Boris Golitsyn was always loyal to Tsar Peter the Great and remained close to him until the end of his life, although he was forced to withdraw from state affairs. The life of an offspring of the most ancient kind for that time was to some extent typical: the steward under the sovereign, the brother of the favorite of the queen. For fidelity, he was appointed "uncle" of Peter, but later contemporaries blamed Boris Alekseevich for the fact that the emperor was addicted to drunkenness.
Boyar clan Golitsyn
The Golitsins are the most numerous family of princes of the Russian state, which since the eighteenth century has been divided into four large branches (three of which exist to this day). Among the Golitsins there were also richest people (for example, Boris Vasilievich Golitsyn - the owner and founder of several villages, settlements, the owner of extensive allotments) and seedy landowners from the province. The clan comes from the great Lithuanian prince Gediminas.
The active life of the princes and landowners of the Golitsyns was often associated with Kazan and the Volga region: Boris Alekseevich, for example, which will be discussed later, was for some time the de facto ruler of the Volga region, following the Kazan order of the sovereign. And Vasily Vasilievich was one of the contenders for the Russian throne.
Change of rulers
The son of Prince Alexei Golitsyn and Irina Fedorovna, Princess Khilkova by birth, was born in 1654 or 1651. The offspring of one of the most ancient and noble families, Boris Alekseevich Golitsyn at the age of twenty became a steward, that is, close to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. After the death of the latter, Princess Sophia, his sister, who held the country in a fist for the next seven years, ascended the throne. Golitsyn was not forgotten: his cousin Vasily was the favorite of the empress.
After Sophia Alekseevna, Peter the Great shook the country - a reformer and founder of the city on the Neva. Political predilections of Boris Golitsyn belonged to him. The prince was faithful to the young Peter, so the mother of the future emperor even instructed him to raise his own offspring, appointing Golitsyn as "uncle."
Peter's upbringing
Boris Alekseevich was a rather educated person for his time, an adherent of Western culture and Western European fashion. In this light, his wide acquaintance with the inhabitants of the German settlement, where almost all the foreigners who were then in Moscow, were completely unsurprising.
Boris Golitsyn and his young pupil were addicted to visiting this place. Unlike his cousin, who was a very serious person, Boris Alekseevich looked at everything more simply and loved entertainment. Therefore, the process of acquaintance of the young sovereign with the achievements of Western civilization was sometimes replaced by his introduction to distilling.
The essence and character of Golitsyn
The people of that time reasonably accused Golitsyn of accustoming the tsar to drinking. They said about Boris Alekseevich that he "was all poured with wine." By the way, his character can be understood in one letter to the emperor. It began with quite decent expressions, and then German curses written in Russian followed. And at the end there was a signature: "Borisko, even though he was drunk."
Nevertheless, such a breadth of nature, love of distillery and a complex personal organization did not prevent Boris Golitsyn from remaining one of the most loyal people to Peter the Great. Particularly, confidence was strengthened after Boris Alekseevich led the Trinity Seat.
On a August night, Peter, frightened by the possibility of an attack by the ruling tsarina, rode off to the Trinity Monastery in some ports, which became the opposition headquarters. This was the end of the regency’s rule and the transfer of all power over the Russian Empire to Peter the Great.
The disgrace of Tsar Peter I
Boris Golitsyn was once one of the most influential people in the state, but he spoiled everything. He turned to the tsar with a request to mitigate the fate of his cousin Vasily, the favorite Sofya Alekseevna. As a result, the prince fell into disgrace of the king. Later, he still did not cope very successfully with the uprising in Astrakhan, so that he was finally removed from public office in 1707.
True, he kept the emperor’s personal disposition until his death, regularly corresponded with him in expressions that are usually used only by friends or very good acquaintances.
Boris Golitsyn died on October 18 (old style) in 1714 in the monastery of Florishchev deserts, in the Vladimir province. A few months before his death, the prince accepted monasticism (his church name is Bogolep).
Family of Boris Golitsyn
In 1671, Boris Alekseevich married Maria Fedorovna Hvorostinina, daughter of Prince Fedor Hvorostinin and Elena Lykova, second cousin of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Ten children were born in the family: Alexander, Maria, Evdokia, Alexey, Anastasia, Vasily, Anna, Sergey, Martha, Agrafena.
Image in art and culture
Boris Golitsyn is the hero of A. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great”. Based on this novel, the films by director Sergei Gerasimov “At the Beginning of Glorious Deeds” and “Youth of Peter” were shot. The role of Boris Golitsyn was played by Mikhail Nozhkin.