The most interesting entertainments of Russian tsars. What did the Russian tsars eat?

What if the character Ivan the Terrible was not so bad, since he looked at the dark evenings starry sky? A Lenin was not such a bore, since he loved to ride his bike down the mountain at speed? What else were our rulers interested in?

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1. Yaroslav the Wise (ca. 978-1054)

Yaroslav is called Wise not only because of his deeds, but also because of his hobbies. The prince loved collecting books. During his life he collected a huge library, and most of Yaroslav was able to read books. From books he independently learned foreign languages.

2. Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584)

Ivan the Terrible was not only interested in chopping heads. In his free time from menacing activities, the king studied the starry sky and played chess. Sometimes the ruler invited people to play at the chessboard Malyuta Skuratova. But the game, as a rule, ended quickly. Malyuta pretended to be interested and tried to lose. They say that the formidable king died while sitting at the chessboard.

3. Peter I (1672-1725)

Peter I had irrepressible energy. He spent it not only on the transformation of Rus', but also on his hobbies. The king made watches, worked for lathe, worked as a carpenter, planted trees, and loved to tinker with doctors on a training corpse.

When he came across living people with rotten teeth, despite their pleas, he pulled out their diseased teeth. Peter was also interested in collecting. He had a huge collection of coins. But the autocrat could not cope with weaving bast shoes. He was taught by the best bast workers, but Peter never mastered the bast.

4. Peter III (1728-1762)

Peter III was not a genius, and therefore his hobbies were appropriate. Even as an adult, the king loved to play with soldiers. He spent his days, and sometimes nights, playing toy fights, reenacting bloody battles in a separate room, which was completely filled with soldiers. One day the king deployed his toy troops and went away. When he returned, he noticed that three soldiers made of starch had become disabled during this time - their limbs had been chewed off by a rat. Peter III, like a true commander, rushed to the defense of his subordinates, he demanded that the rodent be caught and... hanged. Over time, Peter III added another passion to his passion for soldiers - drinking.

5. Nicholas I (1796-1855)

Nicholas I had an amazing non-royal hobby. It turned out that the tsar was... a designer at heart. He often, sitting at his desk, drew military uniforms and even, together with seamstresses, improved ready-made clothes. Nicholas I obliged not only the military, but also “civilian” courtiers to wear their uniforms.

6. Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924)

Vladimir Ilyich loved transport. His first passion was bicycles. The leader of the proletariat could drive for hours through the mountains, streets, parks, and country roads. One day, Lenin’s bike ride in the outskirts of Paris did not go well. “I was traveling from Juvisy,” Ilyich recalled. - And the car crushed my bicycle... The public helped me write down the number... I recognized the owner of the car (Viscount, damn him!) and now I’m suing him through a lawyer. I hope to win." And he still won! In addition to bicycles, Ilyich respected good cars, and preferred French stamps. Another hobby of Lenin almost cost him his life. In exile, Lenin occupied the long days and evenings with hunting. Moreover, Ilyich hunted not for food, but driven by the passion of sport. So, one day he killed several dozen hares, loaded them into a boat and went to show off to Nadezhda Konstantinovna. But the boat almost sank on the way from overload.

7. Yuri Andropov (1914-1984)

Despite his closed nature and gloomy appearance, General Secretary Yuri Andropov was a romantic at heart and wrote poetry. His creations were sometimes sad and lyrical, and when the Secretary General was having fun, he could add humor to his quatrains. Sometimes Andropov could play pranks - in his notes you can find obscene epigrams and ditties. Literary scholars believe that the Secretary General chose unusual rhymes. When Andropov was appointed to work in the KGB, he immediately wrote a poem about it: “It is known: many Ka Ge Be, as they say, “don’t like it.” And I would have gone to work in this house, probably with difficulty, if the Hungarian sad lesson had not happened for the future.”

Power is not the most in the best possible way affects people. Absolute power is especially corrupting. This is clearly seen in the example of the Russian tsars and queens, who had unusual hobbies and falling into funny stories.

Peter the Great and Charles

Emperor Peter I is one of the most eccentric Russian rulers

Emperor Peter I loved dwarfs from childhood, and during his reign business as usual It was for noble nobles to keep Lilliputians as jesters. However, Peter himself took this hobby to the extreme. From time to time he ordered a naked midget to be baked in a pie, so that in the middle of dinner he would suddenly jump out of the pie to the fear of the guests and to the amusement of the emperor.

Peter I arranged the weddings of the Lilliputians

Peter even tried to breed dwarfs. For the wedding of the Tsar's jester Yakim Volkov and the dwarf who served the Tsarina, more than seventy dwarfs, mostly poor peasants, were brought from all over Russia. They were dressed in specially tailored clothes of European styles, drunk with wine and forced to dance to entertain those present. The emperor was very pleased.

Catherine the Second and the collection of erotica

According to rumors, the office, furnished with custom-made furniture with frivolous carvings, adjoined the empress's private chambers in Gatchina Palace. The room was filled with the finest examples of erotic painting and sculpture, some of which came from excavations in Pompeii.

Catherine II collected large collection erotic sculptures

By official version, the collection was destroyed in 1950. A catalog issued in the 1930s and several photographs taken German officers during World War II. There is a version that the secret office was located not in Gatchina, but in Peterhof, and can still be found.

Ivan the Terrible and the fake Tsar

In 1575, Ivan IV unexpectedly abdicated the throne and declared that from now on he would become a simple boyar, Vladimir of Moscow. He handed over the throne to the baptized Tatar Simeon Bekbulatovich, direct descendant Genghis Khan. Simeon was officially crowned king in the Assumption Cathedral, and Ivan settled in Petrovka. From time to time, the retired tsar sent petitions to Simeon, signed by Ivanets Vasiliev.

Ivan the Terrible abdicated the throne “for show”

During the 11 months of Simeon's reign, Ivan, with his hands, returned to the treasury all the lands previously granted to monasteries and boyars, and in August 1576 he just as suddenly took the throne again. Simeon's relations with subsequent kings were extremely unhappy. Boris Godunov ordered him to be blinded, False Dmitry I forced him to go to a monastery, Vasily Shuisky exiled him to Solovki. The burial place of Simeon is located under the foundation of the cultural center of the Likhachev Plant, on the site where the necropolis of the Simonov Monastery was once located.

Alexander II and his sense of humor

One day, Alexander II, passing a small provincial town, decided to attend a church service. The temple was overcrowded. The chief of the local police, seeing the emperor, began to clear the way for him among the parishioners with blows of his fists and shouts: “With respect! With trepidation! Alexander, having heard the words of the police chief, laughed and said that he now understands how exactly in Russia they teach humility and respect. Another ironic phrase attributed to Alexander II: “It is not difficult to rule Russia, but it is pointless.”

Alexander II had a specific sense of humor

Alexander III and genealogy

The penultimate emperor, nicknamed the Peacemaker (under him, the Russian Empire did not participate in wars), loved everything Russian, wore a thick beard and had difficulty putting up with the fact that royal family actually consisted of Germans. Soon after the coronation, Alexander gathered his closest courtiers and asked them who the real father of Paul I was. The historiographer Barskov replied that, most likely, Alexander's great-great-grandfather was Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov. "God bless!" - the emperor exclaimed, crossing himself. - “So, I have at least a little Russian blood in me!”

Alexander III was a consistent Slavophile

Elizaveta Petrovna and women's pride

Possessing by nature gentle character, the daughter of Peter the Great did not make concessions only in matters of fashion and beauty. No one was allowed to copy the style of clothing and hairstyle of the Empress or appear at the reception in an outfit that was more luxurious than Elizabeth’s dress. At one of the balls, the empress personally cut off the ribbons and hairpins of the wife of Chief Chamberlain Naryshkin, along with the hair, under the pretext that her hairstyle vaguely resembled the royal one.

Elizaveta Petrovna loved balls and dresses most of all

One day, after a ball, the court hairdresser was unable to wash and comb Elizabeth’s hair, which was sticky from hairdressing potions. The Empress was forced to cut her hair. Immediately, the ladies of the court were ordered to shave their heads and wear black wigs until the order was rescinded. Only the future Catherine II, who had recently suffered an illness and lost her hair during the illness, avoided shaving her head. Moscow ladies were allowed not to shave their heads, provided that they hide their hairstyles under black wigs.

Paul I and official zeal

Since childhood, Pavel Petrovich had a passion for strict order, military uniform and maneuvers. Alexander Suvorov, according to rumors, was removed from command of the army due to statements about the inappropriateness of a German powdered wig and uncomfortable boots with buckles on a Russian soldier. One day Paul conducted a mock siege of a fortress, the defenders of which were ordered to hold out by all means until noon.

Paul I spent a lot of time in amusing fights

Two hours before the end of the exercises, the emperor, along with the regiments besieging the fortress, was caught in a heavy downpour. The commandant of the fortress was ordered to immediately open the gates and let Paul in, but he flatly refused to carry out the order. The Emperor was soaked through. Exactly at twelve o'clock the gates opened, and Pavel burst into the fortress in anger and attacked the commandant with reproaches.

Paul I built his residence, the Engineering Castle, as a fortress

He calmly showed the emperor the order signed in his own hand. Pavel had no choice but to praise the colonel for his diligence and discipline. The commandant immediately received the rank of major general and was sent to stand guard in the continuing rain.

Alexander I and honesty

IN recent years Alexander the First was a very God-fearing person. On Christmas Eve, while making a pilgrimage, the emperor stopped briefly at the post station. Entering the station superintendent's hut, Alexander saw the Bible on the table and asked how often the superintendent reads it.

By the end of his life, Alexander I became a very pious man

He assured the king that very often. Having sent the caretaker out of the room under some pretext, the emperor inserted five hundred-ruble banknotes (giant money at that time) between the pages of Scripture and soon left. Twelve days later, on Epiphany, Alexander returned to St. Petersburg through the same station.

There is a legend that Alexander I did not die, but went to a monastery under the name of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich

Seeing the book in the same place, the emperor again asked the caretaker if he had read the book since they saw each other. The caretaker again warmly assured him that he had read it more than once. Alexander leafed through the Bible - the banknotes were in place. He chided the caretaker for deception and ordered the money to be distributed to the orphans.

For almost 400 years of the existence of this title, it was worn completely different people- from adventurers and liberals to tyrants and conservatives.

Rurikovich

Over the years, Russia (from Rurik to Putin) has changed many times political system. At first, rulers bore the title of prince. When after the period political fragmentation A new Russian state emerged around Moscow, and the owners of the Kremlin began to think about accepting the royal title.

This was accomplished under Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584). This one decided to marry into the kingdom. And this decision was not accidental. So the Moscow monarch emphasized that he was the legal successor. It was they who bestowed Orthodoxy on Russia. In the 16th century, Byzantium no longer existed (it fell under the onslaught of the Ottomans), so Ivan the Terrible rightly believed that his act would have serious symbolic significance.

Historical figures such as this king influenced great influence for the development of the entire country. In addition to changing his title, Ivan the Terrible also captured the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, beginning Russian expansion to the East.

Ivan's son Fedor (1584-1598) was distinguished by his weak character and health. Nevertheless, under him the state continued to develop. The patriarchate was established. Rulers have always paid a lot of attention to the issue of succession to the throne. This time he became especially acute. Fedor had no children. When he died, the Rurik dynasty on the Moscow throne came to an end.

Time of Troubles

After Fyodor's death, Boris Godunov (1598-1605), his brother-in-law, came to power. He did not belong to the reigning family, and many considered him a usurper. With him because of natural disasters a colossal famine began. The tsars and presidents of Russia have always tried to maintain calm in the provinces. Due to the tense situation, Godunov was unable to do this. Several peasant uprisings took place in the country.

In addition, the adventurer Grishka Otrepyev called himself one of the sons of Ivan the Terrible and began a military campaign against Moscow. He actually managed to capture the capital and become king. Boris Godunov did not live to see this moment - he died from health complications. His son Feodor II was captured by the comrades of False Dmitry and killed.

The impostor ruled for only a year, after which he was overthrown during the Moscow uprising, inspired by disgruntled Russian boyars who did not like the fact that False Dmitry surrounded himself with Catholic Poles. decided to transfer the crown to Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610). During the Time of Troubles, the rulers of Russia often changed.

The princes, tsars and presidents of Russia had to carefully guard their power. Shuisky could not restrain her and was overthrown by the Polish interventionists.

The first Romanovs

When Moscow was liberated from foreign invaders in 1613, the question arose of who should be made sovereign. This text presents all the kings of Russia in order (with portraits). Now the time has come to talk about the rise to the throne of the Romanov dynasty.

The first sovereign from this family - Mikhail (1613-1645) - was just a youth when he was put in charge huge country. His main goal began the struggle with Poland for the lands it captured during the Time of Troubles.

These were the biographies of the rulers and the dates of reign before mid-17th century century. After Mikhail, his son Alexei (1645-1676) ruled. He annexed left-bank Ukraine and Kyiv to Russia. So, after several centuries of fragmentation and Lithuanian rule, the fraternal peoples finally began to live in one country.

Alexei had many sons. The eldest of them, Feodor III (1676-1682), died at a young age. After him came the simultaneous reign of two children - Ivan and Peter.

Peter the Great

Ivan Alekseevich was unable to rule the country. Therefore, in 1689, the sole reign of Peter the Great began. He completely rebuilt the country in a European manner. Russia - from Rurik to Putin (in chronological order consider all the rulers) - knows few examples of an era so saturated with changes.

Appeared new army and the fleet. For this, Peter started a war against Sweden. lasted 21 years Northern War. During it, the Swedish army was defeated, and the kingdom agreed to cede its southern Baltic lands. St. Petersburg was founded in this region in 1703 - new capital Russia. Peter's successes made him think about changing his title. In 1721 he became emperor. However, this change did not abolish the royal title - in everyday speech, monarchs continued to be called kings.

The era of palace coups

Peter's death was followed by long period instability of power. Monarchs replaced each other with enviable regularity, which was facilitated by the Guard or certain courtiers, as a rule, at the head of these changes. This era was ruled by Catherine I (1725-1727), Peter II (1727-1730), Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740), Ivan VI (1740-1741), Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1761) and Peter III (1761-1762) ).

The last of them was German by birth. Under its predecessor Peter III Elizabeth Russia waged a victorious war against Prussia. The new monarch renounced all his conquests, returned Berlin to the king and concluded a peace treaty. With this act he signed his own death warrant. The Guard organized another palace coup, after which Peter’s wife Catherine II took the throne.

Catherine II and Paul I

Catherine II (1762-1796) had a deep state mind. On the throne, she began to pursue a policy of enlightened absolutism. The Empress organized the work of the famous laid down commission, the purpose of which was to prepare a comprehensive project of reforms in Russia. She also wrote the Order. This document contained many considerations about the transformations necessary for the country. The reforms were curtailed when a peasant uprising led by Pugachev broke out in the Volga region in the 1770s.

All the tsars and presidents of Russia (we have listed all the royal persons in chronological order) made sure that the country looked decent in the external arena. She was no exception. She conducted several successful military campaigns against Turkey. As a result, Russia was Crimea annexed and other important Black Sea regions. At the end of Catherine's reign, three divisions of Poland occurred. Thus, the Russian Empire received important acquisitions in the west.

After death great empress Her son Paul I (1796-1801) came to power. This quarrelsome man was not liked by many in the St. Petersburg elite.

First half of the 19th century

In 1801, the next and last palace coup took place. A group of conspirators dealt with Pavel. His son Alexander I (1801-1825) was on the throne. His reign occurred during the Patriotic War and Napoleon's invasion. Rulers Russian state For two centuries they have not faced such a serious enemy intervention. Despite the capture of Moscow, Bonaparte was defeated. Alexander became the most popular and famous monarch of the Old World. He was also called the "liberator of Europe."

Within his country, Alexander in his youth tried to implement liberal reforms. Historical figures often change their policies as they age. So Alexander soon abandoned his ideas. He died in Taganrog in 1825 under mysterious circumstances.

At the beginning of the reign of his brother Nicholas I (1825-1855), the Decembrist uprising occurred. Because of this, conservative orders triumphed in the country for thirty years.

Second half of the 19th century

All the kings of Russia are presented here in order, with portraits. Next we will talk about the main reformer of Russian statehood - Alexander II (1855-1881). He initiated the manifesto for the liberation of the peasants. The destruction of serfdom allowed the Russian market and capitalism to develop. The country has begun economic growth. The reforms also affected the judiciary, local government, administrative and conscription systems. The monarch tried to get the country back on its feet and learn the lessons that the lost beginnings under Nicholas I taught him.

But Alexander's reforms were not enough for the radicals. Terrorists made several attempts on his life. In 1881 they achieved success. Alexander II died from a bomb explosion. The news came as a shock to the whole world.

Because of what happened, the son of the deceased monarch, Alexander III (1881-1894), forever became a tough reactionary and conservative. But most of all he is known as a peacemaker. During his reign, Russia did not wage a single war.

The last king

In 1894, Alexander III died. Power passed into the hands of Nicholas II (1894-1917) - his son and the last Russian monarch. By that time, the old world order with the absolute power of kings and kings had already outlived its usefulness. Russia - from Rurik to Putin - has known a lot of upheavals, but it was under Nicholas that more than ever happened.

In 1904-1905 The country experienced a humiliating war with Japan. It was followed by the first revolution. Although the unrest was suppressed, the tsar had to make concessions to public opinion. He agreed to establish a constitutional monarchy and parliament.

Tsars and presidents of Russia at all times faced a certain opposition within the state. Now people could elect deputies who expressed these sentiments.

In 1914 the First world war. No one then suspected that it would end with the fall of several empires at once, including the Russian one. In 1917 it broke out February Revolution, and the last king had to abdicate the throne. Nicholas II and his family were shot by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.

Power does not have the best effect on people. Absolute power is especially corrupting. This is clearly seen in the example of Russian tsars and queens, who had unusual hobbies and got into funny stories.

Peter the Great and Charles

Catherine the Second and the collection of erotica

Ivan the Terrible and the fake Tsar

Alexander II and his sense of humor

Alexander, having heard the words of the police chief, laughed and said that he now understands how exactly in Russia they teach humility and respect. Another ironic phrase attributed to Alexander II: “It is not difficult to rule Russia, but it is pointless.”


Alexander II had a specific sense of humor.

Alexander III and genealogy

The historiographer Barskov replied that, most likely, Alexander’s great-great-grandfather was Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov. "God bless!" - exclaimed the emperor, crossing himself. - “So I have at least a little Russian blood in me!”


Alexander III was a consistent Slavophile.

Elizaveta Petrovna and women's pride

Paul I and official zeal

Two hours before the end of the exercises, the emperor, along with the regiments besieging the fortress, was caught in a heavy downpour. The commandant of the fortress was ordered to immediately open the gates and let Paul in, but he flatly refused to carry out the order. The Emperor was soaked through. Exactly at twelve o'clock the gates opened, and Pavel burst into the fortress in anger and attacked the commandant with reproaches.


Paul I built his residence, the Engineering Castle, as a fortress.

He calmly showed the emperor the order signed in his own hand. Pavel had no choice but to praise the colonel for his diligence and discipline. The commandant immediately received the rank of major general and was sent to stand guard in the continuing rain.

Alexander I and honesty

He assured the king that very often. Having sent the caretaker out of the room under some pretext, the emperor inserted five hundred-ruble banknotes (giant money at that time) between the pages of Scripture and soon left. Twelve days later, on Epiphany, Alexander returned to St. Petersburg through the same station.


There is a legend that Alexander I did not die, but went to a monastery under the name of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich

Seeing the book in the same place, the emperor again asked the caretaker if he had read the book since they saw each other. The caretaker again warmly assured him that he had read it more than once. Alexander leafed through the Bible - the banknotes were in place. He chided the caretaker for deception and ordered the money to be distributed to the orphans.

Current page: 1 (book has 14 pages total) [available reading passage: 10 pages]

Alexander Petryakov
Royal meals and fun. Life, customs, entertainment, celebrations and culinary preferences of Russian tsars

© Petryakov A. M., 2014

© OSYU "RT-SPb", 2014

© ZAO Publishing House Tsentrpoligraf, 2014

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

©The electronic version of the book was prepared by liters

Chapter 1. About what and how they ate, drank and how they had fun in the royal chambers during the time of Ivan the Terrible

Information about food and princely meals in Ancient Rus' is very scarce. It is known, for example, that in the 10th century taxes were taken in the form of wine, bread, meat and other simple products, that during the famine half a horse's head cost half a hryvnia (a cart of turnips cost two hryvnia). The chronicles mention that Prince Svyatoslav did not take food supplies on military campaigns; he cut the meat into narrow strips and fried it over the fire. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler Nestor tells the story of how jelly saved Belgorod from the siege of the Pechenegs. “The siege lasted for a long time, and severe famine began in the city. Then a people's council gathered, and the townspeople decided: it was better to surrender to the Pechenegs than for everyone to die of hunger. But one elder said: “Don’t give up for three more days and do what I tell you.” The elder ordered to collect the remains of oats, wheat and bran from all over the city, prepare a casser from them for cooking jelly and look for honey and make a sweet meal from it. Then he ordered to dig two wells and place tubs in them level with the ground. A jelly solution was poured into the first tub, and a honey drink into the second. The next day, the townspeople invited several Pechenegs and led them to the wells. They drew a bucket from the first well, cooked jelly, began to eat it themselves, washed it down with a honey drink from the second well and treated it to the Pechenegs. They marveled and decided that the land itself fed the Russians. Having returned, the Pechenegs told their princes everything that had happened, they lifted the siege and went home from the city.”

In this text we see words that are unfamiliar these days - tsezh and satiation. Tsezh is a solution for making jelly, and syta is honey boiled with water. In those days there were no potatoes yet, therefore there was no starch either, so the jelly was grain-based. Nowadays jelly is made from berries and fruits, and from grains only oatmeal jelly has survived to this day, and even that is made by very elderly women at home, and you can hardly find such a dish on a restaurant menu.

In those distant times, bread was baked and porridge was cooked from grain (rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, millet), and this food has safely survived to this day, and modern people cannot imagine breakfast without porridge and lunch without bread. In the 10th century, wheat also began to be sown in Rus', and pancakes, rolls, pies and other pastries appeared on the table.

It’s worth looking at bread in a little more detail. The history of its invention is lost in ancient times. Yeast bread was known back in Ancient Egypt, and the word itself came into the Russian language, most likely from Ancient Greece. The Greeks called the pots in which bread was baked “klibanos”. This word has been transformed into different languages in different ways, and it came to us like bread. Almost all nations treat bread as a special, incomparable product, endowing it with an almost religious meaning. He was called the sun, gold, the basis of life.

In the same Ancient Greece, according to Homer, a person who did not eat bread was considered a sinner. The same as, indeed, in India. In Rome, a 13-meter-tall monument to Marcus Virgil Eurysaces, the owner of the bakeries who supplied the ancient metropolis with this product, has been preserved. The bas-reliefs decorating the sculpture depict the entire baking process from grinding flour to placing it in baskets. Moreover, only wheat bread was baked. The Romans considered rye inedible and were very surprised that in the lands they conquered, Gaul for example, it was used for food.

In Rus', rye bread began to be baked back in the 11th century, and even today Russian people cannot imagine their lunch without black bread. When one of the Russian generals, who returned from Paris after the victory over Napoleon, was asked about life in the French capital, he said: “What about Paris! You can’t ask for black bread!”

Garden crops were also in demand, and turnips, cabbage, cucumbers, radishes, and peas were used different types, both raw and boiled, baked or pickled. Sauerkraut is still an indispensable appetizer, side dish, filling, and so on.

Liquid hot dishes in those ancient times were called brew, otherwise bread, and it could be stew, fish soup, cabbage soup and the like.

Instead of the now common tea in Rus', it appeared only in the 17th century, people drank herbal infusions, diluted honey, kvass and sbiten. They also brewed beer and made intoxicated mead and berry mash. Vodka came to Russia in the 15th century, but was banned and reappeared in the 16th century under Ivan the Terrible.

Spices have been used in Rus' since the 11th century. Thanks to the fact that through Ancient Rus' passed waterway"from the Varangians to the Greeks" and the Great silk road, they brought us cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, saffron, coriander, bay leaves, black pepper, olive oil, lemons, etc.

The very first fairly extensive document about household in the era of Ivan the Terrible, perhaps, there was “Domostroy”, and we will turn to it later. And in Time of Troubles when on Russian throne When the Polish Tsarevich Vladislav was imprisoned, a “Painting of the Tsar’s Food” (1610–1613) was compiled especially for him, who did not know Russian cuisine and customs.

Let's take a quick look at this document. The variety of what is commonly called snacks is amazing. In addition to the traditional pickled cucumbers, mushrooms, and sauerkraut– an abundance of fish dishes. These are salmon with garlic, caviar, pike heads (also with garlic), salted whitefish, pike, milk with horseradish, beluga side.

But meat delicacies: boiled pork, jelly ham, also with kvass and garlic, salted chicken, and also fried chicken with plums; also cooked grouse, hazel grouse with lemon, roasted shoulder of lamb, “crumbled with jelly,” and so on. In addition to the above, the so-called “teloe” was served at the royal table - chopped products like fish and poultry cutlets, both hot and cold (in the form of aspic).

After the appetizers, as befits, the first courses followed. This, of course, is, first of all, our cabbage soup, which has not given up its position for dozens of generations. It is curious that during the Time of Troubles, cabbage soup was cooked not only with meat, but also with fish or mushrooms. It should also be noted here that the “potato” era had not yet arrived in Russia, therefore, in addition to cabbage and seasonings, various cereals were put into the cabbage soup, including millet and rice, then it was called Saracen millet. They also prepared fish soup, first boiling small fish, and then in this fish broth the fish soup was prepared from noble fish of the sturgeon breed or from pike perch, pike and the like.

Another category of first courses was called kali. These are the pickles we are familiar with, and they were prepared not only with pickled cucumbers, but also with lemons, both fresh and salted. In addition to them, various stews with chicken and fish were cooked, seasoned not only with onions and garlic, but with cinnamon, saffron and other imported seasonings. Nowadays, such dishes are usually called soups. Pies or loaves were always served with them. The name “soup” came to us from Europe in the 18th century and caused a certain negative reaction among the creative intelligentsia. As now, they also fought for the purity of the Russian language, and the poet Sumarokov wrote about this: “It seems brainless, the Russian language is stupid: is the stew delicious, or is the soup delicious?”

Let us now move on to the second courses, which in modern cafes and restaurants are called “hot courses”. As now, they were prepared mainly from meat or fish. Poultry was also a regular guest on the table: chicken, goose, duck, as well as a variety of game birds (partridges, black grouse, hazel grouse and others), but swans were considered the royal dish. Mention is made of dishes made from the lips, liver and brains of a horse, although horse meat has not been eaten in Rus' since the 11th century, according to chronicles. Our ancestors also loved offal, primarily liver. A very curious dish was in high esteem at that time and lived a long life until the twentieth century - fried sausages stuffed with buckwheat or eggs and onions, which were called “nanny”. The dish is mentioned by many Russian writers; just remember Chichikov’s visit to Sobakevich in Gogol’s immortal poem “ Dead souls" Also unique were semi-liquid dishes with noodles (hares and chickens in noodles), stewed cabbage and turnips (hares in turnips). At that time, they were fried in nut oil; it was also used to season appetizers of mushrooms, caviar, and other things. Horseradish, kvass, garlic crushed with sour cream, kvass and eggs, as well as poppy seeds and poppy milk were used as seasonings; soups were seasoned with it during fasting instead of sour cream and caviar was cooked in it.

Fish, as now, was prepared in different forms: fried, boiled, steamed, spun, that is, deep-fried. The fish was eaten salted, dried and smoked. And, by the way, salting fish was an extremely important matter for most residents, because salting was almost the only way to preserve food; canned food was not yet made. Prices for salt “bite”, which led to the so-called “salt riot” during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, because merchants, in pursuit of profit, inflated prices to the extreme.

The side dishes back then were noodles, cabbage and porridge. A mandatory addition to the second course were sauces called “brews”. Onion infusions were served with poultry, lamb, and fish; cabbage - for goose, duck, fish; cranberry - for pig, ham, turkey, game; lingonberries - for game, fried bream. In addition to these sauces, gravies with saffron, cloves and pepper were also prepared.

On dining table There were always various pies on display, both hearth pies, that is, baked on a hearth in an oven, and yarn pies. As now, pies were filled with anything: millet, rice, cabbage, eggs, elm, peas, smelt, cottage cheese and much more. The loaves were stuffed with minced fish, burbot milk, bird giblets and other things. Pancakes and pancakes also accompanied the meals of our ancestors.

“Rospis” contains not only a list of dishes, but also their recipes with now-forgotten measures of weight and volume. For example, a “shovel” was 1.2 kg of bulk products, “half a bucket” was about a liter, and so on.

On official receptions in the Kremlin chambers, as well as in patriarchal families, seniority was strictly observed. The king sat at a separate table covered with a gold-woven velvet tablecloth. Next sat the boyars, clergy, invited foreigners and other guests. The older the boyar's family, the closer to the king he sat. However, as we know from historical literature, disputes about who has the older and more branched family tree, in Rus' have always been very sharp. And often in the Faceted Chamber there were quarrels about this, and even assault, if someone from the upper class told a neighbor that he was occupying “a place not according to his father.”

Tables in houses were placed near the bench, because only it determined the “place”. The table in the middle of the room, as it is now, never stood then. Before the guests arrived, appetizers, pickles, mustard, salt, pepper were placed, then bread was brought and dishes were served. These are the table traditions that have developed for end of XVI century.

Before we move on to the feasts of Ivan IV, let us refresh the reader’s memory about those traits of his character and inclinations that gave him the nickname Terrible. His grandfather and father were also not known for their kindness, they were secretive and cruel people, and among the ancestors of his Byzantine grandmother Sophia Paleologus there were even mentally ill people. So heredity, one might say, dictated the way of life. While still a boy, he amused himself by throwing cats from the windows of high towers, and while hunting, he enjoyed watching the baiting of animals by dogs. And when he grew up, the objects of his fun were no longer animals, but people. In his adolescence, he and his friends rode horseback into the capital's streets and squares and mercilessly, for the sake of entertainment, crushed innocent townspeople under horse hooves. Or they caught young girls and raped them. The English envoy Horsey, who lived in Russia at that time, wrote that Ivan himself confessed to him that he had molested a thousand girls. And not just girls. He also used boys of adolescence. And he didn’t disdain adults: one of his contemporaries accused Fyodor Basmanov of serving the Tsar with his ass. Back then it was called the sin of sodomy.

When Ivan Vasilyevich became tsar, his fun became even more cruel and bloody. Poisoning people with animals, a very popular spectacle in Ancient Rome, has also taken root in Moscow. The king loved to watch how unarmed people were tormented by bears. Sophisticated tortures were invented for the accused, to which the tsar often visited. He also executed enemies not just by cutting off their heads, but by frying them in frying pans, dipping them in boiling water, and so on. This is shown very brightly and colorfully in Pavel Lungin’s film “The Tsar”. Human life hardly had any value in his eyes. If just yesterday, say, he considered a person an irreplaceable friend and comrade-in-arms, then the next day the conviction formed in his head that he was his worst enemy, unworthy of life. And although some historians justify mass executions and violence at that time was politically motivated, and politics, as you know, does not tolerate morality, but in the case of Ivan Vasilyevich there is still more psychopathology than expedient, albeit cruel, actions for the sake of preserving the integrity and strength of the state.

Tsar Ivan IV

And this, in general, is somewhat strange, if you keep in mind that Ivan the Terrible was one of the most educated people of that time, I read a lot, and not only church literature. He has accumulated large library, her search continues to this day. So in his spare time he entertained himself not only with bloody spectacles, but also with a quiet hunt for knowledge, as well as playing cards, checkers and chess. The same Horsey claimed that the king died at the chessboard.

Now let us turn directly to the descriptions of the royal feasts 1
Usually I try to refer to documentary sources, but in this case the quote is from work of art so “tasty” and appropriate that I simply cannot help but bring it here. A.K. Tolstoy, as if in a time machine, takes the reader to the era of Ivan the Terrible... - Auto.

Let's start with a vivid and artistic excerpt from A.K. Tolstoy's novel "Prince Silver", which describes the feast organized by Ivan the Terrible for his faithful guardsmen. There were 700 people present at this feast.

“The royal cooks distinguished themselves on this day. They have never been so successful with lemon kalia, spun kidneys and crucian carp with lamb. Particular surprise was aroused by the gigantic fish caught in the Cold Sea and sent to Sloboda from Solovetsky Monastery. They were brought alive, in huge barrels; the journey lasted several weeks. These fish barely fit on the silver and gold basins, which were brought into the dining room by several people at once. The intricate art of the chefs was shown here in full splendor. Sturgeons and shevrigs (stellate sturgeon) were so cut and placed on dishes that they looked like roosters with outstretched wings, like winged serpents with gaping mouths. The hares in noodles were also good and tasty, and the guests, no matter how busy they were, did not miss either the quails with garlic sauce, or the larks with onions and saffron. But, at a sign from the steward, they removed salt, pepper and vinegar from the tables and removed all the meat and fish dishes. The servants went out two abreast and returned in new attire. They replaced the brocade dolmans with summer kuntushkas made of white axamite with silver embroidery and sable trim. These clothes were even more beautiful and richer than the first two. Cleaned up in this way, they brought the sugar kremlin, weighing five pounds, into the chamber and placed it on the royal table. This Kremlin was cast very skillfully. The battlements and towers, and even the men on foot and on horseback, were carefully finished. Similar kremlins, but smaller ones, about three pounds, no more, decorated other tables. Following the Kremlins, they brought in about a hundred gilded and painted trees, on which gingerbread, gingerbread and sweet pies hung instead of fruit. At the same time, lions, eagles and all sorts of birds cast from sugar appeared on the tables. Between the mountains and birds towered piles of apples, berries and Volosh nuts. But no one touched the fruits anymore; everyone was full. Some finished their cups of romanea, more out of decency than from thirst, others dozed with their elbows on the table; many were lying under the benches, everyone, without exception, had loosened their belts and unbuttoned their caftans.”

The passage reminded me of the description of a feast at the rich upstart Trimalchio, described in the novel Satyricon by the ancient Roman writer Petronius. It tells about the ingenuity of a cook with the eloquent name of Daedalus. “If you just want,” his owner says about him, “he will make you a fish from a pig’s uterus, a pigeon from lard, and a turtle dove from a ham.” At this feast, among other things, they brought a huge pig, which held baskets of dates in its teeth, and at its teats “lid piglets made of cake dough, as if sucked to the udder.” When the pig was cut open, a flock of blackbirds flew out of its belly. In general, it must be said that the ancient Romans were great hunters of pork and prepared it in different forms. As the story progresses, we will still turn to ancient cooking, but now we will continue about Russian cuisine of the pre-Petrine period.

Russian chefs of that period were also unique craftsmen in this sense and also “sophisticated themselves in every possible way.” Especially in posts. The son of the Antiochian Patriarch Macarius, Pavel Allepsky, who traveled around Russia with his father, notes in his notes the abundance of fish in Rus' and describes one of the fish dishes: “They take out all the bones from the fish, beat it in mortars until it becomes like dough, then stuffed with onions and saffron in abundance, placed in wooden molds in the shape of lambs and geese and fried in vegetable oil on very deep baking sheets, like wells, so that it is fried through, served and cut like pieces of fat tail. Its taste is excellent: anyone who doesn’t know it will mistake it for real lamb meat.” When Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich hosted Macarius, he treated him to this very dish - “stuffed lamb” made from fish. And here is a quote from the “Painting” that we have already mentioned: “And they serve fish food: steamed herring, white fish backs, cows, piglets, full ducks, saffron fish soup, black fish soup, kavardak (something like okroshka from various fish), milk, hazel, Shekhon sturgeon, kosyachya.” The question immediately arises: how did “body ducks” and piglets end up on the list of fish dishes? One must think that piglets and ducks were prepared from fish in the same way as described by Pavel Allepsky.

The foreigners present at the sovereign's feasts did not hide their delight and surprise when, for example, several people brought in and piled a huge bear or deer on the table, as well as huge two-meter sturgeon. Or the Kremlin made of sugar, described by A.K. Tolstoy, which was very expensive at that time. It is curious that even in the 19th century, jam was made with honey, because it was cheaper than with sugar.

But meat, fish, vegetables, and cereals were extremely cheap. The Dutch artist and writer Cornelius de Bruin, who sailed from The Hague to Arkhangelsk in 1701, writes about the cheapness that struck him local products. Poultry, beef, veal, lamb, as well as game, hares, etc. were sold for pennies. For example, he could buy a pair of partridges for four stivers (a small Dutch coin). If we consider that the exchange rate of the Dutch guilder to the ruble was then five to one, then these partridges were really worthless at that time. He also writes about the abundance and variety of fish: smelt, minnows, pike, sterlet, flounder, labardan (cod), halibut, perch, grayling, salmon and so on. The crucian carp surprised the traveler. He had never seen such fish in his homeland, he really liked the taste, so he preserved several specimens in alcohol to show to his compatriots.

He also writes about the abundance and diversity of fish after visiting Astrakhan. Mentions beluga up to two fathoms long, pike perch, the same sterlet, which he considered the best fish in Russia. Moreover, its price in Astrakhan and Moscow varied hundreds of times.

De Bruin lived in Russia for two years and left quite interesting and very valuable for us descriptions of cities, especially Moscow, the way of life of that time, costumes, rituals and other things. By the way, when reading the memories of foreigners about Russia, you sometimes wonder why our chroniclers did not describe much of what was noted by visiting people. The fact is that the familiar and constant are simply not noticed, they become the background, but for a person from another country, where there are different rituals, customs and habits, our everyday life in many ways it causes surprise and interest. This is why their observations are valuable for historians and ethnographers. And we will contact them more than once.

But let's return to the royal table. During the feasts, which under Ivan the Terrible lasted until the morning, overfed guests went to the courtyard, where they lay on their stomachs on specially made goats to induce vomiting and thus free their stomachs for further consumption of food. By the way, the ancient Romans did the same. True, peacock or other feathers were used for these purposes; they tickled the throat with them to induce a gag reflex.

During such crowded feasts, the royal table was served by two or even three hundred people. They were dressed in brocade, had black fox hats on their heads, and gold chains hung on their chests. Before starting the meal, they bowed low to the sovereign, who sat separately from the others on an elevated place. Then the servants went in pairs to the kitchen to get food. Coarsely chopped bread, salt, seasonings, knives and spoons were already on the tables. There were no forks then. This device began to be used in France during the reign of Louis XIV. Just as there were no napkins (they began to be used under Peter the Great, although under his father Alexei Mikhailovich an embroidered scarf was given for wiping hands; the boyars, however, preferred to use their own beards for these purposes).

It is curious that the soup (at that time any soup was called fish soup) was poured into a deep bowl, which was placed for two, and the guests slurped from it in pairs; The same thing happened with other dishes. At the royal table, disputes sometimes arose over this issue. At one of the feasts with Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, the Ryazan bishop was offended that the Archbishop of Rostov did not allow him to eat from the same dish with him, and wrote in a petition that under Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible “he ate from the same dish with the Novgorod archbishop.”

Such methods of eating outraged foreigners, and some left the feast, not wanting to share the food on the plate between two. However, after such demarches they began to take this into account, and special devices were served to guests of honor from Europe. Guests from Europe were also offended by the behavior of the feasters. Loud talking, even shouting during a feast, wiping their lips with clothes or simply with their hands, blowing their nose directly on the floor - all this, of course, was too unusual for Europeans, accustomed to orderly conversation at the table and social manners.

As now, foreigners especially liked caviar, both red and black. In those days it was served not only salted, but also boiled in poppy milk. Exotic things for foreign guests were geese stuffed with buckwheat, cuckoos fried in honey, and fried lynx.

Wines were served after the first courses. Wine imported from Europe was called Fryazhsky, regardless of the country of origin, be it Italy, Spain or France. And the king sent a cup or goblet of overseas wine to the guests of honor, in this case the ritual side was the same as when distributing food. It was simply impossible not to drink the so-called health cup, which the guests received from the hands of the king himself. Refusal meant an insult to the sovereign. And this, too, was not to the taste of foreigners, accustomed to other rituals in their homeland. It was also surprising for them when, returning after the feast to the place of their temporary home in Moscow, they discovered the king’s envoys with gifts - a bucket of wine and a cartload of all sorts of food and dishes. This served as a sign of the sovereign's mercy and goodwill.

It is appropriate here to leaf through the work of the German scientist Adam Olearius (1599–1671) “Description of a Traveler to Muscovy and through Muscovy to Persia and Back.” In it he also talks about the diet of the common people: “...Their daily food consists of cereals, turnips, cabbage, cucumbers, fresh or salted fish.” Utensils include “no more than 3 or 4 clay pots and the same number of clay and wooden dishes.” He noted that in Rus' “there is good lamb, beef and pork, but since according to their religion they have almost as many fasting days as meat-eaters, they are accustomed to coarse and bad food...” And this is for Olearius, and other foreigners, it was more than strange. However, for the sake of truth, the German scientist notes: “They know how to prepare many different dishes from fish, cookies and vegetables, so that for their sake you can forget meat. For example, one day we... during fasting were served 40 similar dishes granted by the king. By the way, they have special kind cookies like pate or, rather, pfankuchen, which they call “pie”; These pies are the size of a wedge of butter, but somewhat longer. They give them a filling of finely chopped fish or meat and onions and bake them in a cow's oven, and in fasting in a vegetable oil. Their taste is not without pleasantness. They each treat their guest with this dish if he intends to receive it well.” He also describes how caviar is salted, and Olearius liked this dish. True, with a caveat: “If instead of vinegar you pour it with lemon juice.”

Let us quote another document of the 17th century, “The Kalyazin Petition,” which will allow us to look beyond the monastery walls. This is a satirical letter from the monks to the Archbishop of Tver and Kashin Simeon. They complain about their archimandrite, “when he orders it, they put steamed turnips, dried radishes, oatmeal jelly, March cabbage soup, porridge in an elm bowl, and they pour kvass into the bratina and serve it on the table. But for us, your pilgrims, it’s not sweet - radish, horseradish, and Ephraim cup. And in our minds, it would be better for fast days: elm, and caviar, and white fish, calf, and two steam meats, and salmon and whitefish, and ten sterlets, and three pies, and two wheat pancakes, milk porridge, and jelly with molasses, and in Bratina there would be strong beer, March beer, and honey brewed with molasses.”

Let us once again turn to the description of Ivan the Terrible’s feast given by A.K. Tolstoy: “When John appeared, everyone stood up and bowed low to him. The king slowly walked between the rows of tables to his place, stopped and, looking around the meeting, bowed in all directions; then he read a long prayer aloud, crossed himself, blessed the meal and sank into chairs... Many servants in violet-colored velvet caftans with gold embroidery stood in front of the sovereign, bowed to him at the waist and, two in a row, went for food. Soon they returned, carrying two hundred roasted swans on golden platters. This began the dinner... When the swans were eaten, the servants went out and returned with three hundred roasted peacocks, whose loose tails swung over each dish in the form of a fan. The peacocks were followed by kulebyaki, chicken pies, pies with meat and cheese, pancakes of all possible kinds, crooked pies and pancakes. While the guests were eating, the servants carried ladles and cups of honey: cherry, juniper and bird cherry. Others served a variety of foreign wines: Romanea, Rhine and Mushkatel. The dinner continued... The servants, who had been in velvet clothes, now appeared all in brocade domans. This change of dress was one of the luxuries of royal dinners. First, various jellies were placed on the tables, then cranes with a spicy potion, pickled roosters with ginger, boneless chickens and ducks with cucumbers. Then they brought various stews and three kinds of fish soup: white chicken, black chicken and saffron chicken. For the fish soup they served hazel grouse with plums, geese with millet and grouse with saffron. Then a party began, during which they served the guests honey: currant, princely and boyar, and wines: Alicant, bastre and malvasia. Conversations became louder, laughter was heard more often, heads were spinning.”

The servants, serving a cup of wine to one or another noble guest distinguished by the sovereign, called him by name with the addition of “hundred.” For example: “Athanasius, the sovereign favors you...” and so on. The less noble were called with the prefix “su” to their name, and all the others were simply named. For some reason, the most delicious treat was considered to be a boiled lamb or pig's head seasoned with crushed horseradish in sour cream.

For the king himself, dishes were placed on a separate table. Each dish was tasted by the cook, then the cook, and only then the dish was placed in front of the king. What kind of food was served to the tsar, we can judge from the surviving description of the wedding feast after the wedding of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich: “Served to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the hay barn during the wedding with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina: kvass in a silver shaggy brother, and from the feed yard the orderly food: a paparok of swans in saffron infusions, pockmarks crumbled into lemons, goose giblets, and ordered dishes were served to the Empress Tsarina: roast goose, roast pig, smoking in a necklace with lemons, smoking in noodles, smoking in rich cabbage soup, and about the Emperor and about the Empress Tsarina served bread foods: grainy baked goods in three scoops of runts, even some sieve bread, a kurnik sprinkled with eggs, a pie with lamb, a dish of sour pies with cheese, a dish of larks, a dish of thin pancakes, a dish of egg pies, a dish of cheesecakes, a dish of crucian carp with lamb, and then more rosol pie, dish rosol pie, dish of hearth pies, egg korovai for trading, undersized Easter cake, etc.”

This list certainly contains delicious dishes prepared, as they now say, from environmentally friendly clean products(besides manure and ash, it is unlikely that any other fertilizers were used), such as, for example, “ryab okroshivan”, “smoking in a necklace”, “paparok swan” are found. Now we can only guess what it looked like and how it was prepared. As for crucian carp with lamb, then modern man The question arises: did they really eat fish along with meat? As we can see, they ate. People of that time had very strong stomachs. If we turn to even more ancient times, then in Ancient Rome, for example, they ate something different. By the way, the order of serving dishes was completely different than today. Usually our lunch begins with the first course, that is, soup, cabbage soup, solyanka, pickle soup and the like (except for the salads that precede it), but at that time cold dishes were served first, then chopped and fried, and after that only on the table an ear appeared and so on.