The article analyzes the learning process of the Grand Duke Nicholas, his attitude towards history as a subject, the sources of his historical knowledge, including ancient and other writings, such a N. M. Karamzin and L.A. Thiers. Both archives and published sources, particu-larly memoirs and letters, are attracted by author of the article. He comes to the conclusion, that Nicholas I received a good education for his time. Because he represented the type of practice man, he gravitated to natural science and military disciplines. At the same time, among the Humanities, he made an exception for the history, referring to her as a "teacher of life" and us-ing this knowledge for ideological purposes to justify political course, marking a return to na-tional roots and promoting the historical heritage of Russia.