WEBVTT - Cruelty and Murder, War and Peace

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim

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<v Speaker 1>and Mild from Aaron Mankie listener Discretion advised. For most,

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<v Speaker 1>it was just another very early morning in Imperial Russia.

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<v Speaker 1>The large estate was beginning to come to life as

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<v Speaker 1>servants woke up and started their morning work, but the

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<v Speaker 1>true hustle and bustle of the day was still a

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<v Speaker 1>ways off. Still in the silence, there was a man

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<v Speaker 1>creeping towards one of the mansion's many bedrooms. There was

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<v Speaker 1>a woman asleep inside the bedroom, completely unaware as to

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<v Speaker 1>what was about to happen to her. Perhaps she should

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<v Speaker 1>have had an inkling. The woman still asleep in bed

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<v Speaker 1>was the de facto lady of the house, the mistress

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<v Speaker 1>of the estate owner, and she, Natasia Mincoln, was so

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<v Speaker 1>cruel that she had pushed the staff to the breaking point.

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<v Speaker 1>She was abusive, petty, vindictive and violent. And now there

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<v Speaker 1>was a man standing over her bed brandishing a large

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<v Speaker 1>kitchen knife. What happened next was intimate, visceral, and brutal.

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<v Speaker 1>The murder was so brutal it would traumatize even the

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<v Speaker 1>man who carried it out, and it would devastate Natasia's lover,

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<v Speaker 1>a man many people considered to be the cruelest man

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<v Speaker 1>in Tsarist Russia. Back when he and Natasia had both

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<v Speaker 1>been alive, it must have seemed like a perfect match.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Danish Schwartz and this is noble blood. Very little

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<v Speaker 1>information has survived about the woman known as Madame Mincoln.

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<v Speaker 1>I first encountered her name as a party goer at

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<v Speaker 1>Satan's ball in Mikhail Bolgokov's novel The Master and Margarita.

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<v Speaker 1>Even if you haven't read the novel, you can probably

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<v Speaker 1>guess that no one portrayed as a guest of the

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<v Speaker 1>Devil is considered one of history's good guys. Like so

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<v Speaker 1>many women from history, the most famous thing about Madame

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<v Speaker 1>Mincoln was her association with a powerful man. In her case,

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<v Speaker 1>that man was Alexei arek Chayev, the infamously cruel military

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<v Speaker 1>adviser to Sar Alexander the First. Though she's referred to

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<v Speaker 1>frequently as Madam Mincoln, she wasn't technically a madam in

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<v Speaker 1>the formal sense, but rather the mistress of the man

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<v Speaker 1>whose cruelty became legendary. While his reign of terror operated

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<v Speaker 1>on a national scale, hers was contained to the domestic sphere,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was no less brutal within those confines. Arak

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<v Speaker 1>Chayev's rise to power began under Czar Paul the First

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<v Speaker 1>in the seventeen nineties, under whom he quickly gained favor

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<v Speaker 1>thanks to his artillery expertise and rigid discipline. He was

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<v Speaker 1>given the title of count. When Paul was murdered in

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen oh one, the new young Czar Alexander inherited not

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<v Speaker 1>just a throne but also his father's most capable and

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<v Speaker 1>most ruthless military adviser. Czar Alexander the First was a

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<v Speaker 1>complicated ruler, a man who spoke eloquently about liberal reforms

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<v Speaker 1>and Enlightenment ideals. In his early years, he created new universities,

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<v Speaker 1>made improvements to the country's legal system, and appointed progressive advisers.

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<v Speaker 1>He dreamed, at least publicly, of modernizing Russia into a

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<v Speaker 1>European style state where even peasants might enjoy citizenship rights,

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<v Speaker 1>but he never followed through on the most meaningful reforms,

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<v Speaker 1>and eventually he lost interest in affecting positive change. That

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<v Speaker 1>impulse grew exponentially after the war with Napoleon, which left

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<v Speaker 1>Alexander increasingly conservative and religiously fervent. He created the Holy

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<v Speaker 1>Alliance to squash potential revolutionary uprisings across Europe and reversed

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<v Speaker 1>many of his earlier progressive policies into that moral swamp

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<v Speaker 1>stepped Irakchaiev, whose power grew in direct correlation with his

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<v Speaker 1>csar's descent into reactionary conservatism. For over a decade, Arakcheyev

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<v Speaker 1>was arguably the most influential figure in the Russian government,

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<v Speaker 1>with authority that at times seemed to exceed the Tsar's own.

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<v Speaker 1>Those who once dreamed of bringing European enlightenment back to

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<v Speaker 1>Russia found their country unchanged, with peasants still treated as

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<v Speaker 1>slaves and Arakcheyev's military colonies imposing forced labor under violent discipline.

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<v Speaker 1>One officer wrote that returning to Russia after Paris and

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<v Speaker 1>London quote felt like going back to a prehistoric past.

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<v Speaker 1>One contemporary described the era as quote an iron age

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<v Speaker 1>of gloom and cruelty, beneath which almost the whole of

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<v Speaker 1>Russia groaned. The gratuitous and arbitrary violence was perhaps the

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<v Speaker 1>worst feature of the country. Beatings everywhere from army camps

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<v Speaker 1>to schools, from market squares to family homes. Stories of

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<v Speaker 1>Count arek Chayev's own own personal cruelty were widespread and

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<v Speaker 1>frankly stomach turning. He allegedly executed two junior officers by

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<v Speaker 1>bearing them up to their necks and leaving them to die.

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<v Speaker 1>Another officer lost his head entirely. At Grizino, the expansive

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<v Speaker 1>estate given to Arakchev by Zar Paul, the count imposed

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<v Speaker 1>bizarre and tyrannical rules. Local peasant women were required to

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<v Speaker 1>produce a child each year, and because he enjoyed hearing

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<v Speaker 1>nightingales sing, he ordered all cats on his property to

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<v Speaker 1>be exterminated. In this world of systemic brutality, we meet

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<v Speaker 1>Natasia Lincoln. Details about her background are scarce and contradictory.

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<v Speaker 1>What we know is that she was physically striking, with

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<v Speaker 1>dark features and and what one observer called quote the

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<v Speaker 1>figure of a grenadier. No one at Grizzino seemed to

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<v Speaker 1>know where she came from, but one thing was certain.

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<v Speaker 1>She wasn't one of them. According to one account, Irakcheyev

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<v Speaker 1>had purchased her from an advertisement in a Saint Petersburg newspaper.

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<v Speaker 1>It's not explicitly stated what her advertised services were, but

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<v Speaker 1>based on the quick progression of their relationship, we can

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<v Speaker 1>make some assumptions about their general nature, although it's possible

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<v Speaker 1>the original arrangement with her started with her merely working

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<v Speaker 1>as a servant. Immediately smitten with Natasia, Irakcheyev granted her

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<v Speaker 1>freedom and provided her with an endowment of several thousand roubles.

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<v Speaker 1>The peasants at Grizino, unable to explain the influence she

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<v Speaker 1>wielded over their master, became convinced she was a romani,

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<v Speaker 1>which with magical abilities. It's possible that she was a

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<v Speaker 1>master manipulator, but it's also possible that the Count saw

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<v Speaker 1>something in Natasia Mancan that he recognized in himself a

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<v Speaker 1>boundless capacity for cruelty. Either way, he needed her in

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<v Speaker 1>his life. He installed her at Grazino as his housekeeper

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<v Speaker 1>and gave her ultimate authority. When Irakchev was called back

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<v Speaker 1>to public service, he left the estate entirely in Natasia's hands,

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<v Speaker 1>with complete confidence in her managerial ability. It's unclear how

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<v Speaker 1>much experience she had at managing an estate of that size,

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<v Speaker 1>but she took to it like a natural. She ran

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<v Speaker 1>the place straight out of an Irakchev playbook. She was strict,

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<v Speaker 1>exacting and punishingly cruel. In this way, she was a

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<v Speaker 1>perfect mirror of Iraqi Chayev himself, but she was also

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<v Speaker 1>sowing the seeds of her own destruction. In the spring

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen o three, Arakcheyev left for Saint Petersburg. No

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<v Speaker 1>sooner was he back in the capitol than he received

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<v Speaker 1>word from home Natasia was pregnant with his child. The

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<v Speaker 1>news created immediate suspicion among the local population. Natasia had

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<v Speaker 1>already made herself deeply unpopular at Gerzino, ruling the household

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<v Speaker 1>with the same iron discipline Arakchev himself employed. The serfs

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<v Speaker 1>didn't trust her horrendous behavior aside, her exotic looks and

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<v Speaker 1>murky origins certainly didn't help endear her to the local

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<v Speaker 1>peasant population. Rumors spread that she had faked the pregnancy,

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<v Speaker 1>orchestrating an elaborate deception involving a widowed peasant woman and

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<v Speaker 1>a stolen infant, though such a scheme would have required

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<v Speaker 1>near impossible coordination and secrecy, But when the child finally came,

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<v Speaker 1>the gossip only intensified. The baby was a boy named Shumsky,

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<v Speaker 1>with bright red hair and blue eyes, neither of which

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<v Speaker 1>were seen in his parents. Despite the physical irregularities, Arakcheyev

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<v Speaker 1>never questioned the child's parentage and raised Shumsky as his son.

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<v Speaker 1>A couple of years later, still in Saint Petersburg, Arakcheyev

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<v Speaker 1>made the unexpected decision to take a wife. His bride

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<v Speaker 1>was Anastasia Vassilievna Kumatova, eighteen years old, the shy and

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful daughter of wealthy landowners. His plan was to bring

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<v Speaker 1>his new wife to Gruzino and arrange a marriage for

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<v Speaker 1>his former mistress, Natasia. He saw no reason why everyone

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't coexist on the large estate. For Natasia, we can

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<v Speaker 1>imagine the situation would have been panic inducing. Whatever security

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<v Speaker 1>she thought she'd built through her position and her son

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<v Speaker 1>now seemed threatened by a legitimate wife with good social

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<v Speaker 1>standing and imperial connections. But Natasia didn't need to worry

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<v Speaker 1>for long. The marriage collapsed quickly. Arakcheyev's controlling nature proved

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<v Speaker 1>too much for the young woman, and his wife soon

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<v Speaker 1>withdrew to the countryside. One has to wonder if the

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<v Speaker 1>presence of Madame Mincoln at the estate had anything to

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<v Speaker 1>do with the bride's eagerness to get away. With the

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<v Speaker 1>marriage dissolved, the bond between Arakcheyev and Natasia only intensified.

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<v Speaker 1>He managed government business in Saint Petersburg while she ran Grizzino,

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<v Speaker 1>sending him regular correspondents about estate operations. Her letters also

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<v Speaker 1>revealed deep emotion mixed with constant anxiety about his fidelity.

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<v Speaker 1>She wrote of her complete devotion while acknowledging her fear

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<v Speaker 1>that younger women might replace her in his affections. But

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<v Speaker 1>while Natasia's emotional position remained vulnerable and dependent on favor,

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<v Speaker 1>she held complete authority over the household staff, and she

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<v Speaker 1>exercised that authority with increasing cruelty. By the summer of

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen twenty five, conditions at Grizino had deteriorated to a

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<v Speaker 1>crisis point. Natasia became more erratic and more vicious, dishing

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<v Speaker 1>out harsh punishments for trivial offenses. The staff understood a

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<v Speaker 1>grim reality. Arakcheyev was either un away aware of Mincoln's behavior,

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<v Speaker 1>or he was aware and simply didn't care, and, given

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<v Speaker 1>his history, possibly even encouraged her behavior. The staff knew

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<v Speaker 1>that any complaint to him would surely result in far

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<v Speaker 1>worse treatment. They were trapped with no avenue for appeal.

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<v Speaker 1>Three young maids in particular, suffered under Natasha's rule. She

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<v Speaker 1>tormented them constantly, no doubt fueled by jealousy of their

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<v Speaker 1>youth and beauty, as well as the rage she couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>direct at her benefactor. She ordered the young women beaten

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<v Speaker 1>and imprisoned in the house jail for the slightest of infractions.

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<v Speaker 1>One account describes her attacking a maid's face with a

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<v Speaker 1>heated curling tongue. At least one maid unsuccessfully attempted to

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<v Speaker 1>poison Natasia. The situation reached critical breaking point in August

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<v Speaker 1>when the butler took his own life after Natasia threatened

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<v Speaker 1>to report him to Arakcheyev over a disorganized cellar. A

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<v Speaker 1>member of the staff approached Vasili Antonov, whose sister Praskovia

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the three tormented maids. Vasili was offered

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<v Speaker 1>money to kill the lady of the house, but he

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't bring himself to do it, not yet anyway. Shortly

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<v Speaker 1>after Irakcheyev departed for the Novgorod colonies one Sunday, Natasia

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<v Speaker 1>unleashed her rage on her maids again. Prascovia was beaten twice,

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<v Speaker 1>the others locked up. Days later, early Thursday, morning, Prascovia

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<v Speaker 1>found Natasia asleep. Her own body was still riddled with

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<v Speaker 1>aches and pains from her recent beating, and as she

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<v Speaker 1>looked down on her sleeping mistress, something snapped inside her.

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<v Speaker 1>She ran to find her brother, Vasily and begged him

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<v Speaker 1>to act, now, insisting that she would accept all of

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<v Speaker 1>the blame. Her brother Vasily took a kitchen knife and

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<v Speaker 1>followed his sister to Madam Minkin's quarters. He tried to

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<v Speaker 1>move quietly, but a small dog started barking and had

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<v Speaker 1>to be carried out by Prascovia. Alone with his target,

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<v Speaker 1>Vasily summoned the courage and attacked. His first attempt missed

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<v Speaker 1>the mark, and he slashed and Tassia on the cheek.

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<v Speaker 1>She woke immediately and threw herself from the bed, screaming.

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<v Speaker 1>The struggle was violent and ugly, but ultimately Madame Minkin

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<v Speaker 1>lost the fight to keep her life. Vasily threw down

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<v Speaker 1>the knife and ran from her chambers in a panic.

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<v Speaker 1>No one at Grissino would later admit to hearing their

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<v Speaker 1>mistress's screams, despite people being away wake and the windows

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<v Speaker 1>not yet fitted with winter insulation. Eventually, Prascovia's sobbing was

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<v Speaker 1>impossible to ignore. The gruesome scene was discovered, and the

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<v Speaker 1>household was thrown into panic. Arakcheyev was expected back that evening.

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<v Speaker 1>How could they tell Russia's most fearsome man that his

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<v Speaker 1>beloved companion of two decades had been murdered by servants.

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<v Speaker 1>They sent a messenger to find him and bring him

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<v Speaker 1>the news that Natasia had fallen gravely ill. When his

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<v Speaker 1>carriage neared Grazino, Arakcheyev stopped a man from the estate

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<v Speaker 1>to ask about Natasia's condition. The man, unaware that the

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<v Speaker 1>truth had been withheld, answered directly. Her head had barely

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<v Speaker 1>remained attached to her body. Arakchev's response was immediate and total.

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<v Speaker 1>He threw himself onto the ground, tearing at his head

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<v Speaker 1>and the earth, shouting, you have killed her, Kill me too,

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<v Speaker 1>Kill me, and kill me quickly. The people traveling with

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<v Speaker 1>him stood frozen, watching something no one had thought possible,

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<v Speaker 1>The cruelest man in Russia reduced to a sobbing, broken

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<v Speaker 1>figure at their feet. When Arakcheyev reached Grizino, he went

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<v Speaker 1>straight to Natasia's room and threw himself onto her body.

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<v Speaker 1>He stopped eating and refused to shave. He took a

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<v Speaker 1>handkerchief stained with his slain mistress's blood, tied it around

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<v Speaker 1>his neck, and refused to remove it. The household staff

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<v Speaker 1>were placed under arrest while officials worked to identify who

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<v Speaker 1>was responsible. In a bizarre decision, vasili Antonov chose not

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<v Speaker 1>to flee. Instead, he remained at the estate, even helping

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<v Speaker 1>prepare Natasia's body for burial, apparently betting that his sister's

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<v Speaker 1>confession would be treated as the complete story. Questions arose

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<v Speaker 1>about the burial itself. Given the nature of Natasia's relationship

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<v Speaker 1>with Arakcheyev was never formalized by marriage, The local priest

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<v Speaker 1>sought guidance from church authorities about whether she could be

0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:23.639
<v Speaker 1>buried on consecrated ground. When Arakcheyev found out, he erupted,

0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:27.040
<v Speaker 1>declaring that a priest who would ask such a question

0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:31.560
<v Speaker 1>had no place anywhere on earth. Even through his grief,

0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.400
<v Speaker 1>the Tsar's Grand Vizier always had a death threat at

0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:39.399
<v Speaker 1>the ready. At the funeral, Natasia was lowered into a

0:18:39.440 --> 0:18:44.240
<v Speaker 1>grave next to the one Arakcheyev had long ago earmarked

0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:49.200
<v Speaker 1>for himself. He rushed forward as the coffin descended, bending

0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.600
<v Speaker 1>over it and crying out, kill me. You villains. You

0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:55.639
<v Speaker 1>have taken my only friend for me. Now I have

0:18:55.800 --> 0:19:00.600
<v Speaker 1>lost everything. The next day, Arakcheyev composed a message to

0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:05.680
<v Speaker 1>Tsar Alexander the First. In it, he described himself as destroyed,

0:19:06.119 --> 0:19:09.960
<v Speaker 1>his health and reason shattered by loss. He wrote that

0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:13.240
<v Speaker 1>he only wanted to die and could no longer handle

0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:20.040
<v Speaker 1>any official responsibilities without authorization. He immediately transferred his military

0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:25.679
<v Speaker 1>and administrative duties to subordinates, a legally questionable action that

0:19:25.800 --> 0:19:30.800
<v Speaker 1>would have brought severe consequences for anyone else. When Alexander

0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:35.320
<v Speaker 1>received word of the tragedy at Grazino, the Tsar's first

0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:40.240
<v Speaker 1>assumption was political. He guessed that Natasia had been killed

0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:44.600
<v Speaker 1>as part of a scheme to force Arakcheyev from power,

0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.520
<v Speaker 1>not that she was murdered in response to her own actions.

0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:55.000
<v Speaker 1>The Tsar was initially displeased by Irakcheyev's unauthorized transfer of power,

0:19:55.560 --> 0:19:59.159
<v Speaker 1>but he ultimately forgave him, chalking it up to his

0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:05.639
<v Speaker 1>griefust tree brick. State justice came quickly for the murderous siblings,

0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:11.320
<v Speaker 1>and as to be expected, it was extreme. Though Prascovia confessed,

0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:16.679
<v Speaker 1>Vasily was unable to avoid blame, and he received a

0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:21.760
<v Speaker 1>sentence of one hundred and seventy five lashes. Prascovia received

0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:27.400
<v Speaker 1>one hundred and twenty five. Both punishments proved fatal, as

0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:31.480
<v Speaker 1>they were surely designed to be. The system had completed

0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:36.720
<v Speaker 1>its cycle cruelty leading to desperation, which led to cruelty

0:20:36.960 --> 0:20:40.399
<v Speaker 1>of a deadlier nature, which in turn was met with

0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:46.880
<v Speaker 1>deadly cruelty again. Zar Alexander I died in November eighteen

0:20:46.920 --> 0:20:51.760
<v Speaker 1>twenty five, just months after Natasia's murder, and the new Czar,

0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:57.879
<v Speaker 1>Nicholas the first had different advisors and different priorities. Arekcheyev

0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:02.119
<v Speaker 1>returned to Gruzino permanently living at the scene of the

0:21:02.200 --> 0:21:05.960
<v Speaker 1>crime until his own death in eighteen thirty four. He

0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:09.920
<v Speaker 1>built a monument to Natasia on the grounds and visited

0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:15.480
<v Speaker 1>it often. What happened at Grizino wasn't just a domestic tragedy.

0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:21.640
<v Speaker 1>It reflected the larger system Rakchayev had spent decades constructing

0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:25.840
<v Speaker 1>and maintaining. For more than twenty years, he had been

0:21:25.960 --> 0:21:31.240
<v Speaker 1>among Russia's most powerful figures, creating an environment where violence

0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:35.399
<v Speaker 1>functioned as the default method of control. The culture of

0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:39.800
<v Speaker 1>systemic brutality that Arakchev helped establish at the national level

0:21:40.240 --> 0:21:44.200
<v Speaker 1>had filtered into his own household. When looking at what

0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:48.280
<v Speaker 1>you might call complicated women in history, there is often

0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:52.560
<v Speaker 1>the urge to rationalize behavior by looking at the bigger picture.

0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:58.240
<v Speaker 1>Systemic injustices and historical circumstances can often go a long

0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.600
<v Speaker 1>way towards viewing, at some point life through a more

0:22:01.800 --> 0:22:07.480
<v Speaker 1>generous lens. But Natasia Mincoln had a well documented history

0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:12.400
<v Speaker 1>of cruelty and abuse, and no amount of context can

0:22:12.680 --> 0:22:16.960
<v Speaker 1>justify the pain that she caused for others. She certainly

0:22:17.000 --> 0:22:20.719
<v Speaker 1>did not deserve to be violently murdered for it, of course,

0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.640
<v Speaker 1>But for the serfs at Grazino, there was nowhere else

0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:28.760
<v Speaker 1>to turn, and the chronic abuse had pushed them far

0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:33.520
<v Speaker 1>beyond what people can be expected to endure. The Russian

0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:38.680
<v Speaker 1>Revolution wouldn't derive for nearly another century, but common themes

0:22:38.760 --> 0:22:44.120
<v Speaker 1>were already visible. Sustained oppression with no possibility of relief

0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:50.520
<v Speaker 1>eventually produces violent resistance. Natasia Mincoln's death was a small

0:22:50.520 --> 0:22:56.159
<v Speaker 1>scale demonstration of what occurs when systemic cruelty becomes intolerable

0:22:56.680 --> 0:23:02.040
<v Speaker 1>and people don't see any other ways out. That's the

0:23:02.119 --> 0:23:06.479
<v Speaker 1>tragic story of Madame Mincoln. But keep listening after a

0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:10.200
<v Speaker 1>brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about

0:23:10.600 --> 0:23:22.000
<v Speaker 1>her legacy in literature. Natasia Mincoln and Count Arek Chayev

0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:25.679
<v Speaker 1>had more in common than a shared son and a

0:23:25.760 --> 0:23:30.400
<v Speaker 1>taste for cruelty. They were both immortalized in fiction. As

0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:33.800
<v Speaker 1>I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, Madame Mincoln

0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:37.639
<v Speaker 1>is mentioned in the infamous Satan's Ball seen in the

0:23:37.680 --> 0:23:41.920
<v Speaker 1>novel The Master and Margarita rubbing elbows with the rest

0:23:41.960 --> 0:23:48.320
<v Speaker 1>of history's most damned sinners. Koroviyev, the Devil's assistant, presents

0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:54.040
<v Speaker 1>her to the gathering, quote, her Majesty is delighted. Madame Mincoln, Ah,

0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:57.760
<v Speaker 1>how pretty she is? A trifle nervous, though, why did

0:23:57.840 --> 0:23:59.879
<v Speaker 1>she have to burn her maid with a pair of

0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.800
<v Speaker 1>curling tongs? Of course, in the way she used them,

0:24:03.960 --> 0:24:07.680
<v Speaker 1>it was bound to be fatal. The author was, no

0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:13.320
<v Speaker 1>doubt echoing in satire what many of Madame Mincoln's contemporaries

0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:17.080
<v Speaker 1>must have thought. Yes, it was said that she was murdered,

0:24:17.200 --> 0:24:20.520
<v Speaker 1>but she must have known she had it coming. Compared

0:24:20.560 --> 0:24:25.000
<v Speaker 1>to that, Erek Chaiyev's literary legacy actually treats him relatively

0:24:25.200 --> 0:24:30.080
<v Speaker 1>gently In Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. He appears as

0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:37.080
<v Speaker 1>an unpleasant minor character, rude and harsh, with quote scowling brows,

0:24:37.560 --> 0:24:43.440
<v Speaker 1>dull eyes, and an overhanging red nose. Tolstoy criticizes him

0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:48.119
<v Speaker 1>in the novel's epilogue as a symbol of governmental dysfunction,

0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:52.879
<v Speaker 1>but he still afforded a measure of civility. At the

0:24:53.000 --> 0:24:57.359
<v Speaker 1>very least, he isn't literally portrayed as kicking his heels

0:24:57.440 --> 0:25:01.879
<v Speaker 1>up in hell. It's a final lasting reminder that for

0:25:02.040 --> 0:25:06.640
<v Speaker 1>Madame minkn, proximity to power wasn't always the same as

0:25:06.680 --> 0:25:21.480
<v Speaker 1>actually halving it. Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio

0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:25.159
<v Speaker 1>and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is

0:25:25.200 --> 0:25:29.480
<v Speaker 1>hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research

0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:33.560
<v Speaker 1>by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Courtney Sender, Amy Hit and

0:25:33.640 --> 0:25:38.280
<v Speaker 1>Julia Milaney. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk,

0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:44.440
<v Speaker 1>with supervising producer rima il KLi and executive producers Aaron Manke,

0:25:44.760 --> 0:25:49.280
<v Speaker 1>Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

0:25:49.560 --> 0:25:53.879
<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

0:25:53.920 --> 0:25:56.879
<v Speaker 1>to your favorite shows,