Tags
Caesar, Cognomen, Csar, Czar, Emperor, Grand Prince of Moscow, Habsburg Emperors, Imperator, Ivan III, King, Peter the Great, Rex, Tsar, Tsar of Russia, Tzar
The title of Tsar (alternatively Czar, Tzar or Csar) was a title used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word Caesar.
Caesar was a Cognomen which was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, a Cognomen was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became an hereditary name. Hereditary cognomen were used to augment the second name, the family name, or clan name in order to identify a particular branch within a family or family within a clan.
In Eastern European languages Caesar eventually evolved to mean “Emperor” in the European medieval sense of the term—a ruler with the same rank as a Roman Emperor, holding it by the approval of another Emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official such as the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch.
However, the term Tsar was usually considered by Western Europeans to be equivalent to “King”. It lends its name to a system of government, Tsarit, Autocracy or Tsarism.
That is how I interpret the title of Tsar. I interpret the title of Tsar to mean King. In my view, from the time when Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, adopted the title of Tsar in 1484 until Tsar Peter I the Great was created Emperor of Russia on October 22, 1721, the monarchs of Russia that held the title of Tsar were actually Kings of Russia and not Emperors.
If the title of Tsar already meant “Emperor” prior to Peter the Great being created Emperor in 1721, then why was it necessary to grant the title of Emperor to Peter the Great?
That is what I see is the problem. In many English language publications both since the time when Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, adopted the title of Tsar in 1484 and even after Peter I the Great was created Emperor of Russia in 1721 the title of Tsar is translated as Emperor.
To restate it, Emperors and Empresses of Russia after Peter the Great are still refered to as Tsars of Russia in English publications. I’ve read where Nicholas II, proud of his Russian heritage, preferred the title of Tsar.
Let’s examine how the title of Tsar was regarded in Russia.
In his dealings with the Habsburg Emperors, Ivan was offered the title of King (Rex) if he would join the alliance against Turkey, but he rejected such offers and continued his own policy, laying claim to the Kievan legacy and adopting the title of Autocrat, Sovereign of the Russian Land, and Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia.
However, beginning in 1484, Ivan began to use the title of Tsar in his foreign correspondence with secondary powers in Europe including the Livonian Order.
At times the title was translated as “Imperator” such as in a 1493 treaty with Denmark where Ivan was called “domino Johanne totius Rutzie imperator”. Ivan also began insisting on the title to the Habsburgs in 1489, and he continued to portray himself to his subjects and foreign states as the Orthodox Emperor of Russia.
Whenever it was possible in diplomatic situations, Ivan and his representatives would refer to him as Tsar. According to Isabel de Madariaga, had the title of Russian monarchs continued to be translated as Rex, Russia’s assimilation into the ranking order of states in Europe would have been much easier.
Therefore in Russia the Tsar did see themselves as Emperors while the rest of Europe saw the Russian rulers as Kings.
The problem of recognizing the Russian ruler as an Emperor lies in the concept of how the title of Emperor was seen and regarded in Western Europe.
We will examine that next in part II.