The history of Russia has many terms and events, the description of which causes difficulties for schoolchildren. One of these concepts is the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which in the 17th-18th centuries served as a detective and governing body.
The complexity of the issue lies in the fact that the term "order" over the past century has changed its meaning. For this reason, many schoolchildren are lost when they receive the task: “Uncover the meaning of concepts. Transfiguration order - what is it? In this situation, the grossest mistake is to try to answer the question in modern language.
Is the term "order" a requirement or an authority?
To find out the meaning of the concept of "Preobrazhensky Prikaz" and find out the role it played in the formation of the Russian Empire, you need to understand the origin of the term "order" itself. A modern explanatory dictionary explains this word as follows: "an order subject to strict execution." However, this wording has come into use relatively recently. In Russia, starting from the end of the 15th century,The order was called the central authorities responsible for a certain part of state concerns. Thus, Prince Ivan III, having completed the unification of the disparate Slavic principalities, transformed the system of government in Russia, transferring executive powers to orders - the prototypes of modern ministries. Posolsky order, Local, Yamskoy, Pushkarsky… With each new prince or tsar, the system was supplemented, but until Peter I it never ceased to exist.
The appearance of the Preobrazhensky order
This authority owes its appearance to two small villages near Moscow - Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky, where in 1682 the infant Tsar Peter and his mother were exiled. All power was concentrated in the hands of the regent - Princess Sophia, and two "amusing" regiments were allocated for Peter's amusements. Management of all the economic and other issues of these regiments was transferred to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, specially created for this purpose.
However, over time, as young Peter began to participate in the government of the country, this "amusing" order changed its meaning. The followers of young Peter rallied around him, he developed plans for the first serious reforms, discussed the need for military campaigns against Turkey. Pyotr Alekseevich put one of his closest friends, Prince Fyodor Yuryevich Romodanovsky, in charge of the order.
The first serious cases of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz
In 1689, Princess Sophia made an attempt to seize full power and become queen. Hersupported the archery regiments stationed in Moscow. Amusing regiments, led by Prince Romodanovsky, were forced to engage in their first serious battle and won. Sophia was exiled to the Novodevichy Convent, and the Preobrazhensky Prikaz turned from a small economic organization into one of the main bodies of state power. He was in charge of maintaining order in Moscow, investigating political crimes, in 1698 he was granted the exclusive right to judge any crimes against the tsar or the tsarist government.
It is to this powerful organization that the reign of Peter I owes several suppressed riots, the persecution of Peter's political opponents and bloody executions. The very concept of "Preobrazhensky order" has become a household word, for many years people have been associated with terrible torture chambers and cruel reprisals.
However, in fact, the functions of this order were much wider: until the creation of the Senate in 1711, it was the main governing body of the country during the absence of the king. For example, during the participation of Peter I in the Great Embassy to Europe, it was the Preobrazhensky Order that de alt with all internal problems.
The role of the Preobrazhensky order in the suppression of the streltsy uprising
One of the most serious cases in which the subordinates of Prince Romodanovsky had a chance to participate was the Streltsy uprising of 1698. The regiments sent (instead of the promised rest) to serve in Velikie Luki refused to follow orders. And moved to freePrincess Sophia - who, unlike Peter, "was affectionate with them." The Streltsy uprising was brutally suppressed. At the behest of Peter, more than 300 archers were arrested and taken for interrogation to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz. The significance of this event for the development of Russia was enormous: it was after the rebellion of 1698 that the streltsy army was disbanded and ceased to exist forever.
Across the country there was a search for sympathizers of the archers. Many of the participants in this uprising perished in the dungeons of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, and even more were publicly executed on Red Square as a warning to the rest. This tragic event was captured by Vasily Surikov in his painting "Morning of the Streltsy Execution".
The era of the formation of the empire
In subsequent years, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz increasingly became the central detective and judicial body. Since 1702, they began to interrogate here everyone who "spoke the sovereign's word behind himself" (that is, had information about an impending conspiracy or seditious conversations).
In 1718, the Secret Chancellery was created in St. Petersburg, which received the functions of the Preobrazhensky order in the north of the country, and a few years later both of these organizations merged into one. It was here, in the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the Secret Chancellery was located, that the case of Tsarevich Alexei, the son of Peter I, who was accused of treason, was conducted. Interrogation methods involving torture were not changed even for Aleksey Petrovich, and a guilty verdict was soon issued. However, the heir to the throne did not live to see the execution: on June 26, he was found in hiscell dead.
The last years of the Preobrazhensky Prikaz
Throughout the Petrine era, the Preobrazhensky order was the main pillar of royal power. Its powers expanded, the name changed: for example, in 1702 the organization temporarily became known as the "General Court". By the end of the reign of Peter I, this order had the authority to search for and try political criminals, investigate criminal cases, carry out executions, and even control the sale of tobacco. Fyodor Romodanovsky was replaced by his son, Ivan Romodanovsky, Andrey Ushakov was put in charge of the criminal investigation.
The brainchild of Peter began to lose its significance only after his death. Catherine I renamed the organization into the Preobrazhensky Chancellery, retaining most of its powers. And in 1729, Emperor Peter II finally abolished this authority, dismissing its chief and transferring all affairs to the Senate and the Supreme Council.
