Tsar
Tsar (Russian царь; often spelt Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the rulers of Imperial Russia from 1546 to 1917. It was first adopted by Ivan IV as symbolic of a change in the nature of the Russian monarchy. In 1721 Peter I adopted the title Emperor (Император'\' [Imperator'']), by which he and his heirs were recognised, and which came to be used interchangeably with Tsar.
Often the word tsar is translated as emperor and vice versa. The Slavic languages often used tsar for other emperors; for example, the title of the Japanese emperor was translated as "tsar of Japan".
The domain or rule of a tsar is sometimes referred to as a tsardom.
The Patriarchs, heads of the Russian Orthodox Church, sometimes acted as the leaders of Russia -- as, for example, during the Polish occupation and interregnum of 1610 - 1613.
The full title of Russian emperors started with By the Grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia (Божию Милостию, Император и Самодержец Всероссийский [Bozhiyu Milostiyu, Imperator i Samodyerzhets Vserossiysky]) and went further to list all ruled territories. For example, according to the art. 59 of the Russian Constitution of April 23, 1906, "the full title of His Imperial Majesty is as follows: We, ------ by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Khersones, Tsar of Grusia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semgalia, Samogitia, Bielostok, Korelia, Tver, Jugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria, and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Novgorod, Chernigov; Ruler of Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Jaroslavl, Bielozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all northern territories ; Ruler of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories - hereditary Ruler and Lord of the Cherkess and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsch, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth."
For example, Nicholas II of Russia was titled as follows (notice the archaic spelling; the letter 'h' renders the obsolete letter yat).
Божiю Поспhшествующею Милостiю МЫ, НИКОЛАЙ ВТОРЫЙ ИМПЕРАТОРЪ и САМОДЕРЖЕЦЪ ВСЕРОССIЙСКIЙ
The word tsar is derived from the Latin title Caesar by way of the Old Slavonic tsesar (цесарь). The word is cognate with German Kaiser and Gothic KÃÂáisar. The contraction of цесарь into царь occurred by the way of shorthand writing of titles in old Slavonic church manuscripts, see Titlo article. One may see the examples of this, e.g., in the older copies of the Slavic Primary Chronicle.
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.
Modern usage seems to have standardized on the use of tsar to describe former rulers of Russia, while czar is used to informally describe an expert in charge of implementing policy (especially in the US): economics czar, drug czar, etc.
Correct pronunciation of tsar is /tsar'/ in SAMPA though many if not most English-speaking people pronounce it /zAr/.
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 (Empress consort) of tsar.
Tsesarevich (literally, "son of the tsesar") 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).
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.
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 by the Bolsheviks in 1918.Full title
Московский, Кiевскiй, Владимiрскiй, Новгородскiй,
Царь Казанскiй, Царь Астраханскiй, Царь Польскiй, Царь Сибирскiй, Царь Херсониса Таврическаго, Царь Грузинскiй,
Государь Псковскiй, и
Великiй Князь Смоленскiй, Литовскiй, Волынскiй, Подольскiй и Финляндскiй;
Князь Эстляндскiй, Лифляндскiй, Курляндскiй и Семигальскiй, Самогитскiй, Бhлостокский, Корельскiй,
Тверскiй, Югорскiй, Пермскiй, Вятскiй, Болгарскiй и иныхъ;
Государь и Великiй Князь Новагорода низовскiя земли, Черниговскiй, Рязанскiй, Полотскiй,
Ростовскiй, Ярославскiй, Бhлозерскiй, Удорскiй, Обдорскiй, Кондiйскiй, Витебскiй, Мстиславскiй и
всея Сhверныя страны Повелитель; и
Государь Иверскiя, Карталинскiя и Кабардинскiя земли и области Арменскiя;
Черкасскихъ и Горскихъ Князей и иныхъ Наслhдный Государь и Обладатель;
Государь Туркестанскiй;
Наслhдникъ Норвежскiй,
Герцогъ Шлезвигъ-Голстинскiй, Стормарнскiй, Дитмарсенскiй и Ольденбургскiй, и прочая, и прочая, и прочая.Etymology and spelling
Titles for Tsar's family
List of Russian rulers
(For pre-Muscovite Russia see Rulers of Kievan Rus)Muscovite Princes and Grand Princes
Tsars of All Russia, 1547-1721
Emperors of All Russia, 1721-1917
List of Serbian tsars
List of Bulgarian tsars
Tsar was the title of the rulers of Bulgaria in 893 - 1014, 1085 - 1396 and 1908 - 1946Related topics
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