The famous "Tale of Bygone Years" turns 900 this year. A unique document, according to which the history of ancient Russia is studied all over the world, belongs to the pen of Nestor, a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. This is the official point of view. But there is also an unofficial one. Andrei Sinelnikov, a historian, a member of the Writers' Union of Russia, is convinced that the chronicle was written by the famous sorcerer, warlock and freemason Yakov Bruce! Andrei SINELNIKOV shared the details of this mystical-detective story with Steps.
- Andrey, we all know from school that The Tale of Bygone Years was written by Nestor. Why did you decide that Bruce was the author?
- According to the official point of view, The Tale of Bygone Years was translated from the famous Radziwill Chronicle by Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev. But why suddenly Tatishchev, a graduate of the artillery and engineering school, an employee of the berg collegium, took up historical writing? Because this very path was determined for him by his teacher - Jacob Bruce. It was Jacob Bruce, who had the same influence on Peter I as Rasputin did on Nicholas II, who hinted to the emperor about the need to write a detailed "Russian History". And he also pointed out to the sovereign the future executor of this titanic task - Tatishchev!
- And what, in fact, is the difference who did it? The main thing is that History has been written!
- Don't tell. Jacob Bruce is a contradictory personality. On the one hand, there is a noble educated nobleman, a Scottish prince who has done a lot for Russia. On the other - a sorcerer, warlock, founder of Freemasonry. They said that in his Sukharev tower on the third floor he had a real dragon, on which he flew over Moscow at night … So it was Bruce who gave Tatischev the famous "Radziwill Chronicle", from which the "Tale of Bygone Years" was later born.
- And where did the "Radziwill Chronicle" come from?
- It is named "Radziwilowska" after its first known owner - Janusz Radziwil, the governor of Vilna. The chronicle was written not earlier than the 15th century on Polish-made paper. Its main feature is illustrations. 618 drawings depicting the campaigns of the Rus to Constantinople, wars with the Pechenegs and raids on the Polovtsians, levying tribute from conquered peoples, executions, battles, murders, signs of heaven: a variety of pictures of the life and life of Ancient Russia from the construction of Novgorod to 1206 We do not know anything like these figures. This is a picture chronicle, now it is called comics. Where, when exactly and for whose order it was written is unknown.
Bruce discovered it in the Knigsberg Library in 1711: that is, the chronicle appeared “in the right place and at the right time” - just when Peter decided to write the history of Russia.
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- A little suspicious, huh?
- Exactly! For many years I tried to unravel this mystery until I found a very interesting document in the historical archives: a letter from the clerk Fyodor Borisov to Count Jacob Bruce, written on February 10, 1712 from the city of Konigsberg. This document concerns finance, not history, therefore, it is true, and has survived to this day. “Highly noble and excellent Gdn Yakov Vilimovich. According to the decree of E. Ts. V., I was left here at the very departure of E. Vel. for cheating some Slovenian book. For the sake of this, I ask your Excellency, so that the local burgomaster Egelin would give me sixty thalers, what I would like to bring to the end, which E. Ts. V. is very much needed. And the aforementioned thalers will be paid from the ambassadorial field office. With this, I remain Your Honorable the all-humble and humble servant, the office clerk F. Borisov."
It is known that Peter arrived in Konigsberg on the 9th, and left on November 11, 1711. Did he take the time to look at some book and instruct him to write it off? Or someone pushed him to do it? Judging by the letter, it was Jacob Bruce who did it. Then everything falls into place: the clerk neatly rewrote the book, and Bruce gave it to Tatishchev.
- And you did not admit the thought that Bruce really found an ancient Slavic manuscript copied by the Poles in Konigsberg?
- Perhaps this was the case. Why, then, does the manuscript date from the 15th century? Where did the original of the XI-XII centuries disappear?.. But that's not even the point. As soon as the manuscript got to Vasily Tatishchev, it literally began to grow - he was an executive person. In addition, I found the author of this chronicle in it itself - the chronicler "Nestor the monk of the Feodosiev Monastery of Pechora".
- What happened in the end? What kind of past did the Tale of Bygone Years give us, as edited by Tatishchev?
- In fact, the chronicle revealed to us "the affairs of bygone days, the legend of deep antiquity": from the beginning of the formation of statehood in Russia to the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Moreover, everything is illustrated in the most detailed way: it is proved that first a picture was drawn, that is, a video sequence of a story was created, and then explanations were written to it. But we are interested in what kind of knowledge about the past of Russia brought "The Tale of Bygone Years".
- And what?
- This is a legend about how Russia was baptized! “And Vladimir began to reign in Kiev alone,” says the chronicle, “and set idols on the hill behind the terem courtyard: the wooden Perun with a silver head and golden mustache, then Khors, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Simargl and Mokosh. And they brought sacrifices to them, calling them gods … And the Russian land and that hill were defiled with blood …”Vladimir summoned Muslims, Jews,“Germans from Rome”, Byzantine Christians to Kiev and, having listened to the arguments of each in defense of his faith, settled on Byzantine Orthodoxy. This canonical version is based on one single source - The Tale of Bygone Years.
- Did the events develop somehow differently?
- I'm afraid we will never know for sure before the invention of the time machine … But! Jacob Bruce deduced the history of Russia from the Varangians, ranked the Russian sovereigns in the Rurik family. This confirmed the priority of autocracy as a form of government and the priority of monotheism as a form of faith. Conspiracy theorists can look in the annals of history for other examples of the use of this matrix. For example, the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania written by the Jesuits.
- And what did it give Russia?
- Will explain. To build a strong building of a powerful state, it must have a solid foundation from the past, which is interpreted clearly and unambiguously. So Bruce tried to bring all the chronicles into one: so that the origin of faith and the divine support of the supreme ruler would be clearly visible from it. In addition, taking Russia out of the Varangian Rurik, whose descendants many European monarchs considered themselves to be, Bruce kind of related Russia and Europe, removing a number of controversial issues ahead of time and replacing the isolation policy with a collaborative one.
- But if the history of Russia was written from a 15th century manuscript, is it reliable?
- I think, in general, the story is true, since some of its fragments are confirmed by foreign sources. But there are places in it that were clearly corrected for the sake of time and Peter in particular. But any story is, first of all, a literary work …
Interviewed by Dmitry SOKOLOV
