The sorceress Stepan Razin: What is famous for the ally of the most famous Russian rebel

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

During the uprising led by Stepan Razin, one of the detachments was led by nun Alena Arzamasskaya. A dashing companion of the rebellious peasants left the walls of the monastery, devoting herself to the struggle. She managed to unite decisive men under her own leadership, whom she urged to stand for Razin's ideas. By the way, she never met with Stepan himself. After the capture of the Mordovian city, Alena ruled it for several months, until the approaching tsarist army utterly defeated the rebels. The leader of the rebels did not give up to the last, and for unprecedented strength and rare courage she was even considered a witch. The woman did not utter a word during the burning of her in the square, which confirmed the accusations.

Widowhood and the monastery

The exact date of birth of the heroine of the peasant revolt was lost in time, only the place is known. Alena comes from a Cossack village near Arzamas, for which she received the nickname Arzamasskaya. Now this is the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod region. At a very young age, it was decided to marry the Cossack woman without her consent. In the 17th century, this situation was the absolute norm. And the girl's husband was not a young man who matched her at all, but an elderly peasant.

Due to her advanced age, the newly-made husband quickly left Alena a widow. But she did not grieve, but sighed deeply, getting rid of the hateful marriage. Deciding not to wait for the unenviable rural share of a lonely woman, she found another way out for herself. Alena became Mary, taking tonsure at a local monastery. Within the walls of the monastery, the girl was taught to read and write, here Alena-Maria mastered the craft of a healer, learning to heal with herbs. She was engaged in collecting medicinal herbs, drying them, making ointments and tinctures. Poor peasants did not have the opportunity to use the services of professional healers, so they came to the monastery for help.

Soon, life in the monastery became painful for the nun, and when in 1669 the country was stirred up by a peasant uprising named after Stepan Razin, Alena left the monastery without hesitation, joining the rebels.

Rebel ranks and a dashing leader

Alena was well known among the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, so she easily and quickly managed to put together a rebel detachment of a couple of hundred people. Perhaps the strong-willed character of the girl played a role, maybe the Cossack blood leaped out, but the harsh men willingly followed the young woman. The dashing leader set out to lead the peasants to the left bank of the Oka to Kasimov with further movement to the central regions of the country. But having stumbled upon numerous tsarist forces on the way, Alena turned her charges in the direction of the Mordovian city of Temnikov. To reach with her to the banks of the Moksha River, according to the testimony of the captured rebels, by that time about half a thousand followers intended.

Other rebel groups headed by Fyodor Sidorov, Isay Fadeev and Erema Ivanov also moved in that area. The most prominent in these ranks was considered Sidorov, who was released from prison by the Razins in 1670. Alena intended to unite with the Sidorov detachment near the town of Temnikov. On the way to their destination, Alena's detachment was replenished with volunteers from the peasants who saw her as a liberator. Yuri Dolgorukov, who commanded the suppression of the peasant uprising, wrote that the woman skillfully gathers more and more people “for theft”. In addition to direct recruitment in the villages, Alena sent letters in which she called on the people to support "Father Stepan Timofeyevich" (Razin).

After meeting with Sidorov's forces, the combined detachment grew to 700 armed men. Together, the rebels defeated the fortifications of the commander of Arzamas, Leonty Shaisukov, advancing towards Shatsk.

Temnikov's influence and the arrival of the tsarist forces

After the successful storming of Temnikov, Alena began to independently manage the city. Runaway peasants from all nearby villages flocked under her patronage. In a matter of weeks, she gathered up to 2 thousand warlike men around her. In fact, Temnikov turned into a free republic with Alena Arzamasskaya at the head. But only a little was given to this neoplasm to exist. The tsar's henchmen were not idle either. Rumors that the rebels were being led by some unusual woman who had changed her robe for armor spread throughout the country.

Two months later, the elite sovereign troops under the leadership of the governor Dolgorukov were already approaching Temnikov. The siege of the city began on November 30, 1670. After a powerful attack, the tsarist troops won a victory over the rebels. A detachment of the Tsar's governor Volzhinsky went to the city that remained defenseless. But upon entering Temnikov, an experienced warrior ran into desperate resistance from the peasants who remained there, who decided to defend their last refuge - the city church to the end. Alena, avoiding captivity, took refuge within the walls of the temple and, with her last strength, fired back from a bow.

Soon the arrows ran out, and resistance became meaningless. Then she threw aside the weapon, falling exhausted with outstretched arms to the altar. In this form it was found by the tsarist soldiers who broke into the church. A young woman in military armor over a monastic robe appeared before them. Later, they noted the incredible strength of the warrior, shooting from a bow, which not every man could pull to the end.

Dolgorukov's order and Arzamas Jeanne d'Ark

Without ceremony with intersexual nobility, Dolgorukov ordered to torture Alena Arzamasskaya, as usual, with a hot iron and a rack. Not finding out the expected information about the movements and the number of rebel comrades-in-arms, they decided to execute the woman. Remembering her skills as a healer, she was supposed to be burned at the stake like a witch. Witchcraft was also equated with the fact that she managed to command many men. For this, a special log house was erected, inside which the criminal was supposed to finish her earthly journey.

Alena stepped onto the platform leading to the log house with her already lifeless and tortured body. After the verdict sounded on the square, Alena humbly accepted her fate, independently entering the set on fire. Her courage impressed her contemporaries so much that a medieval German publicist even dedicated a passage to her in his book.

But at that time women could easily be declared witches. Even such famous ones as Zhanna d'Arc, Matilda Kshesinskaya and others.