Pyotr Alekseyevich, better known as Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great), was a much debated reformer and tyrannical leader. He was also an excellent politician and a very intelligent man.
In March 1720 he visited the Martsial'nye medicinal springs for a month. While there, he hosted dinners for men of "all ranks," possibly including peasants, sang in the local church choir multiple times, and learned some rudimentary blacksmith skills. According to the son of the Moscow blacksmith to whom Peter sold his finished goods, on the last day of his visit the Emperor forged without help 720 pounds of iron (apparently, he made his noble guests pump the bellows) in bars, and stamped them with his own mark. He then sold them for fair market value to purchase a new set of shoes, probably to replace the ones he ruined while working in the smithy. He took great pride in showing off the shoes which he had earned through honest labor, for, as he put it: "I have earned them well, by the sweat of my brow, with hammer and anvil."
Whether or not this story is true (we have no reason to believe or disbelieve it) these sorts of stories would humanize the super-human king. What do you know about Peter the Great? What do you think of his legacy, or of him as a person? Comment below!
Image Source:
A&E Television Networks, LLC. "Peter the Great Biography." Accessed December 15, 2011. http://www.biography.com/people/peter-the-great-9542228.
Information Sources:
A&E Television Networks, LLC. "Peter the Great Biography." Accessed December 15, 2011. http://www.biography.com/people/peter-the-great-9542228.
Hughes, Lindsey. Peter the Great: A Biography. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002. 142.
Stæhlin. Original Anecdotes of Peter the Great, Collected from the Conversation of Several Persons of Distinction at Petersburgh and Moscow. London, 1788. 22-24.
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