THE DEPARTMENT OF SECRET AFFAIRS AS THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY IN RUSSIA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 17TH CENTURY, IN CHARGE OF THE CHARITY OF TSAR ALEXEI MIKHAILOVICH

From 1654 to 1676, the Order of Secret Affairs operated in Russia, handling political, palace, military, civil, and criminal matters. The purpose of this article is to examine the specific area of the Order of Secret Affairs’ activities - the management of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich’s charity. The source material is the published records of the Order of Secret Affairs, primarily “The Expense Columns” and “The Income and Expenditure Ledgers” from the 1660s - 1670s, the memoirs of foreign contemporaries, diaries, and letters of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The author uses systemic-historical and comparative-historical research methods.