Russia’s first Emperor taxed beards, brought manners to Moscow, and made the Ukraine part of his Empire…
When he left Russia for the first time in 1697, embarking on his Grand Embassy to Europe to find allies against the Turkish sultan and the Crimean khanates of the Ukraine, Peter the Great, czar and first Russian emperor, could hardly predict the impact this voyage would have on his country.
A fascinating and contradictory figure who has puzzled historians since Voltaire, this sixfoot- seven enlightened reformer who enjoyed the company of drunken assemblies and sentenced his eldest son to death is above all remembered for single-handedly transforming the medieval kingdom of Muscovy into a westernised European empire.
Famously carrying a seal with the inscription, “I am a student and I seek teachers”, his diplomatic delegation turned into a voyage of discovery and set before his eyes the extent to which Russia, then perceived as a barbaric Asiatic backwater, differed from the West.
Life in Amsterdam, London, Dresden and Vienna inspired reforms ranging from culture to manners and fine arts; embracing education, printing and even language, while deeply affecting both the military establishment and the country’s architectural development.
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Russia’s first Emperor taxed beards, brought manners to Moscow, and made the Ukraine part of his Empire…
When he left Russia for the first time in 1697, embarking on his Grand Embassy to Europe to find allies against the Turkish sultan and the Crimean khanates of the Ukraine, Peter the Great, czar and first Russian emperor, could hardly predict the impact this voyage would have on his country.
