Episode 12: The First Rasputin. The Tale of Fotii (Spasskii)

Episode 12 September 17, 2021 00:22:59
Episode 12: The First Rasputin. The Tale of Fotii (Spasskii)
Tales from Imperial Russia
Episode 12: The First Rasputin. The Tale of Fotii (Spasskii)

Sep 17 2021 | 00:22:59

/

Show Notes

As is well known, Grigorii Rasputin wielded a considerable and scandalous level of influence over Tsar Nicholas II. What is less well known is that this was not the first time that a holy man managed to worm his way into the good graces of an emperor and create destructive consequences. This episode follows the life and career of Fotii (Spasskii), a monk who was able to persuade Tsar Alexander I to turn against one of his oldest and closest friends.

Sources:

J. L. Wieczynski, ‘Apostle of Obscurantism: the Archimandrite Photius of Russia (1792-1838)’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, vol. XXII, no.4 (1971), pp. 319-331.

A. V. Ivanov, A Spiritual Revolution: The Impact of Reformation and Enlightenment in Orthodox Russia, 1700-1825 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2020).

Other Episodes

Episode 15

January 11, 2022 00:14:41
Episode Cover

Episode 15: The Afterlife of a Tsar. The Tale of Fedor Kuzmich

In this episode, we look at the story of the oddly refined peasant wanderer Fedor Kuzmich, who was claimed by many to be the...

Listen

Episode 4

February 19, 2021 00:25:58
Episode Cover

Episode 4: A Priest at War. The Tale of Father Dimitrii Smirnov

From the Baltic to the Black Sea, the First World War's eastern front massacred men by the thousand. Father Dimitrii Smirnov, along with hundreds...

Listen

Episode 11

September 01, 2021 00:31:54
Episode Cover

Episode 11: The Great Fair of Nizhnii Novgorod. The Tale of Avgustin Betankur

In 1817, Agustín José Pedro del Carmen Domingo de Candelaria de Betancourt y Molina (known in Russian as Avgustin Betankur) surveyed the site of...

Listen