The proclamation of the power of Ivan Antonovich year. Russian monarchs - john vi antonovich

Emperor John VI Antonovich

The future Emperor John VI was born on August 12, 1740 (new style). He was the son of Anna Leopoldovna, niece of the reigning Empress Anna Ioannovna and Duke Anton of Braunschweig.
  On October 17 of the same 1740, when the infant John was only two months old with his cousin, Empress Anna Ioannovna proclaimed him heir to the Throne. Anna Ioannovna appointed her favorite Duke of Courland, Ernst Johann Biron, as regent under the young Sovereign.
  October 18, 1740 Anna Ioannovna died.
  And from that day began the period of "reign" of the two-month-old Emperor. In the first period of his short “reign,” the regent was the favorite of the late Anna Ioannovna Herzog Biron. But Biron, like A.D. Menshikov, did not calculate and did not understand his true situation. He did not realize that after the death of his patroness Anna Ioannovna, he does not go to omnipotence, but to fall. Many nobles hated Biron, but were afraid of Anna Ivanovna. The Guard also hated him for imposing officers of German origin on the neck of guards. After the death of Anna Ivanovna, this hatred became dangerous for Biron. No one else could hold her back.
And Field Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Minikh took advantage of this universal hatred. Minich began his career under Peter the Great, and despite the fact that he was also a German by birth, he was nevertheless more beloved by the guards and people than Biron. Minich enlisted the support of Baron Andrei Ivanovich Osterman. Osterman was a famous diplomat from the time of Peter the Great, and after the death of the Transformer, he became a famous intriguer and architect of all the palace coups of the first half of the 18th century. It was with the support of Osterman that Menshikov was able to succeed Catherine the First and then Peter the Great. The same Osterman was the architect of the overthrow of Menshikov. Then it was Osterman who “dumped” the Dolgoruky family and brought Anna Ioannovna to power. And now again, Osterman was standing backstage of the next coup. With the support of Osterman Minich, November 8, 1740 (new style) surrounded with the help of guards units the palace of Biron and arrested the regent. The next day, a manifesto was announced, according to which Emperor John VI, who was only three months old, “granted” his mother’s regency to Anna Leopoldovna. Biron, by decree of the infant Emperor, was sent into exile.
  Anna Leopoldovna was incapable of management and transferred the actual power to Minich, remaining only formal regent.
  But Minich, being a military man, was not sophisticated in politics. And so he “missed” the new intrigue of the experienced schemer Osterman. In early 1741, Osterman was able to dismiss Minich and seize power himself.
  But Osterman, with his sophistication in intrigues, did not see that the coup was being prepared by the force that had already been forgotten by the time of the death of Peter the Great, and especially her wife Catherine I. This force was the supporters of the daughter of Peter the Great Elizabeth Petrovna. And in particular, Elizaveta Petrovna herself.
  December 6, 1741 (new style) Elizaveta Petrovna put on the uniform of her great father Peter the Great and took the power in the country in the hands of the head of the guards regiments.
  The era of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna was a very bright era in the history of Russia. But not for John Antonovich and his relatives ..
  At first, Elizaveta Petrovna simply wanted to expel the Braunschweig surname from Russia. In 1742, they left St. Petersburg and reached Riga. But suddenly Elizaveta Petrovna, on the advice of her chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev, decided to arrest the Braunschweig surname, believing that they could be dangerous outside of Russia.
Young John Antonovich and his parents were arrested and placed in the Dynamo fortress (Ust-Dvinsk) at the mouth of the Western Dvina.
  In 1744, a conspiracy was opened by the Lopukhins, relatives of the first wife of Peter the Great Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina. The Lopukhins wanted to return to the Throne John Antonovich as the legitimate Russian Tsar and surround him with Russian, and not German advisers. The plot failed. Elizaveta Petrovna, faithful to the obligation made upon her accession to the Throne, did not put anyone to death, exposed the Lopukhins, as well as the relative of Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev (the wife of his brother Mikhail) Anna, and sentenced her to death in Siberia. John and his family were transported from Riga to the city of Raneburg, Ryazan province. The Raneburg fortress was built by A.D. Menshikov in Peter's times and later was used more even as a prison for exiles than as a fortress. In particular, A.D. Menshikov himself was imprisoned in this fortress.
  At the same time, a representative of the authorities accompanying the exiles, having misunderstood the order, almost brought them ... to Orenburg !!
  In 1746, the Braunschweig family was transferred even further to Kholmogory on the White Sea. On the way to Kholmogory, Anna Leopoldovna died. She could not bear the lengthy forced removals.
  In Kholmogory, the infant John Antonovich was separated from his father, as well as brothers and sisters born in the years of exile.
  In 1756 a new journey followed. The reason for it was a new conspiracy to free the Emperor. A merchant by the name of Zubatov was captured by the Secret Office of A.I. feud by exposing John as the rightful Sovereign.
  As a result, John Antonovich was transferred from Kholmogor to the Shlisselburg fortress, where he was placed in a special cell and even without a name. He was ordered to call the prisoner "Nameless."
At the same time, one of the closest associates of Elizabeth Petrovna, and later Catherine the Great, Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin (Count N.I. Panin was also the educator of the future Emperor Paul I) issued an instruction regarding John Antonovich. According to this instruction, John should be kept in strict isolation, completely banning communication with the outside world and even with other prisoners. And if there is any kind of force that wants to free it and there will be no way to defeat this force, to destroy the "Nameless Prisoner" (ie, Emperor John Antonovich) .. "
  Thus began the prison life of this Emperor of the sufferer ... He became our domestic version of the famous "iron mask" .. (The Iron Mask was called the secret prisoner in France since Louis XIV. This man had the audacity to be too much like the Sun King himself ( and according to some traditions, to be his twin brother) and therefore, so that civil strife does not happen, Cardinal Mazarin ordered to imprison him in a separate secret prison and put on his face an iron mask, forbidding him to remove it for the rest of his days) ..
  On December 25, 1761, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna died.
  She was succeeded by her nephew, the son of her older sister, Anna Petrovna Peter III.
  Peter III, who himself experienced many humiliations in his youth, having learned about the unfortunate John Antonovich, decided to ease his fate.
  He transferred the prisoner from Shlisselburg to the dacha of one of his young associates, Ivan Vasilievich Gudovich. At the same time, the Sovereign had a grandiose project. He wanted to divorce his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine the Great), whom he hated. The Tsar also wanted to remove her son Pavel Petrovich (future Emperor Paul I) from the inheritance under the pretext that this was not his son (this is possible and seems to be true, because Ekaterina Alekseevna had many favorites, and her relationship with her husband was very difficult ..). The new Empress Peter III wanted to make his favorite Elizabeth Vorontsov, daughter of Chancellor Mikhail Vorontsov. And he wanted to make John VI the heir to the Throne !!
  But fate decreed otherwise. July 11, 1762 (new style) Ekaterina Alekseevna made a coup and overthrew her husband. Catherine publicly proclaimed that she would continue the course of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and was supported by all the people and became Empress Catherine II the Great.
Almost immediately after the accession, Catherine the Great, among other things, faced two important problems. These problems were two Emperors who existed besides Catherine. These were her deposed husband Peter III and John VI.
  Peter III lived in exile in Ropsha and soon the sad news came from there. The former Sovereign allegedly "died from an apoplexy strike" .. In fact, the "strike" was somewhat different. The favorites of Catherine the Great, the guard officers, the Orlov brothers, who guarded the Sovereign, argued with him and one of the brothers Fedor Alekseevich struck the Emperor with his fist in the temple. The blow was so strong that the Emperor died on the spot .. The Tsar was buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Catherine was not at the funeral .. Later, the son of Catherine Pavel Petrovich, who became Emperor Paul I, transferred the remains of his father to the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
  So one of the problems of Catherine the Great was solved.
  There was another problem. She was Sovereign John VI. Catherine transferred John from Gudovich's dacha to one of the estates in the Kexholm region. There, at the behest of Empress John, doctors examined. According to their conclusion, John Antonovich lost his mind or, more simply, suffered from schizophrenia in the modern language, living in his own, imaginary world.
  Catherine incognito met with John VI and made her conclusion. At her conclusion, John was healthy and feigned insanity. And this, according to the Empress, was a danger both for her and possibly for her heirs. For John was 11 years younger than Catherine and theoretically could survive it, because his physical health was very good.
  At first, Catherine decided to offer John a haircut as a monk. And it seems that John VI agreed. But suddenly Catherine decided to change her mind and send John back to Shlisselburg. In addition, she confirmed Panin’s instructions given back in the days of Elizabeth Petrovna. Those. John VI again became a "nameless prisoner," and the new security guards of John officers Vlasyev and Chekin received orders in the event of a possible attempt to free John, not to give him alive to the hands of the liberators.
At the end of 1763, Lieutenant Vasily Yakovlevich Mirovich entered the Shlisselburg garrison. He became obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200bfreeing John and returning him to the throne. Mirovich’s motive was very prosaic. He just wanted to improve his financial affairs .. He believed that if Lieutenant Grigory Orlov, having lost the cards, could arrange a coup and bring to power Catherine the Great and naturally powerfully correct his financial affairs, then why the lieutenant Vasily Mirovich could not succeed with John Antonovich?
  He involved several officers in the conspiracy and part of the soldiers of the Shlisselburg garrison and attacked the fortress on July 6, 1764, with the aim of freeing John VI. Vlasyev and Chekin with the part of the garrison that remained loyal to Catherine held against the rebels for a very long time. When the rioters rolled out the cannon and it became clear that Vlasyev and Chekin did not restrain them, they entered the cell of John VI to fulfill the Panin’s “instruction” .. Vlasyev and Chekin and their soldiers shot the Tsar several times, and then finished him off, still alive with bayonets. Thus died this Martyr Sovereign, who was only 24 years old.
  After the murder of John, Vlasyev and Chekin surrendered to Mirovich, but Mirovich, seeing the collapse of his venture, surrendered himself to the authorities.
  John VI was buried at the Shlisselburg prisoner cemetery and later his grave was lost .. He is now the only one of all the Monarchs whose burial place is not known.
  Mirowicz was executed as a state criminal on September 15, 1764. According to one version, Catherine the Great herself provoked Mirovich to a riot in order to get rid of John Antonovich.
  Father of the Sovereign Martyr Anton of Braunschweig died in exile in Kholmogory in 1774.
  The brothers and sisters of the unfortunate John VI, with the permission of Catherine the Great and the request of their aunt, the sister of Anton of Braunschweig, the Danish Queen Mary-Juliana, left for Denmark. There until 1807, i.e. until the death of the last representative of this unfortunate family, they were paid a special pension from the Russian Imperial Court.
  Emperor John VI Antonovich, named Sovereign in infancy, lived the life of a martyr and a living political intrigue of his time .. And at the end of his short 23-year life, which went through prisons and exiles, he accepted a martyr's crown ..

The period of almost a quarter century in Russian history turned out to be connected with the sad fate of the emperor, who formally controlled the country, not yet standing on his feet. On August 23, 1740, Sovereign John Antonovich was born.

The struggle for power at court turned his life into a nightmare and drove him crazy. Years of imprisonment and bullying of the guards - this is what the young emperor paid for the right of succession to the throne.

Coup decision

The son of the niece of Empress Anna Ioannovna, Princess of Macklenburg Anna Leopoldovna and Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg Anton Ulrich a few months after birth was announced the next sovereign. So the queen ordered her manifesto of October 5, 1740.

In fact, this meant that power in the empire for the whole 17 years passed to the lover of Anna Ioannovna Ernest Biron. Before her death, the empress appointed him the regent of the infant John Antonovich. However, Biron was not given power over many years - the queen's favorite ruled only 22 days. On the night of November 9, 1740, the diplomat Johann Ernst Minich, having received the consent of Anna Leopoldovna, ordered to arrest the regent. The coup occurred when the empress's body was not yet buried. The court read the manifesto the next morning, listing the atrocities of Biron, and then the favorite Anna Ioannovna and his whole family were exiled to Siberia.

Now the regency passed to Anna Leopoldovna. However, she could not rule the state at all. She used power only for an idle lifestyle: entertainment, balls and discussion of fashionable outfits for herself and her son. Approximate Anna Leopoldovna understood that their position under such a ruler was very precarious. She was urgently invited to take the imperial title. Even the ceremony of crowning on the birthday of the empress was appointed - December 7, 1741. More than once she was informed of a conspiracy being prepared by the daughter of Peter I Elizabeth Petrovna, but Anna Leopoldovna believed that her relative was not capable of a coup.

Prisoner family

On the night of November 24 to 25, 1741, the future empress prayed, threw a fur coat and left the palace. Her close ones were already waiting. Together they went to the barracks of the grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky regiment. There, Elizaveta Petrovna said: “Guys, you know whose daughter I am, follow me! We all suffered a lot from the Germans, free ourselves from our tormentors! Serve me as you served my father! ”

The guards answered the call and marched to the Winter Palace. The guard showed no resistance. Elizaveta Petrovna resolutely burst into the regency’s bedroom. Anna Leopoldovna begged not to harm her offspring, who had not voluntarily become king in the cradle. However, the thirst for power did not know pity.

Numerous arrests followed this coup — ministers, courtiers, and loyal friends of the Braunschweig family were threatened. By morning they had prepared a manifesto on the proclamation of Elizabeth Petrovna as empress. The newly-made queen promised herself that she would not execute anyone - she restrained him. She decided to “betray the former rulers”. To do this, on the night of November 30, Anna Leopoldovna, her wife Anton Ulrich, and two children - John and Catherine, accompanied by maids of honor and servants under escort of more than 300 soldiers and officers, were sent to Riga Castle.

Since arriving there in January 1742, the little emperor Ivan VI was kept separately. Only the guards saw him. In Petersburg, Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to hand over coins with the image of John Antonovich. Ivan VI himself was called only a prince. The empress was well aware that while the deposed king was still alive, there would be people ready to return him to the throne. Then the prisoners were taken farther inland - this time to the Ranenburg fortress. Currently, this is the city of Chaplygin in the Lipetsk region. Ivan VI was taken there under the name of Gregory. It is curious that at that time Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to another daughter - she was called Elizabeth. It was as if the former holder of power wanted to propitiate the queen in this way.

In 1744, the prisoners were taken to Solovki altogether. This already meant imprisonment until death. Moving there was very difficult. Anna Leopoldovna became ill several times. She and her husband Anton Ulrich did not even know if their son was traveling with them. The heir to the throne was taken separately and under the strictest confidence.

Mirovich in front of the body of Ivan VI. Painting by Ivan Tvorozhnikov (1884). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

As a result, the convoy did not reach Solovki due to difficult weather conditions and remained in Kholmogory. This imprisonment was reminiscent of a house arrest: they always had food and alcohol, and the rooms were dry and clean. The family of spouses also grew. Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to a son, Peter, in 1745. However, children conceived in captivity were very ill. On March 7, 1747, Anna Leopoldovna died in new births. Her body was taken to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.

"I am your sovereign!"

The secret prisoner was constantly kept in the cell. According to the prescription, John Antonovich should not have been taught to read and write and tried to do everything for the boy to develop with a lag. However, someone still taught him to read and gave him the Bible. He knew the text of scripture almost by heart.

By 1756, another conspiracy was uncovered. They wanted to steal the throne and take it by sea from Arkhangelsk. Then Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to transfer him to the Shlisselburg fortress. In one of the casemates of the 16-year-old prisoner was again placed under the name of Gregory. There was always an officer in the cell of the young king. When someone brought food, the prisoner was hidden behind a screen. Only a few guards could see him. John Antonovich should not have known his origin, but someone told him about the title of sovereign. The prisoner was also not given paper and ink. In the fortress, the health of Ivan VI worsened - he began to suffocate from a cough, changed his face. Once, drops of blood appeared on the pillow.

After a visible recovery, John Antonovich was shaken by the psyche. He rushed to the guard with shouts and threats. It got to the point that even the guard captain began to fear him. “I am the prince of your empire and your sovereign,” Ivan VI once shouted.

Peter III visits John Antonovich in his Shlisselburgsky chamber. Illustration from a German historical magazine of the beginning of the XX century. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

In December 1761, Peter III succeeded Elizabeth Petrovna on the throne. It was assumed that the position of the prisoner could improve, but the new king gave instructions to kill Ivan VI in an attempt to free him. In the spring of the following year, after the coup, Catherine II came to power. The empress and the marriage project of the empress with John Antonovich arose. This would legitimize power. According to some reports, in August 1762, she visited a prisoner and found him crazy. The instruction of Peter III was left unchanged.

Two years later, the lieutenant of the Smolensk infantry regiment, Vasily Mirovich, tried to free the famous prisoner to proclaim him emperor. Then the officers stabbed John Antonovich according to the instructions. The emperor was buried in the territory of the Shlisselburg fortress. He lived only 24 years - almost his whole life was spent in confinement and under the supervision of guards.

On July 1, 1780, the remaining children of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich were able to leave Russia forever. They arrived in Denmark and were settled in the town of Gorzens. Danish relatives tried to find a common language with the captives, however, the last representatives of the Braunschweig family were meager and ignorant - alas, they were brought up like that in Kholmogory, which they sincerely missed in a foreign land.

The last of the children of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich - Catherine - died in 1807. None of the Braunschweig surnames left offspring.

IVAN VI ANTONOVICH(1740-1764), Russian emperor. Born on August 12 (23), 1740 in St. Petersburg. Father Anton-Ulrich is the son of Ferdinand-Albrecht, Duke of Braunschweig-Beverna. Mother Anna Leopoldovna is the daughter of Karl-Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerinsky, and Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Tsar Ivan V Alekseevich and sister of Empress Anna Ivanovna. On October 5 (16), 1740, he was proclaimed the heir to the throne by the imperial manifesto. After the death of Anna Ivanovna on October 17 (28), 1740, he was raised to the Russian throne by a two-month-old child; On October 18 (29), I.-E. Biron was declared regent under him. On November 9 (20), as a result of a coup d'etat organized by B.-H.Minich, the regency passed to his mother, Anna Leopoldovna.

Overthrown as a result of a coup d'etat on November 24–25 (December 5–6) 1741. The new empress Elizaveta Petrovna initially ordered him to be sent abroad with her family and on December 12 (23) they left Petersburg, however, she soon changed her mind and ordered her to be detained them in Riga. On December 13 (24), 1742, the Braunschweig surname was transferred to the suburb of Riga Dinamunde (modern Daugavgriv), and in January 1744 - to Oranienburg in the Ryazan province (modern Chaplygin). In June 1744, it was decided to send them to the Solovetsky Monastery, but they only reached Kholmogory: chamberlain N.A. Korf, accompanying them, citing the difficulties of the journey and the inability to keep their stay in Solovki secret, convinced the government to leave them there. The four-year-old boy was isolated from his parents and placed under the supervision of Major Miller. In 1746, he lost his mother who died in childbirth.

Rumors circulating that Ivan was in Kholmogory forced the government to secretly transport him to the Shlisselburg fortress in 1756, where he was imprisoned in solitary confinement and kept in complete isolation; access to it was allowed only to three officers; even the commandant of the fortress did not know the name of his prisoner. In 1759 he showed signs of mental disturbance, but the jailers considered them a simulation.

With the accession in December 1761 of Peter III, the position of Ivan Antonovich did not improve; furthermore, an order was given to kill him while trying to free him. In March 1762, the new emperor paid the prisoner a visit, which, however, remained without consequences. After the accession to the throne of Catherine II, a project of her marriage with Ivan Antonovich appeared, which would allow her to legitimize her power. Probably in August 1762, she visited the prisoner and found him crazy. After the revelation of the Guards plot in the fall of 1762 with the aim of deposing Catherine II, Ivan's regime of detention was tightened; Empress confirmed the previous instructions of Peter III.

On the night of July 4 (15) to July 5 (16), 1764, Lieutenant V.Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard duty in the Shlisselburg fortress, drew part of the garrison to his side, arrested the commandant and, threatening to use artillery, demanded the extradition of the prisoner. After a short resistance, the guard surrendered, having previously killed Ivan. In view of the senselessness of further actions, V.Ya. Mirovich surrendered to the authorities and was executed. The body of the former emperor is buried in the Shlisselburg fortress.

Ivan Krivushin

- sometimes also called Ivan III (according to the tsars), the son of the niece of Empress Anna Ioannovna, Princess of Mecklenburg Anna Leopoldovna, and the Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg Anton-Ulrich, genus. On August 12, 1740, and the manifesto of Anna Ioannovna, dated October 5, 1740, was declared heir to the throne. Upon the death of Anna Ioannovna (October 17, 1740), Ivan was proclaimed emperor, and the manifesto was October 18. announced the delivery of the regency until the coming of age of Ivan, i.e., until he was 17 years old. Duke of Courland Biron. Upon the overthrow of Biron by Minich (November 8), the regency passed to Anna Leopoldovna, but already at night on December 25. 1741 ruler with husband and children, including imp. Ivan, were arrested in the palace by Elizabeth Petrovna and the latter was proclaimed empress. First, she intended to send the deposed emperor and his whole family abroad, and on December 12. In 1741 they were sent from St. Petersburg to Riga, under the supervision of a general-leith. V. F. Saltykov; but then Elizabeth changed her mind and, before reaching Riga, Saltykov received an order to go as quietly as possible, delaying the trip under various pretexts, and stop in Riga and wait for new orders. In Riga, prisoners stayed until Dec. 13. 1742, when they were transported to the Dynamo fortress. During this time, Elizabeth finally matured the decision not to let Ivan and his parents, as dangerous applicants, from Russia. In January 1744, a decree was followed about a new transportation of the former ruler with her family, this time to Ranenburg (now the city of Ryazan Province), and the performer of this order, Captain Lieutenant Vyndomsky, almost brought them to Orenburg . On June 27, 1744, chamberlain Baron N. A. Korf was ordered by the Empress to take the family of royal prisoners to the Solovetsky Monastery, and Ivan, both during this trip and during his stay in Solovki, had to be completely separated from his family and none of outsiders should not have access to him, except for the overseer specially assigned to him.

Korf brought the prisoners, however, only to Kholmogory and, presenting to the government all the difficulty of transporting them to Solovki and keeping them secret there, he persuaded them to remain in this city. Here Ivan spent about 12 years in complete solitary confinement, cut off from all communication with people; the only person with whom he could see was Major Miller, who was watching him, who, in turn, was almost unable to communicate with other persons guarding the family of the former emperor. Nevertheless, rumors about Ivan's stay in Kholmogory were spread, and the government decided to take new precautions. At the beginning of 1756, the life campaign sergeant Savin was ordered to secretly take Ivan out of Kholmogor and secretly deliver him to Shlisselburg, and Colonel Vyndomsky, the chief bailiff of the Braunschweig family, was given the decree: “The remaining prisoners are still kept more strict and with in addition to the guard, so as not to give a view about the removal of the prisoner; to report to our office and upon the departure of the prisoner that he is under your guard, as before, they reported. " In Shlisselburg, the secret was to be kept no less strictly: the commandant of the fortress himself did not need to know who was contained in it under the name of a "famous prisoner"; only three officers guarding his team could and knew his name; they were forbidden to tell Ivan where he was; even a field marshal could not be allowed into the fortress without a decree of the Secret Chancellery.

With the accession of Peter III, the situation of Ivan did not improve, but rather changed for the worse, although there was talk of Peter's intention to free the prisoner. Instruction given by gr. A. I. Shuvalov, the chief bailiff of Ivan (Prince Churmanteev), prescribed, among other things: "If the prisoner begins to repair any disturbances or opposition to you, or what begins to speak obscene, then put on a chain until he reconciles, and even then listens, then beat before your consideration with a stick and a lash. " In the decree of Peter III, Churmanteyev dated January 1, 1762, was commanded: "If, beyond our aspirations, who would dare to take a prisoner away from you, in this case, resist as much as you can and do not give a living prisoner to your hands." In the instruction given upon the accession to the throne of Catherine N. N. Panin, who was entrusted with her chief oversight of the contents of the Shlisselburg prisoner, this last paragraph was expressed even more clearly: “If, more than expectations, it happens that someone comes with the team or alone, although there would have been a commandant or some other officer, without the personal name for her own hand, I.V. and signing the order or without my written order, I wanted to take the prisoner from you, then do not give it to anyone and read everything for a forgery or an enemy hand. If so she is strong b a hand that saved not possible, to kill the prisoner, and anyone living in his hands did not give. "

According to some reports, following the reign of Catherine, Bestuzhev compiled a plan for her marriage with Ivan. It is true that Catherine at that time saw Ivan and, as she herself later admitted in the manifesto, found him damaged in her mind. Ivan and the reports of officers assigned to him were depicted as crazy or, at least, easily losing their emotional balance. However, Ivan knew his origin, despite the mystery surrounding him, and called himself sovereign. Despite the strict prohibition of teaching him anything, he learned to read and write from someone, and then he was allowed to read the Bible. The secret of Ivan's stay in Shlisselburg was not preserved, and this completely destroyed him. The second lieutenant of the Smolensk Infantry Regiment, standing in the garrison of the fortress. Yak. Mirovich decided to release him and proclaim him emperor; on the night of July 4–5, 1764, he set about executing his plan and, having forged garrisoned soldiers using fake manifestos, arrested the commandant of the fortress Berednikov and demanded the extradition of Ivan. The bailiff first resisted with the help of his team, but when Mirovich brought a cannon to the fortress, they gave up, previously, according to the exact meaning of the instructions, killing Ivan. After a thorough investigation, which revealed the complete absence of accomplices in Mirovich, the latter was executed.

In the reign of Elizabeth and her closest successors, the name And; was subjected to persecution: the seals of his reign were redone, the coin poured, all business papers with the name of imp. Ivan was ordered to collect and send to the Senate; manifestos, jury sheets, church books, memorial forms of persons Imp. houses in churches, sermons and passports were ordered to be burned, the rest of the affairs should be kept under seal and when inquiries with them should not use the title and name of Ivan, whence the name of these documents came from “deeds with a known title”. Only the highest approved on Aug. 19. The 1762 Senate report stopped the further extermination of the affairs of the time of Ivan, which threatened a violation of the interests of private individuals. Recently, the surviving documents were partly published in full, and partly processed in the Moscow publication. archive min. justice.

Literature: Soloviev, “History of Russia” (vols. 21 and 22); Hermann, "Geschichte des Russischen Staates"; M. Semevsky, "Ivan VI Antonovich" ("Fatherland Notes", 1866, vol. CLXV); Brickner, "Emperor John Antonovich and his relatives. 1741-1807" (M., 1874); "The internal life of the Russian state from October 17, 1740 to November 20, 1741" (ed. Moscow arch. M-va justice, vol. I, 1880, vol. II, 1886); Bilbasov, "Geschichte Catherine II" (vol. II); some minor details are still in the articles of the Russian Antiquities: “The Fate of the Family of the Ruler Anna Leopoldovna” (1873, vol. VII) and “Emperor John Antonovich” (1879, vols. 24 and 25).

B. M-n

Encyclopaedia Brockhaus-Efron

On July 17 (July 4, Art. Art.) Of 1764, the innocent sufferer Sovereign-martyr John VI Antonovich was killed.

Brief historical background:
Ivan VI (John Antonovich) (August 12 (23), 1740, St. Petersburg - July 5 (16), 1764, Shlisselburg) - Russian emperor from the Braunschweig branch of the Romanov dynasty from October 1740 to November 1741, great-grandson of Ivan V. Formally reigned the first year his life under the regency, first Biron, and then his own mother Anna Leopoldovna. A year later, a coup occurred. The daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth and the Transfiguration, arrested the emperor, his parents and all their close associates. In 1742 the whole family was secretly transferred to the outskirts of Riga - Dunamunde, in 1744 to Oranienburg, then to Kholmogory, where little Ivan was completely isolated from his parents. In 1756 he was transferred to solitary confinement in the Shlisselburg fortress. Ivan (called a “famous prisoner”) was not allowed to see even serfs. The infant emperor was overthrown, spent almost his entire life in prison, in solitary confinement, and already in the reign of Catherine II was killed by the guard at the age of 23 when he tried to release him. For all the time of his imprisonment, he never saw a single human face. But the documents indicate that the prisoner knew about his royal origin, was trained to read and write and dreamed of living in a monastery. The guards were given a secret instruction to kill the prisoner if they would try to release him (even having presented the empress’s decree about this). In the official lifetime sources, it is referred to as John III, that is, the account is kept from the first Russian Tsar John the Terrible; later historiography established the tradition of calling it Ivan (John) VI, counting from Ivan I Kalita.

In Russian history there are many white spots and dark places, intricate plots and forgotten heroes. One of her most mysterious and tragic characters is Emperor John Antonovich (born August 2, 1740, killed July 4, 1764).

Little is known about him.

John VI with his mother Anna Leopoldovna

Monogram of John VI

His entire official biography could be set out in several lines. He was the son of Prince Anton-Ulrich of Braunschweig-Luneburg and Anna Leopoldovna, the granddaughter of Tsar John Alekseevich. He became emperor of Russia according to the will of Anna Ioannovna in 1740. But his reign did not last long. On the night of November 24–25, 1741, the young Emperor was ousted from the throne, which passed to Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Emperor Peter I. All his further life he was in prison, where he died after an unsuccessful attempt of the “Mirovich conspiracy”.
In inhuman conditions, John Antonovich read the Gospel and prayed to God, although he did not have any conditions for a normal church life.

The infant emperor who became the martyr emperor ...

It seems that not a single ruler of Russia had such a sad fate. Of the incomplete twenty-four years of his life, he spent more than twenty in the most sinister prisons of the Russian Empire, guilty without guilt.

The theme of the Imperial Family and, more broadly, the Romanov Dynasty attracts the attention of many historians, publicists, figures of the Church and culture. However, among the huge number of publications on this topic, not all works are credible. One gets the impression that some authors see their task in creating a new mythology. The history of the Braunschweig family in Russia is especially indicative in this respect.

Before the 1917 revolution, this topic was taboo for obvious reasons.

Although then there were researchers who dealt with this topic. We note in this connection the activity of S.M. Soloviev, M.I. Semevsky, N.N. Firsova, V.O. Klyuchevsky, A.G. Brickner, M.A. Korfa.

After the revolution, the entire history of pre-Soviet Russia was banned. As if she did not exist at all.
With the collapse of Soviet power, the situation began to change little by little. However, the bibliography on the Braunschweig family in Russia is still very modest.

Among the works of contemporary Russian authors, it is worth highlighting the publications of E.V. Anisimova, L.I. Levina, I.V. Kurukina, N.I. Pavlenko, K.A. Pisarenko, A.V. Demkin, who introduce into the scientific circulation little-known documents from Russian and foreign archives.

These documents make it possible to better navigate the intricacies of Russian post-Petrine politics. The heroes of that time appear in a new way: the ruler Anna Leopoldovna, Generalissimo Anton-Ulrich, their children, including the Emperor John Antonovich.

Even the burial place of Emperor John Antonovich is still unknown. Either this is the Shlisselburg fortress, or the Tikhvin Mother of God Monastery ...

But this is our Russian Emperor, who had the same rights to the throne as the "daughter of Petrov" Elizabeth and his grandson Karl-Peter-Ulrich (Peter III).

The royal infant was excommunicated, had no proper care and upbringing. However, he independently mastered the Holy Scriptures. He prayed a lot and earnestly. Observed posts. He expressed a desire to accept monastic tonsure.
Did not work out.

But he went down in history as a righteous emperor.

The bullying of the jailers did not break Emperor John VI. He did not die spiritually. And if so, then according to the logic of the struggle for power it should have been eliminated! His living, sane, legitimate Emperor of Russia! ..

Therefore, the persons guarding John received unspoken instructions to scoff at him in every possible way, to abuse him. In written instructions, they were advised to use physical violence against John, and in case of anxiety, to kill him.
Even the prisoner lost his real name.

He was called either the “Nameless” well, or “Gregory” (a mocking analogy with the impostor Grigory Otrepiev).

On December 31, 1741, a decree of the empress was announced on the surrender by the population of all coins with the name of John Antonovich (see picture) for subsequent remelting.

Any images of John Antonovich, as well as all documents where his name was at least accidentally mentioned, were withdrawn from circulation. The later falsifiers of Russian history had something to learn from figures of the post-Petrine era.

Future regicide received a "letter of protection" for any crime. They perfectly understood that personally they were not in danger. They were not afraid to “go too far”, as their bosses urged them to run it more often.

The executioners went about their favorite business: driving to a madness a person who was completely and completely dependent on them. Along the way, they ate hearty, drank sweetly, dressed well and made profit at his expense.

And since the guards were also rare skins, who consciously chose the career of prison guards for themselves, they most naturally sought not only to conscientiously fulfill the order, but also to protect themselves. And so that their disgusting actions, unworthy of the honor of Russian officers, would not cause censure from the authorities, they also cried about their miserable fate and unfortunate share.

This is what a "monster" they have to protect! After all, they are so kind and soft. But what vileness you can’t do “for the sake of the Fatherland”, if the authorities order!

So they did. With feeling, really, with arrangement.
And the authorities helped them with this with their detailed “instructions”.
That's where these endless fables about the inappropriate behavior of the “crazy prisoner” come from!
The guards first provoked the Emperor to extraordinary acts, and then, mocking a defenseless man, they reliably described them in their illiterate and deceitful denunciations.

They especially made fun of the true faith of the Orthodox Emperor. They were amused precisely by the fact that the Tsar, who was in inhuman conditions, humbled himself, apparently accepting the feat of foolishness.

In our opinion, this explains the "inadequate" behavior of John VI, combining the outrageous deeds of the holy fool with the depth and wisdom of the ascetic. However, the jailers could not give a true assessment of such behavior because of their dense ignorance.

If John Antonovich was insane, then why was he so vigilantly guarded? If he was insane, then why kill him?

Historical facts that have come down to us indicate that he was not crazy.

Apparently, Peter III, and then Catherine II, were very surprised when, instead of the expected “vegetable,” broken by many years of imprisonment, they saw, even if they were sick (but where was their health?), But a very reasonable person who knew who he was . It was this, and nothing else, that apparently brought the Emperor's death closer.

The result of the story is as follows. In June 1764, Saint Blessed Xenia of Petersburg began to weep bitterly for days. All the people who met her, seeing her in tears, felt sorry for the blessed, thinking that someone had offended her. Passersby asked: “What are you crying, Andrey Fedorovich? Has anyone offended you? ”

Blessed answered: “There is blood, blood, blood! There the rivers poured blood, there the channels are bloody, there is blood, blood ”. And she cried even more.

But then no one understood these strange words.

And three weeks later, the prediction of blessed Xenia was fulfilled: during an attempt to free John Antonovich was brutally killed in the casemate of the Shlisselburg fortress.

In 1764, when Catherine II already reigned, Lieutenant V.Ya. Mirovich, who was on guard duty in the Shlisselburg fortress, bowed a part of the garrison to his side in order to free the prisoner. In response to Mirovich’s demand for surrender, the guards stabbed John Antonovich and only then surrendered. Lieutenant Mirovich, who was trying to free the Emperor Ivan Antonovich, was arrested and beheaded in St. Petersburg on September 15, 1764 as a state criminal.

There is an unconfirmed version that Mirovich was provoked to attempt a coup to get rid of Emperor John Antonovich. Mirovich's “Riot” served as the theme for the novel by G.P. Danilevsky "Mirovich".

Mirovich in front of the body of Ivan VI. Painting by Ivan Tvorozhnikov (1884)

The regicide received a generous reward.

From the depths of centuries, we hear the words of John Antonovich: “I am the prince and your sovereign here!”
The past, of course, cannot be changed. But historical justice must still triumph. We must remember this name!

Anatoly Trunov, Elena Chernikova, Belgorod

Devoted to Innocent Russian Emperor John VI Antonovich

The flower grew among the stones
He dreamed about the sun
About love and good
Quietly cried out to God!

Was hidden from the light
The cold prevailed
That beautiful flower
Growing up on stones.

He wanted to surprise
The world with its beauty
Beaming at dawn
Cold dew.

He wanted, shuddering,
Stand in the wind
Petals substituting
Rain in the morning.

He grew painfully
He was all alone.
And a villainous hand
The flower was ruined!

Was ruthlessly ripped off
Without leaving a trace.
Only on a stone remained
Like tears - dew ...

Angel came down from heaven
And gathered the petals.
In the sky, birds screamed
From crazy longing.

But the flower has not disappeared, -
He got into the Garden of Eden,
So that ever again
Go back.

To remind
That beauty will save our world
Teach us patience
In the name of Christ.

I fell on a stone
Quietly shed tears
Where that Flower grew
In that harsh land ...

Elena Chernikova