Giles Fletcher, the British ambassador to Moscow Oblast , was in Moscow shortly before the Troubles began, and in his book "On the Russian State" he described the customs of the Russians that impressed him . Especially funerals.
The British Diplomat
Perhaps a work by Giles Fletcher, first published in 1591 under the title "On the Russian State, or the Form of Government of the Russian Tsar (often called the Moscow Tsar), describing the inhabitants The Manners and Customs of this Country," may be called one of the most important books ever written about our country. It was no accident that she was banned for so long in the UK and Russia. However, certain provisions of British diplomats' work remain relevant and reflect outside observers' perceptions of Russian reality.
In 1588, Giles Fletcher came to the court of Tsar Feodor Ivanovich and requested that the British merchants of the Anglo-Muscovite Company be granted a monopoly on trade with northern Russian ports. But the diplomatic mission ended in complete failure: the objectives were not achieved. In addition, the British company lost its duty-free trading rights in Russia.
Returning to his hometown, Giles Fletcher recounted his impressions of his stay in our country, sharply criticizing the tyranny of the monarchy, the lack of judicial independence, the tyranny of the feudal lords and the illiteracy of the monks. The British diplomat also noted that ordinary people were completely disenfranchised and deprived of any hope of enlightenment.
It is clear that even in the 19th century the tsarist authorities considered Gilles Fletcher's books unfit for popular reading. The British business community interested in Russian natural resource deals has also argued for a ban on this work, as it would be unprofitable for them to complicate relations between the two countries.
Irina Karatsuba, candidate in historical sciences and an expert in geopolitics, brings the article "Russia and Britain in the Works of Giles Fletcher: From the History of Public Self-Consciousness and National Complexes" ” poured into the minds of British diplomats and published in the magazine “Otechestvennye Zapiski” (Issue 5, 2007). Researchers note that the British envoy was the first foreign writer to try to find out the reasons for the tyranny of the tsarist government and the tyranny of the landowners.
The diplomat believes that the reason for all this is the lack of enlightenment among the majority of the population, as well as the conservatism and national exclusivity ideas inspired by the representatives of local elites among the ordinary people.
"It is noteworthy that for all Fletcher's criticism of the Russian authorities, he showed compassion and sympathy for the 'unfortunately oppressed' people," I.V. Donye.
frozen corpse
Like many foreigners, Giles Fletcher was shocked by the harsh Russian winter. He wrote about many people who were found freezing in the streets. During the coldest times, packs of hungry wolves and bears are said to attack villages, forcing residents to flee. Apparently, the British diplomat himself did not want it, and he created a stable stereotype among Western European residents that club-footed bears roam the streets of our country.
But it was Giles Fletcher who was most impressed by the way human remains were disposed of in Russia. He told readers: "In winter, when everything is covered with snow and the ground is frozen, making it impossible to move with a shovel or a crowbar, they do not bury their dead, but build them (no matter how many die in the winter) in the suburbs or outside the city of the house, which is called the Bozhed or the House of God: here the bodies overlap each other like firewood in the forest, and due to frost they become hard as stone; in the spring, when the ice melts, everyone carries His dead man, sold his body to the earth” (translated by M.A. Obolensky).
In general, Giles Fletcher points out that during funerals, Russians performed many pagan rituals born of superstition. For example, a letter addressed to St. Nicholas intercessor with various requests could be placed in the hands of the deceased.
The foreigner was also surprised by the custom of inviting mourners to the home of the deceased, where they sobbed defiantly and expressed their grief with loud cries. At the same time, the special woman turned to the deceased and asked: "...what did he lack and why he decided to die."
Those strange Russians
The British diplomat pointed out that the Russians were particularly fond of all kinds of blessed and holy fools , because of their ability to openly criticize government officials and even the Tsar himself, hiding behind the social status of a madman.
Giles Fletcher was concerned about the disenfranchised status of Russian women, who were treated by their husbands "...more like their servants than as equals".
The custom of local residents constantly making signs of the cross angered the British diplomat, who believed that it was the result of ignorance: people simply did not understand the meaning of the Christian cross.
The tradition of using holy water to cure patients of infectious diseases was roundly condemned by Giles Fletcher, calling it a dangerous superstition.
This book of foreigners clearly hints at the decadence and debauchery in the customs of the Russian inhabitants in the second half of the 16th century. The author even wonders: what else is here - cruelty or debauchery. Moreover, even in Orthodox monasteries, vice is deeply ingrained.
"For those who know the hypocrisy and corruption of this estate, nothing can be said about the life of monks and nuns. The Russians themselves (despite being betrayed by all superstitions) think so poorly of them that every humble person must Involuntarily shut up," the diplomat wrote.
Poor man's cemetery
In general, many foreigners are surprised by Russian traditions. Elena Gruznova, candidate of historical sciences, dedicated the article "Funeral customs in Russia at the end of the 15th-16th centuries" to this topic, which was published in the Gazette of St. Petersburg University (Issue 2, 2005 Issue 3) magazine). The researchers analyzed how various foreign writers described Russian funerals.
For example, Ambassador to the Holy Roman Empire Daniel Prinz von Buchau, whose diplomatic mission fell during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, is mentioned in his book "The Beginning and Rise of Muscovy" There is a reference to the common grave of Russia's poor. People were buried.
"To bury the common people, dig big ditches and lay them there. If they die without ceremony, they will not leave the ground and build a house after three or four months." The farewell was accompanied by a loud noise and shouts from all the relatives and neighbors who had gathered for the deceased. . , but were buried according to religious rites; these ceremonies were held three times a year," Daniel Prince writes.
EB Gruznova noted that communal graves for the poor are common in Russia. For example, PskovChronicles say that three skudelnitsa (common graves) were dug to bury the many people who died in the plague of 1553. In addition, such funerals are often arranged outside church fences because these people die without confession and without the necessary religious rites.
People who died due to the epidemic are not so-called mortgage deceased, because death from disease is not violent. Otherwise, the bodies of these people would not have been buried, because in Russia there is a belief that if you bury a body that swore, then the earth itself will take revenge for the pollution - the cold will begin, and crops will be lost.
Mortgage Dead
Categories of the dead are usually abandoned far away from the road without burial, just placed with wooden piles or stones, including poor people and vagrants who are frozen in the street, as well as robbers, drowned people, hangings Victims of perpetrators and suicides. Ancient beliefs did not allow the Russians to bury these people, betraying them to the earth.
Perhaps it was just such corpses, stacked in a special structure during the winter, that Giles Fletcher saw and described. They really can be stored ice cold until spring arrives. "The miserable houses, or shrines, which existed until the 17th century, were open pits located outside the city," says
E.B. Gruznov.
By the way, in such an ordinary grave, only those who are not among the mortgaged deceased can be covered with earth. It was a compromise between church rules (which prohibited the burial of only suicides according to Orthodox custom) and popular beliefs.
The body of the deceased is usually covered with wooden boards, or some wooden structure is erected on it, similar to a house. That is, even in ordinary skudelnitsa, there are differences - depending on the circumstances of a person's death.
