The Forerunner of the Government Reform of Peter the Great

Abstract

Abstract: This article describes the life and work of the distinguished political leader of the 17th century Vasiliy Vasilyevich Golitsyn. He entered the history of our country as a thoughtful reformist and a brilliant diplomat. His transformations created the foundation for the future pivotal reforms by Peter the Great. Being an outstanding analyst and a strategic planner, Golytsin won his combats not on the bloody battlefields but in the course of fights on the diplomatic arena. During the reign of Sophia, when he had received ultimately unlimited power warrant, he mainly fostered all of his efforts to the implementation of the socio-economic changes and the rise of prestige of the Russian State. However, as it often happens with the prominent reformists he became a victim of the in-house political tussle; he placed the wrong bet on Sophia instead of Peter the Great and his court. As a result, he was deprived from his post, lost his estates, and was sent into exile to the north of the country. The author of this article followed the probable route of Golytsin’s exile ramblings and paid special attention to the stay of the disgraced knyaz in Pinezhskiy Volok - currently the settlement of Pinega situated approximately 200 km away from Arkhangelsk on the banks of the Pinega River. The article also offers a detailed description of the Krasnogorskiy Monastery located 15 km away from the settlement. Golitsyn used to visit this monastery regularly and in 1714 was buried there disclaimed by Peter. The tombstone from his grave was preserved and is now stored in the Museum of Regional Studies in Pinega.

Keywords

• prince vasily golitsyn
• peter i
• princess sophia
• the foreign policy of russia of the xvii century
• ambassadorial prikaz
• the eternal peace treaty of 1686
• the crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689
• peter's reforms
• the abolition of localism