VIP poll: What did Peter I do with the New Year? Ten interesting facts about Peter I .... 7 high-profile reforms of Peter I What was new under Peter

AT historical literature there are conflicting assessments of performance Peter I. However, most researchers believe that his reforms were of outstanding importance in the history of Russia. Personal acquaintance with Europe during the stay of Peter as part of the Great Embassy in late XVII in. determined the purpose and direction of the transformations. We recall the seven most ambitious reforms of Peter I ...

Church is not a state

Along with other classes, the clergy after the reform had to obey the common law for all. Only monks were to live in monasteries, only the sick were to live in almshouses, and everyone else was ordered to be evicted from there.

Peter I is known for tolerance towards other confessions. Under him, foreigners were allowed to freely profess their faith and the marriages of Christians of different denominations.

« The Lord gave kings power over the peoples, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of the people, ”considered Peter. With opponents of the Church, he ordered the bishops to be "meek and reasonable».

On the other hand, Peter introduced penalties for those who went to confession less than once a year or misbehaved in the temple during the service.

Bath and beard tax

Large-scale projects for the development of the army, the construction of the fleet required huge financial investments. In order to provide for them, Peter I tightened tax system countries. Now taxes were collected not by household (after all, the peasants immediately began to enclose several households with one fence), but by heart.

There were up to 30 different taxes: on fishing, on baths, mills, on confessing the Old Believers and wearing a beard, and even on oak logs for coffins.

Beards were ordered to be "chopped down to the very neck", and for those who wore them for a fee, a special token-receipt, the "bearded sign", was introduced. Salt, alcohol, tar, chalk, fish oil could now only be traded by the state.

Under Peter, the main monetary unit was not money, but a penny, the weight and composition of the coins were changed, and the fiat ruble ceased to exist. Treasury revenues increased several times, however, due to the impoverishment of the people and not for long.

Army for life

To win northern war 1700-1721, it was necessary to modernize the army. In 1705, each court had to give one recruit for life service. This applied to all estates, except for the nobility. These recruits formed the army and navy.

In the military regulations of Peter I, for the first time, not the moral and religious content of criminal acts, but a contradiction to the will of the state, was put in the first place. Peter managed to create the most powerful regular army and Navy, which until now was not in Russia.

By the end of his reign, the number of regular ground forces there were 210 thousand, irregular - 110 thousand, and more than 30 thousand people served in the navy.

"Extra" 5508 years

Peter I "cancelled" 5508 years, changing the tradition of chronology: instead of counting the years "from the creation of Adam", Russia began to count the years "from the birth of Christ."

Application julian calendar and the celebration of the New Year on January 1 are also Peter's innovations. He also introduced the use of modern Arabic numerals, replacing the old numbers with them - the letters of the Slavic alphabet with titles. The inscription of letters was simplified, the letters "xi" and "psi" "dropped out" of the alphabet. For secular books now relied own font- civil, and half-ustav was left for liturgical and spiritual ones.

In 1703, the first Russian printed newspaper, Vedomosti, began to appear, and in 1719, the first museum in Russian history, the Kunstkamera with a public library, began to operate.

Under Peter, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (1701), the Medical and Surgical School (1707) - the future Military-medical Academy, Naval Academy (1715), Engineering and Artillery Schools (1719), schools of translators at the colleges.

Learning through strength

Moreover, in each province there should have been digital schools with free education for all classes. Such schools were necessarily supplied with primers in Slavic and Latin, as well as alphabets, psalters, books of hours and arithmetics.

The education of the clergy was compulsory, and those who opposed it were threatened military service and taxes, and those who did not complete their studies could not marry. But due to the coercive nature and harsh teaching methods (beating with batogs and chaining), such schools did not last long.

A slave is better than a serf

“Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the tsar ...” - these are the words of Peter I. As a result of this royal position, there were some changes in the relationship between the tsar and the people, which were a curiosity in Russia.

For example, in petitions it was no longer allowed to humiliate yourself with the signatures "Grishka" or "Mitka", but it was necessary to put your full name. It was not necessary to take off your hat in the strong Russian frost, passing by the royal residence. It was not supposed to kneel before the king, and the address “slave” was replaced by “slave”, which was not derogatory in those days and was associated with “God's servant”.

Complaints that one of them annulled the engagement were not accepted - because now it became their right.

New sense of territory

Under Peter I, industry developed rapidly and trade expanded. An all-Russian market arose, which means that the economic potential of the central government grew.

the greatest state world made Russia reunification with Ukraine and the development of Siberia. New cities arose, because canals and new strategic roads were laid, exploration of ore resources was actively underway, iron foundries and weapons factories were built in the Urals and Central Russia.

Peter I carried out the regional reform of 1708-1710, which divided the country into 8 provinces headed by governors and governors-general. Later there was a division into provinces, provinces into counties. link

"Komsomolskaya Pravda" has collected a dozen interesting facts from the life of the first Russian Emperor

On August 18, 1682, Peter I ascended the throne. The great Russian Tsar, and later the Emperor, ruled the country for 43 years. His personality is connected with many important for the state historical events. We have collected ten interesting facts from the life of Peter the Great.

1. All the children of Tsar Alexei, the father of the future Emperor Peter I, were sickly. However, Peter, according to historical documents, from childhood was distinguished by enviable health. In this regard, there were rumors at the royal court that Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina did not give birth to a son at all from Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov.

2. The first person to rivet skates to shoes was Peter the Great. The fact is that earlier skates were simply tied to shoes with ropes and straps. And Peter I brought the idea of skates, now familiar to us, attached to the soles of boots, from Holland during his trip to Western countries.

3. According to historical documents, Peter I was quite tall, even by today's standards, a man. His height, according to some sources, was more than two meters. But at the same time, he only wore shoes in size 38. With such a high growth, he did not differ in a heroic physique. The surviving clothes of the Emperor are size 48. Peter's arms were also small, and his shoulders were narrow for his height. His head was also small compared to his body.

4. Catherine I - the second wife of Peter was of low birth. Her parents were simple Livonian peasants, and the real name of the Empress was Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya. From birth, Martha was blonde, she dyed her hair all her life in dark color. Catherine I is the first woman whom the Emperor fell in love with. The king often discussed important state affairs with her and listened to her advice.

5. At one time, so that the soldiers could distinguish where the right is, and where the left is, Peter I ordered to fasten them on left leg hay, and on the right - straw. The sergeant-major during drill training gave commands: “hay - straw, hay - straw”, then the company printed a step. Meanwhile, among many European peoples, three centuries ago, the concepts of "right" and "left" were distinguished only by educated people. The peasants did not know how.

6. Peter I was fond of medicine. And most of all - dentistry. He liked to pull out bad teeth. At the same time, the king sometimes got carried away. Then healthy people could also get under the distribution.

7. As you know, Peter had a negative attitude towards drunkenness. Therefore, in 1714 he figured out how to deal with it. He simply issued medals for drunkenness to inveterate alcoholics. This award, made of cast iron, weighed about seven kilograms and this is without chains. According to some reports, this medal is considered the heaviest in history. This medal was hung around the neck of a drunkard in the police station. And independently "awarded" to remove it was not able. It took a week to wear the insignia.

The great Russian Tsar, and later the Emperor, ruled Russia for 43 years

8. From Holland, Peter I brought many interesting things to Russia. Among them are tulips. The bulbs of these plants appeared in Russia in 1702. The reformer was so fascinated by the plants growing in the palace gardens that he established a "garden office" specifically for extracting overseas flowers.

9. During the time of Peter, counterfeiters worked at the state mints as a form of punishment. Counterfeiters were calculated by the presence of "up to one ruble five altyns of silver money of one coinage." The fact is that in those days even state mints could not issue uniform money. And those. Koto had them - a 100% counterfeiter. Peter decided to use this ability of criminals to produce uniform coins for the good of the state. The unfortunate criminal was sent as a punishment to one of the mints to mint coins there. So, in 1712 alone, thirteen such "craftsmen" were sent to the mints.

Such seven-kilogram medals in the police hung on drunkards
Photo: Wikipedia

10. Peter I is a very interesting and controversial historical figure. Take, for example, the rumors about his substitution during the trip of young Peter with the Great Embassy. So, contemporaries wrote that a young man of twenty-six years old, above average height, dense build, physically healthy, having a mole on his left cheek and wavy hair, well-educated, loving everything Russian, an Orthodox Christian, who knew the Bible by heart, and so on, was leaving with the embassy. . But two years later, a completely different person returned - practically speaking no Russian, hating everything Russian, never learning to write in Russian until the end of his life, forgetting everything he could before leaving for the Great Embassy and miraculously acquiring new skills and abilities. Moreover, this man was already without a mole on his left cheek, with straight hair, a sickly man who looked forty years old. All this happened during the two years of Peter's absence from Russia.

………………………

7 high-profile reforms of Peter I

1Church is not a state
2Tax on bath and beard
3In the army for life
4 "Extra" 5508 years
5Learning through strength
6A slave is better than a serf
7New sense of territory

August 18, 1682 to the throne Russian Empire 10-year-old Peter I entered. We remember this ruler as a great reformer. It is up to you to decide negatively or positively about his innovations. We recall the 7 most ambitious reforms of Peter I.

Church is not a state

“The Church is not another state,” Peter I believed, and therefore his church reform was aimed at weakening the political power of the church. Before it, only the church court could judge the clergy (even in criminal cases), and the timid attempts of the predecessors of Peter I to change this met with a stiff rebuff. Along with other classes, the clergy after the reform had to obey the common law for all. Only monks were to live in monasteries, only the sick were to live in almshouses, and everyone else was ordered to be evicted from there.
Peter I is known for tolerance towards other confessions. Under him, foreigners were allowed to freely profess their faith and the marriages of Christians of different denominations. “The Lord gave kings power over the nations, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of the people,” Peter believed. With opponents of the Church, he ordered the bishops to be "meek and reasonable." On the other hand, Peter introduced penalties for those who went to confession less than once a year or misbehaved in the temple during the service.

Bath and beard tax

Large-scale projects for the development of the army, the construction of the fleet required huge financial investments. In order to provide them, Peter I tightened the country's tax system. Now taxes were collected not by household (after all, the peasants immediately began to enclose several households with one fence), but by heart. There were up to 30 different taxes: on fishing, on baths, mills, on confessing the Old Believers and wearing a beard, and even on oak logs for coffins. Beards were ordered to be "chopped down to the very neck", and for those who wore them for a fee, a special token-receipt, the "bearded sign", was introduced. Salt, alcohol, tar, chalk, fish oil could now only be traded by the state. Under Peter, the main monetary unit was not money, but a penny, the weight and composition of the coins were changed, and the fiat ruble ceased to exist. Treasury revenues increased several times, however, due to the impoverishment of the people and not for long.

Army for life

To win the Northern War of 1700-1721, it was necessary to modernize the army. In 1705, each court had to give one recruit for life service. This applied to all estates, except for the nobility. These recruits formed the army and navy. In the military regulations of Peter I, for the first time, not the moral and religious content of criminal acts, but a contradiction to the will of the state, was put in the first place. Peter managed to create the most powerful regular army and navy, which had not been in Russia until now. By the end of his reign, there were 210,000 regular ground troops, 110,000 irregulars, and more than 30,000 men served in the navy.

"Extra" 5508 years

Peter I "cancelled" 5508 years, changing the tradition of chronology: instead of counting the years "from the creation of Adam", Russia began to count the years "from the birth of Christ." The use of the Julian calendar and the celebration of the New Year on January 1 are also Peter's innovations. He also introduced the use of modern Arabic numerals, replacing the old numbers with them - the letters of the Slavic alphabet with titles. The inscription of letters was simplified, the letters "xi" and "psi" "dropped out" of the alphabet. For secular books, their own font was now supposed - civil, and liturgical and spiritual books were left with a half charter.
In 1703, the first Russian printed newspaper, Vedomosti, began to appear, and in 1719, the first museum in Russian history, the Kunstkamera with a public library, began to operate.
Under Peter, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (1701), the Medical and Surgical School (1707) - the future Military Medical Academy, the Naval Academy (1715), the Engineering and Artillery Schools (1719), schools of translators at the colleges.

Learning through strength

All nobles and clergy were now to be educated. The success of a noble career now depended directly on this. Under Peter, new schools were created: garrison schools for the children of soldiers, spiritual schools for the children of priests. Moreover, in each province there should have been digital schools with free education for all classes. Such schools were necessarily supplied with primers in Slavic and Latin, as well as alphabets, psalters, books of hours and arithmetics. The education of the clergy was compulsory, those who opposed it were threatened with military service and taxes, and those who did not complete their studies could not marry. But due to the coercive nature and harsh teaching methods (beating with batogs and chaining), such schools did not last long.

A slave is better than a serf

“Less meanness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the tsar ...” - these are the words of Peter I. As a result of this royal position, there were some changes in the relationship between the tsar and the people, which were a curiosity in Russia. For example, in petitions it was no longer allowed to humiliate yourself with the signatures "Grishka" or "Mitka", but it was necessary to put your full name. It was not necessary to take off your hat in the strong Russian frost, passing by the royal residence. It was not supposed to kneel before the king, and the address “slave” was replaced by “slave”, which was not derogatory in those days and was associated with “God's servant”.
There is more freedom for young people who want to get married. The forced marriage of a girl was abolished by three decrees, and the betrothal and wedding now had to be separated in time so that the bride and groom "could recognize each other." Complaints that one of them annulled the engagement were not accepted - because now it became their right.

New sense of territory

Under Peter I, industry developed rapidly and trade expanded. An all-Russian market arose, which means that the economic potential of the central government grew. The reunification with Ukraine and the development of Siberia made Russia the greatest state in the world. New cities arose, because canals and new strategic roads were laid, exploration of ore resources was actively underway, iron foundries and weapons factories were built in the Urals and Central Russia.
Peter I carried out the regional reform of 1708-1710, which divided the country into 8 provinces headed by governors and governors-general. Later there was a division into provinces, provinces into counties.

Nikolai Svanidze

historian

Peter I reformed the celebration of the New Year. He generally reformed everything, as you know. All or a lot of things that came before him. All that traditional course of both Russian life and Russian holidays. He even came up with a new capital - he hated Moscow and came up with a new capital for himself, which he set up in the swamps. St. Petersburg named it in honor of its saint. He reformed everything. In particular, having traveled to Europe, seeing how they celebrate New Year, he decided to reform this holiday. In Russia in different times The New Year was celebrated in different ways. In pagan Russia, it was celebrated in March. Most likely, it was the day of the spring equinox, March 22, when for people of that period, close to the earth, it is reborn after winter. The move to the summer begins, and that's when the New Year was celebrated. In Christian Russia, from the end of the 15th century, under the Grand Duke Ivan III, they began to celebrate on September 1 in accordance with the Byzantine tradition. And they celebrated September 1, but it was a church holiday. There were no trees, nothing like that. And where do they come from on September 1? No Santa Claus, of course. Everything that we are now accustomed to associate with the New Year is a tradition that came from Peter I. He issued a decree, according to which, firstly, it is necessary to adopt a new chronology, because before that Russia lived according to a calendar starting from creation of the world. The year 1699 was the year 7208 from the creation of the world. Peter I said that now we will live in a different manner. We will count from the birth of Christ, next year will be the 1700th, and we will count the New Year from January 1. He dressed them all up, of course. First of all, the wealthy classes. He ordered everyone to dress in European clothes. And here he is, surrounded by the Semyonovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments in European uniforms, around him are noble boyars, also dressed according to the European model and already beardless. He ordered to decorate their houses with spruce or juniper branches - or rather, trees - and shoot whoever is in what much. From cannons, from squeakers. He also ordered to celebrate in every possible way. And he himself paid a considerable tribute to this in accordance with his habits. He and his retinue traveled to boyar houses, drank, played tricks, played pranks in every possible way with varying degrees of rudeness and insolence. Entered this order. At first, the people reacted to this absolutely incredulously - as well as to any innovations. Because what we consider tradition was then just crazy modernity, which a conservative patriarchal country could not immediately accept. They looked at it as some completely incomprehensible eccentricity of the young king. But gradually got used to it. And now it is already difficult for us to imagine a different celebration of the New Year - on a different day, and in a different manner.

Alexander Nevzorov

Publicist

I suspect that he assumed in the celebration of the New Year some crushing potential for those traditions that were in Russia. He broke these traditions, these customs, these Russian rules, attracting all the means that were available to him. Naturally, he had to choose religiously neutral ones, because he was afraid of the priests, afraid of the illusory religiosity that seemed to him in Russia. And therefore, of course, I was forced to isolate a religiously neutral New Year's holiday. At the same time, there is a New Year as such in the church calendar, but it is celebrated in September. And without any pathos, without any Christmas trees, balls or lying face down in salads. Peter made a brilliant choice. This New Year he rammed many Russian traditions at once. Firstly, he established it during the days of fasting, when it seems that the Orthodox are not supposed to overeat, have fun, launch firecrackers and copulate in the toilets at corporate parties. I think it was another of his sabotage. Since he is our number one Russophobe, the main, supreme Russophobe, then what else was expected from him.

Julia Kantor

Historian

Like much that Peter I did for Russia, he dramatically advanced it. Sharp and hard. In the case of the New Year - as much as three months. Here you can even talk not about a figurative leap forward, but in the most literal sense - about a calendar one. Before Peter I issued a decree on celebrating the New Year on January 1 - and this happened in 1699, and in the 1700th the arrival of this year and century was celebrated for the first time - the New Year in Russia was celebrated already in September. Peter I moved it forward three months. Naturally, this caused quite a complex reaction. Like everything Peter did, from shaving beards to building a fleet. But this was the case when a pro-European or simply European rite of celebration took shape, crossed with a pagan rite. Still, before that, a very large number of pagan rites were included in the celebration of the New Year, which was celebrated in September. As potatoes became the most important Russian dish along with porridge, so the Russian New Year became a symbol of Russian festivities, and not some other later, including the Soviet era, layers. Christmas, by the way, was celebrated under Peter on January 6-7, 1700 in a very unusual way for the first time. The pro-Western celebration of the New Year on January 1 nevertheless neatly and smoothly turned into Christmas celebrations with the procession in Moscow. Again, a successful combination of European and Russian, a certain continuity of the Russian mentality from paganism to Christianity was preserved and multiplied. This is how we still celebrate.

Vitaly Milonov

Member of the State Duma

It is necessary to pay attention to the complex of transformations that he carried out. The indiction, the church new year, which had taken place before, did not take root, apparently in the context of his Europeanization of Russia. It seems to me that this is the reason. Prior to this, the New Year was tied to the Agricultural New Year. It was September, and then everything changed.

Having ascended the Russian throne in 1682 and remaining on it for 43 years, Peter 1 managed to bring a backward and patriarchal country into the ranks of European leaders. His role in the history of our Motherland is invaluable, and life is full of amazing events. Interesting facts about Peter 1 made up more than one volume scientific research and filled the pages of numerous popular publications.

Emperor Peter the Great, who deserved this title due to the outstanding role he played in the history of Russia, was born on May 30 (June 9), 1672. The parents of the future emperor were Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who ruled in those years, and his second wife, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. A very interesting fact about Peter 1 should immediately be noted: nature deprived all the previous children of his father of health, while he grew up strong and never knew illness. This even gave rise to evil tongues to question the paternity of Alexei Mikhailovich.

When the boy was 4 years old, his father died, and the empty throne was taken by his elder brother, the son of Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage with Maria Ilyinichnaya Miloslavskaya ─ Fedor Alekseevich, who entered the national history as Sovereign of All Russia Fedor III.

Unhappy marriage

As a result of his accession, Peter's mother largely lost her influence at court and was forced, together with her son, to leave the capital, to go to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow. It was there that Peter I spent his childhood and youth, who, unlike the heirs of European thrones, early years surrounded by the most outstanding teachers of his time, he received his education, communicating with semi-literate uncles. However, the gap in knowledge, inevitable in such cases, was compensated by the abundance of his innate talents.

When, at the age of 17, Peter, having made it a habit to visit the German Quarter, started an affair with Anna Mons, his mother, in order to break the relationship she hated, forcibly married her son to the daughter of the devious Evdokia Lopukhina. This marriage, which the young people entered into under duress, turned out to be extremely unhappy, especially for Evdokia, whom Peter eventually ordered to be tonsured as a nun. Perhaps it was precisely the remorse of conscience that forced him to subsequently issue a decree forbidding the marriage of girls without their consent.

Peasant Woman Who Became Empress

Only the second wife of Peter 1, Catherine 1 (Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova), was able to fully reach out to his heart. She began to be called that only after she converted to Orthodoxy in 1707, and from birth she was called Marta Skavronskaya. The empress owes her patronymic to the son of Peter 1 - Tsarevich Alexei, who took on the role of godfather during the sacrament. Peter himself came up with a new surname for her.

The exact place of her birth is not known. According to one version, it was a village on the territory of modern Latvia, according to another - Estonia. But in any case, Martha came from a simple peasant family, and only an unusually lively mind, natural beauty, and even chance allowed her to take a place next to the emperor of one of the most powerful powers in the world.

According to contemporaries, she was the only one who knew how to tenderly subdue the outbursts of her husband's unbridled anger. Moreover, Peter saw in her not only the object of his love desires, but also a wise and efficient assistant who sincerely wanted to come to his rescue in any difficult situation. She was the only woman to whom he turned for advice in solving the most important state affairs.

An image that has become a tradition

With regard to the growth of Peter 1, a certain stereotype was firmly established in our minds: according to generally accepted opinion, the sovereign was unusually tall. However, not everything is so simple, and even this seemingly indisputable statement may raise certain doubts.

According to data published in various popular publications, his height ranged from 204 to 220 cm. This is how he was presented in the famous film directed by Vladimir Petrov, who filmed the novel by the classic of Soviet literature Alexei Tolstoy. From the cinema halls, his image stepped onto the canvases of many artists. Nevertheless, a number of quite obvious facts make one doubt its reliability.

Apparent contradictions

Having visited the museums of the country, the expositions of which present personal items, clothes (48 sizes!) And the sovereign's shoes, it is easy to make sure that they would be impossible to use if the growth of Peter 1 was really so significant. They would just be small. The same idea is suggested by several of his surviving beds, on which, with a growth exceeding 2 m, one would have to sleep while sitting. By the way, authentic samples of the king's shoes allow us to determine the size of Peter 1's feet with absolute accuracy. So, it has been established that today he would buy shoes for himself ... size 39!

Another argument that indirectly refutes the generally accepted idea of the growth of the king, can serve as a stuffed animal of his favorite horse Lisetta, presented in the St. Petersburg Zoological Museum. The horse was rather squat and would have been uncomfortable for a tall rider. And, finally, the last thing: could Peter 1 genetically achieve such a growth, if all of his ancestors, about whom there is fairly complete information, did not differ in special physical parameters?

Evolution and its laws

What gave rise to the legend of his unique growth? It has been scientifically proven that in the process of evolution over the past 300 years, people's height has increased by an average of 10-15 cm. This suggests that the sovereign was indeed much taller than those around him and was considered an unusually tall man, but not by the current, but by those long gone in the past, to the standards, when a height of 155 cm was considered quite normal. Today, the size of the feet of Peter 1, established according to shoe samples, leads to the conclusion that his height hardly exceeded 170-180 cm.

“But the king is not real!”

By the way, the emphasis that was placed over the following centuries on the physical features of the sovereign was largely due to the legend of his substitution, which allegedly occurred during a trip abroad to the countries of Western Europe (1697 ─ 1698).

In those years, rumors stubbornly circulated, fueled by secret oppositionists, that, going on a trip, the sovereign looked like an ordinary young man of 26 years of age, who had a dense physique and growth slightly above average. A mole on the left cheek was usually mentioned as a special sign. He was also quite an educated person filled with a truly Russian spirit.

These same witnesses claimed that after the two-year absence of the king (if it was him) it was completely impossible to recognize. He began to speak Russian poorly, and when writing he made gross mistakes. In addition, the former patriotism was replaced in him by contempt for everything Russian. He lost many of the skills he had before, and in return he acquired many new ones.

And finally, he changed dramatically in appearance. His height increased so much that he had to re-sew his entire wardrobe, and the mole on his left cheek disappeared without a trace. In general, when he returned to Moscow, he looked like a 40-year-old man, although by that time he was barely 28 years old.

Studying at the Dutch shipyards

There are many interesting facts about Peter 1 related to his activities to create Russian fleet. Having issued in October 1696 his famous decree " Sea vessels be”, he very quickly became convinced that, in addition to enthusiasm and financial investments, knowledge in the field of shipbuilding and navigation is required for the success of the business started.

It is for this reason that the composition Russian embassy(but incognito) he went to Holland, which was then one of the leading maritime powers of the world. There, in the small port city of Saardam, Peter 1 took a course in carpentry and shipbuilding, quite reasonably reasoning that before demanding from others, one must learn the secrets of the craft himself.

So, in August 1697, at the shipyard, owned by the Dutch shipbuilder Linstr Rogge, a new worker, Pyotr Mikhailov, appeared unusually similar to the Russian Tsar in facial features and valiant posture. However, in those years, the portraits of the heads of state were not yet replicated in the media, and no one had suspicions, especially since the Dutch could hardly imagine a monarch in a work apron and with an ax in his hands.

Dutch acquisitions

This foreign voyage of the sovereign significantly enriched the palette of Russian life, since he tried to transplant much of what he had seen there on Russian soil. For example, Holland was exactly the country from where Peter 1 brought potatoes.

In addition, from this small state, washed by the North Sea, tobacco, coffee, tulip bulbs, as well as a huge set of surgical instruments came to Russia in those years. By the way, the idea to force subjects to shave their beards was also born by the sovereign during a visit to Holland.

Handyman

Among other interesting facts about Peter 1, one should note his addiction to a number of activities that are not typical for others. august persons. Well-known, for example, his passion for turning. Until now, visitors to the St. Petersburg Museum "The House of Peter I" can see the machine on which the sovereign himself turned various wooden crafts. He was also fond of medicine, showing particular interest in dentistry. It is known that with the help of tools brought from Holland, he often removed the bad teeth of his courtiers.

Hay, straw and a "medal for drunkenness"

A characteristic feature of the sovereign was his ability to make non-standard and sometimes completely unexpected decisions. So, for example, during drill training, it turned out that the soldiers, who came from the common people, did not distinguish “right” from “left” and, accordingly, could not keep up. Peter found a simple and witty way out of the situation: he ordered to tie a bundle of hay to the right leg of each soldier, and straw to the left. Now, instead of the previously incomprehensible command: “Right ─ left!” The sergeant-major shouted: “Hay is straw, hay is straw!” - and the system marched, minting a step in unison.

As you know, Peter 1 loved noisy feasts, but at the same time did not favor drunkards. To prevent this evil, he also found a very original solution. In the police station, everyone who was convicted of excessive drinking was hung around the neck with a special “medal” cast from cast iron and weighing at least 7 kg (and sometimes more). The drunkard had to wear this “award” for a week and could not take it off with his own hand, since it was connected to a metal collar fastened with a rivet in the manner of shackles.

“Hello, we are looking for talent!”

From time immemorial, counterfeiters have not been translated in Russia. They were caught and punished in the most sophisticated ways, to the point that molten silver was poured into their throats. The sovereign approached this problem with his usual pragmatism. He reasoned very sensibly that if an attacker is so gifted by nature that he is able to secretly mint coins that are indistinguishable from genuine ones, then it is a sin to destroy his talent.

By order of the king, all the counterfeiters caught were no longer killed or maimed, but sent to work at the mint (under escort, of course). Only during 1712, 13 people were “employed” by such craftsmen, which undoubtedly brought great benefits to Russia.

Beginning of a new era

An important step towards introducing Russia to the standards adopted in Europe was the introduction of the Julian calendar under Peter 1. The former chronology, originating from the creation of the world, became very inconvenient in the realities of life in the coming 18th century. In this regard, on December 15, 1699, the king issued a Decree, according to which the years began to be counted in accordance with the calendar generally accepted abroad, put into use by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar.

Thus, on January 1, Russia, together with the entire civilized world, entered not into the year 7208 from the Creation of the world, but into the year 1700 from the Nativity of Christ. At the same time, the Decree of Peter 1 was issued on the celebration of the New Year on the first day of January, and not in September, as it was before. One of the innovations was the custom of decorating houses with Christmas trees.

It is very difficult to talk briefly about Peter 1 and his amazing life. Multi-volume studies have been written about this man, but until now, scientists are discovering more and more new documents that make it possible to more fully present the picture of the legendary era, which bears the name of the greatest reformer, who, according to A.S. Pushkin, "bridle iron Russia reared up."

On August 18, 1682, 10-year-old Peter I came to the Russian throne. We remember this ruler as a great reformer. It is up to you to decide negatively or positively about his innovations. We recall the 7 most ambitious reforms of Peter I.

Church is not a state

Peter I is known for tolerance towards other confessions. Under him, foreigners were allowed to freely profess their faith and the marriages of Christians of different denominations. “The Lord gave kings power over the nations, but Christ alone has power over the conscience of the people,” Peter believed. With opponents of the Church, he ordered the bishops to be "meek and reasonable." On the other hand, Peter introduced penalties for those who went to confession less than once a year or misbehaved in the temple during the service.

Bath and beard tax

Army for life

"Extra" 5508 years

In 1703, the first Russian printed newspaper, Vedomosti, began to appear, and in 1719, the first museum in Russian history, the Kunstkamera with a public library, began to operate.

Under Peter, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences (1701), the Medical and Surgical School (1707) - the future Military Medical Academy, the Naval Academy (1715), the Engineering and Artillery Schools (1719), schools of translators at the colleges.

Learning through strength

A slave is better than a serf

There is more freedom for young people who want to get married. The forced marriage of a girl was abolished by three decrees, and the betrothal and wedding now had to be separated in time so that the bride and groom "could recognize each other." Complaints that one of them annulled the engagement were not accepted - because now it became their right.

New sense of territory