Table of contents:
- Shaving beards: not imitation of Europe, but personal fears and body dysmorphic disorder
- Insectophobia, Terrible Caracans and the Bed Order
- Phthiriophobia and how the king dealt with it with the help of smoking and irons
- Blattophobia and how Peter slapped a man who mocked cockroaches
Video: What phobias did Peter the Great have, and how he fought with them
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
When they talk about the innovations of Peter I, many remember the famous beard tax, which is considered one of the elements of the "Europeanization" of Russia. But it turns out that not only this reason prompted the king to fight against facial hair. There were personal reasons and fears. Read in the material what phobias the ruler suffered, why he forced his subjects to shave, and what insects, especially cockroaches, have to do with all this.
Shaving beards: not imitation of Europe, but personal fears and body dysmorphic disorder
The historian Valishevsky noted in his works that Peter I simply hated beards. For him, they were the personification of hated habits and prejudices, like long caftans. The king decided to eradicate unnecessary stereotypes. However, not only this prompted Peter to fight the vegetation on the faces of his subjects. Perhaps the reason was also the so-called "instinct of benefit", and, most likely, personal fears.
Surely the boyars did not visit Peter without combing their hair or with lice infesting in their hair. But the fact that the king could see what their beards looked like during rich feasts is beyond doubt. Food that got stuck in the hair or stuck jelly could disgust the ruler. In addition, Peter was aware that lice could get in an unkempt beard. And the emperor had a special relationship with insects - he simply hated and even feared them. In modern psychology, there is the term insectophobia for this, that is, the fear of any insects, from spiders to lice. In his diaries, the king wrote that only fools believe that without a beard they will not be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Nevertheless, there is a fact that Petr Alekseevich's facial hair grew very poorly, one might say, it simply did not exist. Therefore, there was no question of a full beard. It can be assumed that the king suffered from body dysmorphic disorder, which stands for fear of his own external flaws. Perhaps that is why Peter tried to strip everyone else's beards. In Mayorov's book, The Personal Life of Peter the Great, it is said that the desire to shave everyone around is explained by the impossibility of growing one's own beard. Thus, the king could try to make his outward flaws the generally accepted norm.
Insectophobia, Terrible Caracans and the Bed Order
In 1678, a certain Bernhard Tanner wrote about his trip to Moscow and told in his notes about a disgusting animal called "Karakan". He noted that the owners are so accustomed to nasty cockroaches that they do not pay attention to them. The Czech even tried to draw a "karakan". And the traveler from Germany Herberstein wrote that cockroaches sat everywhere, even on the ceiling, and at night they bit sleeping people.
Therefore, it becomes clear why the Bed order was introduced at the royal court. Ivan Golovkin held the position of the chief of bedding, sleeping bags obeyed him. Their duties included daily inspection of the sovereign's chambers in order to find insects. The dorms examined the bed, as there could be bugs in it, ceilings and walls, looking for cockroaches, destroyed spiders and flies. The bed-worker enjoyed an incredible privilege: he slept next to the king. At night it was necessary to repeatedly check the premises in order to swat the remaining insects.
Phthiriophobia and how the king dealt with it with the help of smoking and irons
As you know, Peter I smoked tobacco, and in 1697 he allowed its sale. But the most important thing is that the king believed (perhaps this is so) that lice are afraid of tobacco smoke. Perhaps this loyalty to tobacco smoking was caused precisely by phthiriophobia (as in modern psychology the fear of lice is called) and at the same time a strong desire to destroy them in the beards of subordinates. Peter gave a choice: it was possible to pay the tax on the beard and not part with it. As for cockroaches, an iron was used to destroy them. It was a proven folk method: you had to put the iron on the stove and open all the windows. Insects that hate the cold began to crawl into the interior of the hot iron. It was only necessary to slam a kind of trap, which was the lower part of the iron, where the coal was poured. Such devices have been used in Russia since the 16th century, so it could well have been used to protect the tsar from the hated cockroaches - "caracans".
Blattophobia and how Peter slapped a man who mocked cockroaches
The doctors did not dare to talk to Peter about his phobias. The first to do this was a doctor from Holland, Jan Govi. He was not only a good surgeon, but also a very cheerful person. His statement that the king is sick with insectophobia should be attributed to stories, and not to documented facts. Jan accompanied Peter everywhere and allegedly assured everyone that he was mortally afraid of cockroaches. Like, he sees an insect and immediately runs away from home. And before visiting some premises, the tsar sent a cockroach caretaker to the house, who had to scrupulously examine all the walls and corners, question the owners and report to Peter.
The story told by Govi refers to the king's visit to a certain officer X. Allegedly, Peter examined the estate near Moscow. He liked the way the officer did business, what kind of order he introduced. But during dinner, the king asked the owner if he had cockroaches in his house. The officer replied that there were practically no insects. And, apparently wanting to amuse the king, he showed a cockroach nailed to the wall, stating that this method scares away other insects. Peter saw a half-dead "karakan", which was trying to free himself, jumped up, gave the officer a slap in the face and quickly left the house.
The emperor was a completely difficult person. That's why and his favorites had an unusual life.
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