Peter the Great (born May 30 (June 9) 1672 - death January 28 (February 8) 1725) The first Russian emperor, known for his reforms of public administration. During his reign, Russia joined the ranks of the great European powers.
Origin. early years
Peter was the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his second wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. From his first marriage with Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, the sovereign had 13 children, but only two of the sons survived - Fedor and Ivan. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, Peter's elder brother, Tsar Fyodor, who was his godfather, began to look after Peter's upbringing. For the young Peter, he chose Nikita Zotov as a mentor, thanks to whom he became addicted to books, especially to historical writings.
Tsar Ivan the Terrible was a real idol for Peter. Later, Peter will say about his reign: “This sovereign is my predecessor and model; I have always envisioned him as a model of my government in civil and military affairs, but did not succeed in that as far as he did. Fools only those who do not know the circumstances of his time, the properties of his people and the greatness of his merits, call him a tormentor."
Struggle for the royal throne
After the death of 22-year-old Tsar Fedor in 1682, the struggle for power between two families - the Miloslavsky and the Naryshkins - sharply intensified. The pretenders to the royal throne from the Miloslavskys were Ivan in weak health, and from the Naryshkins - healthy, but younger Peter. At the instigation of the Naryshkins, Tsar Peter was proclaimed patriarch. However, the Miloslavskys were not going to put up with this, they provoked a streltsy riot, during which many people close to the Naryshkins died. This made an indelible impression on young Peter, had an impact on his mental health and outlook.
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Substitution of Peter 1? Versions
Swapping babies?
It was rumored that Peter was not at all the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but the son of Lefort himself. As if the Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was telling his wife: "If you do not give birth to a son, I will inflict anger on you." The courtyard people knew about this. And when Tsarina Natalya gave birth to a daughter, and Lefort had a son at that time, then, fearing the tsar's wrath, they secretly changed the babies from the tsar.
Peter was replaced abroad?
But if someone did not believe in the story of the substitution of babies, then there is another, in the opinion of the storytellers, more believable, legend about how during a trip to Sweden Tsar Peter was captured and there was "laid in a pillar", and in Russia instead of him came the nemchin, who reigns now. And how can you not believe this, if, having returned from abroad to Moscow on the eve of 1699, the tsar did not stop by the Kremlin, did not bow to the miraculous relics of Orthodox saints, did not visit the graves of his parents in the Archangel Cathedral, but immediately went to the German the settlement where he feasted at Lefort all night?
And the next day, not even wanting to see his family, he began to cut the boyars' beards and introduce Western customs in Russia. Moreover - which is quite indicative - the "renewed Peter" immediately completely destroyed the Moscow rifle army. After that he immediately entered into a secret conspiracy with the Western European sovereigns.
All close relatives - the sisters Sophia, Martha and his wife - were imprisoned by the king immediately upon his return to the monastery, leaving not a single person from the royal family with him. Peter's brother and co-ruler, Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, had already died at that time (in 1696). Perhaps it was not Tsar Peter Alekseevich who returned from abroad, but a completely different person? Which, by the way, did not have, according to historians, the habits of the sovereign, but rather showing the habits of a commoner: illiteracy, a tendency to engage in such crafts that the tsars are not engaged in, etc.
It should be noted that the archers who served in the Kremlin directly spoke about the replacement of Peter I. This became the reason for the next uprising of the archers, after the return of the king from a trip abroad. The historian R. Massy, the author of the two-volume book Peter the Great, described the conversations of the archers in the following way: “it was said that Peter was completely Germanized and maybe died”. Sagittarius excitedly discussed all this. They understood what their duty was: to throw off this fake king.
In other words, perhaps, there was a secret palace coup with the replacement of Peter I. The real Peter Alekseevich was first taught to drink, and then quietly removed. And from Western Europe, a completely different person arrived in his place, who later ruled on behalf of Peter. It is clear that this man's name was most likely not Peter. It is possible that his name was Isaac and that it was his birthday that fell on May 30. The birthday of the real Peter, perhaps, was completely different, he had to correspond to the name "Peter".
Appearance - obvious inconsistencies
And if the changes in behavior could be explained by new habits and more "progressive" views that the king adopted in the West, then what about the appearance and blatant personality changes? The portrait of Peter, painted in Holland at the very beginning of his arrival, is very reminiscent of the facial features of his son Alexei. And this is normal: the similarity of such close relatives can easily be explained by genetics. Here are just the subsequent portraits of the king, which we see in school textbooks and other historical literature, have nothing to do with the original picture.
Of course, the changes could be attributed to age, but even after 50 years, moles and the very structure of the face cannot be corrected. Yes, and the tsar's complexion has changed: after his arrival, he became thinner and stretched 15 cm, but his leg size became surprisingly miniature (about the modern 37th size). And if weight loss can be explained by a new diet, then such an increase in height and a change in the shape of the foot is simply impossible in adulthood.
Another version of the substitution of Peter I
- Moreover, the pure Russian speech of the autocrat was replaced by an indistinct dialect with a pronounced European accent: it was obvious that complex verbal constructions were given to him with difficulty. And the sovereign stopped visiting the legendary library of Ivan the Terrible: probably, he simply did not know its location, because this secret was passed on only to crowned persons.
- The coincidence in time of the substitution of Tsar Peter I (August 1698) and the appearance of the prisoner in the "Iron Mask" in the Bastille in Paris (September 1698). In the lists of prisoners, he was listed under the name Magshiel, which is possibly a distorted record of the Mikhailov, under which Tsar Peter went on a trip abroad. His appearance coincides with the appointment of the new commandant of the Bastille of Saint-Mars. He was tall, carried himself with dignity, and a velvet mask was always on his face. The attitude to the prisoner was respectful, well kept. Died in 1703. After his death, the room where he was kept was thoroughly searched, and all traces of his stay were destroyed.
- The Orthodox Tsar, who preferred traditional Russian clothing, went to the Great Embassy. There are 2 portraits of the sovereign, made during the trip, in which he is in a Russian caftan, and even during his stay and work at the shipyard. A Latin man returned from the embassy, who wore only European clothes and never again put on not only his old Russian clothes, but even the royal attire. Presumably, Tsar Peter I and the "impostor" differed significantly in body structure: Tsar Peter was lower and denser than the "impostor"
- The people, in those days, spoke directly about the substitution of Peter I abroad, but these rumors and attempts to find out were brutally suppressed and called a conspiracy or riot. It was with the intention of preventing such rumors that the Secret Order was formed.
- Debauchery. The strange behavior of the "king" after his arrival was noted. So he always took a soldier with him to bed at night. Later, after the appearance of Catherine, he simultaneously contained concubines. This kind of debauchery was in the royal palace only under the impostor False Dmitry.
- Destruction of Russian folk traditions, the fight against them. The superiority of Latin Western culture over traditional Russian was established. Organization of Masonic Lodges (1700).
- In Russia, tobacco smoking was introduced, which is considered the greatest sin in Orthodoxy. Encouragement and inculcation of drunkenness.
- Establishment of power and control of foreigners, in the troops, government, science, their privileges over the Russians, distribution of titles of nobility, lands and serfs to them.
- It would be possible to voice a more mild hypothesis: the young Peter with an unstable psyche, who found himself in Western Europe, was able to instill exactly the program of action that was beneficial to Western Europeans at that time. Namely, to intensify the defeat of Russia. However, it should be said that the hypothesis of Peter's substitution fits better into the atmosphere of the 17th – 18th centuries than its “soft form”.
The fact is that the era of the Great Troubles and the Reformation is replete with impostors. Not only in Russia, but also in Europe. In those turbulent times, as you can see, it was easier to replace this or that king with an impostor than to waste time and effort on his "re-education." But this "soft hypothesis" does not explain in any way the fact of the substitution of the name of Peter-Isaac, discovered above.