infamous escape were tortured to get to the truth. Soon enough, it was Alexis’s turn. With Peter’s permission, the young man was subjected to the uniquely Russian form of “interrogation” known as the knout—a thick leather strap that would slice into a man’s back with every blow. Fifteen to twenty-five lashes were considered standard; anything over that could easily prove lethal. On the first day of questioning, Alexis received twenty-five blows but madeno additional confessions. Five days later, with his back already in shreds, he was subjected to fifteen more lashes. In this state of extreme agony, the tsarevitch admitted to telling his confessor that he wished for his father’s death and that he would have willingly paid the emperor for a supply of foreign troops to seize Peter’s throne. It was enough.
A secular convocation of 127 senators, ministers, governors, generals, and officers of the Imperial Guard unanimously condemned Alexis to death, but it was up to the tsar to sign the warrant. Even for a monarch as ruthless in the face of treason as Peter the Great, signing his son’s life away would be a staggering act of retribution. Fortunately, Alexis spared him this burden by conveniently expiring two days after last being knouted. The cause of death was surrounded by much speculation and remains a mystery to this day. Some said the tsarevitch had been secretly done away with, although some historians believe the torture Alexis endured was sufficient to kill him.
Whatever the cause of death, Peter made no false demonstrations of grief. In fact, the next day he attended a banquet and ball in celebration of Russia’s victory over Sweden at the Battle of Poltava nine years earlier. As far as the tsar was concerned, the death of his son, though tragic, was also necessary. Alexis had proven himself an enemy of progress and, had he lived, would have destroyed everything his father had built. To commemorate Russia’s deliverance from such a calamity, Peter had a medal struck. It featured a crown lit by the sun with its rays piercing the clouds and included an inscription that read: “The horizon has cleared.”
----
* Prince Boris Kurakin wrote of Eudoxia: She was “fair of face, but mediocre of mind, and no match for her husband.”
Peter III (1762): “Nature Made Him a Mere Poltroon”
Never did two minds resemble each other less.
—E MPRESS C ATHERINE II ON HER HUSBAND P ETER III
Soon after her accession to the Russian throne in 1742, Empress Elizabeth sought to secure the dynasty by bringing to Russia the last of Peter the Great’s grandsons, also named Peter, from the German duchy of Holstein. Alas, the young man—son of Elizabeth’s late sister Anne—was nothing like his esteemed namesake. Rather, he was a stunted simpleton with a loathing of all things Russian who would one day be usurped by the wife Elizabeth selected for him, the future empress Catherine the Great .
The late empress Elizabeth, dressed regally in one of her fifteen thousand gowns, lay motionless in her coffin, her painted face a mask of perfect impassivity, as her fool of a successor, Peter III, created a spectacle of himself right in front of her. He “made faces, acted the buffoon, and imitated poor old ladies,” his mistress’s sister noted. And that’s when Peter even bothered to interrupt the raucous celebrations of his newfound power to pay tribute to his deceased aunt like the rest of Russia. His asinine behavior only grew more pronouncedduring the funeral procession, as Peter entertained himself with a little game, described by his wife Catherine:
“He loitered behind the hearse, on purpose, allowing it to proceed at a distance of thirty feet, then he would run to catch up with it as fast as he could. The elder courtiers, who were carrying his black train, found themselves unable to keep up with him and let the train go. The wind blew it out and all this amused Peter III so much that he repeated the joke
A secular convocation of 127 senators, ministers, governors, generals, and officers of the Imperial Guard unanimously condemned Alexis to death, but it was up to the tsar to sign the warrant. Even for a monarch as ruthless in the face of treason as Peter the Great, signing his son’s life away would be a staggering act of retribution. Fortunately, Alexis spared him this burden by conveniently expiring two days after last being knouted. The cause of death was surrounded by much speculation and remains a mystery to this day. Some said the tsarevitch had been secretly done away with, although some historians believe the torture Alexis endured was sufficient to kill him.
Whatever the cause of death, Peter made no false demonstrations of grief. In fact, the next day he attended a banquet and ball in celebration of Russia’s victory over Sweden at the Battle of Poltava nine years earlier. As far as the tsar was concerned, the death of his son, though tragic, was also necessary. Alexis had proven himself an enemy of progress and, had he lived, would have destroyed everything his father had built. To commemorate Russia’s deliverance from such a calamity, Peter had a medal struck. It featured a crown lit by the sun with its rays piercing the clouds and included an inscription that read: “The horizon has cleared.”
----
* Prince Boris Kurakin wrote of Eudoxia: She was “fair of face, but mediocre of mind, and no match for her husband.”
Peter III (1762): “Nature Made Him a Mere Poltroon”
Never did two minds resemble each other less.
—E MPRESS C ATHERINE II ON HER HUSBAND P ETER III
Soon after her accession to the Russian throne in 1742, Empress Elizabeth sought to secure the dynasty by bringing to Russia the last of Peter the Great’s grandsons, also named Peter, from the German duchy of Holstein. Alas, the young man—son of Elizabeth’s late sister Anne—was nothing like his esteemed namesake. Rather, he was a stunted simpleton with a loathing of all things Russian who would one day be usurped by the wife Elizabeth selected for him, the future empress Catherine the Great .
The late empress Elizabeth, dressed regally in one of her fifteen thousand gowns, lay motionless in her coffin, her painted face a mask of perfect impassivity, as her fool of a successor, Peter III, created a spectacle of himself right in front of her. He “made faces, acted the buffoon, and imitated poor old ladies,” his mistress’s sister noted. And that’s when Peter even bothered to interrupt the raucous celebrations of his newfound power to pay tribute to his deceased aunt like the rest of Russia. His asinine behavior only grew more pronouncedduring the funeral procession, as Peter entertained himself with a little game, described by his wife Catherine:
“He loitered behind the hearse, on purpose, allowing it to proceed at a distance of thirty feet, then he would run to catch up with it as fast as he could. The elder courtiers, who were carrying his black train, found themselves unable to keep up with him and let the train go. The wind blew it out and all this amused Peter III so much that he repeated the joke
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