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421 pages

English

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It was the most magnificent court in Europe—a world of fairy-tale opulence, ornate architecture, sophisticated fashion, extravagant luxury, and immense power. In the last Russian imperial court, a potent underlying mythology drove its participants to enact the pageantry of medieval, Orthodox Russia—infused with the sensibilities of Versailles—against a backdrop of fading Edwardian splendor, providing a spectacle of archaic ceremonies carefully orchestrated as a lavish stage upon which Nicholas II played out his tumultuous reign.

While a massive body of literature has been devoted to the last of the Romanovs, The Court of the Last Tsar is the first book to examine the people, mysteries, traditions, scandals, rivalries, rituals, and riches that were part of everyday life in the last two decades of the Romanov dynasty.

It is as difficult for the twenty-first-century mind to imagine the pomp and splendor that accompanied the tsar and his family everywhere they went as it was for the simple Russian peasant toiling a thousand miles from St. Petersburg. This stunningly illustrated volume removes the mystery with more than a hundred black-and-white photos; floor plans of the tsar’s Winter Palace, the Alexander Palace, and the Grand Kremlin Palace; a map of St. Petersburg; and plans of the imperial parks at Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof.

This eye-popping tour of hedonistic imperial Russia on the edge of oblivion draws on hundreds of previously unpublished primary sources, including memoirs, personal letters, diary entries, and official documents collected during author Greg King’s fifteen years of research in Russia and elsewhere in Europe. It invites you to experience dozens of extravagant ceremonies and entertainments attended only by members of the court; exposes the numerous sexual intrigues of the imperial family, including rape, incest, and brazen affairs; and introduces many of the more than fifteen thousand individuals who made the imperial court a society unto itself.

Chief among these, of course, was Tsar Nicholas II. He ruled an empire that stretched over one-sixth of the earth’s land surface but lacked, according to one courtier, both his father’s inspiring presence and his mother’s vibrant charm. His wife, Alexandra, was a strong and passionate woman who “never developed the social skills necessary to her rank.” Their wedding and the tsar’s coronation are two of the most spectacular ceremonies described in this lavish volume.

Vetted with care by the last remaining members of the Russian imperial court, The Court of the Last Tsar brings the people, places, and events of this doomed but unforgettable wonderland to vivid and sparkling life.

Author’s Note.

Introduction.

Prologue: St. Petersburg.

PART ONE: PERSONAGES.

1. The Last Tsar.

2. The Imperial Family.

3. A Rival Court.

4. The Romanovs.

5. The Russian Court.

6. Below Stairs at the Palace.

7. The Military.

8. The Aristocracy.

9. The Russian Orthodox Church.

PART TWO: PALACES.

10. The Winter Palace.

11. Tsarskoye Selo.

12. Peterhof.

13. The Moscow Palaces.

PART THREE: POSSESSIONS.

14. Imperial Riches.

15. Fashion at the Russian Court.

16. Jewelry, Regalia, and Objets d’art.

17. Imperial Transportation.

18. Country Estates.

PART FOUR: PAGEANTRY.

19. Imperial Ceremonies.

20. An Imperial Funeral.

21. An Imperial Wedding.

22. The Coronation.

23. The Tercentenary.

PART FIVE: PLEASURES.

24. Imperial Balls.

25. State Visits.

26. The Crimea.

27. The Last Season.

Epilogue: July 20, 1914: The Beginning of the End.

Acknowledgments.

Appendix A: Family Tree of Nicholas I.

Appendix B: Organizational Chart of the Russian Imperial Court.

Appendix C: The Imperial Court in 1914.

Appendix D: Palace Floor Plans.

Appendix E: Maps of the Imperial Estates.

Appendix F: Map of St. Petersburg.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

Sujets

Former Soviet Union

Histoire

Anastasia Nikoláyevna Románova

Nicholas II of Russia

Pomp

Winter Palace

Greg King

URSS

Alexandra Romanova

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia

House of Romanov

Russia

History of Russia

History of Europe

History

Anastasia Nikolaïevna de Russie

Nicolas II

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	21 avril 2008
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780470324998
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1450€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

ALSO BY GREG KING
The Fate of the Romanovs
The Last Empress: The Life and Times of Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsarina of Russia
The Duchess of Windsor: The Uncommon Life of Wallis Simpson
The Man Who Killed Rasputin: Prince Felix Youssoupov and the Murder That Helped Bring Down the Russian Empire
THE COURT OF THE LAST TSAR
Pomp, Power, and Pageantry in the Reign of Nicholas II
Greg King

John Wiley Sons, Inc.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright 2006 by Greg King. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
Text illustrations courtesy of: Pp. 14, 15, 34, 35, 50, 53, 55, 60, 73, 79, 80 (both), 82, 83, 84, 87, 98, 106, 135, 138, 146, 161, 178, 211, 212, 243, 254, 272, 274, 278, 280, 283, 292, 316, 318, 326, 443, 449, 463, 472, 474, author s collection; p. 19, Daniel Briere; pp. 33, 37, 39, 40, 49, 57, 143, 174, 181, 198, 200, 214, 256, 260, 275, 289, 312, 314, 320, 329, 335, 361, 364, 372, 377, 378, 382, 391, 393, 415, 416 (both), 417 (both), 421, 422, 425, 442, 464, Antonio Perez Caballero; p. 128, Penny Wilson.
Insert illustrations courtesy of: Plates 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 24, 25, 39, author s collection; plates 6, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 27, 35, Daniel Briere; plates 9, 10, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, Antonio Perez Caballero.
Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:/ www.wiley.com/go/permissions .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
King, Greg, date.
The court of the last tsar : pomp, power, and pageantry in the reign of Nicholas II / Greg King.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13 978-0-471-72763-7 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN-10 0-471-72763-6 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. Russia-Civilization-20th century. 2. Russia-Social life and customs-20th century.
3. Russia-Court and courtiers. 4. Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia, 1868-1918-Family.
5. Romanov, House of. I. Title.
DK247.K56 2006
947.08 3 08621-dc22
2005017409
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Susanne, a literary malachite column
CONTENTS
Author s Note
Introduction
Prologue: St. Petersburg
Part One: Personages
1. The Last Tsar
2. The Imperial Family
3. A Rival Court
4. The Romanovs
5. The Russian Court
6. Below Stairs at the Palace
7. The Military
8. The Aristocracy
9. The Russian Orthodox Church
Part Two: Palaces
10. The Winter Palace
11. Tsarskoye Selo
12. Peterhof
13. The Moscow Palaces
Part Three: Possessions
14. Imperial Riches
15. Fashion at the Russian Court
16. Jewelry, Regalia, and Objets d art
17. Imperial Transportation
18. Country Estates
Part Four: Pageantry
19. Imperial Ceremonies
20. An Imperial Funeral
21. An Imperial Wedding
22. The Coronation
23. The Tercentenary
Part Five: Pleasures
24. Imperial Balls
25. State Visits
26. The Crimea
27. The Last Season
Epilogue: July 20, 1914: The Beginning of the End
Acknowledgments
Appendix A Family Tree of Nicholas I
Appendix B Organizational Chart of the Russian Imperial Court
Appendix C The Imperial Court in 1914
Appendix D Palace Floor Plans
Appendix E Maps of the Imperial Estates
Appendix F Map of St. Petersburg
Notes
Bibliography
Index
AUTHOR S NOTE
In this book, readers will encounter a variety of titles: emperor, empress, tsar, and tsaritsa. Until 1721, all Romanov rulers were called tsar, which was commonly believed to have derived from the Latin word caesar but was actually adapted from the Greek translation of the Byzantine title basileus , signifying a Christian emperor. Peter the Great, enamored of all things Western, officially adopted the title gosudar imperator , or sovereign emperor; until the end of the empire, this was the correct form of address. Despite this, the emperor was often referred to as tsar, and his wife, bearing the title imperatritsa , or empress, was commonly called tsaritsa in Russian; tsarina, familiar to some readers, never existed in Russian. In official documents, Nicholas II was called emperor, although, as a Slavophile, he preferred the older title of tsar; conversely, his wife, Alexandra, preferred the Western title of empress. In this book, I have used emperor and empress, leaving tsar and tsaritsa in place only for direct quotations.
Peter the Great also altered the title of the heir to the throne from tsarevich, meaning son of the tsar, to tsesarevich, a higher distinction derived from Byzantine models. Nicholas I refined the title to gosudar naslednik , to include his status as sovereign heir. Without altering original sources and quotations, I have attempted to use the correct form of tsesarevich.
Paul I established a number of rules governing the imperial family, which also spelled out the distinctions in their titles. A male was a velikii knyaz , translated by the imperial court, which used French as its official language, as grand duke; a female was a velikaya knyazhna , or grand duchess. Married females were marked with a subtle difference, velikaya knyaginia , although there was no change to their designation as grand duchesses. In 1886, Alexander III restricted the use of grand duke and grand duchess to the children and the grandsons of an emperor; lesser members of the imperial family were thereafter titled a prince or a princess of the imperial blood. In recent years, people unfamiliar with the nuances of the Russian language-and attempting to relate these styles to more familiar European models-have resorted to tortured literal translations of these titles, resulting in uncomfortable appellations such as grand prince or great princess and ignoring Paul I s declaration of grand duke and grand duchess. I have used the latter titles, employed by the imperial court itself, as correct.
Titles used by the imperial court present their own unique difficulties. Court offices followed Peter the Great s Table of Ranks, or Chin , a system he introduced that established sixteen categories of officials, arranged according to their hierarchy. Although French was the official language of the court, its officials largely bore titles originally drawn from German models but transliterated into their own, peculiar Russian form: ober-tseremoniimeister (grand master of ceremonies), kamer-junker (gentleman of the chamber), and fligel-adjutant (aide-de-camp). An additional corruption stems from the fact that in the Russian language, there is no letter h. Titles copied from German models, such as Hof-Marschall (master of the court) and Hof-Meisterina (mistress of the court) therefore become, in Russian, gof-marschal and gof-meisterina . This led to a mixture of German and English, such as freilina (maid of honor). As such, they stand as curiosities, and often their English translations are awkward. I have given English translations as the Russian versions of these titles appear in the text, though I have moved freely between these three languages throughout, in an effort to not only maintain the flavor of Nicholas II s court but also ease the task for readers. A complete listing of official court titles and offices can be found in appendix C.
A Russian has two names: a Christian name and a patronymic derived from his or her father. The masculine form takes the father s first name and adds vich to the ending, indicating son of. Thus the last emperor was Nicholas Alexandrovich, the son of Alexander. For daughters, ovna is added to the end of the father s name: Marie Pavlovna, the daughter of Paul, for example. During the reign of Nicholas II, the imperial family included some sixty individuals, who often shared Christian names. To distinguish between them, I have therefore frequently used patronymics in the text, with the hope that this will make the complex relationships in the imperial family easier for readers to follow, with one exception: Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, is referenced using her husband s title, to avoid confusion with another Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna, the daughter of Vladimir s brother Paul.
In transliterating Russian names, I have followed th