. In 1634, when Tsarevich Alexis was five years old, Morozov was appointed as his tutor. This began Morozov's influence on the Russian court and affairs.Montefiore, p. 96 On 17 January 1648, Morozov procured the marriage of the tsar with

Maria Miloslavskaya Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (, 1 April 1624 – 18 August 1669) was a Russian tsaritsa as the first spouse of tsar Alexis of Russia. She was the mother of tsar Feodor III of Russia, tsar Ivan V of Russia, and the princess regent Sophia Alekse ...

, himself marrying her sister, Anna, ten days later, both daughters of

Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky (russian: Илья Данилович Милославский) (1594–1668) was a Russian boyar and diplomat. Biography Ilya Miloslavsky was brought forward by the head of the Posolsky Prikaz Ivan Gramotin, who had ...

. During his long career at the Kremlin court, Morozov supervised a number of government departments (called

prikaz A prikaz (russian: прика́з, ''prikaz''; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in Muscovy and in Russia from the 15th to the 1 ...

y) – Grand

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

, Streltsy, Pharmacy, and

Payroll A payroll is the list of employees of some company that is entitled to receive payments as well as other work benefits and the amounts that each should receive. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time worked or tasks pe ...

. Aspiring to increase the

treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or i ...

’s

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...

, Morozov reduced salaries of state employees and introduced a high indirect

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

. These measures caused the Salt Riot of 1648. The rebels demanded Morozov's handover, but the

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

hid him in his palace and then sent him in a fictitious exile into the

Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (russian: Кирилло-Белозерский монастырь), translated into English as White Lake ranslation of the town name of BeloozeroSt. Cyril's Monastery, used to be the largest monastery and the stron ...

. After four months, however, Morozov returned to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In 1649, Morozov took an active part in preparing the

Sobornoye Ulozheniye The Sobornoe Ulozhenie ( rus, Соборное уложение, p=sɐˈbornəjə ʊlɐˈʐɛnʲɪjə, t=Council Code) was a legal code promulgated in 1649 by the Zemsky Sobor under Alexis of Russia as a replacement for the Sudebnik of 1550 intr ...

, a legal code which would survive well into the 19th century. In the early 1650s, while maintaining a low profile, he was still in charge of the

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula K Al2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavag ...

government. He owned 55,000 peasants and a number of

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

distilleries Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heat ...

, and

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

that produced

iron Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...

, bricks, and

. His sister-in-law, Boyarynya Morozova, was involved in the

Old Believer Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow be ...

movement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morozov, Boris Tsardom of Russia people 1590 births 1661 deaths