Peter 1 portrait in pencil. Peter I through the eyes of foreign artists

Professional historians have long come to the conclusion that almost all the documents and memories of the childhood and youth of Peter I that have come down to us are fake, fiction or blatant lie. The contemporaries of the Great Transformer apparently suffered from amnesia and therefore did not leave to their descendants any reliable information about the beginning of his biography.

The “oversight” of the contemporaries of Peter I was later corrected by the German historian Gerhard Miller (1705–1783), fulfilling the order of Catherine II. However, oddly enough, another German historian Alexander Gustavovich Brikner (1834-1896), and not only him, for some reason did not believe Miller's fairy tales.

Increasingly, it becomes obvious that many events did not take place the way official historians interpreted them: they either did not exist, or they took place in a different place and at a different time. For the most part, no matter how sad it is to realize, we live in a world of history invented by someone.

Physicists joke: clarity in science is a form of complete fog. For historical science, whatever one may say, such a statement is more than fair. No one will deny that the history of all countries of the world is replete with dark spots.

What do historians say

Let's see what the Pharisees from historical science put into the heads of the descendants of the first decades of the stormy activity of Peter the Great - the builder of new Russia:

Peter was born on May 30 according to the Julian calendar or June 9 according to the Gregorian calendar in 1672, or in 7180 from the Creation of the World according to the Byzantine calendar, or in 12680 from the "Great Cold" in the village of Kolomenskoye, and, perhaps, in the village of Izmailovo under Moscow. It is also possible that the prince was born in Moscow itself, in the Terem Palace of the Kremlin;

his father was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1629–1676), and his mother was Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (1651–1694);

tsarevich Peter was baptized by archpriest Andrey Savinov in the Miracle Monastery of the Kremlin, and, perhaps, in the church of Gregory of Neocaesarea in Derbitsy;

children's and youth the royal youth spent in the villages of Vorobyov and Preobrazhensky, where he allegedly served as a drummer in an amusing regiment;

Peter did not want to reign with his brother Ivan, although he was listed as the tsar's understudy, but spent all his time in the German Quarter, where he had fun in the "All-Joking, All-Drunken and Most Foolish Cathedral" and poured mud over the Russian Orthodox Church;

in the German Quarter, Peter met Patrick Gordon, Franz Lefort, Anna Mons and other prominent historical figures;

On January 27 (February 6), 1689, Natalya Kirillovna married her 17-year-old offspring to Evdokia Lopukhina;

in 1689, after the suppression of the conspiracy of Princess Sophia, all power completely passed to Peter, and Tsar Ivan was removed from the throne and

died in 1696;

in 1695 and 1696, Peter made military campaigns to capture the Turkish fortress of Azov;

in 1697-1698, as part of the Great Embassy, ​​the ingenious Converter under the name of Peter Mikhailov, a constable of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, for some reason secretly went to Western Europe to acquire the knowledge of a carpenter and carpenter and to conclude military alliances, as well as to paint his portrait in England;

after Europe, Peter zealously embarked on great transformations in all areas of the life of the Russian people, allegedly for the benefit of it.

It is impossible to consider all the vigorous activity of the ingenious Reformer of Russia in this short article - not the format, but on some interesting facts his biography is worth stopping.

Where and when was born and baptized Tsarevich Peter

It would seem a strange question: German historians, interpreters smoothly, as it seemed to them, explained everything, presented documents, testimonies and witnesses, memoirs of contemporaries. However, in all this evidence base there are many strange facts that cast doubt on their reliability. Specialists who conscientiously studied the Petrine era were often deeply perplexed by the revealed inconsistencies. What is strange in the story of the birth of Peter I, presented by German historians?

Historians such as N. M. Karamzin (1766–1826), N. G. Ustryalov (1805–1870), S. M. Solovyov (1820–1879), V. O. Klyuchevsky (1841–1911) and many others noted with surprise that the exact place and time of the birth of the Great Transformer of the Russian land historical science unknown. There is a fact of the birth of a Genius, but there is no date! The same cannot be. Somewhere this dark fact got lost. Why did the Petrine chroniclers miss such a fateful event in the history of Russia? Where did they hide the prince? This is not some kind of serf for you, this is blue blood! There are only one clumsy and unsubstantiated assumptions.

Historian Gerhard Miller reassured the curious too: Petrusha may have been born in the village of Kolomenskoye, and the village of Izmailovo sounds good enough to be inscribed in golden letters in the annals of history. For some reason, the court historian himself was convinced that Peter was born in Moscow, but no one knew about this event except him, oddly enough.

However, Peter I could not have been born in Moscow, otherwise there would have been a record of this great event in the parish registers of the patriarch and the Moscow Metropolitan, but it is not. Muscovites also did not notice this joyful event: historians have not found any evidence of solemn events on the occasion of the birth of the prince. In the discharge books (“sovereign ranks”), there were conflicting records about the birth of the prince, which indicates their likely falsification. Yes, and these books, as they say, were burned in 1682.

If we agree that Peter was born in the village of Kolomenskoye, then how to explain the fact that on that day Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was in Moscow? And this was recorded in the bit palace books. Perhaps she secretly went to give birth in the village of Kolomenskoye (or Izmailovo, according to another version of Miller), and then quickly and quietly returned. And why does she need such incomprehensible movements? Maybe so that no one would guess?! Historians have no clear explanations for such somersaults with the birthplace of Peter.

Those who are too curious get the impression that for some very serious reason, German historians, the Romanovs themselves and others like them, tried to hide the birthplace of Peter and tried, albeit crookedly, to wishful thinking. The Germans (Anglo-Saxons) had a difficult task.

There are also inconsistencies with the sacrament of Peter's baptism. As you know, the anointed of God according to the rank should have been baptized by the patriarch or, at worst, the Metropolitan of Moscow, but not some archpriest of the Annunciation Cathedral Andrei Savinov.

The official history reports that Tsarevich Peter was baptized on June 29, 1672 on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Miracle Monastery by Patriarch Joachim. Among others, Peter's brother, Tsarevich Fedor Alekseevich (1661 - 1682) also participated in the baptism. But there are also historical inconsistencies here.

For example, in 1672, Pitirim was the patriarch, and Joachim became so only in 1674. Tsarevich Fedor Alekseevich at that time was a minor and, according to the Orthodox canon, could not participate in baptism. Traditional historians cannot intelligibly interpret this historical incident.

Was Natalya Naryshkina the mother of Peter I

Why do historians have such doubts? Yes, because Peter's attitude towards his mother was, to put it mildly, inappropriate. This can be confirmed by the absence of reliable evidence of their joint presence at any significant events in Moscow. A mother should be next to her son, Tsarevich Peter, and this would be recorded in any documents. And why did contemporaries, except for German historians, never see Natalia Naryshkina and her son Peter together, even at their birth? Historians have not yet found reliable evidence.

But with the prince and later Tsar Ivan Alekseevich (1666–1696), Natalya Kirillovna was seen more than once. Although the year of Ivan's birth is somewhat confusing. However, German historians could also correct the date of birth. There were other oddities in Peter's relationship with his mother. For example, he never visited his sick mother, and when she died in 1694, he was not at her funeral and wake. But Tsar Ivan Alekseevich Romanov was at the funeral, and at the funeral service, and at the wake of Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina.

Pyotr Alekseevich, or simply Min Hertz, as he sometimes affectionately called himself, at that time was busy with more important things: he was drinking and having fun in the German Quarter with his German, or rather, Anglo-Saxon bosom friends. One can, of course, assume that the son and his mother, as well as with his beloved-unloved legal wife Evdokia Lopukhina, had a very bad relationship, but not to bury his own mother ...

If we assume that Natalya Kirillovna was not Peter's mother, then his shocking behavior becomes understandable and logical. The son of Naryshkina, apparently, was the one with whom she was constantly. And he was Tsarevich Ivan. And Petrusha was made the son of Naryshkina by such “Russian scientists” and illusionist historians of the Russian Academy of Sciences as Miller, Bayer, Schlozer, Fischer, Schumacher, Wintzsheim, Shtelin, Epinuss, Taubert ...

Characteristics of the personality of Peter I

What kind of strange prince Petrusha was he? Everyone knows that Peter's height was more than two meters, and for some reason his feet were small! It happens, but it's still weird.

The fact that he was a psycho with bulging eyes, a neurasthenic and a sadist is also known to everyone, except for the blind. But much more is unknown to the general public.

For some reason, his contemporaries called him a great artist. Apparently, because, pretending to be Orthodox, he brilliantly and incomparably played the role of the Russian Tsar. Although at the beginning of his service career he played, to be honest, carelessly. Apparently, it was difficult to get used to, he was drawn to his native land. Therefore, when he came to a seedy town called Zaandam (Saardam), he indulged in pleasures well, recalling his childhood and reckless youth.

Peter did not want to be the Russian tsar, but wanted to be the master of the sea, that is, the captain of an English warship.

In any case, he spoke about such thoughts to the English king William III of Orange, that is, to Prince Nosovsky, or Willem van Oranje-Nassau (1650–1702).

Duty, objective historical necessity and the demands of the procurators to do great things did not allow Peter to give free rein to his personal passions, preferences, aspirations and ambitions. Reluctantly, the reformer of Russia had to submit to force majeure circumstances.

Peter differed sharply from his Russian brothers-princesses in many ways and, above all, in his contempt for the Russian people, for Russian history and culture. He hated Orthodoxy pathologically. No wonder the simple Russian people considered him a fake tsar, a substitute and, in general, the Antichrist.

Peter only in the late 90s of the XVII century began to respond to Peter Alekseevich. And before that, he was simply called - Piter, Petrus, or even more original - Mein Herz. This German-Dutch transcription of his name was apparently closer and dearer to him. By the way, it was uncharacteristic for the Russian Orthodox tradition to give the princes the name Peter. This was closer to the Latins, since Saints Peter and Paul are more favored by Catholics and Protestants than by the Orthodox.

Peter possessed qualities unique to kings and kings. Judging by the “documents” that have come down to us, he could be in several places at the same time or not be anywhere in both time and space. Peter loved to travel incognito, under a false name, for some reason to drag ships on the ground, as if on water, beat expensive dishes, break old masterpiece furniture, personally cut off the heads of mistresses and Orthodox clergymen. He also liked to pull out his teeth without anesthesia.

But if he could now find out what feats, deeds and noble statements were later attributed to him by court German (Anglo-Saxon) historians, then even his eyes would pop out of their sockets with surprise. Everyone knows that Peter was a carpenter and knew how to work on a lathe. And he did it professionally.

Here the question arises, how could he do the work of a simple carpenter and carpenter so well? It is known that it takes several years or at least months to acquire skills in carpentry. When did Peter manage to learn all this while ruling the state?

The linguistic features of Peter I are interesting. Allegedly, for some reason, he spoke badly in his native Russian, like a foreigner, but he wrote quite disgustingly and badly. But in German, he spoke fluently, and in the Lower Saxon dialect. Piter also spoke good Dutch and English. For example, in the English Parliament and with representatives of the Masonic lodges, he did without an interpreter. But with knowledge of Russian supposedly mother tongue Peter let us down, although from the cradle he should, in theory, be in the Russian conversational environment.

If you make a short digression into the field of linguistics, you will notice that in Europe at that time modern literary languages ​​had not yet formed. For example, in the Netherlands at that time there were five major equal dialects: Dutch, Brabantian, Limburian, Flemish and Low Saxon. In the 17th century, the Low Saxon dialect was common in parts of northern Germany and northeastern Holland. It was similar to English, which clearly indicates their common origin.

Why was the Low Saxon dialect so universal and in demand? It turns out that in the Hanseatic trade union of the 17th century, the Low Saxon dialect, along with Latin, was the main one. Trade and legal documents were drawn up on it, and theological books were written. Lower Saxon was the language of international communication in the Baltic region, in cities such as Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck and others.

How was it really

An interesting reconstruction of the Petrine era was proposed by the modern historian Alexander Kas. It logically explains the existing contradictions and inconsistencies in the biography of Peter I and his entourage, as well as why the exact place of Peter's birth was not known, why this information was concealed and concealed.

According to Alexander Kas, for a long time this fact was hidden because Peter was not born in Moscow and not even in Russia, but in distant Brandenburg, in Prussia. He is half German by blood and Anglo-Saxon by upbringing, beliefs, faith and culture. From this it becomes clear why German was native to him, and as a child he was surrounded by German toys: “German screw carbine, German map” and the like.

Peter himself recalled his childhood toys with warmth when he was quite drunk. According to the king, his children's room was upholstered with "wormy Hamburg cloth." Where did such goodness come from in the Kremlin?! The Germans were then not very favored at the royal court. It also becomes clear why Peter was surrounded entirely by foreigners.

Historians say that he did not want to reign with Ivan, he was offended and retired to the German Quarter. However, there is the fact that the German Quarter, as historians described it, did not exist in Moscow at that time. Yes, and would not allow the Germans to engage in orgy and mock the Orthodox faith. In a decent society, one cannot even speak aloud about what Peter was doing with his Anglo-Saxon friends in the German Quarter. But in Prussia and the Netherlands, these performances could well take place.

Why did Peter behave so unnaturally for a Russian prince? But because Peter's mother was not Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, but his alleged sister Sofya Alekseevna Romanova (1657–1704).

The historian S. M. Solovyov, who had the opportunity to delve into the archives, called her “hero-princess”, who was able to free herself from the tower, that is, get married. Sofya Alekseevna in 1671 married Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern (1657–1713), son of the Elector of Brandenburg. In 1672, their baby Petrus was born. It was problematic for Petrus to occupy the Russian throne with the existing layout of the princes. But the Anglo-Saxon Sanhedrin thought differently and set about cleaning up the contenders for the Russian throne and preparing its own candidate. The historian conventionally singled out three attempts to seize the Russian throne.

All of them were accompanied by strange events. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov died somehow very suddenly at the age of 47. This happened during the stay in Moscow of the Great Embassy from the Netherlands, headed by Konrad von Klenk in 1675-1676.

Obviously, Conrad von Klenk was sent to the Russian Tsar by the English King William III of Orange after Alexei Mikhailovich threatened him with sanctions. It seems that the Anglo-Saxons poisoned Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. They were in a hurry to vacate the Russian throne for their candidate. The Hohenzollerns sought to seize Orthodox Russia and plant the Protestant faith among its people.

With this approach to the biography of Peter I, inconsistencies with his baptism are also removed. It is more correct to say that Peter was not baptized, but was baptized from the Latin faith into the Orthodox after the death of Alexei Mikhailovich. At this time, Joachim was indeed the patriarch, and brother Theodore had come of age. And then Peter began to teach Russian literacy. According to the historian P. N. Krekshin (1684–1769), training began on March 12, 1677.

At that time, a real sea was observed in Russia. royalty. Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich something quickly went to the next world, and Ivan Alekseevich for some reason was considered a sick body and spirit. The rest of the princes generally died in infancy.

The first attempt to seat Peter on the throne in 1682 with the help of amusing regiments was not successful - Petrusha's years were not enough, and supposedly the brother of Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich was alive and well and was a legitimate contender for the Russian throne. Peter and Sophia had to return to their native Penates (Brandenburg) and wait for the next suitable opportunity. This can be confirmed by the fact that so far not a single official document has been found that Tsarevich Peter and his alleged sister, that is, mother, Sophia, were in Moscow from 1682 to 1688.

The pedantic “millers” and “schletsers” found an explanation for the absence of Peter and Sophia in Moscow during these years. It turns out that since 1682 two tsars ruled in Russia: Ivan and Peter under the regency of Sofya Alekseevna. It's like two presidents, two popes, two queens Elizabeth II. However, there could not be such dual power in an Orthodox state!

From the explanation of the "Millers" and "Shletsers" it is known that Ivan Alekseevich ruled in public, and Pyotr Alekseevich was hiding in the village of Preobrazhensky, which did not exist in the Moscow region at that time. There was the village of Obrazhenskoe. Apparently, the name of the village, according to the plan of the Anglo-Saxon directors, was supposed to look like a symbol of the transformation of Russia. And in this non-existent village, it was necessary to hide the modest drummer Petrus, who over time should have turned into the Greatest Transformer of Russia.

But this was not! Peter was hiding in Prussia and preparing for the mission, or rather, he was being prepared. This is what really happened. This is reasonable and logical. But officialdom convinces of something else. In the fact that in the village of Preobrazhensky, Peter was engaged in playing war, creating amusing regiments. For this, the amusing fortified town of Preshburg was built on the Yauza River, which was stormed by brave guys.

Why Miller moved Preshburg or Pressburg (the modern city of Bratislava) from the banks of the Danube to the banks of the Yauza River, one can only guess.

No less interesting is another story in the biography of Peter I - the story of how he discovered an English boat (ship) in some shed in the village of Izmailovo. According to Miller, Peter loved to wander around the village of Izmailovo and look into other people's sheds with nothing to do. And suddenly there is something there! And exactly! In one barn he found an English boat!

How did he get there so far from the North Sea and his native England? And when did this momentous event happen? Historians mumble that somewhere in 1686 or 1688, but are not sure of their assumptions.

Why is information about this remarkable symbolic find so unconvincing? Yes, because there could not be any English boats in Moscow sheds!

The second attempt to seize power in Russia by the Anglo-Saxons in 1685 also failed brilliantly. Soldiers of the Semenovsky (Simeonovsky) and Preobrazhensky regiments, dressed in German uniforms and waving flags with the date "1683" on them, tried for the second time to seat Petrus Friedrichovich Hohenzollern on the throne.

This time the German aggression was stopped by archers under the leadership of Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky (1635-1685). And Peter had to, as in the previous time, to run all the same way: to Prussia in transit through the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The third attempt by the Germans to seize power in Russia began a few years later and ended with the fact that on July 8, 1689, Peter became the sole ruler of Russia, finally deposing his brother Ivan.

It is believed that Peter brought from Europe after the Great Embassy of 1697-1698, in which he allegedly participated, only foreign astrolabes and globes. However, according to the surviving documents, weapons were also purchased, foreign troops were hired, and the maintenance of mercenaries was paid in advance for six months.

What happened in the end

Peter I was the son of Princess Sofya Alekseevna Romanova (Charlotte) and Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern (1657-1713), son of the Elector of Brandenburg and the first king of Prussia.

And it would seem, why do historians fence the garden here? Peter was born and brought up in Prussia and in relation to Russia he acted as a colonizer. What is there to hide?

No one hid and does not hide that Sophia Augusta Frederic of Anhalt-Tserbskaya, who disguised herself under the pseudonym of Catherine II, came from the same places. She was sent to Russia with the same task as Peter. Frederica was to continue and consolidate his great deeds.

After the reforms of Peter I, the split of Russian society intensified. The royal court positioned itself as German (Anglo-Saxon) and existed on its own and for its own pleasure, while the Russian people were in a parallel reality. In the 19th century, this elite part of Russian society even spoke French in the salons of Madame Scherer and was monstrously far from the common people.

PETER I

Peter the Great (1672-1725), the founder of the Russian Empire, occupies a unique place in the history of the country. His deeds, both great and terrible, are well known and there is no point in listing them. I wanted to write about the lifetime images of the first emperor, and about which of them can be considered reliable.

The first of the famous portraits of Peter I was placed in the so-called. "Royal Titular" or "The Root of the Russian Sovereigns", a richly illustrated manuscript created by the embassy order as a guide to history, diplomacy and heraldry and containing many watercolor portraits. Peter is depicted as a child, even before his accession to the throne, apparently in con. 1670s - early. 1680s. The history of the creation of this portrait and its authenticity are unknown.

Portraits of Peter I by Western European masters:

1685- engraving from an unknown original; created in Paris by Larmessen and depicts the tsars Ivan and Peter Alekseevich. The original was brought from Moscow by ambassadors - Prince. Ya.F. Dolgoruky and Prince. Myshetsky. The only known reliable image of Peter I before the 1689 coup.

1697- Job portrait Sir Godfrey Kneller (1648-1723), the court painter of the English king, is undoubtedly painted from life. The portrait is in the English royal collection of paintings, in the palace of Hampton Court. There is a note in the catalog that the background of the painting was painted by Wilhelm van de Velde, a marine painter. According to contemporaries, the portrait was very similar, several copies were made from it; the most famous, the work of A. Belli, is in the Hermitage. This portrait served as the basis for the creation of a huge number of various images of the king (sometimes slightly similar to the original).

OK. 1697- Job portrait Pieter van der Werf (1665-1718), the history of its writing is unknown, but most likely it happened during Peter's first stay in Holland. Bought by Baron Budberg in Berlin, and presented as a gift to Emperor Alexander II. Was in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, now in the State Hermitage.

OK. 1700-1704 engraving by Adrian Schhonebeck from a portrait of the work unknown artist. The original is unknown.

1711- Portrait by Johann Kupetsky (1667-1740), painted from life in Carlsbad. According to D. Rovinsky, the original was in the Braunschweig Museum. Vasilchikov writes that the location of the original is unknown. I reproduce a famous engraving from this portrait - the work of Bernard Vogel 1737

A reworked version of this type of portrait depicted the king in full growth and was in the hall General Assembly Governing Senate. Now located in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.

1716- portrait of work Benedict Cofra, court painter of the Danish king. It was most likely written in the summer or autumn of 1716, when the tsar was on a long visit to Copenhagen. Peter is depicted in the St. Andrew's ribbon and the Danish Order of the Elephant around his neck. Until 1917 he was in Peter's Palace in the Summer Garden, now in the Peterhof Palace.

1717- portrait of work Carla Moora, who wrote the king during his stay in The Hague, where he arrived for treatment. From the correspondence of Peter and his wife Catherine, it is known that the Tsar liked the portrait of Moor very much, and was bought by Prince. B. Kurakin and sent from France to St. Petersburg. I reproduce the most famous engraving - the work of Jacob Houbraken. According to some reports, Moor's original is now in a private collection in France.

1717- portrait of work Arnold de Gelder (1685-1727), Dutch painter, student of Rembrandt. Written during Peter's stay in Holland, but there is no evidence that he was painted from life. The original is in the Amsterdam Museum.

1717- Job portrait Jean-Marc Nattier (1686-1766), known french artist, written during Peter's visit to Paris, undoubtedly from nature. It was bought and sent to St. Petersburg, later hung in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace. It is now in the Hermitage, however, there is no complete certainty that this original picture, not a copy.

Then (in 1717 in Paris) Peter was painted by the famous portrait painter Hyacinthe Rigaud, but this portrait disappeared without a trace.

Portraits of Peter painted by his court painters:

Johann Gottfried Tannauer (1680-c1737), Saxon, studied painting in Venice, court painter since 1711. According to entries in the Journal, it is known that Peter posed for him in 1714 and 1722.

1714(?) - The original has not survived, only an engraving made by Wortmann exists.

A very similar portrait was recently discovered in the German city of Bad Pyrmont.

L. Markina writes: "The author of these lines introduced into scientific circulation the image of Peter from the collection of the palace in Bad Pyrmont (Germany), which recalls the visit of this resort town by the Russian emperor. The ceremonial portrait, which carried the features of a natural image, was considered the work of an unknown artist XVIII century.At the same time, the expression of the image, the interpretation of details, the baroque pathos betrayed the hand of a skilled craftsman.

Peter I spent June 1716 on hydrotherapy in Bad Pyrmont, which had a beneficial effect on his health. As a sign of gratitude, the Russian tsar presented Prince Anton Ulrich of Waldeck-Pyrmont with his portrait, which had been privately owned for a long time. Therefore, the work was not known to Russian specialists. Documentary evidence, detailing all the important meetings during the treatment of Peter I in Bad Pyrmont, did not mention the fact of his posing for any local or visiting painter. The retinue of the Russian Tsar numbered 23 people and was quite representative. However, in the list of persons accompanying Peter, where the confessor and the cook were indicated, the Hoffmaler was not listed. It is logical to assume that Peter brought with him a finished image that he liked and reflected his idea of ​​​​the ideal of a monarch. Comparison of the engraving by H.A. Wortman, which was based on the original brush by I.G. Tannauer of 1714, allowed us to attribute the portrait from Bad Pyrmont to this German artist. Our attribution was accepted by our German colleagues, and the portrait of Peter the Great, as the work of J. G. Tannauer, was included in the exhibition catalog."

1716- The history of creation is unknown. By order of Nicholas I, sent from St. Petersburg to Moscow in 1835, for a long time it was kept folded. A fragment of Tannauer's signature has been preserved. Located in the Moscow Kremlin Museum.

1710s Profile portrait, previously erroneously considered the work of Kupetsky. The portrait is damaged by an unsuccessful attempt to renew the eyes. Located in the State Hermitage.

1724(?), Equestrian portrait, called "Peter I in the Battle of Poltava", bought in the 1860s by Prince. A.B. Lobanov-Rostovsky at the family of the deceased camera-furier in a neglected state. After cleaning, Tannauer's signature was found. Now it is in the State Russian Museum.

Louis Caravaque (1684-1754), a Frenchman, studied painting in Marseilles, became a court painter from 1716. According to contemporaries, his portraits were very similar. According to the entries in the Journal, Peter painted from life in 1716 and in 1723. Unfortunately, there are no indisputable original portraits of Peter painted by Caravaccus, only copies and engravings from his works have come down to us.

1716- According to some reports, it was written during Peter's stay in Prussia. The original has not been preserved, there is an engraving by Afanasyev, from a drawing by F. Kinel.

Not very successful (supplemented by the ships of the allied fleet) copy from this portrait, created by unknown. artist, is now in the collection of the Central Naval Museum of St. Petersburg. (D. Rovinsky considered this picture to be original).

A version of the same portrait, received by the Hermitage in 1880 from the Velyka Remeta monastery in Croatia, probably created by an unknown German artist. The king's face is very similar to that painted by Caravaccos, but the costume and pose are different. The origin of this portrait is unknown.

1723- the original has not been preserved, only the engraving by Soubeyran exists. According to the "Yurnale", written during the stay of Peter I in Astrakhan. The last lifetime portrait of the king.

This portrait of Caravacca served as the basis for a painting by Jacopo Amiconi (1675-1758), written in ca. 1733 for the book. Antioch Cantemir, which is located in the Peter's throne room of the Winter Palace.

* * *

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin (1680-1742), the first Russian portrait painter, studied in Florence, became the court painter of the tsar from about 1715. There is still no complete certainty about which portraits of Peter were written by Nikitin. From the "Yurnale" it is known that the tsar posed for Nikitin at least twice - in 1715 and 1721.

S. Moiseeva writes: "There was a special order of Peter, ordering persons from the royal environment to have in the house his portrait by Ivan Nikitin, and the artist to take a hundred rubles for the execution of the portrait. However, royal portraits that could be compared with creative style On April 30, 1715, the journal of Peter the Great wrote the following: “His Majesty’s half person was painted by Ivan Nikitin.” Based on this, art historians were looking for a half-length portrait of Peter I. In the end, it was suggested that this a portrait should be considered "Portrait of Peter against the backdrop of a sea battle" (Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo"). For a long time this work has been attributed to either Caravaque or Tannauer. When examining the portrait by A. M. Kuchumov, it turned out that the canvas had three later filings - two on top and one on the bottom, thanks to which the portrait became generational. A. M. Kuchumov cited the surviving account of the painter I. Ya. Vishnyakov about the addition to the portrait of His Imperial Majesty "against the portrait of Her Imperial Majesty." Apparently, in the middle of the 18th century, the need arose to rehang the portraits, and I.Ya. Vishnyakov was given the task to increase the size of the portrait of Peter I in accordance with the size of the portrait of Catherine. “Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of a naval battle” is stylistically very close - here we can already talk about the iconographic type of I. N. Nikitin - a relatively recently discovered portrait of Peter from a Florentine private collection, written in 1717. Peter is depicted in the same pose, attention is drawn to the similarity of the writing of the folds and the landscape background.

Unfortunately, I could not find a good reproduction of "Peter against the backdrop of a naval battle" from Tsarskoye Selo (before 1917 in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace). I reproduce what I managed to get. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the work of Tannauer.

1717 - Portrait attributed to I. Nikitin and located in the collection of the Financial Department of Florence, Italy.

Portrait presented to Emperor Nicholas I gr. S. S. Uvarov, who inherited it from his father-in-law. A. K. Razumovsky. Vasilchikov writes: “The tradition of the Razumovsky family said that Peter, during his stay in Paris, went to the studio of Rigaud, who painted a portrait of him, did not find him at home, saw his unfinished portrait, cut his head out of a large canvas with a knife and took it with him. gave it to his daughter, Elizaveta Petrovna, and she, in turn, granted it to Count Alexei Grigoryevich Razumovsky." Some researchers consider this portrait to be the work of I. Nikitin. Until 1917 it was kept in the Romanov Gallery of the Winter Palace; now in the Russian Museum.

Received from the collection of the Stroganovs. In the catalogs of the Hermitage, compiled in the middle of the 19th century, the authorship of this portrait is attributed to A.M. Matveev (1701-1739), however, he returned to Russia only in 1727 and could not paint Peter from life and, most likely, only made a copy from Moor's original for bar.S.G. Stroganov. Vasilchikov considered this portrait to be the original of Moor. This is contradicted by the fact that according to all the surviving engravings from Moor, Peter is depicted in armor. Rovinsky considered this portrait to be the missing work of Rigaud.

References:

V. Stasov "Gallery of Peter the Great" St. Petersburg 1903
D. Rovinsky "Detailed dictionary of Russian engraved portraits" v.3 St. Petersburg 1888
D. Rovinsky "Materials for Russian iconography" v.1.
A. Vasilchikov "On the portraits of Peter the Great" M 1872
S. Moiseev "On the history of the iconography of Peter I" (article).
L. Markina "ROSSIKA of Peter the Great" (article)

According to various opinion polls, Peter I remains one of the most popular historical figures. He is still glorified by sculptors, poets compose odes to him, politicians speak enthusiastically about him.

But did it match? a real man Pyotr Alekseevich Romanov to the image that, through the efforts of writers and filmmakers, was introduced into our consciousness?

Frame from the film "Peter the Great" based on the novel by A. N. Tolstoy ("Lenfilm", 1937 - 1938, directed by Vladimir Petrov,
in the role of Peter - Nikolai Simonov, in the role of Menshikov - Mikhail Zharov):

This post is quite lengthy. , consisting of several parts, is dedicated to exposing the myths about the pen of the Russian emperor, which still roam from book to book, from textbook to textbook, and from film to film.

Let's start with the fact that the majority represents Peter I absolutely not the way he really was.

According to the films, Peter is a huge man with a heroic physique and the same health.
In fact, with a height of 2 meters 4 centimeters (really huge in those days, and very impressive in our times), he was incredibly thin, with narrow shoulders and torso, a disproportionately small head and leg size (about 37 sizes, and this despite such and such height!), with long arms and spidery fingers. In general, an absurd, awkward, clumsy figure, a freak of a freak.

The clothes of Peter I, which have survived to this day in museums, are so small that there can be no talk of any heroic physique. In addition, Peter suffered from nervous attacks, probably of an epileptic nature, he was constantly ill, he never parted with a first-aid kit with a lot of medicines that he took daily.

Do not trust the court portrait painters and sculptors of Peter.
For example, a well-known researcher of the Petrine era, historian E. F. Shmurlo (1853 - 1934) describes his impression of the famous bust of Peter I by B. F. Rastrelli:

"Full of spiritual power, unyielding will, an imperious look, intense thought make this bust related to Michelangelo's Moses. This is a truly formidable king, capable of causing awe, but at the same time majestic, noble."

Otdako more accurately conveys the appearance of Peter plaster mask taken from his face in 1718 the father of the great architect - B. K. Rastrelli when the king was investigating the betrayal of Tsarevich Alexei.

This is how the artist describes it A. N. Benois (1870 - 1960):“Peter’s face became at that time gloomy, directly terrifying with its menacingness. One can imagine what impression this terrible head, placed on a giant body, must have produced, while still shifting eyes and terrible convulsions that turned this face into a monstrously fantastic image.

Of course, the real appearance of Peter I was completely different from what appears before us on his formal portraits.
For example, these:

Portrait of Peter I (1698) by a German artist
Gottfried Kneller (1648 - 1723)

Portrait of Peter I with the signs of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (1717)
work French painter Jean-Marc Natier (1685 - 1766)

Please note that between the writing of this portrait and the manufacture of the lifetime mask of Peter
Rastrelli has only been a year. What, are they similar?

The most popular at present and highly romanticized
according to the time of creation (1838) portrait of Peter I
works by French artist Paul Delaroche (1797 - 1856)

Trying to be objective, I cannot fail to note that monument to Peter I , works of the sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin , made by him in the USA and installed in the Peter and Paul Fortress in 1991 , also corresponds little real image the first Russian emperor, although, quite possibly, the sculptor sought to embody the same "monstrously fantastic image" about which Benoit spoke.

Yes, Peter's face was made from his death wax mask (cast by B. K. Rastrelli). But Mikhail Shemyakin at the same time consciously, achieving a certain effect, increased the proportions of the body by almost one and a half times. Therefore, the monument turned out to be grotesque and ambiguous (some people admire it, while others hate it).

However, the very figure of Peter I is also very ambiguous, about which I want to tell everyone who is interested in Russian history.

At the end of this part another myth about death of Peter I .

Peter did not die because he caught a cold, saving a boat with drowning people during a flood in St. Petersburg in November 1724 (although there really was such a case, and it led to an exacerbation of the tsar's chronic illnesses); and not from syphilis (although from his youth, Peter was extremely promiscuous in his relationships with women and had a whole bunch of venereal diseases); and not from the fact that he was poisoned by some "specially donated sweets" - all these are widespread myths.
The official version, announced after the death of the emperor, according to which the cause of his death was pneumonia, does not hold water.

In reality, Peter I had a neglected inflammation of the urethra (he had suffered from this disease since 1715, according to some sources, even since 1711). The disease worsened in August 1724. The attending physicians, the Englishman Gorn and the Italian Lazzaretti, unsuccessfully tried to cope with it. From January 17, 1725, Peter did not get out of bed, on January 23 he lost consciousness, into which he never returned until his death on January 28.

"Peter on his deathbed"
(artist N. N. Nikitin, 1725)

The doctors performed the operation, but it was too late, 15 hours after it, Peter I died without regaining consciousness and without leaving a will.

So, all the stories about how at the last moment the dying emperor tried to draw his last will on his will, but managed to write only "Leave everything..." , are also nothing more than a myth, or if you want a legend.

In the next short part so as not to make you sad, I will bring historical anecdote about Peter I , which, however, also refers to the myths about this ambiguous personality.

Thank you for attention.
Sergei Vorobyov.

"Portrait of Peter the Great".
Engraving from a painting by Benner.

However, dudes Peter also did not really like it. “It has come down to us,” he wrote in one of the decrees, “that the sons of eminent people in gishpan trousers and camisoles along Nevsky flaunt presumptuously. I’m ordering the governor of St. Petersburg: from now on, to catch these dandies and beat them with a whip on the well .. until a very obscene look remains from the Gishpan trousers.

Vasily Belov. Lad. Moscow, Young Guard. 1982

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
"Peter I against the backdrop of a naval battle."
1715.

Hasty and mobile, feverish activity, which began of itself in early youth, now continued out of necessity and was not interrupted almost until the end of life, until the age of 50. The Northern War, with its anxieties, with defeats at first and with victories later, finally determined Peter's way of life and informed the direction, set the pace of his transformative activity. He had to live from day to day, to keep up with the events quickly rushing past him, to rush to meet the new state needs and dangers that arose daily, not having the leisure to take a breath, think again, figure out a plan of action in advance. And in the Northern War, Peter chose a role for himself that corresponded to his usual occupations and tastes learned from childhood, impressions and knowledge taken from abroad. It was not the role of either the sovereign-ruler, or the military commander-in-chief. Peter did not sit in the palace, like the former kings, sending decrees everywhere, directing the activities of his subordinates; but he seldom took himself at the head of his regiments, to lead them into the fire, like his adversary Charles XII. However, Poltava and Gangud will forever remain in military history Russia as bright monuments of Peter's personal participation in military affairs on land and at sea. Leaving his generals and admirals to act in the front, Peter took upon himself the less visible technical part of the war: he usually remained behind his army, organized its rear, recruited recruits, made plans for military movements, built ships and military factories, procured ammunition, provisions and combat shells, stockpiled everything, encouraged everyone, urged, scolded, fought, hung, jumped from one end of the state to the other, was something like a general feldzeugmeister, a general food master and a ship's chief master. Such tireless activity, which lasted for almost three decades, formed and strengthened the concepts, feelings, tastes and habits of Peter. Peter cast one-sidedly, but in relief, came out heavy and at the same time eternally mobile, cold, but every minute ready for noisy explosions - exactly like the iron cannon of his Petrozavodsk casting.

Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky. "Course of Russian History".

Louis Caravacc.
"Peter I, Commander of the Four United Fleets in 1716".
1716.

Andrey Grigorievich Ovsov.
"Portrait of Peter I".
Enamel miniature.
1725. Hermitage,
Saint Petersburg.

Dutch paintings appeared on the banks of the Neva in 1716, long before the museum was founded. This year, more than one hundred and twenty paintings were purchased for Peter I in Holland, and after that, almost the same number of paintings were bought in Brussels and Antwerp. Somewhat later, English merchants sent another one hundred and nineteen works to the king. The favorite subjects of Peter I were scenes from the life of "Dutch men and women", among the favorite artists - Rembrandt.

L. P. Tikhonov. Museums of Leningrad. Leningrad, Lenizdat. 1989

Ivan Nikitich Nikitin.
"Portrait of Peter I".
1717.

Jacob Houbraken.
"Portrait of Emperor Peter the Great".
Engraving after an original by Karl Moor.
1718.

Another portrait was painted by the Dutchman Karl Moore in 1717, when Peter traveled to Paris to hasten the end of the Northern War and prepare the marriage of his 8-year-old daughter Elizabeth with the 7-year-old French king Louis XV.

Parisian observers that year portrayed Peter as a ruler who had learned his imperious role well, with the same shrewd, sometimes wild look, and at the same time a politician who knew how to get along pleasantly when meeting the right person. Peter was then already so aware of his importance that he neglected decency: when leaving a Parisian apartment, he calmly got into someone else's carriage, he felt like a master everywhere, on the Seine, as on the Neva. It is not like that with K. Moor. The mustache, as if glued on, is more noticeable here than on Kneller's. In the make-up of the lips, and especially in the expression of the eyes, as if painful, almost sad, one senses fatigue: you think that a person is about to ask permission to rest a little. His own greatness crushed him; there is no trace of youthful self-confidence, no mature contentment with one's work. At the same time, it must be remembered that this portrait depicts Peter, who came from Paris to Holland, to Spa, to be treated for an illness that buried him 8 years later.

Enamel miniature.
Portrait of Peter I (chest).
1712.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

"Family portrait of Peter I".
1712.

"The family of Peter I in 1717".

“Katerinushka, my dear friend, hello!”

So began dozens of letters from Peter to Catherine. There was indeed a warm cordiality in their relationship. Years later, a love game of a pseudo-unequal couple takes place in the correspondence - an old man, constantly complaining of illness and old age, and his young wife. Having received a parcel from Catherine with the glasses he needs, he sends jewelry in response: “Worthy presents on both sides: you sent me to help my old age, and I send to decorate your youth.” In another letter, in a youthful way, burning with a thirst for meeting and intimacy, the king again jokes: “Although I want to see you, but you, tea, much more, because I'm in[your] I was 27 years old, and you[my] 42 years was not. Ekaterina supports this game, she jokes in tone with her “hearty old friend”, is indignant and indignant: “It’s in vain that the old man was started!” She is deliberately jealous of the tsar now for the Swedish queen, now for the Parisian coquettes, to which he replies with feigned insult: “What do you write that I will soon find a lady [in Paris], and that is indecent for my old age.”

The influence of Catherine on Peter is enormous, and over the years it has been growing. She gives him what the whole world cannot give him. outer life- hostile and complex. He is a stern, suspicious, heavy man - he is transformed in her presence. She and the children are his only outlet in the endless heavy circle of public affairs, from which there is no way out. Contemporaries recall striking scenes. It is known that Peter was subject to attacks of deep blues, which often turned into fits of furious anger, when he crushed and swept everything in his path. All this was accompanied by terrible convulsions of the face, convulsions of the arms and legs. Holstein minister G. F. Bassevich recalls that as soon as the courtiers noticed the first signs of a seizure, they ran after Catherine. And then a miracle happened: “She began to talk to him, and the sound of her voice immediately calmed him, then she sat him down and took him, caressing, by the head, which she slightly scratched. This had a magical effect on him, and he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sat motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and alert.
She not only cast out a demon from the king. She knew his passions, weaknesses, quirks, and she knew how to please, please, simply and affectionately do something pleasant. Knowing how upset Peter was because of his “son”, the ship “Gangut”, who had somehow received damage, she wrote to the tsar in the army that the “Gangut” had arrived after a successful repair “to his brother “Forest”, with whom they have now copulated and stand in one place, which I saw with my own eyes, and it is truly joyful to look at them! No, neither Dunya nor Ankhen could ever write so sincerely and simply! The former porter knew that more than anything in the world was dear to the great skipper of Russia.

"Portrait of Peter I".
1818.

Pyotr Belov.
"Peter I and Venus".

Probably, not all readers will be satisfied with me, because I did not tell about the Tauric Venus, which has long served as an adornment of our Hermitage. But I have no desire to repeat the story of her almost criminal appearance on the banks of the Neva, since this has already been written about more than once.

Yes, we wrote a lot. Or rather, they didn’t even write, but rewrote what was known before, and all historians, as if by agreement, unanimously repeated the same version, misleading readers. For a long time it was believed that Peter I simply exchanged the statue of Venus for the relics of St. Brigid, which he allegedly got as a trophy during the capture of Revel. Meanwhile, as it recently turned out, Peter I could not make such a profitable exchange for the reason that the relics of St. The Brigids rested in the Swedish Uppsala, and the Tauric Venus went to Russia because the Vatican wanted to please the Russian emperor, whose greatness Europe no longer doubted.

An ignorant reader will involuntarily think: if the Venus de Milo was found on the island of Milos, then the Venus of Tauride, presumably, was found in Tauris, in other words, in the Crimea?
Alas, it was discovered in the vicinity of Rome, where it had lain in the ground for thousands of years. "Venus the Pure" was carried in a special carriage on springs, which saved her fragile body from risky shocks on potholes, and only in the spring of 1721 did she appear in St. Petersburg, where the emperor was impatiently waiting for her.

She was the first antique statue that the Russians could see, and I would be skeptical if I said that she was greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm ...

Against! Was like this good artist Vasily Kuchumov, who captured the moment of the appearance of the statue in front of the tsar and his courtiers in the painting “Venus the Most Pure”. Peter I himself looks at her point-blank, very resolutely, but Catherine harbored a smile, many turned away, and the ladies covered themselves with fans, ashamed to look at the pagan revelation. To swim in the Moscow River in front of all the honest people in what their mother gave birth - they were not ashamed, but to see the nakedness of a woman embodied in marble, they, you see, became shameful!

Realizing that not everyone would approve of the appearance of Venus on the paths of the Summer Garden of the capital, the emperor ordered to place her in a special pavilion, and sent sentries with guns for protection.
- What did you loose? they shouted to passers-by. - Go farther, it's not your mind's business .., royal!
The sentries were not in vain. People of the old school mercilessly scolded the Antichrist Tsar, who, they say, spends money on “naked girls, filthy idols”; passing by the pavilion, the Old Believers spat, crossing themselves, and others even threw apple cores and all evil spirits at Venus, seeing in the pagan statue something satanic, almost diabolical obsession - to temptations ...

Valentin Pikul. "What Venus held in her hand."

Johann Koprtzki.
"Peter the Great".

Among the great people of the past there was one amazing person who, not being a professional scientist, nevertheless was personally acquainted with many outstanding natural scientists at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.

In Holland, he attended lectures by the famous chemist, botanist and physician G. Boerhaave (1668-1738), the same one who was the first to use the thermometer in medical practice. With him he examined the exotic plants of the Leiden botanical garden. The local scientists showed him the newly discovered "microscopic objects" in Delft. In Germany, this man met with the president of the Berlin Scientific Society, the famous mathematician and philosopher G. Leibniz (1646-1716). With him and also with others famous mathematician and naturalist, - H. Wolf (1679-1754), he was in friendly correspondence. In England, he was shown the famous Greenwich Observatory by its founder and first director, J. Flamsteed (1646-1720). In this country, Oxford scientists warmly received him, and some historians believe that during the inspection of the Mint, the director of this institution, Isaac Newton, spoke to him ...

In France, this man met professors at the University of Paris: the astronomer J. Cassini (1677-1756), the famous mathematician P. Varignon (1654-1722) and the cartographer G. Delisle (1675-1726). Especially for him, a demonstration meeting, an exhibition of inventions and a demonstration were arranged at the Paris Academy of Sciences. chemical experiments. At this meeting, the guest showed such amazing abilities and versatile knowledge that on December 22, 1717, the Paris Academy elected him as its member.

In a letter expressing gratitude for his election, the unusual guest wrote: “We want nothing more than to bring science to a better color through the diligence that we will apply.” And as subsequent events showed, these words were not a tribute to official politeness: after all, this amazing person was Peter the Great, who "in order to bring the sciences to the best color" decided to create the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences ...

G. Smirnov. "Great, who knew all the greats." "Technology - youth" No. 6 1980.

Francesco Vendramini.
"Portrait of Peter I".

"Peter the Great".
XIX century.

Once A. Herzen called Peter I "a crowned revolutionary." And the fact that it really was so, that Peter was a mental giant, towering over the majority of his even enlightened compatriots, is evidenced by the most curious history of the publication in Russian of Kosmoteoros, a treatise in which the famous contemporary of Newton, the Dutchman H. Huygens, elaborated and developed the Copernican system.

Peter I, quickly realizing the falsity of geocentric ideas, was a staunch Copernican and in 1717, while in Paris, he bought himself a moving model of the Copernican system. Then he ordered the translation and publication of 1200 copies of Huygens' treatise, published in The Hague in 1688. But the order of the king was not carried out ...

The director of the St. Petersburg printing house M. Avramov, having read the translation, was horrified: the book, according to him, was saturated with "satanic deceit" and "devilish machinations" of the Copernican doctrine. “Having trembled in heart and horrified in spirit,” the director decided to violate the direct order of the king. But since the jokes with Peter were bad, Avramov, at his own peril and risk, only dared to reduce the circulation of the "atheistic booklet of the mad author." Instead of 1200 copies, only 30 were printed - only for Peter himself and his closest associates. But this trick, apparently, did not hide from the king: in 1724, "The Book of the World, or Opinion on the Heavenly-Earthly Globes and Their Decorations" was published again.

"The atheistic scribe of a crazy author". "Technology - youth" No. 7 1975.

Sergei Kirillov.
Sketch for the painting "Peter the Great".
1982.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge.
"Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei."

Documents relating to the case of Tsarevich Alexei and stored in the State Archives of the Empire are numerous ...

Pushkin saw documents about the torture that the tsarevich was subjected to during the investigation, but in his "History of Peter" he writes that "the tsarevich died poisoned." Meanwhile, Ustryalov makes it clear that the prince died, unable to withstand the new tortures, which he was subjected to by order of Peter after the announcement of the death sentence. Peter apparently feared that the prince, sentenced to death, would take with him the names of accomplices who had not yet been named by him. We know that the Secret Chancellery and Peter himself searched for them for a long time after the death of the prince.

The official version said that after hearing the death sentence, the prince “felt a terrible convulsion all over his body, from which he died the next day”*. Voltaire, in his "History of Russia in the reign of Peter the Great," says that Peter appeared at the call of the dying Alexei, "both of them shed tears, the unfortunate son asked for forgiveness" and "the father forgave him publicly" **. But reconciliation was too late, and Alexei died from a stroke that had befallen him the day before. Voltaire himself did not believe this version, and on November 9, 1761, while working on his book about Peter, he wrote to Shuvalov: “People shrug their shoulders when they hear that the twenty-three-year-old prince died from a stroke while reading the sentence, which he should have hoped to cancel” ***.
__________________________________
* I. I. Golikov. Acts of Peter the Great, vol. VI. M., 1788, p. 146.
** Voltaire. History of the Russian Empire in the reign of Peter the Great. Translated by S. Smirnov, part II, book. 2, 1809, p. 42.
*** This letter was printed in the 34th volume of the 42-volume collection. op. Voltaire, published in Paris in 1817-1820 ...

Ilya Feinberg. Reading Pushkin's notebooks. Moscow, " Soviet writer". 1985.

Christoph Bernard Franke.
"Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei, son of Peter I, father of Peter II."

extinguished candle

Tsarevich Alexei was strangled in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. Peter and Catherine breathed freely: the problem of succession to the throne was solved. The youngest son grew up, touching his parents: “Our dear Shishechka often mentions his dearest dad, and with the help of God, he returns to his state and constantly has fun with the drilling of soldiers and cannon shooting.” And let the soldiers and cannons be wooden for the time being - the sovereign is glad: the heir, the soldier of Russia, is growing. But the boy was not saved either by the care of the nannies or the desperate love of his parents. In April 1719, having been ill for several days, he died before he had lived even three and a half years. Apparently, the disease that claimed the life of the baby was an ordinary flu, which always collected its terrible tribute in our city. For Peter and Catherine, this was a severe blow - the foundation of their well-being gave a deep crack. Already after the death of the Empress herself in 1727, that is, eight years after the death of Pyotr Petrovich, his toys and things were found in her things - Natalya, who did not die later (in 1725), not other children, namely Petrusha. The clerical register is touching: “A golden cross, silver buckles, a whistle with bells with a gold chain, a glass fish, a jasper ready-made, a fuse, a skewer - a golden hilt, a tortoiseshell whip, a cane ...” So you see the inconsolable mother sorting through these gizmos.

At the funeral liturgy in the Trinity Cathedral on April 26, 1719, an ominous event occurred: one of those present - as it turned out later, the Pskov landrat and a relative of Evdokia Lopukhina Stepan Lopukhin - said something to the neighbors and laughed blasphemously. In the dungeon of the Secret Chancellery, one of the witnesses later testified that Lopukhin said: “Even him, Stepan, the candle has not gone out, there will be time for him, Lopukhin, from now on.” From the rack, where he was immediately pulled up, Lopukhin explained the meaning of his words and laughter: “He said that his candle did not go out because he remained Grand Duke Pyotr Alekseevich, thinking that Stepan Lopukhin would be good in the future. Despair and impotence was filled with Peter, reading the lines of this interrogation. Lopukhin was right: his candle, Peter, was blown out, and the candle of the son of the hated Tsarevich Alexei flared up. The same age as the late Shishechka, the orphan Pyotr Alekseevich, not warmed by either the love of loved ones or the attention of nannies, grew up, and everyone who was waiting for the end of the tsar rejoiced - the Lopukhins and many other enemies of the reformer.

Peter thought hard about the future: he was left with Catherine and three "robbers" - Annushka, Lizanka and Natalyushka. And in order to untie his hands, on February 5, 1722, he adopted a unique legal act - the "Charter on the succession to the throne." The meaning of the “Charter” was clear to everyone: the tsar, breaking the tradition of transferring the throne from father to son and then to grandson, reserved the right to appoint any of his subjects as heirs. He called the old order "an unkind old custom." It was difficult to come up with a more vivid expression of autocracy - now the tsar controlled not only today, but also tomorrow of the country. And on November 15, 1723, a manifesto was published on the upcoming coronation of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Evgeny Anisimov. "Women on the Russian Throne".

Yuri Chistyakov.
"Emperor Peter I".
1986.

"Portrait of Peter I against the backdrop of the Peter and Paul Fortress and Trinity Square."
1723.

In 1720, Peter laid the foundation for Russian archeology. In all dioceses, he ordered to collect ancient letters, historical manuscripts and early printed books from monasteries and churches. Governors, lieutenant governors and provincial authorities are ordered to inspect, disassemble and write off all this. This measure was not successful, and subsequently Peter, as we shall see, changed it.

N. I. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures. St. Petersburg, "All". 2005 year.

Sergei Kirillov.
Study of Peter's head for the painting "Thoughts about Russia" (Peter the Great).
1984.

Sergei Kirillov.
Thoughts about Russia (Peter the Great).
1984.

P. Subeyran.
"PeterI».
Engraving from the original by L. Caravacca.
1743.

P. Subeyran.
"Peter I".
Engraving after the original by L. Caravacca.
1743.

Dmitry Kardovsky.
"The Senate of Peter the Great".
1908.

Peter denied himself and the Senate the right to issue verbal decrees. According to the General Regulations of February 28, 1720, only written decrees of the tsar and the Senate are legally obligatory for collegiums.

Sergei Kirillov.
"Portrait of Peter the Great".
1995.

Adolf Iosifovich Charlemagne.
"Peter I announces the Peace of Nishtad".

The conclusion of the Peace of Nystadt was celebrated with a seven-day masquerade. Peter was beside himself with joy that he had ended the endless war, and, forgetting his years and ailments, he sang songs and danced around the tables. The celebration took place in the building of the Senate. In the midst of the feast, Peter got up from the table and went to sleep on the yacht that stood on the banks of the Neva, ordering the guests to wait for his return. The abundance of wine and noise at this long celebration did not prevent the guests from feeling bored and burdened by the obligatory fun along the line, even with a fine for evasion (50 rubles, about 400 rubles for our money). A thousand masks walked, pushed, drank, danced for a whole week, and everyone was happy, happy when they lasted the service fun until the specified time.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005 year.

"Celebration at Peter's".

By the end of the Northern War, a significant calendar of annual court holidays proper was compiled, which included victorious celebrations, and from 1721 they were joined by the annual celebration of the Peace of Nystadt. But Peter especially liked to have fun on the occasion of the descent of a new ship: he was happy with the new ship, like a newborn brainchild. In that century they drank a lot everywhere in Europe, no less than now, and in the highest circles, especially the courtiers, perhaps even more. The Petersburg court did not lag behind its foreign models.

Thrifty in everything, Peter did not spare the cost of drinking, with which they sprayed a newly built swimmer. All the upper capital society of both sexes was invited to the ship. These were real sea drinking parties, those to which the saying goes or from which the saying goes that the sea is knee-deep drunk. They used to drink until General-Admiral old man Apraksin began to cry, overflow with burning tears, that he, in his old age, was left an orphan round, without a father, without a mother. And the Minister of War, His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov, will fall under the table, and his frightened Princess Dasha will come running from the ladies' half to take a piss and scrub her lifeless spouse. But the feast didn't always end so easily. At the table, Peter will flare up at someone and, irritated, will run away to the ladies' half, forbidding the interlocutors to disperse until he returns, and the soldier will be assigned to the exit. While Catherine did not calm the dispersed tsar, did not put him to bed and did not let him sleep, everyone sat in their places, drank and was bored.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005 year.

Jacopo Amigoni (Amiconi).
"Peter I with Minerva (with the allegorical figure of Glory)".
Between 1732-1734.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Nikolai Dmitrievich Dmitriev-Orenburgsky.
The Persian campaign of Peter the Great. Emperor Peter I is the first to land on the shore.

Louis Caravacc.
"Portrait of Peter I".
1722.

Louis Caravacc.
"Portrait of Peter I".

"Portrait of Peter I".
Russia. XVIII century.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Jean Marc Nattier.
"Portrait of Peter I in knightly armor."

The Journal of Peter the Great, published by Prince Shcherbatov half a century after Peter's death, is, according to historians, a work that we have the right to regard as the work of Peter himself. This “journal” is nothing more than the History of the Svean (that is, Swedish) war, which Peter waged for most of his reign.

Feofan Prokopovich, Baron Huissen, cabinet-secretary Makarov, Shafirov and some other close associates of Peter worked on the preparation of this "History". In the archives of the Cabinet of Peter the Great, eight preliminary editions of this work were kept, five of which were corrected by the hand of Peter himself.
Having familiarized himself upon his return from the Persian campaign with the edition of the “History of the Svean War”, prepared as a result of four years of work by Makarov, Peter “with his usual fervor and attention, read the entire work with a pen in his hand and did not leave a single page uncorrected in it ... Few places of Makarov’s work survived: everything important, the main thing belongs to Peter himself, especially since the articles left by him unchanged were written out by the editor from his own draft papers or from journals edited by his own hand. Peter attached great importance to this work and, doing it, appointed a special day for his historical studies - Saturday morning.

"Portrait of Peter I".
1717.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

"Portrait of Peter I".
Copy from the original by J. Nattier.
1717.

"Emperor PeterIAlexeyevich".

"Portrait of PeterI».

Peter almost did not know the world: all his life he fought with someone, now with his sister, then with Turkey, Sweden, even Persia. Since the autumn of 1689, when the reign of Princess Sophia ended, out of the 35 years of his reign, only one year, 1724, passed quite peacefully, and from other years you can get no more than 13 peaceful months.

V. O. Klyuchevsky. "Russian history". Moscow, Eksmo. 2005.

"Peter the Great in his workshop".
1870.
Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

A. Shkhonebek. The head of Peter is made by A. Zubov.
"Peter I".
1721.

Sergei Prisekin.
"Peter I".
1992.

Saint-Simon was, in particular, a master of dynamic portraiture, able to convey contrasting features and thus create the person he writes about. Here is what he wrote about Peter in Paris: “Peter I, Tsar of Muscovy, both at home and throughout Europe and Asia acquired such a loud and well-deserved name that I will not take it upon myself to portray this great and glorious sovereign, equal to to the greatest men of antiquity, the wonder of this age, the wonder of the ages to come, the object of the greedy curiosity of all Europe. The exclusivity of this sovereign's journey to France, in its extraordinary nature, it seems to me, is worth it not to forget its slightest details and to tell about it without interruption ...

Peter was a man of very tall stature, very slender, rather thin; the face had a round, large forehead, beautiful eyebrows, the nose was rather short, but not too round at the end, the lips were thick; the complexion is reddish and swarthy, fine black eyes, large, lively, penetrating and well-defined, a look majestic and pleasant when he is in control of himself; otherwise, stern and severe, accompanied by a convulsive movement that distorted his eyes and his whole physiognomy and gave it a formidable look. This was repeated, however, not often; moreover, the wandering and terrible look of the king lasted only one moment, he immediately recovered.

His whole appearance revealed in him intelligence, thoughtfulness, grandeur and was not devoid of grace. He wore a round, dark brown, powderless wig that didn't reach his shoulders; a tight-fitting dark camisole, smooth, with gold buttons, stockings of the same color, but did not wear gloves or cuffs - there was an order star on the chest over the dress, and a ribbon under the dress. The dress was often completely unbuttoned; the hat was always on the table; he did not even wear it in the street. With all this simplicity, sometimes in a bad carriage and almost without an escort, it was impossible not to recognize him by the majestic appearance that was characteristic of him.

How much he drank and ate at lunch and dinner is incomprehensible ... His retinue at the table drank and ate even more, and at 11 am exactly the same as at 8 pm.

The Tsar understood French well and, I think, could speak this language if he wanted to; but, for greater grandeur, he had an interpreter; he spoke Latin and other languages ​​very well…”
I think it is not an exaggeration to say that there is no other such magnificent verbal portrait Peter, which we have now brought.

Ilya Feinberg. "Reading Pushkin's Notebooks". Moscow, "Soviet Writer". 1985

August Tolyander.
"Portrait of Peter I".

The fact that Peter I, reforming the state-administrative administration of Russia, created 12 collegiums instead of the previous orders, is known to every schoolchild. But few people know which colleges Peter founded. It turns out that out of all 12 colleges, three were considered the main ones: military, naval and foreign affairs. Three colleges were in charge of the financial affairs of the state: revenues - the Chamber College, expenses - the State College, control - the Audit College. The affairs of trade and industry were conducted by commercial, manufactory and berg colleges. Completed a number of lawyers-college, the spiritual college - the synod - and the chief magistrate, who was in charge of city affairs. It is easy to see what a colossal development technology and industry have received over the past 250 years: affairs that were in charge of only two collegiums in the time of Peter the Great - the manufactory collegium and the berg collegium, are now managed by about fifty ministries!

"Technology for the youth". 1986

On June 9, 1672, the first Russian emperor, the reformer tsar Peter I the Great, was born - the tsar from the Romanov dynasty, the last tsar of All Rus', the first emperor of All Russia (since 1721), the man who formed the main directions of development Russian state in the XVIII century, one of the most prominent statesmen in the history of Russia.

Childhood and adolescence of Peter the Great.

Peter I the Great was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672 in Moscow in the family of the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Peter was the youngest son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Tsar Alexei was married twice: the first time to Marya Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (1648-1669), the second time to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (since 1671). He had 13 children from his first marriage. Many of them died during the life of their father, and of the sons, only Fedor and Ivan survived him, although both were seriously ill. Perhaps the idea of ​​being left without heirs prompted Tsar Alexei to rush into a second marriage. The tsar met his second wife Natalya in the house of Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, where she grew up and was brought up in a reformation atmosphere. Carried away by a beautiful and intelligent girl, the king promised to find her a groom and soon he himself wooed her. In 1672, on May 30, they had a beautiful and healthy boy, who was named Peter. The king was very happy about the birth of his son. The relatives of his young wife, Matveev and the Naryshkin family, were also happy. The prince was baptized only on June 29 at the Miracle Monastery, and godfather was Tsarevich Fedor Alekseevich. According to ancient custom, a measure was taken from the newborn and an icon of the Apostle Peter was painted in its size. The newborn was surrounded by a whole staff of mothers and nannies; Peter was fed by his nurse. If Tsar Alexei had lived longer, one could vouch that Peter would have received the same excellent, for that time, education as his brother Fedor.

He died in January 1676, then Peter was not yet four years old, and a furious feud arose between the Naryshkins and Miloslavskys over the succession to the throne. The 14-year-old Fedor, one of the sons of Maria Miloslavskaya, ascended the throne. Having lost his father, Peter was brought up until the age of ten under the supervision of the elder brother of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, who chose clerk Nikita Zotov as a teacher for him, who taught the boy to read and write. Peter liked fascinating stories Zotov about other countries and cities in those days that were little known to the Russian people. In addition, Zotov acquainted Peter with the events of Russian history, showing and explaining to him chronicles decorated with drawings. But the reign of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich was very short-lived, since on April 27, 1682 he died. After the death of Theodore, the tsar had to be elected, because there was no established succession to the throne by law.

After Fedor's death in 1682, Ivan Alekseevich was supposed to inherit the throne, but since he was in poor health, the supporters of the Naryshkins proclaimed Peter the tsar. However, the Miloslavskys, relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, did not accept this and provoked a streltsy riot, during which ten-year-old Peter witnessed a brutal reprisal against people close to him. Elected king for ten years, in 1682 he experienced a series of difficult moments. He saw the rebellion of the archers; the old man Matveev, they say, the archers pulled out of his hands; uncle Ivan Naryshkin was betrayed to them before his very eyes; he saw rivers of blood; his mother and himself were in danger of every minute death. The feeling of hostility towards the Miloslavskys, brought up already earlier, turned into hatred when Peter found out how guilty they were in the streltsy movements. He hated the archers, calling them the seed of Ivan Mikhailovich Miloslavsky. Peter's childhood ended in such a restless way.

These events left an indelible mark on the boy's memory, affecting both his mental health and worldview. The result of the rebellion was a political compromise: two were elevated to the throne in 1682: Ivan (John) from the Miloslavskys and Peter from the Naryshkins, Ivan's sister Sofya Alekseevna was proclaimed ruler under the juvenile tsars. Since that time, Peter and his mother lived mainly in the villages of Preobrazhensky and Izmailovo, appearing in the Kremlin only to participate in official ceremonies, and their relationship with Sophia became increasingly hostile.

In childhood, as we see, Peter did not receive any education, except for simple literacy and some historical information. His amusements were of a childishly military nature. As king, at the same time he was under disgrace and with his mother had to live in amusing villages near Moscow, and not in the Kremlin Palace. Such a sad situation deprived him of the opportunity to get the right further education and at the same time freed from the fetters of court etiquette. Having no spiritual food, but having a lot of time and freedom, Peter himself had to look for employment and entertainment. In November 1683, Peter begins to form the Preobrazhensky Regiment from eager people. In relation to this amusing regiment, Peter was not a sovereign, but a comrade-comrade-in-arms, who studied military affairs along with other soldiers.
Maneuvers and small campaigns are being undertaken, a funny fortress is being built on the Yauza (1685), called Pressburg, in a word, military affairs are being studied not according to old Russian models, but according to the order of regular soldier service, which in the 17th century was borrowed by Moscow from the West. A little later than Peter's war games were organized, a conscious desire to learn awakened in him. Self-education somewhat distracted Peter from exclusively military amusements, made his mental outlook and practical activity wider. Time passed and Peter was already 17 years old, he was very developed both physically and mentally. His mother had the right to expect that her son, who had reached the age of majority, would pay attention to state affairs and eliminate the hated Miloslavskys from them. But Peter was not interested in this and did not think of giving up his learning and fun for politics. To settle him down, his mother married (January 27, 1689) to Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, to whom Peter had no attraction. Obeying the will of his mother, Peter married, but a month after the wedding he left for Pereyaslavl from his mother and wife to the ships. It should be noted that the art of navigation so captivated Peter that it became a passion in him. But in the summer of that year, 1869, he was summoned by his mother to Moscow, because a fight with the Miloslavskys was inevitable.

Pereyaslav fun and marriage ended the period of adolescence of Peter. Now he is an adult youth, accustomed to military affairs, getting used to shipbuilding and educating himself. At that time, Sophia understood that her time was drawing to a close, that power should be given to Peter, but, not wanting this, she did not dare to take any drastic measures to strengthen herself on the throne. Peter, summoned by his mother to Moscow in the summer of 1689, began to show Sophia his power. In July, he forbade Sofya to participate in procession, and when she did not obey, he himself left, thus arranging a vowel trouble for his sister. At the end of July, he barely agreed to the issuance of awards to the participants in the Crimean campaign and did not receive the Moscow military leaders when they came to him to thank him for the awards. When Sophia, frightened by Peter's antics, began to arouse the archers with the hope of finding support and protection in them, Peter, without hesitation, arrested Shaklovity, the archer's chief, for a while. On August 7, in the evening, Sophia gathered a significant armed force in the Kremlin. Seeing military preparations in the Kremlin, hearing incendiary speeches against Peter, the tsar's adherents (among them were archers) let him know about the danger. Peter, straight from his bed, threw himself on a horse and, with three escorts, galloped off to the Trinity Lavra. From the Lavra, Peter and the persons leading him demanded a report on the armaments on August 7. At this time, Sophia tries to raise the archers and the people against Peter, but fails. The archers themselves force Sophia to hand over Shaklovity to Peter, whom he demanded. Shaklovity was interrogated and tortured, confessed to many intents against Peter in favor of Sophia, betrayed many like-minded people, but did not admit to intent on Peter's life. With some archers close to him, he was executed on September 11. Together with the fate of Sophia's friends, her fate was also decided. Sophia received a direct order from Peter to live in the Novodevichy Convent, but she did not take the veil as a nun. So, in the fall of 1689, the reign of Sophia ended.

Beginning of sole government.

Since 1689, Peter became an independent ruler without any visible guardianship over him. The tsar continues to study shipbuilding and military affairs from foreigners who lived in the German settlement in Moscow, and studied diligently, sparing no effort. Foreigners are now with Peter in the role of not teachers, but friends, co-workers and mentors. Peter now freely flaunted at times in German dress, danced German dances and feasted noisily in German houses. Peter often began to visit the settlement (in the 17th century, foreigners were evicted from Moscow to the suburban settlement, which was called German), he even attended a Catholic service in the settlement, which, according to ancient Russian concepts, was completely indecent for him. Having become an ordinary guest in the settlement, Peter found there the object of his heartfelt passion, Anna Mons.
Little by little, Peter, without leaving Russia, in the settlement got acquainted with the life of Western Europeans and cultivated in himself the habit of Western forms of life.

But with the enthusiasm for the settlement, Peter's former hobbies did not stop - military fun and shipbuilding. In 1690 we see great maneuvers near Pressburg, a nauseating fortress on the Yauza.

The whole summer of 1692, Peter spends in Pereyaslavl, where the entire Moscow court comes to launch the ship. In 1693, with the permission of his mother, Peter travels to Arkhangelsk, enthusiastically rides on the sea and establishes a shipyard in Arkhangelsk to build ships. His mother, Tsarina Natalya, dies at the beginning of 1694. In the same 1694, maneuvers took place near the village of Kozhukhov, which cost several participants their lives. In 1695, the young Tsar clearly understood all the inconveniences of Arkhangelsk as a military and commercial port, realized that there could not be extensive trade near the Arctic Ocean, which is covered with ice most of the time, and that Arkhangelsk was too far from the center of the state - Moscow.

Ivan V died in 1696, and Peter remained the only autocrat.

Peter's first war with Turkey.

Meanwhile, the constant attacks of the Tatars on Rus' continued and the obligations assumed in relation to the allies caused in the Moscow government the idea of ​​the need to resume hostilities against the Turks and Tatars. The first experience of driving real troops was for Peter the war with Turkey (1695-1700), which ruled in the Crimea and the southern Russian steppes. Peter expected to win back access to the Black Sea. In 1695, the war began with Peter's campaign against the fortress of Azov. In the spring, regular Moscow troops, including 30 thousand, reached Tsaritsyn by the Oka and Volga rivers, from there they crossed to the Don and appeared near Azov. But the strong Azov, receiving provisions and reinforcements from the sea, did not give up. The assaults failed; the Russian army suffered from a lack of provisions and from many powers (they were commanded by Lefort, Golovin and Gordon). Peter, who himself was in the army as a bombardier of the Preobrazhensky regiment, was convinced that Azov could not be taken without a fleet that would cut off the fortress from help from the sea. The Russians retreated in September 1695.

Failure, despite attempts to hide it, was announced. Peter's losses were no less than those of Golitsyn in 1687 and 1689. The discontent among the people against foreigners, who were credited with failure, was very great. Peter did not lose heart, did not drive out foreigners and did not leave the enterprise. For the first time he showed here all the strength of his energy and in one winter, with the help of foreigners, he built on the Don, at the mouth of the Voronezh River, a whole fleet of sea and river ships. At the same time, Taganrog was founded as the base of the Russian military fleet on the Sea of ​​Azov. Parts of the galleys and plows were built by carpenters and soldiers in Moscow and in forest areas close to the Don. These parts were then brought to Voronezh and entire ships were assembled from them. On Easter 1696, 30 sea vessels and more than 1000 river barges were already ready in Voronezh to transport troops. In May, the Russian army moved from Voronezh along the Don to Azov and laid siege to it for the second time. This time the siege was complete, because Peter's fleet did not allow Turkish ships to reach Azov. Peter himself was present in the army (in the rank of captain) and, finally, he waited for a happy moment: on July 18, Azov surrendered to capitulation. The victory was celebrated by the solemn entry of troops into Moscow, festivities and large awards.

This was the first victory of young Peter, which significantly strengthened his authority. However, he realized that Russia was not yet strong enough to firmly establish itself in the south. Further, Peter, taking care of attracting foreign technicians to Russia, decided to create Russian technicians. Fifty young courtiers were sent to Italy, Holland and England, i.e. to countries that were then famous for the development of navigation. The higher Moscow society was unpleasantly struck by this innovation; Peter not only made friends with the Germans himself, but apparently wants to make friends with others as well. The Russian people were even more amazed when they learned that Peter himself was going abroad.

Peter's trip to Europe.

Shortly after returning to the capital in 1697, the king went with the Great Embassy abroad. He was the first Russian monarch to appear abroad. Peter was traveling incognito, in the retinue of the "great embassy", under the name of Peter Alekseevich Mikhailov, a constable of the Preobrazhensky Regiment.

The purpose of the trip was to confirm the ancient friendship and love. The embassy was headed by Generals Franz Lefort and Fyodor Alekseevich Golovin. They had 50 retinues with them. Peter left Moscow and the state in the hands of the Boyar Duma.

And so, through Riga and Libava, the embassy went to Northern Germany. In Riga, which belonged to the Swedes, Peter received a number of unpleasant impressions both from the population (who sold food expensively to the Russians) and from the Swedish administration. The governor of Riga (Dalberg) did not allow the Russians to inspect the fortifications of the city, and Peter looked at this as an insult. But in Courland, the reception was more cordial, and in Prussia, Elector Frederick met the Russian embassy extremely cordially. In Konigsberg, a number of holidays were given for Peter and the ambassadors.

Between fun, Peter was seriously engaged in the study of artillery and received a diploma from Prussian specialists, recognizing him as a skilled firearms artist.

After some excursions in Germany, Peter went to Holland. In Holland, Peter first of all went to the town of Saardam; there were famous shipyards. In Saardam, Peter began carpentry and sailing on the sea. Then Peter moved to Amsterdam, where he studied shipbuilding at the East India shipyard.

Then followed England, Austria, and when Peter was going to Italy, news came from Moscow about a new rebellion of archers. Although a report soon arrived that the rebellion had been suppressed, Peter hurried home.

On the way to Moscow, passing through Poland, Peter met with the new Polish king Augustus II, their meeting was very friendly (Russia strongly supported Augustus during the elections to the Polish throne). Augustus offered Peter an alliance against Sweden, and Peter, taught by the failure of his anti-Turkish plans, did not refuse such a refusal, as he had done earlier in Prussia. He agreed in principle to the union. So, he took abroad the idea of ​​expelling the Turks from Europe, and from abroad he brought the idea of ​​fighting Sweden for the Baltic Sea.

What did the overseas trip bring? Its results are very great: firstly, it served to bring the Muscovite state closer to Western Europe, and secondly, it finally developed the personality and direction of Peter himself. For Peter, the journey was the last act of self-education. He wanted to get information on shipbuilding, and in addition he received a lot of impressions, a lot of knowledge. Peter spent more than a year abroad, and, realizing the superiority of the West, he decided to raise his state through reforms. Upon his return to Moscow on August 25, 1968, Peter immediately began reforms. At first he starts with cultural innovations, and then a little later he reforms the state structure.

Beginning of reforms in Russia.

Peter's political program was basically formed abroad. Its ultimate goal was the creation of a regular police state based on universal service to him, the state was understood as the "common good". The tsar himself considered himself the first servant of the fatherland, who had to teach his subjects by his own example. The unconventional behavior of Peter, on the one hand, destroyed the image of the sovereign as a sacred figure that had been developing for centuries, and on the other hand, it provoked a protest from a part of society (primarily among the Old Believers, whom Peter cruelly persecuted), who saw the Antichrist in the king.

Having finished with the archers, Peter set out to weaken the power of the boyars. Peter's reforms began with the introduction of foreign dress and the order to shave beards for everyone except the peasants and the clergy. Thus, initially, Russian society was divided into two unequal parts: for one (the nobility and the top of the urban population), a Europeanized culture, implanted from above, was intended, the other retained the traditional way of life. In 1699, the calendar reform was also carried out. A printing house was set up in Amsterdam to publish secular books in Russian, and the first Russian order, St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, was founded. The tsar encouraged the training in crafts, created numerous workshops, introducing Russian people (often by force) to the Western style of life and work. The country was in dire need of its own qualified personnel, and therefore the king ordered to send young men from noble families to study abroad. In 1701, the Navigation School was opened in Moscow. The reform of city government has also begun. After the death of Patriarch Adrian in 1700, no new patriarch was elected, and Peter created the Monastic Order to manage the church economy. Later, instead of the patriarch, a synodal government of the church was created, which remained until 1917. Simultaneously with the first transformations, preparations for the war with Sweden were intensively going on.

War with the Swedes.

In September 1699, the Polish ambassador Karlowitz arrived in Moscow and proposed to Peter, on behalf of Poland and Denmark, a military alliance against Sweden. The agreement was signed in November. However, in anticipation of peace with Turkey, Peter did not enter into a war that had already begun. On August 18, 1700, news was received of the conclusion of a 30-year truce with Turkey. The tsar reasoned that the Baltic Sea was more important than the Black Sea for access to the West. On August 19, 1700, Peter declared war on Sweden (Northern War 1700-1721).

The war, the main goal of which was to consolidate Russia in the Baltic, began with the defeat of the Russian army near Narva in November 1700. However, this lesson went to Peter for the future: he realized that the reason for the defeat was primarily in the backwardness of the Russian army, and with even greater energy set about rearming it and creating regular regiments, first by collecting "subjective people", and from 1705 by introducing recruitment duty. . The construction of metallurgical and weapons factories began, supplying the army with high-quality cannons and small arms. Many church bells were poured into cannons, and weapons abroad were bought with the confiscated church gold. Peter gathered a huge army, putting serfs, nobles and monks under arms, and in 1701-1702 came close to the most important port cities of the eastern Baltic. In 1703, his army captured the swampy Ingermanland (Izhora land), and there on May 16, at the mouth of the Neva River on the island renamed by Peter from Janni-Saari to Lust-Eiland (Merry Island), a new capital was founded, named after the Apostle Peter St. Petersburg. This city, according to Peter's plan, was to become an exemplary "paradise" city.

In the same years, the Boyar Duma was replaced by the Council of Ministers, which consisted of members of the inner circle of the tsar, along with the Moscow orders, new institutions were created in St. Petersburg.

The Swedish king Charles XII fought in the depths of Europe with Saxony and Poland and neglected the threat from Russia. Peter wasted no time: fortresses were built at the mouth of the Neva, ships were built at the shipyards, the equipment for which was brought from Arkhangelsk, and soon a powerful Russian fleet arose on the Baltic Sea. Russian artillery, after its radical transformation, played a decisive role in the capture of the fortresses of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) and Narva (1704). Dutch and English ships appeared in the harbor near the new capital. In 1704-1707, the tsar firmly established Russian influence in the Duchy of Courland.

Charles XII, having made peace with Poland in 1706, made a belated attempt to crush the Russian rival. He moved the war from the Baltic to deep into Russia, intending to take Moscow. At first, his offensive was successful, but the retreating Russian army deceived him with a cunning maneuver and inflicted a serious defeat at Lesnaya (1708). Karl turned south, and on June 27, 1709, his army was completely defeated in the battle of Poltava. Up to 9,000 were killed on the battlefield, and on June 30, the surviving part of the army (16,000 soldiers) laid down their arms. The victory was complete - one of the best armies of that time, which for nine years terrified the whole Eastern Europe, ceased to exist. In pursuit of the fled Charles XII, Peter sent two dragoon regiments, but he managed to escape to Turkish possessions.

After the council near Poltava, Field Marshal Sheremetev went to besiege Riga, and Menshikov, also granted a field marshal, went to Poland - to fight against the protege of the Swedes Leshchinsky, who was proclaimed the Polish king instead of Augustus. Peter himself traveled to Poland and Germany, renewed his alliance with Augustus, and made a defensive alliance against Sweden with the Prussian king.

On June 12, 1710 Apraksin took Vyborg, on July 4 Sheremetev captured Riga, and on August 14 Pernov capitulated. On September 8, General Bruce forced the surrender of Kexholm (Old Russian Karela), thus the conquest of Karelia was completed. Finally, on September 29, Revel fell. Livonia and Estonia were cleared of the Swedes and came under Russian rule.

War with Turkey and the end of the Northern War.

However, Charles XII was not yet completely defeated. While now in Turkey, he made efforts to quarrel her with Peter and impose war on Russia in the south. On October 20, 1710, the Turks broke the peace. The war with Turkey (1710-1713) proceeded unsuccessfully: in the Prut campaign (1711), Peter, along with his entire army, was surrounded and forced to conclude a peace treaty, abandoning all previous conquests in the south. Under the agreement, Russia returned Azov to Turkey and destroyed the Taganrog harbor. The treaty was concluded on July 12, 1711.

Hostilities were resumed in the north, where Swedish Field Marshal Magnus Gustafson Steinbock raised a large army. Russia and its allies defeated Steinbock in 1713. On the Baltic Sea near Cape Gangut on July 27, 1714, the Russian fleet defeated the Swedish squadron. Following that, the island of Aland, located 15 miles from Stockholm, was captured. The news of this horrified all of Sweden, but Peter did not abuse his happiness and returned with the fleet to Russia. On September 9, the tsar solemnly entered Petersburg. In the Senate, Peter reported to Prince Romodanovsky about the battle of Gangut and was granted a vice admiral.

On August 30, 1721, the Treaty of Nishtad was signed: Russia received Livonia (with Riga), Estonia (with Revel and Narva), part of Karelia, Izhora land and other territories, and Finland returned to Sweden.

In 1722-1723 Peter carried out a successful campaign against Persia, capturing Baku and Derbent.

Management reform.

Before leaving for the Prut campaign, Peter founded the Governing Senate, which had the functions of the main body of executive, judicial and legislative power. Since 1717, the creation of colleges began - the central bodies of sectoral management, founded in a fundamentally different way than the old Moscow orders. New authorities - executive, financial, judicial and control - were also created in the localities. In 1720, the General Regulations were issued - detailed instructions for organizing the work of new institutions.

In 1722, Peter signed the Table of Ranks, which determined the order of organization of military and civil service and was in effect until 1917. Even earlier, in 1714, a Decree on uniform inheritance was issued, equalizing the rights of owners of estates and estates. This was important for the formation of the Russian nobility as a single full-fledged class. In 1719, by order of Peter, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces, which consisted of districts.

But paramount to social sphere had a tax reform, begun in 1718. In Russia in 1724, a poll tax was introduced from males, for which regular censuses of the population ("audits of souls") were carried out. In the course of the reform, the social category of serfs was eliminated and the social status of some other categories of the population was clarified.

In 1721, on October 20, after the end of the Northern War, Russia was proclaimed an empire, and the Senate awarded Peter the titles "Father of the Fatherland" and "Emperor", as well as "Great".

Relations with the church.

Peter and his military commanders regularly praised the Almighty from the battlefield for their victories, but the relationship of the king with the Orthodox Church left much to be desired. Peter closed monasteries, appropriated church property, allowed himself to mock blasphemously at church rites and customs. His ecclesiastical policy caused mass protests of the Old Believers-schismatics, who considered the tsar the Antichrist. Peter persecuted them severely. Patriarch Adrian died in 1700, and no successor was appointed to him. The patriarchate was abolished, and in 1721 the Most Holy Synod was established, a state governing body of the church, consisting of bishops, but led by a layman (chief procurator) and subject to the monarch.

Transformations in the economy.

Peter I clearly understood the need to overcome the technical backwardness of Russia and in every possible way contributed to the development of Russian industry and trade, including foreign trade. Many merchants and industrialists enjoyed his patronage, among whom the Demidovs are most famous. Many new plants and factories were built, new branches of industry arose. Russia even exported arms to Prussia.

Foreign engineers were invited (about 900 specialists arrived with Peter from Europe), many young Russians went abroad to study science and crafts. Under the supervision of Peter, Russian ore deposits were studied; significant progress has been made in mining.

A system of canals was designed, and one of them, connecting the Volga with the Neva, was dug in 1711. Fleets, military and commercial, were built.

However, its development in wartime conditions led to the priority development of heavy industries, which, after the end of the war, could no longer exist without state support. The virtual enslavement of the urban population, high taxes, the forced closure of the port of Arkhangelsk and some other government measures did not favor the development foreign trade.

On the whole, the exhausting war that lasted for 21 years, requiring large investments, received mainly through emergency taxes, led to the actual impoverishment of the country's population, mass flight of peasants, and the ruin of merchants and industrialists.

Transformations in the field of culture.

The time of Peter I is the time of active penetration into Russian life of elements of secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education. By a special decree of the tsar, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people for Russia. Of particular importance was the construction of stone St. Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the tsar. He created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime. The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc., have changed. Gradually, a different system of values, worldview, and aesthetic ideas took shape in the educated environment. Arabic numerals and civil type were introduced, printing houses were established, and the first Russian newspaper appeared. Science was encouraged in every possible way: schools were opened, books on science and technology were translated, and the Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724 (opened in 1725).

The personal life of the king.

At the age of sixteen, Peter was married to Evdokia Lopukhina, but he lived with her for barely a week. She bore him a son, Alexei, heir to the throne. It is known that Peter transferred his dislike for Evdokia to her son Tsarevich Alexei. In 1718, Alexei was forced to renounce his right to the throne. In the same year, he was tried, accused of plotting against the sovereign, found guilty and put to death in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Since returning from the Great Embassy, ​​Peter finally broke with his unloved first wife.

Subsequently, he became friends with the captive Latvian Marta Skavronskaya (the future Empress Catherine I), whom he married in 1712, who from 1703 was his actual wife. In this marriage, 8 children were born, but except for Anna and Elizabeth, they all died in infancy. In 1724 she was crowned as empress, Peter planned to bequeath the throne to her. In 1722, Peter issued a law on succession to the throne, according to which the autocrat could appoint his successor. Peter himself did not use this right.
At a height, an iron bridle
Raised Russia on its hind legs?