[1] The Russian form of these names is Foedor [Transcriber's note: Feodor?] and Ivan.
[2] These celebrations were somewhat similar to the birthday celebrations of England and America, only the day on which they were held was not the birth-day of the lady, but the fête-day, as it was called, of her patron saint--that is, of the saint whose name she bore. All the names for girls used in those countries where the Greek or the Catholic Church prevails are names of saints, each one of whom has in the calendar a certain day set apart as her fête-day. Each girl considers the saint from whom she is named as her patron saint, and the fête-day of this saint, instead of her own birth-day, is the anniversary which is celebrated in honor of her.
Sophia at the height of her power--Military expeditions--The Cham of Tartary--Mazeppa--Origin and history--His famous punishment--Subsequent history--The war unsuccessful--Sophia's artful policy--Rewards and honors to the army--The opposition--Their plans--Reasons for the proposed marriage--The intended wife--Motives of politicians--Results of Peter's marriage--Peter's country house--Return of Galitzin--The princess's alarm--The Cossacks--Sophia's plot--The commander of the Guards--Prince Galitzin--Details of the plot--Manner in which the plot was discovered--Messengers dispatched--The sentinels--The detachment arrives--Peter's place of refuge--Sophia's pretenses--The Guards--Sophia attempts to secure them--They adhere to the cause of Peter--Sophia's alarm--Her first deputation--Failure of the deputation--Sophia appeals to the patriarch--His mission fails--Sophia's despair--Her final plans--She is repulsed from the monastery--The surrender of Thekelavitaw demanded--He is brought to trial--He is put to the torture--His confessions--Value of them--Modes of torture applied--Various punishments inflicted--Galitzin is banished--His son shares his fate--Punishment of Thekelavitaw--Decision in respect to Sophia--Peter's public entry into Moscow--He gains sole power--Character and condition of John--Subsequent history of Sophia
The Princess Sophia was now in full possession of power, so that she reigned supreme in the palaces and in the capital, while, of course, the ordinary administration of the affairs of state, and the relations of the empire with foreign nations, were left to Galitzin and the other ministers. It was in 1684 that she secured possession of this power, and in 1689 her regency came to an end, so that she was, in fact, the ruler of the Russian empire for a period of about five years.