I
Russian Nikolay Aleksandrovich
born May 18, 1868, Tsarskoye Selo, near St. Petersburg, Russia
died July 16/17, 1918, Yekaterinburg
Tsar of Russia (1894–1917).
Son of Alexander III , he received a military education and succeeded his father as tsar in 1894. He was an autocratic but indecisive ruler and was devoted to his wife, Alexandra , who strongly influenced his rule. His interest in Asia led to construction of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and also helped cause the disastrous Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). After the Russian Revolution of 1905 , he agreed reluctantly to a representative Duma but restricted its powers and made only token efforts to enact its measures. His prime minister, Grigory Rasputin , opposed him. After Russia suffered setbacks in World War I , Nicholas ousted the popular grand duke Nicholas as commander in chief of Russian forces and assumed command himself, at the bidding of Alexandra and Rasputin. His absence from Moscow and Alexandra's mismanagement of the government caused increasing unrest and culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1917 . Nicholas abdicated in March 1917 and was detained with his family by Georgy Y. Lvov 's provisional government. Plans for the royal family to be sent to England were overruled by the local Bolsheviks. Instead the family was sent to the city of Yekaterinburg, where they were executed in July 1918.
II
orig. Gerard of Burgundy
born Lorraine
died July 19/26, 1061, Florence
Pope (1058–61).
Known as an advocate of reform, he was bishop of Florence before being elected pope in opposition to the {{link=antipope">antipope Benedict X. At the Lateran Council of 1059 he reformed the process of papal election, placing it in the hands of the cardinals and limiting the emperor's role. The German bishops voided his decree (1061), revealing growing tensions between empire and papacy. Nicholas brought about a diplomatic revolution, which worsened relations with Germany and its weak regent, when he sought an alliance with the Normans in southern Italy and invested Robert Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily (1059). His legislation against clerical marriage and simony was an important part of the Gregorian reform movement.