What did Peter bring from Holland? Peter I did not bring potatoes to Russia! Personal life of Peter I

Potatoes were brought to Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. While Peter I was in Holland, he tried food made from potatoes and really liked it, after which the Tsar sent a bag of potatoes to Russia to grow.

Potato tubers grew well on Russian soil, but the spread was greatly hampered by the fact that the peasants were afraid of the overseas fruit. When Peter I was informed about the fear of the people, he had to use cunning. He sowed several fields with potatoes, and ordered guards with weapons to stand near them.

The soldiers guarded the potatoes all day and went to sleep at night. The peasants who lived nearby could not resist the temptation and began to steal potatoes and secretly plant them in their gardens.

Of course, at first there were cases of potato poisoning, but only because people did not know the properties of this plant and tried its fruits without any culinary treatment. And potatoes in this form are not only inedible, but also poisonous.

Among aristocrats in France at one time it was common to wear potato flowers as decoration.

Thus, potatoes spread very quickly throughout Russia, also because they helped feed people during poor grain harvests. That is why potatoes were called the second bread. The nutritional properties of potatoes are indicated by its very name, which comes from the German phrase “Kraft Teufel”, which means devilish power.

Peter I, who received the nickname Peter the Great for his services to Russia, is not just a significant figure in Russian history, but a key one. Peter 1 created the Russian Empire, therefore he turned out to be the last Tsar of All Rus' and, accordingly, the first All-Russian Emperor. The son of the Tsar, the godson of the Tsar, the brother of the Tsar - Peter himself was proclaimed the head of the country, and at that time the boy was barely 10 years old. Initially, he had a formal co-ruler Ivan V, but from the age of 17 he already ruled independently, and in 1721 Peter I became emperor.

Tsar Peter the Great | Haiku Deck

For Russia, the years of the reign of Peter I were a time of large-scale reforms. He significantly expanded the territory of the state, built the beautiful city of St. Petersburg, incredibly boosted the economy by founding a whole network of metallurgical and glass factories, and also reducing imports of foreign goods to a minimum. In addition, Peter the Great was the first of the Russian rulers to adopt their best ideas from Western countries. But since all the reforms of Peter the Great were achieved through violence against the population and the eradication of all dissent, the personality of Peter the Great still evokes diametrically opposed assessments among historians.

Childhood and youth of Peter I

The biography of Peter I initially implied his future reign, since he was born into the family of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov and his wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. It is noteworthy that Peter the Great turned out to be the 14th child of his father, but the first-born for his mother. It is also worth noting that the name Peter was completely unconventional for both dynasties of his ancestors, so historians still cannot figure out where he got this name from.

Childhood of Peter the Great | Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

The boy was only four years old when the Tsar Father died. His elder brother and godfather Fyodor III Alekseevich ascended the throne, who took guardianship of his brother and ordered him to be given the best possible education. However, Peter the Great had big problems with this. He was always very inquisitive, but just at that moment the Orthodox Church started a war against foreign influence, and all Latin teachers were removed from the court. Therefore, the prince was taught by Russian clerks, who themselves did not have deep knowledge, and Russian-language books of the proper level did not yet exist. As a result, Peter the Great had a meager vocabulary and wrote with errors until the end of his life.

Childhood of Peter the Great | View Map

Tsar Feodor III reigned for only six years and died due to poor health at a young age. According to tradition, the throne was supposed to be taken by another son of Tsar Alexei, Ivan, but he was very sickly, so the Naryshkin family actually organized a palace coup and declared Peter I the heir. It was beneficial for them, since the boy was a descendant of their family, but the Naryshkins did not take into account that the Miloslavsky family will rebel due to infringement of the interests of Tsarevich Ivan. The famous Streletsky revolt of 1682 took place, the result of which was the recognition of two tsars at the same time - Ivan and Peter. The Kremlin Armory still preserves a double throne for the brother tsars.

Childhood and youth of Peter the Great | Russian Museum

Young Peter I's favorite game was practicing with his troops. Moreover, the prince’s soldiers were not toys at all. His peers dressed in uniform and marched through the streets of the city, and Peter the Great himself “served” as a drummer in his regiment. Later, he even got his own artillery, also real. The amusing army of Peter I was called the Preobrazhensky regiment, to which the Semenovsky regiment was later added, and, in addition to them, the tsar organized an amusing fleet.

Tsar Peter I

When the young tsar was still a minor, behind him stood his older sister, Princess Sophia, and later his mother Natalya Kirillovna and her relatives the Naryshkins. In 1689, brother-co-ruler Ivan V finally gave Peter all power, although he nominally remained co-tsar until he died suddenly at the age of 30. After the death of his mother, Tsar Peter the Great freed himself from the burdensome guardianship of the Naryshkin princes, and it was from then on that we can talk about Peter the Great as an independent ruler.

Tsar Peter the Great | Cultural studies

He continued military operations in Crimea against the Ottoman Empire, carried out a series of Azov campaigns, which resulted in the capture of the Azov fortress. To strengthen the southern borders, the tsar built the port of Taganrog, but Russia still did not have a full-fledged fleet, so it did not achieve final victory. Large-scale construction of ships and training of young nobles abroad in shipbuilding begins. And the tsar himself studied the art of building a fleet, even working as a carpenter on the construction of the ship “Peter and Paul”.

Emperor Peter the Great | Bookaholic

While Peter the Great was preparing to reform the country and personally studied the technical and economic progress of leading European states, a conspiracy was hatched against him, led by the tsar’s first wife. Having suppressed the Streltsy revolt, Peter the Great decided to redirect military operations. He concludes a peace agreement with the Ottoman Empire and begins a war with Sweden. His troops captured the fortresses of Noteburg and Nyenschanz at the mouth of the Neva, where the Tsar decided to found the city of St. Petersburg, and placed the base of the Russian fleet on the nearby island of Kronstadt.

Wars of Peter the Great

The above conquests made it possible to open access to the Baltic Sea, which later received the symbolic name “Window to Europe.” Later, the territories of the Eastern Baltic were annexed to Russia, and in 1709, during the legendary Battle of Poltava, the Swedes were completely defeated. Moreover, it is important to note: Peter the Great, unlike many kings, did not sit in fortresses, but personally led his troops on the battlefield. In the Battle of Poltava, Peter I was even shot through his hat, meaning he really risked his own life.

Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava | X-digest

After the defeat of the Swedes near Poltava, King Charles XII took refuge under the protection of the Turks in the city of Bendery, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, and today is located in Moldova. With the help of the Crimean Tatars and Zaporozhye Cossacks, he began to escalate the situation on the southern border of Russia. By seeking the expulsion of Charles, Peter the Great, on the contrary, forced the Ottoman Sultan to restart the Russian-Turkish war. Rus' found itself in a situation where it was necessary to wage a war on three fronts. On the border with Moldova, the tsar was surrounded and agreed to sign peace with the Turks, giving them back the Azov fortress and access to the Sea of ​​Azov.

Fragment of Ivan Aivazovsky's painting "Peter I at Krasnaya Gorka" | Russian Museum

In addition to the Russian-Turkish and northern wars, Peter the Great escalated the situation in the east. Thanks to his expeditions, the cities of Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Semipalatinsk were founded, and later Kamchatka joined Russia. The Tsar wanted to carry out campaigns in North America and India, but failed to bring these ideas to life. But he carried out the so-called Caspian campaign against Persia, during which he conquered Baku, Rasht, Astrabad, Derbent, as well as other Iranian and Caucasian fortresses. But after the death of Peter the Great, most of these territories were lost, since the new government considered the region not promising, and maintaining a garrison in those conditions was too expensive.

Reforms of Peter I

Due to the fact that the territory of Russia expanded significantly, Peter managed to reorganize the country from a kingdom into an empire, and starting in 1721, Peter I became emperor. Of the numerous reforms of Peter I, transformations in the army clearly stood out, which allowed him to achieve great military victories. But no less important were such innovations as the transfer of the church under the authority of the emperor, as well as the development of industry and trade. Emperor Peter the Great was well aware of the need for education and the fight against an outdated way of life. On the one hand, his tax on wearing a beard was perceived as tyranny, but at the same time, there appeared a direct dependence of the promotion of nobles on the level of their education.

Peter the Great cuts off the beards of the boyars | VistaNews

Under Peter, the first Russian newspaper was founded and many translations of foreign books appeared. Artillery, engineering, medical, naval and mining schools were opened, as well as the country's first gymnasium. Moreover, now not only the children of nobles, but also the offspring of soldiers could attend secondary schools. He really wanted to create a compulsory primary school for everyone, but did not have time to implement this plan. It is important to note that the reforms of Peter the Great affected not only economics and politics. He financed the education of talented artists, introduced the new Julian calendar, and tried to change the position of women by prohibiting forced marriage. He also raised the dignity of his subjects, obliging them not to kneel even before the tsar and to use full names, and not call themselves “Senka” or “Ivashka” as before.

Monument "Tsar Carpenter" in St. Petersburg | Russian Museum

In general, the reforms of Peter the Great changed the value system of the nobles, which can be considered a huge plus, but at the same time the gap between the nobility and the people increased many times and was no longer limited only to finances and titles. The main disadvantage of the royal reforms is the violent method of their implementation. In fact, this was a struggle between despotism and uneducated people, and Peter hoped to use the whip to instill consciousness in the people. Indicative in this regard is the construction of St. Petersburg, which was carried out in difficult conditions. Many artisans ran away from hard labor, and the tsar ordered their entire family to be imprisoned until the fugitives returned to confess.

TVNZ

Since not everyone liked the methods of governing the state under Peter the Great, the tsar founded the political investigation and judicial body Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which later grew into the notorious Secret Chancellery. The most unpopular decrees in this context were the ban on keeping records in a room closed from outsiders, as well as the ban on non-reporting. Violation of both of these decrees was punishable by death. In this way, Peter the Great fought against conspiracies and palace coups.

Personal life of Peter I

In his youth, Tsar Peter I loved to visit the German Settlement, where he not only became interested in foreign life, for example, learned to dance, smoke and communicate in a Western manner, but also fell in love with a German girl, Anna Mons. His mother was very alarmed by such a relationship, so when Peter reached his 17th birthday, she insisted on his wedding to Evdokia Lopukhina. However, they did not have a normal family life: soon after the wedding, Peter the Great left his wife and visited her only to prevent rumors of a certain kind.

Evdokia Lopukhina, first wife of Peter the Great | Sunday afternoon

Tsar Peter I and his wife had three sons: Alexei, Alexander and Pavel, but the latter two died in infancy. The eldest son of Peter the Great was supposed to become his heir, but since Evdokia in 1698 unsuccessfully tried to overthrow her husband from the throne in order to transfer the crown to her son and was imprisoned in a monastery, Alexei was forced to flee abroad. He never approved of his father's reforms, considered him a tyrant and planned to overthrow his parent. However, in 1717 the young man was arrested and detained in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the following summer he was sentenced to death. The matter did not come to execution, since Alexei soon died in prison under unclear circumstances.

A few years after the divorce from his first wife, Peter the Great took 19-year-old Marta Skavronskaya as his mistress, whom Russian troops captured as booty of war. She gave birth to eleven children from the king, half of them even before the legal wedding. The wedding took place in February 1712 after the woman converted to Orthodoxy, thanks to which she became Ekaterina Alekseevna, later known as Empress Catherine I. Among the children of Peter and Catherine are the future Empress Elizabeth I and Anna, the mother, the rest died in childhood. It is interesting that the second wife of Peter the Great was the only person in his life who knew how to calm his violent character even in moments of rage and fits of anger.

Maria Cantemir, favorite of Peter the Great | Wikipedia

Despite the fact that his wife accompanied the emperor on all campaigns, he was able to become infatuated with young Maria Cantemir, the daughter of the former Moldavian ruler, Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich. Maria remained Peter the Great's favorite until the end of his life. Separately, it is worth mentioning the height of Peter I. Even for our contemporaries, a more than two-meter man seems very tall. But during the time of Peter I, his 203 centimeters seemed completely incredible. Judging by the chronicles of eyewitnesses, when the Tsar and Emperor Peter the Great walked through the crowd, his head rose above the sea of ​​people.

Compared to his older brothers, born by a different mother from their common father, Peter the Great seemed quite healthy. But in fact, he was tormented by severe headaches almost all his life, and in the last years of his reign, Peter the Great suffered from kidney stones. The attacks intensified even more after the emperor, together with ordinary soldiers, pulled out the stranded boat, but he tried not to pay attention to the illness.

Engraving "Death of Peter the Great" | ArtPolitInfo

At the end of January 1725, the ruler could no longer endure the pain and fell ill in his Winter Palace. After the emperor had no strength left to scream, he only moaned, and everyone around him realized that Peter the Great was dying. Peter the Great accepted his death in terrible agony. Doctors named pneumonia as the official cause of his death, but later doctors had strong doubts about this verdict. An autopsy was performed, which showed a terrible inflammation of the bladder, which had already developed into gangrene. Peter the Great was buried in the cathedral at the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg, and his wife, Empress Catherine I, became the heir to the throne.

18.04.2006

What Russia borrowed from Holland, besides Guus Hiddink

Shipbuilding was developed in Holland back in the Middle Ages. It came to Russia after the Great Embassy of Peter I (1697-1698). Since then, most Russian maritime terms have been of Dutch origin: admiral, boatswain, tug, latrine, scrub, drift, cabin, cook, cruiser, cockpit, tack, mast, gangway, hold, fairway, fleet, boat, calm, storm, helm , yacht, etc.

During the reign of Peter I, many other words were borrowed from the Dutch language, for example, accident, orange, bolt, fire hose, tarpaulin, jack, inch, cable, cap, convoy, crane, mortar, spire, corkscrew, jeweler.

The tradition of celebrating the New Year in winter was introduced by Peter I by analogy with the Dutch holiday. First celebrated in Rus' on January 1, 1700.

The Russian tricolor, according to one version, was created by Peter on the basis of the Dutch flag, which consisted of three stripes of orange, white and blue.

Potatoes, as well as a number of other crops (sunflowers, radishes) came to Holland from America in the 16th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, through the efforts of Peter I, they ended up in Russia.

Tobacco came to Europe from North America with the Columbus expedition and spread there in the middle of the 17th century. Brought by Peter I to Russia at the beginning of the 18th century.

Iron skates were invented in Holland in the 13th-14th centuries and brought to Russia by Peter the Great.

Cheese has been made in the Netherlands since the Middle Ages; the first cheese fair was held in the country in 1622. Peter brought master cheese makers and fashion for this product to Russia.

The fashion for collecting, together with the collection of the anatomist Ruysch, was brought by Peter from a trip to Holland. It formed the basis of the first museum in Russia - the Kunstkamera.

The first "civil" Russian font was made in Amsterdam. Together with printing equipment, it was brought to Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. Replaced Old Church Slavonic.

Light bulbs. Russia's first mass purchase of newfangled light bulbs (50,000 pieces) was made in 1898 from the small Dutch company Philips & Co. Thanks to this order, the company was able to expand production, become a European electrical giant and subsequently create the PSV Eindhoven football club. In 2006, this club became the champion of Holland precisely under the leadership of Guus Hiddink. Owners Philips & Co. traditionally interested in the state of Russian football. So, in 1939, Frederick Philips came to Moscow and witnessed the match “Spartak” - “Dynamo”. Phillips was shocked by the game. “Even our children play better,” he noted.

“Dutch disease” is an economic term that arose in the middle of the 20th century, when the discovery of a gas field in the Netherlands and the gushing flow of raw material dollars led to an increase in the national currency, a decrease in the competitiveness of national products and the degradation of all industries except extractive ones. Currently, similar symptoms of dependence on oil prices are observed in Russia.

When it comes to Peter the Great, the first thing that comes to mind is the concept of “window to Europe”, hammered in from school. A new-style army, a navy, European clothing, tobacco and coffee - in a word, a whole wave of big and small changes that hit the “slumbering” old Rus'. It is logical to assume that such an area as cooking has also undergone serious changes - so to speak, remade in the European style.

This stereotype is so tenacious and strong that almost everyone succumbs to its pressure. And they begin to seriously assert that Peter I doted on Western cuisine and introduced German and Dutch dishes like fried sausages, splints and steaks with almost the same frenzy with which he chopped off the beards of the boyars.

Fortunately, there is plenty of evidence that can help clarify the picture. And she doesn’t fit into the well-worn rut of such a convenient stereotype.

Without sausages

The fact is that the aforementioned “kitchen reform” was supposed to be very expensive, since it implied a complete change in the way of Russian life. And at the most basic level. You can’t cook either a steak or a langet in a Russian oven - for this you need a Dutch-style oven with a cast-iron frying plate. At worst, a fireplace and a set of frying pans. What is this, demolishing all Russian stoves and rebuilding houses for the sake of sausages?

Luxury is unaffordable. But Peter was strict about such things: “The sovereign should differ from his subjects not by panache and pomp, but by vigilantly bearing the burden of the state. The most capable way to reduce vices is to reduce needs - and in this I must be an example to my subjects.”

And therefore, almost the only area of ​​life that remained almost unchanged under Peter was traditional cooking. In any case, this is exactly how things were in the family of the first Russian emperor. Moreover, he himself had a weakness for Russian cuisine - plentiful, sometimes complex, but familiar and accessible to all or almost all subjects. The only serious culinary reform that Peter decided on was the introduction of sea fish like cod and navaga into wide Russian everyday life. The king himself was allergic to fish, but he nevertheless understood the benefits of this product for his subjects. And therefore, large-scale fisheries were developed in Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory. By the way, this had far-reaching consequences for Russian culture. It was with a convoy of frozen cod that a native of Kholmogory once went to Moscow Mikhailo Lomonosov.

Peter was not so suspicious of foreign innovations in the culinary field... Rather selectively. There is a funny incident. Upon returning from his first long trip abroad, Peter feasted with his close associate Franz Lefort. And he started a quarrel with the Polish ambassador: “In Vienna, on good bread and the schnitzels and buckhands there, I gained weight, but meager Poland took it all back.” The ambassador noted offendedly that he, a native of “blessed Poland,” was fat, well-fed and happy. To which he received the royal rebuke: “Not there, at home, but here, in Moscow, you have eaten your fill.”

“In the German Settlement - the departure of Peter I from the house of Lefort”, Alexander Benois, 1909.

Russian lemon

The remark is caustic, apt, but not entirely fair. Russian cuisine, even in its most modest version, which Peter preferred, was surprisingly balanced and did not lead to excessive completeness. Here is the emperor’s usual dinner with his family, described by the “tsar’s mechanic” Andrey Nartov: “He had food: cold meat with salted lemons and pickled cucumbers, boiled pork and ham, jellies with horseradish and garlic. And also various cabbage soup, porridge, roast duck or suckling pig with sour cream, beef with pickled apple, rye bread, sauerkraut, grated radish, steamed turnip.”

In the morning on an empty stomach, and then before each meal - a glass (143.5 g) of aniseed vodka. For food - kvass. A wealthy Russian man dined in much the same way. But most of all, Peter loved pearl barley porridge. By the way, with his light hand, this is what the Russian soldier mainly feeds on. Another thing is that for the king, barley was prepared with milk, and on fasting days - with almond milk, which gave a truly extraordinary effect. There is nothing foreign here. Even lemons, for some reason considered an “overseas delicacy” with which Rus' was allegedly not familiar before Peter, are mentioned in “Domostroy”, which was popular a hundred years before the birth of the emperor.

Watermelons in salt

However, sometimes the king amazed those around him with his immoderate appetite. For example, when Peter was treated at the waters in the Belgian town of Spa, he was prescribed a diet of fruits and vegetables. In full accordance with the saying about a fool who, while praying, will bruise his forehead, the Russian Tsar ate 6 pounds of cherries and 4 pounds of figs in one sitting. The first Russian emperor also had a weakness for watermelons, both fresh and salted, forcing Aleksashka Menshikov to establish special greenhouses in St. Petersburg where this berry was grown. By the way, watermelons were familiar to Peter from childhood - his father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, started the first melon farm in the city of Chuguev back in 1660.

If we talk about Peter’s specific preferences, then we can note his fierce love for flavored cheese. Specifically - to Limburgish. The Dutch skippers, who knew Peter from the Zaandam shipyards, knew firmly: if you want to achieve the royal favor, bring cheese to St. Petersburg.

However, there have been cases when the love of cheese turned into unnecessary expenses. In the same Holland in 1717 he passed through the city of Nimwegen. And at the inn he asked for something simpler and cheaper - boiled eggs, a piece of cheese, beer and bread. Seeing the bill of one hundred ducats the next morning, he became furious: “What kind of price is this? Or is cheese rare here?” To which I received a witty answer: “Cheese is not uncommon. It’s a rarity for Russian emperors to ask him.”

Photo: Shutterstock.com / Elena Veselova

Ingredients:

• Pearl barley – 200 g
• Water - 1 l
• Almond milk - 2 cups
• Butter - 30 g
• Sugar - 3 tbsp. l.
• Salt - a pinch
• Almond petals, blueberries - for decoration

How to cook:

1. Sort the cereal and rinse with water.

2. Pour water over the cereal and leave to soak for 10 hours - this will allow the porridge to cook quickly and turn out crumbly.

3. Drain the water, rinse the cereal again, pour in almond milk and put on fire.

4. When the cereal boils, add salt and sugar and cook the porridge for 20-30 minutes. Finally, add the oil and, turning off the heat, leave to simmer for 1 hour. Garnish with almonds and berries.