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Tsar

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Tsar (Russian царь, from Latin Caesar, cognate with German Kaiser; also spelt Czar in English borrowed from Hungarian) was the title used for the rulers of Russia from 1546 to 1917 (the Imperial Russia). It was adopted by Ivan IV as symbolic of a change in the nature of the Russian monarchy. In 1721 Peter I adopted the title Emperor (Imperator), by which he and his heirs were recognised, and which came to be used interchangeably with Tsar. The full title of late Russian tsars was as follows:

Often the word tsar is translated with emperor and reversely, in Slavic languages, emperor was oftenly translated with tsar (e.g. the Japanese emperor (mikado) was translated as "Japanese tsar").

Territory over which a tsar rules is tsardom.

The Patriarchs, heads of the Russian Orthodox Church, acted as leaders of Russia at times, as during the Polish occupation and interregnum of 1610 - 1613.

Etymology and spelling

The word tsar is from the Latin "Caesar" by way of the 11th century Russian tsisari (later tsari), from Old Slavonic tsesari. Probably the word was loaned via Gothic Káisar.

The spelling tsar is the closest possible transliteration of the Russian using standard English spelling. Both czar and tsar have been accepted in English for the last century as a correct usage. French adopted the form tsar during the 19th century, and it became more frequent in English towards the end of that century, following its adoption by the Times newspaper in Britain. (see the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition).

The spelling czar originated with the Austrian diplomat Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, whose Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii (1549) (literally Notes on Muscovite Affairs) was the main source of knowledge of Russia in early modern western Europe. It is not found in any of the Slavic languages, but is the primary spelling adopted by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition, 2003), with tsar offered only as a variant.

Correct pronunciation of tsar is /tsar'/ in SAMPA though many if not most English-speaking people pronounce it /zAr/.

Titles for Tsar's family

Tsaritsa is the term used for an empress, though in English contexts this seems invariably to be altered to tsarina. Tsaritsa could be either a ruler herself or a wife of tsar.

Tsesarevich is the term for a male heir apparent, the full title was Heir Tsesarevich ("Naslednik Tsesarevich"), informally abbreviated in Russia to The Heir ("Naslednik") (from the capital letter) and seldom to Tsesarevich.

Tsarevich was the term for a son. In older times the term was used in place of "Tsesarevich". A son who was not a heir was formally called Velikii Kniaz (Grand Duke). The latter title was also used for grandsons (through male lines).

Tsarevna was the term for a daughter of a Tsar or Tsarina.

Tsesarevna was the wife of the Tsesarevich.

List of Russian rulers

(For pre-Muscovite Russia see Rulers of Kievan Rus)

Muscovite Princes and Grand Princes

Russian Tsars

Tsar was also the title of the rulers of Bulgaria in 893 - 1014, 1085 - 1396 and 1908 - 1946, and of Serbia in 1346 - 1371.

Footnote

1 When Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 he abdicated not just on his own behalf but also on behalf of his teenage son, who was too ill to take up the throne. He named as his heir his own brother Michael. Michael initially accepted the throne and was proclaimed as Tsar Michael II. He subsequently declined it. Historians and lists of tsars differ as to whether to regard Michael or Nicholas II as the last tsar. Nicholas II was undoubtedly the last tsar to rule Russia and so was the last effective tsar. Michael, if he can be said to be tsar at all, exercised no governmental functions and merely reigned nominally for a short time before himself abdicating. Michael, like his brother Nicholas, was executed in 1918.

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