On a cloudy autumn morning on November 19, 1739, a huge crowd gathered in the central square of Novgorod. She was attracted by the upcoming spectacle ─ none other than the former favorite of Sovereign Peter II, the once omnipotent Prince Ivan Dolgoruky, was to climb the scaffold. During the reign of Anna Ivanovna, Russian people got used to the bloody executions, but this was a special case ─ the disgraced courtier was expected to be quartered.
Descendants of the vengeful prince
Prince Ivan Alekseevich Dolgoruky came from an old noble family, which was one of the many branches of the princes Obolensky. He and his relatives owe their surname to their common ancestor, Prince Ivan Andreevich Obolensky, who in the 15th century received a very expressive nickname Dolgoruky for his revenge.
Representatives of this family are often mentioned both in historical documents and in the traditions of past centuries. In particular, the rumor has preserved a documented, unconfirmed story about one of the many wives of Ivan the Terrible ─ Maria Dolgoruky.
The reality of this marriage is in great doubt, because by that time the loving king was already four times married, which completely exhausted and even exceeded the limit set by the Church Charter.
Perhaps, in this case we are talking only about another extramarital cohabitation, which is fully consistent with the customs of Ivan the Terrible. Maria Dolgorukaya, according to researchers, is generally more of a fictional character than a real one.
Youth spent in Warsaw
Ivan Dolgoruky - the eldest son of Prince Alexei Grigoryevich Dolgoruky - was born in 1708 in Warsaw and spent his childhood with his paternal grandfather Grigory Fedorovich. His education was entrusted to the famous writer and teacher of German origin, Heinrich Fick, in those years.
However, in spite of all efforts to instill stiffness and degree, worthy of his origin, he did not succeed particularly well. Ivan was more fond of the carefree and very loose morals that prevailed at the court of the Polish king Augustus II, where he constantly revolved. In 1723, Ivan first appeared in Russia. Below is his portrait.
Acquaintance with the future king
If you believe the information of contemporaries about the character of Prince Ivan Dolgoruky, then from the crowd of courtiers in those years he was distinguished by unusually cordial kindness and the ability to win people over. This last quality was most clearly manifested in his relationship with the grandson of Peter I, Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, who later ascended the Russian throne under the name of Peter II. His portrait is presented below.
Despite the age difference, ─ Ivan Dolgoruky was seven years older than the Grand Duke, and a close friendship was established between them from the first days of their acquaintance. Very soon they became an inseparable couple in all the drinking parties, carousing and love affairs.
Beginning of a brilliant career
In 1725, after the death of Peter I and the accession of his wife Catherine I, Prince Dolgoruky received the rank of gof junker with his titled friend. But the true take-off of his career came two years later, when the Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich occupied the Russian throne, which was freed after the death of Catherine I, and was crowned as sovereign Peter II.
Even in the reign of Catherine I, the influence of Prince Ivan Dolgoruky, which had intensified at the court, was extremely concerned about the former favorite of Peter I A.D. Menshikov, who had managed to betroth his daughter Maria and the young emperor by then. However, his attempts to remove an opponent from the capital were unsuccessful.
Moreover, by circling Peter in an ongoing round dance of amusements, often organized in the company of his beautiful aunt Elizabeth Petrovna (future empress) and pretty maids of honor, Prince Ivan made his friend forget about the bride Menshikov imposed on him. At the same time, he very cleverly embraced his own sister Catherine.
A young minion of fate
In 1728, A.D. Menshikov, falling victim to court intrigues, fell into disgrace and with his whole family was first exiled to Rannenburg, and then even further ─ to the small Siberian town of Berezovo, where he soon died. Since that time, his place on the throne was firmly taken by members of the Dolgoruky family, who enjoyed unlimited influence on the emperor due to his location to Ivan, as well as the expected wedding.
In the same year, the entire courtyard, having left the new capital, moved to Moscow, and Dolgoruky moved with him. The young prince Ivan, having become a favorite of the emperor, is awarded all conceivable and inconceivable mercies. In his incomplete twenty years, he becomes a general from infantry, chief chamberlain of the imperial court, major of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky regiment, and also a knight of two higher state orders.
New character traits of the prince
How the character of Ivan Dolgoruky has changed by this time can be judged on the basis of the memoirs of the Spanish resident at the court of Peter II of the Duke de Liria. In particular, he writes that the prince’s main features at this time were arrogance and arrogance, which, in the complete absence of education, intelligence and insight, made communication with him in most cases extremely unpleasant.
However, the duke notices that in spite of this, he often showed signs of kindness. As the main inclinations of the prince, he calls the love of wine and women. It should be noted that the diplomat expresses not only his personal opinion, but also communicates to him the information of his contemporaries about the character of Prince Ivan Dolgoruky.
While his father Alexei Grigoryevich was busy with the troubles and intrigues associated with the upcoming betrothal of Catherine's daughter with the young emperor, Ivan indulged in rampant revelry. He turned around so broadly that the description of the outrages created by him was deemed necessary to be set forth in his notes On Damage to Morals in Russia by the well-known historian and publicist of the Elizabethan era, Prince Shcherbatov.
Marriage chores
Nevertheless, the idea of the need to settle down finally came to his hangover. He decided to start the new life of the hangover from marriage and made an offer not to anyone, but to Princess Elizabeth Petrovna herself — the daughter of Emperor Peter the Great, who had died three years ago (her portrait is presented below). By that time, the young beauty had given her love to many lucky people who managed to reach her heart, but entered into an unequal marriage (this was how her union with a person who does not belong to any royal house could be regarded) she did not intend to.
Having received a polite, but very categorical refusal, and recalling the old truth that a titmouse in a cage is much better than a crane in the sky, Prince Ivan Dolgoruky grabbed onto the fifteen-year-old daughter of Field Marshal Count B.P.Sheremetyev ─ Natalya Borisovna.
Since this marriage was quite suitable for both his relatives and relatives of the bride, the news of the upcoming wedding was greeted with universal jubilation. Natasha herself was the most happy, who managed to fall in love with her Vanya for her cheerful disposition, kind heart, and also because everyone called him "the second person in the state."
Blow of fate
Peter 2 and Ivan Dolgoruky, like true friends, even walked side by side in the structure of their personal lives. At the end of October 1729, the young sovereign became engaged to Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Dolgoruka, and two months after that, his favorite became the official bridegroom of Natalia Sheremetyeva. However, a tragedy soon followed, crossing out all their plans and having a fatal effect on the history of Russia in the next decade.
In early January 1930, a few days before the wedding, the young sovereign fell seriously ill. According to some reports, he contracted smallpox, which often visited Moscow in those years; according to others, he caught a cold during a hunt. One way or another, but his condition was rapidly deteriorating. The court doctors were forced to state that there was no hope of recovery, and that the remaining life was spent on the clock.
last hope
Needless to say, what princes Dolgoruky and Ivan himself experienced in those days, because with the death of Peter II, who had never managed to get married to his sister Catherine, the world of wealth, honor and prosperity that they had got used to inevitably collapsed. The sick emperor was still trying to cling to life, and Dolgoruky already caught the malevolent glances of envious people.
Wanting to save the situation, Prince Alexei Grigoryevich (Ivan's father) made a will on behalf of the sovereign, according to which he allegedly declared his bride ─ Ekaterina Dolgorukaya to be the successor to the throne. The calculation was that the son would slip this linden for signature to the dying and already losing his mind sovereign, after which his daughter would become empress with all the benefits that ensued for their family.
The collapse of all plans
However, the calculation was not justified. Peter II failed to get the true signature of the deceased on January 19, 1730, and his former favorite Ivan Dolgoruky, who was extremely skillfully able to copy the hand of his master, signed the will. However, this trick was so sewn with white thread that it could not mislead anyone. The very next day, the Council of State was assembled, electing the Courland Duchess Anna Ioannovna, who was the daughter of the brother and co-ruler of Peter I, Ivan V., to the kingdom.
With the reign of Anna Ioannovna (her portrait is presented above), persecution fell upon the Dolgoruky family. Many of its representatives were sent by governors to distant provincial places, and the head of the family with children was exiled to the village. Previously, they all underwent interrogations regarding a will, the authenticity of which no one believed, but at that time they managed to avoid trouble.
Darkened wedding
Former acquaintances, who only recently subservient to them, now shied away from the disgraced family, as from plagued ones. The only person who remained faithful was Ivan's bride Natalya Sheremetyeva, who did not want to leave her beloved in difficult times and was looking forward to the wedding. To her great joy, she took place at the beginning of April of that year in Gorenki ─ the Dolgoruky estate near Moscow, which the late sovereign Peter II loved to visit.
But this happiness turned out to be short-lived. Three days after the wedding, a messenger from Petersburg arrived in the village with a notice that the whole Dolgorukov family refers to the eternal settlement in Berezov - the very wilderness in which their sworn enemy A. D. Menshikov ended his days shortly before.
As a result, Ivan Dolgoruky and Natalya Sheremeteva spent their honeymoon in shaking wagons on the roads of Siberia. The failed royal bride Ekaterina Alekseevna, who bore the heart of the hasty and premature passion of her fiancé, went there too.
Life in the prison
Prince Ivan Dolgoruky, the favorite of Peter II, being in the role of an exile, fully experienced the hardships that fall to the lot of those who, by the will of fate, were at odds with the authorities. The princely towers, which Ivan was used to since childhood, had to be replaced by dark and stuffy cages of the Berezovsky prison, from which they were strictly forbidden to leave.
However, sociable by nature, Ivan Dolgoruky soon made friends among the officers of the local garrison and, with their permission, not only left his dungeon, but even began to get drunk, as once in the happy season of his life. He mumbled with anybody and he was extremely intolerant in the hop. This brought him to trouble.
Denunciation and the beginning of the inquiry
Once in passionate ways, when witnesses dared to call abusive empress Anna Ioannovna with abusive words. And, in addition, he boasted that he forged the signature of the late emperor in his will. By morning, Ivan completely forgot everything, but there was a man who remembered his words well and sent a denunciation to Petersburg (something, but there were always enough mother informers in Russia).
History has retained the name of this villain. It turned out to be the clerk of the Tobolsk customs Tishin. No matter how trying the friends officers to ward off trouble from Ivan, the matter was given a move. An authorized person arrived from the capital and conducted an inquiry on the spot. Soon, the prince, his two brothers, and with them many more people suspected of involvement in sedition, were sent from Berezov to Tobolsk and put in prison, where they were immediately interrogated.
Execution
Ivan Dolgoruky, under torture, pleaded guilty and, in addition, slandered many relatives involved, he said, in the preparation of a false will. In January 1739, he and all those involved in the case were taken to Shlisselburg, where interrogations continued.
The fate of the unfortunate prisoners was decided by the General Assembly, which consisted of senior dignitaries and convened to convict political criminals. The statesmen, having familiarized themselves with the case materials, made decisions on each of the accused. All of them were sentenced to death. The main culprit, Prince Ivan Alekseevich Dolgoruky, was quartered in 1739 on the central square of Novgorod, where he was taken along with the rest of the convicts.