Right-Believing Tsar Tsar Feodor I Ioannovich of Moscow

The holy right-believing Tsar Feodor I Ioannovich (1557–1598) was the son of Ivan IV the Terrible and the last ruler of the Moscow line of the Rurik dynasty, reigning from 1584 to 1598. Contemporaries, including foreign envoys, described him as deeply devout and gentle, more inclined to prayer and church attendance than to affairs of state; actual governance rested largely with his brother-in-law, the boyar Boris Godunov, brother of his wife Tsarina Irina. Feodor spent much time in prayer and pilgrimage to monasteries and was known for his charity toward the poor. During his reign the Moscow Patriarchate was established (1589), the White City walls of Moscow were built, and the empire's southern and eastern frontiers were strengthened. His death on the night of January 7, 1598, ended the Rurikid line on the Moscow throne and precipitated the Time of Troubles. He was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Soon venerated locally as a Moscow saint, his glorification was confirmed church-wide with the establishment of the Synaxis of Moscow Saints in 1997. His feast is kept on January 7/20, the day of his repose.