Ivan V Alekseevich Romanov - senior tsar and great sovereign of all Russia. Peter the Great Spouses lived in voluntary confinement

It is fairly well known that at the very beginning of his official reign, Peter (later the Great), firstly, was the “younger king”, since he shared the throne with the “senior king” - his half-brother John Alekseevich, and secondly, both tsars actually obeyed the ruler Sophia, who also sat on the throne, made by special order, above them.
True, not for long.
Sitting on the "lower throne" did not interest Peter at first due to his early childhood: a ten-year-old boy did not smile at all for hours sitting like an idol in ceremonial clothes, symbolizing something incomprehensible. But when his drinking companions lucidly explained to him that the "tsar" is not at all a solid green melancholy, but incredible opportunities to fulfill any of his desires, the ruler Sophia, playing non-female political games, was quickly imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. And the "elder tsar", brother Ivan ...
But in general, this story needs to be told without cuts and slowly. Otherwise, it will not be clear how the next Russian tsar was not the most legitimate heir to the Russian throne, but the nimble son of Naryshkina. A usurper and, as it turned out later, a pretty hypocrite and a liar.

When, in 1682, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died rather unexpectedly for everyone, without leaving or appointing an heir, his younger brother, 15-year-old Ivan Alekseevich, had to sit on the throne as the next in seniority. There would be nothing out of the ordinary in this: at about this age, almost all representatives of the Romanov dynasty became tsars.
But, as it suddenly turned out, Ivan "from childhood was sickly and incapable of running the country." It was, of course, found out by the Naryshkins, presumably by conducting a conscientious study of the physical and mental state of the royal youth. They could not help but be guilty: they pressed their souls for Russia, they were afraid that if the tsar was incapacitated, it would fall into the grabbing hands of the boyars and ... But there is a way to save her: to declare the youngest son of the late Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina as tsar, make her regent and Russia is saved.
Many high-born boyars actively disliked this option of saving the state, primarily because they did not like the Naryshkins themselves - grasping, not always distinguishing their own from others, caring exclusively about their own interests. There were many people who were ready to become faithful helpers and support to the lawful Tsar Ivan. There was only one problem: Ivan himself showed incredible indifference to the opportunity to take the throne.
That is, he did not give it up outright. I was ready to do everything that was supposed to be done by the anointed of God, such as: to sit on the throne in the royal garment, to hold the scepter and the orb in a proper manner and pretend that he was listening - boyars, ambassadors, and so on. That is, he did not refuse to reign. But I categorically did not want to rule. From childhood he was attracted exclusively by the church and everything connected with it.
In Europe, the youngest son of any royal house, whether he had such a desire or not, almost automatically became a high-ranking clergyman or even went to a monastery. There are a lot of precedents. But in Russia, nothing like this ever happened: tsars were tonsured as monks only on their deathbed, just before their death. So Ivan could only console himself with countless hours of church services, which he stood without the slightest hint of fatigue.
Weak and sickly? Try to withstand the usual church service, and not just stand, but be baptized, bow down, say the right words at the right time, and beat off earthly obeisances at the right times. I assure you, this activity is not at all for the weak. But after all, Ivan was announced as such precisely when the candidacy of Peter really arose - a lively and healthy man, a descendant of the Naryshkin family, and not the Miloslavsky family. Before that, no one, in general, thought about the youngest son of Maria Miloslavskaya.
And now they loudly and publicly declared that "Ivan-de, who has a mournful head by nature, is also prone to stuttering, sees poorly and does not feel well with scurvy." Well, where is such a throne? There is no need that in Russia there were tsars who were very mournful as the head, and tongue-tied, and completely blind. Yes, there were, and there is no more need for such people, to put Peter on the throne - and basta!
Who knows, perhaps everything would have happened exactly according to this scenario, had the smart, domineering and madly ambitious Princess Sophia not intervened in the events. She was ready to become a support for her brother Ivan, to help him manage the state, to free him from annoying current affairs. She, in turn, was ready to help those boyars who hated the Naryshkins. This could not end with anything, except for another bloody confusion - and it ended with it: the archers raised a riot, broke into the Kremlin and shredded into small pieces everyone who for one reason or another did not suit them.
Of course, the Naryshkins suffered the most, but the rest of the boyars were scared to death of the people's anger and came up with a compromise: to put both heirs to the throne on the throne at once, and above them - for help and look - the ruler, Princess Sophia. At that time, this was the only more or less acceptable way out. If only because Sophia's favorite and closest adviser, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, thought so, by the way, one of the smartest people of his time.
By the way, the urgently convened Council of the clergy and all ranks of the people of Moscow, under pressure from the archers, found the dual power very useful, especially in case of war. In war, something happens - they kill. No one was embarrassed that, in the event of hostilities, neither Ivan, indifferent to worldly vanity, nor Peter, because of his youth, could lead the army. It was already clear to everyone that the army, as always in recent years, would be led by Golitsyn.
On June 25, 1682, Ivan V Alekseevich and Peter I Alekseevich were married to the kingdom in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Note that the “senior” king (“poor and feeble-minded”) was crowned with a genuine Monomakh hat and a large outfit, and copies were made for the “junior”. That is, it is obvious that the “senior tsar” was still taken quite seriously, at least at the ceremonial level, and “Petrushka” was used as an understudy - indeed, you never know what ...
Seven years after that, the reign of both Ivan and Peter was purely decorative, in fact, power was exercised by Princess Sophia Alekseevna, who relied on the Miloslavsky clan and on her favorites. An interesting detail: it was Sophia who did everything possible to bring Peter together with Lefort, a famous adventurer, who was still warmed by her brother Fyodor. The princess hoped that Lefort would quickly sing and corrupt the boy - he had the appropriate inclinations, well, there you can arrange an accident. But Lefort turned out to be more cunning and far-sighted than the "wise" Sophia: he preferred the friendship of the strange royal youth to the favor of the princess. However, he could combine.
When Tsar Ivan was eighteenth year old, Sophia was seriously concerned with the issue of his marriage: a married tsar and even with a possible heir - this was already serious. In addition, it made it possible to do without the physical elimination of Peter: the possible birth of a legitimate heir from the Miloslavsky root dramatically changed the situation.
The Greek historian Theodosi says that Ivan's marriage was conceived by Prince Vasily Golitsyn, who, considering violent measures against Peter extremely dangerous, advised Sophia:
“To marry Tsar John, and when he receives a son, which naturally has to be the heir of his father, then it may not be difficult that Peter will be forced to take the monastic order, and she, Sophia, again due to the early childhood of the son of John, will remain in the same dignity, which she desires ... ".
Kostomarov writes more cautiously, but with a characteristic caveat:
“There is an assumption that Tsarevna Sophia was involved in this choice of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich: this is confirmed, firstly, by the fact that Sophia had already treated Praskovya's parent favorably before he was awarded the title of boyar; secondly, the fact that, due to his weak-mindedness, Tsar Ivan Alekseevich was hardly able to decide on an important step in life without someone else's influence.
It is unlikely that a clever princess and an even cleverer Golitsyn would have started to marry Ivan, a weak-minded, relaxed, "mournful head" and even incapable of marital life. And none of the boyars would have supported them in this venture. So, they believed - and quite rightly! - Ivana is a quiet and meek young man who needs a reliable guide - that's all.
In addition, one might think that there are no people who are absolutely sane, healthy and even smart, who marry exclusively under the pressure of loved ones, because they themselves are panicky afraid of this step. Ivan was not afraid - he just floated in the clouds as usual and thought little about worldly things. But when he was told that he needed to choose a spouse, he demanded that everything be done according to grandfather's customs: the bride-show of the first beauties and the choice of the future queen from them.
Compare this with the attitude of a normal Peter to marriage: "Marry, mamma, whoever you want!" - he threw on the run and rushed off to finish the game in the next war (or the next binge). Which of them behaved more mature and wiser, do you think?
At the same time, let's compare the portraits of Ivan and Peter. They are incredibly similar physically. The same big dark eyes (only Peter's "crazy", and Ivan's are meek), the same dark curly hair, the same beautifully sculpted mouth (only Peter has a nervous grimace, and Ivan has a slightly noticeable smile). If you ask a psychiatrist which of the brothers is mournful, the choice will undoubtedly fall on Peter, and not on his no less beautiful, but some kind of pacified brother.
But there were no psychiatrists then, and if there were, there would be no idiots to ask them such questions. Therefore, in history, Peter remained the Great, and Ivan - a fool, although personally I think both are very strong exaggerations.
The girl chosen by Ivan - Praskovya Saltykova - was considered the first beauty of Russia: a tall, stately, puffy blooming brunette. However, Sophia did not like her too much because of the unreliability of her family (the Saltykovs had the habit of putting their own interests above those of the state and serving enemies for a while). Yes, and the chosen one herself was not very eager to become a queen, although she was two years older than the groom (at that time, she sat up in girls). Sophia tried to play on this and persuade her brother to choose another bride, but he, with all meekness and gentleness, insisted on his own:
- This girl is Luba to me. And there is no need for another, and it would be better not to marry at all, do not be angry, my dear sister.
On January 8, 1684, on the eve of the wedding, “... the tsar had a table for the boyars, boyars, relatives of the father and the bride. Ivan and Praskovya were sitting at a special table. The tsar's confessor, the archpriest, having blessed the bride and groom, ordered them to kiss, and the boyars and boyars rose with congratulations; after the table, the bride was sent home, and the guests departed.
... January 9, 1684, Wednesday, Tsar Ivan spent the whole morning in cathedrals: he served a prayer service; on the coffins of the sovereign ancestors he sent singing, venerated the shrines and asked the patriarch for blessing for marriage.
In the meantime, preparations were over: cleaning the chambers, wedding tables, arranging food, and so on. and so on, and the celebration began with the fulfillment of those smallest customs that were sanctified in the eyes of the actors by the age of years and centuries of use ...
... After the wedding and the wedding table, the eminent guests, having accompanied the tsar and the tsarina to the bedchamber, sat down at the table, waiting for the fighting hour, when the friend would bring the news that the tsar had done good. "
“And on the morning of the next day, as was the custom, they prepared different soap-houses for the king and queen, and the king went to the soap-room, and upon leaving it they put on him a shirt and ports, and a different dress, and the bed-man was ordered to keep the old shirt. And how the queen went to the soap-room and her neighbor's wives with her, and examined her shirt, and after examining the shirt, they showed the related wives to a few so that her virginity was complete, and those shirts, the king's and the tsaritsina's, and the sheets, gathered together, kept to a secret place. "
Subsequently, many historians and novelists "convincingly" argued that Tsarina Praskovya gave birth to children not from her legal husband, but from Vasily Yushkov's sleeping bag specially assigned to her by Sophia. After all, the first five years of marriage, Praskovya did not become pregnant. The version is beautiful, only Yushkov's sleeping bag was assigned to Tsarina Praskovya by her brother-in-law, Tsar Peter, and after she was widowed. Perhaps then Yushkov became her lover - no one was holding the candle, Tsarina Praskovya was no longer interested in anyone, and she herself did not seek to attract undue attention to herself.
The novelists of recent years agreed that the royal spouses generally lived like brother and sister, although they slept in the same bed almost every night, and that Ivan, even on his wedding night, could not fulfill his conjugal duty. From the inevitable shame and the monastic hood (there would be no traces of deprivation of innocence), the newlywed saved the newlywed ... well, of course, all the same "younger tsar" Peter, who was a friend at the wedding and thrust his curious nose into the chambers of the young, where Praskovya burst into tears of fear ... The twelve-year-old boy quickly solved the state problem in the usual way, without disturbing either the sweet dream of the newlywed, or other friends who were guarding in the hallways and corridors, and winked at parting at the young, distraught with emotions:
- My daughter-in-law's first friend!
There is truly no limit to women's imagination, especially when you need to add more "strawberries" to the ordered text, but, as luck would have it, there is none at all in the real story. Peter could not be a friend at Ivan's wedding - due to his childhood and the usual distance with his mother from the yard. He could not sneak into the bedchamber to the newlyweds unnoticed: there was a custom to guard even the chimneys over the marriage chamber, moreover, everyone watched, waiting for the completion of the sacrament of marriage. But what a spicy version!
Yes, there is the document cited above, testifying that the newly-made queen was blameless and lost her virginity with her husband on her wedding night. But who cares about these boring little things - marital relationships? Here is a lover-brother-in-law, ten years younger than his fleeting mistress - yes! It is a pity that Praskovya did not become pregnant that very night - what a romance one could concoct, what intrigue to twist!
And meanwhile, if someone then had the slightest doubts about the legality of the origin of the Ivanovna princesses, Anna Ioannovna would not have seen the Russian throne as her ears. The Russian nobility would not let her go to a cannon shot, the daughter of a sleeping bag. But, apparently, contemporaries were much better than historians were aware of the "marriage condition" of Tsar Ivan. Or their fantasy was less violent than that of their descendants.
Although here I am not right: everything was fine with imagination there, too: they whispered about the same Peter that he would be taken care of by Natalya Kirillovna from some good fellow, and not from her legal spouse. But the fact is that this was unrealistic: the prison life did not allow keeping absolutely nothing secret: the mongrel slept in the corridors, under the doors, under the stairs, sometimes in the sovereign's bedroom itself, right on the bench or just on the floor. No matter how hard Princess Sophia tried to protect her love affair with Vasily Golitsyn from prying eyes, the last dishwasher in the Kremlin knew about it. And so that the husband's wife, the queen, would have a sin with someone ... but the very next day she would become a blueberry in a distant monastery. For one suspicion, they were punished no less severely, and only for a fact ...
So let's leave the romantic stories to the novelists. In marriage, in a special mansion in the Kremlin, Praskovya and Ivan lived for twelve years in complete harmony and mutual love that came with time, giving birth to five children - alas, only daughters, to the indescribable chagrin of Sophia and all the Miloslavskys. It would be better if Praskovya turned out to be barren - one could have tonsured her as a nun and find Ivan another wife. But Ivan loved his daughters without memory, and when two of them died in infancy, he took it as a real tragedy.
The queen, together with her sovereign spouse, did not miss a single service, visited monasteries, made contributions, participated in processions of the cross, and gave alms to the poor brethren and convicts. The tsarina was not engaged in business - only her own "female" business, revising canvases, tablecloths and other things delivered from the settlements that worked for the palace; She was in charge of the needlework of her craftswomen in the parlors, where all kinds of work were done, even dolls were sewn for the royal children. Often the queen herself embroidered with gold and silks in the church and monastery, made some items from the dress for herself, the sovereign and the children: necklaces, collars, shirts, towels.
But the main and invariable task of the queen's life was prayer and alms in all forms and forms, according to the rule of that time: "call the churchmen and the poor and the poor, the poor, sorrowful and strange newcomers to your house and feed, drink and warm them according to their strength." The queen gave generous alms to monasteries and churches during her prayerful exits. The church commemoration of the departed royal relatives was accompanied by the feeding of the clergy and the beggars; the latter gathered at the royal mansions on all memorial days.
That is, the queen led almost the same way of life as the king. And no one called her relaxed and feeble-minded. On the contrary, they extolled her piety and good behavior to heaven. Well, where is the logic? Although Praskovya Fedorovna more often communicated with the "common people": in addition to the beggars, many poor women turned to the tsarina with petitions about their needs, giving them on holidays or name days to some of the members of the royal family. Many orphan girls lived in the palace, who were accepted at the request of the supreme boyars or at the request of the queen herself. Also a holy fool?
The queen lived with her husband, according to custom, in different chambers separately.
“And on feast days of the Lord, and on Sundays, and on fasting, the tsar and the tsarina sleep in chambers separately; and when they happen to be sleeping together, and at that time the king sends the queen, orders him to sleep with him, or he himself wants to be with her. And that night they sleep together, and in the morning they go to the soap-room separately and do not come to the cross, they have already been put into uncleanness and sin ... "
An unusually friendly and pious couple, which even at that time stood out for their piety and zealous performance of all rituals. It doesn't sound like madness, your will.
Ivan's only "oddity" was that he was not at all interested in vain worldly affairs, did not delve into state affairs, did not support any of the existing boyar groups. He was interested in two things: the church and the family, and he treated both with the same reverence. And he could not stand conflicts, especially open skirmishes. In 1689, when Princess Sophia again tried to incite the archers to a revolt, using the name of Ivan Alekseevich as a banner of the struggle against the party of Peter, Ivan wrote to his dear sister to leave him alone, for he "would not quarrel with his dear brother about anything." ...
This means that at that time no one considered the "senior tsar" to be relaxed and feeble-minded. Otherwise, Sophia would not have thought of appealing to the name of her younger brother in order to inspire the archers to deal with the Naryshkins with his help.
When the time came for the independent reign of Peter I, his older brother still kept aloof and "stayed in unceasing prayer and firm fasting."
Well, idiot, what to take? He does not suit any conspiracies, nor does he strive to pull out the throne from under his brother. Fool, forgive God.
So this version went down in history and took the strongest position in it: Ivan Alekseevich did not rule because he could not do this due to his feeble-mindedness and general relaxation. The fact that he simply did not want to rule did not fit into the brains of his contemporaries, and the descendants did not bother themselves too much with reflections. Although Ivan Alekseevich was exactly no different from the son of Ivan the Terrible - Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich - about whom his own father spoke in his hearts:
- A fasting man, but a silent man, he should be a monk, not a king!
And Fyodor was a tsar - with his wise wife Irina and no less wise brother-in-law Boris Godunov, gently refusing to delve into affairs of state that were uninteresting to him. Well, they write plays about him that are still playing, but no one has even written a tiny book about Tsar Ivan Alekseevich. The feeble-minded one ...
Oh, how all this facilitated the transfer of power into the hands of the rapidly maturing Peter! Courageous, but by no means wise. Which, by the way, I would generally hesitate to call normal: he was, to put it mildly, a fool, and if tougher - then a seizure and impatient sadist. If that's the norm ... sorry.
By the way about Peter. Why, after Sophia was imprisoned in a monastery, did he have to write a lengthy letter to his “feeble-minded brother” with a direct request for assistance?
“And now, sir brother, the time will insist for our two persons God entrusted to us to rule the kingdom ourselves, you have already come to the extent of your age, and the third shameful person, our sister, with our two masculine persons in titles and in the punishment of affairs, we do not deign to be; for that, and yours, my brother's sovereign, will bowed, because she taught to enter into business and write yourself into a title without our permission; besides, she also wanted to get married with a royal crown, for our ultimate offense. It is shameful, sir, at our perfect age, for that shameful person to own the state by us! To you, my sovereign brother, I declare and ask: let me, sir, by my paternal will, for the best benefit of ours and for the peace of the people, without referring to you, my sovereign, to inflict on the orders of truthful judges, but to change the indecent ones, so that our state can calm down and please soon. And how, sir, brother, we will happen together, and then we will put everything on measure; and I am ready to honor you, my sovereign brother, like a father. "
I am ready to honor my father ... Naturally, at that moment Peter needed his brother's support like air: the “senior” is the king. Well, how does he “not admire” to support the tough measures of the “younger” tsar - and then what? The Boyar Duma would undoubtedly side with Ivan Alekseevich, he was his own, "correct", not like the "Kukui devil."
Relaxed, feeble-minded ... Yes, fullness! He became such - "by nature his head is mournful" - he became later, in the obsequiously flattering recollections of his "contemporaries" who were striving to flatter the new ruler. After all, until the death of his older brother, Peter was not particularly odd - he was afraid that he, an actual understudy, almost a usurper, would be good if only they would be imprisoned in a monastery.
Ivan Alekseevich lived longer than all the male offspring of Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya, whom, by the way, no one considered "relaxed". He died suddenly (apparently from a heart attack) in his thirtieth year of life at the beginning of 1696 in Moscow and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Two years earlier, the Dowager Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, who had never been ill, even the notorious "scurvy", had also suddenly died in the forty-third year of her life.
Pyotr Alekseevich finally became an autocrat.
After the death of her husband, the widow, along with her three surviving daughters, settled in the suburban royal residence of Alexei Mikhailovich in the village of Izmailovo. The position of butler, apparently, was performed by her brother Vasily Fedorovich Saltykov, assigned to her by Peter in 1690. In the documents of the 18th century, the dowager queen continues to be called "Her Majesty the Empress Tsarina Praskoveya Fyodorovna."
But thirty years of her life as a widow under the “tsar-reformer” is a topic for a separate story: she is too tightly intertwined with the history of Russia, although Praskovya Fyodorovna, the last Russian tsarina, always kept herself in the background.
And the definition of "relaxed and mournful at the head" is becoming more and more attached to her late husband. For Russia should have realized what great happiness fell to her lot: instead of the "holy fool" he ascended the throne ...
Some, however, said - Antichrist. But you never know what and about whom they say ...

- Take into custody and commit, as it is said ...

Have taken. They led. Behind the churchyard, father and son were seated on a cart, on matting, a bailiff and dragoons jumped from behind. The driver, in a tattered army jacket, in bast shoes, twirled it with the reins, and the bad horse pulled the cart from the laurel into the field at a step. It was night, the stars were damp.

The Trinity campaign is over. Just like seven years ago, they sat out in Moscow in the Lavra. The boyars with the patriarch and Natalya Kirillovna, on reflection, wrote on behalf of Peter to Tsar Ivan:

“... And now, sir brother, the time has come for our two persons to rule the kingdom entrusted to us by God, you have already come to the extent of your age, and the third shameful face, our sister, with our two men in titles and reprisals of affairs we do not deign to be ... "

Sophia was quietly transported at night from the Kremlin to the Novodevichy Convent. Shaklovity, Chermny and Obrosim Petrov were beheaded, the rest of the thieves were beaten with a whip in the square, in the posad, their tongues were cut off, and they were exiled to Siberia forever. Pop Medvedev and Nikita Gladky were later captured by the Dorogobug governor. They were terribly tortured and beheaded.

The awards were given - land and money: boyars for three hundred rubles, deceitfuls for two hundred and seventy, Duma nobles for two hundred and fifty. The stewards, who arrived with Peter at the Lavra, received thirty-seven rubles each, who arrived afterwards - 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 in the same order for eighteen, seventeen and sixteen rubles. All ordinary archers for loyalty - one ruble without a piece of land.

Before returning to Moscow, the boyars sorted out orders among themselves: the first and most important - Ambassadorial - was given to Lev Kirillovich, but without the title of guardian. By passing the military and other needs, it would be completely possible to abandon Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn - the patriarch and Natalya Kirillovna could not forgive him much, and especially the fact that he saved Vasily Vasilyevich from the whip and the chopping block, but the boyars considered it indecent to deprive such a high family of honor : "Let's go for it, - soon and from under us orders will be kicked out, - merchants, clerks, rootless, foreigners and all kinds of vile people, look, they climb to Tsar Peter for prey, for places ..." Boris Alekseevich was given for feeding and honor order of the Kazan Palace. Learning about this, he spat, got drunk that day, shouted: "Damn it with them, but I have enough for my own," and the drunken galloped off to the patrimony of Moscow - to sleep off ...

The new ministers, as the foreigners began to call them then, knocked out some clerks and clerks from the orders and put others in prison and began to think and rule according to the old custom. There were no particular changes. Only in the Kremlin palace did Lev Kirillovich walk in black sables, slammed doors imperiously, pinch his heels instead of Ivan Miloslavsky ...

These were old, well-known people - except for ruin, covetousness and disorder, and there was nothing to expect from them. In Moscow and on Kukui - merchants of all hundreds, tax farmers, merchant and artisan people in the villages, foreign guests, ship captains - Dutch, Hanover, English - were eagerly awaiting 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 age-old mud ... If not a new tsar will raise life, so who?

Peter was in no hurry to go to Moscow. From the lavra with an army, he marched to the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, where the rotten log cabins of the terrible palace of Tsar Ivan the Fourth still stood. Here General Sommer fought an exemplary battle. It lasted a whole week, as long as there was enough gunpowder. And here Sommer's service ended - he fell, poor fellow, from his horse and was crippled.

In October, Peter went with some amusing shelves to Moscow. About ten miles away, in the village of Alekseevskoye, large crowds of people greeted him. They kept icons, banners, loaves on the dishes. On the sides of the road were logs and chopping blocks with axes stuck in, and on the damp ground lay, necks on the logs, archers - elected, - from those regiments that were not in Trinity ... But the young tsar did not chop his heads, did not get angry, although he did not was welcoming.

Chapter five

Lefort was becoming a big man. Foreigners living on Kukui and visitors from Arkhangelsk and Vologda on trade affairs spoke of him with great respect. The clerks of the Amsterdam and London trading houses wrote about him there and advised: what happens, send him small gifts - best of all good wine. When he was awarded the rank of general for the Troitsky campaign, the Kukuis folded up and presented him with a sword. Passing by his house, they winked meaningfully at each other, saying: "Oh yes ..." His house was now small - 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 put up a stone porch with side entrances, decorated the front side with columns and stucco men. On the site of the courtyard, where the fountain used to be, a lake was dug for water and fiery fun. Guards for the musketeers were built on the sides.

By his own will, perhaps Lefort would not have dared to incur such expenses, but this was what the young tsar wanted. During his time in Trinity, Peter began to need Lefort, like an intelligent mother to a child: Lefort understood his desires at once, guarded against dangers, taught to see the benefits and disadvantages and, it seemed, he loved him dearly, was constantly beside the tsar not to ask how boyars, sadly banging their foreheads at the feet, villages and little people, but for a common cause and common fun for both of them. Smart, talkative, good-natured, like the morning sun in the window, he appeared - with bows, smiles - in Peter's bedchamber - and so the day began with fun, joyful cares, happy expectations. In Lefort, Peter loved his sweet thoughts about overseas lands, beautiful cities and harbors with ships and brave captains, smelling of tobacco and rum - everything that from childhood dreamed of him in pictures and printed sheets brought from abroad. Even the smell from Lefort's dress was not Russian, different, very pleasant ...

Peter wanted the house of his favorite to become an island of this alluring foreign land - for the royal fun the Lefortov Palace was decorated. I did not regret how much money could be drawn from the mother and Lev Kirillovich. Now that his own people were sitting upstairs in Moscow, Peter rushed to pleasure without looking back. Passion burst through him, and here Lefort was especially needed: he wanted and did not know without him ... And what could the Russians advise? - well, falconry or blind men - pull Lazarus ... Ugh! Lefort understood his desires perfectly. He was like a leaf of hop in the dark beer of Peter's passions.

At the same time, work was resumed on the capital city of Prespurg - the fortress was being prepared for the spring military fun. The shelves were trimmed with a new dress: the Transfiguration in green caftans, the Semyonovites in azure, Gordon's Butyrka regiment in red. The whole autumn was spent in feasts and dances. Foreign merchants and industrialists, between the amusements in the palace of Lefort, bent their own line ...

The newly built ballroom was still damp, high semicircular windows were sweating from the heat of two huge hearths, and opposite them on a blank wall were mirrors in the form of windows. A freshly waxed oak brick floor. The candles in the wall-mounted three-candlesticks with a mirror were lit, although dusk was just beginning. A soft snow was falling. A sleigh drove into the courtyard between powdered heaps of clay and chips, - Dutch - in the form of a swan, painted with niello and gold, Russian - long, with a box - with piled pillows and bearskins, heavy leather carts - a train of gears, and simple cab sleds, where, With his knees raised and laughing, sat some foreigner who had hired a peasant for two kopecks from the Lubyanka to Kukui.

Shame passed. Vasily Vasilyevich ran up to the metropolitan's porch. But an unknown clerk, dressed badly, came out of the door to meet importantly, stopped Vasily Vasilyevich with his index finger and, unfolding the letter, read it loudly, slowly, hitting the crown of his head with every word:

“… For all of his aforementioned guilt, the great sovereigns Pyotr Alekseevich and Ivan Alekseevich ordered to deprive you, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, of honor and boyars and send you with your wife and children to eternal exile to Kargopol. And your estates, estates and courtyards of Moscow and bellies to write off to themselves, the great sovereigns. And your people, enslaved and serfs, to cut the peasants and peasant children, - to set free ... "

After finishing a long reading, the clerk rolled up the letter and pointed to the bailiff at Vasily Vasilyevich - he barely stood, without a hat, Alexey was holding his arm ...

Take into custody and commit, as it is said ...

23

The awards were given - land and money: boyars for three hundred rubles, okolniki for two hundred and seventy, Duma nobles for two hundred and fifty. The stewards, who arrived with Peter at the Lavra, received thirty-seven rubles each, who arrived afterwards - thirty-two rubles, those who arrived before August 10 - thirty rubles each, and those who arrived before August 20 - twenty-seven rubles. City nobles were paid in the same order for eighteen, seventeen and sixteen rubles. All ordinary archers for loyalty - one ruble without a piece of land.

Before returning to Moscow, the boyars sorted out orders among themselves: the first and most important - Ambassadorial - was given to Lev Kirillovich, but already without the title of the saver. By passing the military and other needs, it would be completely possible to abandon Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn - the patriarch and Natalya Kirillovna could not forgive him much, and especially the fact that he saved Vasily Vasilyevich from the whip and the chopping block, but the boyars considered it indecent to deprive such a high family of honor : "Let's go for it, - soon and from under us orders will be kicked out, - merchants, clerks, rootless, foreigners and all kinds of vile people, look, they climb to Tsar Peter for prey, for places ..." Boris Alekseevich was given for feeding and honor order of the Kazan Palace. Learning about this, he spat, got drunk that day, shouted: "Damn it with them, but I have enough for my own," - and the drunken galloped off to the estate near Moscow - to sleep off ...

These were old, well-known people - except for ruin, covetousness and disorder, and there was nothing to expect from them. In Moscow and on Kukui - merchants of all hundreds, tax farmers, merchant and artisan people in the townships, foreign guests, ship captains - Dutch, Hanoverian, English - were eagerly awaiting 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 age-old mud ... If not a new tsar will raise life, so who?

In October, Peter went with some amusing shelves to Moscow. About ten miles away, in the village of Alekseevskoye, large crowds of people greeted him. They kept icons, banners, loaves on the dishes. On the sides of the road were logs and chopping blocks with axes stuck, and on the damp ground lay, necks on the logs, archers - elected, from those regiments that were not in the Trinity ... But the young tsar did not chop his heads, did not get angry, although he was not friendly.

Chapter five

1

Lefort was becoming a big man. Foreigners living on Kukui and visitors from Arkhangelsk and Vologda on trade affairs spoke of him with great respect. The clerks of the Amsterdam and London trading houses wrote about him there and advised: what happens, send him small gifts - best of all good wine. When he was awarded the rank of general for the Trinity campaign, the Kukuis folded up and presented him with a sword. Passing his house, they winked meaningfully at each other, saying: "Oh, yes ..." His house was now small - 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 put up a stone porch with side entrances, decorated the front side with columns and stucco men. On the site of the courtyard, where the fountain used to be, a lake was dug for water and fiery fun. Guards for the musketeers were built on the sides.