The Last of the Tsars The Last of the Tsars The Last of the Tsars is a play by Michael Bawtree. The action takes place in Russia between 1912 and 1919, and follows the fortunes of the Romanov family and of Russia in the tumultuous years leading up to the Revolution of 1917, and beyond, to the assassination of the Romanov family by the Bolsheviks. The story is told through the eyes of Tsar Nicholas's brother Grand Duke Michael, who had been exiled from Russia by the Tsar in 1912 when he married a divorcee. Michael was called back to Russia at the outbreak of
Coronation of the Russian monarch Russian Revolution of 1917, coronation ceremonies no longer play any role in Russian political or religious life. While earlier rulers of Muscovy had been crowned prior to Prince Ivan III, the coronation ceremony in its "Byzantine" form was first brought to Russia by Ivan's wife, Sophia Paleologue, niece to the last Emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI. Sophia is credited with introducing this and other Byzantine ceremonies and customs, which were adopted by her husband Ivan III and continued under his Muscovite and Russian successors. The modern coronation, introducing "European-style" elements, was first used for Catherine I in 1724. While several