The list begins with the semi-legendary prince Rurik of Novgorod, sometime in the mid-9th century, and ends with Nicholas II, who abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918.
[18] After Mstislav's death in 1132, Kievan Rus' fell into recession and a rapid decline, marking the end of a unified state.
[46][47] Following the Mongol invasions, the principalities started paying tribute to the Golden Horde (the so-called "Tatar yoke").
Until the 15th century, Russian princes received a yarlyk from the khan; it was not until about 1480 that the Mongol domination of Russia formally ended.
By the end of the century, only three cities – Moscow, Tver, and Nizhny Novgorod – still contended for the title of grand prince of Vladimir.
[84] Princely succession in medieval Russia proceeded along the lines of the eldest son usually being the being chosen, with the condition that substitution did not take place if the father died before the grandfather.
[95] Ivan was succeeded in 1584 by his only surviving son, Feodor, who died without an heir, marking the end of the Rurik dynasty.
[95] Feodor died childless, marking the end of the Rurik dynasty and the start of a succession crisis during a period known as the Time of Troubles.
[95] The first non-Rurikid tsar was Feodor's brother-in-law and regent, the influent boyar Boris Godunov, elected by the Zemsky Sobor (feudal parliament).
As a child, Władysław was even chosen as tsar by the council of aristocracy, though he was prevented by his father from formally taking the throne.
[95] Michael officially reigned as tsar, though his father, the patriarch Philaret (died 1633) initially held de facto power.
[109] Russia's territorial gains and increased standing as a key player on the European scene allowed it to upgrade its official status from tsardom to empire.
[110] This was later detailed in Pravda voli Monarshei v opredelenii Naslednika Derzhavy Sovei ("The righteousness of the monarch's will in appointing the successor in his reign"), a major political treatise written in its defense,[111] which was only circulated widely following Peter's death, and argued on the basis of an abundance of examples from both biblical and secular history that it was fully correct for a ruler to appoint his own successor without being bound by traditional family succession rules.
Peter was ill-liked, and he was assassinated within six months of assuming the throne, in a coup orchestrated by his wife, who became Empress in her own right and ruled as Catherine the Great.
The rights of Kirill Vladimirovich and his heirs to the imperial throne of Russia have been repeatedly questioned following his marriage with Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The principles laid down by Paul I in the Act of Succession 1797 turned out to be not completely flawlessly formulated, and, as a result, the interpretation of these is not always obvious, and Russia now has no indisputable contender for the throne.
Nevertheless, when in 1915 Nicholas II, before the lack of successible grand dukes, allowed them to retain their personal rights, as it had happened in practice with Alexander II after his second and morganatic marriage, Kirill Vladimirovich's issue was never deemed to be considered morganatic, nor were they demoted from grand dukes to mere princes.