Publication date 28.01.2015
At the time of my childhood in the 60s of the last century, in the small village of Protasy, Shabalinsky district, there was elementary School. There was one empty classroom in the school building. It was cold here and a little scary from the pictures that evoke horror. For some reason, one of the reproductions, called "Morning of the Streltsy Execution", was especially remembered.
No wonder: paintings famous artists long years The Ministry of Education included history textbooks in the appendices. Reproductions at that time could be seen in various kinds of art albums and small calendars.
Before today the image of the Sovereign - the reformer causes conflicting opinions among people. Historians - Freemasons claim that Peter the Great in the wild uneducated Russia instilled civilization with fire and sword. The consciousness of Russians is disturbed by pictures of the suppression of the streltsy rebellion. It must be said that everything bloody events taking place in Russia are interpreted in such a way that they were committed in the name of the interests of the country. But is it? Or are the interests of the country just a cover for powerful persons to maintain their own power?
About the history of the Streltsy rebellion
The victory over the Turks after the completion of the Azov campaign was heroic history the entire Russian army. However, all the laurels from the victory went to the "amusing" regiments of the Sovereign. With honor, they returned to Moscow from the battlefields, having passed through triumphal gate. Streltsy regiments, thanks to which the victory was won, continued to carry out military service in the defeated Azov. They were engaged in the restoration of city fortifications, led construction work, carried out sentinel service.
A murmur began to arise among the archers due to the fact that an order had come from the command to transfer four regiments to the city of Velikie Luki. It was necessary to strengthen western border. archers allowance did not receive. Draft horses were sorely lacking. The command gave the order to the archers to carry the guns.
All these problems caused displeasure among service people.
In March 1698, they decided to find mother truth in Moscow. For this purpose, 175 soldiers from the notorious four regiments left the location of the garrison and went to the capital.
Sovereign Peter the Great was in this period of time in England. No one deigned to receive Streltsov in the palace. And then, as their last hope, the servants turned to Princess Sophia for help. The princess could not solve the problem of the soldiers simply because of their ability. The fact of the conversion of the archers later served as their formidable accusation! Allegedly, there was a conspiracy between the princess and the archers, the purpose of which was to overthrow Peter the Great from the throne.
Not salty slurping, the soldiers returned to the positions they had left earlier.
Sagittarius were residents of the capital. Their families, parents, wives, children lived in Moscow. They were not rebels, they just wanted to achieve elementary justice - to receive their due salary and return home after the war. To achieve this goal, they decided to send their representatives in order to ask for the sovereign's mercy. The dramatic event took place on June 18, 1698. Representatives of the shooters at the New Jerusalem Monastery were waiting for the noble cavalry militia and "amusing" regiments in the amount of 2300 people. Led this formidable force A. S. Shein and P. Gordon. Sagittarius went not with war, but with peace. They considered the voivode Alexei Semenovich to be "their own". It was a comrade, participant Azov campaigns. Generalissimo Shein was, according to historians, the first generalissimo of the Russian army.
Quite unexpectedly for the petitioners was the shelling of artillery from the side of the "amusing". The cavalry drove the scattered archers into one heap. The court took place right in the field. Shein and Romodanovsky conducted an inquiry. 57 archers were hanged. They were charged with turmoil and refusal to obey the requirements of regimental commanders.
Continuation of a story
In 1698, at the end of August, the tsar returned from abroad. At that time, Peter the Great became famous for the fact that he began to shave the beards of the boyars with special zeal. When the sovereign got bored with this occupation, he remembered the archers and decided to teach them a lesson.
There is evidence of this story in the memoirs of Patrick Gordon, who was a participant in those distant tragic events in Russian history.
The retinue hoped that the drunken Peter, having sobered up, would forget about his threats against the archers. But everything turned out differently. The tsar appeared in the economy of the Preobrazhensky order, whose duty it was to search for people objectionable to the authorities throughout the country. It was these servicemen who received the formidable order of Peter the Great. He ordered the immediate construction of 14 torture chambers. Romodanovsky was directly subordinate to 10 people who can be called "shoulder masters". In Preobrazhensky, for the speed of inquiry, an investigative conveyor was formed: interrogation was conducted in one torture chamber with a protocol being drawn up. In another cell, the agonizing cries of archers from the most severe tortures were heard.
Peter the Great personally conducted the interrogation of his sister Sophia. The princess was subjected to painful torture. She was flogged with a whip and pulled up on the rack. Probably, not all of our contemporaries have an idea of what this instrument of torture was?
Patrick Gordon in his memoirs shares about the cruelty of the "great" Sovereign. Princess Sophia during the torture behaved with royal dignity, nor in one word did not slander the archers.
The king imprisoned the rebellious sister forever in a monastery. Peter also sent another sister, Princess Martha, to prison. All her fault was that she was on the side of Sophia. The sisters were separated. Sophia was in Moscow, and Martha whiled away her imprisonment in Vladimir.
"Great Detective"
In September, the "great detective" began. This means that Moscow archers began to be arrested indiscriminately. During the week, as a result of raids, approximately 4 thousand people were arrested. All of them were destined for a tragic fate "on the assembly line" in the Preobrazhensky order.
Sagittarius did not feel any guilt behind themselves and did not want to slander themselves in vain. They were tortured in the dungeons of the torture chambers: they burned the body with red-hot tongs, pulled them up on the rack, and whipped them with animal frenzy.
It was enough to make a few jerks on the rack and 10 - 15 blows with a whip, as a person was literally put out of action. There was a rupture of the tendons, there was a pain shock. Elderly archers had a stroke or heart attack. In this case, the executioners stopped the torture, since it was already physically impossible to torture the half-corpse, which could no longer respond to painful effects.
The torture was so sophisticated that some archers slandered themselves, if only the torment would stop. They confessed to all mortal sins that they hated foreigners and dreamed of overthrowing the king from the throne.
Among the archers came across especially persistent warriors who did not want to slander themselves. They were tortured up to seven times, i.e. tortured so much until they killed their victim, but never received a word of repentance. This fact especially infuriated the king, that he could not even under torture break the spirit of a warrior.
What was said official version? The shooters wanted to elevate Princess Sophia to the Russian throne, and overthrow Peter the Great. Drive foreigners out of Moscow, burn the German settlement.
Blood trail of reckoning
The first execution took place on September 30, 1698. A column of 200 archers tormented after torture was taken out of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz. They were taken to Lobnoye Mesto in Moscow. Peter the Great, distraught from all permitted power, ordered to cut off the heads of the victims right on the road.
Five men, randomly snatched from the ranks of convicts, were beheaded right there. Streams of blood, severed heads, horror froze in the eyes of subjects ...
Peter the Great at the Execution Ground himself decided to have some fun. And before the eyes of the people, as if on a battlefield, he ruthlessly cut off the heads of the archers. Chopped heads like cabbages... And it's terrible... The thought creeps in that the heir Russian throne was mentally ill...
There were many heads that were not cut off, and a retinue came to the aid of the sovereign. From the massacre, according to historians, foreign subjects refused, not wanting to arouse the hatred of the common people.
Next mass execution convicts took place on October 11, 1698. Two ship pines were brought to the place of execution. 50 martyrs laid their necks on logs. The executioner did his dirty work faster, only heads flew one after another, flooding the pavement with an endless stream of blood ... On that day, 144 people were executed. The drunken monarch again waved his ax with pleasure this time. Having exhausted himself, he ordered to call for help from the crowd of people who wanted to. And there were helpers... It was terrible sight! grand show! The people were given free vodka! How about a holiday...
Along with the executioners, the king chopped off the heads of archers and people from the common people. Peter the Great, as it were, wished to share his sin with the people. Red Square was stained with blood, vodka flowed like a river, drunken people assured the tsar of love and devotion.
About 800 people were executed. The show goes on!
In the autumn of 1698, the first snow fell in the capital. By order of Peter the Great, the convicts were taken to the Execution Ground in a black sleigh. The victims were seated two by two in a wagon. Lighted candles burned in their hands.
On October 17, 1698, 109 people were put to death. On the following day, the heads of 65 archers were cut off, on October 19 - 106.
Fortunately, the tsar left for Voronezh. The shooters were left alone.
Returning to the capital in January 1699, the king continued his lawlessness, while showing a certain ingenuity. In January - February 1699, 215 archers were hung on the wall. The gallows were set up around the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. And it is no coincidence that Princess Sophia was in this monastery. The executed until the very spring hung on the gallows, instilling fear and genuine horror in the subjects of the king!
AT total from September 1698 to February 1699, 1182 archers were executed, over 600 people were sent to a settlement in Siberia. 2,000 men were sent to serve in remote archery regiments.
This story clearly shows how people's sacrifices rulers can go to preserve their own power.
In 1682, the Moscow archers staged a riot, bringing Sofya Alekseevna, the elder sister of the young princes Ivan and Peter, to power. This uprising was marked by numerous murders of boyars and officials.
Prerequisites
The famous Streltsy rebellion of 1682 occurred for several reasons. Shortly before that, regiments of the new system were created, which noticeably changed the order in the army. Before the archers were the basis of the army, its elite units. With the advent of the regiments of the new system, they actually turned into city guards.
In addition, on the eve of the uprising, the salaries of the archers began to be issued irregularly due to the empty treasury. Hazing also existed in this stratum, in which commanders withheld the salaries of their subordinates and abused their own position in every possible way. All this created tension. Sooner or later it was bound to turn into an open protest. All that was needed for this was some external reason. And he was found.
Heir problem
On April 27, 1682, the young king died. His death led to dynastic confusion. The deceased had no children. The throne was to go to one of his younger brothers - the sons of Alexei Mikhailovich. Ivan and Peter were still quite children. By tradition, the throne was supposed to go to the first of them. However, Ivan was a sickly child, and the Kremlin believed that he would die early. In addition, the paternal brothers had different mothers, behind whom were warring boyar groups. It was against such a confusing political background that the Streltsy revolt of 1682 took place.
The mother of sixteen-year-old Ivan was Maria Miloslavskaya, a representative of a well-born and powerful family. She died before her husband, so there were uncles and other relatives behind the baby. Ten-year-old Peter was the son of Natalya Naryshkina. Streltsy rebellion The year 1682 occurred because of the confrontation between two families in choosing a new king.
Tsarevich Peter
According to the law, the boyar duma had to determine the heir. She gathered when the already mortally ill Fyodor Alekseevich was preparing to say goodbye to life. The boyars chose Peter. This boy was healthier than his brother, which means that his supporters could not be afraid for their future in the event of another fleeting change of power.
Another key character in this story was the elder sister of Ivan and Peter Sofya Alekseevna. It was she who initiated the rebellion of the archers. The princess was in her 25th year, she was an adult with great ambitions. Sophia wanted to pull the blanket of power over herself. She was going to do this, firstly, with the help of archers dissatisfied with their position, and secondly, thanks to the support of the Miloslavskys, who were infringed by the thought. The princess also relied on the influential princes Ivan Khovansky and Vasily Golitsyn. These nobles were not at all happy with the rise of the noble Naryshkins.
Unrest in Moscow
Very soon after the decision of the Boyar Duma to choose an heir in Moscow, rumors began to spread about the impending infringement of the archers. These conversations were supported by a wide network of Miloslavsky supporters. The Streltsy rebellion of 1682 was due to massive propaganda in the armed forces. Cases of disobedience to their own superiors became more frequent.
For two weeks the situation in the capital was extremely tense and unclear. Finally, on May 15, Sophia's close associates began to act even more decisively. Ivan Miloslavsky and Pyotr Tolstoy went to the streltsy settlements and there they publicly began to call the streltsy to the Kremlin, allegedly because the Naryshkins had killed the young prince Ivan. A crowd of armed people really went to the sovereign's chambers. There she demanded to extradite the boyars who opposed Sophia and Miloslavsky and were responsible for the death of the child.
The queen met the dissatisfied. Having learned the cause of the turmoil, she brought Ivan and Peter to the porch of the palace, clearly showing that everything was in order with the children. The reasons for the Streltsy rebellion were rumors that were not confirmed. Thus, an unauthorized action could already be interpreted as
Beginning of bloodshed
The situation in the Kremlin has reached a boiling point. The crowd had not yet dispersed when a supporter of the Naryshkin boyar Mikhail Dolgorukov appeared on the same porch. This nobleman began to shout at the archers, accusing them of treason and threatening them with imminent reprisals. At that moment, the excited armed men finally found someone to vent their anger on. Dolgorukov was thrown from the porch directly onto the spears of the soldiers standing below. Thus the first blood was shed.
There was nowhere to go now. Therefore, the events of the Streltsy rebellion developed rapidly, and even the alleged organizers of the riots, who had previously spread false rumors, ceased to control the situation. The rebels dealt with other close associates of the Naryshkins, including the leader of their party, Artamon Matveev. In the palace, the soldiers slaughtered the brother of the queen Athanasius. The killings continued throughout the day. Streltsy took control of the Kremlin. The entrances and exits of the palaces and chambers were guarded by the rebels. Actually members royal family became hostages.
Repressions against the Naryshkins
The first streltsy rebellion led to complete anarchy in the city. Power was paralyzed. The rebels with particular zeal were looking for another brother of the queen - Ivan Naryshkin. On the day the bloodshed began, he hid in the royal chambers, thanks to which he survived. However, a day later, the archers again came to the Kremlin and demanded the extradition of Ivan Kirillovich. Otherwise, they promised to make even more chaos.
Natalnaya Naryshkina hesitated. Sofya Alekseevna personally put pressure on her and began to explain that this was the only way to avoid further anarchy. Ivan was released. He was tortured and then executed. The father of Ivan and Natalia - the old and sick Kirill Naryshkin - was sent to the monastery.
Shooter's salary
The reprisals in Moscow continued for another three days. One of the last significant victims of terror was von Ganden, a foreign doctor prescribed for Fyodor Alekseevich. The archers accused him of poisoning the king and killed him. The execution took place even despite the persuasion of the widow of the deceased not to touch the doctor. Queen Martha testified that the foreigner personally tried all the medicines that were prescribed to Fedor. This example shows how merciless and blind the Streltsy rebellion was. Sophia at the same time did everything to establish herself in power.
However, before the rebels and the government began to discuss the political future of the country, the rebels on May 19 came to the underage king with an ultimatum. Streltsy demanded payment of all delayed salaries. According to their calculations, the treasury had to pay 240 thousand rubles. At the time, this was a huge amount. The authorities simply did not have that kind of money. Then Sophia took the initiative into her own hands, who, formally still without any authority, ordered to increase taxes and requisitions in the provinces and begin to melt down the Kremlin's values.
Two princes
New circumstances were soon revealed, to which the streltsy rebellion led. Briefly assessing the current situation, Sophia decided through the archers to demand actual power for herself. It looked like this. On May 23, the rebels filed a petition in the name of Peter, in which they insisted that his brother Ivan become the second king. A week later, this combination was continued. The archers also proposed to make Sofya Alekseevna regent due to the infancy of the co-rulers.
Boyar Duma and the metropolitan agreed to these changes. They had no choice, since the inhabitants of the Kremlin continued to be hostages of the soldiers. The wedding ceremony and Peter I took place on June 25 in the Assumption Cathedral. She summed up the results of the Streltsy revolt - the power in the country was changed. Instead of the sole prince Peter, Russia received two co-rulers-children. The actual power was in the hands of their elder sister Sofya Alekseevna.
Khovanshchina
Events after the Streltsy revolt of 1682 disturbed Moscow for some time. When Sophia came to power, she appointed the head of this military formation Ivan Khovansky. The queen counted on his help in calming the archers. The queen feared for her fate. She did not want to become a victim of another rebellion.
However, the figure of Khovansky was not the most successful choice for this responsible position. The prince not only yielded to the archers in their demands, but he himself began to put pressure on Sophia. In addition, the military never left the Kremlin, motivating their action by the need to protect the royal residence. This short period was remembered by the people as "Khovanshchina".
Old Believer unrest
Meanwhile, in the confrontation between archers and central government there is a new factor. They became a religious movement that broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The conflict was caused by reforms that affected the essence of important Christian rites. The Church recognized the schismatics as heretics and expelled them to the outskirts of the country in Siberia.
Now, when there was a riot in Moscow, the Old Believers again reached out to the capital. They enlisted the support of Khovansky. In the Kremlin, he began to defend the idea of the need for a theological dispute between supporters of the Old Believers and the official church. Such a public dispute really took place. However, this event ended with another riots. Now commoners have become a source of unrest.
It was at this moment that another conflict occurred between Sophia and Khovansky. The queen insisted that it was necessary to rein in the Old Believers. In the end, some of their leaders were killed, although Khovansky guaranteed them immunity. Fearing reprisals from the authorities, the archers agreed to recognize the schismatics as instigators of another rebellion.
Yard moving
After the story with the Old Believers, relations between Sofia Alekseevna and Ivan Khovansky finally deteriorated. At the same time, the government continued to dependent position from shooters. Then the regent gathered the whole court and literally fled with him from the city. It happened on August 19th.
On that day, a religious procession was planned on the outskirts of Moscow. Sophia took advantage of this pretext to move away from the archers to the provinces. She also took the princes with her. The ruler could convene a noble militia, which would new army, capable of protecting power from fickle archers. The courtyard secretly moved to the well-fortified Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
Archers lay down their weapons
Could a new streltsy rebellion have occurred in connection with this maneuver of power? The causes and results of the first bloodshed were still well remembered by Sophia, who decided to finally get rid of this threat. She believed that such a possibility really existed, and wanted to stop it in advance.
Khovansky, having learned about the actual flight of the regent with the princes, decided to go straight to Sophia in order to resolve the conflict through negotiations. On the way, he stopped in Pushkin, where he was captured by stolniks loyal to the authorities. On the same night, September 17, he was executed on charges of organizing coup d'état. The hovanie is over.
There was no second bloodshed. Sagittarius, learning about inglorious death their leader were demoralized. They surrendered to the authorities and cleared the Kremlin. The Duma clerk Fyodor Shaklovity was appointed to the place of the chief. He set about restoring discipline and order in these parts. After 16 years, the archers rebelled again, already during the reign of Peter I, after which they were finally repressed, and their army was disbanded.
June 28 (18th to julian calendar) 1698, the rebellious archers were defeated by troops loyal to Peter I. This was far from their first conflict: Peter remembered the events of 1682 for the rest of his life, when the archers unleashed real terror against the Naryshkins, relatives of his mother, and their supporters. He also remembered how the conspirators from the archers tried to kill him in 1689. Their third performance proved fatal...
Streltsy army appeared in Russia in the middle. XVI century, in the era of Ivan IV, and made up the elite of the army. Foreign travelers who visited the Moscow kingdom, often called them "musketeers". There was every reason for this: the archers were armed with both edged weapons (berdysh, sabers and swords) and firearms (squeakers, muskets), they could be both infantrymen and horsemen. Over time, archers, in addition to military service they also began to engage in crafts and trade, were exempted from township taxes, and a special Streltsy order was created to resolve all issues of their activities. To late XVII centuries, the archery army gained significant influence in the state, de facto turning into a guard on which court groups could rely and which influenced decision-making. This clearly became clear after the 1682 rebellion, when it was the archers who insisted on the erection of two tsars to the throne at once - Peter I and Ivan V - under the regency of Princess Sophia. In 1689, part of the archers took the side of Sophia against Peter, but the matter ended with the victory of the latter and the conclusion of the princess in Novodevichy Convent. Wide repressions against archers then, however, did not follow.
In 1697, Tsar Peter I left Russia for a while, leaving for the Great Embassy - a large diplomatic mission, in which he visited a number of European states and negotiated with the most influential monarchs of the era. In his absence, the discontent that had been brewing among the archers began to grow from a deaf into an open one. They were dissatisfied with the fact that Peter preferred the regiments of the "new order" led by foreign generals - Patrick Gordon and Franz Lefort. The archers complained about the lack of food and wages, as well as the long separation from their families. In March 1698, 175 archers deserted from their regiments and went to Moscow to submit a petition outlining all their problems. In case of refusal, they were ready to start "beating the boyars." Ivan Troekurov, who headed the Streltsy order, ordered the arrest of representatives of the Streltsy, but they were supported by the assembled crowd of dissatisfied. The beginning of the rebellion was laid.
Soon, political reasons were added to the everyday reasons: among the archers and their supporters, rumors quickly spread that Peter had been replaced or even killed during his trip to Europe, and his double “from the Germans” was being brought here to Moscow. The rebels quickly established contacts with Princess Sophia, assuring her of their support, and she allegedly replied to them with two letters urging them to expand the uprising and not recognize the power of Peter. However, researchers are still not sure about the authenticity of these letters.
Fedor Romodanovsky
Prince Fyodor Romodanovsky, whom Peter actually put at the head of the state during his absence, sent the Semyonovsky regiment against the archers. With his help, the rebellious archers were forced to leave Moscow. This, however, led to the unification of all the rebellious regiments outside the capital and the removal of their colonels.
In the beginning. In June, about 2,200 rebels settled near the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery. It was here that they clashed with the troops that remained loyal to Peter I: the Preobrazhensky, Semyonovsky, Lefortovsky and Butyrsky regiments. All together there were twice as many as the rebel archers. Later they were joined by other pro-government forces led by the boyar Alexei Shein and General Patrick Gordon, as well as artillery. With such a balance of power, the outcome of the conflict was obvious. On June 18, a short battle took place, lasting about an hour and ending complete defeat archers.
There were not many deaths on the battlefield. Gordon wrote about 22 dead archers and about 40 wounded. Soon, the boyar Shein launched an investigation, as a result of which 56 people accused of organizing a riot were hanged, many participants in the riot were beaten with a whip and sent into exile. However, this punishment did not satisfy Peter at all. Returning from Europe, he launched a full-scale repression against the archers, in which more than a thousand people were sentenced to death, about 600 were beaten with a whip and exiled. The tsar seemed to want to put an end to the archery army so hated by him once and for all and, taking advantage of the riot, to get even with him for 1682.
Mass executions unfolded in different parts Moscow. The largest of them were held in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow (now within the capital). According to some foreign eyewitnesses, Peter took a personal part in the execution and cut off the heads of five archers with his own hands, after which he forced his close associates to follow his example. Of course, they did not have experience in such a “craft”, therefore, they delivered blows inaccurately, thereby only increasing the torment of those doomed to death.
Another place of executions of archers was Red Square, in particular, Lobnoye Mesto. There is an ingrained stereotype that it was used exclusively for executions, which is why the “Execution Place” is often called the place of execution of death sentences today. In fact, this is not at all the case: the Execution Ground on Red Square served as a platform for the announcement of royal decrees and public appeals to the people, it also appeared in some ceremonies and rituals, for example, in religious processions on holidays. Only during the time of Peter I this place became stained with blood. In 1698-1699, here, as in Preobrazhensky, numerous executions of archers took place. Most likely, this is where the bad “fame” of the Execution Ground originates.
The Streltsy rebellion of 1698 and the massacre of its participants were reflected in Russian art in their own way. The most famous canvas on this subject is Vasily Surikov’s painting “Morning of the Streltsy Execution”, which showed the horror of the unfolding confrontation and tragic fate shooters and their families. Hanged archers can also be seen in Ilya Repin's painting "Princess Sophia": the corpse of one of the executed is visible through the window of the cell.
Arseny Tarkovsky dedicated the poem "Peter's Executions" to the Streltsy rebellion, which begins with these words:
In front of me is a block
Gets up in the square
Red shirt
Doesn't let you forget.
Anna Akhmatova also remembered the events of 1698 in the poem "Requiem". It was dedicated to the repressions of the late 1930s. The poet recalled how she stood in prison lines in Leningrad, her soul was torn by fear for her arrested son, Lev Gumilyov. The Requiem contains the following lines:
I will be like archery wives,
Under Kremlin towers howl.
The fate of the archers is discussed in the novel by Alexei Tolstoy "Peter I" and the film "At the Beginning of Glorious Deeds" based on it, shot by Sergei Gerasimov in 1980.
Streltsy uprising of 1698 - a campaign of archers against Moscow with the aim of planting royal throne princess Sophia. Were stopped and broken loyal troops near the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery, Sophia was tonsured a nun.
ON THE EVE OF THE REVOLT OF 1682
This was the state of affairs when Theodore died. On the very day of his death, during the oath to Peter, the archers of Karandeev’s order refused to kiss the cross: the devious prince Konstantin Shcherbaty, the duma nobleman Zmeev and the duma clerk of the Ukrainians were sent to them, who managed to persuade the archers, and they kissed the cross to Peter.
PROGRESS OF THE 1682 REVOLT
On May 15, the so-called Streltsy riot took place. The Miloslavskys sent word to the streltsy settlements that morning that the traitors had strangled Tsar Ivan. Streltsov also called to the Kremlin. AT order of battle Streltsy regiments marched into the Kremlin, managed to occupy the Kremlin gates, stopped the Kremlin's relations with the rest of the city and approached the palace. Having heard about the approach of the archers, the boyars who were in the Kremlin and the patriarch gathered in the palace. From the cries of the Streltsy they knew why the Streltsy army had come, they knew that they considered Tsar Ivan killed. Therefore, at the palace council, it was decided to show both Ivan and Peter to the archers in order to immediately convince them of total absence any betrayal and confusion in the palace. Tsarina Natalya took both brothers to the Red Porch, and the archers, having entered into a conversation with Ivan himself, heard from him that "no one is harassing him, and he has no one to complain about." These words showed the archers that they were a victim of someone's deception, that there were no traitors and there was no one to exterminate. Old man Matveev, with his skillful and restrained speech, managed to calm the archers so much that they wanted to disperse. But Mikhail Yuryevich Dolgoruky spoiled the case. Being, after his father Yuri, the second head of the Streltsy order and thinking that now the archers had completely reconciled themselves, he treated the crowd with abuse and rudely ordered her to disperse. Streltsy, angry and incited by people from the Miloslavsky party, rushed at him, killed him and, intoxicated by the first murder, rushed to the palace in search of other "traitors". They grabbed Matveev in front of Tsarina Natalya and Peter (some said that they even snatched them from their hands) and cut them into pieces; behind Matveev, the boyars Prince Romodanovsky, Af. Cyrus. Naryshkin and others. The archers were especially looking for the hated Miloslavsky Iv. Cyrus. Naryshkin, the most capable brother of the queen, but they did not find, although they searched the whole palace. Murders were also committed outside the palace. Prince Yuri Dolgoruky was killed in his house. Yves is captured and then killed on the street. Max. Languages, a representative of the third palace party. The archers swore over the corpses of the dead until late in the evening and, leaving the guard in the Kremlin, went home.
On May 16, the murder scenes resumed. The archers exterminated all those whom the Miloslavsky side considered traitors. But the desired Yves. Cyrus. Naryshkin was not found that day either - he skillfully hid in the palace. On the morning of May 17, the archers urgently demanded his extradition, as the last surviving traitor. To stop the rebellion, the palace found it necessary to extradite Ivan Kirillovich. He took communion and surrendered to the archers, he was tortured and killed. This ended the rebellion.
[…] The Miloslavskys thus lost their political opponents. Now they, the Miloslavskys, became the masters of affairs; Sofya became the representative of the authorities, because Natalya Kirillovna retired from business. In those days, she was even threatened to be "expelled from the palace." The accession to power by the Miloslavskys was expressed immediately after the riot by the fact that the places previously occupied in the highest Moscow administration by people close to the Naryshkins, even before the end of the riot, passed to Sophia's supporters. Prince V.V. Golitsyn received command over Embassy order; Prince Iv. Andr. Khovansky and his son Andrei became the heads of the Streltsy order (i.e., all archery troops). Inozemsky and Reitarsky orders were subordinated to Iv. Mich. Miloslavsky.
But, having seized power in fact, having destroyed some and eliminated the department of others of their enemies, Sophia and her supporters have not yet secured any legal basis for their dominant position. Such a legal basis could be the accession of Tsar Ivan and the transfer of guardianship over him to some person of his family. Sophia achieved this with the help of the same archers. Of course, at the instigation of her supporters, the archers beat with their foreheads that not only Peter would reign, but both brothers. The Boyar Duma and the higher clergy, fearing a repetition of the Streltsy rebellion, on May 26 proclaimed Ivan the first tsar, and Peter the second. Immediately then the archers beat with their foreheads that the government was entrusted, in the youth of the kings, to Sophia. On May 29, Sophia agreed to rule. Sophia treated the rebellious, but faithful archers to her in the palace. Thus, Sophia's party reached official recognition its political dominance.
However, the entire population of Moscow and the archers themselves were aware that archery movement, although rewarded by the government, was still an illegal act, a rebellion. The archers themselves, therefore, were afraid of punishment in the future, when the government would strengthen and find support in addition to them in society and external force. Trying to avoid this, archers demand guarantees of their safety, official recognition of their innocence. The government does not refuse this either. It recognizes that the archers did not rebel, but only eradicated treason. This recognition was attested to publicly in the form of special inscriptions on a stone pillar, which the archers built on Red Square in memory of the May events.
The construction of such a monument, glorifying rebellious deeds, showed the people even more that the state of affairs in Moscow was abnormal and that the archers, for the time being, the only power, which inspires fear even in the palace.
Platonov S.F. Full course lectures on Russian history. St. Petersburg, 2000 http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/platonov/plats005.htm#gl2
REVOLT OF 1682 IN THE EYES OF AN EYEWITNESS
And on May 15 at 11 o’clock in the afternoon they gathered, archers of all orders, with a gun: with spears and with muskets, with reeds, with cannons and, having caught the fetils, they hit the harrows and rang the bells at their parish churches and in the big policeman alarm bell. And they went to the Kremlin with banners, and came to the Kremlin to the Red Porch and other porches, and to the Tsar's chambers, and towers, and transitions. And from the tsar's coats, Tsar Peter Alekseevich went out from the boyars, and they, the archers, begged the traitors of the boyars. And they took and raised the boyar Prince Grigory / l. 240 ob. / Romodanovsky and carried out to Red Square, and chopped into pieces. Right there, on the square, they executed with their own hands: the boyars Prince Mikhail Dolgorukovo, Artemon Matveev, Afanasy Naryshkin, Fyodor Saltykov, Dumnov Larion Ivanov and his son, Colonel Grigory Goryushkin, were chopped into trifles. Yes, the boyar Prince Yury Dolgorukovo came to the courtyard, and in chorus they threw him off the porch, and dragged him out of the gate and stabbed him. And the next day, Prince Yurya, the dead man was cut into small pieces. And in Kholopye's order, they smashed the serfs' notebooks and all sorts of letters and the treasury, and carried all sorts of books and fortresses to Red Square, and they tore and tossed everything, and they gave freedom to the boyar people. And in the royal mansions they went around /l. 241./ impolitely with a gun and looked for the boyars to be executed. And at holy patriarch in the Chamber of the Cross, and in others in coats in everyone, and in the whole house they walked with a gun, and they were looking for the boyars, and they asked His Holiness the Patriarch about the boyars with ignorance, and they cut down the door at the ceilings, and they didn’t throw his butler with ropes at the window one, and hanging on the ropes.
And on May 16, the duma Averkey Kirilov was executed on the square, and the boyar people who decided to take away their clothes and rob were executed.
And on May 18, on the day of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirilovna, her brother, the boyar Ivan Naryshkin, was tortured and executed, and they stuck his head on a spear, and Danila Zhidovin and his son were executed w./l. 241 rev./
And on May 19, the day of Tsaritsa Natalya Kirilovna's father, the boyar Kiril Naryshkin, was shot in the Chudov Monastery and exiled to exile in the Kirilov Monastery for the great guard.
And they, the archer and the soldier, were given a great monetary salary, and the mug yard was locked. And the dead bodies lay on the square for five days. And those slain bellies were taken against the sovereign, and, according to a small estimate, they were sold to him, /l. 242./ Streltsy, and besides the archers were not sold to anyone.
Daily records of an eyewitness of the Moscow uprising of 1682 // Soviet archives, No. 2. 1979 http://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Russ/XVII/1680-1700/Vosst_1682/Ocevidec/text.htm
STRELETSKY REVOLT OF 1689
[…] In 1689, upon Golitsyn's return from the Crimea. It started with rumors. There was talk that the archers, at the instigation of Sophia and the head of the Streltsy order, Fyodor Shaklovity, were again plotting to kill Peter and the widowed queen Natalya Kirillovna. Frightened by this news, seventeen-year-old Peter fled at night from his residence in the village of Preobrazhensky under the protection of the walls of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The confrontation between the Naryshkins and Miloslavskys, Peter and Sophia, took on an undisguised character. However, this time the archers behaved very passively, the alarm did not sound, the government did not have supporters. The patriarch, who had left for negotiations with Peter, never returned to Moscow. Following the patriarch, the boyars stretched out, the foot and horse regiments left in formation with unfolded banners. Sophia and Golitsyn simply no one wanted to support, and the archers readily handed over to Peter Shaklovity. As a result, Shaklovity's head was cut off. Golitsyn was exiled, and Sophia was imprisoned in a monastery.
Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. M., 2003. Part 3. The Kingdom of Moscow. On the threshold of the empire http://www.bibliotekar.ru/gumilev-lev/65.htm
STRELETSKY REVOLT OF 1698
[…] In the royal camp, everything was prepared for battle, as the rebels were unshakable in their intention to fight. But the archers showed no less concern: they arranged a battle line, aimed their guns, formed rows, sent the usual prayer service and made an appeal to God, as if they had to fight enemies for a just cause. There is no unscrupulous malice that would dare to express itself frankly, without hiding behind the guise of virtue and justice. Both detachments, after signing themselves countless times with the sign of the cross, began the battle. Shein's army opened cannon and rifle fire, but only with blank charges, since the governor still did not lose hope that the archers, frightened by a real rebuff, would return to obedience. But the archers, noticing that after the first shots there were neither wounded nor killed, became even bolder in their atrocity. With more presence of mind than before, they opened fire, and several were killed and big number the wounded fell from their shots. When death and wounds sufficiently assured that stronger measures were needed, Colonel de Graguet was allowed not to use more blank charges, but to shoot cannonballs and grapeshot from large-caliber cannons. Colonel de Graguet only expected this: he immediately fired such a successful volley at the rebels that he tamed their fury, and the camp of the enemies, which was the field of exploits of the fighting soldiers, turned into a place of miserable slaughter. Some fell dead, others ran in terror like crazy, having lost their presence of mind along with self-confidence; those who, in this perilous position, retained more common sense, tried to weaken and even destroy the action tsarist artillery, mutually directing their guns at de Grague's cannons, but their effort was in vain. Colonel de Graguet prevented their turn by pointing his guns at the cannons of the rebellious mob; he opened fire, which, like a continuous hurricane, swept away the archers approaching their guns; many of them fell more fled, and no one dared to return to his battery.
Korb I.G. Travel diary in Moscow State. Per. and note. A. I. Maleina St. Petersburg, 1906. Short description dangerous rebellion of archers in Muscovy http://www.hrono.ru/libris/lib_k/korb05.html
TORTURE
The cruelty of the torment with which the criminals were betrayed was unheard of: they were terribly beaten with whips, but, without receiving an answer, the interrogators subjected the backs of the archers, stained with blood and swollen with ichor, to the action of fire, so that, through the slow burning of the skin of the mutilated body, sharp pain, penetrating to the brains bones and the very fibers of the nerves, caused cruel torment. These tortures were used alternately, replacing one another. It was terrible to see and hear this terrible tragedy. More than thirty terrible bonfires were laid out on the open plain, over which they burned the unfortunate being interrogated, who uttered terrible cries; in another place fierce lashes were heard, and thus the most beautiful country on earth turned into a place of brutal torture.
When most of criminals have already been tortured, there were among them those who could not endure the torment and announced the following testimony regarding their evil intentions: “We know how criminal our cause is; we all deserve the death penalty, and perhaps none of us would want to be released from it. If fate had turned out to be favorable to our plans, we would have subjected the boyars to the same executions that we now expect as defeated, for we had the intention of burning, robbing and exterminating the entire German suburb and, having cleansed this place of the Germans, whom we wanted every one kill, invade Moscow; then, having killed those soldiers who would have resisted us, to join the rest as accomplices in our atrocity, the boyars to execute some, imprison others and deprive them of their places and dignity, in order to attract the mob the easier. Some priests would go ahead of us with the icon of the Mother of God and the image of St. Nicholas, to show that we did not take up arms out of deceit, but out of piety, for the glory of God and in defense of the faith. Having mastered supreme authority, we would scatter letters among the people in which we would assure that his royal majesty, having left, bad advice Germans, abroad, overseas died. In them, the people would also read the following: measures must be taken so that a state ship does not rush across the sea without a helmsman, through which it could easily be in danger, fall on any rocks, be wrecked, and therefore Princess Sofya Alekseevna will be temporarily placed on the throne until the prince reaches the age of majority and matures. Vasily Golitsyn will be returned from exile to help his wise advice Sophia". Since all the articles of this testimony were so important that even each of them, taken separately, subjected the guilty death penalty, then the voivode Shein ordered to make a sentence on them, promulgate it and execute it.
History knows many examples when, as a result of coups organized by the military, countries drastically changed their foreign and domestic policies. Putschs and attempts to seize power, relying on the army, happened in Russia as well. One of them was the Streltsy revolt of 1698. Its reasons, participants and their future fate this article is about.
Prehistory of the Streltsy rebellion of 1698
In 1682, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich died childless. The most likely contenders for the throne were his younger brothers- Poor health 16-year-old Ivan and 10-year-old Peter. Both princes had powerful support in the person of their relatives Miloslavsky and Naryshkin. In addition, Ivan was supported by his own sister, Princess Sophia, who had influence on the boyars, and Patriarch Joachim wanted to see Peter on the throne. The latter declared the boy king, which did not please Miloslavsky. Then they, together with Sophia, provoked a streltsy riot, later called the Khovanshchina.
The victims of the uprising were the brother of Empress Natalia and other relatives, and her father (grandfather of Peter the Great) was forcibly tonsured a monk. It was possible to calm the archers only by paying them all their salary arrears and agreeing that Peter ruled with his brother Ivan, and Sophia performed the functions of regent until they came of age.
The position of the archers by the end of the 17th century
To understand the reasons for the Streltsy rebellion of 1698, one should get acquainted with the position of this category of service people.
In the middle of the 16th century, the first regular army was formed in Russia. It consisted of streltsy foot units. Moscow archers were especially privileged, on whom the court political parties often relied.
The capital's archers settled in the settlements outside Moscow and were considered a prosperous category of the population. They not only received a good salary, but also had the right to engage in trade and crafts, without burdening themselves with the so-called township duties.
Azov campaigns
The origins of the Streltsy rebellion of 1698 should be sought in the events that took place thousands of miles from Moscow several years earlier. As is known, in last years of his regency waged war against Ottoman Empire, attacking mainly Crimean Tatars. After her imprisonment in a monastery, Peter the Great decided to continue the struggle for access to the Black Sea. To this end, he sent troops to Azov, including 12 archery regiments. They came under the command of Patrick Gordon and that caused discontent among the Muscovites. The archers believed that foreign officers sent them on purpose to the most dangerous sections of the front line. To some extent, their complaints were justified, since Peter's associates really protected the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, which were the favorite brainchild of the tsar.
Streltsy revolt of 1698: background
After the capture of Azov, the "Muscovites" were not allowed to return to the capital, instructing them to carry out garrison service in the fortress. The rest of the archers were assigned the responsibility of restoring the damaged and building new bastions, as well as repelling the incursions of the Turks. This situation continued until 1697, when the regiments under the command of F. Kolzakov, I. Cherny, A. Chubarov and T. Gundertmark were ordered to go to Velikie Luki to guard Polish-Lithuanian border. The dissatisfaction of the archers was also fueled by the fact that they had not been paid salaries for a long time, and disciplinary requirements became stricter day by day. Many were also worried about the isolation from their families, especially since disappointing news came from the capital. In particular, letters from home reported that wives, children and parents were in poverty, as they were not able to engage in crafts without the participation of men, and the money sent was not even enough for food.
The beginning of the uprising
In 1697, Peter the Great left for Europe with the Great Embassy. The young sovereign appointed Prince-Caesar Fyodor Romodanovsky to rule the country during his absence. In the spring of 1698, 175 archers arrived in Moscow, deserting from units stationed on the Lithuanian border. They reported that they had come to ask for a salary, as their comrades were suffering from "lack of food." This request was granted, which was reported to the tsar in a letter written by Romodanovsky.
Nevertheless, the archers were in no hurry to leave, citing the fact that they were waiting for the roads to dry out. They tried to expel and even arrest them. However, Muscovites did not give offense to "their own". Then the archers took refuge in the Zamoskvoretskaya Sloboda and sent messengers to Princess Sophia, imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent.
In early April, with the assistance of the townspeople, he was able to put the rebels to flight and force them to leave the capital.
Attack on Moscow
The participants in the Streltsy rebellion of 1698, having reached their regiments, began to campaign and incite their comrades to go to the capital. They read them letters allegedly written by Sophia and spread rumors that Peter had abandoned Orthodoxy and even died in a foreign land.
At the end of May, 4 archery regiments were transferred from Velikiye Luki to Toropets. There they were met by the governor Mikhail Romodanovsky, who demanded to extradite the instigators of the unrest. The archers refused and decided to go to Moscow.
At the beginning of the summer, Peter was informed about the uprising, and he ordered to immediately deal with the rebels. In the memory of the young king, childhood memories of how the archers tore apart his mother’s relatives were fresh in his eyes, so he was not going to spare anyone.
The rebellious regiments in the amount of about 2200 people reached the walls of Voskresensky, located on the banks of the Istra River, 40 km from Moscow. There they were already waiting for government troops.
Battle
The tsarist governors, despite their superiority in armament and manpower, made several attempts to end the matter amicably.
In particular, a few hours before the start of the fight, Patrick Gordon went to the rebels, trying to persuade them not to go to the capital. However, they insisted that they should definitely see at least briefly the families from whom they had been separated for several years.
After Gordon realized that things could not be resolved peacefully, he fired a volley of 25 guns. The whole battle lasted about an hour, because after the third volley from the cannons, the rebels surrendered. Thus ended the Streltsy revolt of 1698.
executions
In addition to Gordon, Peter's commanders Aleksey Shein, Ivan Koltsov-Mosalsky and Anikita Repnin took part in the suppression of the rebellion.
After the arrest of the rebels, the investigation was led by Fedor Romodanovsky. Shein helped him. After some time, they were joined by Peter the Great, who returned from Europe.
All instigators were executed. Some were cut off by the king himself.
Now you know who participated in the suppression of the Streltsy revolt of 1698 and what caused the discontent of the Moscow warriors.
