1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener Discretion advised. The year 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: is seventeen eighteen, and the Russian jurists are about to 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: hand down their verdict. The charge is incredibly serious, treason 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: against the Tsar Peter the Great, punishable by death. Some 6 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: of the members of the jury are sweating, but they're 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: all pretending not to. They've been instructed that they should 8 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: treat the accused in exactly the same way that they 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: would treat any man who comes before them. They should 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,520 Speaker 1: not play nice or go gentle on him. They've been 11 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: promised that they won't be punished even if they find 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: him guilty. But the jury has reason to be a 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: little anxious about the situation because the accused, the man 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: standing trial for treason against the Tsar of Russia, is 15 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: the Tsarevich, the son of the Tsar. And so the 16 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: jury handed in their verdict. Tsarevich Alexei, twenty eight years old, 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: the heir to the Russian throne, the only one of 18 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:21,759 Speaker 1: Peter's many children who had survived to adulthood, was guilty. 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: Everyone in the courtroom knew what that meant. A sentence 20 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:27,400 Speaker 1: of death. 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 2: The jurors all prayed that the Emperor would not rescind 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 2: his promise and decide to kill them after all, but 23 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 2: they also knew that the ultimate fate of Alexei did 24 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 2: not rest with them. Peter the Great would have to 25 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 2: sign off on any punishment himself. If he wanted his 26 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 2: own son and heir killed, then he would have to 27 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 2: approve it with his own hand. Surely, some in the 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 2: room believed he would never approve it. Yes, Peter and 29 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 2: Alexey had had their struggles. The boy was weak, the 30 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:09,359 Speaker 2: son of Peter's unloved first wife. Alexei was an endless 31 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 2: chooser of flight over fight, too eager to voluntarily abdegate 32 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 2: his place in the succession. But Peter had also given 33 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 2: him chance after chance before. Alexey was his own flesh 34 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 2: and blood. After all. Surely Peter would not allow that 35 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 2: flesh and blood torn tortuously apart on his watch. But 36 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 2: then again, Peter the Great didn't get that nickname for nothing. 37 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:45,400 Speaker 2: Great and terrible are terribly close words when we speak 38 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:49,679 Speaker 2: of Russian monarchs, and if we've learned one thing over 39 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 2: the course of this podcast, it's that when it comes 40 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 2: to royal families. The royal wins out over the family 41 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 2: with chilling frequently, I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. 42 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 2: The Emperor, who would later be known as Peter the Great, 43 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 2: came to the throne as Czar Peter the First in 44 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 2: sixteen eighty two, when he was only ten years old. 45 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 2: He was co ruler with his older half brother Ivan 46 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: the Fifth, but Ivan was at least partially paralyzed, blind, 47 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 2: and likely cognitively impaired. They were both basically dominated by 48 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 2: Peter's older half sister, Sophia, who was regent. All this 49 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 2: meant that even though Peter was officially Tzar, he didn't 50 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 2: grow up in the palace. He hung out with his mother, 51 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 2: who was more open to Western influence than the Russian monarchs. 52 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,760 Speaker 2: In sixteen eighty nine, when Peter was seventeen, his mother 53 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 2: arranged his marriage to a woman named Eudoxia Lopukina. Peter 54 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 2: never seemed to love his wife, but one year later, 55 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 2: on February twenty eighth, sixteen ninety their son and heir, 56 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 2: Alexei Petrovitch was born. Peter set off fireworks in celebration. Then, 57 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 2: in sixteen ninety six, Peter's half brother Ivan died, leaving 58 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:24,600 Speaker 2: Peter as sol Tsar of Russia. Naturally, he had Sophia, 59 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 2: the former regent, banished to a convent, which was the 60 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 2: Russian ruler's common solution for unwanted sisters, wives, and generally 61 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 2: pesky women. Peter was known for a ton of innovations 62 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 2: in Russia that we don't have the time to list 63 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 2: in full. But he established the Empire of Russia, so 64 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 2: he was the first Russian ruler to be not only 65 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 2: czar but also emperor. He developed Russia's military might, and 66 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 2: he was considered a modernizing and westernizing force. He modernized 67 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 2: and even designed the Russian written alphabet, and in seventeen 68 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 2: oh two established the first Russian newspaper. He also founded 69 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 2: the city of Saint Petersburg and moved the capital there 70 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 2: from Moscow. He was a strange man. I can only 71 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 2: give you some of the strangest highlights. Though standing at 72 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: an almost unheard of six foot seven, he preferred to 73 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 2: live in little houses with small ceilings called dumiki. His 74 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 2: cabinet of Curiosities was famous for its bizarre and grotesque 75 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 2: collection of human and animal fetuses with birth defects. He 76 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,600 Speaker 2: once held a grand event known as the Most Drunken 77 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 2: Snynod of Fools and Jesters. In an effort to force 78 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 2: Russian men to accord with the shaven faced fashion of Europe, 79 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 2: he instituted a beard tax on any Russian who wore 80 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 2: a beard. If you paid it, you received a coin 81 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 2: engraved with an actual image of a beard and mustache 82 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 2: to prove that your style was allowed. A hipster mustache 83 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 2: loving dream. Not only are mustache special, they're also exclusive. 84 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 2: He had two wives. First was Eudoxia, whom he was 85 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 2: never wild about. In sixteen ninety eight, after nearly ten 86 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 2: years of marriage, he had her banished to surprise a convent. 87 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: Then Peter officially married his second wife, Catherine the First, 88 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:45,159 Speaker 2: in seventeen o seven. Of course, Peter also had many mistresses, 89 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 2: including the famous British actress of drury Lane, Letitia Cross. 90 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 2: Between his two wives, Peter had fifteen legitimate children, although 91 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 2: only three of them survived to a But even when 92 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 2: you look at that claim with modern eyes, its heartbreakingly 93 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 2: short term. Only one child by Catherine the First, Elizabetta Petrovna, 94 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 2: lived past her twenties. It is hard to imagine the 95 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 2: grief of Catherine, who had twelve babies and watched ten 96 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 2: of them die as infants or as very young children. 97 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 2: And it is hard to imagine what Peter the Great 98 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 2: must have been thinking in autumn of seventeen fifteen, when 99 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 2: he was contemplating his heirs for the Russian throne. He 100 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 2: had only one living son at this point, Tsarevich Alexey, 101 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 2: the daughter of Eudoxia. Four other sons had died as infants. 102 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 2: Alexey and his father had always had a strained relationship. 103 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:58,239 Speaker 2: After setting off fireworks and celebrations for little Alexey's birth, 104 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 2: Peter largely lost interest in the boy. After all, he 105 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 2: was the son of Peter's unloved first wife, Eudoxia. When 106 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 2: Alexey was eight, his father sent his mother off to 107 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 2: a convent, wrenching him away from her. Alexey was a 108 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 2: somewhat sickly boy, cowardly and uninterested in military action, not 109 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 2: qualities that particularly excited Peter about an heir. Alexey was 110 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 2: so afraid of his father that he once shot himself 111 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 2: in the hand to avoid having to see him classic Alexey, 112 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 2: though he missed, burning himself badly, and then he lied 113 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 2: to his father that it was an accident. He wrote 114 00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:49,040 Speaker 2: that he quote would rather be a galley slave or 115 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,280 Speaker 2: have a burning fever than have to go to see 116 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 2: a Russian ship launched. His mother in law said that 117 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 2: quote it is quite useless for his father to force 118 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 2: him to tend to military matters, as he would rather 119 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 2: have a rosary than a pistol in his hand. In 120 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 2: other words, in his father's eyes, he was just kind 121 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:15,080 Speaker 2: of a bummer. But Peter nonetheless wanted his son to 122 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 2: become a man he could trust as his successor. Starting 123 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 2: when Alexey was twelve, Peter took the boy along with 124 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 2: him on various military sieges as preparation for his future 125 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,520 Speaker 2: as a military leader. When Alexey was seventeen, Peter put 126 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 2: him in charge of the defense of Moscow. But Alexey 127 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:42,439 Speaker 2: never took an interest in his father's warring. He was meek. 128 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 2: He accepted Peter's idea that he marry a German princess 129 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 2: Charlotte in seventeen eleven, when he was twenty one and 130 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 2: she seventeen. Alexey doated on their daughter, Natalia, but he 131 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 2: drank so often and so much that he'd largely ignored 132 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 2: his wife Charlotte, leaving her to a bedroom where the 133 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,920 Speaker 2: rain came through the roof. In a storm, Peter had 134 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 2: to reprimand his son to take some care of his wife. 135 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 2: So by seventeen fifteen it was clear to Peter that 136 00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 2: his son Alexey was a weak candidate to be his 137 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:28,599 Speaker 2: heir to the empire. But in the autumn of seventeen 138 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 2: fifteen there was reason to think that Peter's outlook might change. 139 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 2: Two reasons, in fact, because there were not one, but 140 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:44,319 Speaker 2: two heavily pregnant women in Russian court. On October twenty third, 141 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 2: seventeen fifteen, Alexey's wife Charlotte gave birth to their second child, 142 00:10:50,840 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 2: a boy. He was named Peter Alexevitch, and one week 143 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 2: after that, on November ninth, seventeen fifteen, Peter the Great 144 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 2: wife Catherine, also gave birth to a son, Peter Petrovitch. 145 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 2: The baby survived his first days, and then weeks and 146 00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 2: then months of life. Peter wrote, God has sent me 147 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 2: a new recruit. So by the time at seventeen sixteen dawned, 148 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 2: Peter the Great found himself in a very different position 149 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 2: than he had been at the beginning of seventeen fifteen, 150 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 2: there were now two little Peters in Russia, both legitimate 151 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: heirs to his throne, which meant that suddenly, when it 152 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 2: came to the Russian line of succession, Peter the Great 153 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 2: had other options. The story of what happened next between 154 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,559 Speaker 2: Peter the Great and his oldest surviving son, Alexei can 155 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,679 Speaker 2: be told in a set of fantastic letters that we 156 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,680 Speaker 2: still have. Between father and son, the whole story is there. 157 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 2: Alexei's wife, Charlotte, died ten days after giving birth to 158 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 2: Alexei's son. On her funeral day, Peter the Great gave 159 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 2: his son a letter, a declaration to my son. It read, you, 160 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 2: my son, reject all means of making yourself capable of 161 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 2: governing well after me. I say your incapacity is voluntary, 162 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 2: because you cannot excuse yourself with want of natural parts 163 00:12:30,679 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 2: and strength of body, as if God had not given 164 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:38,760 Speaker 2: you sufficient share of either. And though your constitution is 165 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 2: none the strongest, yet it cannot be said that it 166 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:47,959 Speaker 2: is altogether weak. Peter articulated a philosophy of governing and 167 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 2: his personal disappointment in his son. He articulated his sadness 168 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 2: that his son didn't care about war, and described his 169 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 2: belief that the Russian people would follow a leader like 170 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 2: Alexi say into forgetting about the importance of war. Peter 171 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 2: said that physical sickness has nothing to do with a 172 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:12,000 Speaker 2: sovereign's inclination toward or interest in war, and gave the 173 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 2: example of his even sicker brother Ivan the Fifth, who 174 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 2: was nonetheless interested in war, unlike Alexey. The letter ends quote, 175 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 2: I am a man, and consequently I must die. Peter 176 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 2: wonders if Alexey is up to the succession and expresses 177 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 2: that he is not, and offers him a bit more 178 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,959 Speaker 2: time to see if he can rise to the occasion. 179 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 2: If he doesn't, Peter says, then quote, I will deprive 180 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 2: you of the succession, as one may cut off a 181 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:49,680 Speaker 2: useless member. Harsh words, especially to get on the day 182 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,320 Speaker 2: of your wife's funeral. But to me, the most important 183 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 2: and interesting part in the letter comes after, also the 184 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 2: most faithful and tragic. Do not fancy that I only 185 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 2: write this, Peter said, to terrify you. To me, it's 186 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 2: clear that Peter's great disappointment with his son is all 187 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 2: about desire. He just wants his son to want the throne. 188 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 2: Don't want to be disinherited. Peter is saying, if you 189 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 2: want to rule, if you want to be interested in war, 190 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 2: that is enough. And the tragedy is that Peter the 191 00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 2: Great and his son Alexey really were in this ships 192 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:41,760 Speaker 2: passing in the night. It's like they simply could not 193 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 2: hear each other. If what Peter cared about most was 194 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 2: Alexey wanting the throne, then the last thing Alexey should 195 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 2: have done was except the threat of his removal from 196 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 2: the line of succession. Alexey went running to his advisors, 197 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 2: and on their count he wrote back to his father 198 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 2: saying that if you quote will deprive me of the 199 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 2: succession to the crown of Russia by reason of my incapacity, 200 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 2: your will be done. I even most urgently beg it 201 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 2: of you. It's like these two men just cannot see 202 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 2: each other. It's not an incapacity that Peter hates, and 203 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 2: his son he gives the positive example of his actually 204 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 2: much weaker and more incapacitated brother. It's that very proclivity 205 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 2: to accept meekness and powerlessness, and that was exactly what 206 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:43,080 Speaker 2: the ever disappointing Alexey did. In the meantime, Peter was 207 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 2: getting sick, and Alexey was basically just hoping to outlive 208 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 2: his father and have this whole affair be over. But 209 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 2: de escalation is not a thing in the Russian court, 210 00:15:55,320 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 2: Peter writes back to Alexey, escalating accept the emperorship, says Peter, 211 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 2: or else become a monk. Peter hopes that threats will 212 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:12,800 Speaker 2: make Alexey finally snap and want power, but he doesn't 213 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:16,960 Speaker 2: see his son, just as his son does not see him. 214 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 2: All threats do is make the boy even meeker. I 215 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 2: will embrace the monastical state and desire your gracious consent 216 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 2: to it, Alexey writes back to Peter. It really is 217 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 2: kind of hard to avoid the conclusion that Alexey really 218 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 2: would have been a kind of weak ruler who didn't 219 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 2: really want to rule. But at this point Peter is 220 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 2: getting really angry at his weak son, and Alexey is 221 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,920 Speaker 2: getting pretty afraid of his father. He really doesn't seem 222 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 2: to want the throne. The one thing he actually seems 223 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 2: to want is to be with his mistress, a woman 224 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 2: named Afrosina. So, in consultation with his advisors, Alexey decides 225 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 2: to do something really foolish. He runs away. He dresses 226 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 2: his mistress as a boy page, and they get out 227 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 2: of Dodge. The pair land in Vienna, and Alexey asks 228 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,520 Speaker 2: his brother in law and bor Charles the sixth to 229 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 2: conceal him there. It really wasn't the most intelligent move. 230 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 2: He kept on doing exactly the things that would most 231 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 2: disappoint his father, and a disappointed Peter was soon an 232 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 2: enraged one. Of course, the situation couldn't last long, though 233 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 2: Charles the sixth did agree to let Alexey hide at court. 234 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:55,040 Speaker 2: The disguise started failing pretty shortly thereafter. Efrisina was pregnant, 235 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 2: so her disguise as a boy page fell apart. Peter 236 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:03,880 Speaker 2: found out that Vienna was hiding his son, and now 237 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,959 Speaker 2: the Russian and the Viennese emperors are both realizing that 238 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 2: this could escalate to an international crisis, so everyone had 239 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 2: to proceed with delicacy. Peter sent an emissary named Tolstoy, 240 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 2: not the famous writer, to get Alexey back by any means, 241 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 2: including outright duplicity if necessary. Naturally, Peter continued to threaten 242 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:34,440 Speaker 2: Alexey via letter, not that his strategy of threats ever worked. 243 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,440 Speaker 2: He wrote quote, if you return, I will love you 244 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 2: better than ever. But if you refuse, then I declare 245 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 2: you traitor, and I assure you I will find the 246 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:50,600 Speaker 2: means to use you as such. Again, threats never worked 247 00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 2: with Alexey. But the key was the girl, the Mistress, 248 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 2: that he loved. Because Alexey did truly love her, all 249 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 2: he wants. Alexey told tolstoy Is to get to marry 250 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,160 Speaker 2: Efrisina and go live in a country cottage together with her. 251 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 2: Would his father agree to that? It's a nice dream, 252 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 2: But Alexey had noble blood running through his veins. As 253 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:23,159 Speaker 2: any listener of this podcast might already know, retiring to 254 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 2: acute cabin with a wife that you love is not 255 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 2: really a likely option for an heir to a throne. 256 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,880 Speaker 2: Peter the Great promised that Alexey could marry the Mistress. 257 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 2: Alexey was not smart enough not to believe him. In 258 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 2: an earlier letter to his son, Peter had quoted the Bible, 259 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,400 Speaker 2: King David said, all men are liars. This kid did 260 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,679 Speaker 2: not have the strategic mind he would have needed to 261 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 2: find a way out of his predicament. He could not 262 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:02,680 Speaker 2: outstrategize his father, and so Alexey agreed to go back 263 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 2: to Russia. The historian Robert K. Massey, one of the 264 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 2: most helpful sources for this episode, quotes the response to 265 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 2: Alexey's choice quote, he will have a coffin instead of 266 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 2: a wedding. In February seventeen eighteen, the Kremlin was full 267 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 2: as Alexey publicly confessed to running away to Europe and 268 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:31,680 Speaker 2: he renounced his claim to the throne. Peter accepted pardoning 269 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:36,360 Speaker 2: his son on condition that Alexeys share all of his co conspirators. 270 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 2: It was the beginning of a brutal, bloody retribution that 271 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:48,639 Speaker 2: Peter enacted on seemingly everyone except Alexey. At first, Peter 272 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 2: found his ex wife, Eudoxia, who was living in a 273 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 2: monastery but not as a nun. Her lover was tortured, 274 00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 2: her brother was killed, along with four others condemned to 275 00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 2: death for having helped Alexey flee to Europe, and Alexey 276 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 2: seemingly didn't care as the people who helped him were investigated, tortured, 277 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 2: or killed. All he seemed to want to do was 278 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 2: Mary Afrisina, who, by the way, he wasn't physically with 279 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 2: due to her pregnancy. He did not bring her back 280 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 2: to Russia. With him upon his return from Europe. But 281 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 2: he wrote her loving, longing letters, desperate for her in 282 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 2: their separation, while she kind of isn't writing that sort 283 00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 2: of letter back. Secretaries write her letters back to him 284 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,479 Speaker 2: once she adds and asks for caviar. But the worst 285 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,359 Speaker 2: for Alexey is yet to come. Peter the Great did, 286 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 2: for once unlock the keys to his son. He found Efrisina, 287 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 2: and without subjecting her to any torture at all, she 288 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 2: betrayed her lover. Yes, she said Alexey wanted Peter dead. 289 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 2: He spoke of it often. She repeated the claims to 290 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:16,280 Speaker 2: Alexei's face. It's hard to imagine how much this must 291 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:20,360 Speaker 2: have pained him. The one thing he seemed to genuinely 292 00:22:20,520 --> 00:22:24,040 Speaker 2: love in this life, the one thing he seemed to 293 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 2: actually fight for. Who knows what he felt when he 294 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:32,360 Speaker 2: saw his beloved Africina again and had to watch her 295 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 2: sell him out. His dreams of a country cottage shimmered 296 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 2: before him, and then they were wiped out in an instant. 297 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 2: Maybe whatever will he had left to live left him 298 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:52,960 Speaker 2: at that moment. After Aforsina's confessions, there was nothing else 299 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 2: for it. Alexey went on trial Peter called both an 300 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 2: ecclesiastical court and a secual court. Do not be moved, 301 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,719 Speaker 2: he told them by the fact that you are to 302 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 2: judge the son of your sovereign, for we swear to 303 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 2: you that you have absolutely nothing to fear. Of course, 304 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 2: Peter had also promised Alexey that he could marry Africina 305 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 2: and go live a cottage core life with her. But 306 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:24,720 Speaker 2: nonetheless Peter's orders to the jury were clear. Anyone else 307 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 2: on trial would have been tortured to extract a confession, 308 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 2: and so was Alexey. He was struck twenty five times 309 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 2: with a not a kind of whipping torture on June nineteenth. 310 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 2: Five days later he received fifteen more blows. His back 311 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 2: was bleeding. The whipping torture had killed stronger men than alexe. 312 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 2: He confessed to having wished for his father's death, and 313 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,240 Speaker 2: on June twenty fourth, the jury did what it had 314 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:02,159 Speaker 2: to do after such a confession, found Alexey guilty of 315 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 2: rebellion against the emperor. So Tsarevich Alexey, heir to the 316 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 2: Russian throne, was condemned to death, but it was up 317 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 2: to Peter the Great to decide whether to allow the 318 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 2: sentence to be carried out. In a tragic or perhaps 319 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 2: gracious twist of fate, Peter never had to make a decision. 320 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 2: Alexey fell ill, he requested his father see him, and 321 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 2: Peter did, reportedly crying alongside his dying son. Alexei died 322 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 2: on June twenty sixth, seventeen eighteen, at the age of 323 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 2: twenty eight. No one official acknowledged it explicitly, but it's 324 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 2: likely he simply did not survive the blows with the 325 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 2: no Alexey was stronger than he'd always thought, but weaker 326 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 2: than his father had always wished. Had not signed off 327 00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 2: on condemning his own son to the death penalty, but 328 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 2: he did allow the torture that almost certainly killed him. 329 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 2: After Alexey's death, he was mourned like a tsarvich rather 330 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 2: than a criminal, interred in state. Peter the Great died 331 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 2: on February eighth, seventeen twenty five, at the age of 332 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 2: fifty two. He did not name a successor, and after 333 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:36,199 Speaker 2: he died, the succession was confusing. Of the two baby 334 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,000 Speaker 2: Peters who had given him such hope, his own little 335 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 2: son had died in seventeen nineteen at age three. His wife, 336 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 2: Catherine ruled as empress for two years until her own 337 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,719 Speaker 2: death in seventeen twenty seven, and then, maybe in small 338 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 2: revenge for Alexey, it was his own son Peter, who 339 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:03,400 Speaker 2: took the throne for not quite three years before he 340 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 2: died at age fourteen. Peter the Great is not the 341 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,920 Speaker 2: only Russian monarch to have killed his son. Nearly one 342 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:17,080 Speaker 2: hundred and fifty years earlier, in fifteen eighty one, the 343 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 2: first Czar of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, had flown into 344 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 2: a rage and killed his own son and only competent heir, 345 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,679 Speaker 2: when the boy was twenty seven, almost exactly the same 346 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:34,719 Speaker 2: age as Alexei was when he died. But Peter was 347 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 2: not raging like Ivan was when he coolly instructed the 348 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 2: court to treat Alexey as they would any other accused criminal. 349 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 2: So far as I know, said the historian Jonathan Day, 350 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,240 Speaker 2: there were no other European monarchs who oversaw the torture 351 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 2: of their own children. What would Peter have done if 352 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 2: his son had not died. Would he have sent Tint 353 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 2: his own son to the death penalty? We can't know. 354 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 2: History can only be left to wonder. But at Alexei's funeral, 355 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 2: the preacher quoted from the Old Testament, Oh absalom, my son, 356 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:23,959 Speaker 2: my son. That's the story of Russian Emperor Peter the 357 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 2: Great killing his son, albeit indirectly. But stick around after 358 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 2: a brief sponsor break to hear about the women in 359 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 2: the story. You may be wondering a little bit about 360 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 2: the women in the story. As for Afrisina, Alexey's beloved mistress, 361 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:52,040 Speaker 2: intended wife, and ultimate betrayer, her child disappeared from history. 362 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 2: No one knows whether Alexey and Afrisina's child lived or died, 363 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,280 Speaker 2: or where the child was born. Afrosina got married herself 364 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 2: and lived another thirty years in Saint Petersburg. As for Eudoxia, 365 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:12,200 Speaker 2: Peter the Great, unloved first wife and Alexey's mother, who 366 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,680 Speaker 2: had been banished to a convent. Her lover had been 367 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 2: brutally tortured and her brother was killed over the Alexey affair, 368 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 2: but she wound up with the last laugh. It was 369 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,119 Speaker 2: her grandson, Peter Alexevitch, who wound up on the throne 370 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:34,200 Speaker 2: after Catherine the second Wife's death, and when he got there, 371 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:39,840 Speaker 2: Eudoxia left the convent at last, despite her husband having 372 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 2: banished her Eudoxia, Wound Up Dying at Court. Noble Blood 373 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 2: is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from 374 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 2: Aaron Manky. Noble Blood is hosted by me Danash Schwartz, 375 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 2: with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, Courtney Sender, 376 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 2: Amy Hit and Julia Melaney. The show is edited and 377 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 2: produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producerrima il Kaali and 378 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 2: executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For 379 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:26,360 Speaker 2: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 380 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.