Queen Natalya Naryshkina - biography, family and interesting facts. "The Baptist Queen": The dramatic fate of the mother of Peter I Biography of Natalia Naryshkina

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina- the mother of Peter I was born on September 1, 1651 to Cyril Poluektovich and Anna Leontievna Naryshkin, who came from Bohemia, where their ancestors, under the name Narisci, once owned the city of Egru. Refusing Russian titles, the Naryshkins claimed that their family was older than the Romanovs.

Natalia's father was a participant in the war with Poland, served as a governor in Kazan in the North Caucasus. Anna Leontyevna, on her father's side, belonged to the family of the Tatar Murza Abatura, and on her mother's side, to the nobles Raevsky.

Childhood and youth

Upon reaching 11 years old, Natalya was transferred to the house of Artamon Matveev, with whom the Naryshkins were related. For a young girl from the provinces, this was an opportunity to get a good education and, perhaps, find a worthy match.

Boyar Artamon Matveev (1625-1682) was not just a close boyar Alexei Mikhailovich - he was in charge of the Ambassadorial order and was the de facto head of the government. According to some sources, near the house of Matveev there was a pillar with a box for petitions, which he collected and personally handed over to the tsar.

The future mother of Peter I was called by evil tongues the “bast-bast queen”, for her modest origin, but Natalya could not be reproached for her lack of education - in the house of Matveev, together with his son Andrei, she studied literature, history, poetry, mathematics and etiquette.

Artamon Sergeevich Matveev - close boyar of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, engraving

Second wife for Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

The first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, bore the tsar many children - but many of them were in poor health. In March 1669, she died after a difficult birth, and two days later, her daughter, who was born to her, also died. Three months later, Tsarevich Simeon died, and another six months later, Tsarevich Alexei. At court, they hoped that the new wife would not only brighten up the sadness of the king, but also be able to give him healthy children. The choice of a new wife is a responsible matter, and before marrying a second time, the king conducts a review of the brides.

From December 1669 to April 27, 1670, 70 girls, collected both from Moscow and from other cities of the Russian kingdom, were presented for the selection of Alexei Mikhailovich.

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya - the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

Among them, the 36th in a row was Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. She was invited to the review after Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who often visited his boyar Matveev, saw her come to bring cups of vodka, caviar and smoked fish to the assembled guests. 19-year-old Natalya Naryshkina attracted the attention of the king - tall and stately, she charmed the monarch with her healthy, bright beauty, black almond-shaped eyes, modest behavior, devoid of affectation.

A contemporary describes it this way:

“This is a woman in the color of her years, taller than average, with bulging black eyes; her face is roundish and pleasant, her forehead is large and high; the whole figure is beautiful, the individual members are extremely proportionate, the voice, finally, is pleasantly sonorous and all the manners are extremely elegant.

The Miloslavskys did not accept the choice of Natalya as a bride and accused Matveev of using a love potion to attract the king to his own relative. Nine months later, an investigation that did not prove anything, to the delight of Matveev and the annoyance of the Miloslavskys, on January 22, 1671, the tsar underwent a wedding ceremony with Natalya Naryshkina. The newlyweds often moved from one palace to another, spending a lot of time in the village of Preobrazhensky, where the tsar had a large farmstead with falconers and kennels for hunting.

Courland traveler Yakov Reitenfels, who visited the court of the Russian tsar, described Natalia as follows:

“The current Queen Natalya, although she preserves domestic customs inviolably, however, being gifted with a strong mind and sublime character, does not constrain herself with trifles and leads a life somewhat freer and more cheerful. We saw her twice in Moscow when she was still a girl. The Russians are so accustomed to the modest way of life of their empresses that when the current queen, passing for the first time among the people, somewhat opened the window of the carriage, they could not be surprised at such a bold act.

The new queen brought changes to the life of Alexei Mikhailovich. Severe orders to ban dancing and various festive games, singing and playing musical instruments, even during royal feasts, were canceled.

At the request of Natalya Kirillovna on the day of the wedding anniversary, Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree on the creation of a professional theater in the Kremlin - with real scenery, a curtain, boxes, an orchestra, a stage and rich costumes. The performances were staged in German and corresponded to the European traditions of that time.

Birth of the first child

The position of the Naryshkins became even stronger after seven months after the wedding, the court astrologer Simeon told the tsar that “ he saw a heavenly vision, and takes the liberty of interpreting this phenomenon as some kind of omen. His young wife this evening conceived a boy who is destined to be outstanding. He will be a great warrior and will defeat many enemies, and will deserve such glory as none of the Russian tsars had. By eradicating the evildoers, he will encourage and love the hardworking, keep the faith and do many other glorious deeds.«.

Imperial court astrologer Simeon of Polotsk

Nine months later, on June 7, 1672, a difficult birth began, and on the third day, Queen Natalya was even communed. Alexei Mikhailovich summoned Simeon to his place. Despite the exhaustion of the woman in labor, Simeon declared that she would give birth safely in five hours. With the onset of the fifth hour, Simeon fell to his knees and began to pray that the queen would suffer another hour. The king was angry:

- What do you want?

“If the prince is born in the first half hour,” Simeon answered, “then his age will be 50 years old, and if in the second, he will live to 70.”

The news that the queen was relieved of her burden and gave birth to a son was brought at that very moment. On June 9, 1672, at one in the morning, the Great Bell of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin announced the birth of the future Peter I.

A year later, a daughter, Natalya, was born, and in 1674, Theodora, who died in infancy. The king's love for his wife grew stronger and stronger. Five years of married life went well.

Natalya Alekseevna Romanova - daughter of Natalya Naryshkina and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

Widow and mother

Alexei Mikhailovich died at the age of 47, on January 29, 1976 at 9 pm, three strikes on the bell of the Assumption Cathedral informed the people about the death of the tsar. Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna did not take off mourning for her husband for the rest of her life.

According to the memoirs of contemporaries, after the death of her husband, Natalya Kirillovna was so heartbroken that she became very old from endless experiences and tears. From the moment of her husband's death, she wore only a mourning black outfit, and a black scarf covered her head.

The Miloslavskys rejoiced - before his death, Alexei Mikhailovich blessed Fedor, a fourteen-year-old son from his first wife, to reign. Realizing the precariousness of her position, after the coronation of Fyodor in January 1676, Natalya Kirillovna left the Kremlin and went with her children to the village of Preobrazhenskoye.

Not endowed by nature with good health, Fedor Alekseevich reigned for a short time. His death in April 1682 forced the struggle between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys to flare up with renewed vigor. Before the boyar Duma, the question arose - whom to marry to reign?

Streltsy revolt of 1682

By law, the throne was to go to Ivan, the next oldest son of Alexei Mikhailovich's first wife, but he was also in poor health, unlike Peter. In such a situation, the boyars made a choice in favor of the son of Natalya Kirillovna, which was unacceptable for the Miloslavskys. Relatives of the first wife of Alexei Mikhailovich did not want to let go of power and, taking advantage of the discontent of the archery regiments, pushed them to rebellion - they began to spread rumors that the Naryshkins were not going to pay the accumulated debts on the archery salary and plan to reduce their importance in the Russian army.

The conspirators in the house of Alexander Miloslavsky - Princes Ivan Miloslavsky and Ivan Khovansky compose letters to the archers against the Naryshkins. Miniature from a manuscript of the 1st half of the 18th century

The immediate pretext for the beginning of the rebellion was a lie spread by the close boyar Miloslavsky and his nephew Tolstoy, who rode through the streltsy units inviting the archers to the Kremlin and shouting that the Naryshkins had strangled Tsarevich Ivan Alekseevich.

Natalya Kirillovna, who came out to meet the archers, showed them unharmed Ivan, the archers mixed up. Perhaps the drama that played out further could have been prevented, but Prince Mikhail Dolgorukov began to accuse the archers of treason and threaten with severe punishment - the crowd broke loose.

Dolgoruky was thrown from the porch onto the spears, then Artamon Matveev was killed, the tsarina's brother Afanasy Naryshkin was slaughtered, as well as many other boyars (according to pre-compiled lists) and some archery commanders. Having placed their own in the Kremlin, the archers actually took hostage all its inhabitants. The next day, Natalya Kirillovna, under pressure from Sophia Miloslavskaya and the boyars supporting her, betrayed her brother Ivan Naryshkin to the archers.

“Your brother will not depart from the archers;
let us not all die for him!”
Boyars

Ivan Naryshkin was tortured and executed, and the aged father of the queen, Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin, was forcibly tonsured a monk and sent to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery.

At the request of the archers, together with Peter, Ivan was also crowned king, and Princess Sophia was appointed the regent-ruler under them. The second Monomakh's hat and a double throne were made for the brothers. Through a window carved into the back of the throne during official receptions, Sophia told the brothers that they should answer questions from foreign ambassadors. Sophia became the de facto ruler of the country - the Miloslavskys again prevailed.

Sophia under Tsars Peter I and Ivan V

Education of Peter during the reign of Sophia

What was left for Natalya Kirillovna to do, heartbroken from the loss of almost all supporters and relatives? She leaves the Kremlin and moves with her children to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. The falconers and kennels that remained in the village after the death of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich were served by a large number of people - on this basis, for Peter I, his mother decides to organize a military school.

The first "amusing" soldiers came under the leadership of the prince in the autumn of 1683. The very next year, in the nearby village of Preobrazhenskoye, the “amusing city” of Pressburg was rebuilt. All teenagers were dressed in the same uniform - light green caftans, sewn according to the European pattern. For serving in the "amusing troops" teenagers received a salary.

“Do not think that these were toy, comic soldiers. The king played soldiers, and the comrades of his games served and received salaries for their “amusing” service, like real service people.
(V. O. Klyuchevsky).

Peter I with funny shelves

The Regent Princess Sophia, meanwhile, tasted the power - she ordered to mint her image on medals and coins, issued a decree on giving herself the title of "Autocrat" and ordered her own portrait from one of the Dutch masters. On the portrait, at the request of Sophia herself, the inscription was placed: "Autocrat of All Russia."

Wanting to protect herself from Peter's claims to the throne, Sophia married her brother - she expected to remain queen regent for her nephews, not allowing the Naryshkins to the Russian throne. In response, Natalya Kirillovna married Peter to Evdokia Lopukhina - this gave her son, as an adult, to demand that Sophia leave the royal chair.

Princess Sofia Alekseevna Romanova

The overthrow of Sophia and the accession of Peter I

The seven years of the reign of Sofya Alekseevna were not successful for the country - the Crimean campaigns of her favorite Vasily Golitsin did not bring the desired results, only huge expenses devastated the already meager state treasury. The people did not support the regent princess, many of the boyars secretly spoke out in favor of Peter, and attempts to set the archers on the Naryshkins again did not bring results.

It is not known for certain why 400 armed archers were gathered in the Kremlin from August 7 to August 8, 1689 - they were officially called to accompany Sophia on a pilgrimage, but there is another version, according to which the goal was to protect the princess from the attack of the "amusing". The secret informers of the Naryshkins brought the news of the gathering of armed archers in the Kremlin to Preobrazhenskoye - a frightened Peter in one "underwear" galloped off to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. He was followed by his mother, wife and sister. Gradually, the boyars who had gone over to the side of Peter fled from Moscow, the diplomatic corps swore allegiance to him, the military units - Sophia was left without support. Peter sent a letter to his brother Ivan V:

“Now, sir, the time has come for our two persons, the kingdom given to us by God, to rule by ourselves, since we have come to the extent of our age, and we do not deign to be a third shameful person, our sister, with our two male persons, in titles and in the reprisal of deeds ... It is shameful, sir, at our perfect age, for that shameful person to rule the state past us.

Ivan V Alekseevich

Princess Sophia was exiled first to the Holy Spirit Monastery, and then even further, to the Novodevichy Monastery, where she was kept under strict supervision. Many of her supporters were exiled to hard labor, some were executed - as a result of a long confrontation, the Naryshkins defeated the Miloslavskys. Only in 1698, during the next streltsy rebellion, the name of Sophia will surface again - it will be she who will be suspected of trying to organize a new turmoil to regain her throne.

After the removal of his sister from power, Peter continued his hobbies in military affairs and shipbuilding. Against the wishes of his mother and her supporters, who expect the young tsar to be drawn to state administration, he goes to Lake Pleshcheyevo and builds a “funny” fleet there.

Princess Sophia imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent

In addition to the youthful, rebellious character of the young tsar, thirsting for battles and dreaming of his own fleet, a new passion was added - in the German Quarter he met and fell in love with Anna Mons. Natalya Kirillovna's anxiety about her son, who was moving away from her, grew. She tried to appeal to him on behalf of her little son Alexei:

“Perhaps, our joy, the Sovereign comes to us without hesitation. For the sake of this, my joy, Sovereign, I ask you for mercy that I see the empress my grandmother in sadness.

Peter answered his mother affectionately, but was in no hurry to come:

“To my dearest mother, Tsaritsa Natalya Kirilovna. You have deigned, my joy, to write so that I write more often; and I already attribute it to any mail myself, it’s only my fault that I didn’t do everything myself. But what, my joy, didn’t fill up in a quick way, and you, perhaps, don’t fill me with your sadness. And I, thank God, besides this, I won’t force myself to do anything else and will go as far as I don’t hesitate; and Andursky (Hamburg) ships have not yet been. Accordingly, my joy, hello, and I will pray with your prayers. Petru(s)"(September 8, 1693)

Natalya Kirillovna was too tired from the endless confrontation, Peter was busy with his own dreams and deeds; life began to lose meaning for her, she fell ill. On January 25, 1694, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina died. She was 42 years old.

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina(August 22 (September 1), 1651 - January 25 (February 4), 1694) - Russian queen, second wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, mother of Peter I.

Natalya Kirillovna was born and spent her early years in the village of Aleshnya, Ryazan province (now the Rybnovsky district) in the family of a nobleman Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin. She grew up in her father's estate and by the age of majority struck everyone with her wondrous beauty. Once, a boyar who was close to the royal court came to visit the estate, and when he saw her, he said:
- Have mercy, my friend, Kirill Poluektovich, how can you keep a beautiful woman in captivity? She has a place in Moscow. She should be sent there for education and training. And soon Natalya and her father went to Moscow. They rode, swaying, in a cart. Joyful and anxious was in her heart: what awaits her in the capital?

Behind, the native places went beyond the horizon. The high parental house with a spacious room was hidden, where she was engaged in intricate embroidery on long winter evenings. I remembered clear summer days and walks with my girlfriends through the meadows and along the banks of the lovely river Vozha. More recently, she wove wreaths and threw them on the clear surface of the river, dreaming of happiness. Does she follow happiness?

In Moscow, they stopped at the house of the Duma nobleman Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, an old friend of Kirill Poluektovich (at one time military affairs brought them together).

Matvey himself, sedate, thin-nosed, with a square gray beard, greeted the guests affectionately and cordially, introducing them to his wife Evdokia Grigoryevna and his young son Andrei. In the new house, the girl had something to marvel at. The rooms, one after the other, turned out to be decorated in the European manner - with paintings, mirrors, outlandish clocks. Even the iconostasis of the house church was painted by Italian painters. And everywhere instead of benches and stools - armchairs and chairs.

The main thing is that the owner himself was a European-educated person, he knew several foreign languages. For the first time, he set up his own home theater, and then a theater at the royal court, where German actors and courtyard people trained by him played. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich liked the performances in the court theater so much that he sat on them long after midnight. Matveev showed his best side both in military campaigns and in the diplomatic service. No wonder the king loved and respected him. He made him the educator of his children, often visited his house and easily called him Sergeyich. During Matveev's absence from work, the entire royal family missed him and the tsar wrote affectionate messages to him.
"Come to us soon: my children and I are orphaned without you, there is no one to look after them, and I have no one to advise without you."
Among the corrupt, cruel and selfish nobles, Matveev sharply distinguished with his honesty and humanitarianism, and Natalya Kirillovna was glad that her father handed her over "for education and teaching" to such a person. But she did not have long to live in the Matveev family. One day the king wished to dine with his friend's family. Matveev's wife and son and Natalya Kirillovna came to the table. A stately and unusually beautiful girl attracted the attention of the king, who had been widowed by that time.

I didn’t even know, Sergeyevich, that you have a daughter,” he said.
- This is not my daughter, but a pupil, - answered Matveev.

During dinner, Alexei Mikhailovich got into conversation with Natalya Kirilovna and became convinced that at nineteen she was smart, kind and modest. Not a young king joked with her cheerfully and promised to find her a groom. And a few days later he again came to Matveev and said that Natalya came to his heart and he decided to marry her.

Artamon Sergeevich was delighted and frightened: is it a joke - the groom is the king himself!

But Matveev was afraid of the revenge of the boyars Miloslavsky, relatives of the first wife of Tsar Maria Ilyinichna, and advised Alexei Mikhailovich to choose a bride as was customary: from among the girls gathered for this purpose. The king agreed, and 60 noble maidens were presented to him in the palace, among whom was Natalya. Alexei Mikhailovich chose her.

On January 22, 1671, the wedding took place, and the Ryazan beauty became queen. Natalya Kirilovna dreamed of having a son, and the wish came true. Early in the morning on May 30, 1672, a solemn bell ringing was heard in the Kremlin. This was the message to the inhabitants of Moscow about the birth of the prince. They named him Peter. The boy grew up strong and frisky.

On the second day after the birth of her son, Natalya Kirillovna visited her native places. But with the arrival at the estate of her parents, she became seriously ill with jaundice. Asking God for deliverance from her illness, she vowed to build a stone church instead of a wooden one on her native land and, having recovered, fulfilled her promise. The people called this church "the church on bile", in memory of the queen, hence the name of the village - Zhelchino (Rybnovsky district) appeared.

In 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, an alarming time came for Natalya Kirillovna; she had to become the head of the Naryshkins, who fought unsuccessfully with the Miloslavskys. Under Fyodor Alekseevich, Natalya Kirillovna lived with her son mainly in the villages of Kolomenskoye and Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

During the Streltsy rebellion in 1682, many relatives of Natalya Kirillovna were killed. As a result, both brothers, Peter and Ivan, were proclaimed kings, and Ivan was declared the "senior" king. And then Sophia became regent, who was actually a sovereign ruler and completely removed Natalya Kirillovna from governing the country. Friction between the royal "courts" in Moscow and Preobrazhensky did not stop.

In 1689, at the insistence and direction of the Naryshkins and personally Natalya Kirillovna, Peter's first marriage took place with Evdokia Lopukhina.

The disgraceful position of the widow-tsarina continued until the triumph of Peter over Sophia, in 1689. But, having won this victory, the 17-year-old tsar prefers to deal mainly with the amusing army and the construction of the amusing fleet on Lake Pleshcheyevo, and leaves the entire burden of state care to the discretion of his mother, who, in turn, entrusts them to her relatives - Naryshkin.

Although during this period there were no traces of the state activity of Natalya Kirillovna, her influence on Peter was quite significant, as can be seen from their correspondence. With his absences, and especially sea voyages, he often upset his loving mother. Natalya Kirillovna died at the age of 43 in 1694 from heart disease. After the death of his mother, Peter assumes full power

The Naryshkins are an ancient Russian family whose history has been known since the 16th century. The family gained fame thanks to the marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with Natalya Naryshkina, who became the mother of Peter I. She played a significant role in the history of the state, raising the great Russian reformer. Next, we will talk about Natalya Naryshkina, whose biography will be presented in the article.

Origin

The Naryshkin family originated from Bohemia. Experts believe that the surname comes from Narisci. The Naryshkins refused any titles, calling their family more ancient than the Romanov family.

Natalya Naryshkina was born on September 1, 1651 into a noble family. Her father was Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin. Mother - Anna Leontievna, nee Leontiev, whose family, on the one hand, was of Tatar origin, and on the other, Polish-Lithuanian. The family had five more sons and a daughter.

Natalia's father, Kirill, took part in military battles with Poland, and also served in the Caucasus and Kazan.

Contemporaries estimated the origin of Natalia modestly, and later they often called her the “bast-bast queen”.

Upbringing

At the age of 11, the upbringing of Natalia was entrusted to a family friend Artamon Matveev, who was a boyar, was considered an enlightened man of that era. The Russian tradition of bringing up the children of one's relatives from the provinces was popular at that time.

Matveev borrowed many Western achievements. He collected a huge library in his house, decorated the walls with paintings. In the evenings, he hosted performances and concerts. The noble house was visited by foreign nobles. This place was the cultural center of the capital. Artamon himself wore European clothes and wrote plays.

The Matveev family was respected and corresponded to its head in everything. From Ryazan, Natalya moved to Moscow, where she received a secular education. She grew up to be a smart, lively girl. In Matveev's house, Natalya studied all the necessary sciences. She was fluent in German, participated in theatrical productions.

Matveev's wife was one of the most intellectually developed women in that era. She and the pupil often talked with Matveev on any topic, which was surprising at that time. Usually women were kept locked up.

Artamon Matveev served as the chief of orders, he was close to the king, the latter often visited his friend. That is how, according to historians, the meeting of Tsar Alexei and Natalia took place.

What did the queen look like?

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was a tall and stately woman. On the face of the correct form, bright dark eyes flaunted, an open large forehead characterized her noble origin.

Having received an excellent education, Natalya was refined and graceful. But in her temper there was an unbending core. Perhaps this was due to the fact that Naryshkina Natalya Kirillovna is a Tatar on her paternal side.

Royal Brides

Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage with Maria Miloslavskaya had 6 daughters and 2 sons. After the death of his wife in 1669, the king became sad and decided to marry a second time. To this end, brides began to be held - according to ancient custom. Historians believe that the tsar chose Natalya before the bride, and holding this event was a tribute to established traditions.

The screening process went like this. On the appointed days, brides were brought to the king. Those who did not like were immediately sent home. And those that the king liked were left in the chambers.

After the show, it turned out that Ivan Shikhirev was very interested in the marriage of his niece Avdotya with the tsar. He was suspected of writing letters planted in the palace. At that time, “spoilage” of the royal brides by envious and ill-wishers often happened. So the king in his youth had to part with Euphemia of Vsevolzhskaya, who fainted from the fact that her hair was too tight.

The Tsar and Artamon Matveev were also afraid for Natalya, but, fortunately, nothing bad happened to her.

Meeting with the king

At this time, Natalia was 18 years old. Boyar Matveev often visited the tsar, with whom he had intimate conversations. But one day Alexei Mikhailovich decided to personally come to visit Matveev. The news caused a stir in the house. Mateev's wife and pupil, Natalya, began to prepare for the arrival of an important guest.

When the tsar arrived, he asked why the noblewoman did not come to the table. Then they invited both the mistress of the house and the pupil. Natalya was sitting at the table with the king, they were talking. Alexei Mikhailovich was struck by the lively mind of Naryshkina, her manner of answering questions without hiding anything. When the tsar asked Natalya about the suitors, she replied that she didn’t think about it yet, she lived so well in Matveev’s house.

The tsar promised Matveev to personally find a good groom for the girl, and since then he began to send sweets for Natalya. The tsar was so carried away by the young and interesting Natalya that he even shaved off his beard and began to attend social events, fell in love with music and dancing.

Later, the tsar announced that he was marrying Natalia Naryshkina, whom he was 22 years older than. The wedding took place in 1671.

Family life

A year after the wedding, the wife gave birth to the king's son, named Peter. Parents were very happy about the birth of the heir. The mother loved and spoiled her son. At the age of 3, Peter already had his own mansions, decorated with red cloth. In front of the mansions, there was a home garden, where various flowers grew, birds sang, and a pond was arranged.

From the age of 4, Peter began to receive an education. He was taught by the pious Nikita Zotov, and Natalia supervised the educational process.

In addition to Peter, Natalia had two more daughters - Natalia and Theodora. The marriage union with the king brought the girl real happiness. Alexey Mikhailovich loved his wife very much, even more - after the birth of children.

Unfortunately, family life was not long, only five years. Then the king suddenly died.

Lifestyle

Natalya Naryshkina, Peter's mother, changed the image of the Russian tsarina in the minds of her contemporaries. Her upbringing was such that it was very different from the ancient Moscow customs. That is why some of her actions and the very way of life confused contemporaries and shocked. For example, Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina herself appeared at all festive events in cathedrals. In the summer, she allowed herself to travel around Moscow in an open carriage, which was considered unacceptable. The uninhibited behavior of the queen was very different from what the people used to see earlier among the representatives of the royal family.

Natalia's temperament was cheerful, she often immersed herself in various amusements. She did not like Moscow life too much, and Natalya often spent time in villages near Moscow. She left for Izmailovo, Kolomenskoye, Preobrazhenskoye.

The king supported his wife in everything. For her sake, he opened the "Comedy Chamber" and invited theatrical actors to amuse the queen. With the advent of Natalia, medieval denseness began to leave Russia.

Widow's share

After the departure of the king, the Miloslavskys, members of the family of the first queen, began to oppress Natalia. She complained about everything.

Before his death, Alexei Mikhailovich put his son from his first marriage, Fedor, in charge of the country. But after the death of Fedor, Peter was proclaimed to the throne. Natalya began to seriously fear for the life of her son and her own.

The archers who rebelled in 1682 forced the tsarina to move to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Natalia moved there together with her son Peter. Sagittarius transferred power to Sophia.

A difficult life began for Natalia and Peter. They were in great need. Queen Sophia sent crumbs to the widow. Natalia accepted help from her friends.

However, the life difficulties of the mother did not affect Peter in any way. The future king played with the neighboring boys, creating his amusing army.

Return to power

The secondary rebellion of the archers in 1689 led to the fact that Sophia was exiled to a monastery, power was divided between Peter and John. Natalya Naryshkina again became at the helm of the state. Her assistants were Golitsyn, brother Lev and boyar Tikhon Streshnev.

17-year-old Peter was not interested in the affairs of the state. He was more interested in sea travel and building a fleet. Therefore, young Peter often left, which greatly upset his mother.

Having decided that Peter should be married, his mother chose Natalya Lopukhina as his wife. Peter's family life was of little interest. And Natalya, having waited for her grandson Alexei, was very happy.

The Lopukhins and the Naryshkins ruled harshly, oppressed the boyars, exiled them to prison for every word against the authorities, and tortured them.

The Kremlin flourished unusually during the reign of Naryshkina. The magnificence of the Kremlin Palace reflected the splendor and superiority of the royal way of life.

Features of the board

Historians characterize Natalya Naryshkina, the mother of Peter 1, as an intelligent, educated, kind woman, but who does not understand anything about government and "light mind". That is why she surrounded herself with ministers who helped her rule the country.

The reign of Naryshkina did not have an impact on the history of the Russian state. The people did not support the royal power at this time.

In reality, Golitsyn and the ministers ruled the state. Contemporaries spoke of the reign of that time as very unvirtuous, accompanied by terrible bribery. Judges judged incorrectly, many state thefts were committed.

This is not surprising, because the queen was more interested in her beloved son Peter than in state affairs.

Relationship with son

The mother of Peter 1, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, had a significant influence on her son. She missed when Peter was absent from travel for a long time. This can be seen from their touching correspondence. The image of a loving maternal heart was fully revealed by Alexei Tolstoy in the novel Peter the Great.

Son Peter in his relationship with his mother was a loving, caring son. When his mother fell ill, Peter sensitively experienced this circumstance.

Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina died at the age of 43 from heart disease. She was buried in one of the monasteries of the Moscow Kremlin, in the same place as the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. After the funeral of his mother, Peter fully took over the reins of government.

Charlottenburg Palace (German Schloss Charlottenburg). Peter the Great. Living portrait. Unknown artist

Let's continue to develop the version of Peter's German origin. It turns out that at the end of the 17th century, no one doubted that Peter was a substitute king of German origin.
Here are some testimonials from that time: “The peasants are all exhausted, they all stood up to the sovereign and cried out: what a king he is! Born from a lawless German woman; he is a changeling, a foundling; how Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna departed this world, and at that time she said to him: you are not my son, you are a substitute ”. In 1700, during interrogation, the serfs of the Vaneevsky estates testified: « Sovereign not of the royal tribe, German breed, and the Germans hid the great sovereign from their mothers in their early years, and replaced him with a new one. The Germans are cunning, they bring face to face .... Later it was told that Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna told Peter before her death: “ You are not my son - replaced» .
The serf landowner Kikin during interrogation at the Preobrazhensky Prikaz (1718) testified:“The sovereign is not a Russian breed and not Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich’s son; taken in infancy from a German settlement from a foreign exchange. The queen gave birth to a princess, and instead of the princess they took Evo, sovereign, and gave the princess instead of Evo.. About no other king before this such things were said.

The first foreign biographer of Peter I Voltaire writes: “The behavior and activities of Peter gave rise to the legend of the substitution. The impossibility for the king to behave like Peter found a logical explanation: he is not a real king, he was replaced. There were several options: changed at the time of birth, changed during a trip abroad, true the tsar was replaced by a German, for only a German could afford what the tsar did. German or Antichrist. The legend of the Antichrist Tsar circulated especially widely among the Old Believers..

We see vivid examples of the fact that a certain German trace can be traced in the origin of Peter. And how can one imagine that the Russian tsar was called a German? And why a German? Why not a Frenchman, an Englishman, a Dutchman, finally?

Many researchers have tried to understand the reason and essence of these legends. In total, three main versions of the German origin of Peter were obtained:

1. The king was replaced overseas during the Great Embassy. The true king is imprisoned in German soil.
2. The king was replaced at birth and slipped a German from the German settlement to Natalya.
3. Peter is the Antichrist, who deposed the legitimate king, while the true king hides among the Old Believers, and the illegal king-antichrist sits on the throne.

All legends have one thing in common: Tsar Peter is not a real tsar, he is not the natural son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Tsarina Natalya.

As we will see in the course of our research, all these legends had a very real basis. Let's think about whether the king could have been replaced during the Great Embassy? Hardly. This replacement would immediately become obvious, because it is very difficult to find the same double - in Russia no one would recognize such a "king". And not only in Russia. European monarchs would also not recognize the impostor. Therefore, the version with the substitution of the king during the embassy will be postponed as false.

The second version is the most truthful, because Peter was really born in German soil from a German, his mother had nothing to do with Natalya Kirillovna.

The third legend also contains real events. After spending all his childhood in the German lands, Peter will finally come to Russia and depose the legitimate Tsar Ivan.

But what about Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina, Peter's official mother? This is where the story is particularly intriguing. Let's start from birth. According to the analysis of bit palace documents, at the time of Peter's birth, Tsarina Natalya was in the Kremlin. And the birth of the prince according to the same documents took place, either in the village of Izmailovo, or in the village of Kolomenskoye. The industrious historian of the 19th century, M. M. Bogoslovsky, discovered this paradox and, discouraged, writes: “If the queen lived in the Kremlin on May 28, it is impossible to allow her to undertake a “campaign” to any of the villages near Moscow in the last days and, one might even say, hours of pregnancy”. Consequently, Tsarina Natalia could not be Peter's mother, even based on Russian palace ranks.

As you know, Peter never had affection for his mother Natalya Kirillovna, and this was mutual. They were never around until the death of Naryshkina in 1694! Tsarina Natalya after the removal of Sophia in 1689 will completely remove Peter from power. At all the same events, she will be only with Tsar Ivan, the “son” Peter will be absent. Always. The most interesting thing is that Peter will never visit his terminally ill mother. He will be absent from funerals, funerals and wakes for his mother! These inexplicable facts are well known, but historians do not explain it in any way.

Even Peter's rejection of Orthodoxy is absolutely at odds with the characteristics of his mother, for she has always been a zealous supporter of ancient Orthodoxy, she did not tolerate anything Western. As we will see later, Tsarina Natalia not only shunned her "son" Peter, but also openly showed her dislike and hostility to the young reformer.

Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna was indeed the mother of the last son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. But not Peter, but Ivan. That is why Natalia and Ivan are always on the historical stage together. It is Ivan Alekseevich who will be present at the funeral, funeral service and commemoration of Tsaritsa Natalya. One. There will be no Peter, for he became the son of Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna only under the pen of false historians.

Natalya Kirillovna and Ivan Alekseevich

But that's not all. It turns out that not only was Tsarina Natalya not Peter's mother, but she had nothing to do with the pro-Western upstarts Naryshkin.

G. Miller thought for a long time how to explain the incomprehensible passion of young Peter for everything Western, from the Lutheran faith to foreign languages, which he knew from childhood.
It was then that they decided to connect Tsarina Natalya with the pro-Western Naryshkins. Like, Natalya herself was crazy about everything European, and she instilled her progressive ideas in her son from childhood.
They found a certain Natalya in the Naryshkin family tree, and connected with Tsar Alexei by marriage. On paper, of course. In the Archangel Cathedral, a tombstone was quickly bungled, the queen wrote NaryshkinNatalya Kirillovna, and they calmed down.

And everything would have gotten away with the hack-writers, if not for one BUT. To this day, accidentally preserved the real grave of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. The Romanov falsifiers forgot about the family cemetery of the Naryshkins, they did not finalize it. They did not think that the disgraced Naryshkin family, which completely died out at the beginning of the 18th century, would still have a tomb. But it was happily preserved, preserved to this day.
Here is what Olga Bogdanova writes on the official website of the House Church of the Holy Great Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov:
"Tomb of the Naryshkins. In the 18th century, the Naryshkins were buried in the refectory of the Bogolyubsky church. In total, there were 18 of their burials ... A granite cross has been preserved next to the tomb. Previously, it had a mournful figure and a gazebo, but they have not been preserved. What is this cross? The son of one of the Naryshkins buried between the temples decided to designate more fundamentally the burial place of his father. On the cross is inscribed: "The chamber huntsman Pyotr Kirillovich Naryshkin was buried." And on a plane facing the East: "His sister, Natatya Kirillovna Naryshkina." And then those who do not read what is written small, believe that the mother of Peter I is buried here. And the following is written there: "His sister", then (small ) "girl"(and Peter’s mother gave birth to a son and two daughters!), then (large) “Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina”, and then again small “born 1717, died 1760”. And the mother of Peter I died in 1694 and was buried in the Kremlin.”

There is nothing to add. Obviously, Natalya KirillovnaNaryshkincould not be Peter's mother. Moreover, Tsarina Natalya was not Naryshkina. And this is not some fortune-telling on coffee grounds - this is an archaeological fact.

Peter's compatriot Prince B.I. Kurakin openly said that Peter considered the Naryshkins to be of the "lowest and most wretched gentry." It is unlikely that the tsar would have spoken of his closest relatives in this way, and it is unlikely that the great tsar Alexei Mikhailovich would have chosen his second wife from an unborn gentry.

Peter's relationship with his "mother" Natalya Kirillovna developed very strangely. During the reign of Sophia, we never see them together. Well, okay, there the insidious autocrat did not allow her son to see his mother, she herself constantly took care of him. But now, when the insidious Sophia is gone, Petrusha will certainly caress his own mother.
But this doesn't happen: “We, at least, know about the following case of insult inflicted by the queen on foreigners. On August 27, 1690, celebrating her name day, she bestowed from her own hands a cup of wine on all Russian dignitaries, including archery colonels, as well as guests and merchants, but she did not honor generals and foreign colonels and did not let her into her palaces. On that very day, foreigners were offended by the fact that guests and merchants, at the reception, took a place above them. Foreigners considered themselves offended, especially since it was at that time that Peter himself was daily in their company, ate and drank with them.(Brikner A.G. based on the notes of P. Gordon).

What amazing things we read! Tsarina Natalya celebrates her name day with the bandits archers - she personally brings them cups, but does not let her little son with foreign generals to the table. Well, those, out of grief, gush vodka in the dressing room, snack on handouts from the master's table. Peter occasionally raises his drunk head and laments, they say, I'm a king and a son of my own, what kind of disrespect?! And his friends have a glass of vodka and in German: nothing, there will be a holiday on our street, Mein Herz.

When in January 1694 Tsarina Natalya fell mortally ill, Peter never visited her! “It seems strange,” Pogodin remarks on this occasion, “how Peter, seeing his mother dying, left her and went to Preobrazhenskoye ... leaving a dying mother to a son is contrary to the feeling " (Pogodin. Peter the Great. Russian archive. 1879).
It's really impossible to understand. But the whole point is that Tsarina Natalya had nothing to do with Peter. They were related by Romanov historians, on paper. Therefore, Peter not only does not visit his dying mother, but misses the funeral, the funeral service and the wake of his own mother!!! Only Tsar Ivan is present, he is the real Tsar and the natural son of Tsarina Natalya.

Peter does not regret the death of his mother at all. So on January 28, the day after the funeral, Peter was at a feast at Lefort, where he walked all night long!
Discouraged, M. M. Bogoslovsky writes about this: “You can’t think that he indulged in fun there. Such a strange, in our opinion, his appearance in society can be explained by the desire to be distracted..

By the way, the historian understands the absurdity of everything that is happening, and makes the assumption that Peter, after all, secretly, visited the grave at night: “But on the same day, after Vespers, he alone, without an entourage, went to the Ascension Monastery to pray at the grave of his mother ... He acted like a sincere person struck by deep sorrow, who could not bear to appear in public in an official ceremony”.
If there were no witnesses, how is this known? As they say, no comment.
At the same time, many testimonies of Peter's "great sorrow" for his mother have been preserved. On the ninth day after the death of his mother on February 3, we see Peter on a pleasure walk with Gordon, we walked all day, we drank until we dropped. February 6 Peter at Major Becker's wedding. On February 11, 1694, during the great mourning for the queen's mother, “There was a grand banquet at Lefort for 250 people. Mourning for the queen mother did not interfere with this feast.(M. M. Bogoslovsky).

All these incidents can be explained by only one thing: Tsarina Natalya was no mother to Peter.

To be continued...

According to the site istclub.ru