1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcomed, unobscured a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Minky. 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,480 Speaker 1: The throne was in danger, the Church was in danger, 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: the very state of Russia itself. No revolutionary or foreign 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,640 Speaker 1: missionary had done what rest Sputin had done. The imperial 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: family was stained. A vestige of the dark ages had 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: risen up and taken the Tsar of Russia into his hands. 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: That was the message that thundered out into the Russian parliament, 8 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: the Duma, on March eighth of nineteen twelve. The speaker, 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: Alexander Gukov, was a politician who had been working to 10 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: reform the Russian government since the Revolution of nineteen o five. 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: Now he was taking direct aim at the Tsar, and 12 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 1: Nicholas took it personally. After all, this speech was in 13 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: open defiance of his power, and in a time when 14 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: the press and the church and even the supporters of 15 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 1: the Empire had gone against the crown, this was a 16 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: new low. The government that Nicholas had tried to control 17 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: was now openly questioning his guy given authority. They were 18 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: undermining him in the very halls of government itself. It 19 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: stung all the more because it was the final exclamation 20 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: point on a process that Nicholas had begun himself when 21 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: he met with the President of the Duma, Mikhail Rosienko. 22 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: A few months before. Nicholas had met with Rosienko in 23 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: the wake of the secret police attacking the press. They 24 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: had discussed Resputant's place at court. They talked over the 25 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: deeply disturbing things that people had observed about Rasputant's behavior. 26 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: Rosienko had even read Nicholas letters from the mothers of 27 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 1: women who had fallen into Grigory's clutches. Rosienko told the 28 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: Czar that the attempts to shut down the press were backfiring. 29 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: The more Nicholas tried to silence the outrage, the more 30 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: Russian readers thought that Resputant's evil influence was controlling the throne. 31 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: While Rosienko talked, Nicolas smoked. He nervously lit one cigarette 32 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: after another, feverishly puffing and then throwing them on the ground. 33 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: When the President of the Duma was done, Nicholas think 34 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: the man. He was grateful for Rosienko's honesty, he said. 35 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: In the following days, Nicholas was quiet. People around him 36 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: saw that he was mulling something over. A few days later, 37 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: a sheaf of documents arrived on Rosienko's desk. Nicholas had 38 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: ordered that all the investigations on Rasputant be sent to him. 39 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:18,640 Speaker 1: Nicholas wanted Rosienko to continue gathering evidence as long as 40 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: he did it quietly. But that's where the President of 41 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: the Duma violated the trust of the Czar, because he 42 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: brought in his political allies like Alexander Gukov. He showed 43 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: them the reports and told them that together they would 44 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,640 Speaker 1: save the Emperor and Russia. They compiled a complete report, 45 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,959 Speaker 1: a profile of Rasputin, more comprehensive than anything yet put 46 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: to the page, and then they sent it to Nicholas 47 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: and waited. They were greeted with only silence, a silence 48 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: that was broken by Gukhov's speech to the Duma. But 49 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: if Gukov and Rosienko thought that shouting against the Czar 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: in parliament would finally make Nicholas turned back, they were 51 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: badly mistaken, and fact Gukhov's speech was a turning point 52 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 1: in the relationship between the Duma and the Romanovs. To Nicholas, 53 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: it was a breach of trust. He had asked for 54 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: secrecy and instead was openly attacked Alexandra sent men to 55 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: seize back the documents that Nicholas had sent to Rosienko. 56 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: This wasn't just political now, it was personal, and from 57 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: that there was no going back. The delicate stitching that 58 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,399 Speaker 1: held the young constitutional government together was beginning to unravel. 59 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: This is unobscured, I'm Aaron Manky. They retreated again, after all, 60 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,279 Speaker 1: it was their habit to do so. Nicholas and Alexandra 61 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: didn't stay in the capital. Instead, they went looking for 62 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: places to rest their heads and to leave behind the 63 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: troubles of ruling Russia. In nineteen o nine, when they 64 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: were threatened all the way across the North Sea in England, 65 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: it didn't seem like things could get worse. But that 66 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: was before Prime Minister stoy Leapin was assassinated. Iliador battled 67 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: the Tzar and betrayed Rasputant. The press turned into high gear, 68 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: and members of the Douma threw it all in their face. So, 69 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,159 Speaker 1: as always, it was time to get away. Following Rasputant's advice, 70 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: they went looking for places of natural beauty and peaceful wilderness. 71 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: They even found places where they wouldn't be recognized, places 72 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: where they could step in and out of local shops 73 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: without the owners falling to their knees. But as always, 74 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: it seemed that no matter where the Romanovs went, trouble 75 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: would follow. That shadow over the family only darkened on 76 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: their holiday in nine twelve and the trouble they ran 77 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: into that year. They would be a decisive moment for 78 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: one small struggle that had recently grown into a major headache, 79 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,600 Speaker 1: their choy to befriend Grigory Rasputin. In fact, the trouble 80 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:07,119 Speaker 1: and what followed came to be known as a miraculous event. 81 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,840 Speaker 1: It became a story that has grown in its retelling 82 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: down the years. The thing is, there was something of 83 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: a miracle about it from the very beginning, at least 84 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: for Grigory's bond with Nicholas and Alexandra, one of the 85 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: crucial moments when the relationship between the Romanovs and Rasputin 86 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: was sealed and their path into the future was written. 87 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: It started ordinarily enough, but as we know, even ordinary 88 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: pastimes were riddled with danger for the Emperor's son, little 89 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: Alexei Romanov, and this jaunt through the Polish countryside was 90 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: no different. But he had let his guard down, because 91 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: since nineteen oh seven Alexei had been remarkably healthy. In fact, 92 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: the family had stopped holding their breath. They still took precautions, 93 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: for sure, but it seemed like maybe they had learned 94 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: to manage their little boys chronic illness. Here's Helen Rappaport 95 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: to tell us what happened next. In the Ltum Romanovs 96 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: went off to one of on a trip to what 97 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: was Poland what is Poland now but was then part 98 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:10,039 Speaker 1: of the Russian Empire, the big forest near Yellowish And 99 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: they went to one of their big imperial hunting lodges there. 100 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: And it was while they were staying there that alex 101 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: say Alexey was always very reluctant to do as he 102 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: was told, and he constantly be told by his minders, 103 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: and he had a couple of minders who were with 104 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: him all the time not to jump and leap around him. 105 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: He risked banging himself, which he did one day getting 106 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:36,799 Speaker 1: into a boat. He jumped into a boat and bashed 107 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: his hip and it started bleeding in the joints and 108 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: at the top of his thigh. The family leapt into 109 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: emergency mode. It had been a few years since he 110 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,200 Speaker 1: had been injured this badly, but no one had forgotten 111 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: what to do. Alexei rested and, to their relief, recovered. 112 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: The family moved on to a smaller hunting lodge in Poland, 113 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: more modest, more out of the way. But as he 114 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: got at her Alexei got more restless. He was really 115 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: getting very fed out with being told by his mother. 116 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: Daaned out, Now, you can't do this. You can't go 117 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: off in the bicycle. He can't ride a pony, you 118 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: can't go off with the other children. You just had 119 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 1: this terrible episode. You've got to get well. And he 120 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: was constantly complaining and fed up would not being able 121 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: to do anything. So in the end Alexandra took him 122 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: out for a coach ride. Maybe Alexandra thought this was 123 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: safe enough. She was with her son and he was 124 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: inside the coach, but the road was far from smooth, 125 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: and Alexei was not as recovered as they all thought, 126 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: which meant that every bump and the road could send 127 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: his healing crashing to a halt. And that's just what happened. 128 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,600 Speaker 1: Let's hear from Douglas Smith. He's jostled about and this 129 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 1: produces a bleeding episode in his leg and it becomes 130 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: quite critical. The doctors are fussing over him. They don't 131 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: know what to do. It's getting worse and worse. The 132 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: boy is in excruciating pain, which is driving his parents, 133 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: you know, utterly mad to see their their beloved son 134 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: hurting so terribly. Um it gets to the point where 135 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: they're about to, you know, have a priest brought in 136 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: for the last rites. They don't think that that alex 137 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: A is going to survive. So as sort of a 138 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: last ditch effort, Alexandra sends a cable telegram to Rasputin, 139 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: who's home in Siberia, for some sort of intercession. And 140 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: this is the moment when we need to step back 141 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: just a bit, because this story becomes a pillar in 142 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: the legend of Rasputin, as if the only thing keeping 143 00:08:33,040 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: Grigory together with the Romanovs was a mystical healing power. 144 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: If on the one side, his story is buried under 145 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,280 Speaker 1: the rumors about Rasputin being the lover of the Russian queen, 146 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: on the other side, we can also allow stories of 147 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,200 Speaker 1: his healing power to carry the burden of what we 148 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: now know. So this is a good point to remember 149 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: just how important Gregory had been to the royal family 150 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: down through the years, because the truth is that Gregory 151 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: Rasputin had been a close counselor spiritual adviser and a 152 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: comforting friend to Alexandra for years and to Nicholas too. 153 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: Now that much said. When Alexei was injured on the 154 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: carriage ride, there was so much rumor in the air 155 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 1: that we can only think the relationship between the Romanovs 156 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,840 Speaker 1: and their Siberian friend was delicate and becoming more fragile. 157 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: After all, when Alexandra reached out to him by telegram, well, 158 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,959 Speaker 1: it was a last resort. In fact, they were so 159 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: certain that their little boy would die that they drafted 160 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: the official notifications of Alexei's death, and Grigory was far 161 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: far away from Poland. But when they thought back to 162 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:36,240 Speaker 1: that last time that Alexei had been at death store, 163 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 1: they must have remembered that it was under Resputant's hands 164 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: and his prayers that the boy had recovered. What else 165 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: could they credit with Alexei's five years of good health. 166 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: So if the Russian public thought that Resputant was out 167 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: of favor with Alexandra, it seems they got it wrong. 168 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: All the attacks on Gregory may have soured him in 169 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: the newspapers, but it never truly split Resputant and the 170 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,200 Speaker 1: Romanovs apart. In fact, earlier in the year, at the 171 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: height of the press attacks, the Romanov family was traveling 172 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: in Crimea and Grigory had traveled with them. They had 173 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,440 Speaker 1: been together through the winter and into the early spring. 174 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: No matter what the paper said, no matter what the 175 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: Duma said, Nicholas and Alexandra were adamant they would not 176 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: be told who they could let through their doors, and 177 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: any damage to their friendship would have been healed. When 178 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: Grigory answered their telegram from Poland that fall, he was 179 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: far away, but his words of comfort touched to Alexandra's heart. 180 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,320 Speaker 1: Leaning over the mattress that might be her son's deathbed, 181 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: Alexandra was frantic with fear, that is until she read 182 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: Resputant's reply, sent a message but effectively saying, don't worry. 183 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 1: All will be well, the little one will not die. 184 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 1: Don't let the doctors fuss around him too much. And 185 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 1: when she got that message, of course, she calmed down 186 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: and became The stress sort of vanished from her face. 187 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 1: She came down to dinner first time in about two weeks, 188 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: and alex I recovered this point this pivotal moment is 189 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 1: easy to understand. Grigory wasn't there. All he did was 190 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: pray and send a telegram. Did he heal Alexei? Most 191 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: historians think that the boy was already on the men. 192 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: But the important thing is less Alexei's healing itself. It's 193 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,720 Speaker 1: more about how all this seemed to Alexandra, because in 194 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: her eyes, when it came to the life of her 195 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: beloved son, this was a second miraculous healing. God had spoken, 196 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,719 Speaker 1: Rasputant had shared the message. All was well. Alexander now 197 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: stood on a rock of confidence. As an ocean of 198 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: uncertainty washed around her. Terrible things might arise. Waves of anger, violence, death, 199 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: accusations and slander might crash against her place in the world, 200 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: But the Empress of Russia could now stand unafraid. The 201 00:11:55,320 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: man of God would guide her. Rasputin was a household name, 202 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: not just in Russia either. By the spring of nineteen twelve, 203 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: the scandal caused by the Duma taking up the issue 204 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: of Rasputant nesting in the palace had made him the 205 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: subject of even more rumors and wild stories than the 206 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: papers could print. The ambassadors of several countries wrote back 207 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:22,079 Speaker 1: to their home offices about the mysterious Siberian peasant. Word 208 00:12:22,120 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: of the religious fanatic with mysterious hypnotic powers was being 209 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: inflated and floated into government offices all across Europe. Of course, 210 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 1: like most of the trial balloons going up about Grigory, 211 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: most of these reports were collections of the rumors popular 212 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: among the Russian aristocracy. But when the Romanovs had gone 213 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: to Crimea that spring to celebrate Easter, Rasputin also disappeared 214 00:12:43,320 --> 00:12:47,480 Speaker 1: from St. Petersburg society. But his absence didn't silence the conversation. 215 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: In fact, the furious speculation about him only got hotter, 216 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: so much so that the newspapers started commenting on the 217 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:57,960 Speaker 1: newspaper coverage as its own story. That March, for example, 218 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: one article titled Rasputini Anna complained that there was no 219 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,079 Speaker 1: getting rid of the story. It was like Eczema, it said. 220 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,679 Speaker 1: Once a paper caught the bug for publishing about Resputin, 221 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,680 Speaker 1: there was no going back. It became an endless flow 222 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: of Grigory's comings and goings, unless there was no news, 223 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: in which case it became a perpetual series of guesses 224 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: about where he might be. After all, resputants sold papers, 225 00:13:22,040 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: and speculation was a lucrative business. It was like a disease, 226 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: they wrote, even though the pages were only paper. It 227 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: seemed that Resputant had gone viral, and not everyone was 228 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,400 Speaker 1: happy about that, especially because it all seemed to backfire. 229 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 1: If the original idea had been to shock the conscience 230 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: of the nation and of the Romanas, the opposite had happened. 231 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: All these headlines about the wandering holy Man only seemed 232 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: to desensitize everyone to the whole affair. The newfound freedom 233 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: of the press was teaching the newspapers a hard new lesson. 234 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: If you yell loud and long enough, you get tuned 235 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:59,440 Speaker 1: out to be a spectacle. The news has to stay new. 236 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: Of course, there was a grain of truth to all 237 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,720 Speaker 1: the reporting. Grigory was going here and there. He traveled 238 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: constantly from Siberia to St. Petersburg, to Crimea, where he 239 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: spent time with Nicholas and Alexandra, back to his home 240 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: then in Siberia. But if the papers were chasing rumors, 241 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: the secret police were tracking the man himself. Police surveillance 242 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: reports included Resputant spottings whenever he would arrive in the capital. 243 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,400 Speaker 1: After all, he wasn't just newsworthy. Over the past few 244 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: years he had become the most infamous man in all 245 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: of Russia, and as a close confident of the Tsar, 246 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 1: that made him a target. If you were against his 247 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: friendship with the Czar, well, it also made him a threat, 248 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: and it probably didn't help. The resputants seemed less and 249 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: less like the simple, wide eyed pilgrim who had first 250 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: shown up in the capital almost a decade earlier. For 251 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: years now he had been living the high life. It 252 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: left Grigory looking different to the papers started to comment 253 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: on his appearance. By August, one paper was calling his 254 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: face tormented. The skin was clinging to his owns, and 255 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,720 Speaker 1: the bones were poking through the skin. Dark circles never 256 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:08,080 Speaker 1: faded from around his eyes. Resputant, it seems, was getting tired. 257 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: Even his daughter Maria noticed the changes when he would 258 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: come home to Siberia. She remembered how much he started 259 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: to resent the visitors in those years. After so much traveling, 260 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,920 Speaker 1: he just wanted some peace and quiet, but he had 261 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: raised his profile too high for that. If it wasn't 262 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: reporters and investigators coming by to get a read on 263 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: his most recent events, it was religious seekers. Maria would 264 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: later say her father got annoyed with them, but it 265 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: didn't stop a parade of women marching up to their 266 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: front door looking for the little Father and throwing themselves 267 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: on him, grabbing his hands and kissing the hem of 268 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: his clothes. She remembers at one point he ripped his 269 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: hands away from a woman and shouted, I am not 270 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 1: your father, I'm not even a monk. But nothing stopped 271 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: the downright worship. If he wasn't the devil to the 272 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: people who came prowling at the door, he was a saint, 273 00:15:57,520 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: and that's not something you can just shake off. If 274 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:04,000 Speaker 1: the newspapers hadn't changed their mind, what could so. When 275 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: he was home in Siberia, Grigory trying to duck out 276 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: of sight. He avoided the restaurants and ate at home. 277 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,960 Speaker 1: He kept to his devotional rituals, which was no meat 278 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: and no liquor. At least that's how Maria remembers it. 279 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: The thing is, that's about as far as you can 280 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: get from the life he lived. When he traveled to St. Petersburg. 281 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: If his daughters saw one face at home, the Okrana 282 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: in the capital observed something completely opposite. There he spent 283 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 1: his days and nights out on the town in company too. 284 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: He went out with friends, or he made his way 285 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: to the streets and neighborhoods notorious for prostitution. They followed 286 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: him as he picked up women and took them down 287 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: his old paths to a nearby hotel or to a bathhouse. 288 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: Sometimes they trailed him as he went from bath house 289 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: to brothel to bathhouse, and he had a new woman 290 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: on his arm each time. It didn't look at all 291 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 1: like the kind of life he tried to live in 292 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: front of his followers. So if he was starting to 293 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: look haggard and worn out, well, it wasn't just the 294 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: scandal and screw rutiny that was doing it. Gregory may 295 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: have been trying to keep the two sides of his 296 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: life separate, but it's not like he was discreet about it. 297 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: For whatever reason, he seemed to throw caution to the 298 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: wind when he was in St. Petersburg and when the 299 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: Czar was out of town. In later years, even Maria 300 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,600 Speaker 1: would admit who her father became in those years, though, 301 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: of course, whether the drunken stumble between brothels was something 302 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: new for him is hard to pin down. It's just 303 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,000 Speaker 1: that he was finally being watched so much that his 304 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: habits were no longer hidden. His supporters like to say 305 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: that it was the city that had corrupted the Siberian peasant. 306 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: Over time, they called his new lifestyle a spiritual catastrophe. 307 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 1: Churchmen like Theo Fan, who had started by embracing Rasputin, 308 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: told the story this way. Try as they might to 309 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: displace some kind of blame from Grigory for his choices, 310 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: or to say he didn't used to be so constantly 311 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: on the prowl, it all seemed a bit too convenient. 312 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: There may be some truth to it, no doubt, Grigory 313 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: did adapt a bit to his new surroundings. But we 314 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: can't forget just how much Fan looked past in those 315 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,000 Speaker 1: early years when he thought Grigory could be useful to him. 316 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,840 Speaker 1: Whispers had followed him from Pokrosco to Kazan and onward. 317 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,880 Speaker 1: And in the end, there's no debate about at least 318 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: one thing. If there were neighborhoods in any city where 319 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: the virtues of the Orthodox Church were left outside, it 320 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: was Grigory himself who willingly opened that door and crept inside. 321 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:31,639 Speaker 1: The crisis was real. The spiritual crisis. That is, whatever 322 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: Grigory may have decided about the way he would live 323 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,760 Speaker 1: his life, he never stopped tormenting himself about the unraveling. 324 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: The sex and the drunken knights in St. Petersburg were 325 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: less the cause of a collapse and more the result 326 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: of one. The real crisis had been working inside him 327 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: all along, no matter how he was living respute and 328 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,200 Speaker 1: held on to his own claim to faith. To himself, 329 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: at least, he was not a fraud or a heretic. 330 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:58,639 Speaker 1: He was simply a man of God who sometimes, maybe 331 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,400 Speaker 1: often made miss achs. At least that's what he told himself. 332 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: But if the Romanov's dismissed concerns about Gregory as malicious rumors, 333 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 1: others did not, not the members of the Duma, not 334 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: the public, and not the Russian Church. In fact, there 335 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: were some who began to suspect that their earlier investigations 336 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: into his teachings were flawed. In past years, church officials 337 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,440 Speaker 1: had decided that Resputant was no heretic, but after all 338 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: the accusations against him, they decided to look again. In fact, 339 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: one bishop in the city of Tubulsk, near Resputant's hometown, 340 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: took up the subject with some genuine energy. He ordered 341 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: church investigators to send him monthly reports on Gregory, where 342 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: he went, what he taught, who he met with. Despite 343 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: Rasputin being earlier cleared of connections to secret groups of heretics, 344 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: it was exactly the same question they were trying to answer. Now. 345 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: It seems obvious that any church leaders would want to 346 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: separate themselves from Rasputin as much as possible. But there's 347 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,719 Speaker 1: a more clear and more personal link to these investigations too, 348 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: because the Bishop of Tobolsk was personal friends with someone 349 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:06,040 Speaker 1: who had become an enemy of Rasputin, the mad monk Iliador. 350 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: Not that the investigations immediately produced damning evidence, though. In 351 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: the spring of nineteen twelve, while Gregory was home in 352 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,399 Speaker 1: Pokrosco with his family, the priest there followed orders. He 353 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: sent reports to the nearby bishop, but there wasn't much 354 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,479 Speaker 1: to say. Gregory went to church, he seemed to be 355 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: working and supporting his family. All the whispers the priest 356 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: could gather only said that Gregory was keeping to his prayers. 357 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: He made short pilgrimages here and there. At home, it 358 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: seemed like he was the devouts and pious peasant his 359 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,240 Speaker 1: daughter thought he might be. But there was one thing 360 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: that raised concerns his followers. In fact, it was one 361 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: of the women who had been devoted to him the longest. 362 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: Olga look Tina Gears had passed since she had hosted 363 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: him in the St. Petersburg salons, and in those years 364 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: she had taken to living with the religious teachers she 365 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: liked the best. Sometimes she was living in the band 366 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: of followers at Risputant's house. Sometimes she had been living 367 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: with another fiery preacher, Eliador. And after the split between 368 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: Gregory and Eliador, it seems Olga knew where she wanted 369 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:11,280 Speaker 1: to be, and so she settled down to live with 370 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: resputants family. But she ran into some conflict with his wife. 371 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: Now let's remember that for all these years, when Resputant 372 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: was wandering and climbing the ladder of the Russian courts, 373 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: he had a family at home in Siberia. His wife, 374 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: Prascovia was often left affair without her husband, and their 375 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: children were often without their father. But they may do. 376 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,480 Speaker 1: And of course, when Gregory bought the new house, brought 377 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 1: home the new clothes and rode in with new patrons 378 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,720 Speaker 1: and new money. That wasn't nothing, But Prascovia and the 379 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: Resputant family knew better than most that his ambitions and 380 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: visions came with a cost. In some ways. It was 381 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,479 Speaker 1: a burden that they all had to carry. So when 382 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: their guest, Olga started loudly proclaiming that Resputent ought to 383 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:57,360 Speaker 1: be treated as God himself, well that didn't sit well 384 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: with his wife. She was the wife of Gregory's younger years. 385 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: She knew that he was all too human, but Olga 386 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: didn't appreciate that perspective, and when she didn't let the 387 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: issue drop, the two women got into a ferocious argument. 388 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: I can only imagine the resigned strength of Prascovia as 389 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: she had to repeat that no, her wandering husband was 390 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: a charismatic man, but certainly not the God of the universe. Eventually, 391 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 1: Prascovia put her foot down. The fight sent Olga running 392 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: barefoot from the house, and she disappeared. Over time, news 393 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: but trickle back that she had begun wandering from monastery 394 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: to monastery. She was looking for Iliador, and once in 395 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: a while she even ran across reporters who took down 396 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: her accounts and published the story of the wealthy st 397 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:46,120 Speaker 1: Petersburg socialite who had fallen from grace, dragged down by 398 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: the talents of Grigory Rasputin. That was enough to concern 399 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 1: the church, not least because even more concerning stories began 400 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: to come out about how badly Resputant had treated Olga. 401 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: Some witnesses said that he had taken to screaming her, 402 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: telling her that she was demon possessed, and even beating 403 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:06,560 Speaker 1: her with a shoe. Through it all, she would desperately 404 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: grab at his clothes and sob that rest Sputin was 405 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: christ himself. So when a new bishop arrived into Bolsk 406 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: that year, one of the things he put on his 407 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 1: list was a visit to Pokrovsko and to the home 408 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,760 Speaker 1: of Grigory Resputin. It was now his job to care 409 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: for the people across his region of Siberia, and after 410 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:28,440 Speaker 1: reading stacks and stacks of reports on Resputin, he decided 411 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: to see this threat to the Russian people for himself. 412 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: The bishop met directly with Grigory. It was a meeting 413 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,199 Speaker 1: meant to test resputants religious beliefs. He took a measure 414 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: of Grigory's hopes and ambitions and considered whether his preaching 415 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: was strengthening the church. The local priest and other church 416 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 1: officials made another search of Resputant's house, and they questioned 417 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: the people who knew him, trying to ferret out anything 418 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,199 Speaker 1: he said that might sound like the heresy they feared 419 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: for whatever reason, though their conclusions left Resputant off the hook. 420 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: What kind of a man and was Rasputin? The bishop 421 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,159 Speaker 1: wrote that he was honestly spiritual and that he was 422 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: searching for the truth. He was intelligent, He was capable 423 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,480 Speaker 1: of giving good advice to those in need. That fall, 424 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,360 Speaker 1: he submitted a report to other leaders in Russia's church 425 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: the investigations into Grigory Resputent ought to be condemned. He 426 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: said there was no heresy, and in his eyes, Grigory 427 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: Resputin was an orthodox Christian. But if that closed the 428 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: book on Rasputin for the Russian Church, well, we can 429 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: take a slightly more critical view looking back from today, 430 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,359 Speaker 1: because there are a few things that never made it 431 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: into the bishop's report. First of all, he had known 432 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: Rasputin for years, ever since Grigory had made a pilgrimage 433 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: to Kazan in nineteen o four, and he left that out. 434 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,320 Speaker 1: Second of the bishop had his own scandals in his wake. 435 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:49,399 Speaker 1: As he splashed down at the new post in Siberia, 436 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,480 Speaker 1: whispers that he had been keeping a mistress and fostering 437 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: fanatical followers of other mystical preachers. And from the outside, 438 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:59,640 Speaker 1: the fact that the church ended its scrutiny of Rasputin 439 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: caused some concern. Reopening the investigation into Grigory's shady life 440 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: had only made him stronger. What if the two men 441 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: had cut some kind of a deal. And suspicions only 442 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 1: got stronger when a few months later that bishop was 443 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: transferred again to the warmer, more hospitable self, and was 444 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,640 Speaker 1: promoted to the fourth highest position in the Orthodox Church, 445 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,840 Speaker 1: very different from how Rasputant's enemies were usually treated removed 446 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:27,239 Speaker 1: from authority in the church, men like Iliodor, Germy Jen 447 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: and Phio fan To a public who are now seeing 448 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: schemes of Resputant behind every injustice, it seemed that opposing 449 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,719 Speaker 1: him came with a heavy price, and this was simply 450 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: one more sign that there was something rotten in the 451 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:47,879 Speaker 1: shadow of the czar. Three years that's how long the 452 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: Romanovs had ruled Russia, so naturally the planned festivities were enormous, 453 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 1: A twenty one cannon salute rang out from the fortress 454 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: and St. Petersburg. Nicholas himself led a procession from the 455 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,879 Speaker 1: imperial residence at the Winter Palace to the cathedral. The 456 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: streets were packed, crowds cheered wildly as the imperial family approached. Inside, 457 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: even the cathedral was standing room only. Honored guests, government officials, 458 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: and various foreign ambassadors and dignitaries took special reserve seats 459 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: to honor the history of the Romanov family and their power. 460 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: But if the joy and excitement of the occasion was infectious, 461 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,480 Speaker 1: it didn't catch on with at least one man, Mikhail Rogianko, 462 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: the President of the Duma. In fact, the day so 463 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,080 Speaker 1: far had put him in a foul mood. It started 464 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: with those seats in the cathedral, you see. When he 465 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: first saw the guest list and how the seating would 466 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: be arranged, he was irate. The seats assigned to members 467 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: of the Duma were in the back of the cathedral, 468 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: behind a host of other functionaries and officials who were 469 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: closer to the Czar. So Rosienko set out to make 470 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: it right. He hunted down the Master of Ceremonies and 471 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: badgered the man until he bent the seating chart to 472 00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: his own will, the Duma members would be moved forward. 473 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: With that promise secured, he even assigned a number of 474 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: his sergeants at arms to block off the section and 475 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,320 Speaker 1: turn away anyone who tried to plant themselves in those seats. 476 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: Feeling satisfied, Rosienko took up a place on the porch 477 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: to wait for the rest of the Duma members to arrive. 478 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,959 Speaker 1: But it wasn't long before a breathless man rushed up 479 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: to him. Some scoundrel had fought past his guards and 480 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: taken a space reserved for the Duma. The sergeants were 481 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: arguing with him, but the man refused to budge. When 482 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: he heard the description of the intruder. Ragged man in 483 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: peasants dress wearing a pectoral cross, Rodsienko knew who he 484 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: was dealing with. Rasputant had moved himself to the head 485 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:41,240 Speaker 1: of the class. Rodsienko marched inside, but the grigory resputant 486 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: he found wasn't so ragged at all. On the contrary, 487 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:46,320 Speaker 1: he was decked out in all the finery he had 488 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: received or purchased over the years. A crimson silk tunic 489 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: supple leather boots, a coat line was sable for, and 490 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: ebony trousers, all under an enormous cross hanging from an 491 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:01,800 Speaker 1: ornate gold chain. Rodsienko let loose. He demanded to know 492 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,400 Speaker 1: what Grigory thought he was doing there. The peasant would 493 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: get out, or Rosienko would drag him out by the beard. 494 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 1: The two men locked eyes, and I can only imagine 495 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: the flashes of fire that burned the air between them. Eventually, 496 00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,399 Speaker 1: Rosienko told Resputant to clear the cathedral. There was no 497 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 1: place for a vile heretic like him in that sacred house. 498 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: But Rasputin defended himself by saying that he had been 499 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: invited there, and he dared Rosienko to make good on 500 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 1: his threats. The President of the Duma obliged. He jumped 501 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,400 Speaker 1: on Resputant, battered him with blows, and called the Cossack 502 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,360 Speaker 1: guard to bounce him out the door. At least that's 503 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: how Rosienko remembered it. He wrote it down too, then 504 00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: he published it in his memoirs. Ever since, It's a 505 00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,800 Speaker 1: moment that has been told and retold to show just 506 00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: how much bad blood there was between Rasputin and the 507 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: Russian officials. Around him. After all, it had the ring 508 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: of truth, the fine clothes, the men of various parts 509 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:57,719 Speaker 1: of Russian life scraping with each other to take pride 510 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: of place near the Tsar, the bickering that Ms Two 511 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: blows and is only settled by Cossack muscle. It's all 512 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: pitch perfect, if we can believe Rosienko. That is the 513 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: thing is. It seems that in the end, Resputant did 514 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: attend the celebrations, and not just at the cathedral. In fact, 515 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: there were plenty of ways to partake, and it became 516 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:20,120 Speaker 1: clear the Resputant was a guest of the imperial family 517 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: as the days went by, because they took their party 518 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: on the road, and they took Gregory with them. Nicholas's 519 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: sister commented that after everything, it was stunning and even 520 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: upsetting that Resputant was now back in plain view, strutting 521 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: along with the other elites. But after all, this was 522 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: a celebration of the Czar's power, and if anyone needed 523 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: a sign that the Tsar's wishes overruled the will of 524 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: the people or anyone else's, this did the trick. Despite 525 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,360 Speaker 1: all the rumors, despite all the investigations, If the Czar 526 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: wanted Grigory Resputant by his side. Then Resputant was untouchable. 527 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: After all, Nicholas and Alexander had a point to make. 528 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: Their advisors had been telling them that Resputant was threat 529 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,240 Speaker 1: to the throne. They warned that revolutionaries like the men 530 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: who had killed the Prime Minister were still on the hunt. 531 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,720 Speaker 1: Resputant shouldn't be seen with them. But then the celebrations 532 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:13,840 Speaker 1: themselves were an enormous risk. Advertising their procession from city 533 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: to city only made it more likely that people discontented 534 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,800 Speaker 1: with Czarist rule would turn the pageant into a blood bath. 535 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: No such thing occurred, though, and as cheering crowds greeted 536 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: them along their itinerary, Alexandra mocked the warnings. You can 537 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,480 Speaker 1: see for yourself, she said. The ministers are cowards. They 538 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: had tried to scare the emperor with threats of assassinations 539 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:38,360 Speaker 1: and revolutionaries, but to her eyes, it was all just 540 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: as much a veil of lies as the press reports 541 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: about her and Resputant. But from where we sit today 542 00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,840 Speaker 1: we see how misguided Alexandra it really was. The future 543 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 1: she faced was a dark one. The ministers had been 544 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 1: telling her the truth. They were imperiled on every side. 545 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: If the Romanovs thought that they were loved across their empire, 546 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: then maybe the biggest lies were the ones they told themselves, 547 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: and they were far from understanding the people they ground 548 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: under their feet. Here's Dr Joshua Sanborn to tell us more. 549 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: It's hard to know what the relationship between That's Are 550 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: and the people were. There're no surveys, there are no poles, 551 00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: there are no there's no way to really get at 552 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,000 Speaker 1: this question. And so much of what we have is 553 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: the representation of the autocracy itself for how it wanted 554 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 1: that relationship to be, how it wanted it to look, 555 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,440 Speaker 1: and they had a lot of resources in order to 556 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,200 Speaker 1: sort of have that happen. Indeed, in the years building 557 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: up to World War One, there are a series of 558 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: celebration that sort of they were intended to heighten this 559 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: bond between the monarch and the people. And these build 560 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,440 Speaker 1: up to the church centenary anniversary of the Romanov dynasty 561 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: itself in and so they have big celebrations that always 562 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: always are trying to stress this bond between That's Are 563 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:51,120 Speaker 1: and the people. And when we say big celebrations, we 564 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 1: mean big. They filled the streets in St. Petersburg, and 565 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: in Moscow and more, cathedrals, monasteries and the Kremlin hosted 566 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,680 Speaker 1: events in their honor. Nicholas and Alexandra strode across the 567 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:05,959 Speaker 1: Red Square, trailed by a Cossack officer carrying their heir 568 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: Alexei in his arms. From city to city they stamped 569 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: three hundred years of Romanov rule on Russia. But with 570 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: all of that pomp and pageantry, the question remains was 571 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,200 Speaker 1: any of it real? Did it work? Did these celebrations 572 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: rebuild the bond between the czar and the people? Maybe 573 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: in Moscow, but the Russian Empire was vast, and no 574 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: matter how far the Czar traveled with his family and 575 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: his entourage, he wasn't reaching the hearts of the empire's borders. 576 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: Far from the parades and the speeches and the tussles 577 00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,080 Speaker 1: between Rasputin and the ministers about who will sit at 578 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,880 Speaker 1: the Tsar's right hand, other things were brewing. Let's follow 579 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:48,120 Speaker 1: Dr Sandborn to places further from the throne, but no 580 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:52,480 Speaker 1: less consequential. The relationship between that's are in ethnic Russians 581 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: and and and those on the periphery um that is 582 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: certainly different, and that's going to vary widely depending on 583 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: where in the Russian Empire you are. So nationalism and 584 00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: anti Russian nationalism is developing more strongly in certain places 585 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: than in others, most notably in Poland, but also beginning 586 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:09,280 Speaker 1: to develop but by the time we get to the 587 00:33:09,320 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: twentieth century in places like Ukraine and in the Baltic States, 588 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: and even to a certain extent more broadly into sort 589 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: of the Asian territories of the Russian Empire too. The 590 00:33:18,320 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: thing we have to remember is that this relationship is distant. 591 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: That's are always wanted to see this as an intimate relationship, 592 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,840 Speaker 1: but but it was a distant one. You know, most people, 593 00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,240 Speaker 1: of course never saw that's are and you know, they 594 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:31,320 Speaker 1: live their lives in their local regions, in these local contexts. 595 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,880 Speaker 1: And in the years leading up to that three anniversary, 596 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,520 Speaker 1: the growing anti Russian nationalism was driven forward by a 597 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: self defeating force, the efforts of the Romanov government that 598 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:46,080 Speaker 1: make them more Russian. In places where other churches and 599 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: other languages were outlawed, a growing resentment turned the people 600 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 1: against the distant ours. Schools were forced to teach only 601 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:57,040 Speaker 1: Russian history, and crackdowns on other languages spread. But it 602 00:33:57,120 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: had the opposite of its desired effect. Ethnic nationalists on 603 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: the periphery. They had long tried to say, Hey, you 604 00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: guys are all Ukrainians, and the Ukrainians will be like, 605 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: I don't know where. I'm kind of a peasant, I'm 606 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: kind of a Christian. And now they're coming along, and 607 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:10,440 Speaker 1: now they finally have the proof. They're like, see, your Ukrainians, 608 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:13,399 Speaker 1: the state is punishing for being a Ukrainian. Now they say, oh, yeah, 609 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 1: now that's what you mean, Like I can't go to 610 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: the church I want to go to. My kids are 611 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:18,840 Speaker 1: speaking some weird language when they come home from school 612 00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: with a weird accent. All of that becomes much more 613 00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,160 Speaker 1: concrete for them, and so as a result, rusification, which 614 00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: is intended to to limit the spread of ethnic nationalism, 615 00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:33,280 Speaker 1: actually helps to develop it, especially in the western borderlands Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Lavia, Estonia. 616 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: But all of that was happening far from where Nicholas 617 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: was traveling. His parade of stage managed visits to various 618 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: sights at the heart of the Empire weren't showing him 619 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: how people really felt about his rule. After all, it 620 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: was his own government who was putting on the show. 621 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: There was a problem. Though. It wasn't just the Russian 622 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: people who were hearing the message. It was Nicholas himself. 623 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: Here's Dr Sanborn to tell us more. You have these 624 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: big celebrations and the nobility welcome you, and it's crowds 625 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:03,800 Speaker 1: of cheering peasants. This is exactly what Nicholas wanted to see, 626 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:06,160 Speaker 1: and it's he's able to convince himself that this is 627 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,799 Speaker 1: a political reality. And so it's dangerous in a certain way, 628 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:10,760 Speaker 1: right when you when you start using your own product. 629 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,680 Speaker 1: But he had always sort of used his own product, 630 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: right He he was always imbuing himself with this notion 631 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: that he was a popular Russian star, and that stars 632 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: don't get their authority by being voted or surveyed. But 633 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:23,680 Speaker 1: but it's just a mystical thing. You're born with it. 634 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: Because whatever the shape of the past they were celebrating, 635 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: the future that the Romanovs and their empire were facing 636 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: was about to hit them like a runaway train. Wrapped 637 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,279 Speaker 1: in the banners of his noble lineage, Nicholas couldn't see 638 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 1: that the patchwork empire heat inherited was about to come 639 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:47,480 Speaker 1: apart at the seams. It seemed like he had won 640 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,359 Speaker 1: so why did Grigory feel like he was under such 641 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: a great weight. The so called miracle that healed Alexei 642 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,280 Speaker 1: assured him his place alongside the czar in the greatest 643 00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: festivities of the age. He had wealth, he had connections, 644 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:04,120 Speaker 1: He had a place at the capitol. He could indulge 645 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: his every urge without consequences. But it wasn't enough. Yes, 646 00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: he was making regular visits to the Romanov household. Nicholas 647 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:16,680 Speaker 1: and Alexandra still welcomed him, but he was tired. Tired 648 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,520 Speaker 1: of the constant attention It had stolen his peace, Tired 649 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 1: of the press attacks and rumors, not to mention when 650 00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: the stories bit a little too close to the bone 651 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:28,319 Speaker 1: in the first waves of negative attention. He had ducked 652 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,920 Speaker 1: out of sight and come back stronger. But he didn't 653 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,000 Speaker 1: want to spend the rest of his life working the 654 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:37,160 Speaker 1: back rooms of church officials and dodging the secret police investigators. 655 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 1: He was fed up. Reporters were mobbing his St. Petersburg apartment. 656 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,239 Speaker 1: They made him nervous. They called him a heretic, They 657 00:36:45,239 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: called him a sex maniac. They called him a servant 658 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 1: of the Antichrist. There was a time when he would 659 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,080 Speaker 1: have said that these were nothing more than clouds that 660 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 1: wind and sun would scatter. Not to mention the Czar, 661 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: but he had been rubbing shoulders with Nicholas and Alexander 662 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:01,560 Speaker 1: for long enough now that he wondered if maybe there 663 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,760 Speaker 1: was another way, maybe he could deal with it all himself. 664 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,120 Speaker 1: So he sent some messages on his own behalf. One 665 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 1: went to the Minister of the Interior. One went to 666 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:14,040 Speaker 1: the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, protect him from 667 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,960 Speaker 1: his enemies and what he called the abuse in the press. 668 00:37:17,840 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: It was the early months of nineteen fourteen, and Grigory 669 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,560 Speaker 1: Resputant was finally throwing his weight around. But if he 670 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,800 Speaker 1: felt like the accusations in public outrage were getting tiresome, 671 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,279 Speaker 1: the attacks on Resputant were about to get a lot 672 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,879 Speaker 1: more real and to hit a lot closer to home. 673 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:35,200 Speaker 1: Toward the end of spring, Grigory decided to leave the 674 00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:38,400 Speaker 1: capital behind for some time at home in Siberia. His 675 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,680 Speaker 1: friends and followers sent him off with good cheer, a 676 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: little piece simplicity and family time, and he would be 677 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,520 Speaker 1: back as good as new. And it started the way 678 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,640 Speaker 1: he planned. His first morning in Pokrovsko, he spent at 679 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,759 Speaker 1: church followed by a large meal with his family. A 680 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,359 Speaker 1: group of visiting friends even joined him while they were 681 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: still gathered around the table. Though, a knock came at 682 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: the war. It was a telegram from a photographer asking 683 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,480 Speaker 1: if he could stop by to take pictures of Grigory's 684 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,640 Speaker 1: home and family. He quickly scratched out a reply and 685 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 1: then ran out the door to catch the messenger, waving 686 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,400 Speaker 1: the slip and calling out to him. He wanted to 687 00:38:14,400 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: be sure the reply went out right away. As he 688 00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:20,600 Speaker 1: went though, Rasputant passed someone who was standing at his gate. 689 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,759 Speaker 1: It was a woman dressed in black. She was like 690 00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:26,520 Speaker 1: many people he had met before. In fact, as he 691 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:29,799 Speaker 1: stood in front of her, she bowed. Assuming she was 692 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,160 Speaker 1: there to beg He fumbled with his wallet to see 693 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,360 Speaker 1: if there was something he could give her, But in 694 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:38,200 Speaker 1: that moment while he paused, her hand disappeared into her clothes, 695 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,520 Speaker 1: and then she dove forward. Suddenly, pain burned across Grigory's stomach. 696 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,520 Speaker 1: He slapped his hand down over his gut and stumbled 697 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,520 Speaker 1: backward into a run, yelling that he had been attacked. 698 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:51,680 Speaker 1: When he looked back, he could see that she was 699 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,240 Speaker 1: running after him. She was carrying a large knife red 700 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:57,719 Speaker 1: with his own blood, and she had a deadly look 701 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,400 Speaker 1: in her eyes. When she reached him again, he was ready, 702 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,080 Speaker 1: despite the blood running down his legs. He fought back, 703 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: and by the time the others came to grab her arms, 704 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,960 Speaker 1: Grigory had already knocked her down. By now, people were 705 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,920 Speaker 1: running out of his house, and shouts rang out up 706 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,640 Speaker 1: and down the crowd that formed along the street. Gregory's 707 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,359 Speaker 1: wife ran to his side. As she pulled him toward 708 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,560 Speaker 1: their door, she noticed that he was losing consciousness and 709 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: no wonder by the second more of his blood caked 710 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,839 Speaker 1: into the dust. Their friends surrounded him and lay him 711 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:33,439 Speaker 1: on a bench. Someone else ran for a doctor. Resputant 712 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:35,480 Speaker 1: had been gutted in the street, right in front of 713 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: his own house. In an instant, he had been sent 714 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: to death's door. If only a powerful healer could drop 715 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:44,239 Speaker 1: in to pray over him, speak to his blood, and 716 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,959 Speaker 1: call him back from the brink. It would take time 717 00:39:46,960 --> 00:39:49,400 Speaker 1: for the motives of the attack to become clear, but 718 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,239 Speaker 1: there were even darker tidings clutched in the hands of 719 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,920 Speaker 1: the next messengers headed to Pokrovsko. War was on the 720 00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,680 Speaker 1: wind again. Nicholas and Alexandra were calling for their adviser, 721 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:04,520 Speaker 1: but he lay elsewhere, stretched out and pale. It seemed 722 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:11,160 Speaker 1: that Grigory Rasputin wasn't so untouchable after all. That's it 723 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:15,239 Speaker 1: for this week's episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this 724 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:18,560 Speaker 1: short sponsor break for a preview of what's in store 725 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:26,160 Speaker 1: for next week. He swam back to consciousness. The line 726 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: of fire burned across his belly where the knife had 727 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,640 Speaker 1: slashed him open. But Grigory Rasputant's mind was already charging 728 00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:36,080 Speaker 1: ahead to what came next after the attack and who 729 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:39,280 Speaker 1: was behind it. In fact, when he came to Rasputin 730 00:40:39,360 --> 00:40:41,319 Speaker 1: told the people around him that he knew who was 731 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: to blame, the mad monk Iliodora. After the two men 732 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,480 Speaker 1: finally severed their friendship, Grigory must have known it was 733 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 1: only a matter of time before one of Iliodora's followers 734 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:55,000 Speaker 1: would follow his signature command for violence. As time would reveal, 735 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:58,360 Speaker 1: Rasputin was right. The woman who had attacked him in 736 00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: the street outside his house was a follower of Eliodora's 737 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,000 Speaker 1: violent teachings. She had even met Rasputin before, when the 738 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:08,720 Speaker 1: two teachers were still traveling together. Now, like so many 739 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,919 Speaker 1: others in Russia. She had come to believe that rasputants 740 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,320 Speaker 1: prophecies were false and his spirit was polluted with vile 741 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:19,279 Speaker 1: habits and selfish ambitions. She believed that it was Rasputin 742 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:22,080 Speaker 1: who had turned on Iliador, so she set out to 743 00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,719 Speaker 1: avenge her chosen leader with a fifteen inch dagger on 744 00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:41,040 Speaker 1: a white bone handle. Unobscured was created by me Aaron 745 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:44,720 Speaker 1: Manky and produced by Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, and Josh 746 00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:48,440 Speaker 1: Thane in partnership with I Heart Radio, with research by 747 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:52,440 Speaker 1: Sam Alberty, writing by Carl Nellis, and original music by 748 00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:57,320 Speaker 1: Chad Lawson. Learn more about our contributing historians, source materials 749 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,480 Speaker 1: and links to our other shows over at grim mild 750 00:42:00,640 --> 00:42:05,640 Speaker 1: dot com, slash Unobscured, and as always, thanks for listening