History Online - Russian Tsars

The first stay that Peter the Great made in Holland, in 1698, was solely devoted to the accomplishment of his principal view, which was to acquire information concerning navigation, shipbuilding, commerce, manufactures, industry, etc, but in his second journey, in 1717 and 1718, in which he included France, he applied himself a great deal to the sciences and polite arts. He went every where to view public collections, and even the principal private cabinets of natural history, pictures, and other productions of the arts. Among others, there were two at Amsterdam uncommonly beautiful, that greatly attracted his attention. After having seen them often, and examined them in the minutest manner, he at last purchased them for considerable sums, and sent them to Petersburg with the necessary precaution. One was the entire collection of the celebrated anatomist Ruysch, who had been forty years in forming it. . . .
This collection is yet entire in the possession of the Academy of Sciences at Petersburg. The other was that of the Apothecary Seba, consisting of all known land and sea animals, birds, reptiles, and insects, of the East and West Indies, of which a description appeared in four volumes of folio, with beautiful engravings, entitled Sebae Thefaurus Naturae, &c. The Czar also made Xsel, the painter, copy the portraits of these two celebrated men, and placed them in his cabinet of natural history. . . .

These two celebrated collections were the foundation of the cabinet of the academy of sciences. Peter the Great granted for this purpose a large insulated stone building, situated on the banks of the Neva, in a place called Sonolnoi-Dvor. It was his custom to go thither two or three times a week, and there study the orders of the system, at an early hour, before he went to the admiralty. He enjoyed himself so much in the midst of these precious collections of natural history, that he resolved one day to give at this place the first audience to an ambassador from the court of Vienna. His chancellor asked him if he would not prefer his summer palace for the meeting? --"Let him come here," answered the monarch: "the place in which I see him the first time must be indifferent to him: he is sent on an embassy to me, and not to one of my palaces; and can tell me whatever he has to say in any place." The audience was really given in the cabinet of natural history at five o'clock in the morning.

Another time, when His Majesty was there with the attorney general, Paul Ivanovitch Iagouchinsky, some other senators, and several grandees, he made them observe the systematical arrangement of his cabinet of natural history, and of the anatomical collection of Ruysch, explaining to them the great advantages that might be derived thence on what related to the knowledge of the human body, the instruction of surgeons, and to the insuring of the operations of the healing art. At the same time addressing himself to the librarian Schoumaker, who was charged with the care of it under the direction of Areskyn, the first physician, he intimated his orders, that the admission should in future be free to all persons who might apply, and that care should be taken to conduct them to every part, and to show and explain to them minutely whatever they might desire to see. . . .

The Czar, excited by natural curiosity, and his love for the sciences, took great pleasure in seeing dissections and chirurgical [surgical] operations. It was him who made these arts known in Russia. He was so fond of them, that he was informed whenever any thing of this kind was going on in the hospitals, or other places in the vicinity of his residence, and seldom failed to be present if he had time. He frequently lent his assistance, and had acquired sufficient skill to dissect according to the rules of the art, to bleed, draw teeth, and perform other operations, as well as one of the faculty. It was an occupation in which he liked to employ himself for the sake of practice; and he always carried about with him, besides his case of mathematical instruments, a pouch well stocked with instruments of surgery.
Having heard that Mrs. Borst, the wife of a Dutch merchant, with whom he was well acquainted, was ill of a dropsy, and that she would not consent to be tapped, which was the only means of cure left, he went to see her, prevailed on her to submit to the operation, and performed it himself with a great deal of dexterity.
The following day his patient grew better; but tapping having been too long deferred, she died a few days after, as the physicians had predicted, and the Czar attended at her funeral, which was conducted with much pomp

Modern Russia started with the rule of Peter the Great. He realised that Russia should be westernised to ensure its independence. Already fascinating by mechanical inventions, he studied government and business models of the West.

But Peter also believed in starting from the bottom and working his way up. He learned ship building from the Europeans he invited to Russia, and built a ship himself, which he captained as Peter Alekseevich. In 1697, he accompanied an embassy to European courts as a carpenter named Peter Mikhailov. He also served as seaman, soldier, barber and, to the discomfort of his courtiers, as dentist.

Peter sent Russians to be educated in the West, and imported skilled labour, military and administrative experts from abroad. He encouraged smoking, but taxed tobacco. Because European men usually were clean shaven, he taxed Russians wearing beards. He modernised the calendar, simplified numerals, and encouraged private industry and mining. Remarkably, Peter managed to modernise Russia without borrowing money for his state. Instead, he taxed his citizens heavily. To ensure continual contact with the West, Peter captured the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea from the Swedes and built a new capital, St. Petersburg, on its shores.

Peter was a big strong man, 2,04 meters (6' 8'' inches) tall, and unlike previous monarchs, not afraid of physical labour. In November 1724, he dived into the cold northern ocean to assist in a ship rescue. It led to his illness and death.

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While in England, Peter I spent most of his time on studying shipbuilding and navigation. King William III of Orange was very much surprised at such "un-royal" interests, but nevertheless presented Peter with a yacht and ordered naval maneuvers in his honor. Peter was so delighted that he said, "If I were not the Russian tsar, I would have wished to be an English admiral!" While in Portsmouth, England, Peter wished to see scaffolding, a punishment for sailors in the English navy. However there was nobody who deserved such a punishment at the moment. Peter offered any of his own men. The Brits objected, "Your Majesty! Your people are in England, hence under protection of the Law."

A servant girl, Martha Scavronsky, made a great career in the Russian court. In her native Lithuania during the war she was taken by the Russian soldier. Then she caught the eye of Prince Boris Sheremetyev, who purchased her for one ruble and made her one of his many mistresses. Prince Alexander Menshikov, tsar's favorite 'borrowed' her for himself. Peter I saw Martha in Menshikov's house and ordered, "When I go to bed, you, beauty, take a candle and light the way." According to the "etiquette" that meant she was obliged to sleep with the tsar. In the morning Peter paid her with a copper coin. Peter had granted himself this modest sum for love expenses when still a young man and all his life he strictly followed the tariff. Later, though, the tsar married Martha and she became Catherine I.