Editing Alexis of Russia (section)

==Assessment==
[[File:1000 Alex Mikh.jpg|thumb|Tsar Alexis on the [[Millennium of Russia]] monument in [[Veliky Novgorod]]]]
According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]]: {{quote|It is the crowning merit of the Tsar Alexei that he discovered so many great men (like [[Fyodor Rtishchev]], Ordin, Matveyev, the best of Peter's precursors) and suitably employed them. He was not a man of superior strength of character, or he would never have submitted to the dictation of Nikon. But, on the other hand, he was naturally, if timorously, progressive, or he would never have encouraged the great reforming boyar Matveyev. His last years, notwithstanding the terrible rebellion of [[Stenka Razin]], were deservedly tranquil.<ref name="EB1911"/>}}

Alexis's letters were first published by [[Pyotr Bartenev]] in 1856. They have earned him a place in the history of [[Russian literature]], as assessed by [[D. S. Mirsky]]:

<blockquote>A few private letters and an instruction to his [[Falconry|falconer]]s is all we have of him. But it is sufficient for [[Sergey Platonov]] to proclaim him the most attractive of Russian monarchs. He acquired the moniker ''Tishayshy'', which means "most quiet" or "most peaceful". He received this moniker through the ways he behaved—he would be kind and friendly, but the sounds created from instruments would provoke him. Certain aspects of [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]], not its most purely spiritual, but its aesthetic and worldly aspects, found in him their most complete expression. The essence of Alexis's personality is a certain spiritual [[Epicureanism]], manifested in an optimistic Christian faith, in a profound, but unfanatical, attachment to the traditions and ritual of the Church, in a desire to see everyone round him happy and at peace, and in a highly developed capacity to extract a quiet and mellow enjoyment from all things.<ref>Mirsky, D. S. ''A History of Russian Literature''. Northwestern University Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-8101-1679-0}}. Page 27.</ref></blockquote>