Read the legends of ancestors n m Karamzin. Department of Modern Russian History and Historiography Omsk State University - Karamzin: Vladimir. On the sources of Russian history until the 17th century

Tsarevich, eldest son of Peter the Great from his first marriage with E.F. Lopukhina, b. February 18, 1690, † June 26, 1718 Tsarevich Alexei for the first years of his life remained in the care of his grandmother, Natalya Kirillovna, and mother, Evdokia Fedorovna; his father was too busy busy social activities, from which he rested not at the family hearth, but at military fun or in the German settlement. After the death of Natalya Kirillovna (in 1694), his mother took the main place in the life of the prince, which had an influence on those friendly relations, in which he was with her at a later time. At the age of six, Tsarevich Alexei began to learn to read and write using the Book of Hours and the primer from Nikifor Vyazemsky, a simple and poorly educated man, and also became acquainted with “the nature of writing, the stress of the voice and the punctuation of words” according to the grammar of Karion Istomin. In September 1698, following the imprisonment of Queen Evdokia in the Suzdal monastery, the prince was deprived of his mother's care and transported to his aunt, Natalya Alekseevna, in the village of Preobrazhenskoye. Here, however, under the guidance of his teacher N. Vyazemsky and the Naryshkins’ teachers (Alexey and Vasily), he did little, with the exception of perhaps “hut amusements,” and “learned more to be prudes.” He was surrounded at this time by the Naryshkins (Vasily and Mikhail Grigorievich, Alexey and Ivan Ivanovich) and the Vyazemskys (Nikifor, Sergey, Lev, Peter, Andrey). His confessor, the Verkhospassky priest, then the archpriest Yakov Ignatiev, the Blagoveshchensk sacristan Alexey, and the priest Leonty Menshikov, who, in charge of the prince’s upbringing, deliberately neglected the matter in order to discredit Alexei Petrovich in the eyes of the tsar, had a bad influence on him. The tsar, however, decided (in 1699) to send his son to Dresden to study science, but soon (perhaps under the influence of the death of General Karlovich, who was supposed to be entrusted with this training) changed his decision. The Saxon Neugebauer, a former student at the University of Leipzig, was invited to mentor the prince. He failed to bind the prince to himself, quarreled with his former teachers and annoyed Menshikov, and therefore in July 1702 he lost his position. The following year, his place was taken by Huyssen, a flattering man who did not want to take responsibility for the assignment entrusted to him, and therefore was unreliable in his stories about the prince. But Huyssen, obviously, did not care too much about the successful education of Alexei Petrovich, since even after Huyssen’s departure in 1705, Tsarevich Alexei still continued to study. In 1708, N. Vyazemsky reported that the prince was studying the German and French languages, studying “the four parts of numbers,” repeating declensions and cases, writing an atlas and reading history.

At this time, however, the prince was entering a period of more independent activity. Already in 1707, Huyssen (sent abroad on diplomatic missions) proposed Princess Charlotte of Wolfenbüttel as his wife to Alexei Petrovich, to which the tsar agreed. During his journey to Dresden in 1709, a journey undertaken for the purpose of learning German and French, geometry, fortification and “political affairs” together with Alexander Golovkin (son of the chancellor) and Prince. Yuri Trubetskoy, the prince saw the princess in Schlakenberg in the spring of 1710, and a year later, on April 11, a marriage contract was signed. The marriage itself took place on October 14, 1711 in Torgau (in Saxony).

The prince entered into marriage with a foreign princess of a non-Orthodox religion only on the orders of the king. His relationship with his father played a leading role in his life and was formed partly under the influence of his character, partly due to external circumstances. Poor in spiritual gifts, the prince was distinguished by a rather indecisive and secretive character. These traits developed under the influence of the situation in which he found himself in his youth. From 1694 to 1698, the prince lived with his mother, who then no longer enjoyed the royal favor. I had to choose between father and mother, but it was difficult to decide. But the prince loved his mother and maintained relations with her even after her imprisonment, for example, he went on a date with her in 1707; by this, of course, he aroused a feeling of hostility in his father. I had to hide my affection for my mother from my father’s anger. The weak soul of the prince was afraid of the powerful energy of his father, and the latter became more and more convinced of his son’s inability to become an active champion of his plans, feared for the fate of the reforms, the introduction of which he had devoted his entire life, and therefore began to treat his son harshly. Alexey Petrovich was afraid of life's struggle; he sought refuge from her in religious rituals. It was not for nothing that he read the Bible six times, made extracts from Baronius about church dogmas, rituals and miracles, and bought books of religious content. The king, on the contrary, had a deep practical sense and an iron will; in the struggle his strength grew stronger and multiplied; he sacrificed everything to introduce reforms that his superstitious son considered contrary to Orthodoxy. When the Tsarevich lived in Preobrazhenskoye (1705-1709), he was surrounded by people who, in his own words, taught him to “be hypocrites and have conversions with priests and monks and often go to them and get drunk.” In dealing with these subordinates, the prince, who knew how to bow to the strong will of his father, himself showed signs of self-will and cruelty; he beat N. Vyazemsky and tore the “honest brotherhood of his guardian,” confessor Yakov Ignatiev. Already at this time, the prince confessed to his closest friend, the same Yakov Ignatiev, that he wanted his father to die, and the archpriest consoled him with the fact that God would forgive and that they all wished the same. And in this case, the behavior of the prince in Preobrazhenskoye did not, of course, remain unknown to his father. Rumors also began to circulate among the people about the discord between the prince and the king. During the torture and executions after the Streltsy riot, the monastery groom Kuzmin told the Streltsy the following: “The Emperor loves the Germans, but the Tsarevich does not like them, a German came to him and said unknown words and the Tsarevich burned the dress on that German and scorched him. Nemchin complained to the sovereign and he said: why are you going to him, while I am alive, so are you." Another time, in 1708, there were rumors among the dissatisfied that the prince was also dissatisfied, surrounded himself with Cossacks, who, at his behest, were punishing the boyars are the tsar's indulgents, and says that the sovereign is not his father and not the tsar. Thus, popular rumor personified in Tsarevich Alexei the hope of liberation from the heavy oppression of Peter's reforms and gave the hostile relationship of two different characters a shade of political discord; began to turn into a struggle of parties. If in 1708 the prince proposed to the tsar articles on strengthening the Moscow fortification, on correcting the garrison, on the formation of several infantry regiments, on the search and training of minors, if in the same year he recruited regiments at Smolensk, he sent Swedish troops to St. Petersburg. Polonyanikov, informed about military operations against the Don Cossacks with Bulavin at the head and went to inspect stores in Vyazma, in 1709 he brought regiments to his father in Sumy - then in later times he did not show such activity and enjoyed the tsar’s trust less and less. Travel abroad the prince hardly brought him any significant benefit. After the first of them (1709-1712), the prince treated his wife badly, indulged in drunkenness and continued to be friends with the priests. After the second, he entered into a relationship with Euphrosyne Fedorovna, a prisoner who belonged to his teacher N. Vyazemsky. At the same time, he began to show disobedience, stubbornness, and also an aversion to military affairs and began to think about escaping abroad. The king, apparently, did not know these secret thoughts, but nevertheless noticed a change for the worse in his son. On the very day of Crown Princess Charlotte's death, 22 October. 1715, the tsar demanded in writing from the prince that he either reform or become a monk, and in a letter dated January 19. 1716 added that otherwise he would treat him as “a villain.” Then Alexei Petrovich, supported by the sympathy of A. Kikin, F. Dubrovsky and the valet Ivan the Bolshoi, fled with Euphrosyne through Danzig to Vienna, where he appeared before Chancellor Schönborn on November 10, 1716. Having secured the patronage of Emperor Charles VI (who was his brother-in-law), Alexey Petrovich traveled to Tyrol, where he stayed at Ehrenberg Castle on December 7. 1716, and on May 6, 1717 arrived at the Neapolitan castle of Saint Elmo. Here he was found by Peter Tolstoy and Alexander Rumyantsev, sent by the Tsar. Despite the Tsarevich's fears, Tolstoy managed to persuade him to go back to Russia (October 14), and during his return, Alexey Petrovich received permission to marry Euphrosyne Fedorovna, but not abroad, but upon entering Russia, in order to have less shame was. The first meeting between father and son took place on February 3, 1718. Following this, the prince was deprived of the right to inherit the throne, torture and executions began (Kikin, Glebov and many others). The search was initially carried out in Moscow, in mid-March, then transferred to St. Petersburg. The prince was also tortured from June 19 to June 26, when he died at 6 o'clock in the afternoon without waiting for the death sentence to be carried out.

From Crown Princess Charlotte, the prince had two children: daughter Natalia, b. July 12, 1714, and son Peter, b. 12 Oct. 1715. From Evfrosinya Feodorovna, Alexey Petrovich was also supposed to have a child in April 1717; his fate remains unknown.

The most important studies about Tsarevich Alexei: N. Ustryalova"History of the reign of Peter the Great", vol. VI; S. Solovyova"History of Russia", volume XVII; A. Brickner, "The History of Peter the Great"; M. Pogodin,“The trial of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich” (in “Russian demon.”, 1860, book, pp. 1-84); N. Kostomarov, “Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich” (in “Ancient and modern Russia,” vol. I, pp. 31-54 and 134-152).

(Brockhaus)

(Polovtsov)

Large biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .

According to official records kept in the archives of the Secret Chancellery of Sovereign Peter I, on June 26 (July 7), 1718, in a cell of the Peter and Paul Fortress, a previously convicted state criminal, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich Romanov, died of a stroke (cerebral hemorrhage). This version of the death of the heir to the throne raises great doubts among historians and makes them think about his murder, committed on the orders of the king.

Childhood of the heir to the throne

Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, who by right of birth was supposed to succeed his father, Tsar Peter I, on the Russian throne, was born on February 18 (28), 1690 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, where the royal summer residence was located. It was founded by his grandfather - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who died in 1676, in whose honor the young heir to the crown received his name. From then on, Saint Alexis, the man of God, became his heavenly patron. The Tsarevich’s mother was the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Fedorovna (née Lopukhina), who was imprisoned by him in a monastery in 1698 and, according to legend, cursed the entire Romanov family.

IN early years During his life, Alexei Petrovich lived in the care of his grandmother - the Dowager Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna (nee Naryshkina) - the second wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. According to contemporaries, even then he was distinguished by a hot-tempered disposition, which is why, having begun to learn to read and write at the age of six, he often beat his mentor, the petty nobleman Nikifor Vyazemsky. He also loved to pull the beard of the confessor assigned to him, Yakov Ignatiev, a deeply pious and pious man.

In 1698, after his wife was imprisoned in the Suzdal-Pokrovsky Monastery, Peter transferred his son to the care of his beloved sister, Natalya Alekseevna. And before, the sovereign had little interest in the details of Alyosha’s life, but from then on he stopped worrying about him altogether, limiting himself only to sending his son new teachers twice in a short time, whom he selected from among highly educated foreigners.

Difficult child

However, no matter how hard the teachers tried to instill the European spirit in the young man, all their efforts were in vain. According to Vyazemsky’s denunciation, which he sent to the Tsar in 1708, Alexey Petrovich tried in every possible way to evade the activities prescribed for him, preferring to communicate with them various kinds“priests and black monks,” among whom he was often given to drunkenness. The time spent with them contributed to the rooting of hypocrisy and hypocrisy in him, which had a detrimental effect on the formation of character young man.

In order to eradicate these extremely undesirable inclinations in his son and introduce him to the real business, the tsar instructed him to supervise the training of recruits recruited in connection with the advance of the Swedes deep into Russia. However, the results of his activities were extremely insignificant, and, worst of all, he went without permission to the Suzdal-Pokrovsky Monastery, where he met his mother. With this rash act, the prince incurred the wrath of his father.

Brief married life

In 1707, when Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich turned 17 years old, the question arose about his marriage. From among the contenders for marriage with the heir to the throne, the 13-year-old Austrian princess Charlotte of Wolfenbüttel was chosen, who was very cleverly matched to the future groom by his teacher and tutor, Baron Hussein. Marriage between members of the reigning families is a purely political issue, so they were in no particular hurry with it, carefully considering everything possible consequences this step. As a result, the wedding, which was celebrated with extraordinary pomp, took place only in October 1711.

Three years after marriage, his wife gave birth to a girl, Natalya, and after some time a boy. This only son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, named after his crowned grandfather, eventually ascended to the Russian throne and became Tsar Peter II. However, soon a misfortune happened - as a result of complications that arose during childbirth, Charlotte unexpectedly died. The widowed prince never married again, and he was consoled as best he could by the young beauty Euphrosyne, a serf maiden given to him by Vyazemsky.

Son rejected by father

From the biography of Alexei Petrovich it is known that further events took an extremely unfavorable turn for him. The fact is that in 1705, his father’s second wife, Catherine, gave birth to a child who turned out to be a boy and, therefore, the heir to the throne, in the event that Alexei abandoned him. In this situation, the sovereign, who had previously not loved the son born of a woman whom he treacherously hid in a monastery, became imbued with hatred towards him.

This feeling, raging in the tsar’s chest, was largely fueled by anger caused by Alexei Petrovich’s reluctance to share with him the work of Europeanizing patriarchal Russia, and by the desire to leave the throne to the new contender who had barely been born - Pyotr Petrovich. As you know, fate opposed this wish of his, and the child died at an early age.

In order to stop all attempts by his eldest son to claim the crown in the future, and to remove himself from sight, Peter I decided to follow the path already trodden by him and force him to become a monk, as he once did with his mother. Subsequently, the conflict between Alexei Petrovich and Peter I became even more acute, forcing the young man to take the most drastic measures.

Flight from Russia

In March 1716, when the sovereign was in Denmark, the prince also went abroad, allegedly wanting to meet his father in Copenhagen and inform him of his decision regarding monastic tonsure. Voivode Vasily Petrovich Kikin, who then held the position of head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, helped him cross the border, contrary to the royal ban. He subsequently paid for this service with his life.

Finding himself outside of Russia, the heir to the throne Alexei Petrovich, the son of Peter I, unexpectedly for the retinue accompanying him, changed his route, and, bypassing Gdansk, went straight to Vienna, where he then conducted separate negotiations both with the Austrian Emperor Charles himself and with the whole a number of other European rulers. This desperate step, which the prince was forced to take by circumstances, was nothing more than high treason, but he had no other choice.

Far-reaching plans

As is clear from the materials of the investigation, in which the fugitive prince became a defendant some time later, he planned, having settled on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, to wait for the death of his father, who, according to rumors, was seriously ill at that time and could die at any moment. After this, he hoped, with the help of the same Emperor Charles, to ascend to the Russian throne, resorting, if necessary, to the help of the Austrian army.

In Vienna they reacted very sympathetically to his plans, believing that Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, the son of Peter I, would be an obedient puppet in their hands, but they did not dare to openly intervene, considering it too risky an undertaking. They sent the conspirator himself to Naples, where under the skies of Italy he had to hide from all seeing eye Secret Chancellery and monitor further developments.

Historians have at their disposal a very interesting document - a report from the Austrian diplomat Count Schoenberg, which he sent to Emperor Charles in 1715. It states, among other things, that the Russian Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich Romanov has neither the intelligence, nor the energy, nor the courage necessary for decisive action aimed at seizing power. Based on this, the count considered it inappropriate to provide him with any assistance. It is possible that it was this message that saved Russia from another foreign invasion.

Homecoming

Having learned about the flight of his son abroad and foreseeing the possible consequences, Peter I took the most decisive measures to capture him. He entrusted direct leadership of the operation Russian Ambassador at the Viennese court to Count A.P. Veselovsky, but he, as it turned out later, provided assistance to the prince, hoping that when he came to power he would reward him for the services rendered. This miscalculation brought him to the chopping block.

Nevertheless, agents of the Secret Chancellery very soon established the location of the fugitive hiding in Naples. The Holy Roman Emperor responded to their request for the extradition of a state criminal with a decisive refusal, but allowed the royal envoys - Alexander Rumyantsev and Peter Tolstoy - to meet with him. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the nobles handed the prince a letter in which his father guaranteed him forgiveness of guilt and personal safety in the event of a voluntary return to his homeland.

As subsequent events showed, this letter was just an insidious trick aimed at luring the fugitive to Russia and dealing with him there. Anticipating such an outcome of events and no longer hoping for help from Austria, the prince tried to win over the Swedish king to his side, but never received an answer to the letter sent to him. As a result, after a series of persuasion, intimidation and all sorts of promises, the fugitive heir Russian throne Alexey Petrovich Romanov agreed to return to his homeland.

Under the yoke of accusations

Repression fell on the prince as soon as he arrived in Moscow. It began with the fact that on February 3 (14), 1718, the sovereign’s manifesto was published depriving him of all rights of succession to the throne. In addition, as if wanting to enjoy the humiliation of his own son, Peter I forced him within the walls of the Assumption Cathedral to publicly swear an oath that he would never again lay claim to the crown and would renounce it in favor of his half-brother, the young Peter Petrovich. At the same time, the sovereign again committed an obvious deception, promising Alexei, subject to a voluntary admission of guilt, complete forgiveness.

Literally the next day after the oath taken in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, the head of the Secret Chancellery, Count Tolstoy, began an investigation. His goal was to clarify all the circumstances related to the treason committed by the prince. From the records of the inquiry it is clear that during interrogations, Alexey Petrovich, showing cowardice, tried to shift the blame to the closest dignitaries, who allegedly forced him to enter into separate negotiations with the rulers of foreign states.

Everyone he pointed out was immediately executed, but this did not help him avoid answering. The defendant was exposed by many irrefutable evidence of guilt, among which the testimony of his mistress, the same serf maiden Euphrosyne, generously given to him by Vyazemsky, turned out to be especially disastrous.

Death Sentence

The Emperor closely followed the progress of the investigation, and sometimes he himself conducted the investigation, which formed the basis of the plot of the famous painting by N. N. Ge, in which Tsar Peter interrogates Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in Peterhof. Historians note that at this stage the defendants were not handed over to the executioners and their testimony was considered voluntary. However, there is a possibility that the former heir slandered himself out of fear of possible torment, and the girl Euphrosyne was simply bribed.

One way or another, by the end of the spring of 1718, the investigation had sufficient materials to accuse Alexei Petrovich of treason, and the trial that took place soon sentenced him to death. It is known that at the meetings his attempt to seek help from Sweden, a state with which Russia was then at war, was not mentioned, and the decision was made on the basis of the remaining episodes of the case. According to contemporaries, upon hearing the verdict, the prince was horrified and on his knees begged his father to forgive him, promising to immediately become a monk.

The defendant spent the entire previous period of time in one of the casemates of the Peter and Paul Fortress, ironically becoming the first prisoner of the notorious political prison into which the citadel founded by his father gradually turned. Thus, the building with which the history of St. Petersburg began is forever associated with the name of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich (a photo of the fortress is presented in the article).

Various versions of the death of the prince

Now let's turn to the official version of the death of this unfortunate scion of the House of Romanov. As mentioned above, the cause of death that occurred even before the sentence was carried out was called a blow, that is, hemorrhage in the brain. Perhaps in court circles they believed this, but modern researchers have great doubts about this version.

First of all, in the second half of the 19th century Russian historian N. G. Ustryalov published documents according to which, after the verdict, Tsarevich Alexei was subjected to terrible torture, apparently wanting to find out some additional circumstances of the case. It is possible that the executioner was overzealous and his actions caused his unexpected death.

In addition, there is evidence from persons involved in the investigation who claimed that while in the fortress, the prince was secretly killed on the orders of his father, who did not want to compromise the Romanov family name with a public execution. This option is quite probable, but the fact is that their testimony is extremely contradictory in detail, and therefore cannot be taken on faith.

By the way, in late XIX century, a letter allegedly written by a direct participant in those events, Count A. I. Rumyantsev, and addressed to a prominent statesman Peter's era - V.N. Tatishchev. In it, the author talks in detail about the violent death of the prince at the hands of jailers who carried out the order of the sovereign. However, after proper examination, it was determined that this document was a fake.

And finally, there is another version of what happened. According to some information, Tsarevich Alexei suffered from tuberculosis for a long time. It is possible that the experiences caused by the trial and the death sentence imposed on him provoked a sharp exacerbation of the disease, which became the cause of his sudden death. However, this version of what happened is not supported by convincing evidence.

Disgrace and subsequent rehabilitation

Alexei was buried in the cathedral of the very Peter and Paul Fortress, of which he happened to be the first prisoner. Tsar Peter Alekseevich was personally present at the burial, wanting to make sure that the body of his hated son was swallowed up by the earth. He soon issued several manifestos condemning the deceased, and Novgorod Archbishop Feofan (Prokopovich) wrote an appeal to all Russians, in which he justified the tsar’s actions.

The name of the disgraced prince was consigned to oblivion and was not mentioned until 1727, when, by the will of fate, his son ascended to the Russian throne and became Emperor of Russia, Peter II. Having come to power, this young man (he was barely 12 years old at the time) completely rehabilitated his father, ordering that all articles and manifestos compromising him be withdrawn from circulation. As for the work of Archbishop Feofan, published at one time under the title “The Truth of the Will of the Monarchs,” it, too, was declared to be malicious sedition.

Real events through the eyes of artists

The image of Tsarevich Alexei is reflected in the works of many Russian artists. It is enough to recall the names of the writers - D. S. Merezhkovsky, D. L. Mordovtsev, A. N. Tolstoy, as well as the artist N. N. Ge, who was already mentioned above. He created a portrait of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, full of drama and historical truth. But one of his most striking incarnations was the role played by Nikolai Cherkasov in the film “Peter the First,” directed by the outstanding Soviet director V. M. Petrov.

In it, this historical character appears as a symbol of the bygone century and the deeply conservative forces that prevented the implementation of progressive reforms, as well as the danger posed by foreign powers. This interpretation of the image was fully consistent with official Soviet historiography; his death was presented as an act of just retribution.

Faces of history

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof. N. N. Ge, 1871

Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was born on February 18, 1690 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow in the family of Tsar Peter I and Tsarina Evdokia Fedorovna, née Lopukhina. Alexei spent his early childhood in the company of his mother and grandmother, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, and after September 1698, when Evdokia was imprisoned in the Suzdal monastery, Alexei was taken in by his aunt, Tsarevna Natalya Alekseevna. The boy was distinguished by his curiosity and ability to study foreign languages, was calm in character and prone to contemplation. He early began to fear his father, whose energy, temper and penchant for transformation rather repulsed than attracted Alexei.

Foreigners were involved in the education of the prince - first the German Neugebauer, then Baron Huyssen. At the same time, Peter tried to introduce his son to military affairs and periodically took him with him to the front of the Northern War.

But in 1705, Huyssen transferred to the diplomatic service, and the 15-year-old prince, in essence, was left to his own devices. His confessor, Father Yakov, began to have a great influence on him. On his advice, in 1707 the prince visited his mother in the Suzdal monastery, which angered Peter. The father began to burden his son with various assignments related to the army - for example, Alexey visited Smolensk, Moscow, Vyazma, Kyiv, Voronezh, and Sumy with inspections.

At the end of 1709, the king sent his son to Dresden, under the pretext of further study of science, but in fact wanting to arrange his marriage with German princess. Sophia-Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel was chosen as a candidate, and although Alexey did not have any special sympathy for her, he did not contradict his father’s will. In October 1711, in Torgau, in the presence of Peter I, Alexei married Sophia. As one might expect, this marriage was not happy. In 1714, Alexei and Sofia had a daughter, Natalia, and on October 12, 1715, a son, Peter. Ten days later, Sofia died from the effects of childbirth.

By this time, the king was already very dissatisfied with his son. He was irritated by both Alexei’s addiction to wine and his communication with people who constituted hidden opposition to Peter and his policies. The tsar’s particular rage was caused by the behavior of the heir before the exam, which Alexei had to pass after returning from abroad in 1713. The prince was so afraid of this test that he decided to shoot himself in the left hand and thus save himself from the need to make drawings. The shot was unsuccessful; his hand was only singed by gunpowder. Peter became so angry that he severely beat his son and forbade him to appear in the palace.

Eventually the Tsar threatened to deprive Alexei of his inheritance rights if he did not change his behavior. In response, Alexey himself renounced the throne not only for himself, but also for his newborn son. “As soon as I see myself,” he wrote, “I am inconvenient and inappropriate for this matter, I am also very devoid of memory (without which nothing can be done) and with all my mental and physical strength (from various illnesses) I have weakened and become indecent for the rule of so many people, where I require a person not as rotten as me. For the sake of the legacy (God bless you with many years of health!) Russian after you (even if I didn’t have a brother, but now, thank God, I have a brother, to whom God bless him) I don’t claim and will not claim in the future.” Peter I was dissatisfied with this answer and once again called on his son to either change his behavior or become a monk. The Tsarevich consulted with his closest friends and, having heard from them a meaningful phrase that “the hood will not be nailed to the head,” agreed to take monastic vows. However, the tsar, who was leaving abroad, gave Alexei another six months to think about it.

It was then that the prince hatched a plan to flee abroad. The Tsarevich's closest assistant was the former close associate of Peter I, Alexey Vasilyevich Kikin. In September 1716, Peter sent his son a letter ordering him to immediately arrive in Copenhagen to take part in military operations against Sweden, and Alexei decided to use this pretext to escape without interference. On September 26, 1716, together with his mistress Efrosinya Fedorova, her brother and three servants, the prince left St. Petersburg for Libau (now Liepaja, Latvia), from where he went through Danzig to Vienna. This choice was not accidental - Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, whose residence was in Vienna, was married to the sister of Alexei’s late wife. In Vienna, the prince came to the Austrian vice-chancellor Count Schönborn and asked for asylum. As a token of gratitude for their hospitality, Alexey proposed the following plan to the Austrians: he, Alexey, would wait in Austria for the death of Peter, and then, with the help of the Austrians, take the Russian throne, after which he would disband the army and navy, move the capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow and refuse to pursue an offensive foreign policy .

In Vienna they became interested in this plan, but they did not risk openly providing shelter to the fugitive - quarreling with Russia was not part of Charles VI’s plans. Therefore, Alexei, under the guise of the criminal Kokhanovsky, was sent to the Tyrolean castle of Ehrenberg. From there, through secret channels, he sent several letters to Russia addressed to influential representatives of the clergy, in which he condemned his father’s policies and promised to return the country to the old path.

Meanwhile, a search for the fugitive began in Russia. Peter I ordered the Russian resident in Vienna, Veselovsky, to find the prince at all costs, and he soon found out that Alexei’s location was Erenberg. At the same time, the Russian Tsar entered into correspondence with Charles VI, demanding that Alexei be returned to Russia “for fatherly correction.” The Emperor evasively replied that he knew nothing about Alexei, but apparently decided not to further contact the dangerous fugitive, because they decided to send Alexei from Austria to the fortress of St. Elmo near Naples. However, Russian agents “located” the fugitive prince there too. In September 1717, a small Russian delegation led by Count P. A. Tolstoy came to Naples and began to persuade Alexei to surrender. But he was adamant and did not want to return to Russia. Then they had to resort to a military trick - the Russians bribed the secretary of the Neapolitan Viceroy, and he “confidentially” told Alexei that the Austrians were not going to protect him, they were planning to separate him from his mistress, and that Peter I himself was already going to Naples. Hearing about this, Alexey fell into a panic and began to look for contacts with the Swedes. But they reassured him - they promised that he would be allowed to marry his mistress and lead a private life in Russia. Peter's letter dated November 17, in which the Tsar promised complete forgiveness, finally convinced Alexei that everything was in order. On January 31, 1718, the prince arrived in Moscow, and on February 3, he met with his father. In the presence of senators, Alexei repented of what he had done, and Peter confirmed his decision to forgive him, setting only two conditions: renunciation of rights to the throne and the surrender of all accomplices who helped the prince escape. On the same day, Alexei in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin renounced his rights to the throne in favor of his three-year-old son Peter.

On February 4, interrogations of Alexei began. In the “interrogation sheets,” he told in detail everything about his accomplices, essentially placing all the blame on them, and when they were executed, he decided that the worst was over. WITH with a light heart Alexey began to prepare for his wedding with Efrosinia Fedorova. But she, returning to Russia separately from the prince due to childbirth, was immediately arrested and during interrogation she told so much about her lover that she actually signed his death warrant. Now it became clear to Peter that his son not only fell under the influence of his environment, but also played an active role in the conspiracy. In a confrontation with Fedorova, Alexey initially denied it, but then confirmed her testimony. On June 13, 1718, Peter I withdrew from the investigation, asking the clergy to give him advice on how to deal with his traitorous son, and ordering the Senate to pass a fair sentence on him. The Supreme Court of 127 people decided that “the prince hid his rebellious intentions against his father and his sovereign, and the deliberate search from long ago, and the search for the throne of the father and under his belly, through various insidious inventions and falsehoods, and hope for the mob and desire father and sovereign of his imminent death." On June 25, under the protection of four guards non-commissioned officers, the prince was taken from the Peter and Paul Fortress to the Senate, where he heard the death sentence.

Further events are still shrouded in secrecy. According to the official version, on June 26, 1718 at 6 p.m., Alexey Petrovich suddenly died at the age of 28 from a “stroke” (cerebral hemorrhage). But modern researchers suggest that the true cause of Alexei’s death was torture. It is also possible that he was killed on the orders of Peter I. The prince was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the presence of his father. The son of Alexei Petrovich ascended the throne Russian Empire in 1727 under the name of Peter II and reigned for three years. During his reign, Alexei was officially rehabilitated.

Like many historical figures with a complex and unusual fate, the figure of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich has long been a “tidbit” for historical novelists, playwrights, fans of “conspiracy theories,” and more recently, film directors. There are many interpretations of Alexei’s life - from unconditional condemnation of “a complete nonentity and a traitor” to equally unconditional sympathy for the subtle and educated young man, mercilessly trampled by his own father. But no matter how subsequent generations treated him, there is no doubt that Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was one of the most mysterious and dramatic figures in Russian history.

Vyacheslav Bondarenko, Ekaterina Chestnova

Is Peter I to blame for the death of his son Alexei Petrovich?

ALEXEY PETROVICH (1690-1718) - prince, eldest son of Tsar Peter I. Alexey was Peter’s son from his first marriage with E. Lopukhina and was brought up in an environment hostile to Peter. Peter wanted to make his son the successor of his work - the radical reform of Russia, but Alexei avoided this in every possible way. The clergy and boyars surrounding Alexei turned him against his father. Peter threatened to deprive Alexei of his inheritance and imprison him in a monastery. In 1716, Alexei, fearing his father’s wrath, fled abroad - first to Vienna, then to Naples. With threats and promises, Peter returned his son to Russia and forced him to abdicate the throne. However, Alexey did this with joy.

“Father,” he wrote to his wife Efrosinya, “took me to eat with him and acts mercifully towards me! God grant that this will continue in the future, and that I may wait for you in joy. Thank God that we were excommunicated from the inheritance, until then we will be left in peace with God grant that I live happily with you in the village, since you and I wanted nothing more than to live in Rozhdestvenka; you yourself know that I want nothing more than to live with you until death.”

In exchange for his renunciation and admission of guilt, Peter gave his son his word not to punish him. But the renunciation did not help, and Alexei’s desire to get away from the political storms did not come true. Peter ordered an investigation into his son's case. Alexey innocently told about everything he knew and planned. Many people from Alexei’s entourage were tortured and executed. The prince did not escape torture either. On June 14, 1718, he was imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and on June 19, torture began. The first time they gave him 25 lashes and asked whether everything he had shown earlier was true. On June 22, new testimony was taken from Alexei, in which he admitted to a plan to overthrow the power of Peter, to raise an uprising throughout the country, since the people, in his opinion, stood for the old beliefs and customs, against his father’s reforms. True, some historians believe that some of the testimony could have been falsified by the interrogators to please the king. In addition, as contemporaries testify, Alexey was already suffering at that time mental disorder. The Frenchman de Lavie, for example, believed that “his brain is not in order,” which is proved by “all his actions.” In his testimony, the prince agreed to the point that the Austrian Emperor Charles VI allegedly promised him armed assistance in the fight for the Russian crown.

The ending was short.

On June 24, Alexei was tortured again, and on the same day the supreme court, consisting of the generals, senators and the Holy Synod (120 people in total), sentenced the prince to death penalty. True, some of the judges from the clergy actually avoided an explicit decision on death - they cited extracts from the Bible of two kinds: both about the execution of a son who disobeyed his father, and about the forgiveness of the prodigal son. The solution to this question: what to do with your son? — they left it to their father, Peter I. The civilians spoke out directly: execute.

But even after this decision, Alexei was not left alone. The next day, Grigory Skornyakov-Pisarev, sent by the Tsar, came to him for interrogation: what did the extracts from the Roman scientist and historian Varro, found in the Tsarevich’s papers, mean? The Tsarevich said that he made these extracts for his own use, “to see that before it was not the way it is done now,” but he did not intend to show them to the people.

But that wasn't the end of the matter. On June 26, at 8 o’clock in the morning, Peter himself and nine of his entourage arrived at the fortress to visit the prince. Alexei was tortured again, trying to find out some more details. The prince was tortured for 3 hours, then they left. And in the afternoon, at 6 o’clock, as recorded in the books of the office of the garrison of the Peter and Paul Fortress, Alexey Petrovich died. Peter I published an official notice saying that, having heard the death sentence, the prince was horrified, demanded his father, asked him for forgiveness and died in a Christian way - in complete repentance for what he had done.

Opinions differ about the true cause of Alexei's death. Some historians believe that he died from the unrest he experienced, others come to the conclusion that the prince was strangled on the direct orders of Peter in order to avoid public execution. The historian N. Kostomarov mentions a letter composed, as it says, by Alexander Rumyantsev, which spoke of how Rumyantsev, Tolstoy and Buturlin, by order of the Tsar, suffocated the Tsarevich with pillows (however, the historian doubts the authenticity of the letter).

The next day, June 27, was the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, and Peter organized a celebration - he feasted heartily and had fun. However, really, why should he be discouraged - after all, Peter was not a pioneer here. Not to mention ancient examples, not so long ago another Russian Tsar, Ivan the Terrible, personally killed his son.

Alexei was buried on June 30. Peter I attended the funeral with his wife, the prince’s stepmother. There was no mourning.

Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich (Alexei Petrovich Romanov; February 18, 1690, Preobrazhenskoye - June 26, 1718, St. Petersburg) - heir to the Russian throne, the eldest son of Peter I and his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina.

Unknown artist Portrait of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich Russia, XVIII century.

Demakov Evgeny Alexandrovich. Peter I and Evdokia-Lopukhina

Alexey Petrovich was born on February 18 (28), 1690 in Preobrazhenskoye. Baptized on February 23 (March 5), 1690, his successors were Patriarch Joachim and Princess Tatyana Mikhailovna. Name day March 17, heavenly patron - Alexy, man of God. Was named after his grandfather, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich

Joachim, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'

Alexy man of God

Portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

In the first years he lived under the care of his grandmother Natalya Kirillovna. At the age of six he began to learn to read and write from Nikifor Vyazemsky, a simple and poorly educated man, whom he sometimes beat. Equally tore "honest honor to your guardian" confessor Yakov Ignatiev.

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

After being imprisoned in a monastery in 1698, he was transferred to his mother under the guardianship of his aunt Natalya Alekseevna and transported to her in the Preobrazhensky Palace. In 1699, Peter I remembered his son and wanted to send him along with General Karlovich to study in Dresden. However, due to the death of the general, the Saxon Neugebauer from the University of Leipzig was invited as a mentor. He failed to bind the prince to himself and in 1702 lost his position.

Family portrait of Peter with Catherine, son Tsarevich Alexei and children from his second wife

Musikiysky, Grigory Semenovich Miniature on enamel

Tsarevna Natalya Alekseevna (August 22, 1673—June 18, 1716) - beloved sister of Peter I, daughter of Alexei Mikhailovich and Natalya Naryshkina.

The following year, Baron Huyssen took the place of teacher. In 1708, N. Vyazemsky reported that the prince was studying the German and French languages, studying "four parts of digits", repeats declensions and cases, writes an atlas and reads history. Continuing until 1709 to live far from his father, in Preobrazhenskoye, the prince was surrounded by people who, according to him in my own words, taught him “to have hypocrisy and conversion with priests and monks and often go to them and get drunk.”

Transfiguration Cathedral and the Imperial Palace.

Then, as the Swedes advanced deeper into the continent, Peter instructs his son to monitor the training of recruits and the construction of fortifications in Moscow, but he remains dissatisfied with the result of his son’s work - the king was especially angry that during the work the prince went to the Suzdal monastery, where his mother was.

Evdokia Lopukhina in monastic vestments

Suzdal, Intercession Monastery. Artist Evgeny Dubitsky

In 1707, Huyssen proposed Princess Charlotte of Wolfenbüttel, sister of the future Austrian Empress, as his wife to Alexei Petrovich.

"Ceremonial portrait of Princess Sophia-Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel"

Unknown artist

In 1709, accompanied by Alexander Golovkin and Prince Yuri Trubetskoy, he traveled to Dresden to study German and French, geometry, fortification and “political affairs.” At the end of the course, the prince had to pass an exam in geometry and fortification in the presence of his father. However, fearing that he would force him to make a complex drawing that he might not be able to cope with and thereby give himself a reason to reproach himself, Alexey tried to injure his hand with a pistol shot. The angry Peter beat his son and forbade him to appear at court, but later, trying to reconcile, he lifted the ban. In Schlakenwerth in the spring of 1710, he met his bride, and a year later, on April 11, a marriage contract was signed. The wedding was celebrated magnificently on October 14, 1711 in Torgau.

Alexey Petrovich Romanov.

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich Romanov

Franke Christophe Bernard.

The portrait from the collection of the Radishchev Museum in Saratov was apparently painted by one of the court artists of Augustus the Strong. This is the earliest known painted portrait of Charlotte Christina Sophia. It is quite possible that it was written in connection with the upcoming wedding in 1711.

Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Johann Paul Luden

Charlotte Christina Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Unknown artist

G.D. Molchanov

In the marriage, the prince had children - Natalya (1714-1728) and Peter (1715-1730), later Emperor Peter II.

Birth of Peter II

Peter II and Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna

Louis Caravaque

Soon after the birth of her son, Charlotte died, and the prince chose a mistress from Vyazemsky’s serfs, named Euphrosyne, with whom he traveled to Europe and who was later interrogated in his case and was acquitted.

Ekaterina Kulakova, as Euphrosyne in feature film Vitaly Melnikov "Tsarevich Alexey"

Stills from the film "Tsarevich Alexei"

Fleeing abroad

The death of his son and the death of his wife coincided with the birth of the long-awaited son of Peter himself and his wife Catherine - Tsarevich Peter Petrovich.

Tsarevich Peter Petrovich (October 29 (November 9) 1715, St. Petersburg - April 25 (May 6), 1719, ibid.) - the first son of Peter I from Catherine Alekseevna, who died in infancy.

As Cupid in a portrait by Louis Caravaque

This shook Alexei’s position - he was no longer of interest to his father, even as a forced heir. On the day of Charlotte's funeral, Peter gave his son a letter in which he reprimanded him for "does not show any inclination state affairs» , and urged him to correct himself, otherwise threatening not only to remove him from the inheritance, but even worse: “if you marry, then be aware that I will deprive you of your inheritance, like a gangrenous ud, and do not imagine that I am doing this only to disturb I write - I will fulfill it in truth, for for My Fatherland and the people I did not and do not regret my life, then how can I feel sorry for You, the indecent one.”

Posthumous romanticized portrait of Peter I. Artist Paul Delaroche (1838).

In 1716, as a result of a conflict with his father, who demanded that he quickly decide on the issue of tonsure, Alexey, with the help of Kikin (the head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, who gave the prince the idea to become a monk), left Poland formally in order to visit his father, who was then in Copenhagen, but secretly fled from Gdansk to Vienna and conducted separate negotiations there with European rulers, including a relative of his wife, the Austrian Emperor Charles. To maintain secrecy, the Austrians transported Alexei to Naples. Alexei planned to wait on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire for the death of Peter (who was seriously ill during this period) and then, relying on the help of the Austrians, to become the Russian Tsar.

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich Romanov

According to his testimony at the investigation, he was ready to rely on the Austrian army to seize power. In turn, the Austrians planned to use Alexei as their puppet in the intervention against Russia, but abandoned their intention, considering such an enterprise too dangerous

It is not impossible for us to achieve certain successes in the lands of the king himself, that is, to support any uprisings, but we actually know that this prince has neither sufficient courage nor sufficient intelligence to derive any real advantage or benefit from these [ uprisings]

— from the memorandum of Vice-Chancellor Count Schönborn (German) to Emperor Charles

Portrait of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor"

Search for the prince for a long time did not bring success, perhaps for the reason that along with Kikin was A.P. Veselovsky, the Russian ambassador to the Viennese court, whom Peter I instructed to find Alexei. Finally, Russian intelligence tracked down the location of Alexei (Ehrenberg Castle in Tyrol), and the emperor was demanded to hand over the prince to Russia.

Ehrenberg Castle (Reutte)

Tannauer Johann Gonfried. Portrait of Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy. 1710s

Portrait of Peter I's associate Alexander Ivanovich Rumyantsev (1680-1749)

Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich

The Holy Roman Emperor refused to extradite Alexei, but allowed P. Tolstoy to be admitted to him. The latter presented Alexei with a letter from Peter, where the prince was guaranteed forgiveness of any guilt in case of immediate return to Russia

If you are afraid of me, then I reassure you and promise to God and His court that you will not be punished, but best love I will show you if you listen to my will and return. If you do not do this, then... as your sovereign, I declare you a traitor and will not leave all the ways for you, as a traitor and scolder of your father, to do what God will help me with in my truth.

— from Peter’s letter to Alexey

The letter, however, could not force Alexei to return. Then Tolstoy bribed an Austrian official to "by secret" informed the prince that his extradition to Russia was a settled matter

And then I admonished the viceroy’s secretary, who was used in all transfers and is a much smarter person, so that, as if it were a secret, he told the prince all the above words that I advised the viceroy to announce to the prince, and gave that secretary 160 gold ducats, promising to reward him in advance , which is what this secretary did

- from Tolstoy's report

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich

This convinced Alexei that hopes for help from Austria were unreliable. Realizing that he would not receive help from Charles VI, and fearing a return to Russia, Alexey, through the French officer Duret, secretly sent a letter to the Swedish government asking for help. However, the answer given by the Swedes (the Swedes undertook to provide Alexei with an army to enthronement him) was late, and P. Tolstoy managed, with threats and promises on October 14, to obtain from Alexei consent to return to Russia before he received a message from the Swedes.

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich

The case of Tsarevich Alexei

After returning for secret flight and activities while abroad, Alexey was deprived of the right to succession to the throne (manifesto of February 3 (14), 1718), and he himself took a solemn oath to renounce the throne in favor of his brother Peter Petrovich in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin in the presence of father, senior clergy and senior dignitaries.

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich

At the same time, he was granted forgiveness on the condition of admitting all the wrongdoings committed (“Yesterday I received forgiveness in order to convey all the circumstances of my escape and other things like that; and if anything is hidden, you will be deprived of your life; ... if you hide something and then openly it will happen, don’t blame me: just yesterday it was announced in front of all the people that sorry for this, sorry not”).

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich Romanov.
****

The very next day after the abdication ceremony, an investigation began, entrusted to the Secret Chancellery and headed by Count Tolstoy. Alexey, in his testimony, tried to portray himself as a victim of his environment and blame all the blame on his associates. The people surrounding him were executed, but this did not help Alexei - his mistress Euphrosyne gave exhaustive testimony that exposed Alexei as a lie.

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich. Steel engraving by Grietbach

In particular, it turned out that Alexei was ready to use the Austrian army to seize power and intended to lead a rebellion of Russian troops at the right opportunity. It got to the point that there were hints of Alexei’s attempts to contact Charles XII. At the confrontation, Alexey confirmed Efrosinya’s testimony, although he said nothing about any real or imaginary connections with the Swedes. It is now difficult to establish the full reliability of these testimonies. Although torture was not used at this stage of the investigation, Efrosinya could have been bribed, and Alexey could have given false testimony out of fear of torture. However, in cases where Euphrosyne’s testimony can be verified from independent sources, it is confirmed (for example, Euphrosyne reported letters that Alexei wrote to Russia, preparing the ground for coming to power - one such letter (unsent) was found in the Vienna archive).

Death

Based on the facts that emerged, the prince was put on trial and sentenced to death as a traitor. It should be noted that Alexei’s connections with the Swedes remained unknown to the court, and the conviction was made on the basis of other episodes, which, according to the laws in force at that time, were punishable by death.

The Tsarevich died in the Peter and Paul Fortress on June 26 (July 7), 1718, according to the official version, from a stroke. In the 19th century, N. G. Ustryalov discovered documents according to which the prince was tortured shortly before his death (after the verdict was passed), and this torture could have been the direct cause of his death. According to the records of the chancellery, Alexei died on June 26. Peter I published an official notice, which said that, having heard the death sentence, the prince was horrified, demanded his father, asked him for forgiveness and died in a Christian way, in complete repentance for his deeds.

Alexey Zuev as Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in the feature film by Vitaly Melnikov "Tsarevich Alexey"

There is evidence that Alexei was secretly killed in a prison cell on Peter's orders, but they strongly contradict each other in detail. Published in the 19th century with the participation of M. I. Semevsky “letter from A. I. Rumyantsev to D. I. Titov”(according to other sources, Tatishchev) with a description of the murder of Alexei is a proven fake; it contains a number of factual errors and anachronisms (which was pointed out by N. G. Ustryalov), and also closely retells the official publications about Alexei’s case that had not yet been published.

Alexey Zuev as Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich in the feature film by Vitaly Melnikov "Tsarevich Alexey"

In the media you can find information that during his lifetime Alexey suffered from tuberculosis - according to a number of historians, his sudden death was a consequence of an exacerbation of the disease in prison conditions or a result side effect medicines.

Alexey was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of the fortress in the presence of his father. Posthumous rehabilitation of Alexei, removal from circulation of manifestos condemning him and aimed at justifying the actions of Peter "Truth of the monarch's will" Feofan Prokopovich occurred during the reign of his son Peter II (from 1727).

Chapel of St. Catherine with the graves of Tsarevich Alexei, his wife and aunt of Princess Maria Alekseevna

In culture.

The personality of the prince attracted the attention of writers (starting with Voltaire and Pushkin), and in the 19th century. and many historians. Alexey is depicted in the famous painting by N. N. Ge “Peter interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof”(1871).

Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof. N. N. Ge, 1871

In Vladimir Petrov’s feature film “Peter the First” (1937), the role of the prince was played with high dramatic skill by Nikolai Cherkasov. Here, the image of Alexei Petrovich is interpreted in the spirit of official historiography as the image of a protege of obsolete forces within the country and hostile foreign powers, an enemy of Peter’s reforms and the imperial power of Russia. His conviction and murder are presented as a fair and necessary act, which served as an indirect argument in favor of Stalin's repressions. At the same time, it is absurd to see the ten-year-old Tsarevich as the head of the boyar reaction already by the time of the Battle of Narva.

Glass of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich (17th century).

In the feature film by Vitaly Melnikov “Tsarevich Alexey” (1997), Alexey Petrovich is shown as a man who is ashamed of his crowned father and only wants to live ordinary life. At the same time, according to the filmmakers, he was a quiet and God-fearing man who did not want the death of Peter I and a change of power in Russia. But as a result of palace intrigues, he was slandered, for which he was tortured by his father, and his comrades were executed.

A. N. Tolstoy, “Peter the First” - the most famous novel about the life of Peter I, published in 1945 (Alexey is shown as a minor)

D. Mordovtsev - novel “Herod’s Shadow. (Idealists and realists)"

D. S. Merezhkovsky - novel “Antichrist. Peter and Alexey"

Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich

Film "Tsarevich Alexey" (1995)

Continuation of the conflict

The young children of Alexei Petrovich were not the only addition to the royal family. The ruler himself, following his unloved son, acquired another child. The child was named Pyotr Petrovich (his mother was the future Catherine I). So suddenly Alexey ceased to be the only heir of his father (he now had a second son and grandson). The situation put him in an ambiguous position.

In addition, such a character as Alexey Petrovich clearly did not fit into the life of new St. Petersburg. Photos of his portraits show a man a little sick and indecisive. He continued to carry out state orders from his powerful father, although he did so with obvious reluctance, which again and again angered the autocrat.

While still studying in Germany, Alexey asked his Moscow friends to send him a new confessor, to whom he could openly confess about everything that was bothering the young man. The prince was a deeply religious man, but at the same time he was very afraid of his father's spies. However, the new confessor Yakov Ignatiev really was not one of Peter’s henchmen. One day Alexey told him in his heart that he was waiting for his father to die. Ignatiev replied that many of the heir’s Moscow friends wanted the same thing. So, completely unexpectedly, Alexei found supporters and took the path that led him to death.

Difficult decision

In 1715, Peter sent his son a letter in which he was faced with a choice - either Alexey reforms (that is, begins to engage in the army and accepts his father’s policies), or goes to a monastery. The heir found himself at a dead end. He did not like many of Peter's undertakings, including his endless military campaigns and dramatic changes in life in the country. This sentiment was shared by many aristocrats (mainly from Moscow). There really was an aversion to hasty reforms among the elite, but no one dared to openly protest, since participation in any opposition could end in disgrace or execution.

The autocrat, delivering an ultimatum to his son, gave him time to think about his decision. The biography of Alexei Petrovich has many similar ambiguous episodes, but this situation became fateful. After consulting with those close to him (primarily with the head of the St. Petersburg Admiralty, Alexander Kikin), he decided to flee Russia.

Escape

In 1716, a delegation headed by Alexei Petrovich set off from St. Petersburg to Copenhagen. Peter's son was supposed to see his father in Denmark. However, while in Polish Gdansk, the prince suddenly changed his route and actually fled to Vienna. There Alexey began to negotiate for political asylum. The Austrians sent him to secluded Naples.

The fugitive's plan was to wait for the death of the then ill Russian Tsar, and after that to return to his native country to the throne, if necessary, then with a foreign army. Alexey spoke about this later during the investigation. However, these words cannot be taken with confidence as the truth, since the necessary testimony was simply beaten out of the arrested person. According to the testimony of the Austrians, the prince was hysterical. Therefore, it is more likely to say that he went to Europe out of despair and fear for his future.

In Austria

Peter quickly learned where his son had fled. People loyal to the Tsar immediately went to Austria. Experienced diplomat Pyotr Tolstoy was appointed head of the important mission. He reported to the Austrian Emperor Charles VI that the very fact of Alexei's presence on Habsburg land was a slap in the face of Russia. The fugitive chose Vienna because of his family ties with this monarch through his short marriage.

Perhaps Charles VI in other circumstances would have protected the exile, but at that time Austria was at war with Ottoman Empire and prepared for conflict with Spain. The emperor did not at all want to get such a powerful enemy as Peter I under such conditions. In addition, Alexey himself made a mistake. He acted panicky and clearly lacked self-confidence. As a result, the Austrian authorities made concessions. Peter Tolstoy received the right to see the fugitive.

Negotiation

Peter Tolstoy, having met Alexei, began to use all possible methods and tricks to return him to his homeland. Kind-hearted assurances were used that his father would forgive him and allow him to live freely on his own estate.

The envoy did not forget about clever hints. He convinced the prince that Charles VI, not wanting to spoil relations with Peter, would not shelter him in any case, and then Alexei would definitely end up in Russia as a criminal. In the end, the prince agreed to return to his native country.

Court

On February 3, 1718, Peter and Alexei met in the Moscow Kremlin. The heir cried and begged for forgiveness. The king pretended that he would not be angry if his son renounced the throne and inheritance (which he did).

After this the trial began. First, the fugitive betrayed all his supporters, who “talked” him into a rash act. Arrests and legal executions followed. Peter wanted to see his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina and the opposition clergy at the head of the conspiracy. However, the investigation found that a much larger number of people were dissatisfied with the king.

Death

None short biography Alexey Petrovich does not contain precise information about the circumstances of his death. As a result of the investigation, which was conducted by the same Pyotr Tolstoy, the fugitive was sentenced to death. However, it never took place. Alexei died on June 26, 1718 in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was kept during his trial. It was officially announced that he had suffered a seizure. Perhaps the prince was killed on the secret order of Peter, or perhaps he died himself, unable to bear the torture he experienced during the investigation. For an all-powerful monarch, the execution of his own son would be too shameful an event. Therefore, there is reason to believe that he ordered the execution of Alexei in advance. One way or another, the descendants never learned the truth.

After the death of Alexei Petrovich, a classic point of view emerged about the reasons for the drama that happened. It lies in the fact that the heir came under the influence of the old conservative Moscow nobility and the clergy hostile to the Tsar. However, knowing all the circumstances of the conflict, one cannot call the prince a traitor and at the same time not keep in mind the degree of guilt of Peter I himself in the tragedy.