Biography
She came from a branch of the Scottish family of Hamiltons, whose founder Thomas Hamilton came to Russia under Ivan the Terrible (she was probably the daughter of Willem (William), two sibling Evdokia Grigorievna (Mary) Hamilton, wife of Artamon Matveev). Her relative, Artamon’s own granddaughter, Maria Matveeva, was also the king’s mistress.
Maria Hamilton appeared at court in 1713 and, taking advantage of her beauty, began to lead a frivolous lifestyle, attracting the attention of the king. (No romantic attachment, unlike Anna Mons, is mentioned; most likely, it was only physical connection, despite the sentimental flair inflated by later fiction).
When he began to grow cold towards her, she seduced the royal orderly Ivan Mikhailovich Orlov. In January 1716, in the tsar's retinue, they went on a trip abroad. Orlov, with whom the girl seriously fell in love, also cooled off towards her. The lovers constantly quarreled, Orlov beat her, in addition, he cheated on her with Avdotya Chernysheva, another metress Emperor Peter. In an effort to return him, Maria gave him valuable gifts, including what she could have stolen from the empress. Then Maria became pregnant (according to the maid’s testimony, she managed to terminate two previous pregnancies, the first in 1715, with medicines that she took from the court doctors, saying that she needed remedies “for constipation”).
She hid her belly, and having given birth to a baby, around November 15, 1717, she secretly drowned him, which only the maid Katerina Ekimovna Terpovskaya knew about:
First, Maria came to her room, where she lived and pretended to be sick, and first lay down on the bed, and then soon she ordered me to lock the doors and began to suffer to her homeland; and soon getting out of bed, sat on the vessel and, sitting, lowered the baby into the vessel. And then I stood near her and heard that there was a knock on the vessel and the baby cried out... Then, standing and turning towards the vessel, Mary of the baby in the same vessel with her hands, thrusting her finger into the baby’s mouth, began to press, and lifted the baby, and pressed down .
Then Hamilton called her maid's husband, groom Vasily Semyonov, and gave him the corpse to throw away.
Exposure
The revelation happened in 1717. The popular version, voiced by writers, says: they disappeared from the sovereign’s office important papers- Orlov wrote a denunciation of the conspirators, gave it to the tsar, he put the paper in his pocket, and it fell through. Peter thought that Orlov was scared and took the denunciation and began to interrogate him. Orlov was frightened of Peter and fell at his feet, confessing his love for Hamilton, saying, among other things, that he had been with her for three years and during that time she gave birth to dead babies (which aroused Peter’s suspicion, since in the vicinity of the palace, according to some instructions, when cleaning the palace outhouse in a cesspool or near a fountain, they found the corpse of a baby wrapped in a palace napkin). After this, an investigation began.
Maria and Orlov were transported from Moscow to St. Petersburg and imprisoned Peter and Paul Fortress(they were among the first prisoners of the newly built prison) and were beaten with a whip during interrogation. In April, a maid was summoned for questioning, from whom the investigation learned about the murdered baby (perhaps the body was not found, despite the memorable image of a corpse found in the mud). Interrogations then stopped until June. Maria confessed to both theft and murder, but did not testify against Orlov, even under torture claiming that he knew nothing.
Sentence
Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Pyotr Alekseevich, the autocrat of all great, small, and white Russia, being in the office of Secret Investigation Cases, listening to the above-described cases and extracts, indicated, according to the personal decree of his great sovereign: the girl Marya Gamontova, that she lived fornically with Ivan Orlov and was pregnant by him three times and she drove two children out of herself with medicine, and strangled the third and threw it away, for such murder, she also stole diamond things and gold (chervonets) from the Tsarina Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, for which she was guilty of two searches, to be executed by death. And Ivan Orlov should be freed, since he didn’t know that the girl Maria Gamontova was pregnant by him and committed the above-mentioned murders to her children, and how she stole diamonds and gold - which she, the girl, specifically revealed during the search.
The maid of honor, as an accomplice, was sentenced to punishment with a whip and exile for a year (elsewhere it is indicated for 10 years) to the spinning yard. Both queens stood up for the maid of honor - Catherine I Alekseevna and the dowager queen Praskovya Fedorovna, but to no avail - the tsar did not relent and used his other orderly, Vasily Pospelov, as an example, who without hesitation married a pregnant maid of honor: “He doesn’t want to be either Saul or Ahab, breaking Divine law out of an impulse of kindness.” According to some indications, Peter's inflexibility was due to the fact that the Hamilton babies could just as easily have been conceived by him. An additional aggravating circumstance was Peter's policy towards illegitimate babies: in 1715 and later he passed special laws against their discrimination and founded a number of orphanages for such children in order to support the nation (this had not previously been practiced in Rus') - thus, Hamilton, having killed the baby, and by not throwing it, she went against the will of the sovereign.
The historian M.I. Semevsky assumed that the head of a boy about 15 years old was mistakenly taken for the girl’s head. In the 1860 article “Maid of Honor Hamilton,” he wrote: “As for the boy’s head, which for so long was in suspicion that it belonged to the girl, we she was seen […].”
In art
Ballad
Notes
Literature
- // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
- Karl Zadler. The experience of historical justification of Peter I against the accusations of some modern writers. St. Petersburg, 1861 (The Case of Maid of Honor Hamilton, pp. 1-22).
- M. I. Semevsky, “Maid of Honor Maria Danilovna Hamilton” // “Word and Deed (1700-1725). Essays and stories from Russian history XVIII V." (St. Petersburg, 1884), p. 185-268; the same essay // “Notes of the Fatherland” (1860, vol. CXXXII, No. 9, pp. 239-310).
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Among the romantic heroines of past centuries, one of the most famous was the beloved of the English Admiral Nelson, Emma Hamilton. She owes her unfading fame to the pen that embodied her image in the novel “Confession of a Favorite.” But few people know that in Russia, at the court of Perth I, her namesake, Maria Hamilton, short, but bright life which gave rise to many mysteries and legends.
Russian daughter of Foggy Albion
From historical documents It is known that during the time of Ivan the Terrible, a certain Scottish nobleman Thomas Hamilton came to Russia. A warm welcome awaited him in the cold and snowy country, and soon the native British Isles received at royal court good position and became the founder of a new branch of his aristocratic family.
In the next century, one of his descendants, who had finally become Russified, but proudly wore English name William was born a daughter, whom fate destined to know the love of the greatest of Russian autocrats and finish her short life under the Patronymic name they gave her, changing it foreign name father in the Russian way. The result is Maria Danilovna Hamilton.
Catherine's young maid of honor
The date of her birth has not been established, and even about her first appearance at court there is very contradictory information. According to some sources, this happened in 1709, and according to others, six years later. But it is known for certain that she was then about sixteen years old and had extraordinary beauty. The portrait of Maria Hamilton, given at the beginning of the article, gives an idea of her features. The young girl was noticed by the wife of Peter I, Empress Catherine I, and soon found herself among her ladies-in-waiting.
In addition to external characteristics, nature endowed Mary with a lively character, sensuality, as well as a cunning and insightful mind. In general, she was a classic heroine of the romantic and adventurous eighteenth century, so vividly glorified in world literature. Not content with the role of a maid of honor, he decided, as they say, to play big and win the heart of the emperor himself.
Youth and beauty are irresistible weapons, and very soon her name began to appear in the “bed register” of the loving autocrat. Such a list of favorites really existed - European order was maintained at court, everything was subject to strict accounting. But did Maria Hamilton realize what a dangerous game she was playing? Has this Russian Englishwoman ever heard folk wisdom, saying: “Near kings - near death”?
The love story of these people was not destined to last long. The feelings the crowned lover had for her were no different from all his previous and subsequent hobbies. Actually, it’s hardly appropriate to talk about anything other than a purely physical attraction to a young and pretty girl who successfully played along with him in his next affair. And its result was quite predictable - ardent and stormy passion soon gave way to satiety and cooling. After some time, the emperor’s heart was closed for the maid of honor, and with it the doors of his chambers.
Forced romance with the royal orderly
If Maria Hamilton had accepted the role of a retired favorite, she might have been able to live her life safely at court. But then she would have lost her romantic halo in our eyes. Maria was a true child of her era, and she decided to go to the last.
Her further actions are subordinated to one thing - to be as close as possible to Peter, who escaped from her arms, and to have comprehensive information about everything that concerns him personal life. To this end, she begins an affair with the person closest to the emperor - his personal orderly Ivan Orlov, who performed the duties of not only a servant, but also a secretary. Most of his contemporaries characterize him as a rude and uncouth person, but at the same time extremely narrow-minded and simple-minded. It was from him that Maria received all the information she needed.
Voyage abroad
In 1716, Peter I and his wife went abroad. Of course, Ivan Orlov and Maria Hamilton followed them, since both were part of the retinue of august persons. In Europe, the position of the young intriguer became more complicated due to the fact that the royal orderly plunged headlong into riotous and have a fun life, which was led by all those close to the sovereign, led by himself. Ivan developed new hobbies, and he not only deprived his former passion of love, but often beat him from his drunken eyes.
No matter how humiliating it was, Maria had to keep this libertine and boor near her, otherwise - goodbye to all her plans. The only option left was that if a man’s heart had cooled towards her feminine charms, then it could be warmed up with money and gifts. This is a proven method, but the problem is - where can I get money in such quantities?
Theft of jewelry and night visits of the king
And then the Russian lady Hamilton - Maria Danilovna - took her first step towards the future scaffold. She found nothing better than stealing jewelry from the Empress. And, having sold them, buy gifts for Ivan, and also pay off his numerous debts. What is the result? The impudent man graciously allowed himself to be given gifts, but, having drunk in Once again, continued to beat his girlfriend with mortal combat.
However, Mary’s perseverance did not go unrewarded. One day, the courtiers - great hunters of juicy news - noted that at night the sovereign honored her bedchamber with his visit. It is unknown how long these nightly visits lasted, but only after several months did everyone notice that the young lady-in-waiting began to give preference to wide and spacious outfits that hid her figure. However, they did not attach any importance to this.
Baby's corpse found in the palace
The days of travel flew by in a whirlwind of festive fun, and again the entire brilliant retinue, led by the crowned spouses, inhaled the fresh Baltic air Northern capital. Life here is pure pleasure. But then one day trouble happened - in one of the secluded corners of the palace they found a baby’s corpse wrapped in a blanket. There was obvious murder, and the culprit would not have had her head cut off, but no matter how much they carried out the search in this case, they could not convict anyone.
Ivan's unexpected confession
This nameless sin would have sunk into oblivion, but fate decided otherwise. One day, someone handed the sovereign a written denunciation against one of his enemies. At that moment Peter happened to have too little time to read, and he put it away, and when he missed it, he could not remember where he put it. As a suspicious person by nature, Peter decided that it was Ivan who took yesterday’s paper, thereby wanting to shield someone, and when he came to this thought, he became angry.
Ivan was urgently called. Seeing the king in anger, and not understanding the reason, he decided that his connection with the maid of honor was to blame. Knowing that Maria Hamilton and Peter 1 were in a close relationship, he decided that he had incurred the jealousy of the autocrat. Falling to his knees, Orlov tearfully apologized, and among other things, began to swear that he knew nothing about the murder of a secretly born baby, which Maria committed.
Exposing the beautiful maid of honor
For Peter, such a turn was a complete surprise. An urgent search was carried out in the room of the ill-fated maid of honor and, to the general To their amazement, they discovered the jewelry stolen from Empress Catherine. The unfortunate woman was shackled and placed in a dungeon in the newly built Peter and Paul Fortress.
There, in the hands of a skilled executioner, she spoke in detail about how she stole diamonds from her benefactress, the empress, to pay off Ivan’s gambling debts. When the master of shoulder work was especially zealous, she remembered that she had twice poisoned the fruit of criminal love in her womb, and strangled the baby that was born with her own hands.
The investigation lasted four months, and all this time she repeated that she was guilty of everything herself, and Ivan, although a drunkard and a brawler, knew nothing about theft or murder. No matter how hard the executioner tried, she did not change her testimony. It is difficult now to understand what caused such persistence. It seems that one word from her, and Orlov would shed all the insults inflicted on her in bitter tears. But can you really understand a woman’s heart - maybe there was a place in it for this crappy person.
Execution
In 1719, by the decision of the sovereign, Maria Danilovna Hamilton was sentenced to death. The execution took place on Trinity Square with a large crowd of people. The condemned woman climbed to the scaffold in a white dress decorated with black ribbons. Everyone involuntarily noted her extraordinary beauty, which had not faded even after long months of imprisonment. Maria Hamilton, whose execution was a legal execution of the sentence, nevertheless aroused universal sympathy.
Next to her at this last moment of her life was Peter. He personally ensured that the executioner carried out his orders exactly. Maria Hamilton prayed quietly before her execution. Eyewitnesses wrote that when the woman’s head fell at the king’s feet, he picked her up, kissed her on the lips and, crossing himself, left.
An unanswered riddle
It would seem that the case can be archived. A thief and child killer was executed - justice has triumphed. But questions remain that are unlikely to be answered. The persistence with which Peter demanded her execution is incomprehensible. It is known that his wife, Empress Catherine I, a generous and soft-hearted woman, forgave Mary for the theft of diamonds, and tearfully begged her husband to spare the unfortunate woman. However, the king, who always fulfilled her requests, was adamant this time. The Dowager Tsarina Praskovya Fedorovna, the widow of his brother Ivan, also addressed him with the same thing. She was also given a categorical refusal.
Reasons for hating one's own ex-lover Peter could have two. First of all, we must remember the decree he issued in 1715 legitimizing the rights of all illegitimate children. According to this document, no one could humiliate a person on the grounds that he was born without a church blessing.
Thanks to this humane act, it was opened in Russia at that time a large number of shelters, and all mothers are strictly punished that if the fruit of sinful love is born, do not destroy it, but throw it at the doors of the shelter - you will save the baby’s life, and you will save your soul from eternal torment. Thus, the murder of the newborn, committed by Mary, was a direct challenge to the will of the sovereign.
But there is another reason that the courtiers were afraid to talk about out loud. The child killed by Mary was found in the palace exactly nine months after indiscreet eyes followed the king's nightly visits to the bedroom of the maid of honor Hamilton. If this coincidence and the suspicions it arouses are justified, then Mary killed his own son with her own hands, and this explains the father’s rage.
"The executioner picked up Mary's severed head and handed it to the king. He kissed the dead lips, and then began to explain to those around him clear example arrangement of cervical vertebrae, muscle tissue and arteries."In most cases, Peter I’s connections with women were stable and long-term. And there are not so many of these women.
The most tragic of them is associated with the name of Maria Hamilton, a young maid at the court of Queen Catherine. She was destined to become the heroine of another novel by Peter I and end her life in the most terrible way.
The details of the relationship between the king and the maid are unknown; one can only say that Peter was captivated by her youth and beauty and easily achieved intimacy with her, since the girl did not dare to contradict the monarch. The king did not consider it necessary to hide the fact of his cohabitation with Mary, at least from the most proxies. The son of the beloved turner of Peter I, Andrei Nartov, described a remarkable incident from the words of his father: “Hamilton, a close-knit girl sent from the Empress, was let into his majesty’s turning room. He hugged her, patted her on the shoulder, and then said: “It’s good to love girls, but not “Always, otherwise, Andrey, let’s forget the craft,” then he sat down and began to sharpen.”
However, Maria Hamilton herself did not have any feelings for the king. The object of her passion was a tall and handsome young man - the royal orderly Ivan Orlov. They often saw each other at court, and in the absence of their highest masters they met secretly in the Summer Garden. Free time Orlov spent his time drinking and carousing, so he was constantly in need of money, begging for it from his beloved. But Maria had little money, and to please her good-for-nothing friend, she began to steal money and jewelry from the queen. For a long time she got away with it, because Catherine was not petty and suspicious.
Maria became pregnant twice, either from Peter or from Orlov. Perhaps she herself could not answer this question. In both cases, she managed to terminate the pregnancy by drinking some kind of decoction. But the third time the potion did not help, and she gave birth to a boy. The fact of his birth was hidden, since Maria did not leave her room for several months, citing serious illness. Compassionate Catherine did not bother her maid.
Something had to be done with the child - there was no way to announce him or hide him, and Maria decided on a terrible act: she strangled the baby, and her maid, under the cover of darkness, carried the body out of the palace and laid it near the fountain in Letny garden. In the morning the child's corpse was discovered; Rumors and guesses spread throughout the palace, but there was no evidence against Mary, and the maid was generously gifted with money and therefore remained silent.
Peter learned about both his concubine’s betrayal and her crime thanks to an accident. One day Orlov delivered him some important document; Peter, who was in a hurry somewhere, put it in his pocket, which turned out to be full of holes. The paper fell into a hole and fell through the lining. That same evening, Orlov cleaned the royal caftan. The next morning, the sovereign did not find the document in his pocket and became terribly angry, deciding that the orderly had dropped it. With a thunderous voice, he called Orlov to him. He came running, saw the king in rage and for some reason decided that he had revealed the secret of his connection with Maria Hamilton. “Have mercy, sir! - he shouted, falling to his knees. “I love Maryushka!”
Peter immediately compared new information with the recent news of the discovery of a child's corpse. He also remembered that Maria had not left the room for several months, citing illness. The Tsar's young mistress, as well as her maid and Orlov, were immediately arrested. All this happened at the end of June 1718, a few days after the death of Tsarevich Alexei. The Emperor was at this time especially embittered by the family tragedy, so Hamilton could not count on any leniency. She and the maid were tortured, and they confessed everything. But this did not satisfy Peter - he considered it necessary to find out whether Orlov was involved in the murder of the baby. The Tsar himself wrote a short decree to the investigators: “Torturing Gamentova suddenly. And if in another search he will say the same thing as in the first, but will not show anything about Orlov, and Orlov will be sent to hard labor for a while without punishment.” However, soon the royal orderly and successful rival was forgiven and promoted to lieutenant of the guard.
Investigators have fully clarified the circumstances of the infanticide. On November 27, 1718, Peter I ordered “the girl Maria Gamentova... to be executed by death.”
The execution took place on March 14, 1719. Maria, who had endured severe torture and a nine-month imprisonment, was still very beautiful - in a white silk dress, set off with black ribbons. By choosing an outfit on this day, when she was about to give up her life, the girl may have hoped to touch the heart of the king with her beauty and receive a pardon. The hope was in vain. "Without violating the divine and state laws“I can’t save you from death,” Peter said to his former lover. “So, accept execution and believe that God will forgive you of your sins; pray only to him with repentance and faith.”
The executioner picked up Mary's severed head and handed it to the king. He kissed the dead lips, and then began to explain to others, using a clear example, the structure of the cervical vertebrae, muscle tissue and arteries. Having finished a short lecture, he ordered that the head be preserved in alcohol at the Academy of Sciences, crossed himself, once again kissed the lips of his late favorite and left.
The head of Mary Hamilton was an academic exhibit until it was buried by order of Catherine II.
Since its creation, the Kunstkamera has been accompanied by mysterious stories And unusual events. The first museum in Russia - the Kunstkamera - was established by order of Peter I, according to a number of sources, on January 31, 1714.
Today, the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences contains many exhibits representing the history of the cultures of the Old and New Worlds. There is a Koran, a “magic” dragon, a teapot that boils from the sun and many other rare items.
The exhibition on anatomy and embryology, bought at one time by Peter I from Professor Frederik Ruysch, gives a mystical image to the “cabinet of curiosities.” Every schoolchild in the country knows about babies preserved in alcohol, demonstrating human anomalies. But it’s not just the exhibits that create an aura of mystery around the museum.
The story of the monster tree
According to the architects' plan, Vasilyevsky Island was to become the center of the city on the banks of the Neva. They wanted to put on its arrow Cultural Center, which would include the Academy of Sciences, the library, the Kunstkamera and other institutes.
According to the version followed by the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, it was on Vasilyevsky Island Peter I saw an unusual pine tree. The tree was rare and represented an anomaly, of which many would later be exhibited in the Kunstkamera. A pine branch managed to grow out of the trunk and return back into it. It turned out that the process formed a loop, reminiscent of the handle of a mug.
Surprisingly, this branch, along with a piece of the pine trunk, did not disappear. It is still carefully kept in the Kunstkamera. You can still see the rarity that influenced the king’s decision to this day.
Money for "born freaks"
IN late XVII century, during a visit to Amsterdam, Peter I met with the famous embalmer Frederik Ruysch. The tsar subsequently bought from him a large collection of examples of anatomical abnormalities preserved in alcohol: Peter understood that autopsy of a person could provide great scope for medicine in terms of further study of diseases.
When the collection of “kunshtov” (rarities - approx.) was exhibited in the Kikin Chambers in St. Petersburg, the emperor did everything to eliminate prejudices in society regarding children born with pathologies. The king even offered a monetary reward to those who could bring “born monsters.” Thus, he replenished the collection of anatomical deviations.
Two-headed fox
Giant's head
Peter I travels around the world and brings the French giant Nicolas Bourgeois to St. Petersburg from Kole. His height was 226.7 cm. The Tsar appointed him to the post of haiduk.
Bourgeois passed away in 1724 - the cause was apoplexy. The Tsar decides that the Kunstkamera will serve as the skeleton and heart of a giant.
Subsequently, when a fire engulfed the museum building on Vasilyevsky Island in 1747, the head of Bourgeois’s skeleton disappeared. A new “head” was found for the exhibit, and a legend appeared among the people that the skeleton of a Frenchman supposedly walks through the empty halls and looks for his skull.
Dwarf with claws
There was also an interesting living exhibit at the Kunstkamera. His name was Fyodor Ignatiev. He was small - only 126 centimeters tall. On your feet and right hand he had only two fingers, similar to claws. There were two such “claws” on the left hand. There are records in history that Peter I himself shook hands with Fedor. Ignatiev lived at the Kunstkamera for 16 years.
Head of Maria Hamilton
Catherine I's maid of honor and Peter I's mistress Maria Hamilton was a child killer and thief. At court, she had relations not only with the tsar, but also with the emperor’s orderly, Ivan Orlov. From the latter she was pregnant three times, and twice she managed to get rid of the fetus with the help of drugs; she killed the third baby born and gave the body to her gatekeeper.
Moreover, when it opened terrible secret, it turned out that Hamilton was stealing valuables from Catherine. During the search they were found in her chambers.
Peter I did not tolerate infanticide and ordered the head of Maria Hamilton to be cut off. The sentence was carried out on March 14, 1719 on Trinity Square in St. Petersburg.
Already at the end XVIII century Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, when she began checking accounts Russian Academy Sciences, noticed an unusually high consumption of alcohol. The caretaker, summoned to the authorities, said that the alcohol had gone to scientific purposes- to change the solution in large glass vessels with two human heads - male and female, which were stored in the basement for about half a century.
Dashkova was interested in this story. Having completed the documents, she found out that the heads preserved in alcohol belonged to Willim Mons and the same Maria Hamilton.
According to one version, Catherine II examined the heads and ordered them to be buried in the same basement.
According to other information, Mons's head is still in the Kunstkamera. But Maria’s head could have disappeared under rather strange circumstances. Allegedly, the alcohol was drunk from the flask, and the head disappeared. Then to the sailors standing opposite the building on Universitetskaya embankment The ship's curators asked the museum's curators to find the exhibit. The sailors promised, but disappeared for a long time. Almost a year later, they appeared in the Kunstkamera and offered instead of one head to Hamilton three, but they had shot the Basmachi.
There is also a version that this head did not belong to English lady, and a 15-year-old boy.
The Creator Who Didn't Live
A separate building for Peter’s collection was completed only in 1734. Construction was constantly interrupted and had complications.
The emperor, who went down in history as one of the most active rulers, was eager to put the exhibits on public display. Inspired by the cabinets of curiosities seen abroad during the “Great Embassy”, in 1714, when the construction was completed Summer garden, Peter places his collections, transported from the Pharmacy Chancellery in Moscow, in his Green Office. For four years, numerous exhibits were crammed into a cramped space.
The death of a man caused the rarities to move in 1718. Then the disgraced nobleman Alexander Kikin was executed for involvement in the case of Tserasevich Alexei, and his house was confiscated. The King's collection and library were housed in the Kikin Chambers. In the same year, four years after its establishment, construction began on a building on Vasilyevsky Island. The Kunstkamera remained in the Kikin Chambers until 1728.
Peter I, who died after a serious illness in 1725, was never able to see the exhibits in the historical building.
Destroying Flame
A devastating incident, as if retribution for the aura of mysticism, happened on December 5, 1747. At that time, Mikhail Lomonosov was already working in the Kunstkamera. He also witnessed a terrible fire.
The fire broke out in the tower near the western wing of the gallery. The wooden tower containing the observatory with instruments was completely burned out. There was also the famous Gottorp Globe. As a result, all that was left was the door and the metal frame.
The fire, which occurred due to a malfunction of the heating equipment, also destroyed the cabinets with ethnographic collections. But greater damage occurred because Kunstkamera employees, fearing that the fire would spread to the entire building, began throwing documents, books and things into the snow. At night, a significant part of the exhibits was stolen.
The surviving rarities were transported to the houses of Demidov and Stroganov, which were not far from the Kunstkamera. The exhibits returned to the renovated building only at the end of 1766. However, the tower of the Kunstkamera in its historical form was restored only 200 years later.
A. A. Polovtsova| Dictionary: Hague-Gerbel. Source: vol. 4 (1914): The Hague - Gerbel, p. 202-204 ( scan · index) Other sources: ESBE |
Hamilton(or Gamontova, as it was called in Russia), Maria Danilovna, chambermaid (according to Karabanov, chambermaid-in-waiting) of Empress Catherine Alekseevna, executed for infanticide on March 14, 1719. The Hamilton family or Hamilton belongs to the the most ancient families Scottish and Danish. The Hamiltons settled in Russia under Tsar Ivan the Terrible. A close boyar of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the famous Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, was married to Hamilton. Some members of this family entered the Russian service, became Russified and were known under the name Hameltonov, Gamentonov, and even, due to the tendency of Russian people to distort foreign surnames, Khomutov.
It is unknown who M.D.’s father was. Some researchers suggest that her patronymic - Danilovna - was changed from Vilimovna, and Vilim Hamilton was cousin wife of A. S. Matveev. The time when G. began her service also remains unknown. At least, she appeared as a close servant of Catherine no earlier than 1713, and two years later she already enjoyed the favor of the Tsar and Tsarina. Peter could not help but notice the beautiful G., “seeing in her such talents that he could not help but gaze with lust.” But, besides Peter, she had many other admirers. Since 1715 she was pregnant twice. Ashamed of her fans and relationship with Peter I, she, as she later admitted, “poisoned the children with medicines that she took from the doctors of the sovereign’s court, and told the doctors that she was taking the medicines for other needs.” For Peter, the girl G. was nothing more than an object of temporary, fleeting amusement. Left by Peter, she turned her attention to his orderly Ivan Orlov, who, in turn, passionately fell in love with the beautiful M.D. On January 27, 1716, they went abroad in the retinue of the Tsar and Empress.
In Libau, Danzig, Stetin, Copenhagen - everywhere G. had to take part in amusements and festivities, surrounded by fans, which gave the rude and almost always drunk Orlov a reason to be jealous of her, insult her with abuse and even beat her. Meanwhile, the passion for the royal orderly was so strong that, not being able to give him gifts and satisfy persistent requests for money, G., as she later admitted during interrogation, “while being with the Empress Tsarina, she stole things and gold (chervonets), and what I can’t remember what separately.” At the beginning of October G. was pregnant for the third time, and, moreover, in last period. Fearing suspicion from the Empress and the ladies of the court, G. had to use all the abilities of the female mind to hide her position even from Orlov. On October 10, 1717, G. returned to Russia with the Emperor, and on the 15th of the same month the birth took place. She immediately strangled the baby. A simple accident made it possible for Peter to suspect her of infanticide. One day, Peter I, angry at the loss of one denunciation, calls to him Orlov, who had previously been in unauthorized absence and decided that the Tsar was angry when he learned about his love for G. Having come to him, Orlov fell to his knees and confessed his love for “ Maryushka." From further questioning, Peter learned that G. gave birth to stillborn children. Unfortunately for her, shortly before this, while cleaning up sewage, the corpse of a baby was found, wrapped in a palace napkin - this gave reason to suspect G. of infanticide. In addition, G. was accused of stealing money and diamond items from the empress.
During interrogation, G. was caught in connection with Orlov and, after some denials, was forced to confess to the poisoning of the fetus and infanticide. The case of Tsarevich Alexei forced Peter to leave for Moscow and postpone the trial of G. for a while. On Peter's instructions, the first interrogation was carried out by G.'s maid, Katerina Ternovskaya, who told the picture of infanticide down to the smallest detail; On the same April 9, 1718, G.’s second maid, Varvara Dmitrieva, was also interrogated, who testified that G. was indeed ill with her, but she knew nothing about infanticide; he also knows nothing about stolen things and money, since at that time Anna Kramer was G.’s treasurer. Only on June 21, in the Secret Chancellery, P. A. Tolstoy and I. I. Buturlin began interrogating the criminal herself. Here G. confessed to stealing chervonets and things from Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, testified that she gave 300 chervonets to Orlov, and the rest of the chervonets and things were taken from her during the search. G. also confessed to the murder of the baby. Despite consciousness, on the orders of Tolstoy and Buturlin, G. was subjected to torture, during which she confirmed that she had crushed the baby herself, but told Orlov that the baby was hurt and she left him dead. At the confrontation, Orlov stated that he was in love affair with G. and that he did not hear from her that she gave birth and abandoned the dead, but he accepted the chervonets from her, thinking that they belonged to G. herself. The tsar himself was present at the next interrogation. In front of him, she also confirmed Orlov’s ignorance of infanticide, the theft of the queen’s things and the poisoning of the fetus. Immediately G. was given 5 blows. On August 5, 1718, G. was again interrogated, although she did not say anything new, she only courageously endured torture and blows, without saying a single word of lies, while the cowardly Orlov lied and slandered even his mistress. This was the last interrogation. The criminal was sentenced by court on November 27, 1718 to death penalty. On the same day, Peter V. confirmed the death sentence. Orlov was released, and Hamilton was chained in iron. About 4 months have already passed since the trial, and Peter V. seemed to be delaying the execution. This was noticed by Catherine, who begged G.’s relatives to appease the sovereign and beg forgiveness for the unfortunate lady-in-waiting. But all the efforts of Ekaterina Alekseevna and the requests of various trusted representatives of the Sovereign led to nothing; even the efforts of Peter’s beloved daughter-in-law, Praskovya Fedorovna, did not soften his harsh decision.
M.D. hoped for forgiveness until the very end. Guessing about the presence of Peter V. at the execution, she, in the hope that her beauty, although already faded from imprisonment and torture, would make an impression, dressed in a white silk dress with black ribbons, but was mistaken... After reading the decree on the death penalty, Peter, according to Shtelin, approached G., who was begging for mercy, and, kissing her, said: “Without violating divine and state laws, I cannot save you from death, and so accept execution, and believe that God will forgive you of your sins, just pray him with repentance and faith,” and as soon as the unfortunate woman fell to her knees, Peter whispered something to the executioner and turned away... The ax flashed, and G.’s head rolled onto the platform. According to some German sources, Peter picked up the severed head, kissed it, then, being knowledgeable in anatomy, showed and explained parts of the head to those present and, having kissed it again, left the place of execution. The author of “Russische Günstlinge” Gelbig, vouching for the authenticity, declares that G. tortured a child whose father was Peter V. It is difficult, of course, to resolve the question of who was the father of the strangled child, but in any case, jealousy and annoyance at G.’s infidelity. aggravated the sovereign's severity towards her.
After G.'s death, her property was confiscated, consisting mainly of precious things stolen from the queen. Gelbig says that by order of Peter, the beautiful head of the executed chambermaid was placed in a jar of alcohol. Since 1724, this jar was kept in the Academy of Sciences, in a special room, along with the head of Chamberlain Mons. And only in the early 1780s, on the orders of Catherine II, these heads were buried in the cellar. However, back in the 1830s, the guard of the Kunstkamera showed visitors the head of a boy 12-15 years old, passing it off as a head famous beauty Peter's time.
“Picturesque Review,” 1874, No. 19, pp. 289-292; “Russian Antiquity”, 1871, vol. III, no. 4, p. 465; D. Mordovtsev, “Russian women of the first half of the XVIII c.”, pp. 56-68; "Russian Archive", 1881, book. I, pp. 373-378; "Domestic Notes", 1860, book. IX; “Northern Bee”, 1860, Nos. 73, 74, 85, 91, 139; "SPb. Ved.", 1860, No. 74; "Anecdotes of Shtelin", ed. 1786, no. 88 and 87; "Notebook" St. Petersburg Garrison. chancellery", 1718, pp. 605, 608; "Time", 1861; Golikov, “Acts of Peter the Great”, vol. VI, pp. 182-184, vol. XV, pp. 184-186; Helbig, "Russiche Günstlinge", 1809, pp. 108-109; "Calendar", 1719; “Military Regulations, Ch. 67, about execution”, p. 105; "Northern Bee", 1860, No. 91; “Moskvityanin”, 1841, IV, No. 7, pp. 23-105; Tereshchenko, “Experience review. life of the dignitaries etc.”, 1837; "Notebooks", 1704-1706, ed. 1774, pp. 164, 165, 185, 186; “Russian Antiquity”, 1870, vol. II, pp. 16, 27; Berchholz, part I, p. 193, part II, p. 72; Ustryalov, vol. VI, p. 545; "Day note", ed. 1772, part II, pp. 62-70; M. Semevsky, “Essays and stories from Russian history of the 18th century”, St. Petersburg, 1884 (“Maid of Honor Hamilton”), 187-268.