Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky (; 1594–1668) was a Russian

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

Biography

Ilya Miloslavsky was brought forward by the head of the

Posolsky Prikaz A prikaz (; , plural: ) was an administrative, judicial, territorial, or executive bureaucracy , office functioning on behalf of palace, civil, military, or church authorities in the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Tsardom of Russia from the 15th ...

Ivan Gramotin Ivan Tarasyevich Gramotin () (died 1638) was a Russian diplomat and head of the '' Posolsky Prikaz'' (foreign ministry). Ivan Gramotin was known to have been a very smart, well-read and eloquent person. He was one of the prominent figures during ...

, who had been his uncle. Miloslavsky was soon sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

with a message from

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Alexei Mikhailovich Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

, who wanted to establish a cordial relationship with the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

. In 1646, Miloslavsky went to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

with orders to select

gunsmith A gunsmith is a person who repairs, modifies, designs, or builds guns. The occupation differs from an armorer, who usually replaces only worn parts in standard firearms. Gunsmiths do modifications and changes to a firearm that may require a very ...

s for a Russian weapons factory and invite foreign officers and soldiers to serve in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. When Alexei Mikhailovich married his daughter

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, Miloslavsky, as the tsar's father-in-law, began to play a more visible role at the royal court. During the Polish campaigns of 1654–1655, he was appointed court

voyevoda Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

. In 1656–1662, Miloslavsky was in charge of the Streltsy Prikaz,

Treasury Prikaz A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state ...

, Inozemsky Prikaz, and

Reiter Prikaz ''Reiter'' or ''Schwarze Reiter'' ("black riders", anglicized ''swart reiters'') were a type of cavalry in 16th to 17th century Central Europe including Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Tsardom of Russia, and others. Cont ...

. His foreign contemporaries considered him a self-interested and dull-witted individual. According to an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n diplomat

Augustin Meyerberg Augustin may refer to: * Augustin (name), male name, variant of Augustine * Augustin (typography), English or 14-point type * Augustin, Brașov, a commune in Brașov County, Romania * Dacian fortress of Augustin, ruined Dacian fortified town in ...

(author of ''Journey to the Muscovy''), the tsar did not respect Miloslavsky, never called him his father-in-law, and even pulled him by the hair and hit him with his fist on several occasions. Miloslavsky and his family occupied the

Amusement Palace The Amusement Palace () is located at the Kremlin’s western wall. It is situated between the Commandant and Trinity Towers. It was built in 1652 for Ilya Miloslavsky, who was the father-in-law of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the death of Milo ...

in the

Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

until his death in 1668.

References

17th-century Russian nobility 1594 births 1668 deaths 17th-century Russian diplomats {{russia-bio-stub