Russian Royalty

This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. The list begins with the semi-legendary prince Rurik of Novgorod, sometime in the mid-9th century, and ends with Nicholas II, who abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918. Two dynasties have ruled Russia: the Rurikids (862–1598) and Romanovs (from 1613).

The vast territory known as Russia covers an area that has been ruled by various polities since the 9th century, including Kievan Rus', the Grand Principality of Vladimir, the Grand Principality of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, and the sovereigns of these polities have used a range of titles. Some of the earliest titles include ''knyaz'' and '' veliky knyaz'', which mean "prince" and "grand prince" respectively, and have sometimes been rendered as "duke" and "grand duke" in Western literature. After the centralized Russian state was formed, this was followed by the title of tsar, meaning "caesar", which was disputed to be the equal of either a king or emperor, and finally the title of emperor.

According to Article 59 of the 1906 Russian constitution, the Russian emperor held several dozen titles, each one representing a region which the monarch governed.

Rurikids (862–1598)

Princes of Novgorod

In traditional historiography, the first Russian monarch is considered to be the semi-legendary Rurik, the first prince of Novgorod.

Grand princes of Kiev

Rurik's successor Oleg moved his capital to Kiev, founding a state denoted in modern historiography as Kievan Rus' () or Ancient Rus' (). Over the next several centuries, the most important titles were grand prince of Kiev and prince of Novgorod, whose holder (often the same person) could claim hegemony.

Feudal period

The gradual disintegration of Kievan Rus' began in the 11th century, after the death of Yaroslav the Wise. The position of the grand prince was weakened by the growing influence of regional clans. In 1097, the Council of Liubech formalized the feudal nature of the lands. The Liubech conference resulted in the creation of a federative structure, with the different principalities within the structure remaining bound to Kiev as the center of the state. This structure allowed for some of the principalities to develop into semi-independent polities, with conflict between the principalities intensifying in the 12th century.

After Mstislav's death in 1132, Kievan Rus' fell into recession and a rapid decline, marking the end of a unified state. The throne of Kiev became an object of struggle between various territorial associations of Rurikid princes in the decades to come, despite Kiev losing almost all of its former glory and power.

In March 1169, a coalition of princes led by the grand prince of Vladimir, Andrey Bogolyubsky, sacked Kiev and forced the ruling prince, Mstislav II, to flee to Volhynia. Andrei appointed his brother, Gleb, as the prince of Kiev, while Andrei himself continued to rule his realm from Vladimir-on-the-Klyazma. Andrei styled himself as the grand prince of Vladimir, although the less important prince in Kiev would still bear the title of grand prince; the last prince to bear the title of grand prince of Kiev was Michael of Chernigov, who died in 1246, while the grand princes of Vladimir retained their title. The other future grand princely titles were derived from the grand princely title of Vladimir.

From that time onwards, Vladimir became one of the most influential principalities. In the south-west, the principality of Galicia-Volhynia began to emerge as a local successor to Kiev. Following the Mongol invasions, three powerful states emerged: the Grand Principality of Vladimir in the north-east, which would evolve into the Grand Principality of Moscow and become the center of the autocratic Russian state; the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia in the south-west, which was later annexed by Poland and Lithuania; and the Novgorod Republic in the north.

Grand princes of Vladimir

By the 12th century, the Grand Principality of Vladimir became the dominant principality in the north-east, adding its name to those of Novgorod and Kiev, culminating with the rule of Alexander Nevsky. In 1169, Andrey I's son sacked the city of Kiev, but Andrey instead stayed in Vladimir and made it his capital, while taking the title of grand prince to claim primacy, leading to political power being shifted to the north-east.

Following the Mongol invasions, the principalities started paying tribute to the Golden Horde (the so-called "Tatar yoke"). Until the 15th century, Russian princes received a ''yarlyk'' from the khan; it was not until about 1480 that the Mongol domination of Russia formally ended.

After the death of Alexander Nevsky, the Grand Principality of Vladimir split into various appanage principalities, with Alexander's youngest son Daniel being the first permanent ruler of Moscow. The territory of Vladimir proper was received by the Horde to one of the appanage princes, who performed the enthronement ceremony in Vladimir, but remained to live and reign in his own principality. By the end of the century, only three cities – Moscow, Tver, and Nizhny Novgorod – still contended for the title of grand prince of Vladimir. The grand princely title occasionally reverted to Tver, but in the end, the Moscow branch of Rurikids established by Daniel successfully claimed the title for themselves exclusively.

Ivan I