12 myths about Peter I that you believe in completely in vain
Miscellaneous / / August 18, 2022
In fact, the tsar did not import either tobacco or potatoes to Russia, and he did not change people for nails either.
Myth 1. Peter I brought potatoes to Russia and forced the peasants to eat them
Peter brought a lot of things to Russia, including pickled mango. Potatoes, he is also from Holland grabbed"Proceedings of the Free Economic Society", 1852 bag as a curiosity. But no agricultural projects to transfer the Russian peasantry to eating root crops were carried out until the first half of the 18th century. Until then, it was considered a rare snack for aristocrats.
Potato distribution campaign startedMay 31. Instruction - on the cultivation of earthen apples, called pottes (potatoes) / Full. coll. laws of Ros. Empire. Sobr. 1st only under Catherine II. And right up to the 19th century, the Russian peasantry not reallyGuide to botany / comp. AT. AT. Grigoriev. 4th ed. - M.: edition of the Salaev brothers, 1865 loved the damn apple
Myth 2. And Peter I brought tobacco
Nothing like that, tobacco arrived in Russia before Peter - in the 16th century. His grandfather, Mikhail Romanov, in 1640 bannedb. Bogdanov. The smoke of the fatherland, or a brief history of smoking use of the "damned devil's potion". First, because it is not pleasing to God, the church does not approve. And secondly, because of the fire hazard of smoking. Recall that the buildings in Moscow then were built mainly of wood.
Those who smoked or simply carried tobacco were whipped and their lips cut off.
Under Alexei Romanov, Peter's father, tobacco in 1646 legalizedb. Bogdanov. The smoke of the fatherland, or a brief history of smoking, but they made a monopoly trade, and the profit from the sale went to the state. The Church continued protestT. F. Volkov. Legends and Tales of Tobacco in the Reading Circle of Ust-Tsilma Peasants against this diabolical habit, and in 1649 Patriarch Nikon pushed a clause into the Council Code that smokers should be scourged publicly.
But the progressive Peter, himself addicted to tobacco in Europe, in 1697 smoking again allowedb. Bogdanov. The smoke of the fatherland, or a brief history of smoking.
Myth 3. Peter was the first in Russia to start shaving and cut the beards of the boyars with an ax
This is not true. The first of the Russian tsars began to shaveE. v. Akelev. When Did Peter the Great Order Beards Shaved? Quaestio Rossica. Vol. 5. № 4. 2017 Fyodor Romanov - brother of Peter I. After marrying the daughter of a Smolensk nobleman Agafya Grushetskaya in 1680, he became interested in European fashion. The old boyars shook their heads, looking at such a disgrace, and the young, imitating him, began to shave themselves.
Peter made this occupation not voluntary, but compulsory. In 1698 he established taxE. v. Akelev. When Did Peter the Great Order Beards Shaved? Quaestio Rossica. Vol. 5. № 4. 2017 on beards to make their officials look "European", like civilized people. Only priests and peasants were exempted from the tax.
With his own hands, Peter really cut his beards, which is preserved evidenceE. v. Akelev. When Did Peter the Great Order Beards Shaved? Quaestio Rossica. Vol. 5. № 4. 2017 eyewitnesses, in particular, the Austrian diplomat Christoph-Ignacy von Gvarient. But I preferred to use scissors for this.
But during the suppression of the Streltsy rebellion, Peter, according to the foreign ambassadors present, waved his ax himself. True, he was aiming not at the facial hair, but at the neck.
It is possible that these two episodes were mixed up in the public consciousness and thus the formidable image of the emperor was born, chopping the beards of officials with an axe.
Myth 4. Peter issued a decree that subordinates should have a "dashing and silly appearance"
Peter I wrote many decrees, and with his own hand, and many of them are distinguished by rather rude language. View the complete collection of laws issued by the reformer king canCollections of legislation of Peter I / Presidential Library N. Yeltsin on the website of the Presidential Library. Yeltsin or in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, submittedComplete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire: Chronological Index on the website of the Russian National Library.
But the famous phrase “A subordinate in the face of a superior must look dashing and silly, so as not to embarrass his superiors with his understanding” is not there.
Peter did not say or write anything like that. Most likely this is a statement fixedDid Peter I issue a decree that a subordinate in front of his superiors should “look dashing and silly”? / Checked. Media behind him in our time.
And here is another supposedly Petrovsky law: "I order the boyars in the Duma to speak according to the unwritten, so that everyone's nonsense is visible" - not that it would be completely fiction. It is, rather, a free transcription of a real document.
Peter wrote07/18.10.1707, Tue. P. in Vilna. — Biochronics — Biochronics of Peter the Great (1672‑1725) / National Research University Higher School of Economics to Prince Romodanovsky: “If you please, at the congress in Polat, all the ministers who are coming to the consilia come together, so that they are all sorts things that are advised, they would write down and each minister would sign with his own hand, […] for by this every foolishness is revealed will be".
Myth 5. The growth of Peter I was more than two meters
The great reformer king in our time is most often represented as a two-meter giant, against which the rest looked like pygmies.
In principle, there are good reasons for such an opinion. For example, the Duke of Saint-Simon, who received Peter in Paris in 1717, wroteFROM. Knyazkov. Essays from the history of Peter the Great and his timethat the king was “very tall, well built, rather thin, with a roundish face, high forehead, fine eyebrows; his nose is rather short, but not too short, and is somewhat thick towards the end; lips are quite large.
In the archives of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, recordFROM. Knyazkov. Essays from the history of Peter the Great and his timethat Peter is “pleasant, handsome, very tall», but has a habit of stooping: "... he hunches on the go worse than the Dutch sailors, whom he obviously tries to imitate."
In general, everyone said that Peter was tall. The problem is that no one has specified exactly how much.
You see, the preserved clothes of the emperor doesn't look likeN. v. Riasanovsky. History of Russia on the outfit of a giant: she is 48 sizes. And the shoe size is 39th. The growth of Peter, mentioned in the sources, is very difficult to accurately determine due to the difficulties with translating the Russian “elbows”, “arshins” and “sazhens” into the current units of measurement. It could be 213.36 cm, 204 cm, a little more than 180 cm, or even 170 cm, depending on how you count.
At the same time, even if Peter was not taller than 180 centimeters, he still would seemN. v. Riasanovsky. History of Russia contemporaries a giant, because in the 17th century the average height was somewhat less than now.
Myth 6. Peter I changed Chuvashs, Mordvins, Udmurts and redheads for nails
A rather popular historical anecdote tells that Peter I willingly sold representatives of some peoples of the Russian Empire to the British or the Dutch, buying nails in return. And for one Votyak (then the name of the Udmurts), Chuvash, Mordvin, or just a person with red hair, it was possible to bargain for a whole bucket of such fasteners.
But there is no historical evidence. It's just a tale.
Nevertheless, in those days, the overwhelming majority of the population of Russia were serfs, and the masters could dispose of their fate as they pleased. preserved decreePeter the Great in the North. Collection of articles and decrees relating to the activities of Peter I in the North. Arkhangelsk, 1909 / Presidential Library named after B.N. Yeltsin Peter I of 1717, in which he ordered "two people SamoyedsSo then they called the Nenets, Enets, Selkups and other representatives of the northern peoples. young shy children who would be ugly and ugly”, to present to the Duke of Tuscany.
And also, like many monarchs of that time, Peter I collected all sorts of "curiosities" like people of dwarf growth or atypical appearance, as well as owners of various deformities and injuries.
He even undertookThe wedding of the dwarf Ekim Volkov. Zubov A. F. Engraving in Russia in the 18th — the first half of the 19th century / collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin attempts to “breed a separate breed of dwarfs”, for which on November 14, 1710 he married his court jester, midget Yakim Volkov, to a dwarf who belonged to Empress Praskovya Feodorovna.
Myth 7. Peter I was replaced
This is one of the most widespread myths about the king. The sovereign violates the original Russian customs, orders to imitate the Europeans in everything, rides to visit the insidious West and brings shipbuilders, technologies and curiosities from there - it means that it was replaced by foreign special services! Our Russian tsar-father cannot, of his own free will, take an example from foreign adversaries.
There are three main versions of the “substitution” of Peter I. First, it happened when he was a baby. Allegedly a real royal heir kidnappedN. AND. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures the Germans, and in return planted a child from the German settlement in Kukuy. And what, the king, after all, favors this people, which means that he himself is their representative. Is it logical? Logically.
For example, during interrogation in the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in 1700, the serfs of the boyar Streshnev claimedN. AND. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures the following: “The sovereign was not of the royal tribe, but of a German breed, but the great sovereign was hidden by the Germans from their mothers in their early years, and replaced by a new one instead. The Germans are cunning - they bring face to face.
The second version: the real Peter went to Europe with his Great Embassy, where he kidnappedN. AND. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures, and instead they put a similar impostor, a puppet of foreign intelligence services.
What happened to the real Peter, supporters of the theory decide could notPeter I was replaced by a double - when and why? / Culture.rf. Some believed that he was “laid into the wall” in Riga, while others believed that “the tsar in the Germans was laid in a barrel and put into the sea.” Still others claimed that Peter in Stekoln (so the name Stockholm was changed) was tortured by the Queen of Sweden and thrown into prison. Well, the most exciting option: in general, the French put the real Peter in the Bastille, and it was he who was the famous prisoner in iron mask.
And the last version of the substitution: the real Peter I acceptedN. AND. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures the Old Believers and went to sketes in the dense forests, and the "German guard" enthroned no less than the Antichrist.
Naturally, all these conspiracy theories theoriesPeter I was replaced by a double - when and why? / Culture.rf do not have any significant historical evidence. Peter was the legal heir to the Russian state. Well, the fact that he got along well with the Germans, whom the Russians did not like, is not enough reason to write him down as an infidel.
Myth 8. Alexander Menshikov was the brother of Peter I
This theory was put forward by a well-known proponent conspiracy theories and the pseudo-scientist Georgy Gerasimov in his book The Real History of Russia and Civilization. By blood relationship, he explained Peter's warm attitude towards his closest ally Aleksashka.
By the way, this guy also developed a theory of the origin of man from the “water monkey”, so it’s unlikely that his version should be taken on faith right off the bat.
The father of Peter I, Alexei Mikhailovich, was very devoutN. AND. Pavlenko. Tsarevich Alexei. M., 2008 and spent hours at the daily services in the church. It does not seem that he would cheat on his wife and produce illegitimate children. The version that Peter and Menshikov have the same father and mother is generally absurd: Alexander was underL. Hughes. Peter the Great. At the origins of a great empire. M., 2008 his master for six months. So they couldn't possibly be brothers.
Myth 9. Mikhail Lomonosov was the son of Peter I
Another tale says that the encyclopedic scientist Mikhail Lomonosov was recognized at court due to the fact that he was the illegitimate son of Peter the Great.
The tsar really visited Arkhangelsk, in the homeland of Lomonosov - he worked there at the Solombala shipyard. True, there is a catch: the last time he went there cameAT. Chubinsky. Historical review of the control device of the maritime department in Russia in 1702, and Lomonosov was born in 1711.
Therefore, Lomonosov's mother carried her son for at least nine years. Sounds plausible, we believe it.
Lomonosov also liked Peter I because of his progressiveness and reformatory activity, and Mikhailo even assembled a mosaic with his portrait. But he certainly could not be the son of a king.
Myth 10. Peter I hated Russians
Many suspected Peter I of hatred for Russia, Moscow and Russians. Judge for yourself: he moved the capital to St. Petersburg, planted foreign customs, eradicating the original Russian ones, cut his beards - well, where does this fit?
The tsar even once supposedly said: “With other European peoples, you can achieve the goal in philanthropic ways, but with the Russians you can’t like this: if I had not used strictness, I would not have owned the state for a long time and would never have made it what it is now. I am not dealing with people, but with animals that I want to transform into people.
In fact, this quote was attributed to him by the publicist and poet Nikolai Kostomarov, an ardent anti-monarchist. He was born a century after the death of Peter and could hardly hear the above phrase from him personally, and other confirmations of his words missingN.I. Kostomarov. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures. Department 2. Chapter 15 Peter the Great.
Considering how much Peter did for the development of the Russian state, he can hardly be called a hater of Russians. It is he introducedKorb I.-G., Zhelyabuzhsky I., Matveev A. Birth of an empire. M., 1997 in the political customs of the country such an order that officials and the military serve not only the sovereign personally, but also the fatherland as a whole.
Myth 11. Peter I was an atheist
Already during his lifetime, many of his contemporaries considered Peter an atheist, a Protestant, or even the Antichrist himself - this is what happens when you carry out radical reforms of the Church. Peter abolishedL. Hughes. Peter the Great. At the origins of a great empire. M., 2008 the post of patriarch and introduced a new church body - the Holy Governing Synod, or the Spiritual College.
The king believed that the Church should be subordinate to the state, and not vice versa. Most likely, affectedL. Hughes. Peter the Great. At the origins of a great empire. M., 2008 the influence of his adviser Feofan Prokopovich, who argued that the emperor should simultaneously lead both secular and spiritual authorities.
Well, or Peter spied on the structure of the relationship between the Protestant church and governments in the European countries he visited and decided to do as they did.
However, he was certainly not an atheist. On the contrary, he thoughtE. AT. Anisimov. Peter the Great about God, diseases and mineral water. Scientific Notes of the Petrozavodsk State University. T. 42that it was God who gave him power over the state and for the results of his reign he will be held accountable at the Last Judgment.
Myth 12. Peter I was poisoned
If the theory about the substitution of Peter I was adhered to by those who did not like him, then the tale of poisoning, on the contrary, was invented by ardent fans of the sovereign-reformer.
Allegedly, he was such a progressive ruler that he would certainly have made Mother Russia the greatest state that would have eclipsed all other world leaders of that time. Therefore, some secret enemies who followed the policy of Peter decided: “Something must be done about this!” and poisoned the king.
In support of this point of view, they cite the fact that the ruler fell ill and died very quickly, in about a week. However, there is no real evidence of Peter's violent death. The king died of a kidney disease that led to obstruction of the urine. Archbishop, writer and encyclopedist Feofan Prokopovich, a former preacher of Peter, so describedFROM. Knyazkov. Essays from the history of Peter the Great and his time. Edition 2nd. - St. Petersburg king's death:
It became difficult to defecate, a terrible pain began, the patient and generous in other cases, the husband could not restrain himself from screaming.
Entries in the marching magazineFROM. Knyazkov. Essays from the history of Peter the Great and his time. Edition 2nd. - St. Petersburg Peter I also confirm the version of death from urolithiasis illness: “28th. At 6 o'clock in the morning, in the 1st quarter, His Imperial Majesty Peter the Great reposed from this world from illness, constipation of urine.
Specialists of the Dermatovenerological Institute in Moscow, after examining the symptoms described by the emperor's contemporaries, came to conclusionGuide to urology in 3 volumes, ed. acad. RAMN N. BUT. Lopatkina, M.: Medicinethat he suffered from a malignant disease of the prostate or bladder, or from urolithiasis.
It is possible that it was aggravated by an old venereal disease. Not a particularly pleasant assumption, but more than likely: the king had many mistresses.
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