Ancient estates of the Sheremetev family. Chirkino (Stupinsky district)

The Sheremetevs are an ancient and, perhaps, the most famous family of Russian boyars.

Such famous estates as Ostankino and Kuskovo are associated with the Sheremetyevs, but the land where we went is the first and oldest patrimony of the Sheremetyevs, granted to them at the beginning of the 16th century. We saw a temple complex built at the behest of the boyars, one of the churches of which is more than five hundred years old! But most importantly, they visited the so-called Four Springs, where pilgrims have been coming in both winter and summer for the past few years to swim and collect holy water. Few people know that only one of the four sources is truly ancient! We conducted a small independent investigation and determined in which source the Sheremetyevs took water, and which ones became popular recently.

The gathering of the convoy was scheduled for 10 am on the 100th kilometer of the Don highway.

Today we were accompanied by Dmitry and Elena on a tilt UAZ, Oleg and his family on the Patriot, Andrey with his wife and grandson on the Patriot, Andrey on the Daster, Alexey with his comrades on the Niva and Andrey Evgenievich with his sons on the Niva.

Briefing before the start.

Some questions were aroused by the movement of the column in the city of Stupino, which had to be passed through, the situation was complicated by the blocking of the central street due to the construction of an overpass. But we slipped through the narrow streets with a bunch of traffic lights surprisingly fast.

Stupino

Almost immediately we force the first ford.

A steep descent followed by another one.

All cars coped with these obstacles without problems, only for Duster they had to break the ice a little - they were afraid for plastic bumpers.

The first attraction is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Staroye.

Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1896 and 1902

Dmitry tells the history of these places.

The village of Staroye has been known since the 17th century. From the frequent raids of the Tatars and devastation during the Time of Troubles, by 1620 it turned into a wasteland. In 1775, a wooden church of the Nativity of the Mother of God was built in the village. The currently existing stone church of the Nativity of the Mother of God was erected at the expense of the Izmailov merchant family in 1893. During the Soviet era, the temple was closed. No restoration work is currently underway.

Next to the temple are the ruins of a church house.

Once upon a time here, on a gentle slope leading to the ponds on the Bunchikha River, the Kurtino estate was located. Its owner was Count Pavel Martynovich Skavronsky (1757 - 1793) - the grand-nephew of Catherine I, a well-known rich man and music lover in his time, chamberlain, Russian envoy to the Neapolitan court. Unfortunately, from the buildings of the estate, only the stone church of the Icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow, Joy, consecrated in 1794, has survived. In the 1930s, the temple was closed, now it is abandoned.

Church of the Icon of the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow Joy, 1794.

Another village where there was an estate that has not survived to this day is Sukovo. This modest middle-class estate was founded in the first half of the 18th century, and in the middle of the 19th century it belonged to Princess E.A. Yaroslavova. The compositional center was the manor house, now dismantled to the foundation, the front yard was limited by outbuildings and services. As in Curtino, only the church of the middle of the 18th century has survived from the manor buildings.

Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Sukovo. Built between 1745 and 1820

Dmitry tells the story of the last abbot of the Kazan church: he was Abbot Methodius (in the world Nikolai Mikhailovich Ivanov, born 1899), who was arrested in 1929, but after 3 years he returned from exile. On August 30, 1937, Yezhov's operational order No. 00447 was issued, where the "churchmen" were classified as "anti-Soviet elements" in second place after the kulaks, but before members of the hostile political parties. All over the country, mass executions of clergy began at predetermined limits. The accusation was presented as standard - "counter-revolutionary agitation". Hegumen Methodius was accused of "organizing illegal gatherings of anti-Soviet monastic elements who returned from exile, conducted extensive correspondence with exile, provided material assistance to the exiles, and until recently carried out secret tonsure into monasticism." On November 8, 1937, he was sentenced to death. After that, the temple was closed and destroyed.

With the help of an ax and such and such a mother, the problem was solved, and the column moved on.

The ruins of another estate - Aleshkovo - appeared across the river.

Ensemble in the classicism style of the 1800s. placed on top of a gentle hill. The buildings are stretched along the slope and form a panorama designed to be viewed from the access road.

In the scribes of the 16th century it is recorded that the village of Alyoshkovo belonged to Ivan Andreevich Zhitov, and in 1577 the village passed into the possession of M.V. Grigorov. The estate was formed at the beginning of the 19th century, when it belonged to P.A. Novikova. In the middle of the XIX century. passed to the family of Major General P.A. Kozhin. From the Kozhins, the estate was acquired by natives of serfs, who bought out a free one - the Shcherbakovs. At that time, they owned a factory in the city of Ozyory. F. Shcherbakov opened a potato-making establishment in Aleshkov, a beater and 14 horse-driven tokmaks for finishing the calico, which was brought from his factory, with a stream of water. The potato-making establishment produced raw starch for finishing fabrics. By the beginning of the 20th century, more than five hundred people lived in the estate.

Now only a dozen permanent residents live in Aleshkovo, summer residents also come here in the summer. From the estate there are the ruins of the main house, services, a horse yard, an old linden park is visible, among the general picturesque devastation, the newly restored Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands out.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1819.

The main manor house.

Water tower.

As it turned out, it was not in vain that we refreshed ourselves, because it was not easy to leave Aleshkovo in the direction we needed.

7 days ago, there were no problems with this at the rental - there was a normal rolled road, there was no snow all week, the last couple of days was generally a plus. However, when leaving the field, there was simply no road - one big continuous crossing. Our UAZ car briskly rushed forward and sat down almost immediately.

UAZ began to pull the Niva and sat down by itself.

We decided to drag Niva with the Patriot, but the cable between her and Hunter turned out to be tight, and the shackle's finger bitten. While Niva was pushed and swayed in every possible way to unhook, Gelik plowed the road and pulled it to the side.

Apparently from happiness, the driver of the Niva Vlad decided to get lost and for some reason began to turn around in a snowy mess.

Meanwhile, Gelik pulled out Hunter too.

On the already beaten road, the rest of the participants of the trip passed without any problems.

The field was beautiful in the rays of the setting sun!

A short haul along the highway and we again go to the field road.

Gelik and Patriot passed it without any problems, and Duster again got scared for the plastic parts.

The rest of the ford can be said to have flown by.

We are approaching the "Four Springs" - this is the name of the miraculous springs located in the vicinity of the village of Chirkovo. For the last decade, pilgrims have come to these places both in winter and in summer to swim and collect holy water. It remains to determine by indirect signs which of them is old, Sheremetyevsky.

Before us is the source of the locally revered saints Hieromartyr John (Pokrovsky) and the Monk Martyr Anna (Korneeva), who were tortured for their faith in 1938.

Source of saints john and anne

It is crowded around - locals come here with baklashki for water. We also try the water, inspect everything around, different versions sound, and now Oleg makes the correct verdict - the source is a large-diameter pipe, from where a stream of water breaks out - this is part of an old water supply system that led to the farmyard, and the ruins nearby are an old boiler room. A well with a pump, which is not working now, can be found five meters above the pipe.

Nearby there is another source - Tsarsky - in honor of the great martyrs, passion-bearers of Tsar Nicholas 2 and Tsarevich, the youth Alexy, who were killed for the faith and the Fatherland. This dedication is not accidental, since the root of the family of the boyars Sheremetevs and Romanovs is one. The source is a small turquoise lake with bubbling springs and fish swimming in clear water.

Tsar's source.

In fact, the Tsarsky spring looks very cool. And fish swim in it even in February! Don't believe me? Watch the underwater video filmed by Andrey:

Andrei, however, voiced the correct version about the origin of the source: if you look closely at the banks around, it becomes clear that they were expanded, the inhabitants of the village of Shcherbinino did it to wash clothes in the 50s of the 20th century.

The third spring is located in the village of Chirkovo - "Joy of All Who Sorrow".

The source of Joy of All Who Sorrow.

In the background, it can be seen that the source is located in the lowlands next to the temples, and the tablet says that the level of silver in it exceeds the norm by 20 times.

Everything indicates that the source is definitely Sheremetyevsky. But here, too, bad luck - Andrey gives the correct version - the source is too similar to a well. This is indeed the only source of drinking water for the residents of Chirkin. People dug it themselves and laid the rings, but after the restoration of the church, this ordinary village well was consecrated so that the pilgrims would have where to get holy water.

Let us dwell on the ensemble of churches in more detail.

The temple complex of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and Basil the Great in the village. Chirkino.

The village of Chirkino is the oldest, the first patrimony of the Sheremetevs, granted by Ivan III to Andrei Kobyla (Sheremet) for the Novgorod campaign. The father of the first Sheremetyevs, Andrei Sheremet, died and left Chirkino as a testament to his younger son Vasily Andreevich. Vasily Andreevich Sheremetev and was the builder of the first stone Church of the Intercession in Chirkin.

Vasily Andreevich had six sons: Ivan Bolshoi, Grigory, Semyon, Nikita, Ivan Menshoi and Fyodor Vasilievich. After the death of Vasily Andreevich, all his numerous estates, except Chirkin, passed to his sons, who owned them together until 1564 (in this year they split). A special record was made on Chirkino: with this village Vasily Andreevich blessed the youngest of his six sons - Fyodor. What caused such an order, why was the old patrimonial patrimony again transferred to the youngest, and not to the eldest of the sons?

The fact is that Chirkino was not considered by the Sheremetevs as an ordinary land ownership. It housed the parental churchyard with the family church of the Intercession, where members of the family were buried for a long time, from the 15th or even from the 14th century. The Sheremetevs themselves until the 17th century. they did not live in Chirkin: they "sat" in the villages and villages in the Chirkin district - in Fedorovsky, Gorodnya, Meshcherin, Prussi, etc. Honoring the memory of ancestors, "parents", as they said at the time, was considered by the ancients to be the primary virtue. Here great church holidays were celebrated together, baptized and buried.

It was assumed that in order to save the souls of the ancestors, the funeral services should last forever, until the Last Judgment. In this case, one of the family members had to take care that funeral services were regularly performed today and did not stop in the future. It was believed that for this role the youngest son is most suitable, who will live longer than others and longer, thus, will be able to take care of the parental cemetery and the family church. Indeed, Fyodor Vasilyevich died only in 1592, having outlived all his brothers.

By the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, an important event took place in the Sheremetev family: they gave their only niece Elena Ivanovna (daughter of Ivan Vasilyevich Menshoy from neighboring Chirkina Gorodnya) to the eldest son of Ivan the Terrible - Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich. In the event of the death of Tsar Ivan, the title of the Russian queen awaited her, and the Sheremetevs were to become the first people in the state.

However, these dreams were not destined to come true. Elena Ivanovna herself was an indirect cause of the catastrophe that befell her: during the stay of the royal family in the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda in 1581, the tsar found her, then already pregnant, in the hotly heated palace rooms in one shirt, which, according to the concepts of that time, was the height of indecency (on a woman , the more noble, there should have been at least three shirts). The king, who was furious, beat his daughter-in-law. Ivan Ivanovich ran up to his wife's cry and stood up for her. The king attacked his son and beat him to a pulp. Shaken, Ivan Ivanovich fell ill and died 11 days later. Elena Ivanovna had a miscarriage. According to the custom of that time, the young widow was tonsured into a monastery.

If it were not for the tragedy in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, the Sheremetevs would probably have occupied the same position in the state that the Godunovs later occupied through Irina Godunova, the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor Ivanovich.

Trouble came to Fyodor Vasilyevich: he remained childless. For the aging owner Chirkin, the question arose about the heir, and he wrote a will, according to which he transferred his ancestral domain with the village of Chirkin to Kirillo-Belozers monastery as a contribution to his soul and to the souls of his parents. But Fyodor Vasilyevich had nephews who strongly disagreed with such a will. An unprecedented litigation began, which lasted several decades (until the middle of the 17th century).

As a result, the patrimony finally remained with Peter Nikitich Sheremetev, then passed to his youngest son, then to his grandson. Now the Sheremetevs already lived in Chirkin, their estate was located to the north-west of the temples.

Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev entered Russian history as the famous "Crimean prisoner". In 1660 he was captured by the Crimean Khan and imprisoned in the Chufut-Kale fortress. He spent 20 years there, after a huge ransom was paid for him, he was released by a sick old man and died 4 months later in Moscow, never having visited his Chirkin.

Vasily Borisovich had a son who died in infancy, and a daughter who married Prince Golitsyn, so he faced the question of an heir: he now had no male descendants bearing the surname Sheremetev. Vasily Borisovich acted unexpectedly: despite the presence of direct heirs in the person of his daughter and her husband, he made a will in favor of his nephew, the most brilliant representative of the Sheremetev family in history, the future field marshal, the famous associate of Peter the Great, praised by Pushkin in "Poltava" under the name "Sheremetev noble".

Touched by the generous act of his uncle, Boris Petrovich decided to honor his memory in a special way - to build over his coffin (Vasily Borisovich bequeathed to bury himself in Chirkin) a burial church, and at the same time to reconstruct the Intercession Church.

So in 1676 in Chirkino a tiered pillar-like temple "under the ringing" appeared, the original version of the patrimonial church-bell tower of the heyday of the Moscow Baroque - Basil the Great.

Church of Basil the Great, 1676 - Church-tomb of Vasily Borisovich Sheremetyev.

In the Chirkinsky churches, magnificent baroque iconostases covered with openwork carvings were erected, which gained fame as outstanding works of Russian applied church art back in the middle of the 19th century. The iconostases disappeared (possibly died) just like all the Chirkin icons, among which there were very ancient ones, in the 50s of the 20th century.

A little more hilly field roads and we approach the final point of our journey - the source of Elijah the Prophet. There is nothing to guess, so it is clear that since the previous three were consecrated in the 20th century, the remaining one is ancient, Sheremetyevo.

The ancient miraculous source of the Prophet of God Elijah is six meters in diameter, at the bottom there are about two dozen springs. It appeared from a lightning strike on the holiday of the same name in time immemorial. He is mentioned in many historical descriptions, chronicles, church historiography of the Kolomna district of the 18th century. The archives contain attested, documented records of the consistory about miraculous events that took place at the source for a long time.

Thank you all for the company!

Video from Alexey:

A small handwritten map-diagram hangs on the stand near the temples,
indicating the location of sources.

The name of the Sheremetyevs is associated with such estates as Ostankino, Kuskovo, but the estate in the village of Chirkino is the first ancient patrimony of the Sheremetyev boyars, granted at the beginning of the 16th century to Andrei Kobylin by Ivan III for the Novgorod campaign.

In 1514, on a high hill in the village of Chirkino, a church was built in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God. Next to him in the 17th century, boyar Vasily Sheremetev erected in honor of his heavenly patron Saint Basil the Great a typically baroque tiered church "under the bell", which later became his tomb. Once it was surrounded by an open gallery-gulbische. At the same time, the superstructure of the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God was made. Later, Pyotr Borisovich Sheremetev (1713-1788, chief chamberlain, art lover) added the chapel of the apostles Peter and Paul.

Unfortunately, the fate of the churches themselves, Archpriest John (who served in the Intercession Church) and novice Anna Korneeva, who helped him in the church, after the October Revolution repeated the fate of many thousands of others on the territory of the Soviet state. In accordance with the testimony of false witnesses, a certificate was issued for the arrest of priest John Pokrovsky, signed by the leaders of the NKVD of the Moscow region. On January 27, 1938, the authorities arrested Archpriest John, and on February 13, the novice Anna Korneeva, imprisoning them in the city of Kashira. The Hieromartyr John (Pokrovsky) and the Monk Martyr Anna (Korneeva) were sentenced to death by the NKVD troika on February 21, 1938. On February 26, 1938, the sentence was carried out.

Excerpts from the interrogation protocols are now available on the Internet.

It was believed that the line of the Sheremetev boyars faded away after the October Revolution of 1917, however, it turned out that there is a direct descendant of the Sheremetevs - Count Georgy. He lives in California, USA. Several years ago he visited his ancestral nest and, according to eyewitnesses, that day a small icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Intercession Church was pacified ...

The mentioned miraculous case is far from the only one: the current rector of the Chirkin temples, priest Viktor Kuznetsov, can give many testimonies of contemporary miracles and cases of miracles. And the overwhelming majority of them are connected by consecrated, strong, pure water sources located near the village of Chirkino.

“One is located in the lowlands. Directly under the towering temples of the village of Chirkino. Source "Joy of All Who Sorrow". It is famous for its extraordinary concentration of silver. Its content in the water is twenty times higher than the usual norm here! .. Above the spring there is a high canopy with a dome and a cross. There is a comfortable swimming pool nearby.

Two other sources are located at the entrance to the temple complex, near the village of Shcherbinino, near the bridge over the river. Here you will see a crystal stream bursting out of a large diameter pipe. This source was consecrated in honor of the locally revered saints Hieromartyr John (Pokrovsky) and the Monk Martyr Anna (Korneeva), who were martyred for the faith in 1938.

Near the indescribable beauty is the Tsar's spring in honor of the great martyrs, passion-bearers of Tsar Nicholas 2 and Tsarevich, the youth Alexy, who were killed for the faith and the Fatherland. This dedication is not accidental, since the root of the family of the boyars Sheremetevs and Romanovs is one. Almshouse (now dismantled) at churches with. Chirkina was also, during the construction in 1908, consecrated in honor of the birth of Tsarevich Alexy Nikolaevich Romanov.

This source is mesmerizing with its extraordinary beauty. A round barrel of the purest water, six meters in diameter. This is a living, wondrous, natural aquarium created by the Creator of everything. Algae in green lace frames its bottom. About two dozen springs break out, whipping up grains of sand. Their bubbling does not at all excite the numerous fish, slowly waltzing in the weightlessness of the reservoir. Anyone who comes up and sees this inexplicable miracle is frozen with bewitching delight. The strong beating of the springs in the sandy bottom of the spring does not frighten at all, does not excite, on the contrary, it joyfully soothes. I don't want to leave him. Anyone who wants to cheer up receives long-term energy for body and soul in it.

The fourth source is especially famous - the ancient miraculous source of the prophet of God Elijah. He is mentioned in many historical descriptions, chronicles, church historiography of the Kolomna district of the 18th century. The archives contain attested, documented records of the consistory about miraculous events that took place at the source for a long time. "

Chirkino.

Churches of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and Basil the Great

The village of Chirkino is the first ancient possession of the Sheremetyev boyar family. These lands were awarded by the Grand Duke John III to Andrei Sheremet Kobylin for the Novgorod campaign. This temple ensemble, amazing in its beauty and location, is an architectural monument of national importance.
Both churches and the now destroyed almshouse (it was built and consecrated in 1908 in honor of the birth of the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexy Nikolaevich Romanov), constituting a magnificent architectural ensemble, are located in the center of the village on a half-mountain at the edge of a steep cliff, and under the cliff, not far away, a small river flows river.

The village of Chirkino of the ancient Kolomna district is the ancestral domain of the Sheremetev boyars.
The Sheremetevs traced their descent from Andrei Kobyla, who served the Moscow prince back in 1347. The family name of the Sheremetevs was Kobylins. Relatives of the Sheremetevs, the Romanovs, who occupied the Russian throne for 300 years, were also mares.

We go through the village to the temples

The new surname of one of the Kobylins' branches - the Sheremetevs - was formed from the nickname of the Kobyla's great-grandson, Andrei Konstantinovich, who bore the surname Bezzubtsev (nicknamed his grandfather), but at the same time had a personal nickname - Sheremet. In the life of ancient Russian people, personal nicknames played some very important role, the real meaning of which we still do not understand enough. They were not considered offensive or funny. The nicknames were carried mainly by noble people.
Andrey Sheremet's father, Konstantin Aleksandrovich Bezzubtsev, is the first known owner of the village of Chirkina. Both Konstantin Alexandrovich and his numerous descendants served the Moscow grand princes, and then the tsars, as governors - in campaigns, governors - in cities and provinces, ambassadors - at embassies in neighboring states, etc. For almost 600 years it was the highest Moscow nobility.

Andrey Sheremet had three sons: Ivan, Vasily and Boris. The news has survived that on February 13, 1500, they, then still young people, were present at the wedding of the daughter of Grand Duke Ivan III. None of them was then a boyar, and all of them were called "boyar children." Boris soon died, and Ivan and Vasily Andreyevich began to serve the Grand Duke.
The life of these first two Sheremetevs proceeded in incessant battles - now with Lithuania, now with Kazan, now with the Crimeans. In addition to distant campaigns outside the state, every year, with the beginning of summer, the Russian army went to the banks of the Oka and stood all summer waiting for the Crimean Khan. Apparently, there was no other way to protect Moscow from Tatar raids. In 1521, the Crimean Khan Mohammed-Girey deceived the Russian governors, among whom was Ivan Sheremetev. He suddenly crossed the Oka in another place and struck the army of the Moscow prince from the rear. The Russians were utterly defeated, after which Muhammad-Girey almost took Moscow. In this battle, Ivan Sheremetev was killed.

The name of Ivan Andreevich Sheremetev, who suffered for his fatherland (as then they said, “for the holy churches and the Orthodox faith”), was inscribed forever in the most important “Monument” of Moscow Russia - the Synodikon of the Assumption Cathedral - and was commemorated together with the tsars, princes and metropolitans up to the revolution itself with the addition of "Eternal Memory". (The heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo are also inscribed in this Synodikon). Ivan Andreevich died without leaving offspring.
The place of Ivan Andreevich in the service of the Grand Duke was taken by Vasily Andreevich Sheremetev, who went on campaigns almost every year from 1522 to 1537.

Long before the events described - exactly when it is not known - the father of the first Sheremetyevs, Andrei Sheremet, died and left the village of Chirkino according to his will to his youngest son, i.e. Vasily Andreevich. (As we will see later, Vasily Andreevich Sheremetev was the builder of the first stone Church of the Intercession in Chirkin).
Vasily Andreyevich's military service proceeded quite well. However, since the death of Grand Duke Vasily III, since 1533, clouds began to gather over his head. In Moscow, enmity between two large boyar parties flared up - the old Russian princes Shuisky with the princes Glinsky and Belsky who came from Lithuania, relatives of the widow of the Grand Duke Elena Glinskaya and her son, young Ivan the Terrible. In this struggle, Vasily Andreevich, as one of the most well-born dignitaries, joined the Shuisky party. As soon as Elena Glinskaya died (in 1538), he was seized and forcibly tonsured at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery under the name of the monk Vasyan.
In ancient Russia, taking monastic vows meant civilian death. But not for such a person as Vasily Andreevich was. There is evidence - no less than that of Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself - that the monk Vasyan in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery did not stop his political activities. In a letter written many years later to the abbot of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery Kozma, Ivan the Terrible brings down whole streams of abuse on the head of the long-dead Vasily Andreyevich. From him we learn that among his contemporaries Vasily Andreevich was called "the devil" - apparently, for his indomitable temperament and special audacity. From the words of Tsar Ivan, one can understand that from the moment Vasily Andreyevich was imprisoned in the monastery, violent theological disputes began there, that the monks - most of them belonged to the Moscow boyars - broke up into parties. Tsar Ivan directly called Vasyan Sheremetev the culprit of this theological and political turmoil.
Apparently, the government soon took action, and Vasyan Sheremetev was transferred from Trinity to the remote Nikolsky Antoniev-Krasnokholmsky monastery, where he died on January 9, 1548.
Vasily Andreevich had six sons: Ivan Bolshoi, Grigory, Semyon, Nikita, Ivan Menshoi and Fyodor Vasilievich.
After the death of Vasily Andreevich, all his numerous estates, except for Chirkin, passed to his sons, who owned them together until 1564 (this year they were divided). A special record was made on Chirkino: with this village Vasily Andreevich blessed the youngest of his six sons - Fyodor Vasilyevich. What caused such an order, why was the old patrimonial patrimony again transferred to the youngest, and not to the eldest of the sons?
The fact is that Chirkino was not considered by the Sheremetevs as an ordinary land ownership. It housed the parental churchyard with the family church of the Intercession, where members of the family were buried for a long time, from the 15th or even from the 14th century. The Sheremetevs themselves until the 17th century. they did not live in Chirkin: they "sat" in the villages and villages in the Chirkin district - in Fedorovsky, Gorodnya, Meshcherin, Prussi, etc. Honoring the memory of ancestors, "parents", as they said at the time, was considered by the ancients to be the primary virtue. In the Church of the Intercession, in addition to annual memorial services, daily "commemorations" for the deceased were performed, panikhida and litias were served. Here great church holidays were celebrated together, baptized and buried.
It was assumed that in order to save the souls of the ancestors, the funeral services should last forever, until the Last Judgment. In this case, one of the family members had to take care that funeral services were regularly performed today and did not stop in the future. It was believed that for this role the youngest son is most suitable, who will live longer than others and longer, thus, will be able to take care of the parental cemetery and the family church. In the family of Vasily Andreevich, this son turned out to be Fyodor Vasilyevich. The latter, by the will of his father, became the "executor" of the Sheremetev family almost until the end of the 16th century: he died in 1592, having outlived all his brothers.
The life of Fyodor Vasilyevich and his brothers proceeded during the turbulent years of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Of the five brothers of Fyodor Vasilyevich, two - Grigory and Ivan Menshoy - were killed in the war, the third - Nikita - was executed in the oprichin, Semyon died, and the elder brother Ivan Bolshoi was imprisoned together with his son Eremey in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, where he died in disgraced, hated and cursed by Tsar Ivan. Only the life of Fyodor Vasilyevich developed relatively well under Grozny. Under him, construction continued in Chirkin.
By the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, an important event took place in the Sheremetev family: they gave their only niece Elena Ivanovna (daughter of Ivan Vasilyevich Menshoy from neighboring Chirkina Gorodnya) to the eldest son of Ivan the Terrible - Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich. In the event of the death of Tsar Ivan, the title of the Russian queen awaited her, and the Sheremetevs were to become the first people in the state.
However, these dreams were not destined to come true. Elena Ivanovna herself was an indirect cause of the catastrophe that befell her: during the stay of the royal family in the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda in 1581, the tsar found her, then already pregnant, in the hotly heated palace rooms in one shirt, which, according to the concepts of that time, was the height of indecency (on a woman , the more noble, there should have been at least three shirts). The king, who was furious, beat his daughter-in-law. Ivan Ivanovich ran up to his wife's cry and stood up for her. The king attacked his son and beat him to a pulp. Shaken, Ivan Ivanovich fell ill and died 11 days later. Elena Ivanovna had a miscarriage. According to the custom of that time, the young widow was tonsured into a monastery.
If it were not for the tragedy in the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, the Sheremetevs would probably have occupied the same position in the state that the Godunovs later occupied through Irina Godunova, the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor Ivanovich.
Trouble came to Fyodor Vasilyevich: he remained childless. For the aging owner Chirkin, the question arose about the heir.
Of all the young descendants of Vasily Andreevich by the 70s of the 16th century. only two of Fyodor Vasilievich's nephews survived: the son of the executed Nikita Vasilievich Peter and the son of Ivan Vasilievich Menshoy Fyodor. And Fyodor Vasilyevich decided to bypass his nephews by inheritance. Apparently, this decision was preceded by some kind of family quarrel.
In 1575, being in the voivodeship in Tula, Fyodor Vasilyevich made his first will, according to which he transferred his ancestral patrimony with the village of Chirkin to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery as a contribution to his soul and the souls of his parents. According to a special condition, Chirkino was to pass into the possession of the monastery only after the death of Fyodor Vasilyevich.
The nephews did not agree with such a will. An unprecedented litigation began, which lasted several decades (until the middle of the 17th century).
Pyotr Nikitich Sheremetev became a decisive opponent of his uncle's will. A real war broke out between him and Fyodor Vasilyevich. In 1579, when Fyodor Vasilyevich was taken prisoner by the Poles, Pyotr Nikitich forcibly "reprimanded Chirkino." Freed from captivity, Fyodor Vasilyevich filed a lawsuit, and Pyotr Nikitich was "given over to him by his head for robbery."
Much later, already under Fyodor Ivanovich, when the Godunovs came to power, Fyodor Vasilyevich fell into disgrace. Fleeing from his pursuers, he hid in the same Nikolsky Antoniev-Krasnokholmsky monastery, in which his father ended his days. And again Pyotr Nikolayevich "robbed his uncle's estates."

While in the monastery, Fyodor Vasilyevich made a final order regarding Chirkin - he handed him over to the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery "for future use, without ransom." However, now his nephew was already firmly in Chirkin. Contrary to the clear meaning of the will, after the death of Fyodor Vasilyevich in 1592, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich "granted" Pyotr Nikitich - he gave him the village of Chirkino. Seeking such an unprecedented decision (all rights in this matter were on the side of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery), Pyotr Nikitich, in order to finally discredit his uncle, resorted to political denunciation.
All attempts of the monastery to regain Chirkino through court ended in vain. "Peter Nikitich," says one ancient document, "was a strong man and fought back from the court." According to the documents of the ancient Sheremetev archive that has come down to us, it is clear how this was done: the court had the right to postpone the controversial case at the slightest opportunity and endlessly used this in favor of Pyotr Nikitich. The lawsuit dragged on back in 1629, 1642, 1649, when Peter Nikitich was no longer alive (he died in 1603).
As a result, the Sheremetevs' victory was complete. The clan patrimony finally remained with them.
After the death of Peter Nikitich, Chirkino passed to his youngest son Boris Petrovich (died in 1650), and from him to his only son of the latter, Vasily Borisovich. Now the Sheremetevs already lived in Chirkin. Their estate was located north - northwest of the temples.
Vasily Borisovich Sheremetev entered Russian history as the famous "Crimean prisoner". In 1660 he was captured by the Crimean Khan and imprisoned in the Chufut-Kale fortress. Vasily Borisovich spent 20 years there, and after paying a huge ransom for him, he was released by a sick old man. Upon his return to Moscow, the tsar personally introduced him to the Duma: no one remembered Vasily Borisovich by sight. The fate of Vasily Borisovich shocked his contemporaries.
After living in Moscow for 4 winter months, Vasily Borisovich died on April 25, 1682, without having visited his Chirkin. Vasily Borisovich had a son, who had died 20 years before, and a daughter who was married to Prince Golitsyn. Before Vasily Borisovich, as once before his great-uncle, the question arose about the heir: he now had no male descendants bearing the surname Sheremetev.
Vasily Borisovich acted unexpectedly: despite the presence of direct heirs in the person of his daughter and her husband, he made a will in favor of his nephew from his cousin, Boris Petrovich Sheremetev, the most brilliant representative of the Sheremetev family in history, the future field marshal, the famous companion of Peter the Great, sung Pushkin in "Poltava" under the name of "Sheremetev noble".
There is no doubt that the choice of Vasily Borisovich was dictated by the fact that Chirkin needed a person capable of supporting the clan churches and clergy financially and legally. The personality of Boris Petrovich was to play a huge role here.
Although in 1682, when Vasily Borisovich met his nephew, the future field marshal was still very far away (Tsar Peter, the great reformer of Russia, was still only 9 years old), Boris Petrovich managed to charm his uncle. And not without reason. Subsequently, he became one of the most educated people of his era, a supporter and champion of Western culture, a true ally of Peter the Great. Like all people close to Peter, Boris Petrovich was talented and curious. He was personally acquainted with the Pope, from whom he received a Catholic crucifix as a gift. At home, in Meshcherin, where he lived, he erected his own equestrian statue.
Moved by the generous act of his uncle, Boris Petrovich decided to honor his memory in a special way - to build a tomb church over his coffin (Vasily Borisovich bequeathed to bury himself in Chirkin), and at the same time to reconstruct the Intercession Church.
However, Boris Petrovich did not manage to carry out his plan soon. Vasily Borisovich's heirs filed a lawsuit, and the case dragged on for another 9 years. Only in 1691 did Boris Petrovich come into possession of Chirkin. In the same year, he went abroad with Tsar Peter.
Now it is difficult to say whether Boris Petrovich himself participated in the restructuring of the Chirkin churches. Being in constant travel, he could entrust this to one of his managers. One way or another, at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Chirkinsky ensemble was rebuilt in the taste of the "Naryshkin Baroque", which was fashionable in those years.
First of all, all five chapters, pillars and vaults of the Intercession Church were dismantled. Its quadrangle was increased in height and completed by a huge octagonal tier with one drum and a head. A stone porch was built between the aisles. The Church of the Intercession from a cross-domed church with internal pillars became a pillarless church, spacious, high and bright.
The throne of Basil of Caesarea from the southern altar of the Intercession Church was taken out, and for this service a new detached multi-tiered "church under the bells" was built, incorrectly called the "bell tower". This is the church-tomb of Vasily Borisovich, who, like his distant ancestor, was baptized in honor of Basil of Caesarea. In it, until the end of the 19th century. there was his grave with a tombstone.
During the reconstruction of the Chirkinsky ensemble, which dragged on for many years, the old chapel of Andrew of Crete was rebuilt and renamed Petropavlovsky - in honor of the apostles Peter and Paul, the angels of the son of Mescherin's owner - Peter Borisovich.
In three of the four Chirkin temples (in the main Church of the Intercession, the church under the bells of Basil of Caesarea and in the chapel of Peter and Paul), Boris Petrovich built magnificent baroque iconostases covered with openwork carvings. These iconostases gained fame as outstanding works of Russian applied church art back in the middle of the 19th century. At the beginning of the XX century. their photographs were published as postcards.
Chirkin's iconostases perished in the 50s. of our century. All Chirkin icons, among which were very ancient, also perished or disappeared.
The Chirkino churches, rebuilt in the provincial “Naryshkin Baroque” style, were polychrome (in different colors) painted.
Throughout the XIX century. churches were repaired several times. In 1832, the side-chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker was dismantled and a new one was built in its place, much larger than the first.
Until the 30s. XX century. The Chirkinsky churchyard had a stone fence with a gate.
At the turn of our century, the village of Chirkino and its monuments were popularized by the last owner of Chirkin, Count S.D. Sheremetev is a well-known cultural figure of the pre-revolutionary period, chairman of various committees and societies.

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God
Church - bell tower in the name of St. Basil the Great

Both churches were closed in the 1930s, looted and partially destroyed.
The rector of Khramov, Father Ioann Pokrovsky and novice Anna Korneeva, who helped him in the church - in accordance with the testimony of false witnesses, a certificate was issued for the arrest of priest Ioann Pokrovsky, signed by the leaders of the NKVD of the Moscow region. On January 27, 1938, the authorities arrested Archpriest John, and on February 13, the novice Anna Korneeva, imprisoning them in the city of Kashira. The Hieromartyr John (Pokrovsky) and the Monk Martyr Anna (Korneeva) were sentenced to death by the NKVD troika on February 21, 1938. According to the verdict of the NKVD troika, they were shot on February 26, 1938 at the training ground in Butovo. In 2000, Father John and novice Anna were glorified among the New Martyrs of Russia.

In 1993. they were returned to the believers. The older one, Pokrovskaya, in a dilapidated state, is gradually being restored.

The church-bell tower of St. Basil the Great is now in operation.
According to the stories of the first local Komsomol members, in the 1930s the family crypts of the Sheremetevs were opened in the church. They do not know where all this has gone, but they remember.

It was believed that the line of the Sheremetev boyars faded away after the October Revolution of 1917, however, it turned out that there is a direct descendant of the Sheremetevs - Count Georgy. He lives in California, USA. Several years ago he visited his ancestral nest and, according to eyewitnesses, that day a small icon of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos from the Intercession Church was pacified ...
The mentioned miraculous case is far from the only one: the rector of the Chirkin temples, priest Viktor Kuznetsov, can give a lot of testimonies about contemporary miracles and cases of miracles. And the overwhelming majority of them are connected by consecrated, strong, pure water sources located near the village of Chirkino.

After all, the nearby area is famous for four springs with a high silver content, one of them is 100 meters from the temples, and three more are in the neighboring villages.
Directly under the temples of the village of Chirkino towering on the mountain is the source of "Joy of All Who Sorrow" ".
It is famous for its extraordinary concentration of silver. Its content in the water is twenty times higher than the usual norm here! .. Above the spring there is a high canopy with a dome and a cross. There is a swimming pool nearby.

This is not fair. I have been visiting these wonderful four miraculous springs for 7 years already. And I never wrote about them.
A conversation about them should take more than one page, that's for sure. First, their miraculous power. Secondly, miraculous power. Third, a rich and glorious history.

Two springs are located under the road bridge, a little short of Shcherbinino (one of them, which is enclosed in a pipe, is consecrated in honor of the Hieromartyr John and the Monk Martyr Anna Korneeva (for more details see), the second, in the form of a natural font, is a royal spring, consecrated in honor of the martyred royal family), the third - in the village of Chirkino, next to the ancient temples (called "Joy of All Who Sorrow"), the fourth is the miraculous source of Elijah the Prophet, located in the forest, not far from the village of Orekhovo. On Ilyin's day (August 2) there is a procession of the cross to Ilyin's source.
Temples of the Intercession of the Mother of God and St. Basil the Great in Chirkino:

It is not so easy to get to Ilyin's source. It is located in the forest, across a large field. If you go by car, then you are faced with certain difficulties: the road is unpaved, broken. No wonder there is a legend that a drunk or angry person will never find the miraculous source of the prophet Elijah.
This source is truly unique. It is ancient, the first evidence of healing miracles taking place dates back to the 18th century. The story of a peasant Vasily Osipov from the neighboring village of Shcherbinina, who from birth could not walk, is instructive. Once in a dream the prophet Elijah appeared to him, who asked him to come to his source.
... The patient covered a distance of 2 versts of his way for more than a day, crawling through ditches, holes, hills. Once here, in this forest thicket, under the dome of trees, Vasily performed ablution with prayer. He returned home on his own feet.
Healing miracles continue to this day. People with faith go to the source. And what a nature!



A cozy font is equipped here, and parishioners bring their icons. You just wonder how many of them have been left here by grateful people.

The next source lies near the churches of the Intercession of the Mother of God (1514) and St. Basil the Great (17th century) in Chirkino. These are not just temples and not just villages. It can be said that the family of the Sheremetev boyars came from here. This was their first possession.
Unusually picturesque surroundings of the source "Joy of All Who Sorrow" in the village. Chirkino. Such a landscape cannot but kill sorrow, sorrow, despondency and instill true joy and happiness for the fact that the Lord created such beauty for us:


The Chirkinsky spring is famous for its extraordinary concentration of silver. And it tastes and feels.
Two other sources, as already mentioned, are consecrated in honor of the Holy Martyr John and the Monk Martyr Anna Korneeva - the locally revered saints - and the royal family.
The royal spring simply amazes with its natural beauty. This is SOMETHING! The most transparent water, many small fontanelles resembling small volcanoes made of sand, fish floating serenely in the water column, willow branches gracefully bowing their branches ... Look for yourself:


Each time, returning from the sources, you think: who am I after what I saw, heard, felt? Small fry. It remains only to be surprised, touched, Love, Believe, Hope and indulge in Divine Beauty.

UDC 94 (47) 17/18 (Sheremetev B.P.) _ P -

BBK 63.3 (2) 51 VP ST> Lb0v

candidate of economic sciences, professor,

Ivanovo State University of Chemical Technology

FAMILY PEASANTS OF THE Sheremetev family

The history of the Russian peasantry attracts the attention of scientists from various fields of scientific knowledge. The position of patrimonial peasants in the noble estates of famous Russian families was often assessed only in terms of their serfdom. An analysis of the situation of the peasants of the Sheremetev estates demonstrates the ambiguity of this problem. Often in the estates of this famous Russian family there were peasants of double subordination, "serfs of serfs" and "peasant manufacturers". The owners of the estates caught the progressive trends of economic development and contributed to the development of such a stratum in the peasant class.

Key words: patrimonial serfs of the Sheremetevs, "capitalist" peasants, patrimonial administration, trade and industrial activities of peasants.

PhD in Economics, Professor Ivanovo State Chemical and Technological University

MANORIAL PEASANTS OF THE SHEREMETEV FAMILY

The history of the Russian peasantry attracts attention of researchers from various fields of scientific study. Life of the manorial peasants of the famous Russian families has often been described only in terms of their serfdom. The analysis of the life of manorial peasants of the Sheremetev family shows that the problem is not so simple. There were quite many peasants of dual subordination: "serfs of serfs" and "peasants-manufacturers". The owners of the manorial estates set progressive trends of the economic development and contributed to the development of such types of peasantry.

Key words: manorial peasants of the Sheremetev family, "well-to-do" peasants, manorial administration, trade and production activities of peasants.

Original Russian Text © V.P. Stolbov, 2013

Be faithful to the legends of our Sheremetev family, who served independently and honestly to the Motherland and our dear peasantry; the humble bearer of our age-old covenants. God save you from vanity and pride.

From the Spiritual Testament of S.D. Sheremetev to her son

The peasantry as a scientific problem in historical and economic thought is currently attracting the attention of researchers in various fields of scientific knowledge, schools of peasant studies have been formed, scientific works are published, conferences are held at which many facts of the state of this significant in history social group are clarified. The scientific community knows the research of many scientists in this area: T. Shanin, P. Mooney, P.A. Sorokin, F. Braudel. In Russian historical, economic and social thought, the fundamental works of M.M. Kovalevsky, N.P. Pav-lova-Silvansky, M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky, V.I. Ulyanov (Lenin), A.V. Chayanova, N. D. Kondratyev, as well as research by modern scientists.

In the history of the peasantry, a large place is occupied by studies of the situation of patrimonial peasants, especially in those noble estates, the life history of whose owners was closely intertwined with the history of the country. In this regard, it would be appropriate to trace the history of the peasantry in the estates of the Sheremetevs (the village of Ivanovo was one of the estates of the Sheremetevs), the significance of this ancient clan is clearly traced in connection with the assessment of their contribution to the political, economic and cultural life of Russia. The history of the Sheremetev family is the history of collecting land, improving relations with peasants and capturing trends of progress in socio-economic life, which determine the development of Russian entrepreneurship and the country's economy as a whole.

The collection of land by the Sheremetev family, based on these documents, began in 1686, when Princess Sophia "for fighting and courage" granted Boris Petrovich Shere-

sweeping lands with peasants, and the Molotoludskoe estate was granted to him as a fiefdom (unalienable feud). Later, under Peter I, for participation in the Northern War, B.P. Sheremetev was granted "lands with peasants" from palace volosts, for example, the Yukhotsk volost with the village of Voschazhnikovo. The main wealth of B.P. Sheremetev were fiefdoms, by the end of the 17th century. he owned 2,910 yards. However, he often complained that he lived a beggarly life. Thus, in a letter to Chancellor F. Golovin, he wrote: “Now I ask you for mercy as well - give me something to live with. And if you don’t give it to her with pleasure, I’ll go in poverty ”, and further“ ... give me help for a salary, I don’t know what I have done, that I have a grudge. I drink and eat even though everything is sovereign, but there is nowhere to take the house-house to support ”. In reality, Field Marshal Sheremetev owned 19 estates, in them there were 6,282 courtyards inhabited by 18,031 male souls, from which he received only a monetary rent of about 11 thousand rubles. in year. If we add to this the natural quitrent, as well as corvee duties, then the total income of B.P. Sheremetev's estate was at least 15 thousand rubles. in year. The field marshal himself received the highest salary in the country - over 7 thousand rubles a year. After Poltava Victoria, Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev was granted a number of villages and wastelands. However, he showed enviable persistence in acquiring other lands as well, this is evident from the letters to Peter I "... not for my services, but out of your grace, welcome to the Black Mud Wasteland, a house in Riga and the headman of Pebalg in Livonia."

The peasants complained more than once to B.P. Sheremetev to his difficult position, to which the field marshal replied that if he granted them the requested privilege, he himself would "wander around the world." The patrimonial peasants were forbidden to turn to Sheremetev with complaints, the disobedient should be punished with "severe punishment." Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev ordered the clerk of one of his estates: "... the peasants at a secular gathering to inflict severe punishment, for which they, without coming to you, leave the estates and leave their taxes in vain."

After the death of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev in 1719, his son Peter Borisovich from the age of 17 (1730) continued the work of his father

wounds of lands, but already "not by military merit", but as a result of a successful marriage in 1743 to Varvara Alekseevna Cherkasskaya, who brought as a dowry 26 estates with lands and peasants. In the Atlas of Dachas of the Sheremetevs for 1799-1800. in 15 provinces the Sheremetevs owned 650 thousand dessiatins. land (according to some sources, about 1 million dess. of land). In the XIX century. according to the Supplement to the Proceedings of the Editorial Commission, in 17 provinces and 36 counties, the Sheremetevs owned 714 thousand dessiatins. land, including in the use of peasants - 452 thousand dess.

Together with the lands of the Sheremetevs, the number of peasant farms increased. Thus, B.P. Sheremetev's 19 estates contained 6,300 households with 18,000 male serfs, and in total he had 40,000 serf souls and 2,000 acres of land. P.B. Sheremetev, having received another 26 estates for 19 estates (among them the village of Ivanovo), increased the number of serfs by another 42.6 thousand souls. In 1765, in all the estates of the Sheremetevs, inherited and as dowry, as well as acquired, there were 170 thousand serfs and 66 thousand acres of land. In 1787, in the patrimonies of the Sheremetevs in 17 provinces, 62 counties, 103 villages, 1066 villages, 26 settlements, 166 farms, 298 wastelands, there were already 185 thousand serfs and 990 thousand dessiatines. land. Only in the village of Ivanovo with villages, about 8 thousand serfs were concentrated. The Sheremetev family was one of the largest landowners and serfs in Great Russia, second only to the Stroganovs, who had 1,400 thousand dessiatins. land.

The Sheremetevs increased the number of serfs in their estates both through the annexation of new lands, the purchase of land together with the peasants, and the acquisition of individual peasants (to a greater extent they were artisans). According to the historian Semevsky, a deal to buy one peasant or a household man cost Sheremetev 120 rubles. silver. In 1837 D.N. Sheremetev was issued a power of attorney for the peasants to purchase the peasants of the Yukhotsk volost. The practice of such replenishment of land and peasants at the expense of wealthy peasants in the Sheremetev estates was

It was recorded with a note in the name of the Sheremetevs back in the 18th century. Thus, from 1770 to 1830, 32.7 thousand dessiatins were acquired in 13 estates. land, including in the Ivanovo patrimony 11,931 dess. land. Only E. Grachev before his release with his son in 1795 in the name of the Sheremetevs had 3 thousand dessiatins. land, 40 wastelands, 881 male souls and 2 thousand female souls, all this became the property of the fiefdom when the Grachevs were released. According to the data of the Shuya leader of the nobility, there were about 88.5 thousand such purchased peasants, including about 9 thousand people in the village of Ivanovo with villages. The number of peasants grew both as a result of the inheritance by relatives of the Sheremetev family (for example, Peter Sheremetev inherited about 5 thousand people from his deceased brother Sergei in 1768), and the death of "capitalist" peasants (after the death of Nikifor Sezemov and his wife in 1791 429 souls in the Galich province, Kostroma province passed into the ownership of the Sheremetevs).

The increase in peasants in the Sheremetev estates also occurred due to the general surveying of disputed territories (in the second half of the 18th century, thus, about 30 thousand serfs were annexed). According to the Economic Notes to the General Survey of 1766-1767, as well as documents from the middle of the 19th century. (Appendices to the "Regulations on the peasants" of 1861) in the Moscow province, this family was second only to A. Orlov, and in the Great Russian provinces it exceeded the Razumovsky, Orlov, Golitsyns. Naryshkins, Potemkin, Lanskoy, Buturlina, Repnin and many other eminent surnames in Russia.

By the beginning of the Great Reform of 1861, according to the Supplement to the Proceedings of the Editorial Committees on the "Situation of the peasants who emerged from serfdom," there were about 450 thousand male and female peasants in the Sheremetev estates. It should also be noted that as a result of the formation of matrimonial ties, the land with the peasants “left” the Sheremetev family. So, as a result of the marriage of V. Sheremeteva with Razumovsky, more than 12 thousand serfs were transferred to her as dowry.

In connection with the modern understanding of Russian history, it is necessary to remove the myth about the cruelty of the Sheremetevs towards the peasants. The history of Russia before the reform of 1861 is full of examples of cruel forms of treatment of peasants by some "tyrant landlords", such as Saltychikha or the grandmother of the writer I.S. Turgenev. However, this can hardly be attributed to the Sheremetev family, although one should not exclude the fact that B.P. Sheremetev often in his letters or orders demanded unquestioning obedience on the part of the managers and peasants, signing their orders with the harsh phrase: "My hand" or "My hand is imperious."

The Sheremetev family throughout its history, in the words of the historian K. Shepetov, "gazed and listened to the serf village." In the life of this family, the principle "to protect the peasants is the strength of Russia" was adhered to, which was passed from family to family. This principle was realized in an effort to improve and facilitate the life of the peasants, to develop the roots of national, folk culture in the Russian people, to develop an entrepreneurial streak in some savvy peasants. However, it is unlikely that the Sheremetevs were altruists in the peasant question, they understood (this was especially evident in the ransom of the peasants) that the peasants by their activities, especially their "capitalist" type, represented by their activity a certain process of self-growth of capital, that is, they were a strong source of its accumulation. And the whole point is that these capitals were not exported abroad and was not squandered, as was often the case in other noble families known to the country, they became the basis of the historical and cultural centers of Russia. Palaces - the estates of the Sheremetevs Kuskovo, Ostankino, the Fountain House in St. Petersburg, Ostafyevo, Voronov, the Blue Palace in Moscow - all these are not only monuments of that distant era, but also monuments of the Sheremetev family.

A special way of everyday life of the peasants took shape in the Sheremetev estates. So, academicians Köppen and Engelhardt, who visited in the 30s and 40s. XIX century. in the villages-estates of Ivanovo, Pavlov and Vorsma, noted that entrepreneurs and artisans

Many people lived in stone houses with iron roofs. According to the remarks of other observers of the everyday life of the Sheremetev peasants in the Penza province, the following remarks have survived, "they lived in houses under iron roofs, Karamzin's works were subscribed to in their families." A report from the exhibition of domestic animals in the Serpukhov district showed that in the estates, the peasants introduced new agrotechnical methods and zootechnical standards, which contributed to an increase in agricultural productivity.

On the eve of the reform, in 1840, the German scientist Baron A. Gaksthausen visited the Sheremetevs' estate in the village of Poim. He was interested in the peasant question and kept a diary of his conversations with the Poim peasants. He reflected his notes in the book "Study of Russian life, especially rural institutions in Russia." During the scientist's journey, up to 10 thousand inhabitants lived in the village of Poim, 2 churches, a volost government, a school, an almshouse and many industrial establishments functioned: sinill houses, potash establishments, wax slaughterhouses, many tanneries, butter mills, brick factories, weekly markets and 3 fairs ... The best bazaars in the Penza province were considered Poimskie and they were weekly on Saturdays, and on Fridays there were so-called podtorzhye. The main trade items are bread, leather goods, and iron. The amount of bread sold in the Poim bazaars reached 25 thousand quarters of rye and up to 10 thousand poods of flour annually. In the bazaar, other types of bread were also sold in fairly large sizes: oats, buckwheat, linseed and hemp seeds, and millet. All trade in this bazaar brought up to 58 783 rubles. in year".

The foreign scientist Haxthausen was surprised by "whole streets" of excellent large stone houses, among them - two-story houses with columns and balconies, covered with iron. The traveler was even more struck by the fact that among the peasants of the village of Poim there were people with a fortune of millions and very few peasants wanted to get free freedom, but such were they and they were able to pay for their release from 80 thousand to 1 million rubles. He also noted that among the subscribers to

"History of the Russian State" N.M. Karamzin, there were many Poim peasants. It is interesting that the author of “History” himself wrote about this: “Among the subscribers to“ History ”there are many Sheremetev peasants, including well-educated people, who read a lot and theater lovers, and even poets”.

Rich peasants did not shy away from traditional forms of charity either. An example could be the Sheremetevs themselves, who spent most of their capital on this noble cause. For example, Sheremetev's farmer-tax farmer millionaire Sezemov donated 20 thousand rubles. for a Moscow orphanage, and a church was built at the expense of the peasant Vyrypaev. At the expense of the counts Sheremetevs and their peasants, temples were built in the village of Poim (Penza province).

At the same time, it should be noted that the relationship between the peasant world and the Sheremetevs was built on the basis of the ideas of that time, the state of the rights of the nobleman, the owner of the land, the nobleman-administrator. The mechanism of relationships was built traditionally for that time. The center of management in the estates was the patrimonial government, headed by the clerk, if he was appointed from the courtyard people, or the manager, if he was appointed from the free people. In some estates, the duties of a clerk were carried by elective peasants who were elected at the gathering.

In 1765, out of 50 separate estates of Sheremetev, clerks were in 28 estates. The patrimonial leader, who stood at the head of the patrimony, exercised all the full power given to him by the landowner, with the help of elected officials: elected elders, collectors, elders, zemstvo, sotsky, Pentecostals, tenants, etc. which stipulated the duties of the clerk or manager. They contained questions of a judicial nature (to create a court and reprisals), to ensure the collection from the peasants, both "sovereign" and the master's quitrent. Worldly expenses: the maintenance of the administrative apparatus fell on the shoulders of the peasants, who

rye, in addition to the state and landlord quitrent, were supposed to maintain the estates administration, pay all expenses related to affairs and duties related to the population of the estates, for the delivery of recruits, etc. No less important duties of the clerk were: to monitor the correct distribution of taxes among the peasants, to ensure that "according to the salary book of quitrent money and show profits, so that sowing and harvesting were on" good days, "etc." This instruction also contained the following clause: “The clerk had to fix the court and reprisals in the command hut, not in the house ... and he had to write down who would be punished for what. Any deeds done should be fixed monthly, but not trust the clerk himself. " This point of the instruction is not accidental. The patrimonial chiefs, taking advantage of the fullness of power, subjected the peasants to all kinds of punishments, allowed violence, and took bribes. Interesting in this regard is the document “Report of the clerk of the Poim estate Nikolai Popov to St. Petersburg with a request to Count D.N. Sheremetev, where they intend to "sneak on the clerk." It is also interesting that the count had "Poim delegates", their complaints, in all likelihood, were weighty, because soon a check of the state of affairs in the estate followed. For her, a special instruction was developed for the auditor for the Poim patrimony, Prince Maksutov. The clerk Popov had to explain the "slander of the peasants" to the house office. For wrong actions and wrong decisions of affairs, patrimonials were fined, and sometimes were subjected to corporal punishment.

The patrimonial managers in the Sheremetev lands were mainly from literate and enterprising people who encouraged "good" peasants to conduct trade and fishing activities. These peasants, due to leveling and mutual responsibility in payments and duties of the peasant community, accumulated capital. As Catherine II wrote, "... Russian peasants often hid their wealth under the rags of poverty."

Since 1764, "capitalist" peasants were allowed to buy little peasants (peasants of the last article). The same peasants often, with the permission of the patrimonial office, traded on the proxy of acquaintances of merchants or secretly through their clerks in large cities of Russia. There are known facts of such trading activity by Grachev and Garelin in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the peasant Sezemov was engaged in commercial leasing in the southern lands of the country. B.P. Sheremetev wrote to his managers: "I hope we will not be without a profit from the auction."

The Sheremetevs, in all likelihood, were tolerant of the confessional and religious affiliation of their serfs, as evidenced by the presence of Old Believer communities on their lands. According to the remarks of the historian Nikolsky, as well as local priests, there were many Old Believers in the Shuisky district, in the village of Ivanovo there were also many of them. According to F. Livanov, the village of Ivanovo was a “nest of schism”.

The most famous of the peasant Old Believers in the patrimony of the Sheremetevs in the village of Ivanovo was E. Grachev, who, after his release from serf bondage, was even the manager of the Old Believers' Preobrazhenskaya outpost in Moscow. The rational mentality of these peasants contributed to the accumulation of large capitals, and due to this they carried out the redemption from the serfdom. So, the Grachev family was redeemed for 135 thousand rubles. silver (1 p. 1795 is equal to 2.7 p. 1913). Other peasant entrepreneurs were bought out for less. At the beginning of the XIX century. the price of freedom of the "capitalist" peasant (together with his children and household members) averaged 20 thousand rubles. silver. In total, 50 families were redeemed from the Sheremetev estate.

The Sheremetevs' estates were closely connected with the market of the center of Russia and its southern lands. The peasants received the right to conduct lease operations in various provinces of the country (for example, Nikifor Sezemov in the 70s of the 18th century did such business in the Belgorod region and undertook to pay annually up to 911 thousand rubles to the estate near Moscow). Commercial fishing

carried out both legally and illegally. This was due to the fact that the customs regulations of 1755 allowed peasants to conduct only petty trade, but already at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. according to the decrees of 1799, 1804, 1806, peasants were allowed to carry out wholesale trade. In the estates of the Sheremetevs, according to the General Survey, there were 16 fairs and 12 auctions. On the territory of the patrimony, in the village of Ivanovo, an annual fair functioned, there were tenders twice a week (Sunday and Thursday), and the number of shops at the auction reached 180 units. In another fiefdom, the village of Vasilievskoye, the auctions were weekly on Wednesdays, in the Voschazhnikovskaya fiefdom auctions took place on Fridays, merchants from Yaroslavl and Rostov traded. In the village of Alekseevka, also the patrimony of the Sheremetevs (Voronezh province), fairs were held twice a year, and auctions were held twice a week, merchants from Kursk, Kharkov, Voronezh came to them. At the auction, mainly small goods were traded (linen products: canvases and printed cloth; dishes and foodstuffs). At the fairs, they traded in consumer goods (textiles, livestock, leather, fur coats, metal products). In the village of Pavlovo, the patrimony of the Sheremetevs, there were daily trades: there were 54 shops with iron and hardware and mosquito goods, 22 scrupulous, 7 bread, 2 canvas, 21 rags, 11 mittens, 12 kalash and gingerbread shops, 2 taverns - more than 200 shops ... Only from the commercial and industrial activities of the Ivanovo serfs of the declared capital in 1800 was 441 thousand rubles.

In addition to trading activities in the Sheremetev estates, industrial trades developed widely: woolen, silk, canvas, production of linen and calico fabrics for clothing, Flemish linen and ravenduk, weaving of napkins, tablecloths and towels. In the Ivanovo estate of the Sheremetevs, along with the canvas trade, printed production developed, and although the widow of Cherkasskaya after the death of Field Marshal Sheremetev was denied the organization of such a manufactory "due to lack of confidence in the quality and marketing of these products", enterprising peasants, contrary to the decision of Ma-

The nufaktur collegiums developed this craft quite widely, the trade turnover from which reached in the middle of the 18th century. from 2 to 5 thousand rubles

Trade and fishing activity in the village of Ivanovo developed especially from 1812 to 1823. After a fire in Moscow in 1812, as a result of which all textile factories near Moscow burned down, the "golden age" of printed printing began, in which the profit per ruble was 500 %, printed cloth workers earned up to 100 rubles without much difficulty. banknotes per month. As a local observer wrote, “... to start a factory at that time did not require a lot of capital, it was worth buying 2-3 pots so that there was something to cook paint in, and buying with rubles, and the factory went into operation; calico had its own, it was woven in every hut. These manufacturers were called potters. " The intensification of this activity on the part of the peasants of the Sheremetev estate was also facilitated by the Regulations on the Tariff of 1822, according to which the import of textile products into Russia from abroad was prohibited. The writer Aksakov highly appreciated this document and the protectionism of the government, who wrote "... hundreds of thousands of hands began to move, hundreds of factories threw out a lot of goods on the market every day."

In the village of Pavlovo, peasants specialized in the jelly and zoskobyanny trade. In many estates, the Sheremetevs encouraged distilling (this craft was very profitable, taverns were taken out on a farm, wine was brought in from the southern lands). The managers did not disdain with the consent of the owners of these estates and the repurchase of goods, this is evidenced by the letter of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev to clerk A. Tikhonov from Molodotudskaya volost on the purchase of squirrel and lynx skins "at a price that is lower than Moscow prices, at a high price, it is not subject to purchase: what kind of profit will we have?"

In the Sheremetev estates, procedures were allowed for the use of labor purchased by serfs-entrepreneurs of the same serfs. So, the "capitalist" peasants Butrimov, Garelin, Ivan and Efim Grachev, Osip Sokov and others at the end of the 18th century. when settling in a village

49 factories and factories used many purchased serfs. So, if in 1784 there were 416 serfs bought by serfs, then by 1794 their number had increased to 1200 souls. The total volume of products produced by these workers was 426 thousand rubles. Only one E. Grachev used 380 serfs in his industries, who later, after the redemption of the Grachevs at will, retained their serfdom in the patrimonial office. The purchased serfs performed various types of work for the "capitalist" peasants, their situation was difficult due to double subordination, on the one hand, the patrimonial office had to pay taxes, on the other hand, they were subordinate to the peasant entrepreneur. Often in response to the mistreatment of the peasant entrepreneurs, the serfs who worked for them murmured and made threats. It is a known fact when serfs threatened to drown Nikifor Sezemov in Vetluga.

The patrimonial office collected payment (rent) from the "capitalist" peasants for their entrepreneurial activities. Thus, the peasant Butrimov paid first in kind, then in money (180 rubles a year); Grachev - 3 r. 25 k. From the mill per year, later he began to pay 2.5 and 2 rubles for services in a loan to Sheremetevs. in year; Toropov - 1200 rubles, then 700 rubles; Sezemov - 248 RUB in year. Since 1796, a single rate of 0.5% per year was introduced on capital over 500 rubles.

In 1810, there were 165 "capitalist" peasants in 11 estates of Sheremetev. After the redemption from serfdom, the already free peasants increased their production. So, by 1825, 125 large print and paper factories functioned in the village of Ivanovo. At the Gracheva factory there were 900 mills and 103 printed tables, Yamanovsky had about 1,000 mills and 110 ramming tables, Garelin had 1,021 mills and 85 ramming tables. The workers of the enterprises of the new owners were no longer serfs, but residents of Voznesensky Posad. Among these hired workers, the printed workers stood out, who, according to the remarks of the Vladimir provincial Gazette, "were a smart and literate people, knew the letter", but

weavers and bobbins were described as "the most unkempt and uneducated."

The wages at the factories of the Ivanovo "capitalists" of peasants in the past, and after the redemption - of free entrepreneurs, were as follows: at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. from E. and D. Grachevs weavers and printed cloths received up to 10 rubles. per month (1 pood of flour at that time cost 66-99 k.). In the middle of the XIX century. spinners and weavers, respectively, 20 and 7 rubles, colorists - from 83 to 416 rubles. silver a month. According to Haxthausen, the monetary (nominal) and real wages of Russian textile workers were higher than in Germany. From the second half of the XIX century. the level of wages in relation to food prices dropped sharply (according to the observations of J. Garelin).

The Sheremetev estate office also carried out transactions on property transactions of serfs (purchase and sale), and the count received a percentage of the value of the purchased (sold) property. In economic relations with the peasants, the patrimonial office also developed such a form as the lease of mills, of which there were about 40 units, and the preference in leasing was given to their former owners.

Sometimes the Sheremetevs borrowed certain amounts of money from enterprising peasants (in 1793, 10 thousand rubles were borrowed from E. Grachev for 4 months, and in 1794 - 5 thousand rubles for 2 months). But there was no case of returning these sums of money. There were cases when peasants refused Sheremetevs for one reason or another. It is a known fact when the peasant Sizemov not only refused the count in the amount of 10 thousand rubles, but in response to the count's threat carried out an operation through the banker's office of Tames to receive the last bill from the count for this amount.

Sheremetev's patrimonial office determined the types and collection of duties from peasants. In the traditional for that time patrimonial economy, the duties of the labor (corvee) and natural (quitrent) type were widely represented. However, the level of use of each of these duties was different. Initially, as evidenced by documents from the time of Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (a list of income from here-

ranks), the basis of economic relations was corvée (out of 19 estates, 14 were in corvée) - the cultivation of the field in 2 thousand dess. (more than 2 thousand hectares), field sowing, grain harvesting. In addition, the peasants had to give the product in kind.

The quitrent service had some specialization: the peasants of the villages of Mozhary and Alekseevsky Rastorg had to deliver 1345 buckets of wine; the peasants of the villages of Bogorodskoye, Chir-kovo, Gorbunovo - nuts and mushrooms; the peasants from Gorbunov - firewood; peasants from the villages of Konstantinovskoye and Ostrovets paid a monetary dues (1073 rubles); Molodotudskaya volost delivered 900 sheep, 2 thousand squirrels, 5 thousand blocks of firewood. And only 5 estates were on a pure monetary quitrent, they paid 8,761 rubles a year.

In the XVIII century. from each auditor's soul the monetary quitrent was 1-2 rubles, in the village of Ivanovo they paid 3 rubles, from 1796 the quitrent rate increased to 8 rubles. 35 kopecks from the soul, rent from the tax paid 15 rubles. In 1798, the peasants of all Sheremetev estates paid 413,237 rubles as quitrent. (translated into the ruble of 1913, this was equal to the amount of 1,136,461 rubles). The underdevelopment of commodity-money relations, the import of silver and silver money into the country for their re-coinage - all this testified in favor of the development of labor labor and natural quitrent. In agricultural work under corvee, a collective outfit was widely used, "... because the sooner the peasants remove the state, the more convenient they can take up their mowing and can not miss either my or their own benefit", wrote B.P. Sheremetev. In the fields of the Sheremetev estate, agrotechnical methods were widely used (plowing in the fall, mowing grain "higher from the ground", introducing organic matter into the soil), logs were kept on sowing, harvesting, threshing, the number of workers, the grain barn was equipped on a stone basis, the sowing grain was changed every 3 years, the three-field was replaced by the multi-field.

Along with corvée and quitrent duties (salary dues), there were also unreported fees in the estates - fees from mills, from weddings, fines, duties from petitioners. The "capitalist" peasants were charged with paying the estates a quitrent for the arrears of their fellow villagers at 75-87 rubles. in banknotes per year,

this often led to the enslavement of the latter to work in factories.

The peasants in the estates also carried out state duties: they paid a per capita tax (74 kopecks per person), delivered provisions and fodder to the army, put up recruits and paid for uniforms (1-2 rubles), assigned artisans to build houses “on the Neva River in St. Petersburg "and for the construction of bridges and streets in Moscow.

In the XIX century. in estates in duties, the proportion of corvee began to fall (for example, according to the General Survey of the end of the 18th century, of the 190 inhabited possessions of the Sheremetevs, 128 had quitrent relations, corvee remained in 62 settlements, so of the 24 estates in the Vladimir province, only only 4). The corvee was preserved only in the chernozem lands and in the manors near St. Petersburg. Rent in the XIX century. gradually passed from the natural form to the monetary one. In the Sheremetev estates, the rent from the tax was 45 rubles, and from the revision soul, 4-6 rubles. (data on the Ivanovo patrimony).

Throughout the history of the Sheremetev family, along with the collection of land and peasants, the problem of improving the situation of the peasants was also comprehended. So, in 1767 P.B. Sheremetev took an active part in drafting a new code, according to which the situation of the peasants should have been alleviated. He expressed full readiness to free the peasants from serfdom. Even Catherine II did not expect such radicalism, who, under pressure from other members of the commission for drawing up a draft on peasants, was forced not only to abandon the freethinking of some members of the commission, but also “to resign Count P.B. Sheremetev. forever from military and civilian service. In 1861 D.N. Sheremetev brought closer the work of his grandfather, which concerned the fate of the peasants. In the Ostankino Palace (Fountain House of the Sheremetevs), the Manifesto on the emancipation of the peasants was signed on February 19. D.N. himself Sheremetev was the last owner of the village of Ivanova, in which, long before the Great Reform, he allowed peasants to bathe freely.

List of used literature

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4. The city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk, or the Former village of Ivanovo and Voznesensky Posad (Vladimir province): 2 hours / comp. J. Garelin. - Shuya: Leto-tip. Ya. I. Borisoglebsky, 1884. - Part 1: From the 17th century to 19 February 1861. - 225 p. ; 1885. - Part 2: From February 19, 1861 to January 1, 1884. - 140 p.

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Stolbov Vyacheslav Pavlovich - Candidate of Economic Sciences, Professor, Department of Social and Economic Theories, Ivanovo State University of Chemical Technology, 153000, Ivanovo, F. Engels Ave., 7, e-mail: [email protected]

Stolbov Vyacheslav Pavlovich - PhD in Economics, Professor, Department of Social and Economic Theories, Ivanovo State Chemical and Technological University, 7, F. Engels avenue, Ivanovo, 153000, e-mail: [email protected]