1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,320 Speaker 1: Welcomed Unobscured, a production of I Heart Radio and Aaron Minky. 2 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: Just a note before we begin. This episode includes discussion 3 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: of sensitive topics. Listener discretion is advised. Anna had met 4 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: Rasputin a few years before his fanatical follower Olga had 5 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: made the introduction, and in the year since, Anna had 6 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: frequently opened her home to Resputant and his zealous believers 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: as they gathered to pray and read the Bible. Now 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: it was Grigory's turn. He was going to host Anna 9 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,959 Speaker 1: at his home in Pokrovsko. In fact, Alexander herself had 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:43,960 Speaker 1: sent a whole party of women to stay with Grigory, 11 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,519 Speaker 1: learned from him, and share his teaching with her. She 12 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: wanted to better understand how the man lived and the 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: weight of the things he taught, more than his few 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: visits to the palace had allowed. With the Empress behind it, 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: the trip gave Anna a thrill. Something told her this 16 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: was a turning point and that soon, like Olga, she 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: would be in rest Mutant's inner circle. But the closer 18 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: the trip came, the less certain she got that his 19 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: inner circle was where she wanted to be. She had 20 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: seen the way that Olga and his other followers treated him. 21 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: They threw themselves on him in rapture. They kissed his 22 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,479 Speaker 1: feet with joy. Olga bundled up hairs from his beard 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: as sacred relics. Once Olga even said that Grigory was 24 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: transformed into Jesus Christ himself, Anna wasn't so sure. When 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: they arrived at away station between Siberia and the capital, 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 1: Gregory joined the group to escort them the rest of 27 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 1: the way. To seat everyone, they split the party into 28 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: two different compartments. Three of the women made themselves comfortable 29 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: and waved to Grigory as he led Anna and another woman, Yelena, 30 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: to a different compartment, where he ushered them inside. So 31 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: as Anna settled herself into the train car beside Grigory 32 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: and Yelena, she had a task before her. It was 33 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: time to make up her mind about who this man 34 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: really was. Not to mention the whispers in the group 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,280 Speaker 1: that spending time with Grigory would mean more attention from 36 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: the Empress for Anna, the trip would certainly clarify things, 37 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: because as it got later and the train rattled on 38 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: into darkness, Anna saw that Yelena was hanging on Grigory's 39 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: every word. She was in a state of religious ecstasy, 40 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: not Anna, though. In fact, she felt sleep coming on, 41 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: so she looked to the bunks in the sleeper car. 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: There were just two beds, and Anna settled herself onto 43 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: the lower one. Elena and Grigory followed her lead, but 44 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: they climbed into the upper bunk together. For Anna, the 45 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: red flags were raised and she spoke up too. She 46 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: called up that what they were doing wasn't right. Yelena 47 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: should come down, she said, and share the lower bunk 48 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: with her, but Yelena refused. Despite how incredibly uncomfortable she 49 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: had gotten, Anna was eventually lulled to sleep by the 50 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: rocky of the train, until that is, something woke her 51 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: up in the darkness, something scratchy against the skin of 52 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: her face. It took her a moment to realize what 53 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: it was, a man's beard. Shocked, Anna rolled off the 54 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: bunk and spun around. There was Grigory rasputin on her bed. 55 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: Anna was ready to defend herself. She screamed a furious 56 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 1: question at him. If he was such a holy man, 57 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: how could he possibly justify what he was doing? He 58 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: said nothing in silence. He simply crawled back up onto 59 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: the top bunk where Yelena lay waiting. Anna stayed alert 60 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: the rest of the night. In the morning, Yelena gave 61 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: Anna a talking to. She said Resputant was only trying 62 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: to commune with her spirit. It was a divine act, 63 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: she said. But Anna knew a covering lie when she 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 1: heard one. There was nothing holy or divine about what 65 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: Grigory had tried to do. For the rest of the trip, 66 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: Anna kept her eye on him, and she paid for 67 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: it too. When they got to his home in Siberia, 68 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: he brought them all inside, but throughout the week he 69 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,200 Speaker 1: treated Anna as the butt of a joke. He mocked 70 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: her and whispered about her to the other women in 71 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: the group. But this meant that Anna saw what the 72 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: rest of them missed. Be side I from the locals. 73 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: As they went past the way, Grigory used his charm 74 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: to disarm the people around him. He even tried it 75 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: against her. On the train back, he tried again to 76 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: close in on her for a kiss, but she was ready. 77 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: It was her fist that met him. After that, Rasputin 78 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: kept his distance. Anna had his number. Though Rasputin wasn't 79 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 1: a holy man, he was a fraud. That's what She 80 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: told Alexandra she was grateful that the Empress had sponsored 81 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: the trip, but Alexandra shouldn't waste any more time or 82 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: attention on a man who wasn't trustworthy. If only Alexandra 83 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: had listened, The other women didn't agree, though, and that 84 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,320 Speaker 1: put Alexandra at ease. She ignored Anna's testimony. After all 85 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: other holy men vouched for Resputin, Alexandra thought maybe Anna 86 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: just wasn't able to grasp the saintly innocence of simple 87 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: folk like the Siberian peasant Gregory. I can only imagine 88 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: how frustrating it was for Anna. Resputant was hardly an 89 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: innocent rustic. There's no doubt that Anna was rightly furious 90 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: with him and with Alexandra for ignoring her. She must 91 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: have wondered if he could somehow be sidelined in favor 92 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 1: of someone else who wouldn't use his place in Alexandra's 93 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: affections to get his claws into the women around her. 94 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: After all, Resputen wasn't the only one making a play 95 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:34,200 Speaker 1: for royal favorite. There were other men who might be 96 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: able to jostle him out of the palace. Take, for instance, 97 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:43,400 Speaker 1: the man who would first befriend Resputant and then bedevil him. 98 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: The man who came to be known as the Mad Monk. 99 00:05:48,760 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: This is unobscured. I'm Aaron Mankie, the Mad Monk. It 100 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: was a name he embraced, he relished it, especially in 101 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: later years when he was trying to sell his life story. 102 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: But there was some truth to it, some violent truth. 103 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: He was born Sergei Trofanov, but he would come to 104 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: be known as the Monk Iliador, and he was a 105 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: man who would buy for power in the royal court 106 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: of the Romanovs as they slid through the shadows of 107 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,240 Speaker 1: history towards their end. And if we had to credit 108 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: just one person for the myths and legends that make 109 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: the true history of Grigory Rasputin so difficult to nail down, 110 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: that person is Iliador, first one of Resputant's most ardent 111 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: friends and then his most bloodthirsty foe. Born in a 112 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: Cossack fanly in southern Russia, Eliodor was the son of 113 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: a deacon and set on a path into the church 114 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: from his earliest days. He entered church training in nineteen 115 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: oh one, just a year before he would meet the 116 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: wandering Rasputant. Like grigory. Eliodor found that he had a 117 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: powerful way with words. But while Rasputin's quiet intensity gave 118 00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: him power in drawing rooms in prayer circles, Eliodora's booming 119 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: voice was born for the public square. His gift was oratory, 120 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: and soon he made the crowds who would gather to 121 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: hear him into a resounding instrument. His outlook and Rasputants 122 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: were aligned. What did he teach about when he made 123 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: his first impression? The divine power of the czar, the 124 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: holiness of Russia, the need for the people of the 125 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: empire to stand up and be counted. Here's historian Douglas 126 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: Smith to tell us more. Eliodorus a fascinating and utterly 127 00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: bizarre character. He's one of these figures you really couldn't 128 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: make up even if you tried. He was again one 129 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: of these sort of popular preachers who, unlike Resputant, does 130 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: go to theological seminary and does get an actual training 131 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,560 Speaker 1: in theology and religion and becomes an an Orthodox priest. 132 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: As a preacher, Eliador counted himself a doctor to a 133 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: sick empire, but his diagnosis was about as toxic as 134 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,560 Speaker 1: any illness could have been, because While Eliador was a 135 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: man of intense ambition, he was also an extremist and 136 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 1: a deeply racist one. He pinned Russia's problems on his 137 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: Jewish neighbors, and he wasn't alone. The undercurrents of anti 138 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: Semitism were strong in Russian culture, and he stirred them 139 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 1: up across the Empire, growing more and more extreme as 140 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: he went. Soon enough, Eliodora was blaming the changes in 141 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 1: the Russian state on Russian Jews, and he said it 142 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:58,320 Speaker 1: was his support of the Empire that made him criticize 143 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: the Czar. When Nicholas go of autocratic rule and established 144 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,200 Speaker 1: the new Parliament in nineteen o five, Eliodora said the 145 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: only way to stand up for the Czar was to 146 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:12,439 Speaker 1: stand up to him the Czar, Faith and fatherland where 147 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 1: Eliodora's rallying cries, but he turned that into a recruiting 148 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: tool for the violent nationalist group known as the Black Hundreds. 149 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: They wanted to decide who was and wasn't Russian, and 150 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: to kill or sideline anyone who didn't meet their definition. 151 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: But it didn't take long to mutate from nationalist vigilantes 152 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: into right wing terrorists. Eliodora snared the racist zeal of 153 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: the Black Hundreds and whipped it into a frenzy, and 154 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,839 Speaker 1: he began to preach merciless racist violence. He hated all 155 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:44,840 Speaker 1: the influences coming into Russia from Europe, and he believed 156 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: that bloodshed was the only way to beat Russia back 157 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: into submission. And they followed through. His right wing terrorists 158 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: gunned down a Jewish member of the new Parliament one 159 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: evening while he was walking with his daughter. Eliodor sheltered 160 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: the assassins right inside his monastery. The Eleiodor's role was noticed, 161 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 1: but hardly punished. Yes, he was pushed out of the 162 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 1: church academy where he taught, but easily went to another 163 00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: until he was fired again. That is, he bounced around 164 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: until he finally landed under the supervision of a like 165 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: minded priest who supported Eliodora's calls for violence. Here's Douglas 166 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: Smith again. He is the nastiest of anti semites. Um 167 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: is constantly um denouncing Jews as an evil influence as 168 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: the destroyers of the Russian Orthodox people. Denounces Nicholas and 169 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,319 Speaker 1: his government for not doing more to come down hard 170 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: on the Jews and the Empire. He denounces intellectuals he 171 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: had denounces socialists and liberals and the intelligentsia and what 172 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:58,479 Speaker 1: have you. And he he establishes the fairly large following 173 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 1: in the city of sadits in Uh, quite a ways 174 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: outside the capital. But he becomes a thorn in the 175 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,880 Speaker 1: side of the regime because he's he's constantly denouncing it 176 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: and calling for violence um and early on respute, and 177 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: is drawn to Eliador and another one of these sort 178 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: of right wing priests by the name of germ Again, 179 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:23,880 Speaker 1: and the three of them Krum becomes sort of a 180 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:30,320 Speaker 1: trike threesome of these um upstart preachers, if you will. 181 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: In fact, this new priest, germ Again, was such a 182 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: supporter of the Black Hundreds and their violent politics that 183 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: when they battled with police in the streets during the 184 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 1: summer of nineteen o eight, germ Agin used the power 185 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:47,679 Speaker 1: of the church to shelter Eliodor from consequences. But Elodor's 186 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,000 Speaker 1: most powerful ally was the man with the ear of 187 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: the Empress, Grigory Rasputin. In fact, when it seemed like 188 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: Eliodor might face consequences for his role in provoking violent 189 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: terrorism and anti Semitic violence, gregg Or arranged a private 190 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,880 Speaker 1: meeting between Eliador and Alexandra. Not that it was an 191 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,840 Speaker 1: easy meeting. In fact, it seems like Alexandra had her 192 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: own impression to make. When she sat down with a 193 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,400 Speaker 1: mad monk. She wasn't just going to bow to his teaching. 194 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: She commanded him to stop attacking the tsar's ministers, and 195 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: what's more, he needed to reign in his wild provocations. 196 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: No more preaching violence. It needed to stop. In fact, 197 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: if Eliodora is to be believed, she even told them 198 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:30,720 Speaker 1: that he needed a new spiritual adviser, someone who would 199 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: curb his wild teaching and bring him back onto the 200 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,200 Speaker 1: strait and narrow. But maybe you can see where this 201 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: is going. The person Alexandra told him to follow was 202 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: none other than Rasputin himself. It's not clear exactly what 203 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: she hoped would happen, whether Nicholas and Alexandra were trying 204 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,080 Speaker 1: to get Rasputin to bring the mad monk to heal, 205 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: or whether Rasputin was trying to bring Alexandra under the 206 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: influence of a violent nationalist zealot. There's one thing that's clear. 207 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,719 Speaker 1: In the midst of a political firestorm, the Empress had 208 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: looked to Grigory Resputin for answers, and it was only 209 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: the beginning. He came and went unannounced. In fact, one 210 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,080 Speaker 1: day in August of nineteen o eight, Nicholas arrived home 211 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: and was surprised to find Grigory talking with Alexandra. Not 212 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: that this troubled the Czar. No, he sat down and 213 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: joined them, and he wrote in his diary that he 214 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 1: talked for another half hour. But the fact that Resputin 215 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,439 Speaker 1: and Alexandra were meeting alone shows us just how trusted 216 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: Resputin had become, and how thoroughly Alexandra had dismissed any 217 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: concerns about rest Sputan's reputation and how it might make 218 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:43,439 Speaker 1: her look. After all, she was the Empress. Why should 219 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: she care what other people were saying, especially when he 220 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: offered the family something they so deeply desired. One high 221 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: ranking naval officer who served on the Romanov's imperial yacht 222 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: would later remember that one day, when he was chatting 223 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: with Alexandra, their conversation turned to spiritual city and the church. 224 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: As they talked, the Empress became passionate, and the things 225 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: she said stuck with him. Alexander told him that there 226 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,439 Speaker 1: were people whose prayers were particularly powerful, especially people who 227 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,319 Speaker 1: lived lives of strict holiness, and she insisted to him 228 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: that Grigory Rasputin was one of these men. After all, 229 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: hadn't Alexander seen the power of his prayers when her 230 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:25,320 Speaker 1: little son was suffering so deeply? It seems she had 231 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: been mulling over that experience, and that had drawn some 232 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: conclusions about the kind of man Resputant was. In looking 233 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: to the Bible itself, she found the words pray for 234 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: one another, that you may be healed. The prayers of 235 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: a righteous man are powerful. In Alexander's eyes, Gregory's power 236 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,400 Speaker 1: of healing and his righteousness went hand in hand. If 237 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: he could heal, then he was also righteous. It was 238 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: as simple as that. But it wasn't just the Romanovs 239 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,720 Speaker 1: who were becoming more convinced of rest Sputant. In fact, 240 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:59,080 Speaker 1: if we only think about Resputin as a counselor for 241 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:01,920 Speaker 1: Nicholas and all Xandra during those days, we get the 242 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: man wrong. Here's historian Helen Rappaport to tell us more so, 243 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: the thing with Rasputin was, initially he was a wise 244 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: girl to the family and a wise counselor, and that 245 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: really was a more important function. Almost someone she did 246 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: for alex say, because people have this idea that Rasputin 247 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: was in and out the back door and up the 248 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,800 Speaker 1: stairs and into the Alexander Palace every five minutes, ingratiating 249 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: himself and muttering prayers over Alexey. And that's not the case. 250 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: He only came when he was invited. He didn't make 251 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: that many visits to the wrong and offs at the 252 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: Alexander Palace, and he often went long periods not seeing 253 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: the family or communicated by telephone with them or by 254 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: letter or telegram. In fact, Grigory was spending more and 255 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: more time among the other wealthy and powerful Russian families. 256 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: House after house, an aristocrat after aristocrat opened their doors 257 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: for him. Let's have historian Douglas Smith tell us more. 258 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 1: He makes his way from palace to palace, going to 259 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,560 Speaker 1: various aristocratic salons, and these men and women within the 260 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: upper echelons of Russian society are fascinated by these peasant 261 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 1: holy men, if you will, It's like they're being put 262 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: in touch with creatures from another planet. It's a world 263 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,680 Speaker 1: that they, being part of the westernized urban elite, have 264 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: no real contact with. They don't go to Siberia they 265 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: don't go to peasant huts, and so it it allows 266 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: them to enter this whole world of a Russian society 267 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: from which they're cut off, but which holds great fascination 268 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: for them. And here's the thing, some of what we 269 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: know about resputants teaching actually sounds like good advice. When 270 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: he stepped into these crowded and rowdy salons and got 271 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,080 Speaker 1: to know the wealthy families who were partying their way 272 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: through a period of revolution, Rasputin didn't stay silent. In fact, 273 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:01,160 Speaker 1: he often gave spiritual advice that was simple, practical and 274 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: matter of fact. Yes, go to church, but after a service, 275 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: go for a long walk, take a day and get 276 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: as far away from the city as you can. Become 277 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,280 Speaker 1: aware of your smallness and let the pride and vanity 278 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:16,360 Speaker 1: of your wealth and position of power be wiped away. 279 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: Find God in the world where you are, be humble, 280 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: field tenderness, truly connect with the world around you, rather 281 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,320 Speaker 1: than hiding behind your wealth and power and privilege. He 282 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: often said that his new followers needed to give up 283 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: the glorification of their own passions and instead be of 284 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,639 Speaker 1: service to God. If Grigory Resputant was the only person 285 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: giving advice like this to the families of the princes 286 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: and grand dukes, I'm sure it would have felt like 287 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,239 Speaker 1: a breath of fresh air. In fact, it goes a 288 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,280 Speaker 1: long way to describing resputants charm on when the elites 289 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: in the capital, he talked to everyone informally, He ate 290 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: simple meals. He didn't have even the basic social graces 291 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,679 Speaker 1: that were expected in their circles, and he knew that 292 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: from the beginning that his directness, his rudeness, was part 293 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: of what attracted him to people, and he made sure 294 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: to hold onto it, because, as we know, that attraction 295 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: to Resputin was powerful. One follower of his, Nikolai Jevakov, 296 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: remembered just how much the people let Restputant's prayer meetings 297 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:19,200 Speaker 1: thirsted to hear what he would say. Even when Gregory 298 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,640 Speaker 1: hardly talked at all, his fanatical admirers tried to read 299 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: the secret meanings behind every word and phrase They trembled 300 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:30,239 Speaker 1: in his presence, even though Jevakov himself was only a 301 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: minor prince and a powerful official in the Russian Church. 302 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:38,160 Speaker 1: This kind of reaction was new. Once, when Jevakov joined 303 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: a prayer meeting with Restputant, he watched Olga trembling in 304 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,879 Speaker 1: a corner, screaming out he's a saint, He's a saint, 305 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: until Resputin himself got annoyed and told her to be quiet. 306 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: But it wasn't just these over the top celebrations of 307 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: grigory that made him uncomfortable. There were other things said 308 00:18:55,560 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: about him too, things he was far less able to control. 309 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:07,320 Speaker 1: All it was inevitable, really, As Rasputin became more comfortable 310 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: surrounded by luxury and truly took a place at court, 311 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: he would also begin to play a role in the 312 00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:16,920 Speaker 1: central drama of court life, the game of whispers. And 313 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: as we know with Gregory, there was plenty to whisper about, 314 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: even if the Empress had already decided that every story 315 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: she didn't like was unfounded slander. In fact, the more 316 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,359 Speaker 1: people who got to know Resputin, the more stories they 317 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: were to tell. If Resputin had a host of followers 318 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,719 Speaker 1: who felt the allure of his teaching about love and 319 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: connection and perhaps even bought into his way of talking 320 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 1: about God, there were plenty of others who saw through 321 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: his game. After all, they saw just how much he 322 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: was enjoying his new life as a spiritual adviser to 323 00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 1: the rich and powerful. As historian Helen Rappaport says, Gregory 324 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: Resputen was what you might call an opportunist. He became 325 00:19:56,240 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: very fashionable, and all these society ladies folk ground to 326 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:03,639 Speaker 1: him and their photographs of him sitting surrounded by admiring women, 327 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: and they brought in gifts, and they gave him beautiful clothes, 328 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: and they fed him and flattered him. And I think 329 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:14,440 Speaker 1: in that sense he was an opportunist. You know, if 330 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,560 Speaker 1: somebody wanted to give him money or take him out 331 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,200 Speaker 1: for a good dinner, he was more than happy to oblige. 332 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 1: So he did. He did exploit the fascination there was 333 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: for him initially in Saint Petersburg, and and was wined 334 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: and dined and you know, very well looked after and 335 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: entertained and lived well on it for a while. They 336 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:40,880 Speaker 1: brought in curious seekers, yes, but the other stories wouldn't 337 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: go away either, the stories that let everyone know how 338 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: he treated the women around him. Take the conversation that 339 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: arm and Jeffikov had one day had with one of 340 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:54,160 Speaker 1: Alexandra's most senior ladies in waiting. She was the kind 341 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,800 Speaker 1: of person who saw everything in the palace, and of 342 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,199 Speaker 1: course she was usually known for her discretion, but she 343 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,160 Speaker 1: was troubled, and somehow one day she found herself complaining 344 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: to this prince that there were some unusual comings and goings. 345 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: Not only was this Grigory rasputant fellow meeting often with 346 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: the Empress, but when he arrived, he was let in 347 00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,400 Speaker 1: the back door so as to keep his visits off 348 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: the official guest books. Or at least this is the 349 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: story as Jebikov would later tell it. He says the 350 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,760 Speaker 1: story startled him not because the Empress was talking off 351 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: the record with her spiritual adviser, but most of all 352 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,679 Speaker 1: because her lady in waiting was telling stories about it. 353 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: He warned her that even telling someone like him, a 354 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: church official, was dangerous. She was talking about the private 355 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: spiritual life of the Empress, and at a time when 356 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,520 Speaker 1: the Romanov dynasty was on shaky ground too, she had 357 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,439 Speaker 1: better keep her complaints like these to herself. In the future, 358 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: she risked feeding suspicion of the monarchy itself. Whatever else 359 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: might be threatening the royal family, gossip was the first 360 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: and the worst danger to the throne. Looking back, he 361 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: couldn't have been more right, Even though Jevikov probably did 362 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:07,680 Speaker 1: not realize just how dangerous these rumors about respute and 363 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: really were. Who could blame him. Nicholas and Alexander themselves 364 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: insisted that their meetings with their spiritual adviser were no 365 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 1: one's business. They believed that they were simply between themselves, 366 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,879 Speaker 1: Grigory and God. But that's where they could not have 367 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,360 Speaker 1: been more wrong. If only the warning from Nicholas's mother 368 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: had continued to echo in his mind. Remember who you 369 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: are for the czar, She had told him, there is 370 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: no private life. Every personal connection, every friendship, every choice 371 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: is made under the weight of imperial rule. She tried 372 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: to make her son understand that famous truism of monarchy, 373 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: heavy is the head that wears the crown. But somehow, 374 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:51,480 Speaker 1: despite being raised in the royal courts of Europe, neither 375 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: Alexandra nor Nicholas took that warning to heart. They insisted 376 00:22:55,800 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: that they be allowed the private life of a modern family. 377 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: In fact, because nikol List was the czar, he commanded 378 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:06,640 Speaker 1: it his privacy would be respected. But when has any 379 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: royal ever managed to silence the whispers in their court. 380 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: With the popularity of salon gatherings among the Russian aristocracy, 381 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,359 Speaker 1: privacy and respect were just about the least likely things 382 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,879 Speaker 1: I can imagine, and maids do talk. Soon enough, an 383 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: attendant of one of Alexandra's closest friends was passing around 384 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: the story that a mysterious peasant with a beastly appearance 385 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: was slipping in and out of the royal Palace and 386 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: he was meeting privately with Alexandra. That was enough for 387 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 1: the first wave of rumors, but the mill was hungry 388 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: for more, and every reseller of a tale wants to 389 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: add something a little juicy to the simple recitation. It 390 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: didn't take long for the beastly visitor to become a 391 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 1: beastly lover. And so it was in the salons of 392 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,560 Speaker 1: the Russian aristocrats in St. Isaac Square in St. Petersburg 393 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: that the most enduring myth of Resputant was born. Resputant 394 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: was hanged, after all, she was a known revolutionary terrorist, 395 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 1: Anna Resputant, that is, in February, she was executed in St. Petersburg. 396 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,520 Speaker 1: Like Grigory, she was a peasant, and she had been 397 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: arrested and convicted for a failed assassination tempt on none 398 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: other than Nikolasha, the Czar's violent cousin and the husband 399 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: of their friends, Stana. It was no surprise to Nicholas 400 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,679 Speaker 1: and Alexandra that the sharp end of the revolutionary energy 401 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: was pointed at them and the other Romanovs. That the 402 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,600 Speaker 1: woman who tried to carry out such a plot shared 403 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,639 Speaker 1: a name with their friend, Gregory, was a mere coincidence 404 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 1: to the imperial couple, of course, by now they had 405 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: known Gregory for years. But for the aristocrats circling up 406 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: in the capital, especially those just meeting Gregory for the 407 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: first time, or worse, just hearing the rumors about him, 408 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: this was no coincidence at all. And it wasn't just 409 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: the society busybodies who smelled something fishy. The execution of 410 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: an arrest sputant put other more steely. I had observers 411 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:17,760 Speaker 1: on Gregory's tail, the Okrana, Russia's secret police. Despite the 412 00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: number of people living across Russia with that name, the 413 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: coincidence was too much for the head of the Okrana 414 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 1: to overlook, so he followed up on the matter. He 415 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 1: started by reaching out to investigators in Siberia. He may 416 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:33,399 Speaker 1: have received reports on Gregory's predatory habits and maybe the 417 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:37,000 Speaker 1: record of his youthful conflicts with the local magistrates. But 418 00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 1: these weren't the only inquiries the Okrana made. They also 419 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:43,840 Speaker 1: wanted something a little more current. They set some agents 420 00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: to tail Gregory on his rounds through the city. They 421 00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: didn't find what they were looking for. No links to 422 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: in a no signs of connection to revolutionary terrorism. No. 423 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 1: Gregory's ties were on the opposite side to Eliador and 424 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: other violent assist monarchists who supported bloodshed in support of 425 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: the czar. But all the same, the Okrana agents found 426 00:26:06,600 --> 00:26:10,399 Speaker 1: plenty to dislike. The man wasn't a terrorist, but he 427 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: also wasn't a saint. Reports came back from their investigators 428 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: that Grigory's life wasn't so restrained after all. His days 429 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:22,440 Speaker 1: of wandering, poverty and simplicity were left far far behind. 430 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: They took note of his seductions and the way he 431 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: used his teachings on love to pressure women for sex. 432 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: They watched him go from aristocratic salon to salon, getting 433 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:36,200 Speaker 1: progressively drunker and leaving damning whispers in his wake. All 434 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,600 Speaker 1: of that was bad enough, bad enough that the head 435 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: of the Okrana felt Grigory resput and shouldn't be as 436 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 1: he said within cannon shots of the Royal Palace. So 437 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: as the head of Russia's secret police, he decided to intervene. 438 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: He sent word up the chain. The report was far 439 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: from public knowledge, but in the end made it all 440 00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: the way to the Prime Minister stoy Leapin, the man 441 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: responsible for bringing such a potentially delicate issue to the Czar. 442 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: When he did, though Nicholas didn't take it well. In essence, 443 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,720 Speaker 1: Nicholas told stoi Leapin to mind his own business. Grigory 444 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,919 Speaker 1: Resputin wasn't a political issue, and he wasn't a matter 445 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,440 Speaker 1: for the Okrana. He was a personal connection, Nicholas said. 446 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: If the thing he didn't say was how important Grigory 447 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: seemed to be protecting the health of their royal heir, Alexei, Well, 448 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: Nicholas wasn't keen on the whole conversation to begin with. 449 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: Stoylepin tried to tell Nicholas that this idea was naive. 450 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,919 Speaker 1: Everything and everyone the Tzar touched was political by nature. 451 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: Every choice he made sent shock waves through the whole empire. 452 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,879 Speaker 1: Nicholas listened, and then he told stoy Lepin what he 453 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 1: wanted to hear. He would stop meeting with Grigory Resputin, 454 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: Stoi Lepin left satisfied one more triumph in the service 455 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: of the Russian state. After all, soy Lepin might just 456 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: have been the Empire's most effective political force. The only 457 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: problem was Nicholas had no intention of keeping his word. 458 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 1: Nothing changed. Here's Douglas Smith on what happened next. Apparently, 459 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,800 Speaker 1: Nicholas told Stileepen, I cannot get rid of respute and 460 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: because for me, it's better to have one Resputin than 461 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: you know, another hundred hysterical fits from Alexandra if I'm 462 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: forced to get rid of this man, So you all 463 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:23,880 Speaker 1: will just need to find your way to deal with 464 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 1: his presence, with the fact that he's a part of 465 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: our life, because I just can't get rid of him. 466 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: My wife needs him, the Empress needs him, and this 467 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,440 Speaker 1: is just how it's going to be. When Stoi Leepin 468 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: and the Ocrona realized that they had been played, they 469 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,600 Speaker 1: took a risk. Unsatisfied that this was just the way 470 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: things would be, they decided to take matters into their 471 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: own hands. Together, Stoy Leapin and the secret police plotted 472 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: to capture Resputin and send him into exile. They weren't 473 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: bold enough to kill him, but their plan was to 474 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 1: forbid him from ever coming back to St. Petersburg. Even 475 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:57,960 Speaker 1: that was a risk. They knew they might face the 476 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,800 Speaker 1: wrath of the royal couple, but they sided it was 477 00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: worth it. The Akrona agents swept the streets looking for Gregory, 478 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: but suddenly the party hopping holy man was nowhere to 479 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: be found, at least not by the police. It was 480 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 1: almost as if he had been tipped off to the plan, 481 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: and to be honest, he probably was. From what we know, 482 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 1: it seems Grigory started to travel by side streets, dodging 483 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: familiar routes and keeping his head down. He quit staying 484 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: at his home in the capitol and started lodging in 485 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 1: the private guest rooms of his followers. So for a 486 00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 1: while he slipped the dragnet. Eventually, though, a group of 487 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: agents hunting Rasputant brought him to the ground. They staked 488 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,360 Speaker 1: out a house where he was staying and surrounded him 489 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,719 Speaker 1: for three weeks. They watched the exits. Any moment they 490 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:44,520 Speaker 1: would have him in their hands, or so they thought, 491 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: But then they got word from Siberia Grigory Resputant had 492 00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: arrived home in Pokrovsko. Somehow his powerful friends had spirited 493 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: him away. Whatever powers they possessed, The Prime Minister in 494 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,960 Speaker 1: the head of Russia's secret police fell short of putting 495 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: Gregory in chains. Resputin had won, and the secret police 496 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,440 Speaker 1: had received the order to stand down, at least for now. 497 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:15,680 Speaker 1: It turns out theo Fan was the first one to turn, 498 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,840 Speaker 1: or maybe the second, but it was no small matter 499 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: that changed his mind. It took a brutal personal testimony 500 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: from one of Grigory's closest followers to finally shake the 501 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,760 Speaker 1: Our command Right's good opinion and get him to see 502 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: Resputin for who he really was. That testimony came to 503 00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: fi a Fan in the form of a letter from 504 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 1: a woman who had been with Grigory almost from the beginning, 505 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:39,239 Speaker 1: and what she described with shocking that is, if you 506 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: haven't been paying attention. She had been living with the 507 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: Resputant family in Siberia, wanting to share life with the 508 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: preacher and learn his ways. She told Fia Fan she 509 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,400 Speaker 1: had learned all too much at home, out of the 510 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,400 Speaker 1: public eye and surrounded only by his family and his 511 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,760 Speaker 1: most devoted followers. Grigory acted as his own sort of authoritarian. 512 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: He wasn't just demanding but violent. He beat his wife, 513 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: his children, and all the women in his home. He 514 00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: held them hostage, and when he had them alone, whether 515 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,800 Speaker 1: in private train cars or in the privacy of his house, 516 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: he attacked them in every way he could think of. 517 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 1: It was a testimony of terror. Via Fan used to 518 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: dismiss the stories about resput And as the foibles of 519 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: a man that could be overlooked. After all, who among 520 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:29,120 Speaker 1: God's flock didn't wander from the path of righteousness every 521 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: now and then. But this was so much more than that. 522 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 1: Despite for a Fan's friendship with Grigory, and maybe because 523 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,440 Speaker 1: of it, the weight of all the things he heard 524 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: about Grigory finally landed. The wool was pulled from his eyes. 525 00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:45,640 Speaker 1: Theo Fan made a copy of the letter, he wrote 526 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,640 Speaker 1: a note to Nicholas, wrapped it together with the original, 527 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,960 Speaker 1: and sent it to the leaders of the church and 528 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: to the Czar. Rasputin is a criminal in the religious 529 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: and moral sense of the word, he wrote, and from 530 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:02,320 Speaker 1: our vantage today that's perfectly clear. Historian Douglas Smith puts 531 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: it plainly central to who Rasputin was is he was 532 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:11,360 Speaker 1: allege what gloss was needed. Grigory Rasputin was a predator. 533 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: It's the simple truth, and with that conviction now firmly 534 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,240 Speaker 1: in Theophan's mind, he waited for the Emperor to do 535 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,120 Speaker 1: the right thing. He waited for far too long, because 536 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: even though Nicholas got the letter from Theophan, the man 537 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: who had served as his personal confessor, he did nothing 538 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: about it. He seemed to be confused about how theo 539 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: fan could say these things. After all, he had been 540 00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 1: a friend of Rasputin and had even introduced him to 541 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,280 Speaker 1: their household. It didn't seem to cross Nicholas's mind that 542 00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: the accusations could be true. That's all the more infuriating 543 00:32:42,120 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: when it becomes clear that other women were saying the 544 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: same things, including some who were close to the royal family. 545 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: Take the nursemaid of their son, Alexei. She cared for 546 00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: the boy and would have been around when Rasputin joined 547 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,720 Speaker 1: the household to pray in the nursery. What exactly she 548 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: told Alexandra isn't clear, but we do know she told 549 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: the Empress that Grigory had attacked her, maybe more than once. 550 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,160 Speaker 1: Whatever it was she said, though Alexandra refused to believe it, 551 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: and to add one devastating wound to another. She told 552 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: the maid never to bring it up again. I can 553 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,080 Speaker 1: only imagine how much that hurt. It's the sort of 554 00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:24,200 Speaker 1: terrible injustice that's still all too common. Not that it 555 00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: went unnoticed entirely. The other household staff in charge of 556 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: caring for the Romanov children started to make some noise. 557 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: Soon enough, the mood around Rasputant's visits went from cordial 558 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:37,760 Speaker 1: to cold. The governess of the four Princesses, for one, 559 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: wanted no part of Grigory's visits and wanted him to 560 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: have no part in the girl's lives. To her, he 561 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 1: was a scandal waiting to happen. The safety of the 562 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,080 Speaker 1: girls was at risk, and so the reputation of the 563 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:54,920 Speaker 1: Romanov family was as well. And she was right that said, 564 00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,720 Speaker 1: this seems like the right time to note one thing. 565 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: There's no evidence that Grigory were attacked any of the romanovs. 566 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:06,920 Speaker 1: All the girls, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia seemed to like 567 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:11,120 Speaker 1: and trust him. The official Okrana reports said that when 568 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 1: it came to the Romanov girls, he behaved properly and honorably. 569 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,800 Speaker 1: Maybe that overstates the case, but of course, the children 570 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,200 Speaker 1: were never truly left alone with him. Here's Douglas Smith 571 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,279 Speaker 1: once again. He was allowed access to the nursery where 572 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:27,960 Speaker 1: the children were being raised. He would help put them 573 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:32,120 Speaker 1: to bed, he would rough house with them. It's quite startling, 574 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,560 Speaker 1: and you really question the judgment of Nicholas and Alexandra 575 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 1: because there are maids present, there are nursemaids present, and 576 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: they see this and they're they're shocked by it, and 577 00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,439 Speaker 1: they begin to then talk outside the palace and it's 578 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,840 Speaker 1: and it starts to spread. Um Again, I don't think 579 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,480 Speaker 1: there was ever anything untoward that happened at these moments. 580 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,960 Speaker 1: They were always being watched by the parents or by nurses, 581 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:00,200 Speaker 1: what have you. But it does become the sore for 582 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,120 Speaker 1: gossip and rumors. We have letters that have survived that 583 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,360 Speaker 1: rispute and wrote to the children and they're they're, you know, 584 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,520 Speaker 1: they're they're very innocent and they're very you know, they 585 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: don't suggest anything nefarious. So there aren't signs that Gregory 586 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: hurt the children. After all. As a predator, Gregory was 587 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: an opportunist. It was his close connection to the Romanov 588 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:24,520 Speaker 1: family that made him feel powerful and that gave him 589 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: the chance to bring other vulnerable people into his clutches. 590 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,840 Speaker 1: Targeting the Romanov sisters would have put his hunting grounds 591 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: at risk, but there's no question that he was on 592 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,400 Speaker 1: the prowl, and he set his clause into other members 593 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,840 Speaker 1: of the household. But when the governess brought her concerns 594 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: directly to Nicholas, he once again turned a blind eye. 595 00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 1: He said to her, I have survived all these difficult 596 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,880 Speaker 1: ears only by his prayers. Her answer was that he 597 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,640 Speaker 1: had survived by the prayers from all of Russia, but 598 00:35:53,719 --> 00:35:56,360 Speaker 1: it didn't get through to him. Nicholas told her that 599 00:35:56,400 --> 00:35:59,280 Speaker 1: he didn't believe the stories that she was telling him. 600 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 1: You're two pure of hearts, your majesty. She told him 601 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,440 Speaker 1: to see the filth that surrounds you, but Nicholas refused 602 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,160 Speaker 1: to be swayed. If he believed her, he said it 603 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: would make him an enemy of his own children, and 604 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,040 Speaker 1: that could never be true. Like Alexandra, he said that 605 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:16,719 Speaker 1: that was the end of it and told her to 606 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: never bring it up again. And under the silence of 607 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:24,560 Speaker 1: that command, the dark future of his entire family continued 608 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:31,239 Speaker 1: to fester and grow. There's no doubt the gossip hurt 609 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: Nicholas and Alexandra were frustrated that the other nobles at 610 00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,359 Speaker 1: court wouldn't leave well enough alone. They wanted all those 611 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:42,359 Speaker 1: prime eyes to turn away, to look elsewhere, if only 612 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 1: they had been willing to do a little prying of 613 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,480 Speaker 1: their own. Despite the about face from theo Fan, despite 614 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: the investigations of the secret police and the urgent warnings 615 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:55,239 Speaker 1: from the Prime Minister, they held onto their connection with Rasputin. 616 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:59,640 Speaker 1: He continued visiting them, counseling them, and behind their backs, 617 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,600 Speaker 1: using their relationship for his own purposes. If you think 618 00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:06,319 Speaker 1: back to an earlier episode, it's a bitter irony that 619 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 1: it was thea Fan himself who had convinced them not 620 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,880 Speaker 1: to listen to the concerns. Remember, when he conducted his 621 00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,879 Speaker 1: earlier investigation, he was too concerned with how it might 622 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,040 Speaker 1: make him look if Rasputin's real life didn't match up 623 00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:21,239 Speaker 1: with his appearances. But by convincing the royal couple that 624 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:25,120 Speaker 1: criticisms of the Siberian peasant preacher were just jealous, slander 625 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,959 Speaker 1: and backbiting, he helped them shut the door on any 626 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:32,120 Speaker 1: legitimate criticism, even when it later came to himself. And 627 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,480 Speaker 1: of course, the legitimate criticism was also being mixed in 628 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:39,279 Speaker 1: with even more poisonous lies. Were the courtiers whispering that 629 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:42,799 Speaker 1: Resputant and Alexandra were lovers. No one knew better than 630 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: Alexandra how false that accusation was, and if that was false, 631 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 1: the rest must be false as well. And there's one 632 00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,040 Speaker 1: more layer going on all the way back to their 633 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:57,479 Speaker 1: French spiritualist, Mr. Philippe. Here's Douglas Smith one more time. 634 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: The more Respute and iss is criticized by powerful men 635 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 1: within the government, within the army, within the church, the 636 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: more Alexandra doubles down that she is not going to 637 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: let them take resputing away from her. I think she 638 00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:18,560 Speaker 1: always regretted the fact that she had allowed members of 639 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:23,040 Speaker 1: the Romano family and within the government circles to force 640 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,839 Speaker 1: her Nicholas to get rid of Monsieur Philippe, and she 641 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,400 Speaker 1: was she was determined that that was not going to 642 00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: happen again. So Alexandra's arms were wrapped tightly around Grigory 643 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:38,640 Speaker 1: Rasputin and her maids, her friends, her confessor, or the 644 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,840 Speaker 1: backbiters at court couldn't say anything that would change that, 645 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,520 Speaker 1: no matter how right they were either about Rasputin or 646 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: about what it would mean for the Romanovs and the 647 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,320 Speaker 1: power of the throne when words started to get around. 648 00:38:50,960 --> 00:38:54,319 Speaker 1: Because if Nicholas and Alexandra thought that gossip in aristocratic 649 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 1: circles hurt, they only had to wait until early March 650 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,680 Speaker 1: of nineteen That's when the Oscow Gazette made sure that 651 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:06,839 Speaker 1: everyone in the Russian Empire knew the name of Gregory Rasputin. 652 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:14,520 Speaker 1: That's it for this week's episode of Unobscured. Stick around 653 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:17,800 Speaker 1: after this short sponsor break for a preview of what's 654 00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:27,360 Speaker 1: in store for next week. The spiritual touring actor Grigory Rasputin. 655 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:30,799 Speaker 1: That's what the Moscow Gazette called him, But that was 656 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,480 Speaker 1: just the headline. Things only got worse for Gregory from there. 657 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,279 Speaker 1: Apparently the writer knew all the favorite talking points from 658 00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:42,440 Speaker 1: the elite salons. He was a cunning Siberian charlatan, a 659 00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:46,600 Speaker 1: predatory letcher, a hypnotist, and a false teacher who used 660 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,600 Speaker 1: his ideas about Holy love to get far too up 661 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,759 Speaker 1: close and personal with his followers. They called him a 662 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,759 Speaker 1: pseudo prophet and damned him for teaching spiritual delusions that 663 00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: were opposite of the traditions of the Orthodox Church. But 664 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 1: the article didn't stop at condemning resputants, delusions, and false holiness. 665 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,400 Speaker 1: It also attacked other areas of his life. It accused 666 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: Grigory of being a lazy, deadbeat, a man who had 667 00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:16,400 Speaker 1: abandoned his family in Pokrovsko, whose children were fatherless and unruly, 668 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,960 Speaker 1: and the author even said that in investigating his piece, 669 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,920 Speaker 1: he had spoken with a church leader who called Gregory 670 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 1: a heretic and a sexual predator. Unobscured was created by 671 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,759 Speaker 1: me Aaron Manky and produced by Matt Frederick, Alex Williams, 672 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:47,279 Speaker 1: and Josh Thayne in partnership with I Heart Radio, with 673 00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: research by Sam Alberty, writing by Karl Nellis, and original 674 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:55,680 Speaker 1: music by Chad Lawson. Learn more about our contributing historians, 675 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 1: source materials and links to our other shows over at 676 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:03,680 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mile dot com, slash Unobscured, and as always, 677 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:05,280 Speaker 1: thanks for listening