Peter I, nicknamed Peter the Great for his services to Russia, is a figure for Russian history not just iconic, but key. Peter 1 created Russian empire, therefore, he turned out to be the last tsar of all Russia and, accordingly, the first Emperor of All Russia. The son of the king, the godson of the king, the brother of the king - Peter himself was proclaimed the head of the country, and at that time the boy was barely 10 years old. Initially, he had a formal co-ruler Ivan V, but from the age of 17 he already ruled independently, and in 1721 Peter I became emperor.
Tsar Peter the First | Haiku Deck
For Russia, the years of the reign of Peter I were a time of large-scale reforms. He significantly expanded the territory of the state, built the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, incredibly boosted the economy by founding a whole network of metallurgical and glass factories, and also reduced the import of foreign goods to a minimum. In addition, Peter the Great was the first of the Russian rulers to adopt their best ideas from Western countries. But since all the reforms of Peter the Great were achieved through violence against the population and the eradication of any dissent, the personality of Peter 1 among historians still evokes diametrically opposed assessments.
Childhood and youth of Peter I
The biography of Peter I initially implied his future reign, since he was born in the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. It is noteworthy that Peter the Great turned out to be the 14th child of his father, but the firstborn for his mother. It is also worth noting that the name Peter was completely unconventional for both dynasties of his ancestors, so historians still cannot figure out where he got this name from.
Childhood of Peter the Great | Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias The boy was only four years old when the king-father died. His older brother and godfather Fyodor III Alekseevich ascended the throne, who took custody of his brother and ordered him to be given the best possible education. However, Peter the Great had big problems with this. He was always very inquisitive, but just at that moment Orthodox Church started a war against foreign influence, and all Latin teachers were removed from the court. Therefore, the prince was taught by Russian clerks, who themselves did not have deep knowledge, and Russian-language books of the proper level did not yet exist. As a result, Peter the Great had a meager vocabulary and wrote with errors until the end of his life.
Childhood of Peter the Great | View map Tsar Fedor III reigned for only six years and died due to poor health at a young age. According to tradition, another offspring of Tsar Alexei, Ivan, was to take the throne, but he was very painful, so the Naryshkin family organized a virtual palace coup and declared Peter I the heir. It was beneficial for them, since the boy was a descendant of their family, but the Naryshkins did not take into account that the Miloslavsky family would raise an uprising because of the infringement of the interests of Tsarevich Ivan. The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 took place, the result of which was the recognition of two tsars at the same time - Ivan and Peter. The Kremlin Armory still has a double throne for the brother-kings.
Childhood and youth of Peter the Great | Russian Museum The favorite game of young Peter I was training with his army. Moreover, the soldiers of the prince were not at all toys. His peers dressed in uniform and marched through the streets of the city, and Peter the Great himself "served" in his regiment as a drummer. Later, he even started his own artillery, also real. The funny army of Peter I was called the Preobrazhensky regiment, to which the Semenovsky regiment was later added, and, in addition to them, the tsar organized a funny fleet.
Tsar Peter I
When the young tsar was still a minor, his older sister, Princess Sophia, and later his mother Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives, the Naryshkins, stood behind him. In 1689, co-ruler brother Ivan V finally gave all power to Peter, although he nominally remained co-tsar until he suddenly died at the age of 30. After the death of his mother, Tsar Peter the Great freed himself from the burdensome guardianship of the princes Naryshkins, and it was from that time that one can speak of Peter the Great as an independent ruler.
Tsar Peter the First | Culturology He continued military operations in the Crimea against the Ottoman Empire, conducted a series of Azov campaigns, which resulted in the capture of the Azov fortress. To strengthen the southern borders, the tsar built the port of Taganrog, but Russia still did not have a full-fledged fleet, so it did not achieve a final victory. The large-scale construction of ships and the training of young nobles abroad in shipbuilding began. And the tsar himself learned the art of building a fleet, even working as a carpenter on the construction of the ship "Peter and Paul".
Emperor Peter the First | Bookaholic While Peter the Great was preparing to reform the country and personally studied the technical and economic progress of the leading European states, a conspiracy was conceived against him, and the king's first wife was at the head. Having suppressed the streltsy rebellion, Peter the Great decided to reorient military operations. He concludes a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire and starts a war with Sweden. His troops captured the fortresses Noteburg and Nienschanz at the mouth of the Neva, where the tsar decided to found the city of St. Petersburg, and placed the base of the Russian fleet on the nearby island of Kronstadt.
Wars of Peter the Great
The above conquests made it possible to open an exit to the Baltic Sea, which later received the symbolic name "Window to Europe". Later, the territories of the Eastern Baltic joined Russia, and in 1709, during the legendary Battle of Poltava, the Swedes were completely defeated. Moreover, it is important to note: Peter the Great, unlike many kings, did not sit out in fortresses, but personally led the troops on the battlefield. In the Battle of Poltava, Peter I was even shot through his hat, that is, he really risked his own life.
Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava | X-digest After the defeat of the Swedes at Poltava, King Charles XII took refuge under the patronage of the Turks in the city of Bender, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, and today is located in Moldova. With help Crimean Tatars and the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, he began to escalate the situation on the southern border of Russia. Seeking the expulsion of Charles, Peter the Great, on the contrary, forced the Ottoman sultan to unleash the Russo-Turkish war again. Russia found itself in a situation where it was necessary to wage a war on three fronts. On the border with Moldova, the king was surrounded and agreed to sign peace with the Turks, giving them back the fortress of Azov and access to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.
Fragment of Ivan Aivazovsky's painting "Peter I at Krasnaya Gorka" | Russian Museum In addition to the Russian-Turkish and northern wars, Peter the Great escalated the situation in the east. Thanks to his expeditions, the cities of Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk were founded, later Kamchatka joined Russia. The king wanted to carry out campaigns in North America and India, but he failed to realize these ideas. On the other hand, he conducted the so-called Caspian campaign against Persia, during which he conquered Baku, Rasht, Astrabad, Derbent, as well as other Iranian and Caucasian fortresses. But after the death of Peter the Great, most of these territories were lost, as the new government considered the region not promising, and maintaining the garrison in those conditions was too expensive.
Reforms of Peter I
Due to the fact that the territory of Russia expanded significantly, Peter managed to reorganize the country from a kingdom into an empire, and starting from 1721, Peter I became emperor. Of the numerous reforms of Peter I, the transformations in the army clearly stood out, which allowed him to achieve great military victories. But no less important were such innovations as the transfer of the church under the subordination of the emperor, as well as the development of industry and trade. Emperor Peter the Great was well aware of the need for education and the fight against an outdated way of life. On the one hand, his tax on wearing a beard was perceived as tyranny, but at the same time, there was a direct dependence of the promotion of the nobles on the level of their education.
Peter the Great cuts the boyars' beards | VistaNews Under Peter, the first Russian newspaper was founded and many translations of foreign books appeared. Artillery, engineering, medical, naval and mining schools were opened, as well as the first gymnasium in the country. Moreover, now not only the children of noble people, but also the offspring of soldiers could attend general education schools. He really wanted to create a mandatory for all primary school, but did not manage to carry out this plan. It is important to note that the reforms of Peter the Great affected not only the economy and politics. He financed the education of talented artists, introduced a new Julian calendar, tried to change the position of women by banning forced marriage. He also raised the dignity of his subjects, obliging them not to kneel even before the tsar and to use their full names, and not to call themselves “Senka” or “Ivashka” as before.
Monument "Tsar Carpenter" in St. Petersburg | Russian Museum In general, the reforms of Peter the Great changed the value system of the nobles, which can be considered a huge plus, but at the same time, the gap between the nobility and the people increased many times over and was no longer limited only to finances and title. The main disadvantage of the tsarist reforms is considered to be the violent method of their implementation. In fact, it was a struggle of despotism with uneducated people, and Peter hoped to instill consciousness in the people with a whip. Indicative in this regard is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many craftsmen rushed from hard labor to flee, and the king ordered their entire family to be imprisoned until the fugitives returned with a confession.
TVNZ Since not everyone liked the method of governing the state under Peter the Great, the tsar founded the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, an organ of political investigation and court, which later grew into the infamous Secret Chancellery. The most unpopular decrees in this context were the prohibition of taking notes in a closed room, as well as the prohibition of non-speech. Violation of both of these decrees was punishable by death. In this way, Peter the Great fought conspiracies and palace coups.
Personal life of Peter I
In his youth, Tsar Peter I liked to visit the German Quarter, where he not only became interested in foreign life, for example, he learned to dance, smoke and communicate in a Western manner, but also fell in love with a German girl, Anna Mons. His mother was very alarmed by such a relationship, so when Peter reached the age of 17, she insisted on his wedding with Evdokia Lopukhina. However, they did not have a normal family life: shortly after the wedding, Peter the Great left his wife and visited her only in order to prevent rumors of a certain kind.
Evdokia Lopukhina, first wife of Peter the Great | Sunday afternoon Tsar Peter I and his wife had three sons: Alexei, Alexander and Pavel, but the last two died in infancy. The eldest son of Peter the Great was to become his heir, but since Evdokia in 1698 unsuccessfully tried to overthrow her husband from the throne in order to transfer the crown to her son and was imprisoned in a monastery, Alexei was forced to flee abroad. He never approved of his father's reforms, considered him a tyrant and planned to overthrow his parent. However, in 1717 young man arrested and imprisoned in Peter and Paul Fortress and sentenced to death the following summer. The matter did not come to execution, since Alexei soon died in prison under unclear circumstances.
A few years after the dissolution of the marriage with his first wife, Peter the Great took 19-year-old Marta Skavronskaya as his mistress, whom the Russian troops captured as spoils of war. She gave birth to eleven children from the king, half of them even before the legal wedding. The wedding took place in February 1712 after the woman adopted Orthodoxy, thanks to which she became Ekaterina Alekseevna, later known as Empress Catherine I. Among the children of Peter and Catherine are the future Empress Elizabeth I and Anna, mother, the rest died in childhood. Interestingly, the second wife of Peter the Great was the only person in his life who knew how to calm his violent temper even in moments of rage and fits of anger.
Maria Cantemir, favorite of Peter the Great | Wikipedia Despite the fact that his wife accompanied the emperor in all campaigns, he was able to get carried away by the young Maria Cantemir, the daughter of the former Moldavian ruler, Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. Maria remained the favorite of Peter the Great until the end of his life. Separately, it is worth mentioning the growth of Peter I. Even for our contemporaries, a more than two-meter man seems very tall. But in the time of Peter I, his 203 centimeters seemed absolutely incredible. Judging by the chronicles of eyewitnesses, when the Tsar and Emperor Peter the Great walked through the crowd, his head towered over the sea of people.
Compared to his older brothers, born to a different mother from their common father, Peter the Great seemed to be quite healthy. But in fact, he was tormented by severe headaches almost all his life, and in the last years of his reign, Peter the Great suffered from kidney stones. The attacks intensified even more after the emperor, along with ordinary soldiers, pulled out the boat that had run aground, but he tried not to pay attention to the illness.
Engraving "Death of Peter the Great" | ArtPolitInfo At the end of January 1725, the ruler could no longer endure pain and fell ill in his Winter Palace. After the emperor had no strength left to scream, he only groaned, and the whole environment realized that Peter the Great was dying. Peter the Great accepted death in terrible agony. Doctors called pneumonia the official cause of his death, but later doctors had strong doubts about such a verdict. An autopsy was performed, which showed a terrible inflammation of the bladder, which had already developed into gangrene. Peter the Great was buried in the cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife, Empress Catherine I, became the heir to the throne.
The mystery of the death of Peter the Great part 1The mystery of the death of Peter the Great
So, the protagonists of the drama that played out in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg at the very beginning of 1725:
Peter I (1672–1725) - Russian tsar from 1782, emperor from 1721. His temper was hot and quick-tempered. He cut through a "window to Europe", cut down the Swedes near Poltava, cut the beards of the boyars ... He introduced European innovations using traditional Russian methods.
Catherine I (1684–1727), aka Marta Rabe, aka Marta Skavronskaya, aka Marta Skovoroshchenko, aka Ekaterina Vasilevskaya, aka Ekaterina Mikhailova - the second wife of Peter the Great. From the common people. Nationality is hard to pin down. According to different versions - Lithuanian, Swedish, Polish ... Ukrainian.
We skip the "education" column, since it was limited only to the ability to run a household. Captured by the Russians in 1702, being a servant of pastor Gluck, married to a Swedish dragoon. At first, Sheremetyev the Noble took the captive as a laundress, then she was begged from him by the “happiness minion of the rootless”, that is, Menshikov, and Peter took her away from him, and in 1703 she became his favorite.
She gave birth to eleven children to Peter, almost all of them died in childhood, including her son Peter Petrovich. Let us draw the reader's attention to the fact that two more heroines of our drama - daughters Anna and Elizabeth - were born respectively in 1708 and 1709, that is, before Catherine's official marriage, which took place in 1712. Daughters were considered as if illegitimate, which, among other things, made it difficult for them to fight for the throne. Catherine was also baptized before her marriage, in 1708.
There is no crime in this, if not for one "but" - her godfather was the son of Peter - Tsarevich Alexei (1690-1718), who was 6 years younger than Martha (later he was executed by Peter). In the eyes of Orthodox Russians, the situation with the tsar's marriage looked extremely unnatural. It turned out that Peter married his granddaughter (Ekaterina's patronymic - ALEKSEEVNA - is given by the godfather), and Catherine became the stepmother of her father (even if it was her godfather). But the fact remains - the former maid became the Russian tsarina in 1712, and in 1721, after Peter took the title of emperor, the empress.
Then the most interesting begins - all Russian queens (except Marina Mnishek) were titled queens by their husbands. And Peter in 1724 crowned Catherine as an independent empress, personally placing the crown on her. After Peter's death in 1725, Catherine was elevated to the throne by Menshikov as an autocratic empress, but in fact Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council ruled for her. That is, Martha's career in Russia looks like this: a captive - a servant of nobles - a servant of the king - a favorite of the king - the mother of the king's children - the goddaughter of the prince - the queen by her husband (the king's wife) - the empress by her husband - the empress herself - autocratic empress.
Menshikov Alexander Danilovich (1673-1729) - a favorite of Peter I and Catherine I. The son of a groom (according to other sources - a peasant). He began his career as a seller of pies, later became Peter I's batman. Most Serene Prince, active Privy Councilor, full admiral, field marshal, and then generalissimo. Petersburg ruler. Minister of Defense (President of the Military College in 1718-1724 and 1726-1727).
He was the first Russian to become an academician of a foreign Academy of Sciences. By the end of his life he had 150,000 serfs, hundreds of servants, many palaces and carriages. The actual ruler of the state under Catherine I and at the beginning of the reign of Peter II. Emperor Peter II was stripped of all titles and riches. He was exiled in 1727 to Berezov (lower reaches of the Ob River). Died in poverty. No one is to blame for the fall of Menshikov, except himself. Success so turned his head that he began to behave provocatively not only in relation to noble nobles, but also in relation to the emperor.
Peter II (1715–1730) - Russian emperor since 1727. Grandson of Peter I, son of Tsarevich Alexei, executed by Peter I. The nobles, led by Menshikov, who to one degree or another were involved in the execution of Alexei, were very afraid of the accession of Peter II to the throne. But during the two years of the reign of Catherine I, Menshikov managed to gain such strength that he even betrothed his daughter to Peter Alekseevich.
He decided that the prince was now completely in his hands and contributed to the proclamation of Peter as emperor. However, plans to remove Peter from the inheritance seemed to his contemporaries hardly feasible. Peter Alekseevich is the only male descendant of Peter the Great and the only one from the male line of the Romanov family who survived after the death of Peter I.
Legitimate in the eyes of the people then was only inheritance from the father. In 1725, the entourage of Catherine I, with the help of the guards, managed to POSTPONE Peter's accession to the throne. In 1727, Catherine herself, at the suggestion of Menshikov, bequeathed the throne to Peter II. In the same year, 1727, Menshikov was severely punished by Peter II, including for participating in the execution of Tsarevich Alexei. Peter II died of smallpox. It ACTUALLY ended the Romanov dynasty.
Anna Petrovna (1708–1728) – daughter of Peter the Great and Ekaterina Alekseevna At the time of her death, Petra was betrothed to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorn, from whom in 1728 she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich. And this Karl Peter Ulrich later became Emperor Peter III (Peter Fedorovich), after Anna's sister, the childless Elisaveta Petrovna, handed over the throne to him. Soon, Emperor Peter Fedorovich was overthrown by his wife Catherine II. She was succeeded by their son Paul I, then the sons of Paul - Alexander I and Nicholas I, then Alexander II - the son of Nicholas I, then Alexander III - the son of Alexander II and, finally, the famous Nicholas II Romanov - the son of Alexander III. Thus, all Russian tsars, starting with Peter III, in the male line are not Romanovs at all, but typical Holstein-Gottorns (you’ll break your tongue while you pronounce it), who finally became Russified, right up to the third generation (Alexander I).
On this occasion, there is the following historical anecdote.
“In one of the liberal salons of Moscow in the 70s of the 19th century, a dispute arose about whether there was a lot of Russian blood in the then heir to the throne, Alexander Alexandrovich? It was known that he considered himself purely Russian. Soloviev asked for half a glass of red wine and a pitcher of drinking water to be brought to him.
Solovyov began his explanation thus:
"Let red wine be Russian blood, and water - German. Peter I married a German woman - Catherine I ..."
And the historian poured half a glass of pure water into a glass of red wine.
Then he continued:
"Their daughter, Anna, married a German, the Duke of Holstein."
Solovyov drank half a glass of diluted wine and topped it up with water. He repeated this operation, then mentioning the marriages of Peter III with the German Catherine II, Paul I with the German Maria Feodorovna, Nicholas I with the German Alexandra Feodorovna, Alexander II with the German Maria Alexandrovna ... As a result, almost pure water remained in the glass.
The historian raised his glass:
"That's how much Russian blood is in the heir to the Russian throne!"
We add that Alexander Alexandrovich himself married the bride of his deceased brother - the Danish princess Dagmar (Empress Maria Feodorovna). And their son Emperor Nicholas II married a German woman Alice (Empress Alexandra Feodorovna).
Thus, despite the fact that Anna, having become engaged to the duke, abdicated the throne for herself and her offspring, ONLY HER offspring was entrenched on the Russian throne. Peter I needed the act of renunciation so that the foreign duke would not rule Russia. Peter knew that the Duke needed Russia only to solve the problems of his little Holstein. Despite this act, there was an attempt to transfer the Russian throne to Anna and the Duke after the death of Catherine I. The price of such acts can be seen in the example of Anna Petrovna herself.
Catherine I, dying, bequeathed the throne to Peter II, but indicated that if he died childless, the throne should go to Anna or her heirs. Peter II died childless and did not cancel Catherine’s act, however, members of the Supreme Privy Council violated the will of the empress and arbitrarily invited another Anna, Ioannovna, the daughter of Peter I’s brother, to the throne. And Anna Petrovna’s heir (she died immediately after his birth, even before the death of Peter II) became emperor in 1761 only thanks to the coup of 1741, when Anna's sister - Elizabeth - seized power.
Elisaveta Petrovna (1709–1761) – daughter of Peter the Great and Ekaterina Alekseevna In 1741, the guard was elevated to the throne as a result of a coup d'état.
Karl Friedrich Holstein of Gottorp, simply Duke of Holstein (1700-1739). Since 1725 - the husband of the daughter of Peter the Great Anna, the founder of the dynasty that ruled Russia until 1917. Bassevich - the President of the Privy Council and the minister of this duke, a person extremely interested in the erection of the mother-in-law of the duke Catherine or the wife of the duke Anna to the vacant Russian throne - left notes in his diaries, in which he indicated, among other things, that the hand of Peter I ossified when he wanted to write the name of his successor, but his voice became numb when he wanted to say this name to his daughter Anna Petrovna, the duke's wife. Bassevich's notes served as one of the main sources on the issue of the death of Peter the Great for subsequent historians.
This is how the famous historian S. M. Solovyov describes the last days of the life of Emperor Peter the Great.
"The troubles from the Mons story were joined by troubles from the incorrigible Menshikov, from whom Peter was forced to take away the presidency of the Military Collegium; Prince Repnin was appointed its president. Makarov and members of the High Court were also accused of taking bribes. All this affected Peter's health. He lived to see only the 53rd year of his life.
Despite frequent bouts of illness and the fact that he had long called himself an old man, the emperor could hope to live a long time and be able to dispose of the great inheritance in accordance with the interests of the state. But his days were already numbered; no nature could endure such activity for long. When in March 1723 Peter arrived in St. Petersburg on his return from Persia, he was found much healthier than he was before the campaign.
In the summer of 1724, he became very ill, but in the second half of September he apparently began to recover, walked from time to time in his gardens, and swam along the Neva. On September 22, he had a severe seizure, they say, he became so irritated by it that he beat the doctors, scolding them with donkeys; then recovered again; On September 29, he was present at the launch of the frigate, although he told the Dutch resident Wild that everything felt a little weak. Despite the fact that in early October he went to inspect the Ladoga Canal, contrary to the advice of his physician Blumentrost, then he went to the Olonets Iron Works, forged a strip of iron weighing three pounds there with his own hands, from there he went to Staraya Russa to inspect the salt pan, in early November I went by water to Petersburg, but here, near the town of Lakhta, seeing that a boat sailing from Kronstadt with soldiers ran aground, could not resist, went to him himself and helped pull the ship from the shoal and save people, and stood waist-deep in water.
Seizures immediately resumed; Peter arrived in Petersburg sick and could no longer recover; the case of Mons also could not contribute to recovery. Peter was no longer engaged in business, although he showed himself publicly as usual. On January 17, 1725, the illness worsened; Peter ordered a mobile church to be built near his bedroom, and on the 22nd he confessed and communed; strength began to leave the patient, he no longer screamed, as before, from severe pain, but only groaned.
On the 26th he became even worse; all criminals were released from penal servitude, innocent of the first two points and of murders; on the same day, the unction was performed over the sick. On the next day, on the 27th, all those who were sentenced to death or hard labor under military articles were forgiven, excluding those guilty of the first two points, murderers and convicted of repeated robbery; those nobles who did not appear for the review at the appointed time were also forgiven.
On the same day, at the end of the second hour, Peter demanded paper, began to write, but the pen fell out of his hands, from what was written they could only make out the words "give everything ...", then he ordered his daughter Anna Petrovna to be called so that she wrote under his dictation but when she approached him, he could not say a word. The next day, January 28, at the beginning of the sixth hour in the afternoon, Peter the Great died. Catherine was with him almost incessantly; She closed his eyes."
I ask the reader to pay attention to two LAST MOMENT phenomena in this drama. Peter at the last moment cannot write the name of the heir, although before that he can write, and then he cannot pronounce this ill-fated name, although before that he speaks freely, calls his daughter.
Solovyov, like Karamzin before him, wrote an enormous work on the history of Russia. But Karamzin ended his "History of the Russian State" with a description of the events of the early seventeenth century. Therefore, the primary sources on the history of the XVII-XVIII centuries. (where the life of Peter the Great fits in completely) was raised by Solovyov in his 29-volume History of Russia from Ancient Times. And all subsequent historians were mainly engaged in rewriting the history of Solovyov in other words, clarifying and supplementing something.
Therefore, we will cite here mainly the work of Sergei Mikhailovich. True, Solovyov lived and worked in a country headed by people who were considered descendants of Peter I and Catherine I, and, naturally, could not describe all the unpleasant moments, the whole wrong side of the relationship of the crowned couple. The quote from Solovyov's work begins with "troubles from the Mons story." This is how the historian himself describes the "Mons story".
"Catherine's coronation took place in Moscow with great celebration on May 7, 1724. But six months later, Catherine experienced a terrible nuisance: the favorite and ruler of her patrimonial office, chamberlain Mons, brother of the famous Anna Mons, was captured and executed.
On November 14, 1724, the Supreme Court sentenced Mons to death for the following guilt:
1) took the village of Orsha with the villages from Princess Praskovya Ivanovna under the jurisdiction of the Empress's patrimonial office and took the quitrent for himself.
2) For the refusal of that village, he sent the former prosecutor of the Voronezh court court, Kutuzov, and then sent him to the estates of the Nizhny Novgorod empress to be searched, without demanding him from the Senate.
3) He took 400 rubles from the peasant of the village of Toninsky Solenikov for making him a groom in the village of Her Majesty, and this Solenikov is not a peasant, but a townsman.
Together with Mons, his sister, Matryona Balk, was caught, who was beaten with a whip and exiled to Tobolsk; secretary Mons Stoletov, who, after being whipped, was exiled to Rogervik to hard labor for 10 years; the well-known jester of the footman Ivan Balakirev, who was beaten with batogs and exiled to Rogervik for three years. Balakirev was read the following verdict: “Because you, serving from the service and from the engineering teaching, took on buffoonery and through that Vilim Mons achieved His Imperial Majesty to the court, and during that time at the court in bribes served Vilim Mons and Yegor Stoletov.” (S. Solovyov "History of Russia since ancient times")
The description is very boring and reserved. From it it turns out that a certain bribe-taker Mons, who was the ruler of the estates of the empress, was executed. Moreover, the fault of this Mons clearly does not deserve the death penalty, the maximum is a prison. And none of Mons's accomplices were executed. But Solovyov has one word that hints at the real reason for the execution of Mons - the FAVORITE of Peter's wife. If we replace the word "favorite" with the word "lover", then we will find the real reason for the execution.
This can be found in other historical testimonies, and they say that shortly before his death, Peter I suspected his wife Catherine of infidelity, in whom he did not have a soul before and whom he did not intend to transfer the throne in the event of his death. When Peter collected sufficient, in his opinion, evidence of his wife's infidelity, he ordered the execution of Mons. And in order not to expose himself as a "horned" spouse in front of foreign courts and his own subjects, he "sewn" Mons with economic crimes, which, if desired, could easily be found in almost every official of those times (and not only those).
They say that before the execution, Mons could not take his eyes off the pole, on which his head was supposed to show off in a few minutes. Catherine did her best to pretend that she was indifferent to the fate of Mons. When he went to the chopping block, she and her daughters learned new dances. After the execution, Peter put the queen in a sleigh and took her to the head of her lover. Ekaterina passed the test - she calmly smiled. Then the head of Mons, sealed in a glass vessel, was placed in her chambers. And Peter at the same time broke the mirror with the words: “Do you see this glass? The contemptuous substance from which it is composed was purified by fire and now serves as an adornment of my palace. But with one stroke of my hand it will again turn into dust, from which it was extracted.” "Is your palace better now?" - Ekaterina found something to answer.
So, pay attention - the events associated with the execution of Mons and the loss of Peter's trust by Catherine took place just two months before the death of the king. In the papers of Mons, facts were also found that compromised Peter's closest associates. Petersburg was waiting for new executions. The names of Menshikov (whom Peter alienated from himself and removed from the post of head of the military department), the tsarist cabinet-secretary Makarov and other associates were called. They said that Peter was going to do with Catherine the same way as the English king Henry VIII with Anne Boleyn, that is, to execute for treason. The courtier Andrey Osterman then took credit for the fact that he persuaded Peter not to cut his wife's head. The argument was this - after that, not a single decent European prince would marry Catherine's daughters. But even with this - the most successful - outcome, the lot of Catherine in the near future remained a monastery with prison conditions.
Here the example of the first wife of Peter - Evdokia Lopukhina is indicative. When the king began to walk with Anna Mons, she staged a scene of jealousy and forbade him to come to her bedroom. Peter only needed this - he quickly divorced the queen and imprisoned her in a monastery. A few words must also be said about this woman, because in historiography she is incorrectly presented as a downtrodden old Russian woman who does not stick her nose out of the girl's room and is engaged only in children and housework. Such a representation is incorrect. In modern terms, Evdokia was the winner of the beauty contest "Miss Queen - 1689".
As some sources indicate, Peter chose her from the many noble beauties who were brought to Moscow for royal matchmaking. According to other sources, Peter married Evdokia on the advice of his mother, but in any case there is no doubt that the queen was a beautiful, well-read girl with a very domineering character, and certainly did not plan a monastic career for herself. And she did not miss the monastery for long - soon she turned up a major (according to other sources - a captain) Stepan Glebov, who became her lover. Not only Peter to have extramarital affairs! When Peter learned about the adventures of his ex-wife, he made the conditions of her detention prison and decided to get a confession from Glebov.
Here is what contemporaries report about this: “Undoubtedly, Glebov had a love affair with Tsarina Evdokia. This was proved to him by the testimony of witnesses and the empress’s intercepted letters to him. But, despite this evidence, he invariably continued to deny the accusations. He remained firm in his testimony and he never made the slightest accusation against the honor of the empress, which he defended even during the most various tortures to which he was subjected by order and in the presence of the king. These tortures lasted for six weeks and were the most cruel to which criminals are subjected, wanting to wrest from but all the cruelty of the king, reaching the point that the prisoner was forced to walk on boards studded with iron points, was in vain.
During the execution on Moscow Square, the tsar approached the victim and conjured him with all the most holy things in religion, to confess his crime and think about the fact that he would soon have to appear before God. The sentenced man turned his head carelessly towards the king and replied in a contemptuous tone: “You must be as stupid as a tyrant if you think that now, after I have not confessed to anything even under the most unheard of tortures that you have inflicted on me "I will dishonor a decent woman, and this at the hour when I have no more hope of staying alive. Go, monster," he added, spitting in his face, "get out and let those who you did not give the opportunity to live in peace die in peace ".
Although about Glebov, the testimony of sources is contradictory. There is evidence that he was tortured not to confess a love affair with the queen, but the names of accomplices in preparing a coup d'état. But one way or another, the life of the former queen changed dramatically.
Here is the testimony of an associate of Peter I: "She was imprisoned within the four walls of the Shlisselburg fortress, after she had to endure condemnation and death in her prison only son Alexei Petrovich, the death of his brother Abram Lopukhin, who was beheaded in a large Moscow square, as well as the death of his lover Glebov, who was impaled in the same square on charges of treason ...
She stayed in this prison from 1719 until May 1727. And her only company and only assistant was an old dwarf, who was put in prison with her to cook food and wash clothes. It was too little help and often useless. Sometimes she was even a burden, since several times the queen was forced, in turn, to take care of the dwarf herself, when the ailments of this unfortunate creature did not allow her to do anything. "(Franz Villebois" Tales of the Russian Court ")
In such conditions, she lived until the death of her rival Catherine I, then she tried to free herself from monasticism, to become regent of the throne with her young grandson, but no luck. She also survived her grandson. Evdokia died in 1731 from longing, 62 years old.
And here is an example of Peter's attitude towards his daughters from Catherine - Anna and Elizabeth. Eyewitnesses indicate that Peter was greatly enraged by the testimony of Mons, and because of this, attacks of his anger became dangerous for everyone who crossed his path. In this state, he almost killed his own daughters. The king's face kept cramping, sometimes he took out his hunting knife and, in the presence of his daughters, beat them on the table and wall, pounded his feet and waved his arms. As he left, he slammed the door so hard that it shattered.
It is clear that the first son of the royal family, Alexei Petrovich, who grew up among such passions, could not inflame with special love for his stern father, could not forgive him for his mother’s imprisonment in a monastery, for which he paid with his life.
Add to this the unenviable fate of Peter's mistress, Mary Hamilton, who was executed in 1719. Peter himself carefully escorted the dressed-up beauty to the chopping block, and until the last minute she hoped for pardon, remembering the words of her lover that the hand of the executioner would not touch her. The hand did not touch ... the ax touched. Peter raised his mistress's head and began to lecture the audience on anatomy, showing the blood vessels and vertebrae. He did not miss a single opportunity to enlighten his "dark" people. Then he crossed himself, kissed his pale lips, and threw his head into the dirt... The head of Maria Hamilton kept in alcohol for a long time was kept in the Kunstkamera, along with the head of the unlucky Mons. Catherine II ordered to bury the heads.
I specifically dwell on the fate of people close to Peter, not to mention outsiders. Contemporaries had nothing against the fact that Peter executed the rebel archers - this was a generally accepted measure at that time. Enlightened Europe was outraged by the fact that the tsar PERSONALLY cut off the heads of archers.
Based on the purpose of the article, I brought together facts that occurred at different times. As a result, Peter the Great appeared as such a monster. He was not a monster, of course, although he was a tough ruler. The picture of executions staged one after another looks impressive, but the fact of the matter is that they are placed artificially. For those 36 years that Peter actually ruled the state, enough facts of repression can be cited, but if we divide them into years of rule, then the number of repressions per year is not so great - it cannot be compared with Ivan the Terrible. In addition, at that time, severe punishments were the norm not only in Asia, but also in enlightened Europe.
I'm not even talking about Henry VIII of England - Bluebeard, who exterminated his wives, priests, mentors, etc. I'm not talking about Charles IX of France with his St. Bartholomew's night, when thousands of Huguenot nobles were killed, whom they themselves invited to the wedding for the sake of reconciliation . Rereading the memoirs of the enlightened Philip de Commines about the war of Charles of Burgundy with Louis IX, I often came across cases of the destruction of entire cities of MY OWN country, and most importantly, what is striking is the everydayness with which the rulers did this, often without any fault of the townspeople, simply for tactical reasons.
Let's say the king of France learned that the English king was advised to capture the cities of E and Saint-Valery in order to arrange a winter quarters in them. The King of France does not hesitate for a second to burn down his own cities so that the British do not winter in them. And so it goes throughout the book.
And here is an example of another king. An older contemporary of Peter I, Louis XIV - the "Sun King" could leave a person for LIFE imprisonment in prison only because he cared for a sick prisoner for several days. What if this prisoner managed to give out some secret to his temporary cellmate?
Against the background of the morals of that time, Peter does not look like such a harsh ruler, if only because he knew how to forgive minor offenses, but only to THOSE people whom he considered useful for the country. Peter limited torture. Yes, and he punished, as a rule, FOR THE CASE, and not just like that. When we learn from the media that a mother strangled her newborn child, what do we say about such mothers? Usually the next thing is "to kill such a few." Maria Hamilton was executed precisely because she strangled her newborn child, plus she turned out to be a thief. Peter executed her reluctantly - he was only fulfilling the duty of the ruler. Before the execution, he told her: “Without violating the Divine and State laws, I cannot save you from death.
So, accept the execution and believe that God will forgive you of your sins, pray only to him with repentance and faith. "And Monsu said -" I'm sorry for you, I'm very sorry, but there's nothing to do, you need to be executed ... "Still - not enough the fact that he set the "horns" to the tsar, he also turned out to be a thief. The investigation came to the tricks of Glebov and Evdokia during the investigation of a conspiracy in which Glebov was involved. Tsarevich Alexei was also involved in anti-state activities, and the archers generally raised an anti-government armed uprising. power will remain power until then if it knows how to defend itself.At that time (as well as now) other methods of protection, except for executions and prisons, the power did not know.
So, let's analyze the psychological state of Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna at the end of 1724. It is not difficult to do this. What must a man, elevated from the bottom to the pinnacle of power, be thinking, sitting in a luxurious palace among obsequious servants and looking at his lover's head floating in a jar of alcohol? After all, she swims there through her fault. Maybe ... Mons is Mons - he is a man ... But the head of Maria Hamilton, Peter's mistress, the closest friend of Catherine herself (it was Maria who robbed her) is also floating somewhere in alcohol ...
But okay, Hamilton - she was not an official wife ... The official (much more official) wife Evdokia was in prison, her own son was in the next world ... That is, Catherine should not have seen the most rosy future for herself. And although I really don’t like it when writers describe the thoughts of historical figures, say, Napoleon or Stalin (it seems that they know these thoughts), Catherine’s feelings at that time are obvious, since they stem from universal human behavior. And she was not such an extraordinary person, so as not to worry about herself and her children in that situation.
Now let's follow another chain of events. The first was the murder of the heir to the throne, Alexei, by decree of Peter in 1718. The second event was the publication in 1722 of Peter's decree on succession to the throne. The decree begins like this: "Because everyone knows what kind of Absalomian anger our son Alexei was arrogant ...". Proceeding from this very "Absalomian anger" of his son, Peter actually canceled the right to the throne of his son Alexei and his grandson - Peter. Because by decree the king had the right to appoint his heir himself. Thus, the old, illuminated by tradition, procedure for the transfer of royal power from the father to the eldest son was canceled, and in the event of the death of the eldest son - to the grandson (if the grandson was absent, the throne passed to younger son etc.).
Now the throne could go to Peter Alekseevich only if he managed to please his grandfather. And although in the eyes of the whole country he was the only legitimate heir, in the churches the royal family was commemorated as follows: “The most pious sovereign of our Peter the Great, emperor and autocrat of all Russia, our most pious great sovereign Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna. Feodorovna. And the noble Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich. And the noble princesses of the Grand Duchesses. That is, Peter stood below his aunts-princesses.
The third event, which we have already mentioned, is the coronation of Catherine as an independent empress, which took place six months before Peter convicted his wife of treason. That is, if something happened to Peter, then the former maid would have a great chance to bypass Peter's grandson and become an autocratic empress, referring to the fact that she was ALREADY an empress and became her by the will of Peter.
After all, despite the fact that Catherine was on the verge of death, OUTSIDE, she was still the empress. So Catherine faced a dilemma - either death / monastery (if Peter lives), or autocratic power over one of the greatest countries in the world if Peter dies.
If only Catherine faced such a dilemma, then it would be half the trouble. But the same dilemma faced Menshikov, who, for all his shortcomings, cannot be called stupid. He was an intelligent, active, courageous man, who STILL had enormous power, especially in the guards. And if you psychologically put yourself in the place of Menshikov and Ekaterina, you can easily reproduce the general train of their thoughts. I will add that none of them was burdened with special moral principles.
Now another distraction. Let's fast forward 228 years - from January St. Petersburg to March Moscow. Some historians consider Stalin's death to be violent, citing appropriate arguments for this. Like, the chief of the leader’s security suddenly sent his subordinates to rest, referring to the order of Comrade Stalin, and the members of the Politburo did not call the doctors for a long time, saying that Comrade Stalin was just fast asleep, etc., etc. But it is difficult to prove the violent nature of Stalin’s death, harder than the violent death of Peter the Great.
A seventy-four-year old man could die simply from old age, besides, a year before his death, Stalin quit smoking, and giving up such a long-term habit, from such a sedative as a smoking pipe, could hardly have a positive effect on health. And who knows - did not Stalin allow people sitting directly outside his door to rest before. Indeed, along the perimeter of the cottage and on its territory there were still many armed guards. And the members of the Politburo could really be afraid to disturb the sleep of the all-powerful ruler. But nevertheless, one cannot immediately exclude the fact that Stalin was "helped" to die.
Indeed, shortly before his death, Stalin began to collect accusatory data in relation to Beria, to his bloody activities as head of the security and internal affairs agencies. Beria had many faithful people and could do something through them to save his life. Despite the seeming thoroughness, the protection of the Soviet leaders was, in my opinion, not entirely thought out. Guarded and serviced by their units of security agencies. And thus the head of these bodies acquired special power - the life of the carriers of the highest power depended on him. And this is in addition to the opportunities that gave control over the security of the country. The protection of the top leadership, in my opinion, should be handled by a separate (albeit small) unit, which is not subordinate to anyone except the first person of the country.
I turned to the example of Stalin in order to show that, unlike Peter, he had a better understanding of the characters of people. Those historians who believe that Stalin was killed unanimously point out that his death was caused by the fact that in the last years of his life he removed many years of assistants from himself - the head of his office, Lieutenant General A.N. Poskrebyshev, head of security, Lieutenant General N.S. Vlasik. And I, on the contrary, believe that such steps were absolutely correct. Since the death of Stalin could be threatened at that time only from the NEAREST ENVIRONMENT. And he took steps to replace this environment. In addition, Stalin removed Beria from the direct leadership of security and internal affairs leaving behind him the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Perhaps Stalin simply did not have time to complete the next "update" of his inner circle.
Another thing is Peter. If in relation to Menshikov he acted in much the same way as Stalin in relation to Beria (he left him in power for the time being, but deprived him of direct leadership of the military department), then in relation to other close people he did not show such diligence. But in vain. At the end of 1724, almost everyone with access to the tsar's life support was interested in his death. After all, when it became obvious that the queen was unfaithful to him, the emperor's gaze had to inevitably turn towards his grandson, Peter Alekseevich, as the only possible heir to the throne. Judge for yourself - after what happened, he could not appoint Catherine as his heiress.
Firstly, Peter was very jealous, and did not forgive betrayals. Secondly, in accordance with traditional monarchical ideas, the betrayal of the wife of the monarch was equated with treason. Thirdly, many documents were found in the papers of Mons, which revealed the huge abuses of the queen and her entourage. That is, it smelled not only of amorous, but also of direct treason. Peter could not transfer the throne to his daughter Anna because she was betrothed to the duke of Holstein. In addition, Anna officially renounced her right to the Russian throne.
Another daughter - Elizabeth - Peter perceived as a frivolous person and not ready for rule. In addition, they planned to marry her to the King of France, Louis XV, and the youngest daughter could not become an empress at sixteen, bypassing her mother and older sister. This would greatly complicate her rule, and the same Menshikov would seize real power. Plus, both daughters, as we already wrote, were considered illegitimate in the eyes of the people (and besides, Germans) and did not have the sacred right to the throne. And most importantly, they were very close to Catherine, and their mother's betrayal sharply dropped their prestige in the eyes of their father.
So, there was only one contender. The one who would soon become Peter II. Firstly, the ten-year-old boy has not yet done anything to earn his grandfather's dislike. Yes, he was the son of the traitor Alexei, but the wound inflicted by Alexei on Peter the Great had already healed, moreover, Peter the grandson did not know either his father or mother, he grew up an orphan, and this was his advantage over the princesses. Secondly, Peter Jr. grew up in new Russia, from childhood he was surrounded by his grandfather's associates and he could see in his grandson the successor of his business (certainly no worse than Catherine and the princesses).
Thirdly, all of Russia considered the boy the natural heir to the throne. And contemporaries unanimously point out that Peter the Great always hesitated in relation to his grandson and from time to time showed him a strong disposition. Naturally, in 1724, the hesitation should have ended, and Peter had to stop at the candidacy of his grandson as heir. But Peter the grandson lived separately from his grandfather, had his own environment, so people from the environment of Peter the Great could fear that with the coming to power of Peter II and the return to active work of Peter the Great's first wife, Evdokia, they would lose their influence. And some of them (participants in the murder of the father of the heir and son of Evdokia - Alexei) were afraid to lose their lives.
Thus, Catherine, Anna, Elisaveta, Menshikov, Makarov (Peter's secretary, through whom official documents passed - pay attention to this!) And the numerous servants surrounding the king, including cooks and doctors, were interested in the immediate death of Peter the Great. And there is nothing surprising in the fact that the death of Peter I soon came. The opposite would be surprising. Of course, I am far from blaming everyone, it is unlikely that 16-year-old Elizabeth and most of the palace servants were privy to something.
But the situation developed in such a way that it would be easy to formulate a small liquidation brigade from the people of the tsar's inner circle, depriving uninitiated persons of access to him under one pretext or another. So, we know that during an illness Tolstoy, Golovnin, Apraksin were allowed to visit the tsar, but Yaguzhinsky and Osterman were not allowed in so as not to tire the monarch. This is the testimony of the French envoy Campredon - Tolstoy and Golovnin, admitted to Peter, were fierce supporters of Catherine's accession. With Apraksin it is more difficult - there were two brothers. One was for Catherine, the other for Peter the grandson. Which one was let in, do you think?
Now consider how exactly events could develop. I offer four options, arranging them in descending order of criminality.
1) Peter the Great was poisoned by the people closest to him. Possibly poisoned DURING THE ILLNESS that began regardless of the will of the poisoners.
2) These closest people, knowing that the king had bouts of illness from time to time, decided to wait for one of the attacks and took him to the grave with the wrong treatment, depriving the uninitiated doctors of the conspiracy of doctors from accessing Peter.
3) The inner circle seized on the king’s illness, like a drowning man at a straw, and then the same as in the second paragraph: taking advantage of the helpless state of the king, they sent him to the next world. Psychologically, it would be more accurate to say not "sent", but pushed the king to the grave.
4) The illness and death of Peter had a natural character, but the tsar's entourage falsified his last will, preventing the transfer of the throne to the rightful heir, Peter Alekseevich.
As you can see, I completely exclude only the fifth, most "non-criminal" option, with the famous words "give everything away ...". With a numb hand and voice. That is, the version that, with the light hand of the historian Solovyov, became official and textbook, and now roams through all textbooks.
How did Solovyov's version appear? Its main source was the "Notes" of the chief assistant of the Duke of Holstein - Bassevich, which we mentioned in the biography of the Duke. And even before Solovyov, Bassevich's materials were used by the famous Voltaire. They also cite a report by the Saxon diplomat I. Lefort that at night Peter I wanted to write something, he took a pen, wrote a few words, but they could not be made out. As already mentioned, Bassevich is a person extremely interested in the accession of Catherine I, and therefore his testimony should be treated very carefully. And the Saxon clearly learned everything he reported from third or fourth hands. Thus, the question arises - why did such an insightful historian Solovyov take such dubious testimony of the Holstein minister on faith? We will answer this question before we object to Solovyov and Bassevich on the merits.
To understand Solovyov's credulity towards Bassevich's version, it is necessary to say a few words about the historian himself. Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov was born in 1820 in the family of a priest and teacher of the Law of God, that is, he clearly did not belong to the top of society. And only thanks to his talent and hard work he reached very high government positions. Solovyov became a doctor of sciences at the age of 27, at 30 - an ordinary professor, at 51 - the rector of the Moscow state university, one of the leading universities in the country, at the age of 52 - an academician. He was also the dean of the Faculty of History, director of the Armory. Solovyov taught students, gave public lectures, was engaged in social activities, closely followed all the novelties in the field of literature, history, historiography, political science, geography ...
And despite this, he managed to write many historical works, including the colossal 29-volume History of Russia from Ancient Times. This work was written from 1851 until the death of the scientist in 1879. Of course, such a career tsarist Russia could do not just a talented and hardworking person. It also required a certain loyalty to the authorities. And Russia in the time of Solovyov was headed by the descendants of Catherine I and her daughter Anna Petrovna. These were Anna's great-grandchildren - Alexander I (ruled from 1801 to 1825), Nicholas I (ruled from 1825 to 1856) and great-great-grandson - Alexander II (ruled from 1856 to 1881). Moreover, please note that the throne was handed over to Anna's descendants by her sister (another daughter of Catherine I) Elisaveta Petrovna. That is, Russia, at the time when Solovyov wrote his work, was ruled by the descendants of people who in 1725 fought desperately with the grandson of Peter the Great - Peter II. And although Peter II later briefly took the throne, he failed to secure his offspring on it, since he died at less than 15 years old.
Of course, such a scientist as Solovyov would not falsify history to please the kings, but he did not ask for trouble. Remember, speaking of Mons, he called him not a lover, but a favorite of the great-great-great-grandmother of the tsars Catherine I, that is, he seemed to have told the truth, and did not offend the tsars and grand dukes. In other words, Solovyov was as free during his work as any Soviet historian, writing history CPSU. Yes, he could find and introduce new facts and documents into historical circulation, discover new biographies, clarify details - all this was welcomed by the authorities. But he had to work only in the political direction that was set from above. The Soviet historian would not be allowed to criticize the party and Lenin, and Solovyov was not free to write about the deeds of the Romanovs.
Yes, of course, at that time a liberal professorial anti-government opposition had already begun to form, and Sergei Mikhailovich himself was by no means of the most conservative views. But frankly anti-government professors in those days could be counted on the fingers, and they were constantly trying to deprive the department, and were not appointed teachers of the Grand Dukes. In addition, there was such a thing as censorship, and if Solovyov were objectionable to the authorities, then they would not publish every year according to that of his "History ...".
We know that historians, starting with Karamzin, were allowed to criticize the kings, but not the ancestors of the royal dynasty.
So, the entourage of Nicholas (then not yet the emperor) grumbled when Karamzin described the atrocities of Ivan the Terrible - they say, is it really possible to write about the Tsars like that ... But, on the other hand, a description of the atrocities of the penultimate and frank inability to rule the last of the Rurikids (Tsar Fedor Ioannovich) to show readers that ancient dynasty degenerated, and the accession of the Romanovs was a natural continuation of Russian history - despite the fact that there were a lot of descendants of Rurik in Russia (including the liberator of Moscow - Prince Pozharsky). And when Pushkin, in his brilliant work "Boris Godunov," writes about the Romanovs as the hope of the fatherland, he works precisely in this format. Indeed, how could Solovyov tell the tsars - the same Alexander II: "Not only your great-grandmother Catherine II killed your great-grandfather Peter III, but your great-great-great-grandmother Catherine I also killed your great-great-great-grandfather Peter I." How can the king look people in the eyes later, having such bloodthirsty grandmothers?
"King. Behind the wall, such things are done that it can be scary yourself. You know, I suppose, what a royal palace is? Behind the wall, people crush each other, cut brothers, strangle sisters ... In a word, everyday, everyday life goes on." (E. Schwartz "Ordinary Miracle")
Solovyov's interests (not to "hang" Peter's murder on Catherine) coincided with Bassevich's interests. After all, if Peter calls exactly Anna, then after the words "Give everything ..." logically, you should put "...Anna." Anna is the wife of the Duke of Holstein, whose interests Bassevich then defended fanatically. He would have added the duke as an heir, but no one would have believed it.
Let us now consider the objections to Solovyov's version on the merits. First, let's cite a quote taken from the same "History ..." by Solovyov, which deals with the events that occurred two years after the death of Peter, before the death of his wife and successor Catherine I. Then there was the question of who would inherit Catherine herself: her with Peter's daughters - Anna and Elizabeth, or the grandson of Peter the Great and his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina - Peter Alekseevich. It was at this time that Menshikov went over to the side of Peter, deciding to intermarry with him. "It remained to obtain the consent of the Empress for the marriage of the Grand Duke with Princess Menshikov.
His Serene Highness took advantage of the fact that his daughter was conspired for the Polish native of Count Sapieha, but the Empress took this groom for her niece Skavronskaya, and Menshikov began to ask for consent to marry his daughter with the Grand Duke. The Empress agreed. Is it necessary to explain this consent by one decline in moral strength in Catherine, which was reported by some foreign ministers her courts, or did Catherine see the impossibility of removing the Grand Duke from the throne in favor of one of her daughters and thought that she was strengthening their position by connecting with the future emperor a person whose gratitude she had the right to count on?
Be that as it may, the matter was decided in March 1727, and this decision horrified the crown princes and their followers. Both princesses (Anna and Elisaveta - S.A.) rushed to the feet of their mother, conjuring her to think about the disastrous consequences of her step: Tolstoy came to their aid with his ideas: he spoke about the danger that the empress exposes her children and her own faithful servants; threatened that the latter, not being able to be useful to her from now on, would be forced to leave her; he himself would rather put his life in danger than calmly wait for the terrible consequences of her consent to Menshikov's request.
Catherine defended herself, saying that she could not change the word given for family reasons, and the marriage of the Grand Duke to Menshikova would not change her intentions regarding the succession to the throne, secret for everyone. Despite the fact that Tolstoy's performances made a strong impression on Catherine, the duke of Holstein began to hope for victory; Tolstoy's speech was put on paper: Bassevich carried it in his pocket and read it to everyone. But the joy was short-lived: Menshikov had a second secret audience, and the matter was finally decided. "(S. Solovyov "History of Russia since ancient times")
That is, we see with what horror, even two years after the death of Peter the Great, Catherine, her daughters, the Duke of Holstein perceive the news of the appointment of the grandson of Peter I as the heir. But all these people surrounded Peter at the time of his death. And now re-read the text of the same Solovyov about the death of Peter the Great given at the beginning of the article and imagine for a second if Peter had written "Give everything to his grandson - Peter Alekseevich" or dictated the same name to Anna, the same Anna who (justifiably or not - another question) even two years later she saw her death in Peter the Second, and on her knees she asked her mother not to transfer the throne to him.
Do you really think that such people would calmly retire from power, leave the palace and announce the last will of Peter the Great? It is unlikely, most likely they would have informed others that the seriously ill Peter died without appointing an heir, and Catherine would rule as a person crowned by Peter himself. If you still doubt that the entourage of Peter the Great would not have allowed the transfer of power to his grandson, then I bring to your attention one more scene dating from January 1725. The main source here is the same Bassevich.
During the illness of the king, on the orders of Menshikov, the palace was surrounded by guards. The senators, generals, boyars who came to the palace were told that the treasury, the fortress, the guards and the synod were at the disposal of the empress. Her opponents were advised to reckon with this, if they value their heads. Following this, the drums of the Guards regiments surrounded the palace were heard. That is, we see what kind of psychological (threatening to turn into physical) pressure was subjected to the supporters of Catherine's supporters of Peter II. How actively and uncompromisingly they acted. Would these people have read Peter's will in favor of his grandson? Of course not.
The same Bassevich writes that in addition to the words "give everything away ..." there were others, but they could not make out. Of course, they “couldn’t make out” the name “Peter Alekseevich”, if there was the name of Catherine, I’m sure they would have taken it apart without difficulty, and then they wouldn’t have to resort to such extraordinary measures that are more reminiscent of a coup d’état than the legal transfer of the throne. But why didn't they then make a false testament of Peter in favor of Catherine? It is unlikely that there was not a single craftsman in Menshikov’s entourage to forge handwriting ... But in those conditions when everyone knew about the break between the emperor and his wife, no one would have believed such a paper, they could have been accused of forgery - and such a paper was not needed after how the tsar officially crowned Catherine. The main thing is to prevent the appearance of a decree of another kind. The tsarist power was of such a nature that the autocrat could, with a stroke of the pen, cancel all the laws of the empire, including his past decrees.
Let us take a closer look at Solovyov's text about last days life of Peter. We see that Peter gives state orders, which, as expected, are carried out, but for some reason he wants to write the main order himself. Is there not a single literate person near him? Moreover, usually the kings only SIGNED the text written by the staff of the apparatus, and did not write the entire text of the decree with their own hand. Even when he was healthy, the king dictated, edited, but the rough work - writing - was done by others. Problem.
Further - I could write two words, but I could not write the most important thing ... This is possible, of course, in life, but it is too unlikely. Moreover, if you could not write - dictate in front of witnesses. Instead, he does another stupid thing - he calls Anna. I would like to declare her heiress, I would say something like this: "Give everything to Anna and call her to listen to my last parting words." So no, he needed Anna only as a secretary. Moreover, someone, and Peter perfectly understood that such a "secretary" would rather swallow the text of the decree than announce it if the decree says about the transfer of the throne to her nephew Peter Alekseevich.
Another unlikely event follows. As soon as Anna came, Peter lost his voice. There was just a voice - and then the king swallowed like a tongue, and even lost consciousness. Anything can happen in life, but such a series of coincidences ... There is clearly an evil will, and not a game of chance. Add to this the third coincidence - the very death of Peter, which happened immediately after he found out about the infidelity of his loved ones ...
It is immeasurably more difficult to believe in such a chain of accidents than in the fact that there were no accidents. There was a clear chain of events flowing from one another, and they did not occur in the way Solovyov described. Pay attention to the fact that Catherine was with Peter without a break, and she also closed his eyes (I willingly believe in this). Peter could not dictate anything to Catherine with all his desire - there is every reason to believe that she never learned to write.
But if his last will had been expressed in favor of Catherine, it would not have been necessary to draw her name with a weakening hand or call Anna. The decree would be written, signed and announced for a sweet soul. There is, of course, a low probability that Peter nevertheless decided to transfer the throne to Anna, and while they were running after the heiress, her mother killed her father so that he could not tell her name. But this is unlikely. Anna's reign did not threaten Catherine and Menshikov with anything bad. In any case, Catherine would have remained Empress Dowager, and Menshikov, having the guards at hand, would have actually ruled on behalf of both empresses. Yes, and Peter would not transfer the throne to the wife of a foreign duke, because he forced Anna to abdicate, already WHEN KNOWING ABOUT THE CASE OF MONS. Why would he suddenly change his mind? But he removed his grandson from the throne, when he DID NOT KNOW YET about Katya's adventures with Mons - and this is the whole difference.
We will not speculate anything. The sources cited by us vaguely hint at the presence of some kind of mysterious document, they say that Peter wrote something, but what is not clear. In addition, to this day the legend of a certain hidden testament of Peter is alive. From our analysis it follows that such a document could only be an act on the transfer of power to Peter II. Any other concealment would not be subject to.
Sergey Aksyonenko
The first Russian emperor is credited with an extremely active sex life and, as a result, death from venereal diseases.
On January 28, 1725, the first Russian emperor, Peter I, died in the Winter Palace. The 53-year-old ruler did not leave a single official heir, and there are many legends around the causes of the emperor’s death - from flu complications to venereal diseases. Why did Peter, known for his turbulent personal life, have no heirs and what versions of his death exist.
"Screamed, then wheezed"
L!FE collage. Photo: wikipedia.org
“The Tsar screamed in pain for several days, and then wheezed, exhausted,” such stories about the last days of Peter were passed from mouth to mouth in the 18th century.
The most common version of the death of Peter I belongs to the memoirist Yakov Shtelin. According to it, Peter, returning from a trip to Shlisselburg to the Ladoga Canal and Staraya Russa, on November 5, found a stranded boat with soldiers, sailors, women and children near Lahti, and began to save them. The emperor himself stood waist-deep in icy water for several hours, as a result of which he caught a cold. After that, the emperor did not begin to be treated, but only started the situation with constant trips in cold weather and a complete lack of concern for his own health.
The legend became widespread in modern Russia also because it found the support of the historian Sergei Solovyov.
True, it is refuted by entries in the travel journal of Peter I himself, as well as entries in the diary of the chamber junker Friedrich Berchholtz. So, the emperor returned to St. Petersburg a week earlier than these events. In November, the tsar was present at divine services, weddings and name days.
- After dinner, the emperor safely returned to St. Petersburg, but the day before, on his way back from Dubki, he was in great danger on the water during the raging strong storm, and one of his ships was lost, so that only two people managed to escape from it by swimming, - such is the entry in Berchholtz's diary of November 2. Peter himself was not harmed.
Syphilis
L!FE collage. Photo: RIA Novosti flickr/Internet Archive Book Images
The second, less heroic version of Peter's death is described by Kazimir Valishevsky (thus, who wrote that Catherine II died of ruptured organs after having sex with a horse). The historian in the book "Peter the Great" stated: "On September 8, 1724, the diagnosis of the disease was finally revealed: it was sand in the urine, complicated by the return of a poorly healed venereal disease."
The famous Soviet historian Mikhail Pokrovsky clung to this version and ruled out kidney disease, leaving only syphilis. "Peter died, as is known, from the effects of syphilis, which he most likely received in Holland and was poorly cured by the then doctors," he wrote.
Assumptions of this kind are based on the reports of the French ambassador Jacques de Campredon.
“The king is still suffering from urinary retention. True, because of this illness he does not lie, but it still prevents him from doing business. They assure that this disease is insignificant, but the persons closest to his royal majesty and with whom I maintain constant relations are afraid of its consequences, he noted.
Later, the Italian doctor Azarini, who was summoned by Peter, confirmed that the king really had a long-standing venereal disease, which was not completely cured. After the death of the first Russian emperor, Campredon reported that "an old and poorly cured syphilis served as the source of the disease."
Note that only one diplomat out of all those accredited at the Russian court reported about such a diagnosis to Peter. It is unlikely that the rest would have missed such juicy information.
Gangrene
In general, the version is considered an anecdote that Shtelin spread. However, Peter's detractors discussed this joke as a real fact.
- In the month of December, his condition had already become so dangerous and burning during internal parts bubble so noticeable that from day to day they feared Antonov fire. On January 28, 1725, he emitted his heroic spirit. At the autopsy of the imperial body, they found completely Antonov fire (gangrene) in parts near the bladder and it was so swollen and hardened that it was difficult to cut it with an anatomical knife, he wrote in Genuine Anecdotes from the Life of Peter the Great Heard from Noble Persons in Moscow and St. Petersburg".
kidney disease
L!FE collage. Photo: RIA Novosti wikipedia.org
The writer Feofan Prokopovich claims that Peter died as a result of kidney disease, which resulted in obstruction of urine.
So, according to the writer, the emperor felt unwell at the end of 1723, and in February 1724 he went to the waters for treatment. In the summer, the ruler went to the Ugodsky factories, where he received mineral water.
After that, he returned to the capital, the doctors observed a temporary improvement, which was replaced by exacerbations.
- It became difficult to defecate, a terrible pain began, a patient and generous husband in other cases (Peter. - Note. ed.) could not restrain himself from screaming,” wrote Prokopovich.
It is possible that he set out the version of the death of the king, which was supposed to be disseminated in society. However, there is another confirmation of it in the Tsar's Travel Journal. Who exactly left the record is not known for certain.
— on the 28th. At the 6 o'clock in the afternoon, in the 1st quarter, His Imperial Majesty Peter the Great passed away from this world from illness, constipation of urine, she says.
The author of The History of Medicine in Russia, Wilhelm Richter, also suggested that death occurred as a result of "inflammation of the bladder, which turned into gangrene, and from retention of urine." In 1970, doctors at the Dermatovenerological Institute in Moscow concluded that Peter suffered from a malignant disease of the prostate or bladder, or from urolithiasis.
I am the emperor! I do what I want
L!FE collage. Photo: RIA Novosti
After the death of Peter, the question arose: who is the king now? Indeed, in a fit of anger and fear, fearing that the opponent of his undertakings would put on the crown, the first Russian emperor turned the procedure of succession to the throne upside down.
If earlier the throne passed from the king to the eldest son, then by decree of 1722 the emperor personally appointed the heir. He could change his mind if the successor did not live up to expectations. After accusing his eldest son of treason and (according to legend) his own execution in 1718, Peter I himself asked himself the question: to whom, in fact, should the throne be transferred?
Not a single son born in a legal marriage remained alive. Illegitimate children of Peter could not claim the throne. Historian Kazimir Valishevsky does not exclude that the first Russian emperor is the father of a dozen illegitimate children. Allegedly, only Avdotya Chernysheva (before her marriage, Rzhevskaya) gave birth to three sons and four daughters from him. Maria Stroganova is also suspected that her three sons are not from her husband at all. However, there is no evidence for this: officially, Peter had no bastards left. In addition, even if they were, all the same, illegitimate children did not have any rights to the throne.
The closest male relative who could lay claim to the throne is the grandson of Peter I (the son of his executed son). However, this idea categorically did not like the emperor.
Still a woman
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His wife Ekaterina and two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, remained. The attitude towards the first in the state was more than controversial: firstly, a foreigner, and secondly, a former laundress: well, what kind of empress is she? Peter treated his daughters with trepidation, but he did not imagine them with a crown on his head.
According to historians, he nevertheless made the choice in favor of his wife. Catherine had the title of empress as the wife of the ruler of the Russian state, but this seemed not enough to the tsar. He decided to make her a crowned special "regardless of her husband." In 1723, a corresponding manifesto was issued, and on May 7, 1724 (according to the old style), the coronation took place. A solemn dinner was arranged in the Faceted Chamber, where foreign ambassadors used to be received. We got the most expensive furniture, dishes, which is possible. The streets of Moscow were decorated with triumphal arches; fireworks of such a scale had never been seen in Russia before. Especially for the coronation for the Empress, they even brought a carriage from Paris. A crown weighing 1.8 kg, adorned with pearls and precious stones, a feast for all of Moscow...
It is possible that this is just a legend, but Peter's last order was supposedly "Give everything back ..." and with his eyes he was looking for Catherine.
Peter and Catherine left Astrakhan for Moscow at the end of November 1722. Even before they left, it began to snow. The Volga below Tsaritsyn was iced over, and Peter could not set off on the journey in the galleys. Finding a sleigh suitable for the royal cortege was not an easy task, and as a result, the journey took a whole month.
Returning to Moscow, Peter plunged into the pre-Christmas festive atmosphere. The carnival processions during Holy Week surpassed the festivities of the previous year in scope. The Saxon envoy described these celebrations in this way.
Here is a description of our carnival, which ended only yesterday after eight days of festivities: it consisted of a sleigh ride, among the sixty that deserved to be seen. The view was all the more beautiful because it represented a small naval squadron strolling through the streets, for the carriages depicted various types of sea vessels, starting with the frigate in which the king rode, and ending with a small boat. The thread began with a chariot in which Bacchus rode, representing him completely both in dress and appearance, for three days before our trip they took care to bring him into a decent condition. He was followed by His Majesty's jester named Vitashi, dressed as a bear and driven by six cubs, then followed by another sleigh pulled by four pigs, then a Circassian riding ten dogs.
Next came the adjutants of the prince-pope, otherwise the patriarch, including six, people of extremely respectable years, riding in the clothes of cardinals, on bridled and saddled bulls. They were followed in a large chariot by a patriarch in papal garb, lavishly lavishing blessings. He sat on the throne, surrounded by the elect, and in front of Silenus, who accompanied him, sitting on his barrel. The Prince Caesar, the personification of the Tsar of Moscow, followed them with a royal crown, accompanied by two cubs, then they rode in a chariot in the form of a shell, the great Neptune with a trident in his hands and two tritons who served him as pages. Then appeared His Majesty's large double-deck frigate of thirty-two cannons (eight of which were bronze and the rest wooden), three masts with all the gear, flags and sails. The whole ship was about thirty feet long. It was necessary to marvel at the beauty and size of this frigate. His Majesty was dressed as a sailor, representing the captain of a ship. Only six horses pulled this huge machine. Then followed a snake about a hundred feet long with a huge tail, loaded with various people. The tail was made up of twenty-four small sledges, tied one to the other, which writhed. Further on, a huge gilded barge was seen, where Her Majesty the Empress was, dressed as a peasant woman with the whole court and horsemen dressed as Africans. This barge was very beautiful and all decorated with mirrors. Then followed the troupe of Prince Menshikov, dressed with the entire retinue of abbots, accompanied by the barge of Princess Menshikov with a troupe of Spaniards. Then followed a military frigate, where there was an admiral dressed as a Hamburg burgomaster, then the duke's boat rode with a crowd of twenty Holstein peasants and musicians. Then followed the boat of foreign ministers in blue dominoes with all their servants on horseback in the same attire, accompanied by the chariot of the Moldavian ruler, dressed as a Turk under his canopy.
Before leaving Moscow for St. Petersburg, in early March 1723, Peter invited his friends to admire another amazing spectacle - the burning of a wooden palace in Preobrazhensky, the very one where he once hatched secret plans for war against Sweden. The emperor himself placed vessels with multi-colored flammable chemicals on the shelves and closets, and then set fire to the house with a torch. The building immediately burst into flames. The fire was accompanied by many small explosions and colorful flashes. For some time, until the building collapsed, its solid log frame stood out in a clear silhouette against the background of colored flashes. And when only blackened, smoking ruins remained of the house, Peter turned to the Duke of Holstein, the nephew of Charles XII, and said: “This is the image of war: brilliant deeds followed by destruction!” will disappear along with this house, where the first plans against Sweden were developed , every thought that can ever again arm my hand against this state, and let it be the most faithful ally my empire!
In the warm months, Peter spent most of his time in Peterhof. On the advice of his doctor, he drank mineral water and engaged in a variety of physical exercises - mowed the grass and took walks with a satchel on his back. Being on the water still remained his greatest pleasure, and the Prussian ambassador reported that even ministers sometimes could not approach the sovereign. "The Emperor is so engrossed in his villas and sailing in the bay," the diplomat wrote, "that no one has the heart to disturb him."
In June 1723, the entire court, including Tsarina Praskovya, who suffered from severe gout, moved with Peter to Revel. There, by order of the emperor, an exquisite pink palace was erected for Catherine, and a modest three-room house was built nearby for him *.
* The palace in Yekaterineptal near Revel was built by the architect Niccolo Miketgi in 1718-1723.
Catherine's Palace was surrounded by a spacious park, decorated with ponds, fountains and statues, however, going for a walk along its wide alleys, the emperor noted with bewilderment that he was walking alone. Peter soon found out the reason for this - a sentry was standing at the main gate, who was ordered not to let anyone into the park. Peter immediately canceled this order, declaring that he would never set up such a large and expensive garden just for himself and his wife. The next day, drummers walked around the city and informed the residents that the palace park was now open to everyone.
In July, Peter sailed with the fleet to the Baltic, where maneuvers were carried out. In August he returned to Kronstadt. There, a ceremony was held to honor the small boat, which Peter once found rotting in Izmailovo and on which, in the company of Carsten Brant, he took his first sailing lessons on the Yauza. Named "Grandfather of the Russian Navy", the boat was delivered to Kronstadt. There the emperor boarded a small boat, over which the sovereign's standard was flying. Peter steered, and four admirals sat at the oars. The small boat sailed between twenty-two battleships and two hundred galleys lined up in two rows. At a signal given by the monarch, cannon volleys burst from all ships. The fairway was covered with smoke, and only the tops of the masts of the largest ships were visible above the thick curtain. This was followed by a feast that lasted ten hours in a row, and Peter announced that "the idler is the one who does not get drunk that day." The ladies were not released, and the young princesses Anna and Elizaveta carried glasses of Hungarian wine around the guests. The Duchess of Mecklenburg got tipsy, and the other noble guests pretty much went over too much: from drunken tears, hugs and kisses, they imperceptibly moved on to quarrels and skirmishes - not only verbal. Even Peter, who by this time began to drink much less than in his youth, drained a lot of glasses.
In autumn, another masquerade marked the second anniversary of the Peace of Nystadt. Peter dressed up as a Catholic cardinal, then as a Lutheran pastor, borrowing his vestments from a real pastor, then, finally, as an army drummer, and he beat the drum like a real man. For Tsarina Praskovya, this was the last celebration - she died soon after.
In order to restore his body after all these bacchanalia, Peter had to go to the waters - now he drank the “iron waters” recently discovered in Olonets. The emperor often visited Olonets even in winter, when it was possible to ride on Lake Ladoga in a sleigh. Sometimes Catherine accompanied him. Peter argued that Russian mineral waters are better than any German ones, but not everyone agreed with him. Some were worried that the sovereign drank water saturated with metal salts, which could harm rather than help his health. It was also disturbing that Peter did not want to follow the doctor's orders: in the morning he would drink up to twenty-one glasses of mineral water. During his treatment, he was not allowed to eat raw fruits, cucumbers, salted lemons, and Limburg cheese. And yet, despite the ban, Peter once, having drunk healing water, ate a plate of figs and several pounds of cherries. Treatment with water was a monotonous procedure, and in order to dispel boredom, Peter worked every day in a lathe, turning knick-knacks from wood or bone. When the emperor felt strong enough, he went to the forges located nearby, where he beat with pleasure with a hammer.
Peter's two eldest daughters were already approaching marriageable age (in 1722, Anna was fourteen years old, and Elizabeth was thirteen), and like any reasonable monarch, he strove to conclude such marriage unions that would benefit his state. Since his visit to France, he had hoped to marry off one of his daughters (presumably Elizabeth) to the young King Louis XV. Having become related to the House of Bourbons, Peter would not only raise the prestige of Russia, but would also acquire a valuable ally in Europe, capable of serving as a counterbalance to the hostile England. If it had not been possible to arrange a marriage with the king himself, Peter counted on the worst possible outcome of marrying Elizabeth to one of the princes of the French royal house in order to subsequently raise the young couple to the Polish throne. Immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Nystadt and the adoption of the imperial title, Peter proposed this plan to Paris. The French envoy in St. Petersburg Campredon enthusiastically supported this idea. “It is desirable,” he wrote, “to arrange the marriage of the king’s daughter, a very sweet and very pretty person, with one of the French princes, who could easily, and with the power of the king, even probably, could be made the Polish king”
The regent of France, Duke Philippe of Orleans, Peter's plan seemed tempting. Poland could indeed be a useful ally behind Austrian lines. If the emperor is ready to use his influence to put the French prince on the Polish throne, then perhaps it really would not hurt to intermarry with him. True, Philip had some doubts. The origin of Catherine was dark, the story of their wedding with Peter was also surrounded by mystery - all this called into question the legality of the birth of Elizabeth. But the regent overcame his hesitation and even proposed a candidate, the most suitable, in his opinion, for the role of the groom, and therefore the Polish king. Philip's choice fell on his own son, the young Duke of Chatres. When, returning to Persia, Peter learned that France was proposing the candidacy of Shatre, he broke into a smile and said to Campredon: "I know him and appreciate him highly."
However, unfortunately for the contracting parties, there was a serious obstacle to these plans, which it was not in their power to remove. The Polish throne was occupied by the sick fifty-three-year-old Augustus of Saxony. Although at that time he was no longer a friend or ally of Peter, the emperor had no intention of depriving him of the throne by force. Peter offered to marry Shatra with his daughter without delay, and then calmly wait for the death of Augustus and the liberation of the Polish throne. The French, on the contrary, preferred to wait until the prince was elected the Polish king, and only then marry, but this did not suit Peter at all.
“And what if Augustus lives another fifteen years,” the emperor asked. Campredon assured him that this could not be. “In order to bring this event closer,” he urged, “the king of Poland only needs to get a new, frisky, cheerful mistress” *.
* In fact, Augustus lived another ten years and died in 1733 at the age of sixty-three.
In the end, Campredon agreed with Peter's arguments and tried to persuade his government to do the same. He wrote to Paris, praising the virtues of Elizabeth: “Princess Elizabeth is a sweet person in her own right. She can even be called a beauty in view of her slender figure, her complexion, eyes and hands. The faults, if any, can only be in her upbringing and manners. I was assured that she was very intelligent. Therefore, if there is any defect in the above attitude, it can be corrected by appointing to the princess, "if the matter is done, some knowledgeable and skillful person."
And yet the case was upset because of the machinations of the old enemy of Peter George I of England. The Regent of France and his first minister, the Abbé Dubois, made friendship with England the basis of a new foreign policy. Former enemies became close to such an extent that Dubois sent to England, which did not have its own diplomatic representative in Russia, the originals of Campredon's dispatches coming from St. Petersburg, and King George returned them to Paris with his own notes in the margins. George I did not want the strengthening of Russia, Dubois supported him and for some time even left Campredon's messages unanswered. When he nevertheless deigned to answer, he said that, in connection with the objections that had arisen in England, the matter should be postponed and nothing should be done until further instructions were received. The instructions never came. Both the regent and Dubois died before the end of 1723, and Louis XV was declared of age and became the sovereign king of France. The Duke of Shatrsky eventually married a German princess, and Peter's daughter, Elizabeth, was never destined to enter into a legal marriage (although, according to some reports, she secretly married her favorite, the handsome Alexei Razumovsky, who rose from the common people and received the title of count ). Instead of becoming the queen of Poland, she stayed at home in Russia, which she ruled for twenty-one years.
But Peter's plans for his eldest daughter, Princess Anna, soon bore fruit. For several years, the cunning Hertz had nurtured the idea of marrying Anna to his young master, Duke Karl Friedrich. Hertz shared this thought with Peter, and he seized it with joy. In subsequent years, fortune smiled at the young duke, then turned away from him. The duke was a nephew, and the only one, of the childless Charles XII, who brought the young man closer to himself. In Sweden, many believed that it was Karl Friedrich, and not his aunt Ulrika Eleonora and her husband Friedrich of Hesse, who would get the Swedish crown. In 1721, Karl Friedrich came secretly to Russia, hoping to enlist the support of the tsar in his claims to the Swedish throne, and, if possible, to seal the alliance with Peter by marrying one of his daughters. The arrival of the duke in Russia played into the hands of Peter. Ulrika Eleonora and Friedrich regarded the young man's stay in St. Petersburg as a hidden threat, and this prompted them to reconcile with Russia as soon as possible. One of the articles of the Treaty of Nystadt in 1721 contained a promise from Russia not to support the duke's claims to the Swedish throne. Despite the disappointment that befell him, Karl Friedrich remained in Russia. He became Catherine's favorite, took part in all court entertainments, and his small court became the center of attraction for those Swedish officers who, having married Russians, according to Swedish laws, "could return to their homeland with their wives. Gathering at the duke, these restless souls became more and more accustomed to pouring vodka into melancholy, and soon there was a danger that the duke, the only nephew of Charles, who fought side by side with his illustrious uncle, would turn into an idle hanger-on at the Russian court.
However, Karl Friedrich did not give up hope of getting the hand of Princess Anna, tall, dark-haired and attractive, like her mother, a girl who, moreover, was smart, cheerful, well-bred and, appearing in society in a magnificent dress, with her hair tied up in European fashion and decorated with pearls, made an indelible impression on foreign ambassadors. The chances of Karl Friedrich increased significantly when the Swedish-Russian defensive alliance was signed in 1724. The duke received the title of royal highness, and the Swedish government undertook to pay him a pension. In addition, Russia and Sweden agreed to put joint pressure on Denmark in order to convince her to return the lands seized from him to the Duke of Golyitinsky. The duke's position thus improved, and in 1724 he received, not without pleasure, a message from Ostermann, in which he was asked to prepare a marriage contract *. It was assumed that, having become engaged to Anna, the duke would receive the post of governor-general of Riga.
* In reality, everything was somewhat more complicated: Peter hesitated until the very end, and the story of V. Mons and the role played by Catherine, who was appointed Peter's successor on the throne, prompted him to take decisive action. Giving his daughter in marriage, the tsar hoped to wait for his grandson, whom he intended to make heir to the Russian throne.
The betrothal was celebrated magnificently and ceremoniously. The night before, the duke's personal orchestra performed a serenade in honor of the empress under the windows of the Winter Palace. The next day, after a service at the Trinity Cathedral and a dinner with the imperial family, the duke was betrothed to Anna. Peter personally put on the young wedding rings and exclaimed: “Vivat!” - after which everyone went to the wedding feast, followed by a ball and fireworks. At the ball, Peter felt unwell and refused to dance, but Catherine succumbed to the persuasion of Karl Friedrich and walked with her fiancé in a polonaise.
After the wedding, however, Anna lived only four years and died at the age of twenty. Fate decreed that it was she and her husband who continued the line of Peter on the Russian throne. The young people left for Golyptein, where in Kiel, shortly before her death, Anna gave birth to a son, who was named Karl Peter Ulrich. In 1741, when the boy was thirteen years old, his aunt Elizabeth became empress. The empress was not married and had no heirs, and therefore summoned her nephew to Russia and, having baptized him into Orthodoxy, named him Peter Fedorovich. In 1762, he ascended the throne and became Emperor Peter III, and six months later was deposed and then killed by supporters of his wife, a German princess. This energetic person seized the throne, was crowned by Empress Catherine II and went down in history as Catherine the Great .. The son, grandson, and then more distant descendants of Peter III and Catherine II occupied the Russian throne until 1917. All of them traced their pedigree from Tsarina Anna and Karl Friedrich of Holstein - from the daughter of Peter the Great and the nephew of Charles XII.
The persistence with which Peter sought to marry his daughters to foreign princes indicates that he did not see any of them as his successor on the Russian throne. Indeed, so far no woman has sat on this throne. But after Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich died in 1719, only one male heir remained in the Romanovs' house - Pyotr Alekseevich, the son of Tsarevich Alexei. Many in Russia believed that he was the rightful heir. Peter understood perfectly well that the adherents of antiquity see their only hope in the young Grand Duke. And he decided to deprive them of this hope.
But if not Peter Alekseevich, then who will inherit the throne? The longer Peter thought about this problem, the more often he turned his thoughts to the closest person - Catherine. Over the years, the passion that Peter once felt for this simple, healthy, young woman gave way to calm love and trust. Catherine possessed colossal energy and a remarkable ability to adapt to any circumstances: she loved luxury, but she could also be unpretentious, without losing good spirits in the most severe conditions. She inseparably accompanied Peter, even when she was pregnant, and her husband said more than once that she had more vitality than he did. They rejoiced together, watching their daughters blossom, and saddened together, losing numerous babies. They found pleasure in each other's company and were sad when they had to be separated. “Thank God, everything is fun here,” wrote Peter from Reval in 1719, “only when you come to the country yard, but you are not there, it is very boring.” “And what do you write that it’s boring to walk alone, even though the garden is good,” he wrote another time, “I believe it, because the same news is behind me: I only pray to God that this summer will be the last in separation, and henceforth be together".
Once, when Peter was once again on a long absence, Catherine prepared a surprise that pleased her husband a lot. Knowing how much he loves new buildings, she secretly built a country house about fifteen miles southwest of Petersburg. A two-story stone mansion, surrounded by gardens and parks, stood on a hilltop, and behind it, to the very capital on the banks of the Neva, a wide plain stretched. When Peter returned, Catherine told him that she had found a pre-. a flattering, secluded place where she would not mind "putting Your Majesty a country house, if you weren't too lazy to go and look at it." Peter immediately promised to take a look at this place and "if it really is such, put the house as she wishes." The next morning a large company set off. Peter ordered to take with him a wagon with a canopy, so that there was a place to eat on the road. Having reached the foot of the hill, the cortege began to climb the linden alley leading to the top, at the end of which Peter suddenly saw a house. So, being at a loss, he approached the threshold, and only at the door Catherine said to him: “This is a country house that I built for my sovereign.” Delighted, Peter gently hugged his wife and replied: “I see that you wanted to show me that there are beautiful places not only on the water near St. Petersburg.” Catherine led her husband around the house and finally invited her into the spacious living room, where an excellent table had already been laid. Peter praised her architectural taste, and Catherine in response offered a toast in honor of the owner of the new house. Peter was even more surprised and delighted by the fact that as soon as Catherine raised the cup to her lips, a salute from eleven cannons, hidden in the garden behind the trees, burst out under the windows. At night, Peter confessed to his wife that he could not remember a happier day.
* This story is nothing more than a legend, and refers to another palace, Yekateringof.
Over time, this estate became known as Tsarskoye Selo. Empress Elizabeth ordered Rastrelli to build a huge palace on the site of a memorable country house. This majestic building, named Catherine's Palace in honor of Elizabeth's mother, Empress Catherine I, has survived to this day.
Peter's respect and gratitude for Catherine increased thanks to her participation in the Prut and Persian campaigns. These feelings were confirmed by the public crowning of Catherine with the imperial crown and the establishment of the Order of St. Catherine in her honor. Having no heir and thinking about the future, the sovereign decided to go further. In February 1722, before going on the Persian campaign, he took a decisive step - he issued the "Charter of Succession to the Throne". It declared invalid the long-standing, centuries-honored order, according to which the throne of the Grand Dukes of Moscow passed from father to son, and proclaimed that from now on, every ruling sovereign has the undeniable right to appoint a successor at his discretion, “so that our children and descendants do not fall into anger Absalom." According to the new decree, all of Russia had to take an oath that it would not deviate from the will of the monarch and recognize the heir to whomever he wants to give her.
Although the February decree of 1722 was truly revolutionary, it served only as a prelude to even more stunning news - Peter announced that he intended to officially crown Catherine as Empress of All Russia. The manifesto of November 15, 1723 stated that since our most kind sovereign and empress Catherine was a great helper, and not only in this, but also in many military actions, putting aside the infirmity of a woman, by her will, she was present with us, and possibly helped ... for the sake of autocracy given to us from God, for such spouses found labors, she will be crowned. It was announced that the ceremony would take place in Moscow this winter.
By issuing this manifesto, Peter stepped on shaky ground. By birth, Catherine was a simple Livonian peasant woman and ended up in Russia as a prisoner. Is she really destined to sit on the throne of Russian tsars and crown herself with a crown? Although in the manifesto on the coronation of Catherine she was not directly proclaimed heir, on the night before the coronation, Peter, in the house of an English merchant, in the presence of several senators and prominent church hierarchs, announced that he would crown his wife so that she would gain the right to rule the state. He waited for objections: they did not follow *.
* This alleged episode, on the day Catherine I was proclaimed autocratic empress, was “remembered” by one of her supporters, Feofan Prokopovich.
The coronation ceremony was planned to be decorated with pomp and brilliance. Peter, always stingy in spending on himself, this time ordered not to spare money. The coronation robe of the Empress was ordered in Paris, and the St. Petersburg jeweler received an order for the manufacture of a new imperial crown, which surpassed in splendor the crown worn hitherto by Russian monarchs. The coronation was to take place not in the city of Petrov, the new capital, but in the capital city of Moscow, in the Kremlin, in accordance with age-old customs. Six months in advance, the President of the Holy Synod Stefan Yavorsky and the indefatigable Pyotr Tolstoy were sent to Moscow in order to prepare everything necessary for the solemn ceremony. The coronation was to be attended by senators, members of the Synod and all Russian nobility.
Due to illness, Peter was forced to stay - in early March 1724 he went to Olonets to the waters to improve his health. By March 22, there was a noticeable improvement, and he and Ekaterina left for Moscow together. At dawn on May 7, a signal gun fired from the Kremlin wall. Under the walls of the Kremlin, 10,000 foot guards and a squadron of cavalry guards marched in a ceremonial march. This spectacle was sullenly looked at by Moscow merchants, from whom Tolstoy requisitioned the best horses on this occasion. At 10 o'clock the bells of all Moscow churches rang out and a volley from all the city guns rang out. On the Red Porch, accompanied by the highest dignitaries of the state, Peter and Catherine appeared. The Empress was dressed in a purple dress embroidered with gold, the train of which was carried by five court ladies. In honor of such an event, Peter put on a sky-blue caftan embroidered with silver and red silk stockings. The royal couple looked at the crowded Cathedral Square from the very place where forty-two years ago ten-year-old Peter and his mother looked at the raging archers and the forest of sparkling reeds. Then the sovereign and the empress descended from the Red Porch, marched through the Cathedral Square and entered the Assumption Cathedral. In the center of the temple, a platform was erected, on which two thrones inlaid with precious stones were installed for Peter and Catherine, under velvet canopies embroidered with gold.
At the door of the temple, the imperial couple was met by Yavorsky, Prokopovich and other bishops in sacred vestments. Yavorsky gave the king and queen to venerate the cross, after which he led them to the thrones. Worship began. Peter and Catherine silently sat side by side. Finally, a solemn moment came: the sovereign rose, and Yavorsky presented him with a new imperial crown. Taking her in his hands, the monarch turned to the audience and loudly proclaimed: “We crown our beloved wife,” and he himself placed the crown on his wife’s head. After that, he handed her the power, but it is noteworthy that the scepter, a symbol of power, remained in his hand. The crown was covered with 2564 diamonds, pearls and other precious stones. He crowned her with a diamond cross, beneath which was a ruby the size of a pigeon's egg.
When Peter laid the crown on Catherine's head, she could not restrain her feelings and tears streamed down her cheeks. Kneeling before her husband, she tried to kiss his hand, but he did not give it, and when she tried to fall at his feet, Peter raised the now crowned empress. Again, a solemn prayer service sounded, and after it the bells rang and the cannons rattled.
After the prayer service, Peter returned to the palace to rest, and Catherine, with a crown on her head, marched at the head of the procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the Archangel Cathedral, in order, according to custom, to pray in the tomb of the Moscow tsars. From her shoulders fell the imperial mantle, made in France. Decorated with hundreds of golden double-headed eagles, it was so heavy that, although the ladies-in-waiting supported it, the empress had to stop several times to take a breath.
Menshikov followed the empress and threw handfuls of silver and gold into the crowd. At the foot of the Red Porch, Catherine was met by the Duke of Holstein and led her to the Faceted Chamber, where a magnificent table was prepared. At the feast, Menshikov handed out medals to the guests: on one side of each of them was a paired portrait of the emperor and empress, and on the other, an image of Peter crowning his wife with a crown, and the inscription: "Crowned in Moscow in 1724." Feast and festivities continued in the city for more than one day. Two huge bulls stuffed with poultry and game were roasted on Red Square, and nearby two fountains beat - one with red wine - and the other with white.
So, the coronation took place, but Peter did not explain either Catherine's new powers or his intentions regarding the future fate of the throne. However, as a sign that Catherine now possesses some of the attributes of royal power, Peter allowed her to bestow on her own behalf the title of count to Peter Tolstoy. This title was worn by all his descendants, including the great writer - Leo Tolstoy. Also, in the name of the Empress, Yaguzhinsky was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, and Prince Vasily Dolgoruky, who fell into disfavor and was sent into exile because of his involvement in the case of Tsarevich Alexei, received permission to return to court. However, Catherine's real power, even in such cases, remained very, very limited: no matter how she asked to forgive and return Shafirov from exile, everything was in vain. What really were Peter's intentions? Nobody knew this. Perhaps the emperor, even on his deathbed, did not make a final decision. However, there was no doubt that he wanted to guarantee the future of Catherine, if not as an autocratic empress, then, in any case, as a regent for one of her daughters. Peter understood that the Russian throne should not be welcomed as a reward for loyalty and self-denying love. From the crown bearer, remarkable energy, wisdom and political experience were required. Nature endowed Catherine with somewhat different qualities. But, nevertheless, she accepted the anointing, and this allowed the French envoy Campredon to conclude that Peter "wanted to be accepted as a ruler and empress after the death of her husband."
After the coronation, Catherine's influence increased, and it became even more desirable than before for anyone who sought favors from the court to enlist her support. And yet, not even a few weeks after her greatest triumph, Catherine found herself on the edge of the abyss and narrowly escaped death. One of her close associates was Willim Mons, a very attractive young man, the younger brother of Anna Mons, who was Peter's favorite a quarter of a century ago. Mons was a German by origin, but was born in Russia and was thus half Russian, half European. Invariably cheerful and gallant, Mons was also a quick-witted and ambitious man, never missing an opportunity to make a career. Thanks to the ability to choose patrons and diligence in the service, he rose to the rank of chamberlain and became Catherine's secretary and confidant. The Empress liked his company - according to a foreigner, Mons "was one of the most elegant and beautiful people I have ever seen." Villim's sister Matrena succeeded no less than her brother. She married the Baltic nobleman Theodor Balk, who had the rank of major general and served in Riga, while she herself was the maid of honor and the closest confidante of the empress.
Gradually, under the pretext of tireless concern for the interests of the empress, the brother and sister achieved that it became possible to gain access to the empress only with their assistance. Messages, petitions and petitions filed in the name of Catherine, with their help, got to her immediately, otherwise they might not get at all. And since everyone knew the influence of the empress on her husband, the mediation of the Monses began to be valued "very highly. Ministers, diplomats, and even foreign princes and members of the royal family - all used the services of an active and handsome German: with one hand they submitted a petition, with the other they held out an offering. None of the petitioners he did not occupy either too high or too low a position in the eyes of Mons - he took bribes both from Tsarina Praskovya and her daughters, the Duke of Holstein, Princes Menshikov and Repnin, Count Tolstoy, and from a simple peasant who took root in St. Petersburg and did not want to leave term to return to their native village. "Pay" for the services of Mons established depending on the importance of the request and the dignity of the petitioner. In addition to the funds obtained in this way, Mons and his sister received cash grants, land and serfs from the empress. The opinion of the chamberlain was listened to by the highest persons , and even Menshikov called op; “brother.” Having decided that “Willim Mons” sounds too simple for such important person, the young courtier took the name of Mons de la Croa. And immediately everyone began to call him by his new name - everyone except Peter, who seemed to know nothing about this change, or about why this former Willim Mons had become such an important person.
But there was something else that, as the evil tongues said, Peter did not know about Willims Mons. First, in St. Petersburg, and then throughout Europe, rumors began to spread that the young chamberlain had become Catherine's lover. Terrible stories were told about how one moonlit night Peter found his wife with Mons in the garden, under circumstances compromising her. True, such rumors were not confirmed by anything. The story of the moonlit garden must be considered the purest fiction, if only because Peter first drew attention to the machinations of Mons in November, when all the Petersburg gardens were covered with deep snow. And, more importantly, such a connection does not agree well with the nature of Catherine. The empress was generous, kind-hearted and cheerful, but, which is also significant, she was not at all stupid. She knew Peter well. Even if her former love for her husband had cooled (which is unlikely, given her recent coronation), she undoubtedly understood that the connection with Mons would be impossible to keep secret, and she well imagined how dire the consequences could be if they came out. out. As for Mons himself, according to the established custom of daring and successful adventurers, he may have wanted to consolidate his success by encroaching on the marital rights of the emperor, but it is difficult to imagine that Catherine would do such a stupid thing.
It seems strange that Peter remained in the dark about Mons's abuses for so long. Gosu-. Ifif did not notice what was not a secret to anyone in St. Petersburg, and the reason should most likely be sought in the ailment that weighed on him. When the emperor nevertheless found out the truth, he committed a quick and cruel reprisal. Who exactly opened Peter's eyes remains unknown. Some believed that Yaguzhinsky, irritated by the claims of the presumptuous Mons, did this, others believed that one of the subordinates of the chamberlain himself was the scammer. Having received the warning, Peter immediately announced that from now on he forbids anyone to apply for pardon for criminals. The anxiety caused by this unexplained statement grew in society, while Peter waited. On the evening of November 8, he returned to the palace, showing no signs of anger, dined with the empress and daughters, and had an unremarkable conversation with Willim Mons. Then he said that he was tired, and asked Catherine what time it was. She looked at the Dresden clock presented to her by her husband and answered: "Nine hours", Peter nodded, said: "Well, it's time to disperse," and retired to his chambers. Everyone dispersed to their rooms. Mons returned to his home, undressed and just lit his pipe, when suddenly General Ushakov entered the room and announced to the chamberlain that he had been arrested on charges of bribery. Mons's papers were seized, the office was sealed, and he himself was put in chains and taken away.
The next day, Mons was brought before Peter. According to the official protocol of the interrogation, the chamberlain became so cowardly that he fainted. Having come to his senses, he admitted the correctness of all the charges against him - he confessed that he had taken bribes, embezzled income from the empress's estates, and also that his sister, Matryona, was involved in this extortion. He did not make any confessions regarding inappropriate relations with Catherine, and no one demanded them from him. During the interrogation, this topic was not touched upon, which can serve as an indirect confirmation of the groundlessness of the rumors spreading. The same was evidenced by Peter's lack of desire to conduct an investigation in private. On the contrary, he issued a proclamation commanding anyone who gave offerings to Mons or knew of such offerings to report it to the authorities. For two days, the city crier called out a decree on the streets of St. Petersburg, threatening terrible punishments for failure to report.
Mons was doomed - any of the charges brought against him would have been enough for a death sentence. However, Catherine did not immediately believe that death awaited her pet. She hoped to influence her husband and even sent a message to Matryona Balk, assuring her that she should not worry about her brother. Then she went to Peter - to ask for pardon from the handsome chamberlain. But the empress underestimated her master, forgetting about the vengeful fury that sometimes takes possession of him. The lord who executed Gagarin and Nesterov, humiliated Menshikov and Shafirov, and even more so had no intention of sparing Willim Mons. The condemned did not even receive a reprieve. On the night before the execution, Peter came to him in the casemate and said that although he was sorry to lose such a capable person, the crime should not go unpunished.
On November 16, Willim Mons and Matryona Balk were brought in a sleigh to the place of execution. Mons held himself with firmness, nodding and bowing to friends who stood among the crowd. Climbing to the scaffold, he calmly took off his fur hat, heard the death sentence and laid his head on the chopping block. Then it was his sister's turn. Matrena Balk received eleven blows with a whip (although they were not beaten too hard) and went to Siberian exile - Tobolsk. Her husband, General Bulk, was allowed, if he wished, to marry a second time.
It is not surprising that this drama aggravated the relationship between Peter and Catherine. Although her name was never even mentioned by Mons or his accusers, and no one dared to express suspicion of her involvement in bribery, many believed that in fact Catherine knew about the unsightly deeds of Mons and turned a blind eye to them. Peter himself apparently also believed that there was a share of her guilt in the crime of Mons. On the day of the execution of the ill-fated chamberlain, the emperor issued a decree addressed to all officials of the state. It announced that in connection with the abuses that took place at the court of the Empress, although without her knowledge, it was forbidden in advance for all ranks to accept her orders and orders for execution. At the same time, Catherine lost the right to control the funds allocated for the maintenance of her own court.
Catherine courageously endured the blow that fell upon her. On the day of Mons's execution, she invited a dance teacher to her place and practiced the minuet with her two older daughters. Knowing that any manifestation of interest in the fate of Mons could adversely affect her own, she did not allow herself to give vent to her feelings. However, according to eyewitnesses, Catherine did not easily and did not immediately go to reconciliation with Peter. “They hardly speak to each other, they don’t dine or sleep together,” a contemporary noted, a month after the execution. However, by mid-January, the tension between the spouses began to weaken. The same observer reported that “the queen fell on her knees before him and asked for forgiveness for her actions. Their conversation lasted about three hours. They read, had dinner together, and then parted, ”Whether this reconciliation was final is unknown. All the while the investigation into the case of Mons was going on, the emperor was unwell and he was getting worse and worse ...
After the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt and the coronation of Catherine, Peter was at the height of his power in the eyes of the whole world. However, those who lived in Russia, and especially those close to the court, could not fail to notice the disturbing signs. For two years in a row, the country was short of food, and although bread was bought abroad, it was still not enough. Again and again, accusations of bribery were brought against the highest dignitaries of the state. Shafirov was sentenced to death, and only by the grace of the sovereign got off with exile, and now Menshikov has lost the post of president of the Military Collegium. Not a single thing moved from its place until Peter himself took it on. (In Preobrazhensky, despite the winter cold, the servants did not bring firewood, and the fireplaces were flooded only after the personal order of the emperor.)
The affairs of the state fell into decay as Peter's physical and mental health deteriorated. Sometimes he worked with the same energy and enthusiasm. One of his last ideas was the construction of a new, large building to house the Academy of Sciences. He also thought about founding a university in the capital. However, more and more often Peter was in a bad mood and he was seized by apathy. At such moments, he lost interest in everything, but only sat and sighed sadly, postponing things until the last minute. When the emperor fell into depression, none of those close to him dared to speak to him, even if circumstances required the immediate intervention of the monarch. Describing the atmosphere prevailing at the Russian court, the Prussian envoy Mardefeld reported to his sovereign, King Friedrich Wilhelm: neither foreign ambassadors nor the Russian ministers themselves know where and when to apply. Whatever we ask the Russian ministers, in response they only sigh and confess in despair that in every business they encounter incredible difficulties. And all this is not fiction, but the purest truth, here only then something is considered important when they reach the very extreme.
And only over time, the people closest to Peter began to gradually realize what was behind all this - Peter was seriously ill. He still had seizures, when the body of this powerful, but already weakening giant shuddered in convulsive convulsions. Only Catherine, laying his head on her knees, knew how to alleviate his suffering with caress. In recent years, a new painful ailment has been added to the old ailments, which Jeffreys reported in his report to London:
His Majesty seems to have felt weakness in his left arm for some time, due to a bloodletting done by an unskilled surgeon, who, bypassing a vein, injured an adjacent nerve. This forced the king to wear a fur glove on his left hand, since he often feels pain both in the hand and in the whole hand, and sometimes loses sensitivity in it.
Besides, the years were taking their toll. Although in 1724 Peter was only fifty-two, but the vigorous activity, eternal traveling and immoderate drinking, which he began to indulge in in his youth, seriously undermined his health. At fifty-two, the emperor was an old man.
And now, to all this, a new ailment was added, which was destined to bring him to the grave. For several years, Peter suffered from inflammation of the urinary canal, and in 1722, during the Persian campaign, perhaps due to the intense heat, the disease worsened. Doctors determined the presence of stones in the bladder and blockage of the urethra as a result of muscle spasm or infection. In the winter of 1722, the pains resumed.
At first, Peter did not tell anyone except his valet about this, and for some time continued his usual drinking, but the pain intensified and he had to turn to the doctors again. Following their advice, he began to take medicine and limited his drinking to kvass, only occasionally allowing himself a glass of vodka. On some days he suffered excruciatingly and almost could not do business, but then relief came, and the emperor returned to his usual work.
However, towards the end of the summer of 1724, the disease returned in a much more severe form. Unable to urinate, Peter experienced terrible agony. His personal physician, Blumentrost, invited an English specialist, Dr. Gorn, to consult. He inserted a catheter into the urethra, but the entrance to the bladder was clogged, and only after several attempts, along with blood and pus, did a little urine come out. This whole long painful procedure was done without any kind of anesthesia. Peter was lying on the table, clutching the arm of one and the other doctor, who were standing on opposite sides of the table. He tried very hard to lie still, but the pain was such that, squeezing his fingers, he almost broke the hands of the healers. With great difficulty, the doctors managed to remove a huge stone and the pain receded. In less than a week, urination practically improved, although Peter remained bedridden for a long time. Only at the beginning of September did he begin to get up and impatiently paced the room, waiting for the time when he could finally return to his usual way of life.
In early October, on a clear, fine day, Peter ordered to take his yacht to the Neva and put it under the windows so that you could admire it. A few days later, despite the fact that the doctors advised him not to get tired, the emperor went for a walk. First, he visited Peterhof, where he examined the fountains arranged in the park. Then, defying the even stronger protests of the doctors, he undertook a long inspection trip. It began from Shlisselburg, where the twenty-two-year anniversary of the capture of the fortress by Russian troops was celebrated. From there, the sovereign went to the Olonets ironworks, where he became so strong that he personally forged a strip weighing more than a hundred feet. After that, the emperor proceeded to the Ladoga Canal - to see how the work was progressing under the guidance of the German engineer Munnich.
The inspection took almost the whole of October. All the time Peter felt painful tremors and other symptoms of the disease, but he tried not to pay attention to them. On November 5, he returned to St. Petersburg, but almost immediately decided to sail on a yacht to Sestroretsk on the Gulf of Finland to inspect the iron and weapons industries. It was the usual weather for the beginning of a northern winter: gloomy skies, piercing winds and restless cold seas. Peter's yacht left the mouth of the Neva and approached the fishing village of Lakhta, when in the distance the tsar noticed a boat that had lost control due to the wind, on board of which there were two dozen soldiers. In front of Peter's eyes, the boat was carried out to the shallows, and the ship, burying its keel in the sand, began to sway under the blows of the waves, risking that it might turn over. The people on board panicked - apparently they did not know how to swim and did not know what to do. Peter sent a boat to help them, but the sailors were not able to remove the stuck boat from the shallows on their own, and the soldiers, paralyzed with fear, practically did not help them. Peter, who was looking impatiently at this picture, could not stand it and ordered him to be taken on a boat to a stuck boat. Due to strong seas, the boat did not manage to come close to the ship, and then the emperor unexpectedly jumped into the sea and, plunging waist-deep into icy water, moved to the shoal ford. His appearance gave spirit to desperate people. Obeying his instructions, they picked up the ropes thrown from the boat and, with the help of sailors who followed the example of Peter, pulled the boat from the shallows. The rescued soldiers, who did not get tired of thanking God and the sovereign, were sent ashore to dry and warm themselves in the huts of local fishermen.
Peter returned to the yacht, threw off his wet clothes and changed into a dry dress. The yacht landed at Lakhta, where the Emperor disembarked. Although he spent a long time in the cold water, at first it seemed that this did not affect him in any way. Extremely pleased that he managed to save people and save the ship, he decided to spend the night in Lakhta and fell asleep peacefully. However, at night he developed a fever, and then the pains resumed. Peter was forced to cancel his planned trip to Sestroretsk and returned to St. Petersburg, where he took to his bed. From that time on, the fatal illness no longer left him *.
* Incident at Lakhta, according to modern research, - a legend that arose later.
True, for a while Peter felt better again. At Christmas, he felt so cheerful that he decided, according to tradition, to go around the houses of the St. Petersburg nobility, accompanied by singers and musicians. On New Year's Eve, the monarch admired the fireworks, and on Epiphany he went to the Blessing of the Waters, where he again caught a cold. On the same days, for the last time, he had a chance to take part in a meeting of the All-Drunken Council, which was dedicated to the election of a successor to the recently deceased "prince-pope" Buturlin. To elect a new "pope", a clownish conclave of "cardinals" was assembled under the leadership of Bacchus, who sat on a barrel. Peter personally locked the "cardinals" in a special chamber, forbidding them to leave until a new "pope" was elected. To help the congregation make right choice The "cardinals" were ordered to drink a ladle of vodka every quarter of an hour. The "meeting" lasted all night, and in the morning the members of the "conclave", barely on their feet, announced the name of the chosen one. It turned out to be an unremarkable official. On the same evening, the newly elected head of the Cathedral arranged a feast, at which the guests were treated to bear meat, ol' meat, fox and rat meat.
By mid-January, some cooling between Peter and Catherine, which arose because of the story with Mons, seemed to have come to naught. Together with his wife, the emperor attended the clownish wedding of one of his batmen. In the same month, he visited the assemblies at the homes of Peter Tolstoy and Admiral Kruys. However, on January 16, the illness resumed and forced the king to go to bed. Dr. Blumentrost convened a council, to which Horn was again invited. After soft probing, the doctors found that Peter had inflammation of the bladder and intestines, and so serious that there were reasons to suspect gangrene. Not knowing a remedy that could stop such a far-reaching process, Blumentrost and his colleagues urgently sent couriers to two European luminaries - Dr. Boerhaave from Leiden and Dr. Stahl from Berlin - with a description of the symptoms of the disease and a desperate plea for help.
Meanwhile, Peter, who was on bed rest, felt a little better. He returned to work and, having summoned Osterman and other ministers to bed, held a conference with them, which dragged on all night. On January 22, he talked with the Duke of Holstein and promised, as soon as he recovered, to go with Him to Riga. But the next day, the sovereign again became worse. He called a priest, confessed and took communion. Then Tolstoy, Apraksin and Golovkin were admitted to his box. In their presence, the emperor ordered the pardon and release of all convicted criminals, with the exception of murderers, and granted forgiveness to young nobles who shied away from service. Then he turned to the sobbing Apraksin and other dignitaries with a request, in the event of his death, not to offend the foreigners living in St. Petersburg. And finally, true to his custom to delve into all the little things, he signed two decrees: on the regulation of fishing and on the trade in glue.
All this time, Catherine did not leave her husband’s bed either day or night. At some point, she advised him to forgive Menshikov, who was still in disfavor, in order to reconcile with the Almighty and find peace of mind. Peter agreed, and the prince was admitted to the monarch, who forgave him now for the last time. On January 27, at two o'clock in the afternoon, apparently wanting to clarify the issue of succession to the throne, the emperor ordered a pen and paper to be brought to him. Having received what he required, he wrote “Give it all ...”, but then the pen fell out of his weakened hand. Peter could not write and sent for his daughter Anna, intending to dictate a will to her. However, when the princess appeared, he had already fallen into unconsciousness *.
* The story with the last words "Give it all ..." is also a legend. Most likely, Peter hoped to get better: he had had severe attacks of illness before, which were then replaced by relief.
The emperor no longer regained consciousness, only groaned. Catherine stood for hours at his head and urinated so that death would save him from torment, finally on January 28, 1725, at the moment when the empress uttered the words of the prayer “Lord, receive a righteous soul”, Peter the Great at the fifty-fourth year of his life and forty in the third year of his reign he passed away into eternity.
Thanks to the novel by A.K. Tolstoy's "Peter Ι" and the films "Peter Ι" (1937), "Peter's Youth" (1980) and "At the Beginning of Glorious Deeds" (1980), based on his motives, the townsfolk get the impression of strong and strong health Petra I. In many ways, on the basis of these films, young people were brought up with feelings of patriotism and pride in their homeland. The novel was written between 1929 and 1945. It is worth noting that the year of the beginning of writing fell on the year of the "great turning point", the year in which the policy of industrialization began. And it should be noted that A.N. Tolstoy drew analogies between the events of the novel and contemporary events. And the tsar, who raised Russia from its knees, could not look like a weak and sick person. According to the films, Peter is a huge man with good health.
Reality
The researcher of the life of Peter Ι N. I. Pavlenko notes that Peter Ι did not differ in good health. He was ill almost every year, and the disease chained him to bed for a long time. Sometimes he used the services of doctors, but, while on the road, he treated himself and carried a first-aid kit with him. With a height of 2 meters 4 centimeters, he was incredibly thin, even the clothes of Peter Ι that have survived to us show that he really stood out for his height, but not for his powerful physique.
A contemporary of Peter Ι, Just Yul, the Danish envoy to Russia, in his essay “Notes of the Danish Ambassador under Peter the Great”, shows a description of the behavior of the king: “We got out of the carriage and saw how the king, riding up to one simple soldier who was carrying the Swedish banner, began to ruthlessly cut him with a naked sword and shower him with blows, perhaps because he did not go the way the king wanted. Then the king stopped his horse, but continued to make ... terrible grimaces, twisted his head, twisted his mouth, turned his eyes, twitched his arms and shoulders, and jerked his legs back and forth. All the most important dignitaries surrounding him at that moment were frightened by this, and no one dared to approach him, since everyone saw that the king was angry and annoyed with something. The author pointed out that doctors call these terrible movements convulsions.
Even contemporaries pointed out that the behavior of Peter I was distinguished by some anomalies. In the twentieth year of his life, his head began to shake, and convulsions appeared on his handsome round face in moments of long thought.
Historians note two reasons for this behavior of the king. This is childish fear, experienced by him during the Streltsy revolt in 1682, and revelry in the German Quarter. N.I. Pavlenko also draws attention to the fact that the health of Peter Ι was greatly undermined by his vigorous activity. These are endless travels during the Northern War to different parts of the state. After all, from his point of view, the main feature of the ruler was serving the fatherland.
A.S. Pushkin in "The History of Peter" draws numerous allusions to colds, fevers and fevers. As noted above, Peter Ι himself was never distinguished by good health, and the continuous work and travel associated with the conduct of the Northern War led to the fact that in 1708-1709. he suffered from a terrible fever for several weeks.
We also know that the tsar repeatedly resorted to mineral water treatment both in Russia and abroad: in Baden in 1698 and 1708, in Karlsbad in 1711 and 1712.
In addition, according to contemporaries, Peter Ι was characterized by sudden outbursts of anger, convulsive seizures and involuntary movements. Moreover, the sovereign's fits of rage occurred quite often. They arose suddenly under the influence of unpleasant news or some other external stimuli, but sometimes for no apparent reason. The emperor's fits of anger could only be removed by one person - his wife, the future Empress Catherine Ι. Count Henning-Friedrich Bassevich in his notes indicates that she " she sat him down and took him, caressing him by the head, which she scratched lightly. This had a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her breast, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and vigorous. Some scholars attributed this to the presence of Peter Ι. N.N. Pukhovsky suggests that Peter I suffered from localized epilepsy.
It seems that on the basis of only the aforementioned, selective news, it is possible with full confidence to dispel the myth of the “heroic” health of Peter Ι. In many ways, this is understandable, because the reforms themselves, the difficult Northern War brought severe emotional and psychological shocks to the emperor.
Sources and literature
Pavlenko P.I. Petr Ι M., 2010.
Pukhovsky N.N. Emperor and Sovereign of All Russia Peter I Alekseevich Romanov the Great // Psychology of the Elite. 2009. No. 4. S. 83.
