Diary of the journey to Muscovy of the Most Glorious and Noble Mr. Ignatius Christopher, the noble Mr. de Gvarient and Rall of the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of the Hungarian Cavalier, the Holy Cesar Majesty Advisor to the Court-Military from the August and Most Invincible Roman Emperor Leopold I to the Most Serene and Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mos Kovia Peter Alekseevich in 1698, the Ambassador Extraordinary was led by Johann Georgy Korb, at that time Secretary of the Tsar's Embassy. A concise and accurate description has been added of the Return of His Royal Majesty from the European Countries to his own borders, the dangerous Mutiny of the Streltsy and the verdict pronounced against them with the ensuing bloody Massacre, as well as outstanding features from the life of Muscovy, etc. With the Privilege of the Holy Caesar Majesty. Vienna: Printing house of Leopold Vogt, university printer, 1700. 252 pp., 19 pp. illustrations - engravings with a chisel. Bound from the late 18th century with the author's name and title embossed in gold. Owner's super ex libris on the lids. 28.5x18.5 cm. Diarium Itineris in Moscoviam Perillusstris ac Magnifici Domini Ignatii Christophori Nobilis Domini de Guarient, & Rail, Sacri Romani Imperii, & Regni Hungariae Equitis, Sacrae Caesareae Majestatis Consiliarii Aulico-Bellici A B Augustissimo, & Invietissimo Romanorum Imperatore Leopoldo I. A D Serenissimum, ac Potentissimum Tzarum, & Magnum Moscoviae Ducem Petrum Alexiowicium Anno M DCXCVIII. Ablegati Extraordinarii Descriptium A Joanne Georgio Korb, p.t. Secretario Ablegationis Caesarae. Acsessit Reditus Suae Tzareae Majestatis a Provinciis Europaeis ad proprios limites periculosae Rebellions Streliziorum, & latae in eosdem sententiae cum subsecuta sanguinea Executione, nec non praecipuarum Moscoviae rerum compendiosa, & accurate descriptio &c. Cum Privilegio Sacr& Casare& Majestatis. Viennae Austriae, Typis Leopoldi Voigt, Universit. Typog. Rare first edition!

Korb, Johann Georg(1672 -1741) - Austrian diplomat, author of notes on Russia. The secretary of the embassy and the author of a scandalous book about Muscovy, Johann Georg Korb, was born in the city of Karlstadt am Main on February 8, 1672 (four months earlier than Peter I). His father Johann Korb (d. 1674) was an official of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. Young Johann Georg was brought up in the Jesuit college of Würzburg. In 1689, he entered the University of Würzburg, soon after graduating from which he was enrolled in the staff of the embassy of I. X. Gwarient to Russia. Returning to Vienna, Korb published his diary at the end of 1700 and beginning of 1701. Shortly before the publication of the book, Korb entered the service of the Prince of Palatinate-Sulzbach. In 1708 he married Anna Elisabeth Neisser, from whose father he inherited land holdings. In 1712, Korb received the rank of court councilor, and in 1732 - chancellor, still remaining in the service of the Palatinate-Sulzbach princes. Johann Georg Korb died on November 15, 1741, leaving a son and five daughters (the Korb family died out already in the 20th century. In 1968, its last representative, Agnes von Korb, was still alive, then at a very advanced age). Johann Georg Korb crossed the Russian border on March 24, 1698, and left Muscovy sixteen months later, on July 28, 1699.

Korb then held the position of secretary of the embassy sent by the Roman Caesar Leopold I to Peter the Great after they concluded a military alliance against the Turks in 1697. Throughout the trip, the Austrian diplomat kept a diary, where he recorded his impressions of what he saw. Two years after returning to Vienna, he published this diary. Russian coins, monasteries, holidays, public administration, fertility, soil and climate properties, a list of ships of the royal fleet - the range of interests of Korb, an educated, inquisitive and, importantly, observant man, turned out to be very wide. Thus, having devoted several pages to discussions “On female splendor,” he came to the conclusion: “Women in Muscovy have an elegant appearance and a beautiful face, but their natural beauty is spoiled by useless blush. Since the shapes of Moscow women are not constrained by a narrow dress, but can freely expand as they please, it is not always possible to find that slender and proportionate figure that other European women have.” Equally thoroughly and leisurely, the secretary of the Austrian embassy talks about the winter cold, about the clothes of commoners, about the people’s favorite foods, about the wealth of the boyars, etc. However, what primarily attracts his attention is government structure Russia, her armed forces and, of course, the extraordinary figure of the young king, who had just returned from his first trip abroad. About Peter Korb writes: “The current sovereign prefers the art of war, fiery fun, the roar of cannons, the construction of ships, the dangers of the sea and outstanding feats to achieve glory to any pleasant entertainment.

He held military positions, starting from the lowest level, and no sooner did he want to sit on his grandfather’s throne and achieve the highest power, than to pass through all military ranks with commendable zeal until the final honorary title of Voivode. To such an extent he considers it honorable to first earn an honorable position and then take it.” Separate chapters of the book are devoted to descriptions of Russian infantry, cavalry, cannon work, and even military music. Having witnessed the very initial stage of Peter’s formation of a regular army, Korb had a very low assessment of the military capabilities of the Russians. According to him, “if the Muscovites were as strong in their strength, courage and military experience as they are in numbers, physical strength and endurance for work, then their neighbors would have reason to fear them: but due to their incompetence and habit of slavery, they and do not strive for great things and do not achieve them.” A special section also includes notes made by Korb during the days of the massacre of participants in the Streltsy uprising that shocked him. Mass executions of rebels continued throughout October 1698. Korb attended them as a spectator along with other diplomats who were then in Moscow. So, on October 10, he noted: “There were not enough executioners for the guilty. Some of the officers, forced to do so by the royal order, came to their aid. The accused were neither bound nor shackled. They had pads attached to their shoes, which interfered with the speed of their feet by mutual collision, but, nevertheless, did not interfere with their normal activities. With voluntary efforts they climbed the stairs to the crossbar and, making the sign of the cross to the four cardinal directions, covered their own eyes and face (this is the custom of this people). A lot of people put a noose around their neck. they rushed headlong from the stage, wanting to hasten their end by hanging.

In total, they counted two hundred and thirty people who atoned for their shame with a noose and hanging.” A few days later, other terrible details of the execution attracted his attention: “The executioner broke off the ends of two brothers, accused of evil intent, and then they were tied alive to a wheel and looked with envy at their brother, who was among twenty others beheaded with an ax and stained with their own blood; the living brothers were indignant in a whisper that a quicker kind of death had torn away from them a person united with them first of all by the bonds of nature, and then by a shameful attachment to crime. Not far from the Novodevichy Convent, thirty gallows were erected in the form of a square, on which two hundred and thirty archers were hanged, and three instigators of the disastrous unrest, who, having submitted a petition to Sophia, invited her to rule the state, were hanged at the walls of the said monastery at the very window of Sophia’s cell; hanging in the middle between them held a paper folded like a petition and tied to his dead hands; This was probably done so that the consciousness of the past would torment Sophia with constant remorse.” However, Korbu had to endure the most severe shock on October 27: “Three hundred and thirty people were taken out together at once for a mortal blow with an ax and stained the entire plain with criminal blood. All boyars, senators of the kingdom, Duma and clerks were, by royal decree, called to Preobrazhenskoye, where they were ordered to serve as executioner. Everyone, approaching a new and unusual position with trembling hands, tried to strike the right blow. The boyar who acted most unsuccessfully was the one who, having missed, plunged his sword into the back instead of the neck and, thus cutting the archer almost in half, would have increased his suffering to the point of unbearability, but Aleksashka Menshikov more successfully cut off the neck of the unfortunate convict. The king, sitting in a chair, looked at the whole tragedy.”

The publication of Korb's diary caused outrage in Moscow. At the insistence of the Russian government, the Viennese court, although not immediately, banned the sale of the book and prevented its republication. “This ban turned out to be so ill-fated,” wrote historian A.I. in 1906. Malein, who was the first to completely translate Korb’s work into Russian, says that this book has never been reprinted and is now considered one of the greatest bibliographic rarities.” Particularly valuable are copies with a complete set of illustrations. The copy presented by us contains all 19 engravings, including the most famous and almost never seen - “The Execution of Streltsy”.

Korb Johann Georg Korb Johann Georg

(Korb) (c. 1670 - c. 1741), Austrian diplomat. In Russia in 1698-99, an eyewitness to the Streltsy uprising and the execution of Streltsy. Author of “Diary of a Travel to Muscovy” (Russian translation, 1867).

KORB Johann Georg (Korb) (February 8, 1672, Karlstadt am Main - November 15, 1741, Sulzbach, Oberpfalz), Austrian diplomat, author of notes on Russia. His father Johann (died 1674) was an official of the Würzburg prince-bishop. Korb was educated at the Jesuit College of Würzburg (cm. WURZBURG), in 1689 he entered the University of Würzburg.
After graduating from the university, he was assigned as a secretary to the Austrian embassy of I.H. Guarienta, sent to Moscow after the signing of a treaty against the Ottoman Empire in 1698. From January 11, 1698 to September 27, 1699, Korb kept notes in which he recorded current events, described the life of the Russian court, Special attention paid attention to the organization of the Russian army, the order of work of orders and government agencies
Shortly before the publication of the book, Korb entered the service of the Palatinate-Sulzbach prince. In 1712 he received the rank of court councilor, and in 1732 - chancellor. In 1867, Korb's Diaries were published in Russia. This book was used by V.I. Surikov and A.N. Tolstoy while working on works about the era of Peter the Great.

encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .

See what “Korb Johann Georg” is in other dictionaries:

- (c. 1670 c. 1741) Austrian diplomat. In Russia in 1698-99, an eyewitness to the Streltsy uprising and the execution of Streltsy. Author of the Diary of Travel to Muscovy... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

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One of the most interesting eras in the controversial history of Muscovy was the time of Peter the Great. You could find many books about what seemed to be happening then, as well as about the fictional customs of Muscovy. But a description of events from the perspective of a real eyewitness is unlikely to come into your hands. And as you understand, there are such books, and one of such works is: “The diary of the journey to the Moscow state of Ignatius Christopher Guarient, the ambassador of Emperor Leopold I to the Tsar and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich in 1698, kept by the embassy secretary Johann Georg Korb.”

In essence, this is a collection of travel notes recorded by a representative of the Austrian diplomatic mission, Johann Georg Korb.

Korb was one of the first authors to describe the real state of affairs in Muscovy under Peter the Great. He was even led, if I may say so of course, to become a witness to a very dramatic event in the history of Muscovy, namely suppression of the Streltsy uprising of 1698.

Korb's book was extremely popular abroad. But when the resident in Vienna P.A. learned about Korb’s “Diary” in 1701. Golitsyn, who knew Gvarient directly and considered him the author of this book, was so furious that he wrote to F.A. Golovin:

“There has never been such a scoundrel and a scolder of the Moscow state; Since his arrival here, they have treated us like barbarians and don’t care for us.”

Book instantly banned , the rest of the circulation was seized and destroyed at the insistence of Russian diplomats.

Moreover, Moscow diplomats even achieved the exclusion of Gwarient from returning as ambassador to Russia, although Gwarient explained to them in a letter that the author of this book was his secretary Korb, “ who could not be prevented from printing anything", because he lives in another region, " under the prohibition of other princes "...

Gwarient also stated that in the book " more praiseworthy, except for some ridiculous and incorrect descriptions.”

However, Gvarient was declared “persona but grata” in Muscovy, and the book was never published in Muscovy. Although the book was well known in Russia, in the mid-19th century, the author of “The History of the Reign of Peter the Great” N.G. Ustryalov wrote about Korb’s work:

« Korb wrote with deep respect for Peter, with love for the truth, and if he was mistaken, it was only because he believed unfounded stories. His own observations are accurate and truthful.”

Korb's book reached Russian readers only at the end of the 19th century. It was first published in full in 1863, and in a more accurate translation by A.I. Maleina in 1906.

The Austrian’s work was highly appreciated by the writer A.N. Tolstoy, who very often in his novel Peter I, used episodes from Korb’s Diary.

Before moving on to the book itself, I would like to know a little about its author.

Korb was born in Karlstadt am Main, his father was an official of the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.

In Würzburg, Korb graduated from the Jesuit college and university, and from there he became part of the Gwarient embassy.

After his Moscow voyage, he went into the service of the Prince of Palatinate-Sulzbach.

“In Moscow, everyone, regardless of class, exchanged colored eggs, kissed and said “Christ is Risen”!

“Here, the bigger the holiday, the stronger the reason for widespread drunkenness, and women are not inferior to men, and the first, having drunk too much, become disgraceful, and on almost every street you can meet these pale yellow, half-naked creatures with shamelessness on their faces.”

“Although the right to sell vodka belongs only to the tsar, some of the common people, called Yamskys, sold it in their homes, despite the tsar’s positive prohibition on this subject.”

“At the same time, although no divine service is held in any church, nevertheless, all the bells are ringing in the churches all day long, as if one beating of inanimate air is enough to commemorate the festival.”

“Almost every year, the celebration of the most important holidays is accompanied by fires, which cause disasters to the people all the more because they almost always happen at night and sometimes turn several hundred wooden houses into ashes. At the last fire, which destroyed 600 houses on this side of the Neglinnaya River, several Germans came running to put out the fire. The Muscovites, completely in vain accusing the Germans of theft, first brutally beat them, and then threw them into the flames and, thus, sacrificed their rage and carelessness.”

Recording daily events in the Diary, Johann Korb tells us:

about unscrupulous scribes who, as punishment, like criminals, were tied with chains to tables so that they would learn to write non-stop, day and night

about cutting off the heads of six of his servants for the murder of their master

about the discovery on the street of two corpses with severed heads

that at night, especially, an incredible multitude of all kinds of robbers prowl the city

about this, the ambassador's servants quarreled with the Muscovites, not knowing about the art of perjury of the latter

that the moral concepts of Muscovites are so perverted that the art of deception is considered among them a sign of high mental abilities

about the tyranny of the ambitious and outwardly Europeanized Prince Golitsyn, who, cursing cruelly, promised to hang his children’s teacher

about the execution of a captain for cohabitation with an eight-year-old girl

about a mother and daughter who killed their husband and father, who were buried alive up to their necks in the ground, and after death they were hanged “by their feet, upside down”

that Peter once talked with the same buried woman and, in order to stop her torment, ordered the soldier to shoot her, but Lefort considered it unworthy for a soldier to shoot a woman, and Peter agreed with him

that wife murderers are punished only with a fine

about how Peter himself cut off the head of a rebel from Azov

about his distrust of reports about Russia’s victorious military actions against Turkey in Ochakov and Azov, the truth of which Korb does not believe, because: “Muscovites know how to invent stories about their triumphs and the defeat of their enemies. The Muscovites are such great warriors, they are gifted with such creative imagination.”

about how Peter mercifully waved the beards of his boyars, but they did not dare to resist, because they were born to consider it “a sacred duty to sacrifice their lives at the will or by order of their sovereign.”

about celebrating the New Year in the old fashioned way on September 1, when Governor Shein hosted a royal New Year's feast in his home

about how Peter, unable to tolerate a dispute about the place at the royal table of the Danish and Polish ambassadors, called both fools, and then, having found out from the soldiers how much Shein gave away for money in his absence officer ranks, in anger, “hit the table with his naked sword and shouted: “So I will destroy your regiment!” Indignantly waving his sword, Peter was ready to cut Shein, but, having wounded the boyars who were defending him, clenched in Lefort’s arms, he broke free, “grabbed him firmly on the back,” softened and had fun until six in the morning

about reprisals against criminals and archers. 15 people were wheeled, and the heads of those who were not tortured were cut off. The rebels, who do not want to confess, are beaten several times with whips, “roasted on fire”, every day in Preobrazhenskoye “more than thirty fires burn”, their nostrils are cut out, their ears and tongues are cut off, and 230 or more people are hanged almost every day

about how Peter, not trusting the boyars, alternating feasts with executions, interrogated him, himself sent him on the rack, himself killed five with an ax, he himself took on the role of punisher in the name of protecting his people, as he told this to those who came to him with admonitions to the patriarch

Korb is shocked by the tyranny ruling in Moscow, but believes that there is justice in the actions of the tsar, since:

“The members of the state body are so stricken with disease and subject to incurable decay that to preserve the body there is nothing left but to destroy these members with iron and fire.”

Peter suffered not only to the rebels, but also to his closest associates, “ He who is closer to the fire is closer to the fire.”, writes Korb:

Menshikov received a slap on the wrist for wearing a saber at a dance

Lefort was picked up, thrown to the floor in the midst of the feast and trampled underfoot

To punish boyar Golovin for not liking seasonings, Peter stuffed salad into his mouth and poured vinegar down his throat until blood gushed from his nose.

Peter forced his associates to judge and personally execute the criminals and calmly watched with “dry eyes” as they eventually killed 330 people with shaking hands.

“Near the Novodevichy Convent, thirty gallows were erected in a quadrangle, on which 230 archers... were hanged. The three instigators of the terrible rebellion, who petitioned Sophia to take the helm of government, were hanged on the wall of the Novodevichy Convent under the very windows of Sophia’s cell. The petition was placed in their hands.”

Streltsy execution day

Korb calls the day of the Streltsy execution on the square in front of the Kremlin, February 13, “terrible,” and writes that this day “should be marked with black paint,” because two hundred people were beheaded with an ax on the block.

“His Royal Majesty with Menshikov, whose company he most loves, arrived there in a carriage.

Meanwhile, the clerk, standing in different places on the square on a bench that a soldier had set up for him, read publicly to the assembled people the verdict on the rebels in order to make greater known the immensity of their crime and the justice of the execution determined by them for it.

The people were silent, and the executioner began the tragedy.

The unfortunates had to observe a certain order: they went to execution one by one, neither sadness nor horror of impending death was visible on their faces...

One of them was accompanied to the chopping block by his wife and children, emitting piercing screams. Before putting his head on the block, he gave the gloves and scarf that they had left him as souvenirs to his wife and dear children, who were crying bitterly.

Another, taking his turn to the chopping block, complained that he had to die innocently. The king, who was only one step away from him, answered: “Die, unfortunate one! And if you are innocent, let the blame for shedding your blood fall on me!

At the end of the massacre, Peter deigned to have dinner with General Gordon, but he was extremely sad and even angry, since one of the criminals, before going to the scaffold, dared to say to the king: “Move aside, sir! It’s me who should lie here.”…

Peter was so angry at the impudent behavior of the slave that the next day he himself went to execute the rebels, and declared that he would execute them in a new way: “not with an ax, but with a sword”...

“One hundred and fifty rebels were led to the Yauza. They say that the king cut off the heads of eighty-four rebels with a sword, and the boyar Pleshcheev lifted them by the hair so that the blow would be more accurate.

A week later, Peter organized a crowded merry celebration with amusing lights and a comic dedication of the palace, “usually called the palace of Lefort,” to the god of wine Bacchus.

The procession was led by an imaginary high priest, “his miter was decorated with Bacchus, who aroused passionate desires with his nakedness. Cupid and Venus decorated the staff,” behind them the guests carried mugs full of wine, flasks with beer and vodka, “sacrificial vessels filled with tobacco,” and smoked from chibouks equipped with “dignity” powered by smoke.

The priest had two such chibouks and folded them in a cross, like candles, when he approved of something.

“Who would really have thought that the image of the cross, the most precious symbol of our salvation, could serve as a toy!”

Seen in Muscovy Maslenitsa Korb could not be called anything other than a “bacchanalia”!

For 8 days in Muscovy (and previously they had been walking for 14), there has been non-stop shameless revelry, outrages, robbery, “everywhere the most harmful arbitrariness.”

Korb became evidence of an unprecedented act for Moscow!

Can you imagine, on the eve of the 18th century, at a royal dinner in honor of the departure of the Brandenburg ambassador, he saw the Tsar’s sister Natalya, a WOMAN who, contrary to centuries-old traditions, was among the guests!

Imagine, Tsar Peter, trampling on the centuries-old traditions of Muscovy, allowed a woman to take part in the festivities, and did not leave her like a dog near the walls of the house!

In April there was an uprising in Azov. The seven streltsy regiments exiled there, “calling on the Tatars for help” and hoping for the support of other similar streltsy outside the city, decided to “avenge their exile” by revolting and capturing the city.

The consequence of these events, coupled with the expensive construction of a fleet in Voronezh, was the introduction of a “capitation salary” for all residents of Moscow, a monopoly on the sale of vodka and a sharp increase in prices for oats and food supplies, also caused by the protest of peasants who had previously imported goods into the city: they are now they were forced to “throw out the luggage from the carts and put the dead bodies in them” of those executed, they were forced to dig burial pits, the carts were taken away, and the goods were stolen.

Meanwhile, the king was persistently building a fleet.

Meanwhile, papers arrived from Vienna ordering the Austrian embassy to return home, which was celebrated with a ceremony on July 2, 1699.

The ambassadors received expensive gifts, and an escort of Moscow soldiers accompanied them “to the borders of Moscow and Lithuania.”

Korb’s “Diary” does not end here, as he further gives “ Short description dangerous mutiny of the Streltsy in Muscovy" and "Main events from the internal life of the Muscovites."

In the first chapter, Korb describes the events of the mutiny of the Streltsy, who supported it, how the battle went on at the Jerusalem Monastery, what was the role of Sophia and how the rebellion was suppressed, how the Streltsy were executed, how the priests who blessed the Streltsy to revolt were executed: the role of the executioner was played by a “court jester dressed as a priest” . Peter himself commented on the execution of the latter: “ Yes, from now on, not a single priest dares to pray to God for the satisfaction of such desires.”

Main events from the internal life of Muscovites

Korb considers the main problem of Muscovy to be: “The restless spirit of the conquered peoples, threatening the secession of the conquered regions from the state”!

Petra Korb has the utmost respect and speaks of him everywhere as a fighter against Moscow backwardness and ignorance. (The author is a Jesuit! -note)

State mind of Peter most clearly manifested itself, according to Korb, in the fact that with what persistence and determination He put into practice the idea of ​​“educating his subjects” in the name of the development of the mind, the development of science, “ennobling all other people,” thanks to which, according to Peter, “all the good qualities of the soul are fully awakened”!(This is where the origins of Russophobia come from!)

In ignorance and stubborn adherence to the ancient foundations, the Muscovites owe it to their shepherds, which: " It is not without reason that they are afraid of being finally thrown off the wheel of their happiness”!!!

“They know that they will only reign as long as it is possible for them to keep the mob and the people in ignorance and in the darkness of error, nurturing in them a superstitious contempt for science and enlightenment, since development, arousing noble ambition in people, would turn the aspirations of the people to the best and highest!

Korb calls the main concern of Moscow priests not education Holy Scripture and prayers, but the obscurantist ritual itself:

“How many fingers do you have to cross yourself?”

“The piety of priests is purely external, just like the respect of the laity for them”, writes Korb.

The lack of knowledge in Muscovy is noticeable in everything! (*Wasn’t it the obscurantism of Nikon’s reforms that led to the suppression of science? - note)

Muscovite military strength

The troops of the Moscow tsars are terrible only for the Tatars.

In my opinion, the Muscovites owe their successes in the war with Poland or Sweden not to their courage, but to some kind of panic fear and misfortune of the defeated peoples. (*This is where the Europeans’ disdain for the Russian military spirit comes from)

The Moscow tsars can easily lead thousands of people against the enemy, but these are only disorderly crowds, weak due to their enormity, and even having won the battle, these crowds can hardly retain victory over the enemy, but if the Moscow troops had courage, bravery and knowledge military art were commensurate with their numbers, physical strength and ability to endure labor, then they would be dangerous to neighboring peoples.

Muscovites can win battles only by the number of “disorderly crowds” because: “ Because of their feeble-mindedness and habit of slavery, they are incapable of either conceiving anything great or striving for anything honorable.»!

In 1611, Count Jacob de la Gardie, a general of the Swedish troops, with eight thousand people scattered two hundred thousand Muscovites. (*reminds me of Hitler’s speeches? -note)

Peter completely reorganized not only the state, but also the army. He completely destroyed the Streltsy troops, and built a new regular army, for the creation of which he called upon foreign craftsmen. (*This is how the Jesuits justify the “acts” of Peter. It is precisely these Germans that Peter and his descendants will later invite to write him a new history - note).

About the Moscow coin

The Moscow tsars do not have any gold or silver mines. Despite the lack of precious metals, Muscovites always minted their coins from pure and good silver; now, however, the Moscow coin is less pure than the previous one and much lighter in weight; An imperial costs fifty or fifty-five kopecks, but one hundred, sometimes even one hundred and twenty kopecks are minted from one imperial.

The kopek, or Moscow kreuzer, is not a round, but oblong and oval-looking coin; on one side of it St. George with a spear, on the other the royal name and the year in which it was minted.

Two kopecks make a DINAR, three - an altyn, ten - a hryvnia, fifty - a half, one hundred - a ruble.

No one can take cash with him from Muscovy under pain of, in case of capture, deprivation of all his property!

Healthcare in Muscovy is unenviable - there are only two poorly stocked pharmacies in all of Moscow.

Imperial Courtyard

The former great princes dressed in very luxurious clothes and precious jewelry.

They dressed up in robes and headdresses that served as a sign of the high priesthood and royal greatness: on their head was a miter, shining with pearls and precious stones, in their left hand they held a rich staff, their fingers were decorated with many gold rings, with them on the throne were on the right on the side is the icon of Christ, on the left is the Most Holy Virgin, the Mother of God.

The current king, far from any pomp and majesty regarding his person, also does not like to be distinguished by the splendor of his court and rarely surrounds himself with this excessive crowd of servants.

The king in his capital walks the streets accompanied by two, no more than three or four simple servants; even in the dangerous time of streltsy unrest, only respect for the royal greatness served as protection for the sovereign! (* earlier the author writes about many robbers, a contradiction - note).

“Only God and the great sovereign knows. We owe our health and all our well-being to the great sovereign.”

In Muscovy, the custom has still been preserved to this day of falling prostrate on the ground and thereby declaring one’s honor to the king, who, by accepting this kind of honor, claims greatness equal to the power of the gods.

Many nobles who are called " boyar sons", is on daily duty; but there is no decency in service, no neatness in the servants, and in the severity of morals, alien to any education, and in the nastiness of the servants, the Moscow court differs sharply from all other European courts.

The king does not dine alone, but eats and talks with his advisors, with German officers, with merchants and even with envoys of foreign sovereigns. Muscovites don't like this at all! (*very important hint)

What do Muscovites especially care about?

1. According to the Muscovites, three signs of the fall of Muscovy, predicted by one of their saints, whom the Most High endowed with the ability to see distant events behind the veil of the future, are:

change of faith

change of dress

change of coin

Previously, Muscovites dressed like Tartars (!!! -note) , after that their dress was more elegant, based on the Polish model, but now the clothes of the Muscovites are similar to the Ugric ones.

The rules of religion, which most distinguish them from the faithful of the Catholic Church, are still adhered to by Muscovites today with stubborn superstition. A method of making the sign of the cross, which is almost all their religion consists of.

The coin, minted according to ancient custom, was preserved even while we were in Muscovy; its actual value changed only sometimes to the detriment of public trade.

I think that the above predictions were made by some priest-minded woman in delirium.

It is not without reason that the Moscow priests are afraid of being finally thrown off the wheel of their happiness; they know that they will only reign as long as it is possible for them to keep the mob and people in ignorance and in the darkness of error, nurturing in them a superstitious contempt for science and enlightenment, since development, arousing noble ambition in people, would turn the aspirations of the people towards the best and highest.

2. Other item the diligent cares of Muscovites amounts to protection of strong guards of border places and fortresses.

3. In Muscovy, they prevent the rise of any nobleman whose excessive wealth or power is dangerous for the sovereign. Anyone who boasts of his power or flaunts great wealth is in danger of losing his property and life. Thus, those whose enormous wealth may disturb the sovereign are sent to prison under the pretext of a criminal offense, their property is taken away, and the owners are subject to expulsion or death.

4. The position of the ruler of a region in any part of Muscovy is not for life; this position is corrected for a few years and no more than a three-year period. The short duration of government is considered very useful for the regions, since neither the rulers do not use the power entrusted to them for evil, knowing that in a year they will turn into private people, nor do the inhabitants become overly attached or afraid of those rulers who soon leave office.(*remains of copious rights? -note)

5. Previously, Muscovites were not allowed to leave the domains of their sovereigns for fear that they, having looked closely at the happy life of other lands, would dare to plot a change in the order of things in Muscovy!

And at the present time no one dares to cross the Moscow borders without royal permission or orders.

6. If those who travel abroad on trade business do not return within a certain period of time, then they are expected to lose their property, whip and exile.

7. A very important reinforcement of the royal military forces are the COSSACKS; therefore, the Muscovites, fearing that they would be handed over to the Poles and by their defection would deprive the Moscow troops of their main strength, ingratiate themselves with annual awards and try to keep them loyal with flattering promises. This is because: The Cossacks are a powerful people and surpass the Muscovites in courage and knowledge of military art.

8. For the same reason, through affection, promises, generosity and various artificial means, Muscovites retain the citizenship of neighboring Tatars, Circassians, Nagais, Samoyeds and Tungus. They hardly pay any tribute; on the contrary, they themselves claim annual awards. So, while we were in Moscow, Ayuka, the Kalmyk prince, with 20,000 subjects went over to the Turks.

9. The Moscow tsars were accustomed to separating even their nobles and fostering discord between them. Thus, those separated by mutual hatred and trying to destroy each other can be more successfully oppressed by observing only some decency. The Moscow tsars thus adhere to the old saying: “Disconnect and command!”

10. The tsar, leaving Moscow, never entrusts the supreme power to one person, fearing that he would use it for evil and would not find in it the means to rebel against the sovereign himself, therefore the sovereign appoints many as his governors, and, moreover, those whom he knows about that they live unfriendly among themselves, out of innate disgust.

About the Muscovite faith

In Muscovy there are not even such schools in which Muscovites could study what it is proper and necessary for an adult to know for his salvation!

It would be much more useful and salutary to establish schools, appoint teachers to educate the youth, enlighten the ignorant, and lead lost people from the path of error to the path of true salvation.

“It is truly remarkable how little knowledge of religion Muscovites have and with what pride they disdain to use any science of foreigners.”

“Thus, ashamed to come out of the darkness of ignorance, they obscure the light for their descendants.”

Holidays

“In Russia there are almost as many holidays as there are days in the year!”

On holidays, Muscovites indulge in drunkenness, so when Muscovites celebrate a holiday or, as they say, “hawk moth,” one should always expect a fire.

About the morals of Muscovites

“The entire Moscow people are more subject to slavery than to enjoy freedom; all Muscovites, whatever their rank, without the slightest respect for their personality, are under the yoke of the cruelest slavery.”

When addressing a nobleman, it is necessary to assign diminutive names to oneself, for example, Yakov should sign Yakushka, not Yakov. You must call yourself a serf or the basest, most despicable slave of the Grand Duke and consider all your property, movable and immovable, not your own, but the sovereign's.

The Tsar of Moscow is an excellent exponent of this concept; he makes such use of his fatherland and its citizens that his autocracy, not limited by any limits, by any laws, is clearly reflected, for example, in the complete disposal of the estates of private individuals, as if nature were all for him alone. created.

With such concepts of the Muscovites, let the tsar oppress people created for slavery, let them submit to their fate, who cares!

Since Muscovites are alien to any scientific education, then they cannot have those virtues that ennoble a person.

John Barclay, in his picture of the mental qualities of the Moscow people, writes at great length about the morals of Muscovites:

“This people, created for slavery, hates even the shadow of freedom, this people are meek when they are under oppression, and the very state of slavery is not at all disgusting to them; on the contrary, everyone willingly admits that they are the sovereign’s slaves.”

The sovereign has complete power over their estate, person and life.

The Turks themselves do not express with more disgusting humility their humiliation before the scepter of their Ottomans.

Muscovites also judge other peoples by themselves, and therefore foreigners who arrived in Muscovy by accident or on purpose are subjected to the same yoke and forced to be slaves of their sovereign. And if one of them leaves and is caught, he is punished as a fugitive.

The nobles, although they themselves are slaves, treat with unbearable pride the inferiors and commoners, who are usually called, out of contempt for them, black people and Christians.

“Since Muscovites are deprived of any good rules, then, in their opinion, deception serves as proof of great intelligence.”

“They are not at all ashamed of lies, discovered deceit.”

“The seeds of true virtue are so alien to this country that even vice itself is glorified among them as a virtue.”

Between a lot of worthless grass, useful plants also grow, but there are few of them, among others, stagnant in ignorance and vices. Muscovites for the most part are uneducated, weak and dull in mind; they sometimes, with their mouths open and their eyes wide, look at foreigners with such curiosity that they do not even remember themselves from surprise.

“Memorizing by heart some of the rules of their faith is among Muscovites the most highest degree education"!

Exercise in the liberal sciences is rejected by Muscovites as an unnecessary effort for young people, philosophy is prohibited, astronomers, disgraced by the name of sorcerers, were often punished by court sentences!

The astronomer Vogt in his “Mesyatseslov” predicted a rebellion in Muscovy with a sentence:

“Moskau wird seinem Ungltick auch nicht entgehen”, “Moscow, too, will not escape its misfortune,” for which he incurred blasphemy and the import of this calendar into Muscovy is prohibited.

Muscovites consider astronomy to be a godless science based on intercourse with unclean spirits, and the fact that astronomers predict the future, the knowledge of which is incomprehensible to the minds of mortals, is considered a prediction and announcement of demons!

The Muscovites have a different way, unlike other peoples, of counting and depicting numbers: for this they use a board containing several rows of grains.

Although Muscovites have no knowledge of music, musical harmony captivates them.

Muscovites like foreign artists only as long as they play, but as soon as they satisfy them with their performance, stinginess immediately awakens in the patrons of these artists, and Muscovites will never agree to buy pleasure.

In Muscovy, the usual occupations of people of the nobility are not in use; they do not engage in dressage, fencing, dancing or any other arts. Muscovites do not value anything like that.

Unbaptized Jews cannot live in Muscovy, because, as the Muscovites say, it would be strange if those, the Muscovites, differed in religion from those whose morals and behavior reveal no less remarkable cunning and ability to deceive.

It is unclear what exactly constitutes main feature character of this people: cruelty, intemperance, or debauchery?(* and we are still surprised at the current attitude of the West towards us - ed.)

Since fornication, adultery and similar depravity exist in Muscovy beyond all possible dimensions, and hardly even the laws determine any punishment for a crime of this kind!

One governor once said to some captain, sentenced to death for an illicit relationship with his eight-year-old daughter: “Why didn’t you look for the satisfaction of your whims on the side? After all, you would have as many prostitutes and libertines as you would pay in kopecks and altyns.”

By law, in Muscovy, slaves can be those who are captured or come from a slave family. There are also those who sell themselves and become slaves, because they are accustomed to slavery! But even free people who work for pay cannot at will step away from your masters.

The power of the father in Muscovy is considerable and very burdensome for the son, whom the law allows the father to sell four times: this means that if the father sells his son once, and he, in some way, frees himself or receives freedom from his master, then the father can again sell under the right of a parent and then can even make the same sale again; but after the fourth sale the father loses all rights over his son.

“Muscovites cannot stand freedom, and it seems that they themselves are even ready to resist their own happiness, since this people is not created for the aforementioned happiness and is unlikely to allow the sovereign’s intelligent and pious care for his kingdoms and his subjects to be crowned with complete success.” .

It is almost incredible what is said about the patience of this people in enduring the most exquisite torments.

“A Muscovite values ​​friendship only based on profit”!

Here's a diary...

After reading which you begin to understand what exactly caused the anger of the Muscovites, and why did they demand that the book be banned, not only in Muscovy, but also in the West.

The terrible Slavery of the Muscovites is the basis of their life! But they understand it, they adore it, and they just can’t imagine themselves without it.

To be soulless property, an eternal slave, the basest, most despicable slave of a king or master - this is the eternal happiness of a Muscovite.

There is no law in Muscovy, there is only corruption, and the saying: “If you want good in court, add silver” perfectly defines the place of law in Muscovy.

The absence of not only the institution of law but also the institution of property leaves no place in the consciousness of a Muscovite for traditional European, civilized values, such as freedom.

In fact, any vice in a civilized society is celebrated among Muscovites as a virtue!

The greatest honesty of the Muscovites is considered to be: Deception, Lies, Trickery - and they are not ashamed of them, but honor them as a great skill!

Fornication, adultery and similar depravity exist in Muscovy beyond all possible dimensions, and there are not even laws capable of determining the punishment for a crime of this kind.

Has something changed in 300 years?

Prepared from the article http://fakeoff.org/history/puteshestvie-na-moskoviyu

For those who want to familiarize themselves with the book, this opportunity is also available in Russian: Diary of a trip to the Muscovite state of Ignatius Christopher Guarient.

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Johann Georg Korb

Johann Georg Korb crossed the Russian border on March 24, 1698, and left Muscovy sixteen months later, on July 28, 1699. Korb then held the position of secretary of the embassy sent by the Roman Caesar Leopold I to Peter the Great after they concluded a military alliance against the Turks in 1697. Throughout the trip, the Austrian diplomat kept a diary, where he recorded his impressions of what he saw. Two years after returning to Vienna, he published this diary.

Russian coins, monasteries, holidays, public administration, fertility, soil and climate properties, a list of ships of the royal fleet - the range of interests of Korb, an educated, inquisitive and, importantly, observant man, turned out to be very wide. Thus, having devoted several pages to discussions “On female splendor,” he came to the conclusion: “Women in Muscovy have an elegant appearance and a beautiful face, but their natural beauty is spoiled by useless blush. Since the shapes of Moscow women are not constrained by a narrow dress, but can freely expand as they please, it is not always possible to find that slender and proportionate figure that other European women have.”

Equally thoroughly and leisurely, the secretary of the Austrian embassy talks about the winter cold, about the clothes of commoners, about the people’s favorite foods, about the wealth of the boyars, etc. However, first of all, his attention is attracted by the state structure of Russia, its armed forces and, of course, the extraordinary figure of the young tsar, who has just returned from his first trip abroad. About Peter Korb writes: “The current sovereign prefers the art of war, fiery fun, the roar of cannons, the construction of ships, the dangers of the sea and outstanding feats to achieve glory to any pleasant entertainment. He held military positions, starting from the lowest level, and no sooner did he want to sit on his grandfather’s throne and achieve the highest power, than to pass through all military ranks with commendable zeal until the final honorary title of Voivode. To such an extent he considers it honorable to first earn an honorable position and then take it.”

Separate chapters of the book are devoted to descriptions of Russian infantry, cavalry, cannon work, and even military music. Having witnessed the very initial stage of Peter’s formation of a regular army, Korb had a very low assessment of the military capabilities of the Russians. According to him, “if the Muscovites were as strong in their strength, courage and military experience as they are in numbers, physical strength and endurance for work, then their neighbors would have reason to fear them; but due to their lack of understanding and habit of slavery, they do not strive for great things and do not achieve them.”

A special section also includes notes made by Korb during the days of the massacre of participants in the Streltsy uprising that shocked him. Mass executions of rebels continued throughout October 1698. Korb attended them as a spectator along with other diplomats who were then in Moscow. So, on October 10, he noted: “There were not enough executioners for the guilty. Some of the officers, forced to do so by the royal order, came to their aid. The accused were neither bound nor shackled. They had pads attached to their shoes, which interfered with the speed of their feet by mutual collision, but, nevertheless, did not interfere with their normal activities. With voluntary efforts they climbed the stairs to the crossbar and, making the sign of the cross to the four cardinal directions, covered their own eyes and face (this is the custom of this people). Many, having put a noose around their necks, rushed headlong from the stage, wanting to hasten their end by hanging. In total, they counted two hundred and thirty people who atoned for their shame with a noose and hanging.” A few days later, his attention was drawn to other terrible details of the execution: “The executioner broke off the extremities of two brothers, accused of evil intent, and then they were tied alive to a wheel and

they looked with envy at their brother, who was among twenty others who were beheaded with an ax and stained with their own blood; the living brothers were indignant in a whisper that a quicker kind of death had torn away from them a person united with them first of all by the bonds of nature, and then by a shameful attachment to crime. Not far from the Novodevichy Convent, thirty gallows were erected in the form of a square, on which two hundred and thirty archers were hanged, and three instigators of the disastrous unrest, who, having submitted a petition to Sophia, invited her to rule the state, were hanged at the walls of the said monastery at the very window of Sophia’s cell; hanging in the middle between them held a paper folded like a petition and tied to his dead hands; This was probably done so that the consciousness of the past would torment Sophia with constant remorse.” However, Korbu had to endure the most severe shock on October 27: “Three hundred and thirty people were taken out together at once for a mortal blow with an ax and stained the entire plain with criminal blood. All boyars, senators of the kingdom, Duma and clerks were, by royal decree, called to Preobrazhenskoye, where they were ordered to serve as executioner. Everyone, approaching a new and unusual position with trembling hands, tried to strike the right blow. The boyar who acted most unsuccessfully was the one who, having missed, plunged his sword into the back instead of the neck and, thus cutting the archer almost in half, would have increased his suffering to the point of unbearability, but Aleksashka Menshikov more successfully cut off the neck of the unfortunate convict. The king, sitting in a chair, looked at the whole tragedy.”

The publication of Korb's diary caused outrage in Moscow. At the insistence of the Russian government, the Viennese court, although not immediately, banned the sale of the book and prevented its republication. “This ban turned out to be so ill-fated,” wrote historian A.I. in 1906. Malein, who was the first to completely translate Korb’s work into Russian, says that this book has never been reprinted and is now considered one of the greatest bibliographic rarities.” Particularly valuable are copies with a complete set of illustrations. The copy presented by Bibliochronika contains all 19 engravings, including the most famous and almost never seen - “The Execution of Streltsy”.

Korb Johann Georgio (1670-1741)
Diarium Itineris in Moscouiam Perillusstris ac Magnifici Domini Ignatii Christophori Nobilis Domini de Guarient, & Rail, Sacri Romani Imperii, & Regni Hungariae Equitis, Sacrae Caesareae Majestatis Consiliarii Aulico-Bellici A V Augustissimo, & Invietissimo Romanorum Imperatore Leopoldo LAD Serenissimum, ac Potentissimum Tzarum, & Magnum Moscoviae Du cem Petrum Alexiowicium Anno M DCXCVIII. Ablegati Extraordinary Descriptium A Joanne Georgio Korb, p.t. Secretario Ablegationis Caesarae. Acsessit Reditus Suae Tzareae Majestatis a Provinciis Europaeis ad proprios limites periculosae Rebellionis Streliziorum, & latae in eosdem sententiae cum subsecuta sanguinea Executione, nec non praecipuarum Moscoviae rerum compendiosa, & accurate descriptio &c. Cum Privilegio Sacr& Casare& Majestatis. Viennae Austriae, Typis Leopoldi Voigt, Universit. Typog.<Дневник путешествия в Московию Преславного и Вельможного Господина Игнатия Христофора знатного господина де Гвариент и Ралл Священной Римской Империи и Королевства Венгерского Кавалера, Священного Цесарского Величества Советника Надворно-Военного от Августейшего и Непобедимейшего Римского Императора Леопольда I к пресветлейшему и Державнейшему Царю и Великому Князю Московии Петру Алексеевичу в 1698 году Чрезвычайного посла ведённый Иоганном Георгием Корбом, в то время Секретарём Цесарского Посольства. Прибавлено сжатое и точное описание Возвращения Его Царского Величества из Европейских Стран в собственные пределы, опасного Мятежа Стрельцов и произнесённого против них приговора с воспоследовавшей кровавой Расправой, а также выдающихся черт из быта Московии и т.д. С Привилегией Священного Цесарского Величества.>Vienna: Printing house of Leopold Vogt, university printer, 1700. 252 pp., 19 pp. illustrations - engravings with a chisel. Bound late XIX century with gold-embossed author's name and title. 28.5x18.5 cm. On the reverse side of the title page. owner's mark in “nutty” ink: “Liber rarissimus” - “ Rare book"(Latin).