Ivan Mazepa and the Russian Empire by Tairova-Yakovleva Tatiana;

Author:Tairova-Yakovleva, Tatiana;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Published: 2020-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

8

Mazepa and the “Birds of Peter’s Nest”1

This chapter discusses Mazepa’s personal and business relations with many Russian political figures of the Petrine era. On this topic, too, many clichés exist, behind which the essence is often lost. This applies, for example, to the hackneyed thesis concerning the hostility between Mazepa and Aleksandr Menshikov, though there is no doubt there was hostility.

But the list of true companions and even friends of Mazepa among the first-rank dignitaries of the nascent empire was much longer than that of his enemies. This is important for understanding and assessing the activities of Mazepa the hetman during his long reign. The facts persistently show that throughout the years of his rule he firmly linked his own future and the future of his native land to Peter’s reforms. In his difficult work he relied on close contacts with leading political and military figures of Peter’s era. These longtime contacts often outgrew the bounds of business and became personal.

Materials from the Baturyn archive, as well as materials from RGADA and some other sources, give a good sense of the nature and scope of Mazepa’s cooperation with the Russian nobility. Mazepa corresponded with almost all the leading political figures of Russia: Tikhon Streshnev, Mikhail Cherkasskii, Ivan Troekurov, Lev Naryshkin, Iakov Dolgorukov, Dmitrii Golitsyn, Ivan Golovin, Nikita Zotov, Petr Shafirov, Iakov Brius, Ivan Kol'tsov-Masal'skii, Emel'ian Ukraintsev, Andrei Vinius, Petr Tolsto, Aleksei Kurbatov, Sava Raguzinskii, Karion Istomin, d΄iaks Boris Mikhailov and Vasilii Postnikov, Aleksandr Kikin, V. P. Stepanov, D. Kovnev, Mikhail Rtishchev. These documents irrefutably negate both the thesis of “elemental treason” and the theory that the hetman from the first years of his rule had been planning an uprising against Moscow.

One should not oversimplify the situation, however. Passionate intrigues always burned among those close to the tsar. People competed desperately for power and wealth, as well as for influence over the foremost person in the state. Envy and rivalry prevailed, too, among the “birds of Peter’s nest,” that is, the close circle of the court. Yet Mazepa maintained very friendly relations with members of hostile factions for many years. He followed the Russian tradition of “gifts.” For example, he sent wine to the conciliar secretary Emel'ian Ukraintsev, to the secretaries of the Foreign Office, and to the under-secretary of the Little Russian Office.2 Examples are numerous, and will be described in more detail below.

Mazepa’s political agility helped him maintain friendly relations with many Russian politicians, as did the detached position he occupied as the leader of an autonomous entity. Mazepa almost never participated in Peter’s entertainments, perhaps for reasons of piety (the “All-Joking, All-Drunken Sobor [Synod]” had to have shocked him), perhaps owing to his frequent illnesses. This can hardly be explained by the age difference, for, as is well-known, Peter’s “senior” dignitaries and Mazepa’s peers were forced to become drunks and play the jester in order to please the tsar. In any event, the hetman kept his distance. Peter called Mazepa “Lord Hetman,” while Mazepa addressed the tsar solely

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