By their excessive cruelty or extravagant behavior, many Russian autocrats gained fame as having signed an agreement with the devil. This was especially common in the Middle Ages, when anybody could be suspected of demonic possession or witchcraft. One of the first tsars to gain notoriety was Ivan the Terrible.
Ivan IV the Terrible
The first half of the reign of Ivan IV was devoted to the introduction of a number of reforms, and the Russian people have always desperately resisted any innovations and even feared them. Ivan the Terrible concentrated all power in his hands, pushing the boyars into the background. Then he carried out judicial and zemstvo reforms, after which the peasants became even more enslaved.
Ivan the Terrible always surrounded himself with all sorts of magicians, sorcerers, buffoons, astrologers and alchemists. At one time, the right hand of the king was a certain Dutchman Elisha Bomelius, whom the boyars considered the incarnation of the devil. Bomelius' main hobby was the production of poisons, in which he achieved such art that he could accurately predict the day and hour of death of the victim who took the potion. Other "strengths" of the Dutchman were knowledge of astrology and black magic. Elisha boasted that he could cause natural disasters, fires, and famine with the help of conspiracies. The boyars feared the "evil sorcerer Bomeliya" much more than Ivan Vasilievich himself. It was they who "framed" him: when Grozny went to restore order to Novgorod, he received a denunciation that the Dutchman was preparing a political conspiracy against the tsar. God protects those who are saved, John IV decided to play it safe. According to the laws of the genre, Elisha was first pulled up on a rack, and then fried on a fire. The boyars breathed a sigh of relief. True, some believed that the spirit of the Dutchman had infiltrated the tsar himself, which affected both his appearance (Grozny had aged greatly) and his actions.
Boris Godunov
Sly, cautious and very clever courtier Godunov was suspected of murdering the "anointed of God." At court and among the people, rumors persisted that Ivan IV had been strangled. In the last minutes of his life, it was Godunov who was next to him, which cast a shadow on him. Under Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, he actually performed the functions of a ruler.
Promotional video:
In the environment of Godunov, he also relied on sorcerers and magicians and was even fond of summoning the spirit. He even wrote to Queen Elizabeth I of England to send her the famous John Dee as her physician, who was known throughout Europe for regularly summoning demons and consulting with them on alchemy issues. True, the Queen of England did not let John Dee go. Only under Mikhail Romanov will his son come to Russia as a royal physician and mentor in alchemy.
The people knew about Godunov's hobbies and believed that the famine that raged in the country was the punishment of the Almighty for ties with evil spirits.
False Dmitry I
The impostor, who called himself "Emperor Demetrius", was not to the taste of the Russian people. His very unconfirmed claims to the royal throne, close ties with foreign nobles, the schism that False Dmitry introduced into society, and most importantly, his acceptance of Catholicism - all this was, in the opinion of Orthodox Russians, a sign of contact with evil spirits.
It was rumored that False Dmitry had been with the Sami sorcerers, who were considered the most powerful in Europe. Allegedly, they taught the impostor to rise from the dead, and he used the knowledge after he was torn to pieces by the conspirators to appear in the form of False Dmitry II.
Alexey Mikhailovich
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich distinguished himself by starting a war with His Holiness Patriarch Nikon. The latter wanted to establish the primacy of the church in Russia, but the autocrat did not like this idea at all. As a result, Aleksey Mikhailovich even refused to attend services.
The result of this war was the church reform of 1666-1667, after which the citizens were divided into "true believers" and Old Believers (or schismatics). All who preferred to serve God as before believed that Tsar Alexei had contacted the devil and considered him the Antichrist.
Peter I
Peter I was also considered the Antichrist. He gave many reasons. The Tsar ordered his subordinates to shave their beards and wear an overseas caftan, which, according to the concept of an Orthodox Russian, was tantamount to blasphemy and heresy. After Peter's trip to Europe (the Grand Embassy), they began to consider him a substitute. Yes, and this autocrat was also not famous for mercy, so many considered him a confidant of Satan. By the way, Peter I himself tried to get in touch with evil spirits. Tradition says that secret meetings of a certain society of Neptune were held in the Sukharev Tower, the chairman of which was Lefort, and the first overseer was Peter I. History has hidden from us the origin and true purpose of this secret society. However, there was a rumor among the people that a black book was kept there, guarded by 12 spirits and "after that it was laid in the wall, where it was nailed down with altyn nails."
Nicholas II
Oddly enough, Tsar Nicholas II was also suspected of complicity with the devil. First of all, because of contacts with Rasputin, who had a reputation as a "holy devil". Prior to that, Nicholas II consulted the French occultist Papus, who was said to have made a deal with the devil.