Ivan Nikitich Romanov (d. 18 July 1640) was a Russian boyar of the Romanov family, the younger brother of Patriarch Filaret and uncle of the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fyodorovich. Son of boyar Nikita Romanovich and Evdokia Alexandrovna, née Princess Gorbataya-Shuyskaya; he was married to Princess Ulyana Fyodorovna Litvinova-Mosalskaya. His connection to Nizhny Novgorod dates to the period of disgrace: in 1602 he was allowed Nizhny Novgorod. Ivan Nikitich bore the nickname Kasha and was presumably born in the 1560s.[1][1]
Court service before the disgrace
In 1591 Ivan Nikitich was sent by Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich to Serpukhov with pay for the boyars and the army pursuing the Crimean khan Kazy-Girey. In 1597 he was present in the Great Palace of Facets at the reception of the German ambassador, Burgrave Abraham Donavsky. In 1599, on the day the Swedish prince Gustav was received, he served as cupbearer to Tsar Boris.[1]
Disgrace and exile to Pelym
In 1601, when disgrace befell the Romanovs and their relatives, Ivan Nikitich was exiled to Pelym on 30 June under the watch of streltsy commander Smirnov-Mamatov, who took him from Moscow in chains — not by tsarist decree, but for fear of his escape. In November of that year his brother Vasily Nikitich was also brought to Pelym, utterly ill after the exhausting journey from Yarensk. For three months the brothers lived in one hut, chained to the walls. Ivan Nikitich's servant, Senka Ivanov nicknamed "Natirka," went into exile with him and looked after his master, who, according to Mamatov's report, suffered from an "old illness" — unable to use his arm and barely able to step on his leg — and then cared for the dying Vasily Nikitich as well. For Ivan Nikitich's upkeep, Mamatov was given 90 rubles with instructions to prepare meat and fish dishes and bake white bread.[1]
After Vasily Nikitich's death on 15 February 1602, Ivan Nikitich's lot eased. In March Mamatov received orders to move him to Ufa, and at the end of May he and his nephew — Prince Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky — were allowed to serve in Nizhny Novgorod. In the autumn both were ordered to return to Moscow. According to the "New Chronicler", Ivan Nikitich was also kept under Mamatov's watch in the Romanovs' ancestral estate — the village of Kliny.[1]
Under False Dmitry and Vasily Shuisky
On 30 July 1605, the day of False Dmitry I's coronation, Ivan Nikitich was granted the rank of boyar and joined the "State Senate" under the pretender, who, according to sources, "generously filled" him with favors. In 1606, now under Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, he was sent to Kozelsk among the boyars and voevodas, and on 17 January 1607 he served as a groomsman at the tsar's wedding. In 1607–1608 Ivan Nikitich repeatedly took part in campaigns against the supporters of False Dmitry II. In September 1610, when the boyars were debating the admission of Polish troops into Moscow, it was Ivan Nikitich who persuaded Patriarch Hermogenes to agree to this step, arguing that if Hetman Żółkiewski withdrew, the boyars would have to follow the Poles to save their lives.
In January 1612 Ivan Nikitich signed exhortatory letters to Kostroma and Yaroslavl calling for continued loyalty to the Polish crown prince Władysław — his signature was judged the clearest of all the boyars who signed. On 11 June 1613, the day of Mikhail Fyodorovich's coronation, Ivan Nikitich held the Cap of Monomakh; when Prince Trubetskoy contested this assignment on grounds of precedence, the tsar replied that Ivan Nikitich was his uncle by kinship, and ordered both to set aside precedence disputes.[1][1][1][1][1]
Sources
- deduhova.ru — Boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov — Government of Russia in Portraits — Ivan Nikitich Romanov bore the nickname Kasha and was presumably born in the 1560s. (archive)
- ru.wikisource.org — RBS/VT/Romanov, Ivan Nikitich — Wikisource (archive)