From childhood, Peter was accustomed to jesters and dwarfs, who were an integral part of court life. People from the top of Russian society often became jesters. Of course, these were by no means the most intelligent, gifted and hardworking representatives of the boyars. In choosing a clownish position, they were guided by the desire to receive a salary for tomfoolery, gluttony, drunkenness and other activities pleasant for many people …
But among the tsar's jesters there were also smart, educated people, little inferior to the famous character of the novels by Alexandre Dumas "The Countess de Monsoreau" and "Forty-five" by Shiko - a typical product of Western European court life. Such jesters were famous for their ability, under the guise of buffoonery, to tell monarchs not always pleasant truths.
Probably, such "fools" of the new generation first appeared at the Russian court since the time of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who was not alien to European trends. Peter the Great had such jesters.
One of them is Prince Yuri Fedorovich Shakhovskoy. He was not a regular jester, he held quite important government posts. As a tsarist steward, he carried out assignments in the sphere of conducting the Monastic Order under the leadership of the boyar I. A. Musin-Pushkin. And in the state of the Ingermanland (since 1710 - St. Petersburg) governor A. D. Menshikov, he bore the high title of a near boyar. But at the frequent feasts, masquerades and revelry of Peter, he played the role of a jester.
Masquerade in the Senate under Peter the Great.
According to prince BI Kurakin, Shakhovskoy “was not a small mind and the reader of books, only the most evil vessel and drunk, and did all the villainy from the first to the last. And he did that he visited the ministers of their affairs at all and then at the table with His Majesty, clearly one of them barked and reproached with all their affairs, through which His Majesty's channel was in charge of everything."
A notable figure in the jester's entourage of Peter I was Vimeni or, as he was also called, Vymenka. The real name of this native of France remained unknown. He was enrolled in the court staff specifically for the position of jester and received from the sovereign the jester the title of "Cardinal and Prince de Vimene, King of Samoyed." His nickname arose from the expression "you me" - a favorite saying of the amusing "prince", distorted by a foreign accent.
Vimeny came from a noble French family and for harsh judgments spent many years in the Bastille, which is why he sometimes found insanity. According to foreign ambassadors, he traveled a lot, possessed vast knowledge and sometimes spoke so intelligently that his speech, which showed subtle observation, was as entertaining as the conversation of the most intelligent person. The Tsar liked him for his ideas, sometimes extravagant, sometimes prudent. Peter valued him very highly.
Promotional video:
Unknown artist - Portrait of Yakov Turgenev, jester of Peter I.
Vimeny died of drinking during the Christmas celebration in January 1710. His funeral was magnificent and at the same time not devoid of a buffoonish tinge. Peter I, Prince A. D. Menshikov, General-Admiral F. M. Apraksin, his brother Kazan Governor-General P. M. Apraksin, Chancellor Count G. I. Golovkin, Vice-Chancellor P. P. Shafirov and other important faces, dressed in black cloaks, saw off the deceased, sitting on Samoyed sleighs pulled by reindeer and with Samoyeds on the heels.
The deceased was taken to a Catholic church in the German Sloboda, where a Jesuit was buried. "It is difficult to describe, - said Yust Yul, - how ridiculous this funeral train was both on the way to the church and on the way back."
Among the favorite jesters of Peter I was the Portuguese Jan D'Acosta, who is often referred to as Lacoste in sources (see portrait). According to most contemporaries, he came from a family of Portuguese baptized Jews. French Consul Henri Lavi writes that he was "born in Salé in Berberia of Spanish parents" (276). Salé, now in Morocco, was at that time a large West African port. It is not surprising that Lacoste's youth passed on the seashore.
Lavi reports that Lacoste was brought to Russia in 1717 by the Hamburg resident of Peter I. At that time, the future jester was already about fifty years old. The French consul noted that he “speaks several European languages”, “enjoys great favor and accompanies the king everywhere; he is a great talker and often jokes to amuse the king."
Jan D'Acosta (Lacoste), who was a jester at the courts of several Russian sovereigns, was a Portuguese Jew, whose family, after long wanderings, settled in Hamburg. In 1717, Jan Lacoste converted to Orthodoxy, losing to Peter in a dispute, but begged for the right to be called "the main jester."
Peter I singled out Lacoste from the retinue of his jesters and, as researchers believe, appointed him chief in it. With him, the king could even conduct humorous discussions, including on theological topics. One such case is reflected in the diary of the Holstein Chamber Junker Berhholz:
“I heard a dispute between the monarch and his jester La Costa, who usually revives society … The point was this. La Costa said that the Holy Scripture says that "many will come from the East and West and will lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"; the king refuted him and asked where it was said. He answered: in the Bible.
The Emperor himself immediately ran for the Bible and soon returned with a huge book, which he ordered to take from the clergy, demanding that La Costa find him that place; the jester replied that he did not know exactly where these words were, but that he could assure His Majesty that they were written in the Bible. "It's all nonsense, this is not there," Peter answered in Dutch."
Berchholz did not hear the continuation of the discussion, since he was distracted by the queen and princesses passing by. But he nevertheless inquired about this question from experts in the Holy Scriptures. “I was assured,” wrote the chamberlain, “that La Costa was right, that the words he quoted are indeed in the Bible, namely in Matthew, ch. 8, Art. 11 and 12.
Folk legends turned Ivan Alekseevich Balakirev into Peter the Great's favorite jester, but this is not entirely true. He became officially a jester much later, during the reign of Anna Ioannovna.
V. A. Jacobi. “ Jesters at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. ” Fragment. Balakirev from above.
In the 1830s, "Anecdotes about the Jester Balakirev" appeared in Russia. What is called "Anecdotes about the jester Balakirev" has nothing to do with the Petrine era and the personality of IA Balakirev, the famous jester of Anna Ivanovna.
Researchers believe that they are based on a collection of German stories about the tricks of medieval fools. The collection was widely circulated in Europe and was translated into Russian at the end of the XVIII century, but it got a new life in Russia after some clever writer rewrote "Anecdotes", introducing some of the realities of Peter's (more precisely, Russian) reality and linking "Anecdotes" with the name of Balakirev.
In the milieu that is now commonly referred to as the "wide readership", "Anecdotes" enjoyed immense popularity: in the first fifty years alone they were published no less than seventy times. One might think that they were among the most widely read national publications and, together with popular prints, were transported from fairs throughout Russia.
The fate of the real Ivan Alekseevich Balakirev is very remarkable. He was born in 1699 into a noble family and already in his early youth, like all the noble ignoramuses, was taken into military service in the Preobrazhensky regiment, whose duties included the protection of the imperial family and palaces. Somehow the transfiguration man managed to prove himself, and soon he was enrolled in the staff of court officials.
Clinging to the lowest rung of the service ladder of the court department, dexterous, clever and, as they said about such people in the 18th century, the "nosy" Balakirev acquired the disposition of influential persons at court, among whom he was especially favored by the chamberlain and the then favorite of Empress Catherine, the wife of Peter I - Willim Mons,
Through Balakirev, who played the roles of a jester, and a rider, and a messenger - in a word, "his", "neighbor" person, Willim Mons, a typical temporary worker and, moreover, a bribe-taker, did his unseemly deeds.
When the investigation of Mons began in 1724, which ended with a fleeting investigation, trial and execution, Balakirev was among the important witnesses, for helping Mons in his machinations he received 60 blows with batogs and was exiled to hard labor.
Ivan Alexandrovich Balakirev.
However, soon, with the coming to power of Catherine I in 1725, he was released, and the empress, not forgetting the services of her trusted favorite, granted him an ensign of the Preobrazhensky regiment. However, he did not succeed in making a military career, and at the time of Anna Ivanovna he was enrolled in the staff of jesters, of whom, as you know, the empress had a lot.
We are accustomed to the well-known stereotype: a clever jester sitting at the foot of the throne in the form of jokes "denounces" and "exposes" someone. Of course, there is some truth in this, but nevertheless in real life it was much more complicated - the jesters were not kept at all so that they "shake the foundations." Jesters were an indispensable element of the institution of "state laughter", which had an ancient origin and complex structure.
The link "lord - jester", in which each was assigned a role, was traditional and stable at all times. It was clear to everyone that the jester was not a fool, that he was fulfilling a certain "position" with a clearly defined boundary in relations with various people. The rules of this post-game included both certain duties and certain rights.
Protected by the ancient rule: "There is no demand for a fool," he really could say something impartial, but he could suffer for it if he went beyond the limits set by the sovereign. In the system of unlimited power, the role of such a person who had access to the sovereign was very significant. They feared to insult the jester, because it was believed that the sovereign could speak through his mouth.
Peter I passes through Russian history, surrounded not only by talented associates, but also by drunken, grimacing jesters, many of whom belonged to the top of the nobility. The Danish envoy, Just Juhl, recalls one of the tsar's typical parties.
“There were several boyars and princes with him, whom he kept as jesters. They shouted, shouted, piped, whistled, sang and smoked in the very room where the king was …
Among them were two jester-stutters, whom the tsar took with him for entertainment: they were very funny when they stuttered, stammered in conversation with each other and could not express their thoughts to each other …
In the afternoon, incidentally, the following incident happened. The table had not yet been cleared. The king stood chatting with someone. Suddenly, one of the jesters approached him and deliberately blew his nose past the very face of the king into the face of another jester. However, the king did not pay attention to this."
That's about from such a company and was Balakirev. As a jester, he was no different and, apparently, his fame was due solely to the story with Mons.
The wedding of the royal dwarf Yakim Volkov and the dwarf Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna on November 14, 1710. This funky wedding aimed to “ divorce ” in Russia, a breed of dwarfs.
But his literary fate turned out to be happier. In "Anecdotes" he appears to the reader as a clever, witty, resourceful person who, if necessary, can "shake off" a boor, amuse society, find an original way out of a difficult situation. Apparently, this is what attracted the attention of readers to the image of the jester Balakirev.
Of course, now "Anecdotes" are read differently than in the past: we approach them, rather, as a literary monument of a past era, although some novellas do not leave us indifferent even now. Finally, the most important thing. Reading "Anecdotes", we not only smile at the tricks of the clever jester, but also pity him.
One of the short stories tells how a jester, fleeing from an angry ruler, hides under Catherine's train. This means that the word - the jester's only defensive, but very fragile weapon - did not help him, the joke was not well understood, the rule: "There is no penalty for a fool" - did not work and the famous club hung over Balakirev's head.
We see from "Anecdotes" how long sometimes Balakirev develops a whole system of actions and tirades, and all this in order to bring the great tsar out of gloomy reverie, which must be urgently dispelled, otherwise everyone around him will get lost. And although the "Anecdotes" reproduce situations typical for the life of the courts of monarchs of all times and peoples, nevertheless - voluntarily or not - the compiler of the "Anecdotes" reflected the atmosphere that was characteristic of the court of Peter.
The terrible anger of the autocrat - the father of the Fatherland, who alone knew the limits of his power and his omnipotence, was a sad and inevitable reality of the times in which the real Balakirev lived and his fictional image acted.
By decree of Catherine I, Balakirev received the right to own the former estates of the Kasimov tsars, the rank of lieutenant of the Life Guards, and the title of "Tsar of Kasimov" In 1740, Balakirev asked for leave to go to the village and, taking advantage of Anna's death, decided to change the profession of a jester to a more relaxed occupation of the landowner. One must think that by this time he was not poor.
Ivan Balakirev died in 1763 in the same place in Kasimov. His grave is located behind the altar of the St. George Church.
Published under his name by K. A. Polev "Collection of Balakirev's anecdotes" is a collection of jokes and anecdotes belonging to different persons. They are borrowed from a collection of clownish jokes from different countries, translated from German by Vasiliev back in 1780. The Balakirev Collection of Jokes was first published in 1830; in the 19th century it was reprinted more than 70 times.
The name Balakirev has become a common noun for any merry fellow, joker, etc. Apparently, this was facilitated by the surname itself - Balakirev, consonant with the verbs "joke", "balakat" (dialect.), That is, chatter, speak.