"For Love and Fatherland: Early Modern Patronage Politics and the Origins of Russia’s First Female Order of Chivalry"

Ernest Zitser

Igor Fedyukin

282 Views41 Pages

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More Info: With Ernst A. Zitser

Journal Name: Cahiers du Monde russe 52/1, Janvier-mars 2011

Catherine II as Female Ruler: The Power of Enlightened Womanhood

The Princess & the Patriot: Ekaterina Dashkova, Benjamin Franklin, and the Age of Enlightenment

Marcus Levitt

2006, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society

432 Views143 Pages

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Autobiographical Self-Representation,

Benjamin Franklin,

Ekaterina Dashkova

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Contains: Marcus C. Levitt, “Virtue Must Advertise: Dashkova's 'Mon histoire' and the Problem of Self-Representation,” The Princess and the Patriot: Ekaterina Dashkova, Benjamin Franklin, and the Age of Enlightenment, edited by Sue Ann Prince. (Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 96, Part 1.) Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2006, pp. 39-56.

The Petrine Instauration: Religion, Esotericism and Science at the Court of Peter the Great, 1689-1725

Robert Collis

Published 2015

1739 ViewsPaperRank: 4.8596 Pages

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History,

Cultural History,

Early Modern History,

History of Science,

Eighteenth Century History

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The reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725) was marked by an unprecedented wave of reform in Russia. This book provides an innovative reappraisal of the Petrine Age, in which hitherto neglected aspects of the tsar’s transformation of his country are studied. More specifically, the reforms enacted by the tsar are assessed in light of the religious notion of instauration – a belief in the restoration of Adamic knowledge in the last age – and a historical and cultural analysis of the impact of Western esotericism at the Russian court. This book will appeal to scholars of Russian history and religion, as well as being of wider interest to those studying Western esotericism in Early Modern Europe.

8. Bureaucracy and Knowledge Creation: The Apothecary Chancery
Clare Griffin

In 1628, physicians in the Russian palace’s medical department were presented with a root, and ordered to give their opinion on it. The root in question had been taken as evidence in a witchcraft case, as possession of herbs and roots was commonly seen as evidence of malefic magic

A Mason-Tsar?: Freemasonry and Fraternalism at the Court of Peter the Great

Ernest Zitser

2009, Freemasonry and Fraternalism in Eighteenth-Century Russia

1500 Views140 Pages

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Early Modern History,

Eighteenth Century History,

Nobility,

Russian History,

Russian Intellectual History

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In: Freemasonry and Fraternalism in Eighteenth-Century Russia [Sheffield Lectures on The History of Freemasonry and Fraternalism. Vol.2], Edited by Andreas Önnerfors & Robert Collins (University of Sheffield: Centre for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism, University of Sheffield, UK, 2009), 7-32.

Freemasonry and fraternalism in eighteenth-century Russia

Andreas J Önnerfors

Robert Collis

Published 2009

1733 Views140 Pages

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Russian Studies,

Eighteenth Century History,

Freemasonry

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Publisher: … of Sheffield, Centre for Research into …

Publication Date: Jan 1, 2009

Freemasonry and the Occult at the Court of Peter the Great

Robert Collis

2006, Aries

996 ViewsPaperRank: 1.726 Pages

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Russian History,

Freemasonry,

Research into Freemasonry,

Western Esotericism (History),

History of Freemasonry

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More Info: Published in Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism, 6:1 (2006), pp. 1-26.

Publisher: ingentaconnect.com

Publication Date: Jan 1, 2006

Publication Name: Aries

Review, Faggionato, A Rosicrucian Utopia in Eighteenth-Century Russia.pdf

Konstantin Burmistrov

432 Views10 Pages

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Russian Philosophy,

Russian History,

History of Freemasonry

[Review] Raffaella Faggionato, A Rosicrucian Utopia in Eighteenth-Century Russia: The Masonic Circle of N.I. Novikov, Dordrecht: Springer 2005 // Aries. 9:1 (Leiden: Brill, 2009), p. 101-110.

Mystical Enlightenment in Late Eighteenth-century Russia

 (PhD Thesis 2017)

Andreas Berg

Published 2017

380 Pages

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THESIS ABSTRACT

This thesis will examine the thought of G.S. Skovoroda (1722-1796), M.M.Kheraskov (1733-1807) and I.V. Lopukhin (1756-1816) as constitutive of a Mystical Enlightenment in Russia. Anglophone, and to a lesser extent, Russian literature has often conceived of the Russian Enlightenment as a single project of predominantly rational orientation. However, increasing attention to the presence of multiple Enlightenments in Western Europe and of the importance of religious debates in the formation of various reform movements, necessitate a reconsideration in the role of spirituality in Eighteenth-century Russia. For this reason, this thesis contributes to the recent re-evaluation of the ways in which Russia appropriated foreign discourses, and provides thereby a more detailed account of the extent to which mysticism was able to radically redefine religious, personal and ethical organisational forms. Specifically, this thesis offers an analysis of normative arguments based on three inter-linked concepts of ecclesia, personhood and ascetic ethics. These were the constitutive elements of a sustained mystical critique of the Russian Polizeistaat

 
. By means of a close reading of a select number of primary sources, this thesis provides an explanation of why mysticism had such a strong mobilizational capacity in comparison to more rational discourses in late Eighteenth-century Russia. By doing so, the thesis demonstrates how Eighteenth and early Nineteenth-century mystical writers were able to successfully orient the mind towards rational worldly action. From this analysis, a more complete picture emerges of how religiously-minded thinkers in Russia grappled with the imperative to rethink and rejustify their commitments to important worldly institutions, concepts and practices. I have, almost exclusively, focused on ideas rather than on their context. Because of this, broader social ramifications of mysticism have not been explored in this thesis. Future research needs to consult Russian archival material in order to remedy this. Hopefully, however, my research offers fresh perspectives on the trajectories of Enlightenment in Russia and raises a range of issues for further examination and debate

‘The Petersburg Crucible: Alchemy and the Russian Nobility in Catherine the Great’s Russia’

Robert Collis

961 Views44 Pages

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Eighteenth Century History,

Alchemy,

Russian History,

Western Esotericism (History),

18th Century Russia

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"This article studies the cultural significance of alchemy among the Russian nobility in St. Petersburg during the reign of Catherine the Great. It is argued that Catherine the Great perceived alchemy as a Western practice promoted by foreign charlatans and by mystically-inclined Freemasons, which threatened to undermine the foundations of her vision of Russia being a beacon of reason and enlightenment. The first section of this paper concentrates on Petr Ivanovich Melissino and examines the manner in which this prominent Russian aristocrat incorporated alchemy as a core component of his seven-grade Masonic Rite. The high-grade system came to prominence in St. Petersburg in the mid 1760s and it is argued that it acted as a focus for Russian and European aristocrats. The second part of this article studies the impact on the Russian nobility of the visit of Cagliostro to St. Petersburg between 1779 and 1780. This section includes an in-depth examination of the empress’s personal response to Cagliostro’s visit, which included a series of remarkable letters to Grigorii Potemkin. The final part of this article studies the public response of Catherine to the attraction of alchemy among her nobility in the 1780s, via the medium of theatrical comedies."

The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

Peter J Piaseckyj

2006, The Origins of the Slavic Nations: Premodern Identities in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus

1059 ViewsPaperRank: 3.7400 Pages

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Ukrainian History

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I have been reading the History of Eurasia and Central/Eastern Europe for the last 60 years. I have to say that when reading the history of Eastern Europe, it is very difficult to follow the history of any one nation in a linear fashion. This is the best book written on this topic by any historian and believe me I think I have read most of them. The first problem are the histories written by the victors and then histories written by the defeated. Second there is the problem of countries popping up and then disappearing and then popping up and so forth ad nauseum. Third is the problem of multi-national empires. Fourth there are Nations without political borders or a National ruling elite. Fifth the National Elites change their national allegiances. Ultimately we have the book written by Prof. Plokhy and finally all is clear!

Cossack Ukraine In and Out of Ottoman Orbit, 1648 1681

Victor Ostapchuk
The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Boston and New York: Brill, 2013)
34 Pages
Publication Name: The European Tributary States of the Ottoman Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Boston and New York: Brill, 2013)

In the Shadows of Poland and Russia: the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden in the European Crisis of the mid-17th Century. PhD dissertation. Södertörn University, 2006, 347 pp.

Andrej Kotljarchuk

361 Pages

https://tinyurl.com/ycke6477             

This book examines and analyses the Union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Sweden signed in 1655 at Kėdainiai and the political crisis that followed. The union was a result of strong separatist dreams among the Lithuanian-Ruthenian Protestant elite led by the Radziwiłł family, and if implemented it would radically change the balance of power in the Baltic Sea region. The main legal point of the Union was the breach of Lithuanian federation with Poland and the establishment of a federation with Sweden. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania aspired to return to international relations as a self-governing subject. The Union meant a new Scandinavian alternative to Polish and Russian domination. The author places the events in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the general crisis that occurred in Europe in the middle of the 17th century characterized by a great number of wars, rebellions and civil wars from Portugal to Ukraine, and which builds the background to the crisis for Lithuania and Sweden. The research proved the importance of lesser powers in changing the geopolitical balance between the Great Powers. The conflict over Lithuania and Belarus was the main reason for the Swedish-Russian, Polish-Russian and Ukrainian-Russian wars. The failure of the Union with Sweden was caused by both internal and external factors. Internally, various ethnic, confessional and political groups within the nobility of Lithuania were split in favour of different foreign powers – from Muscovy to Transylvania. The external cause for the failure of the Union project was the failure of Swedish strategy. Sweden concentrated its activity to Poland, not to Lithuania. After the Union, Swedish authorities treated the Grand Duchy as an invaded country, not an equal. The Swedish administration introduced heavy taxation and was unable to control the brutality of the army. As a result Sweden was defeated in both Lithuania and Poland. Among the different economic, political and religious explanations of the general crisis, the case of Lithuania shows the importance of the political conflicts. For the separatists of Lithuania the main motive to turn against Poland and to promote alliance with Sweden, Russia or the Cossacks was the inability of Poland to shield the Grand Duchy from a Russian invasion.The Lithuanian case was a provincial rebellion led by the native nobility against their monarch, based on tradition of the previous independence and statehood period. It was not nationalism in its modern meaning, but instead a … View full abstract

“Russia’s First ‘Orient’: Catherine in the Crimea, 1787.”

Sara Dickinson

2002, Kritika 3.1, pp. 3-25

514 ViewsPaperRank: 2.324 Pages

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Russian Studies,

Russian Literature,

Travel Writing,

Women's travel narratives,

Literary Geography

 

Russian culture discovered its first “Orient” in the late 18th century when Catherine II extended the boundaries of her empire to Southern Ukraine and the Crimea. While Russians had interacted for centuries with their Asiatic neighbors, they had not systematically characterized them as Oriental “others” until Catherine’s reign. The 1783 conquest of new territory on the shores of the Black Sea, which coincided with the rising popularity of Oriental fashions in West European literature and culture, provided an opportunity to do so. Accordingly, these southern borderlands were the first landscapes in the empire to be elaborately imagined according to the Western parameters of Oriental stylization. An especially powerful stimulus to representations of the Crimea as an “Eastern” or “Oriental” territory was Catherine II’s trip to the Crimea in 1787. Commentary on the journey, written by the empress herself, members of her entourage, and her various correspondents, illustrates the initiatory formulation of an exotic Crimean imaginary -- a year before Byron’s birth and 12 years before Pushkin’s. This was not yet the full-fledged Orientalism of Said’s classic model and thus, though there is a direct link between Catherinian descriptions of the Crimea and later Orientalist characterizations of the Caucasus, Russia’s encounter with the Crimea is better described as a preliminary process of “otherization”: the production and circulation of images and stereotypes that expressed the region’s “otherness” or ontological difference from the norms of the dominant culture, in this case those of Western Europe. Not surprisingly, initial forays into Orientalist literary discourse were complicated by the fact that Catherine’s empire was hardly a typical Western power at all: geographically, politically, and culturally defined by its position on Europe’s periphery, Russia itself had often been cast in the role of the West’s Oriental other. The annexation of the Crimea provided a welcome opportunity for Russia to more assertively claim the status of a Western-style empire, the rhetorical construction of Russia’s first Orient ultimately providing compelling evidence of Russia’s Western pedigree.

The Imperial Roots of Soviet Orientology
David Schimmelpenninck van der Oye 

(Brock University)

Geography has made Russia intimately familiar with the East from its very beginnings.

The caches of Near Eastern coins dating from as early as the eighth century found on its lands testify to a lively Slav intercourse with the Orient even before the rise of Kievan Rus. Commerce, conflict and intermarriage continued to characterise Russia’s relations with its Asian neighbours on the Steppe and beyond after its conversion to Christianity in988. However, the sparse literature about the East that survived the medieval era was strongly influenced by the mother church in Constantinople. Monastic chronicles and other texts tended to caricature Asians as a sinister other, more in keeping with Byzantine anti-Islamic polemics than physical contact.

There were exceptions. “The Journey beyond Three Seas”, the fifteenth-century merchant Afanasii Nikitin’s account of his travels to India, portrayed the subcontinent and its Muslim overlords in a relatively objective light. Nikitin’s “Journey” suggests that the Russian laity did not necessarily share their church’s hostility to the non-Christian East. Moreover, since Russians developed a sense of national identity relatively late, their sense of race tended to be much weaker than among western Europeans. Many families in the official Tsarist genealogy proudly claimed a Tatar provenance, including distinguished names like Iusupov, Kurakin, Dashkov, Kochubei, Ushakov, and Karamzin, among a host of others. As for the peasantry, until the modern age, its primary allegiance was to its Eastern Christian faith rather than the nation. But this loyalty was to the triple-armed Orthodox cross, not the simpler Latin version. The Catholic nemets (western foreigner) was just as alien as the Turkic basurman (Muslim infidel).

Russian Orientalism: Asia in the Russian Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration