Until now, one can meet with the statement that Tsar Peter I, who in his youth left for experience with the "Great Embassy" in Europe, and that Peter who returned home - different people... In short, they replaced the tsar in Europe. How realistic is this version?
This question is answered by the Doctor of Philosophy Nikita CHALDYMOV:
- Today, after the lifting of the bans on the study of materials on the history of Russia in those years, many questions arise about the personality of Peter I. A number of researchers put forward the version that Peter was replaced during his diplomatic mission to Europe.
At the age of 26, Peter leaves Russia incognito as part of the “Great Embassy”. This is a young man of above average height, dense build, physically healthy, wavy hair, omen - a mole on his left cheek, educated, Orthodox Christian.
Two years later, a man returns, who practically does not speak Russian (until the end of his life he did not learn to write well in Russian), with straight hair, without a mole on his left cheek, who looked forty years old. He forgot everything that he could, but showed new qualities, for example, great experience in boarding combat, and it can be obtained only by participating in numerous naval battles. The "new" Peter I returned sick with fever in a chronic form and with traces of treatment with the use of mercury preparations. But the "Great Embassy" traveled along the northern route, and tropical fever can only be earned in southern waters.
His beloved wife, Tsarina Evdokia (it is known that before, when he was away, he missed his wife and often wrote letters to her), after his return, Peter, without even seeing her, sent without explanation to the convent, where she remained in captivity until the end days.
It is difficult to talk about substitution for sure, there is not much direct evidence, but some facts make one think. They are very amazing. Could the tsar, being an Orthodox person, so quickly turn into an alcoholic and libertine who sent his wife to a monastery and married a Baltic washerwoman? How could he interrogate, torture, and then execute his son? .. All these questions give rise to talk about replacing the king.
But there are more fundamental questions related to Peter I, which do not lose their relevance.
Peter I tried to satisfy urgent needs Russian society in modernization. But in the name of what goals and in what ways were important state tasks solved? Was reckless alignment with the West, accompanied by cruel, if not savage, uprooting of Russian customs and traditions justified?
Yes, the assessment of the activities of Peter I to this day, especially at the official level, continues to be lofty and laudatory. The halo around the name of Peter is struggling to support those for whom he is long years was the banner in the struggle for the imposition of a Western worldview.
The need to choose the path of development of the country in our time requires objective assessment events of the past. Of course, Peter's reforms opened a window to Europe. But for some reason, few people notice that not only the wind of fertile changes, quite useful changes, but also crowds of foreign adventurers, who had no goals other than profit, began to penetrate through this window. And, worst of all, ideas poured in a stream, which often had nothing to do with education and modernization. These ideas reflected the inner vices and imperfections of the developing bourgeois society.
It was hard for those who tried to resist the pressure. The most striking example is the persecution of the great son of the Russian people, Mikhail Lomonosov. In the 120 years of its existence, the historical department of the Academy of Sciences had 33 academic historians, of whom only three were Russians, including M.V. Lomonosov, the rest are Germans. A struggle was unleashed against Lomonosov, which ended with the creation of a special commission, which wrote down in the decision that Lomonosov "for repeated disrespectful, dishonorable and disgusting actions both in relation to the academy and to the commission, and to German soil (!)" Is subject to the death penalty, or, in extreme cases, punishment with lashes and deprivation of rights and wealth. For almost seven months he was awaiting a verdict and was found guilty. The death penalty was abolished, but the scientist was humiliated. After Lomonosov's death, his archives were confiscated by order of Catherine II, and later disappeared.
As for the "substitution of Peter", then, perhaps, in the future there will be new confirmations of the credibility of the version. Questions remain.
Evgeny Baida's version
Yevgeny Baida, another supporter of the version of the substitution of the king, in his work "The Great Pretender" argues that the substitution of Peter took place differently than other supporters of the conspiracy theory believe. According to Baida, initially the organizers of the abduction of the king did not at all seek to replace him with a double. Baida believes that, most likely, the organizers of the kidnapping were the French government and the Polish nobility (supporters of the Polish prince Conti). By kidnapping the king, they weakened the position of the newly elected Polish king Augustus, and struck a blow at Russia, weakened her struggle with Turkey (an ally of France). Most likely, the conspirators did not want to kill Peter, since he was to become an object of blackmail or bargaining between France and Russia.
Baida claims that after crossing the Polish border, a detachment attacked Peter and his entourage. The attackers kidnapped the tsar, and his entourage, realizing that after returning to Russia, they would all face severe punishment (possibly the death penalty), they soon decide to turn to the Polish king Augustus for help. Since the retinue of the kidnapped tsar fears for their fate and life after returning to Russia, and the consequences for Russia and Poland after the abduction of Peter are unpredictable, Franz Lefort and August decide to bring a person similar to him to Russia instead of Peter (so that there are no unrest in Russia), and later eliminate it. August finds one among the convicted criminals and frees him, sending him along with the Grand Embassy to Russia under the guise of Tsar Peter. After arriving in Russia, the impostor is temporarily hidden in the German settlement. The conspirators, however, announce to the relatives and confidants of Peter that in the event of disclosure of the substitution and accession of Sophia, the people will deal with them, and thus they have to recognize the impostor. Subsequently different groups Russian elites, vying with each other and fearing each other, began to fight for influence over the impostor. As a result of this, the double, who understood his significance, was not destroyed, but became a real ruler.
Gleb Nosovsky's version
According to Gleb Nosovsky, initially he heard many times about the version of Peter's substitution, but never believed in it. At one time, Fomenko and Nosovsky studied an exact copy of the throne of Ivan the Terrible. In those days, the zodiac signs of the current rulers were placed on the thrones. Examining the signs placed on the throne of Ivan the Terrible, Nosovsky and Fomenko found out that the actual date of his birth differs from the official version by four years.
The authors of "New Chronology" compiled a table of the names of Russian tsars and their birthdays, and thanks to this table, they found out that the official birthday of Peter I (May 30) does not coincide with the day of his angel, which is a noticeable contradiction in comparison with all the names of the Russian tsars. After all, names in Russia at baptism were given exclusively according to the calendar, and the name given to Peter violated the established centuries-old tradition, which in itself does not fit into the framework and laws of that time. Nosovsky and Fomenko, on the basis of the table, found out that the real name, which falls on the official date of birth of Peter I, was "Isaac". This explains the name of the main cathedral of Tsarist Russia, St. Isaac's.
Nosovsky believes that the Russian historian Pavel Milyukov also shared the opinion that the tsar was falsified in an article in the encyclopedia of Brockhausazai and Euphron Milyukov, according to Nosovsky, without directly claiming, repeatedly hinted that Peter I was an impostor. The substitution of the tsar with an impostor was carried out, according to Nosovsky, by a certain group of Germans, and a group of foreigners arrived in Russia with a double. According to Nosovsky, rumors about the substitution of the tsar were very widespread among Peter's contemporaries, and almost all archers claimed that the tsar was forged. Nosovsky believes that May 30 was actually not the birthday of Peter, but the impostor who replaced him, on whose orders St. Isaac's Cathedral was built, named after him. In favor of his version, Nosovsky gives the following arguments:
... After returning from the Great Embassy, he was there from March 1697 to August 1698. The next day, without seeing his family, he began to cut the boyars' beards and introduce Western customs in Russia. At the same time, the Moscow rifle army was completely destroyed. It was destroyed even before Peter entered Moscow ... there was a very strange battle near Moscow, in which a certain boyar Shein, who knows with whom, defeated and destroyed all the infantry of the Moscow state. All the infantry. After that, the Moscow kingdom had no infantry troops. They had to be re-created. Historians say, they say, Peter - in his childhood he had comrades-friends from Semyonovsky and Preobrazhensky villages and he and these Semyonovites and Transfiguration children, children who grew up from two villages ... all the elite infantry troops of the Moscow state were destroyed ... They were destroyed, exterminated. And Peter entered Moscow only after the extermination of these troops. Who fought with Shein is a mystery. Two villages cannot defeat the army of the state. But this riddle, in general, probably has a solution, because after Peter arrives in Moscow, he first meets with the Polish king - it is known, it is written - there was a secret meeting with him. Then the archers were defeated, then Peter enters Moscow. Sends all his remaining relatives to the monastery, everyone. She is left without her family, she is all sent somewhere. And he pays the Polish king, with whom he had a secret meeting before entering Moscow, one and a half million rubles. One and a half million rubles is more than the gross income of the Moscow state for the year. Moreover, this money is called an indemnity or subsidy. Therefore, everything is quite simple here.
Well, and then a real orgy begins, the screws are tightened, the last juices are squeezed out of the country, all the money. And as a result, Peter, in fact, is engaged in making Russia work for Western interests. I want to read the conclusion drawn by Milyukov about the reform of Peter: "Russia is among the European powers only in order to become an instrument in the hands of European politics for almost half a century" - ... this is a justified conclusion. Yes, in fact, this person also spent very little time in Russia. He was constantly in Western Europe, was constantly at the courts of Western European sovereigns.
Versions of the impostor's real name and origin. The fate of the real Peter
It is argued that Peter's double was an experienced sailor who participated in many naval battles, sailed a lot in southern seas... It is sometimes claimed that he was a sea pirate. Sergei Sall believes that the impostor was a high-ranking Dutch Freemason and a relative of the King of Holland and Great Britain, William of Orange. Most often it is mentioned that the real name of the double was Isaac (according to one version, his name was Isaac Andre). According to Baida, the doppelganger was either from Sweden or Denmark, and by religion he was most likely a Lutheran.
Baida claims that the real Peter was imprisoned in the Bastille, and that he was the famous prisoner who went down in history as the Iron Mask. According to Baida, this prisoner was recorded under the name Marchiel, which can be interpreted as "Mikhailov" (under this name Peter went to the Great Embassy). The Iron Mask is said to be tall, dignified, and reasonably well treated. In 1703, Peter, according to Baida, was killed in the Bastille. Nosovsky claims that the real Peter was kidnapped and most likely killed.
It is sometimes argued that the real Peter was actually tricked into a trip to Europe so that some foreign forces could force him to subsequently pursue the policy they wanted. Not agreeing to this, Peter was kidnapped or killed, and a double was put in his place.
In one version of the version, the real Peter was captured by the Jesuits and imprisoned in a Swedish fortress. He managed to convey a letter to King Charles XII of Sweden, and he rescued him from captivity. Later, Karl and Peter organized a campaign against the impostor, but the Swedish army was defeated near Poltava by Russian troops led by Peter's double and the forces of Jesuits and Freemasons standing behind them. Peter I was again captured and hidden away from Russia - imprisoned in the Bastille, where he later died. According to this version, the conspirators saved Peter's life, hoping to use him for their own purposes.
Arguments in favor of the version
In favor of their version, both Kukovenko and Danilov give the following arguments:
1.) Soon after the Second Semyonov campaign, from November 16, Peter began to often stay in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky on the lake, where he allegedly built ships. He began to visit Moscow rarely. According to Kukovenko, in reality, the construction of this flotilla began in 1691 (and not in 1689, according to historiography) by a double who was sent to the lake so that he could prepare for his new role away from the royal family and the Kremlin's entourage. In addition, in 1691, several stewards of the people closest to the king were removed from the court.
2.) Initially, Peter I served in the equestrian Reuters regiment (the aristocracy has always been equestrian). After 1691, the Reuters regiment was disbanded, and Peter signed up as a drummer-infantryman in the Preobrazhensky regiment. Danilov explains this by the fact that Jaan Mush did not know how to ride a horse.
3.) Peter changed his signature - if earlier he signed “Petrus”, that is, he used the romanized version of his name, then later he began to sign in Dutch “Piter”.
4.) In 1692, Peter suddenly became fluent in Dutch. At that time in Russia the princes usually learned either Polish or Latin. Subsequently, in his entire life, Peter did not master any other foreign language(even being in 1697-1698 in Europe). This fact is used by Kukovenko as proof that the doppelganger was in fact Dutch.
5.) Danilov claims that there are no letters from Peter written before 1687, while by that time he already knew how to write. Peter's father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, at one time introduced the so-called day receipts, where the tsar was recorded every day. Day receipts about Peter, made in the period from 1672 to 1697, are completely absent.
6.) Danilov claims that the real Peter the First suffered from hydrophobia from childhood to such an extent that when he was walking with someone and the river was blocking his way, he had to make a big detour to get around it, instead of crossing the bridge. Subsequently, it turned out that Peter was an excellent swimmer, he was very fond of the sea and ships, especially the military.
7.) Peter's student notebooks are also considered proof. According to Kukovenko, the entries in them were illiterate and written by a hand that was not used to a pen. In fact, according to Kukovenko, these are the notebooks of a double who, under the guidance of Franz Timmerman, mastered arithmetic, geometry, fortification, determining the height of the sun by sextant, rules for using artillery tables in Pereyaslavl and, possibly, Latin language... This list of subjects leads Kukovenko to the idea that they were part of Peter's curriculum, designed for several years (the child could not, while studying the basics of arithmetic, study geometry and astronomy at the same time. small, several years). Apparently, all these sciences were studied by Peter, and now Jaan Mush was hastily and superficially introduced them to them, so that he would at least to a small extent master the knowledge of the real Tsar Peter.
According to Kukovenko, all entries in Peter's student notebooks were made with the same handwriting and a person of the same literacy level (very illiterate). If these notes had been made by the genuine Peter over the course of several years, then as they matured, the handwriting would have to change and a certain literacy would have been acquired. But there is nothing like this in notebooks.
8.) In 1694, Peter came to Arkhangelsk and after that made his famous journey to Solovki. After the exit of their ship from the mouth of the Northern Dvina to the White Sea, a storm occurred, and the ship almost sank, having survived thanks to the skill of the helmsman. In memory of this event, Peter erected a wooden cross with an inscription made for some reason in Dutch "This cross was put by Captain Peter in the summer of Christ 1694".
9.) In 1692, Peter's son, Tsarevich Alexander, died, and the Tsar did not appear either at his funeral or at the funeral service. Later, Peter's mother, Natalya Kirillovna, died, and he also never appeared at her commemoration. Moreover, during this period he attended the funeral of some Dutchman. In addition, the king refused to participate in the ceremonies for the reception of ambassadors. Kukovenko explains this behavior by the fact that the double was afraid to be among strangers, in an unfamiliar environment, to attend church services and ceremonies, which he did not know and did not understand at all, to feel suspicious glances on himself. Kukovenko also suggests that Peter's mother could have been poisoned due to her growing suspicions.
10.) Kukovenko seems suspicious and the story of the Dutch sailor Jacob Jansen. He was hired for the Russian service in Arkhangelsk and was distinguished by his natural intelligence and skill in throwing bombs. Peter made friends with Jansen. But this is a sailor who converted to Orthodoxy, during the siege of Azov, he unexpectedly fled to the Turks. Historians explain this by the fact that he supposedly expected more from the Turks than from Tsar Peter. Kukovenko, however, believes that the king's favorite could not expect from the Turks any unthinkable benefits, significantly exceeding those that he could receive from Peter. It is unlikely that Jansen seriously hoped for such a thing, and this makes him look for the reason for his flight not in selfish aspirations, but in something else. Perhaps the tsar, in a moment of weakness, confessed to him who he really was, or Jansen, as an intelligent and observant person, himself came to such a discovery and realized that he could not live with this secret, as the tsar's constant suspicions awaited him. and his entourage, and subsequently, possibly, imprisonment and execution. These reasons forced him to flee to the enemies. When the conditions for the surrender of Azov were discussed with the Turks, one of the main demands of the Russian side was the extradition of Jansen. Pasha, who led the defense of the fortress, at first was against this condition, but when he was threatened with a general and merciless assault, he quickly succumbed. Jansen was extradited, taken to Moscow in chains and put to painful execution. The protocol of his interrogation has not been preserved. Perhaps, Kukovenko believes, he was one of the few who knew the secret of Peter, and his confession, torn out under torture, was immediately destroyed.
11.) There is a well-known portrait of Peter, painted in England in 1698 by the artist G. Kneller. On it, Peter is depicted as very tall, very slender, unusually young and spiritual, almost young men no more than 18-20 years old. It is known that the secretary of the Swedish embassy Kempfer made verbal description Peter, which completely coincides with the portrait by Kneller. Whereas Peter at the time of writing the portrait was already twenty-six years old, and he could hardly look like a young man. In addition, according to Kempfer, the Moscow tsar, even in his youth, seemed somewhat older than his years. Perhaps it was early biological maturation, which is why Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna married Peter when he was not yet seventeen years old. At the same age, Peter's half-brothers Fyodor and Ivan were married, which also indicates their early physical maturation. Sofya Alekseevna also looked much older than her years. When she was twenty-five, she looked about forty. The grandson of Peter the Great, Peter Alekseevich, already at the age of fourteen stood out for his physical and mental development. It can be assumed that this physiological feature was characteristic of all children of Alexei Mikhailovich. Kukovenko wonders how Peter got so wonderfully younger in England?
Another portrait of Peter is also known, painted by the French artist Nattier in 1717. At this time, Peter was already forty-five years old, but in the portrait he looks ten years younger.
The height of Tsar Peter was 2 meters 4 centimeters. Such tall people were very rare at that time. Human growth stops at the age of about 20 years. Danilov believes that if Tsar Peter was so tall, then this fact would be noted somewhere, while this is not recorded anywhere.
12.) Kukovenko notes the shyness and some wildness in the behavior and actions of Peter, his inability to behave in public, which is very noticeable in him after 1692. This was especially evident abroad. Meeting in Germany in 1697 with the electors Sophia of Hanover and her daughter Sophia-Charlotte of Brandenburg, Peter covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, repeating “I cannot speak” in German, blushed and behaved too childishly. When the electors tactfully helped him to cope with the embarrassment and brought him into conversation, Peter was unable to communicate anything more about himself, except that he was very fond of ships and knew 14 crafts. It seems that he was simply confused by the unfamiliar attention.
After a while, already in Holland, Peter was still lost from excessive attention to his person, while experiencing at the same time extraordinary shyness, then irritation and anger. When too many people gathered around his house, he refused to go out the door. Passing through the crowd of onlookers staring at him, the king covered himself with a wig or cloak. Irritated at too intrusive attention, Peter used his fists and even threw empty bottles.
Kukovenko asks the question, is all this similar to the behavior of a person who, from early childhood, saw a large number of people around him, accustomed to their constant attention and curiosity, accustomed not only to condescendingly perceive them, but also to command them?
13.) Kukovenko claims that while traveling as part of the Great Embassy in 1697-1698, Peter, violating all the instructions and plans of the embassy, left Germany for Holland, although he had to go to Vienna to resolve the very important issue for Russia about the war with Turkey. Because of this rather frivolous decision, Russia completely lost any benefits in concluding a peace treaty with the Turkish sultan and lost time that it could use to strengthen its military and political influence on the southern borders. Peter made this decision because of his desire to see ships and the desire to improve his skills as a carpenter. Kukovenko believes that this is unlike the behavior of a monarch, but it is very similar to the behavior of a not too responsible ordinary person who has not seen and missed his homeland for a long time, and, moreover, has not quite got used to the role of the king and state duties.
During Peter's trip abroad, eyewitnesses noted that he most willingly communicated with the Dutch skippers, easily went with them to the wine cellars and generously watered them.
14.) The behavior of Peter in Holland is also considered a serious proof. Sailing past Amsterdam on the Rhine and the canals, the king did not stop to visit the capital of the Dutch States, as he was in a hurry to Saardam (Zaandam). His desire to quickly get to this small and unremarkable coastal village was so great that he went there at night in a boat with several companions. Kukovenko rejects the assumption that Peter strove to Saardam because the best ships were built there, and the tsar sought to learn more about them. In Saardam, only large boats and merchant ships were built, and Peter, making a journey through the whole of Holland, could not help but hear about this. Whereas he needed military ships. Therefore, his trip to this coastal village was completely useless for acquiring the necessary knowledge, and in it Kukovenko sees some other and hidden meaning. On August 18, the king arrived in Saardam. On the first day of his stay in Saardam, he visited all the relatives of Dutch carpenters who worked in Moscow, visited the house of the Zaandam watchman Anthony van Kauwenhof, whose son lived in Moscow and worked as a master at a sawmill, dined with Jan Rensen's wife, drank a glass of vodka with Thomas Jesias's mother , visited Maria Gitmans, whose son worked in Russia on the construction of ships. Anset Mettier, the wife of another carpenter, entered this house and asked Peter about her husband, who was still working in Moscow. Peter answered her: "I know him well, because I was building a ship next to him." Kukovenko considers it strange that Peter knew exactly the Saardam people who were in Russia for one reason or another so well.
On the same day, Peter had a second dinner in the family of the carpenter Klaas Mush, also a native of Saardam, who worked at the Pereslavl shipyard and died in Moscow. Kukovenko believes that such visits to guests are very similar to the behavior of a person who returned home after a long absence and in a hurry to visit all his relatives and good friends.
15.) Peter constantly provided material assistance to the family of Klaas Musch. On the way to Holland, he sent the widow of Mush 500 guilders (about 7 kg of silver), a huge amount of money at that time. The brother of Claes Musch, Gerrit Musch, was hired as a cabin cabin for the buer, which Peter bought in Saardam from the merchant Dirk Stoffelsson on 12 August. Peter was very pleased with Gerrit's quickness and diligence and visited his house more than once, invited his wife and daughter-in-law to his place for dinner and presented them with a gold ring. Leaving Holland, Peter presented a 450 guilder buer to the widow of Claes Musch. According to Kukovenko, such generosity and even extravagance towards the family of an unknown carpenter who died in Moscow raises many questions, especially since the families of other Dutchmen who died in Russia were not provided with such assistance. For example, the family of Karsten Brandt, who died in Arkhangelsk on May 31, 1694, or the family of another carpenter, Kort, who died in Pereyaslavl in 1692, who, in comparison with the obscure Claes Musch, had incomparably great merits in the creation of the Russian fleet and were more familiar with Peter for a long time. And the helmsman Antip Timofeev, who saved Peter's life during a storm on the White Sea, received from him only thirty rubles (2 kilograms of silver, or about 150 guilders). Since Peter knew well and well treated the carpenters from Saardam, who left Holland in 1691, then, says Kukovenko, does this not mean that he himself was one of them? And given his special affection for the Mush family, it can be assumed that the son of the deceased Klaas Mush, Jaan Mush, was hiding under the name of the Russian Tsar Peter.
16.) Peter lived very modestly in Saardam, renting a tiny room from the blacksmith Kist, for which he paid only seven guilders (later Kist was offended by this meager payment), visited local gerbergs (pubs), wore simple clothes of local peasants, rode in free time alone on a skiff or gully along the canals and along the Hey Bay. The king was stingy with spending, like a thrifty commoner, and even cooked his own food, living in Saardam and later in Amsterdam. Buying a rowboat for sailing near Saardam, he bargained for a long time and persistently with its owner, the ship painter Willem Garmensoon, and, finally, they agreed on forty guilders and one glass of beer, which they drank at the local gerberg. Kukovenko asks how the Russian tsar knew how much a boat could cost in Holland, and the tsar would have stubbornly bargained for a few guilders? This bargaining, according to Kukovenko, suggests that the tsar was not only stingy with spending, but also that he was well versed in local prices and knew the Dutch language perfectly. According to Danilov, Peter's double has simply not yet learned to waste money royally.
17.) It seems surprising to Kukovenko that Peter's reverence for even the most insignificant officials he showed in Saardam - in front of all of them, he certainly took off his hat and bowed. Undoubtedly, Kukovenko believes, this speaks of the respect for power that he had learned from childhood, which only commoners could show, and all this betrays him as a local native.
18.) Peter the First, having the opportunity to choose princesses from the royal houses of Europe for his wife, for some reason married a servant, whom he later made empress. Peter's too respectful attitude to Romodanovsky, which lasted more than twenty years, is also cited as evidence.
19.) Peter visited Holland again in 1717, because he wanted his wife Catherine to give birth to his child in this country. This, according to Kukovenko, once again confirms that in reality he was a Dutchman. Peter sent a letter to Catherine, in which there is such a postscript: “I am sending with this letter to you Fitingof, who was led to be with him until we eat together, but didn’t take with me that people are there, they say, are very open they have eyes, and he is our brother. " From Holland, Peter went to France, therefore, fearing the disclosure of some circumstances that could damage his reputation, he sends a certain Fitinghof to Catherine. However, he calls this unknown person his brother. Perhaps, Kukovenko argues, this is the double's own confession regarding its origin. Fitinghof could not be directly related to Jaan Mush, but was, perhaps, a cousin or second cousin. In any case, Peter is seriously afraid of possible, albeit unintentional, revelations on his part. It is possible that Fitinghof, as a close relative, had a resemblance to a double, which was the reason for his referral to Catherine, since the tsar did not want the French to pay attention to this.
20.) According to Kukovenko, the doppelganger never left the fear of exposure. Apparently, because of this, he did not like to be in Moscow (unlike the real Peter the Great) and very often embarked on all kinds of trips and trips, which over the years turned into a maniacal desire to travel around the country and in foreign countries, sometimes without much need. Kukovenko believes that this fear of exposure and dislike for Moscow pushed the tsar to found a new capital far from the places where the real tsar lived, where he was still remembered.
21.) The day after the death of Tsarevich Alexei, Peter arranged multi-day celebrations on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, then on the occasion of his namesake and launching another ship. At the last event, as noted in the garrison magazine, "His Majesty and the other gentlemen senators and ministers had a lot of fun." The Austrian resident in Russia, Player, wrote about the same: “the tsar the next day (after the death of Alexei on July 7, 1718) and afterwards was very cheerful. The Menshikov family was noticeably happy that evening, and then they thanked God in church. "
At the end of 1718, by order of Peter, a medal was issued with the image of the royal crown soaring in the air and illuminated by the rays of the sun breaking through the clouds. At the bottom was the inscription "The horizon has cleared." During the reign of Peter and later, commemorative medals were issued only on significant occasions, mostly to commemorate military successes. Since this year there were no sea or land battles, Kukovenko suggests that Peter counted the violent death of Alexei as a significant victory.
prepared by Anton Voloshin
The hypothesis that the Russian Tsar Peter I was replaced by the Freemasons during his Grand Embassy - a trip to Western Europe in 1697-1698, despite its lack of proof, is by no means unfounded in connection with many "oddities" possessed by a person who returned to Russia disguised as a tsar. As a rule, the supporters of this version, based on the study of Peter's biography, provide 10 proofs of his substitution. And here's the evidence:
1) So, it turned out that out of the entire embassy, consisting of 20 nobles and 35 commoners, only Menshikov returned with "Peter". And all the other members of the "Great Embassy", who knew the tsar well by sight and could confirm his authenticity, died under unexplained circumstances, about which "Peter" refused to talk to anyone, including representatives of the clergy, until his death. Probably, all these people died under torture, but did not betray their real king, people and fatherland.
2) The second evidence is associated with strong changes in the appearance of the king, which occurred in just 1 year with a little of his absence. Thus, a comparative description of the portraits of Tsar Peter before his departure to Europe and the person who arrived under his name back revealed a number of external inconsistencies. So, he left the country as a man who looked 25 years old, had a round face and a wart under his left eye, taller than average and dense in build. The man who returned back was as much as 2 meters 4 centimeters tall, very thin and with a completely different face shape. Moreover, he looked at least 40 years old. And what's most interesting, foreigners living in Russia openly called him "our tsar".
3) Peter's close relatives also noticed the substitution of the tsar. We are told historical myth that his sister allegedly wanted to seize the throne, and therefore declared him an "impostor." But my own sister could not help but notice the substitution. And she was not alone, and therefore the archers, who knew the king personally, supported her. But the revolt was suppressed with the help of foreign mercenaries, and Princess Sophia was exiled to a monastery. But if the tsar's sister was accused of wanting to seize the throne by the falsifiers of history, then they did not manage to come up with a "convenient" version with Peter's wife. After all, Evdokia Lopukhina was almost the only person whom the real Peter trusted as himself and sincerely loved. Their connection was so strong that during his trip to Europe, Peter sent her letters almost every day until a certain moment, until the substitution took place. And the man who arrived under the guise of Peter did not meet with his beloved wife before and sent her to the monastery, not even looking at the persuasions of the priests, to whose will he had previously listened to.
4) The man who arrived disguised as Peter had a very suspiciously bad memory of his former acquaintances. He could not remember the faces of many of his relatives. constantly confused in names and did not remember a single detail from his "past life", before his trip to Europe. At the same time, not only relatives and friends of Peter suspected the substitution. His former associates Lefort and Gordon, as well as some other high-ranking persons who persistently sought communication with the king, were killed under strange circumstances immediately after the arrival of the impostor. And one more very interesting detail - the new "Peter" absolutely did not remember where the library of Ivan the Terrible was located, although its coordinates were transmitted strictly from tsar to tsar by inheritance.
It is likely that it was this library, where authentic historical sources about our and world history were kept, and was almost the main goal of those forces that carried out the substitution of the tsar and they hoped that the impostor would be able to find traces of it in Russia. Why was this library so important to them and remains so to this day? Because it is capable of literally "blowing up" all the false and falsified "official history" that the Vatican and its servants have been inventing for centuries. The question is. and what have the Masons? Doesn't the city on the Neva "built" by "Peter" have many Masonic symbols? So the connection between the Freemasons and the false Peter is quite obvious and reveals to us who the person who played the role of the Russian Tsar really was.
And the question is, what does the Vatican have to do with it, which seems to be fighting the Freemasons? Yes, that's just the point, that "kind of like". In fact, both the Vatican and the Freemasons serve the same masters and all their "enmity" is purely external, aimed at deceiving ordinary people, like the "official history" concocted together. But if the Vatican "supervises" the religions of the "biblical project", then the Freemasons "supervise" the official science. This is how total control is carried out to ensure that humanity does not gain access to "forbidden knowledge". So, it is in the Vatican library, which has many underground multi-kilometer levels and many artifacts and genuine historical documents past civilizations, as well as ancient knowledge about the structure of our world.
And if you think that access to these artifacts is possible for mere mortals, then you are very much mistaken. This is why it was so important for the Vatican and the Freemasons to gain access to the Ivan the Terrible's library. And without her, the new "tsar" was content only with the massive confiscation and destruction of ancient Russian books from monasteries, although this also caused considerable damage to our culture. But back to the evidence of the substitution of the real Peter.
5) There is one very strange "coincidence": immediately after the departure of "Peter" from Europe, a new prisoner in an iron mask appears within the walls of the Bastille, whose name was known only to the king Louis XIV... The appearance and completeness of this prisoner ideally matched the appearance of the real Tsar Peter. This prisoner died in 1703 and all traces of his stay were carefully destroyed.
6) It is known that the real Tsar Peter loved old Russian clothes and wore traditional Russian caftans even in the heat, being proud of his native culture and customs. But it turned out that the man, who arrived in Russia under the guise of Peter, immediately forbade sewing Russian clothes for himself and never once put on the traditional tsarist attire, despite the persuasions of the boyars and clergy. Until his death, this man wore only European clothes, and as we know, such dramatic changes in a person, especially in Russian, simply could not have happened.
7) The hatred of everything Russian in the false Peter was not limited to clothing alone. He suddenly hated everything connected with Russia and the Russian people. In addition, he showed a rather strange for the Russian tsar poor knowledge of the Russian language and claimed that he had “forgotten” the Russian writing system during his year in Europe. He also refused to observe Orthodox fasts, although before his trip he was distinguished by his piety. He could not remember anything either. sciences, which he was taught as a representative of the Russian highest nobility. But then that man constantly shocked those around him with the manners of a commoner. And the reasons for this strange "amnesia" are quite understandable, as are the praise of the "progressive tsar" by Russophobic forces. And only the hatred of the false Peter for the Russian people can explain the colossal decline of the Russian population that occurred during his reign.
8) The episodes of chronic tropical fever that regularly tormented the new "tsar" were also quite strange, which can only be caught after a long stay in hot countries. But, as you know, the embassy of Tsar Peter traveled to Europe by the northern sea route, which excludes even a short stay in those countries where it was possible to get such a disease.
9) False Peter had another strange difference from the real king. If before the trip the king considered horse and foot troops to be the basis of military force and dreamed of land battles, then the impostor who arrived under his guise was a real "sea wolf" and more than once demonstrated excellent knowledge of tactics during naval battles sea battle and boarding attacks, which surprised his surroundings a lot. The main concept of this man was the development of the navy, and his experience as a talented naval commander could only be gained after many sea battles.
10) The pretender did not like the son of Peter and Evdokia - Tsarevich Alexei and forced him to take tonsure, especially after the birth of his own son. Although the real Peter just doted on his son. The prince guessed about the substitution of his father, and therefore fled to Poland, from where he wanted to get to the Bastille in order to rescue the real Peter. However, supporters of the false Peter caught him and took him to the impostor. And this is precisely the real reason for the murder of Tsarevich Alexei by the false Peter, who was afraid of exposure.
The official history paints us a completely different "picture", but if we consider who exactly and on whose order this very "story" was written, then everything falls into place. Moreover, along with 10 proofs of Peter's substitution, there are also some oddities in his behavior. which, within the framework of the version of the substitution of the real king, look quite logically explained by his belonging to catholic church... We have already noted that the false Peter was not distinguished by piety, did not observe the fasts of the Russian Church, but besides this, he also actively promoted Catholicism in our country.
For example, here is what O. Luzinberger writes about this: "Peter I repeatedly attended magnificent Catholic services in the German settlement, and Catholics during his reign began to play a noticeable role in Russian society. Peter I, on the one hand, declared Orthodoxy the state religion, and on the other, to eliminate the political role of the Russian Orthodox Church liquidated the patriarchate, introducing the post of locum tenens of the patriarchal throne.
A former Uniate who studied Latin theological science in Polish Jesuit colleges and nicknamed "Pole" and "Latinist", Stefan Jaworski, was appointed to the post of locum tenens. In 1721 the post of locum tenens of the patriarchal throne was abolished and the Holy Synod was created. The Synod was headed by Feofan Prokopovich, who also received an excellent Catholic education. "
It is not surprising that the Synod, created under the leadership of the false Peter, in the first year of its existence, adopted a decree that allowed marriages of Orthodox Christians with persons of other Christian denominations without changing their faith, which greatly facilitated the penetration of Catholicism in our country and created comfortable conditions for Western mercenaries ( not only the military), loyally serving the new "tsar". Also in the country, theological schools of the seminary type were created, where the language of instruction was Latin, and Holy Bible studied by the Vulgate. All this only increased the suspicion among the people about the replacement of the real tsar by a "German".
As you can see, the search for the library of Ivan the Terrible about the location of which the real Tsar Peter knew about, turned out to be unsuccessful for the impostor. However, he issued a Decree of December 20, 1720 on the sending of ancient manuscripts and printed books from the monasteries and a Decree of February 16, 1722 on the sending of chronicles stored in the monasteries for making copies from them. At the same time, all discovered authentic sources were either destroyed or transferred to the Vatican library. Instead, copies were made, in which the appropriate changes were made, which were supposed to help the Vatican in the total falsification of history.
What conclusion can be drawn from all this? Considering what changes took place in the appearance, behavior, knowledge and interests of the tsar in just one year of his absence from the country, as well as the reaction of close people to all these changes, it can be argued with a fairly high degree of probability that instead of the real Peter, an impostor arrived back. whose owners were interested in the location of the library of Ivan the Terrible, as well as the establishment of control over state power in Russia.
The real Tsar Peter, who is devout and loving his country and people, could not change so dramatically in just one year and hate everything Russian up to the mass destruction of the Russian people. All this was done by false Peter, who most likely had to do with the Freemasons. It was through his efforts that a new pro-Western, corrupt "elite" was brought up, slavishly adoring the "civilized" Europe and abusing everything Russian. At the same time, judging by his lecherous inclinations and rude disposition, this man did not have a high origin and, most likely, by occupation in his "pre-Tsar" life, he was either a naval officer or a pirate. From him also went the custom of taking queens of German or Prussian origin.
Associated with the life and death of great Russians. This is the death of Ivan the Terrible's son, Tsarevich Dimitri, and the shooting of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, and the poisoning of I.V. Stalin. At the same time, the substitution of Peter I - this is fiction or a historical fact, has been repeatedly discussed by historians and has three different options.
The main versions of the substitution of Peter I
The least conspiracy hypothesis that Tsar Peter I was replaced by a double was put forward by V. Kukovenko, co-founder of the historical society of the city of Mozhaisk, and I. Danilov, head of the Philosophical Assault project. According to them, during the second amusing "Semenovsky" campaign in 1691, the young tsar was mortally wounded in a horse attack or skirmish. A similar accident had occurred before. A year earlier, during an exercise, a grenade exploded in the hands of a soldier, burning the face of Peter I himself and his associate General Patrick Gordon. Those close to Peter, led by the boyar Fyodor Romodanovsky, previously noted an undeniable resemblance to the tsar of the Dutch shipmaker Yaan Mush, a Saardam carpenter who arrived in Russia to build a funny fleet. F. Romodanovsky and the commander of the opposing amusing army "Generalissimo" I. Buturlin, saving themselves from the death penalty and their relatives from repression, replaced Peter I with a Dutch master who was 4 ... 5 years younger than the tsar.
The most convincing and substantiated is the hypothesis proposed by the "overthrowers" of the modern view of historical science and the developers of the "New Chronology" Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences A.T. Fomenko and associate professor of Moscow State University G.V. Nosovsky. They were the first to note that the official date of birth of Peter does not correspond to the day of his angel. If the king, indeed, was born on May 30, 1672, then he should have had the name Isaac. It was in honor of this name, the real name of the man who replaced the tsar, that the main church cathedral of the Russian Empire was named. At the same time, the historian P. Milyukov, who wrote an article about the first Russian Emperor for the encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron, hinted in a veiled form that Russia, starting from 1698 - the year of the return of Peter I from the Great Embassy - was ruled by an impostor.
This hypothesis is supported by the following facts:
- the Tsar sent his wife, Tsarina Evdokia, who bore him a son, Alexei, to the monastery during his travels across Europe before returning to Russia;
- before Peter I entered Moscow, the remnants of the streltsy army were destroyed, and the archers died near Moscow during a battle with an unknown army, under the command of boyar Shein, about whom no more historical records have survived;
- before entering Moscow, the Russian autocrat secretly meets with the Polish king and pays him an "indemnity" (according to other sources, a "subsidy") of 1.5 million gold efimks, which was equal to the annual income of the Moscow state;
- returning to Moscow, Peter unsuccessfully tried to find the library of Sophia Palaeologus, the location of which was known only to persons of royal blood and which Princess Sophia had repeatedly visited;
- shaving beards, Western European dances and entertainment, and the introduction of Western customs began only after the return of the sovereign from the Grand Embassy.
There are two versions of replacing Peter I with a double while traveling in Western Europe:
- St. Petersburg mathematician Sergei Albertovich Sall believes that the double of the Tsar of Muscovy was a prominent Freemason and relative of William of Orange, the first king of England and Scotland and the only representative on the British throne from the Nassau-Orange dynasty;
- according to the historian Yevgeny Trofimovich Baida, the double was either a Swede or a Dane named Isaac (and therefore St. Isaac's Cathedral) and professed the Lutheran religion.
However, to check the version about whether the substitution of Peter, fiction or historical fact was this event, can be resolved quite simply. To do this, it is necessary to take at the next, planned restoration of the tomb of Peter in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, a particle of genetic material, and it will immediately become clear, substitutions, and also theories about who was the father of the first Russian Emperor- Tsar Alexei Fedorovich or Patriarch Nikon, about whose connection with Peter's mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was slandered by his contemporaries.
The king (!) Cooked his own food. Buying a boat, he bargained for a long time with the owner, until they agreed on 40 guilders and one (!) Mug of beer, which they drank in a local tavern. two people one glass of beer?
The works of the vice-president of the Russian Philosophical Society NA Chaldymov "Anthropological Catastrophe" and Doctor of Philosophy VA Shemshuk "On the Satanic Revolution in Russia" also provide evidence in favor of a possible substitution of the sovereign.
Immediately upon the return of the tsar, all the "daily" records of Peter's childhood and youth disappeared from the court archives, in which every step of the tsar was noted: receptions of ambassadors, visits to churches, attendance at celebrations. It is unlikely that such a loss of the most important state documents was accidental. After all, there were letters there. and the decrees of the young sovereign - and many of them were written with his own hand, that is, they could serve as samples of handwriting.
After his arrival, the new tsar suddenly "forgot" the Russian language - spoke it badly, and portrayed Russian words in Latin letters. For several years he did not write letters on his own, but only dictated them.
He suddenly awakened a desire to change the history, not only of the palace history, but of the entire state. He ordered that old manuscript books be removed from all monasteries and brought to Moscow, ostensibly for making copies. Failure to comply with the order threatened the death penalty (!). Brought to Moscow. The books were burned, no copies were taken from them. After which Peir invited German (!) scientists to write the history of the Russian (!) state. The tradition continued under Anna Ioannovna, and under Catherine the Great. The history of Russia has been rewritten! And now the faithful Millerovites are writhing with foam at the mouth, bringing us heresy that the Scythians came from Iran, about some kind of Tatar, and even Mongol yoke and other vocations of the Varangians, because, they say, the Russians do not have "order", they cannot manage the state on their own, and "therefore they need a firm German hand" ("Mein Kampf"! - that's where Hitler got his crazy ideas from!)
Returning from Europe, the tsar in every possible way avoided any meetings with close relatives - he did not even attend their weddings or funerals, during such events he tried to leave Moscow. Was this a manifestation of constant exposure?
An interesting picture is given by the preserved records of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, the predecessor of the Secret Chancellery, their Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. More than 90% of state criminals of that time were not conspirators, traitors or rioters, but precisely those who spoke of replacing the tsar! Or did not inform, listening to such speeches.
They were the ones who represented greatest danger and were persecuted and executed with extreme cruelty.
An interesting detail: most of the punishments for speaking about an impostor fall precisely in the first years after the Great Embassy - that is, when the fear of a possible liar was especially strong.
According to V. Svetlanin's article, "Secrets
20th century ", No. 28 2015.
Peter I Alekseevich - the last Tsar of All Russia and the first Emperor of All Russia, one of the most prominent rulers of the Russian Empire. He was a real patriot of his state and did everything possible for its prosperity.
From his youth, Peter I showed great interest in different things, and was the first of the Russian tsars who made a long journey across the countries of Europe.
Thanks to this, he was able to accumulate a wealth of experience and carry out many important reforms that determined the direction of development in the 18th century.
In this article, we will consider in detail the features of Peter the Great, and pay attention to the traits of his personality, as well as his successes in the political arena.
Biography of Peter 1
Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov was born on May 30, 1672 c. His father, Alexei Mikhailovich, was the king of the Russian Empire, and ruled it for 31 years.
Mother, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, was the daughter of a small local nobleman. Interestingly, Peter was the 14th son of his father and the first of his mother.
Childhood and adolescence of Peter I
When the future emperor was 4 years old, his father Aleksey Mikhailovich died, and Peter's elder brother, Fedor 3 Alekseevich, was on the throne.
The new tsar took up the education of little Peter, ordering him to be taught various sciences. Since at that time a struggle was waged against foreign influence, his teachers were Russian clerks who did not have deep knowledge.
As a result, the boy did not manage to get a proper education, and he wrote with errors until the end of his days.
However, it is worth noting that Peter I managed to compensate for the shortcomings of basic education with rich practical lessons. Moreover, the biography of Peter I is remarkable precisely for his fantastic practice, and not for his theory.
The story of Peter 1
Six years later, Fedor 3 died, and his son Ivan was to ascend to the Russian throne. However, the legal heir turned out to be a very sickly and weak child.
Taking advantage of this, the Naryshkin family, in fact, organized a coup. Enlisting the support of Patriarch Joachim, the Naryshkins made young Peter king the very next day.
26-year-old Peter I. The portrait by Kneller was presented by Peter in 1698 to the English king However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of Tsarevich Ivan, declared the illegality of such a transfer of power and the infringement of their own rights.
As a result, in 1682, the famous Streletsky revolt took place, as a result of which two tsars, Ivan and Peter, were on the throne at the same time.
From that moment on, many significant events took place in the biography of the young autocrat.
It is worth emphasizing here that with early years the boy was fond of military affairs. By his order, fortifications were built, and real military equipment was used in staged battles.
Peter 1 put on uniforms on his peers and marched with them along the city streets. Interestingly, he himself acted as the drummer in front of his regiment.
After the formation of his own artillery, the king created a small "fleet". Even then, he wanted to dominate the sea and lead his ships into battle.
Tsar Peter 1
As a teenager, Peter 1 was not yet able to fully manage the state, so his half-sister Sofya Alekseevna was regent with him, and then his mother Natalya Naryshkina.
In 1689, Tsar Ivan officially transferred all power to his brother, as a result of which Peter 1 became the only full-fledged head of state.
After the death of his mother, his relatives, the Naryshkins, helped him to manage the empire. However, the autocrat soon freed himself from their influence and began to independently rule the empire.
The reign of Peter 1
From that time, Peter 1 stopped playing war games, and instead began to develop real plans for future military campaigns. He continued to wage war in the Crimea against, and also repeatedly organized the Azov campaigns.
As a result, he managed to take the Azov fortress, which was one of the first military successes in his biography. Then Peter 1 began to build the port of Taganrog, although there was still no fleet as such in the state.
From that time on, the emperor set himself the goal of creating a strong fleet at all costs in order to have an impact on the sea. For this, he made sure that young nobles could learn ship craft in European countries.
It is worth noting that Peter I himself also learned to build ships, working as an ordinary carpenter. Because of this, he gained great respect among ordinary people who watched him work for the good of Russia.
Even then, Peter the Great saw many shortcomings in the state system and was preparing for serious reforms that would forever write his name in.
He studied state structure the largest European countries, trying to learn from them all the best.
During this period of the biography, a conspiracy was drawn up against Peter 1, as a result of which a streltsy uprising was to take place. However, the king was able to suppress the riot in time and punish all the conspirators.
After a long confrontation with the Ottoman Empire, Peter the Great decided to sign a peace agreement with it. After that, he started a war with.
He managed to capture several fortresses at the mouth of the Neva River, on which the glorious city of Peter the Great will be built in the future.
Wars of Peter the Great
After a series of successful military campaigns, Peter the Great managed to open an exit to what would later be called the “window to Europe”.
Meanwhile, the military power of the Russian Empire was constantly growing, and the fame of Peter the Great was worn throughout Europe. Soon the Eastern Baltic was annexed to Russia.
In 1709, the famous one took place, in which the Swedish and Russian armies fought. As a result, the Swedes were completely defeated, and the remnants of the troops were taken prisoner.
By the way, this battle is superbly described in the famous poem "Poltava". Here's a snippet:
There was that vague time
When Russia is young
In struggles, straining strength,
She grew up with the genius of Peter.
It is worth noting that Peter 1 himself took part in the battles, showing courage and courage in battle. By his example, he inspired the Russian army, which was ready to fight for the emperor to the last drop of blood.
Studying Peter's relationship with the soldiers, one cannot help but recall famous story about a careless soldier. More on this.
An interesting fact is that at the height of the Battle of Poltava, an enemy bullet shot through Peter I's hat, passing a few centimeters from the head. This once again proved the fact that the autocrat was not afraid to risk his life for the sake of defeating the enemy.
However, numerous military campaigns not only took the lives of valiant warriors, but also depleted the country's military resources. It got to the point that Russian empire found herself in a situation where it was required to simultaneously fight on 3 fronts.
This forced Peter 1 to reconsider his views on foreign policy and make a number of important decisions.
He signed a peace agreement with the Turks, agreeing to give them back the Azov fortress. By making such a sacrifice, he was able to save many human lives and military equipment.
After some time, Peter the Great began to organize campaigns to the east. Their result was the annexation of such cities as Semipalatinsk and.
Interestingly, he even wanted to organize military expeditions to North America and India, but these plans never came true.
But Peter the Great was able to brilliantly carry out the Caspian campaign against Persia, having conquered Derbent, Astrabad and many fortresses.
After his death most of the conquered territories turned out to be lost, since their maintenance was not profitable for the state.
Reforms of Peter 1
Throughout his biography, Peter 1 implemented many reforms aimed at the good of the state. Interestingly, he became the first Russian ruler to call himself emperor.
The most important reforms concerned military affairs. In addition, it was during the reign of Peter 1 that the church began to submit to the state, which had never happened before.
The reforms of Peter the Great promoted development and trade, as well as a move away from outdated lifestyles.
For example, he taxed the wearing of a beard, wishing to impose European standards of appearance on the boyars. And although this caused a wave of discontent from the side Russian nobility, they still obeyed all of his decrees.
Every year, medical, naval, engineering and other schools were opened in the country, in which not only the children of officials, but also ordinary peasants could study. Peter the Great introduced a new Julian calendar, which is still used today.
While in Europe, the king saw many beautiful paintings that boggled his imagination. As a result, upon his arrival in his homeland, he began to provide financial support to artists in order to stimulate the development of Russian culture.
In fairness, it must be said that Peter I was often criticized for the violent method of implementing these reforms. In fact, he forcibly forced people to change their thinking, as well as carry out projects conceived by him.
One of the most striking examples of this is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in the most difficult conditions. Many people could not stand such loads and ran away.
Then the families of the fugitives were imprisoned and stayed there until the perpetrators returned back to the construction site.
Peter I Soon Peter 1 formed a body of political investigation and court, which was transformed into the Secret Chancellery. Anyone was forbidden to write in closed rooms.
If anyone knew about such a violation and did not report it to the king, he was subjected to the death penalty. Using such harsh methods, Peter tried to fight anti-government conspiracies.
Personal life of Peter 1
In his youth, Peter 1 loved to be in the German Quarter, enjoying a foreign company. It was there that he first saw a German woman, Anna Mons, with whom he immediately fell in love.
His mother was against his relationship with a German woman, so she insisted that he marry Evdokia Lopukhina. An interesting fact is that Peter did not contradict his mother, and took Lopukhina as his wife.
Of course, in this forced marriage, their family life could not be called happy. They had two boys: Alexey and Alexander, the last of whom died in early childhood.
Alexei was to become the legal heir to the throne after Peter 1. However, due to the fact that Evdokia tried to overthrow her husband from the throne and transfer power to her son, everything turned out completely differently.
Lopukhina was imprisoned in a monastery, and Alexei had to flee abroad. It is worth noting that Alexei himself never approved of his father's reforms, and even called him a despot.
Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei. Ge N.N., 1871 In 1717, Alexei was found and arrested, and then sentenced to death for participating in a conspiracy. However, he died while still in prison, and under very mysterious circumstances.
Having dissolved his marriage with his wife, in 1703 Peter the Great became interested in 19-year-old Katerina (nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya). A whirlwind romance began between them, which lasted for many years.
Over time, they got married, but even before marriage, she gave birth to daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) from the emperor. Elizabeth later became empress (ruled 1741-1761)
Katerina was a very intelligent and perceptive girl. She alone managed, with the help of affection and patience, to calm the king when he had acute attacks of headache.
Peter I with the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on the blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. J.-M. Nattier, 1717 They were officially married only in 1712. After that, they had 9 more children, most of whom died at an early age.
Peter the Great truly loved Katerina. In her honor, the Order of St. Catherine was established and a city in the Urals was named. The name of Catherine I also bears the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (built under her daughter Elizabeth Petrovna).
Soon, another woman, Maria Cantemir, appeared in the biography of Peter 1, who remained the favorite of the emperor until the end of his life.
It is worth noting that Peter the Great was very tall - 203 cm. At that time he was considered a real giant, and was a cut above everyone else.
However, the size of his legs did not match his height at all. The autocrat wore shoes of size 39 and was very narrow at the shoulders. As an additional support, he always carried a cane with him on which he could lean.
Death of Peter
Despite the fact that outwardly Peter 1 seemed to be a very strong and healthy person, in fact he suffered from migraine attacks throughout his life.
V last years kidney stone disease began to torment him in his life, to which he tried not to pay attention.
At the beginning of 1725, the pains became so severe that he could no longer get out of bed. His health deteriorated every day, and his suffering became unbearable.
Peter 1 Alekseevich Romanov died on January 28, 1725 in the Winter Palace. The official cause of his death was pneumonia.
The Bronze Horseman - a monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg However, an autopsy showed that death was due to inflammation of the bladder, which soon developed into gangrene.
Peter the Great was buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife Catherine I became the heir to the Russian throne.
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