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| 1582 |
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| Peace between Russia on the one hand and Poland and Sweden on the other, mediated by the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, who had been sent by the pope in the hope of effecting a union of the Orthodox and Roman churches. Ivan was obliged to accept most of his recent losses. | 1 |
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| 1584–98 |
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| THEODORE (FEDOR) I, the son of Ivan, a feeble and weak ruler. The actual government fell again into the hands of the boyars, notably Nikita Romanov (related to Ivan IV's first wife) and Boris Godunov, brother-in-law of Theodore. | 2 |
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| 1589 |
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| Establishment of the Russian patriarchate separate from that of Constantinople. The Russian church thus became entirely independent and even claimed to be more orthodox than Constantinople. This corresponded to a more ascetic approach to marriage and sex than the respective Byzantine standards. | 3 |
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| 1598–1605 |
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| BORIS GODUNOV, who was elected to the throne by the boyars, since Theodore had died without issue. The new tsar acted against the jealousy of other boyar families with intrigue and persecution. | 4 |
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| 1604–13 |
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| The TIME OF TROUBLES, which began with the appearance of a false Dmitri, that is, a pretender who claimed to be the supposedly murdered son of Ivan IV. Dmitri was an able and forceful person who soon found extensive support among the Poles and the Cossacks. The death of Boris at this crucial time initiated a period of utmost confusion, during which boyar families struggled for supremacy while their position was challenged by the poorer classes (led by the Cossacks) and while foreigners (Poles and Swedes) took full advantage of the situation to further their own interests. | 5 |
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| 1605 |
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| Theodore (Fedor) II, the son of Boris, succeeded to the throne. He was soon deposed and murdered by the boyars, many of whom accepted Dmitri, who advanced to Moscow and established himself on the throne. | 6 |
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| 1606 |
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| Basil Shuisky and a faction of the boyars succeeded in driving out the pretender and murdering him. Shuisky thereupon became tsar. But new pretenders soon appeared, and the situation became desperate when the Cossacks and peasants in the south and east rose in revolt. | 7 |
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| 1608 |
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| Dmitri defeated Basil and advanced to Tushino, outside Moscow. Basil ceded Carelia to the Swedes in return for aid. | 8 |
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| 1609 |
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| Sigismund of Poland advanced to Smolensk and made extensive promises to the Russian boyars in the hope of acquiring the crown. | 9 |
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| 1610 |
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| Skopin-Shuisky, nephew of Basil, with a Swedish force under De La Gardie, relieved Moscow, but the Poles continued their advance. The Russians then deposed Basil, and a boyar faction offered the throne to Wladyslaw, son of Sigismund. The latter, jealous of his son and anxious to secure the throne himself, evaded the offer and advanced to Moscow. | 10 |
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| 1611 |
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| The turn of the tide was marked by the death of the pretender and by a powerful reaction against the Poles, especially in the northern and eastern provinces. A national militia was formed under Pozharsky and in 1612 this militia relieved Moscow and drove out the Poles. | 11 |
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| 1613, Feb. 21 |
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| A national assembly (zemski sobor) elected to the throne MICHAEL ROMANOV (1613–45), grand-nephew of Ivan IV and son of the patriotic leader Philaret. Michael was crowned on July 11 and therewith began the Romanov dynasty, which ruled until 1917. Michael himself was a man of no ability who was guided by his father and later fell under the influence of favorites. The reign saw the gradual restoration of order but also the firmer establishment of serfdom and the gradual disappearance of local self-government. The national assembly, which was frequently summoned, failed to establish a regular organization or to develop beyond the status of a consultative body. | 12 |
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