Peter the first. Ivan V Alekseevich Romanov - the eldest tsar and great sovereign of all Rus' And now the sovereign brother
Gordon's foreign regiments went over to Peter, and the remaining archers forced Sophia to hand over her faithful henchman Fyodor Shaklovity to the Tsar.
There, in Trinity, the first search took place, the speedy trial of Tsar Peter and the speedy verdict. Shaklovity and his two henchmen ended their lives on the chopping block.
On the eve of his execution, Peter sat down to write a letter to his brother Ivan.
“Brother Sovereign Tsar John Alekseevich,” the letter began, “hello with your daughter-in-law, and with your wife, and with your birth in the mercy of God. It is known to you, Sovereign, that I am ordering, and I also ask your permission for this, that by the grace of God the skipper of the reign of our ancestral Russian kingdom has been entrusted to us by the grace of God, just as the conciliar action testifies to this to the mother of our Eastern churches, so also by our brethren, the acre sovereign, our government is known, but the third person who would be with us in equal rule was not at all remembered. And how our sister Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna learned to control our state with her own will, and in that possession that was contrary to our persons and the people, the burden and our patience, you, the sovereign, know about this. And now our villains Fetka Shaklovita and her companion, not satisfied with our mercy, broke their promise, plotting with other thieves to kill us and our mother’s health, and they were guilty of this through search and torture. And now, sir brother, the time has come for both of our persons to rule the kingdom entrusted to us by God ourselves, since we have come to the extent of our age, and for a third shameful person, our sister c. S.A. We do not deign to be with our two male persons in titles and in dealing with affairs; To this end, your will, my brother’s sovereign, would have bowed, because she took into account that she would enter into affairs and write herself in titles without our permission, and besides, she also wanted a crown with a royal crown for our ultimate offense. It is shameful, sir, at our perfect age, for that shameful person to own the state bypassing us. To you, brother sovereign, I declare and ask: allow me, sir, by my fatherly will, for our best benefit and for the peace of the people, without being sent to you, sovereign, to carry out the orders of truthful judges, and to change the indecent ones, so as to calm our state and please soon. And how, sir, brother, let’s happen together, and then we’ll put everything in order. And I, the sovereign brother, am ready to honor you like a father.
Your brother is the king Peter I wish you health and bless you.”
I sent the letter with Apraksin.
You will give it into the hands of brother Ivan. Consider in Moscow how they fight in the suburbs, like the archers in the Kremlin conduct their service without Shaklovity.
On the way to Moscow every now and then I had to rein in my horse. The road was blocked with carts, rattles, and tarantasses. Boyars, okolnichy, and just nobles hurried to the Trinity Monastery. Everyone realized that Peter was gaining strength, and everyone was in a hurry to show themselves to his eyes. Perhaps he will reward you with a fief or something else for his loyalty. Otherwise it will work for future use.
The capital lived, as before, measuredly and sedately. The days were calm and fine, the stoves were smoking, and at night it was freezing in some places. On Myasnitskaya, as usual, shops were selling, women were crowding around, asking prices, choosing what was fresher, cheaper.
The Kremlin gates were open, two archers were sitting on the sidelines near the Nikolskaya Tower, talking about something, but they did not pay attention to Apraksin.
First of all, Fyodor found his brother:
Report an urgent letter from Pyotr Alekseich.
Give me a letter.
No, no. Ordered from hand to hand...
We didn't have to wait long. Ivan allowed him to touch his hand and handed the letter to the boyar. An absent-minded, rather meaningless smile wandered across his good-natured face with his cap pulled low over his eyes.
How is my brother doing?
“In good health, great sovereign,” Apraksin bowed low, maintaining etiquette...
While they were conferring in the royal chambers and rereading the letter from the younger king, Andrei treated his brother and asked:
Now the whole trial is taking place in Trinity. How is Fedka, is he still alive?
In the next world. Yesterday they cut off his head on the block in front of all the honest people. The same goes for his breeders, Nikitka Chermny and Kuzka Petrov. - Fedor shrugged his shoulders. - At first Pyotr Alekseich wanted to beat them with a whip, cut out their tongues and tear out their nostrils... The Patriarch persuaded them to execute them, so that, they say, there was a different lesson.
In the evening, Apraksin was informed that there would be no reply letter, and Tsar Ivan Alekseevich agreed with the proposals of his brother Peter Alekseevich, gave everything to his will and wished him complete well-being in that matter... Boyar Prozorovsky would report everything in detail to Tsar Peter in a day.
The shame is over. Vasily Vasilyevich ran up to the metropolitan porch. But an unknown clerk came out of the door, dressed poorly, index finger stopped Vasily Vasilyevich and, unfolding the letter, read it loudly, slowly, hitting the crown of the head with every word:
- “...for all his above-mentioned faults, the great sovereigns Peter Alekseevich and Ivan Alekseevich ordered to deprive you, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, of honor and boyarhood and send you with your wife and children to eternal exile in Kargopol. And assign your estates, estates and Moscow courtyards and bellies to yourself, the great sovereigns. And let your people, bonded and serfs, including peasants and peasant children, be freed..."
Having finished the long reading, the clerk rolled up the letter and pointed to the bailiff at Vasily Vasilyevich - he could barely stand, without a hat, Alexei held him by the arm...
Take into custody and do as told...
They took it. They took me. Behind the churchyard, they put father and son on a cart, on mats, and the bailiff and dragoons jumped from behind. The driver, in a torn overcoat and bast shoes, spun the reins, and the bad little horse dragged the cart at a walking pace from the monastery into the field. It was night, the stars were covered in dampness.
23
The Trinity campaign is over. Just like seven years ago, we spent time in the Lavra in Moscow. The boyars with the patriarch and Natalya Kirillovna, after thinking, wrote on behalf of Peter to Tsar Ivan:
“...And now, brother sir, the time has come for both of our persons to rule the kingdom entrusted to us by God themselves, since the first ones have come to the measure of their age, and the third shameful We don’t deign to have a face, our sister, with our two male persons in titles and reprisals…”
Sophia was transported from the Kremlin to the Novodevichy Convent at night without much noise. Shaklovit, Chermny and Obrosim Petrov had their heads cut off, the rest of the thieves were beaten with a whip in the square, in the suburbs, their tongues were cut out, and they were exiled to Siberia forever. Pop Medvedev and Nikita Gladky were later captured by the Dorogobuzh governor. They were terribly tortured and beheaded.
Rewards were given - land and money: boyars three hundred rubles, okolnichy two hundred and seventy, Duma nobles two hundred and fifty. The stolniks who arrived with Peter at the Lavra - thirty-seven rubles in money, those who arrived after - thirty-two rubles, those who arrived before August 10 - thirty rubles, and those who arrived before August 20 - twenty-seven rubles. City nobles were paid eighteen, seventeen and sixteen rubles in the same order. To all ordinary archers for loyalty - one ruble without land.
Before returning to Moscow, the boyars sorted out orders among themselves: the first and most important - Posolsky - was given to Lev Kirillovich, but without the title of saver. Once the military and other needs had passed, it would have been possible to completely abandon Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn - the patriarch and Natalya Kirillovna could not forgive him for much, and especially for saving Vasily Vasilyevich from the whip and the block, but the boyars considered it indecent to deprive such a high family of honor : “Let’s go for it, - soon the orders will be knocked out from under us, - merchants, clerks without roots, foreigners and all sorts of vile people, look, they’re crawling to Tsar Peter for booty, for places...” Boris Alekseevich was given for feeding and honor order of the Kazan Palace. Having learned about this, he spat, got drunk that day, shouted: “To hell with them, but I have enough for mine,” and drunkenly rode off to his estate near Moscow to sleep it off...
The new ministers, as the foreigners began to call them then, removed some clerks and clerks from the orders and installed others and began to think and rule according to the old custom. There were no special changes. Only in the Kremlin palace did Lev Kirillovich wear black sables, slam doors imperiously, and prickly click his heels instead of Ivan Miloslavsky...
These were old, famous people - there was nothing to expect from them except ruin, extortion and disorder. In Moscow and Kukui - merchants of all hundreds, tax farmers, trade and craft people in the settlements, foreign guests, ship captains - Dutch, Hanoverian, English - were waiting with great impatience for new orders and new people. There were various rumors about Peter, and many put all their hope in him. Russia - a gold mine - lay under the centuries-old mud... If not a new tsar will raise life, then who will?
Peter was in no hurry to go to Moscow. He left the Lavra with an army and marched to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, where the rotten timbers of the terrible palace of Tsar Ivan the Fourth still stood. Here General Sommer staged an exemplary battle. It lasted for a whole week, as long as there was enough gunpowder. And here Sommer’s service ended - the poor fellow fell from his horse and was injured.
In October, Peter went with only his amusing regiments to Moscow. Ten versts away, in the village of Alekseevskoye, he was met by large crowds of people. They kept icons, banners, and loaves of bread on dishes. On the sides of the road lay logs and blocks with stuck axes, and on the damp ground lay, with their necks on the logs, archers - elected, from those regiments that were not in Trinity... But the young tsar did not chop off heads, he was not angry, although he was not friendly.
Chapter Five
1
Lefort became big man. Foreigners living on Kukui and visitors on trade from Arkhangelsk and Vologda spoke of him with great respect. Clerks of Amsterdam and London trading houses wrote there about him and advised: if something happens, send him small gifts - best of all, good wine. When he was awarded the rank of general for the Troitsk campaign, the Kukuyites gathered together and presented him with a sword. Passing by his house, they winked meaningfully at each other, saying: “Oh, yes...” His house was now cramped - so many people wanted to shake his hand, exchange a word, just remind him of themselves. Despite the late autumn, hasty work began on the superstructure and expansion of the house - they installed a stone porch with side entrances, decorated the front side with columns and stucco men. In the place of the courtyard, where there had previously been a fountain, they dug a lake for water and fire fun. Guardhouses for the musketeers were built on the sides.
Russian Tsar in 1682-1696, from the Romanov dynasty. The son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich “The Quietest” and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, née Miloslavskaya.
When in 1682 his elder brother, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, died without leaving an heir, 15-year-old Ivan Alekseevich, as the next in seniority, was to inherit the throne.
Ivan Alekseevich was sickly and incapable of governing the country since childhood. Therefore, it was proposed to remove him and choose his half-brother 10-year-old Peter, the youngest son of Alexei Mikhailovich, as the next king.
They said about Ivan Alekseevich that he was weak-minded, which, perhaps, was the libel of the Naryshkins, which they spread during the period of a fierce struggle for power with the Miloslavskys. It is known for certain that being at the very center of this struggle, Ivan Alekseevich never tried to take an active part in it, and did not show interest in government activities. It is also possible that his indifference, and perhaps even aversion to higher power, was perceived by his contemporaries as a clear sign dementia.
Both brothers, one due to ill health, the other due to age, could not participate in the struggle for power. Instead of them, their relatives fought: for Ivan - his sister, Princess Sophia and the Miloslavskys, relatives of his mother; for Peter - the Naryshkins, relatives of Alexei Mikhailovich’s second wife. The matter did not happen without a bloody mutiny of the archers.
As a result, Patriarch Joachim proposed to proclaim both kings at once: Ivan as the senior king, Peter as the junior king, and to appoint Princess Sofya Alekseevna as regent for them.
On June 25, 1682, Ivan V Alekseevich and Peter I Alekseevich were crowned kings in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. A special throne with two seats was built for them, currently kept in the Armory.
Until 1689, the reign of both Ivan and Peter was nominal; in fact, power was exercised by Princess Sofia Alekseevna, who relied on the Miloslavsky clan and her favorites - V.V. Golitsyn and F.L. Shaklovity.
In 1689, the confrontation between Sophia and Peter came to a head, as a result of which Sophia was removed from power. At this time, Peter sends a message to Ivan from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in which he writes:
And now, sir brother, the time has come for both of our persons to rule the kingdom entrusted to us by God themselves, since we have come to the measure of our age, and we do not deign to have a third shameful person, our sister, with our two male persons in titles and in the dispensation of affairs; That’s why your will, my brother’s sovereign, would have bowed, because it taught you to enter into affairs and write your own title without our permission; Moreover, she also wanted to be married with a royal crown, to further our offense. It’s shameful, sir, at our perfect age, for that shameful person to own the state bypassing us! To you, the sovereign brother, I declare and ask: allow me, sir, by your fatherly will, for best benefits ours and for the peace of the people, without sending to you, sovereign, to carry out according to the orders of the truthful judges, and to change the indecent ones, so that our state can be calmed and soon made happy. And how, sir, brother, let’s happen together, and then we will put everything on the measure; and I, the sovereign brother, are ready to honor you like a father. |
The message is obviously addressed to a completely reasonable person, and this is not just a form of etiquette: at that time it was very important for Peter to enlist the support of his brother, or at least his non-interference.
Although Ivan was called the “senior tsar,” he was almost never directly involved in state affairs, except for ritual ceremonies that required the participation of the tsar, and devoted himself entirely to his family.
From 1682 to 1689, Sophia ruled; in 1689, actual power passed to the Naryshkin clan, nominally headed by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, after whose death in 1694 power was concentrated in the hands of Peter.
Ivan Alekseevich lived longer than all the male offspring of Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, but by the age of 27 he was completely decrepit, had poor vision and was stricken with paralysis.
At the 30th year of his life, on January 29 (February 8), 1696, he died suddenly in Moscow and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Sophia, as she had expected, was sent to a monastery with certain precautions that increased the severity of the punishment. Peter established a relationship with his brother. He wrote him the following letter:
“Brother, Tsar Tsar John Alekseevich, with your daughter-in-law, and with your wife, and with your birth in the mercy of God, hello! It is known to you, Sovereign, that I am repairing, and I will also forgive your permission about this: that by the grace of God, the scepter of the reign of our ancestral Russian kingdom was handed over to us, two persons, as the conciliar action of 190 testifies to this to our mothers in the Eastern churches: also by our surrounding brethren the sovereign knows about our statehood; and the third person, to be with us in equal rule, was not at all remembered. And how our sister Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna taught our state to control our will, and in that possession what was contrary to our people, and the burden and our patience on the family, you, sir, know about that. And now our villains Fedka Shaklovity and his comrades, not satisfied with our mercy, breaking their promise, plotted with other thieves to kill us and our mother’s health, and they were guilty of this through search and torture. And now, sir brother, the time has come for both of our persons to rule the kingdom entrusted to us by God themselves, even though we have come to the extent of our age, and for the third shameful person, our sister (Ts. S. A.) with our two men’s persons in titles and in We do not deign to settle matters; To this end, your will, my brother’s sovereign, would have bowed, because it taught you to enter into affairs and write yourself in titles without our permission; Moreover, she also wanted to be married with a royal crown, to further our offense. Is it shameful, sir, at our perfect age, for that shameful person to own the state bypassing us? To you, the sovereign brother, I declare and ask: grant me, sir, by your fatherly will, for our better benefit and for the peace of the people, without being sent to you, sir, to carry out the orders of truthful judges, and to change the indecent ones, so as to calm our state and make you happy soon. And how, sir brother, let’s happen together and then we will put everything in order, and I, sir brother, am ready to honor you like a father. And I have been ordered to verbally convey something else to you, sovereign, to our faithful boyar, Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Prozorovsky. And against this writing and verbal order of mine, give me a rebuke. “Your brother Tsar Peter, who wrote in sorrow, wishes you health and strikes you with my forehead.”
Ivan Proskurov was instructed to suggest that the princess quickly choose a monastery for herself. After some hesitation, she complied and designated the newly built Novodevichy Convent near Moscow.
But this was only a temporary reign. From Ivan, who silently accepted the accomplished facts and spoke only in ceremonies, and Peter, who, after the end of the crisis, returned to his entertainment and then faded away, power fell to the real heroes of the moment. Most of it was first received by Boris Golitsyn, a native Muscovite, the living opposite of his cousin Vasily; Then, when his help to a guilty relative, which compromised him, aroused the anger of the Naryshkins, power passed to the Naryshkins themselves and other relatives of the Queen Mother. But the hour had not yet struck for the future great man. The serious struggle in which he was temporarily involved did not yet force him out of adolescence. But this struggle still had a great influence on his fate, on the development of his character and inclinations. The young king leaves his former comrades, finds others who quickly take the place of the old ones in his heart and who are called upon, if not to create with him the history of a great reign, then at least to show him the way and guide his steps.
BOOK TWO
AT THE SCHOOL OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD
On a hike. School of War. Creation of a fleet. Capture of Azov
They spoke differently about the comrades of foreign origin who now appeared among those around Peter, confusing numbers and facts so that Patrick Gordon was considered long before the fall of Sophia as one of the trusted and educators of the young tsar, and Lefort was considered the main organizer and creator of the coup of 1689. In fact, both of them met Peter only during his stay at Trinity and much later became his close friends. Gordon belonged to the society of Vasily Golitsyn, Lefort was of no importance.
Born in 1635 into a family of petty lords, royalists and Catholics, Patrick Gordon had been languishing in Russia for 30 years, holding minor positions that he did not like at all. Before coming here, he had already served the emperor, the Swedes against the Poles and the Poles against the Swedes "He was dearly a genuine Dugald Dolgetty", say his English biographers. His knowledge was limited to memories of the rural school he attended in his homeland, near Aberdeen; his military background includes commanding a dragoon regiment in Germany and Poland. Alexei in 1665 and Sophia in 1685 entrusted him with diplomatic missions; he traveled to England twice with instructions regarding the privileges of English merchants, fulfilled them with honor, but received only a glass of vodka, which Peter, then a fourteen-year-old boy, brought to him upon his return from his second trip. He considered himself offended, asked for resignation, but, not receiving it, joined the dissatisfied. Meanwhile, he took part in the devastating Crimean War and received the rank of general. Naturally intelligent and active, with good connections in his homeland, he thought that he had the right to a higher position. Personally known to Kings Charles and James of England, cousin Earl Gordon, former governor Edinburgh in 1686, he was a recognized representative of the royalist Scottish colony of the Settlement. Speaking Russian and loving to drink, he enjoyed a certain popularity among the Muscovites themselves. With his lively mind, appearance of a civilized man and energetic appearance, he should have attracted the attention of Peter. Peter always gave preference to people with strong temperaments. Patrick Gordon suffered from a stomach ailment from which he died; but in 1697, at the age of 64, he ended his diary with the words: “These days I noticed for the first time a decrease in health and strength.”
Franz Lefort came to Moscow in 1675 with fifteen foreign officers to seek his fortune. Swiss by birth, he belonged to a family that, during the Reformation, left the city of Coney - where it was called Liforti - to settle in Geneva. His father was a pharmacist, therefore, he belonged to the highest merchant class. Around 1649, women of this class received from the reform chamber the right to “wear dresses of double taffeta with flowers.” At the age of eighteen, Franz left for Holland with 60 florins and a letter of recommendation from Prince Charles of Courland to his brother Casimir. Charles lived in Geneva, Casimir served in Holland with a corps of troops. He did young man his secretary, giving him instead of a salary his old dress, worth 300 ducats, and money for cards. The reward was large, but poorly secured. Two years later, Lefort went to Arkhangelsk. His first thought was to leave. But at that time it was impossible to leave Russia when and how you wanted: foreigners were strictly monitored, and those leaving were considered spies. Lefort remained in Moscow for two years, thinking that he would die of hunger. He tried to get into the retinue of one of the prominent members of the diplomatic corps, knocked on the thresholds of the Swiss Danish ambassador and the English kitchen. But he could not settle down anywhere; little by little, however, he acquired friends among the residents of Sloboda, influential patrons, and even a pretty patroness, the widow of a foreign colonel, a very rich woman. In 1678, he finally decided to settle in Russia and began by getting married. It was necessary condition. It was necessary to have a family and a home to dispel mistrust. He married Elizaveta Sukhaya, the daughter of a native of the city of Metz, a Catholic, with a fairly good dowry and excellent connections. Mrs. Sukhey's two brothers, two Bockhovens, Dutch by birth, had an important position in the army; Patrick Gordon was the son-in-law of one of them. Lefort thus chose a military career, for which, however, he had neither love nor calling.
