Table of contents:
- Features of the royal funeral ceremony in the Muscovy and the Russian Empire
- What the Sorrowful Commission did. Mar
- shrut and order of the procession
- Where Russian princes and tsars rest
- Why Russian tsars were not buried in the ground
Video: How Russian monarchs were buried and why they were not buried
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The French phraseological unit noblesse oblige can be literally translated as “noble position obliges”. Like no one else, this expression applies to representatives of the ruling dynasties. At all times, royal persons were destined not only to rise above their subjects during their lifetime. Even their departure into eternity and burial were different from how it happened with ordinary mortals.
Features of the royal funeral ceremony in the Muscovy and the Russian Empire
For a long time, the departure of members of the ruling dynasties to another world was accompanied by special rituals. In pre-Petrine times, before his death, the tsar was tonsured into the monastic schema. The death of the monarch was announced by the ringing of bells, through which the boyars, relatives and friends of the deceased, came to the palace. After parting, the coffin was transferred to the home church, where the Psalter was read around the clock over the deceased dressed in royal attire and the clergy and boyars were on duty. Special messengers carried the news of what had happened to all parts of the country. They also delivered money to churches and monasteries for daily memorial services, which were served for forty days. After this, the burial was performed. The funeral procession was led by representatives of the clergy, followed by members of the royal family and boyars. They were followed by ordinary people, for whom there was no subordination according to ranks and titles. The tsar's grave was covered with a stone slab.
During the reign of Peter I, not only the politics and economics of the country underwent reforms, but also the funeral ceremony of monarchs. The Orthodox church rite of burial has not undergone changes, but its civil component has become more Europeanized, more magnificent and solemn, in many respects borrowed from the traditions of the German principalities. The monastic tonsure of the monarch was optional. Mourning was declared at the court, during which the ladies were to appear in the palace in black clothes, and the men with mourning bands on their sleeves. In the event of the death of an emperor or empress, this period was one year, for grand dukes and princesses - three months.
What the Sorrowful Commission did. Mar
shrut and order of the procession
Organizational issues related to the funeral of crowned persons were dealt with by the so-called Sad Commission. She was appointed by an imperial decree and was headed by the highest court officials. The coffin with the body of the deceased ruler was installed in the Throne Room of the Winter Palace, the design of which, like the Peter and Paul Cathedral, was entrusted to outstanding artists and architects. The sad commission worked out the procedure for parting with the monarch and seeing him off on his last journey. This document specified in detail the route of the funeral procession, as well as the number and composition of the ceremony participants (for example, more than ten thousand people of various classes and ranks were invited to the funeral of Peter I).
The ceremony of transferring the body was printed both in Russian and in several foreign languages and was sent to all embassies, as well as to all those invited to the funeral events. The date and time of the beginning of the mourning procession was announced in advance. This was done by the heralds authorized by the Sorrowful Commission in all squares, main streets and crossroads of the city. To accomplish this mission, they were required to be in full uniform with a black fleur scarf over their shoulder and fleece headbands denoting deep mourning. The heralds were accompanied by trumpeters and horse guards.
The start of the ceremony was announced by cannon shots. At the first signal, all the participants in the procession were to gather in the places indicated to them, at the second - to line up in the order of their passage. On the third, the procession began to move, accompanied by the chime of church bells and cannon shots. Horse guards, timpani and trumpeters were moving ahead, followed by the courtiers. The next were deputies from various estates, representatives of educational institutions, members of the Senate and the State Council. Further, the masters of ceremonies carried the banners and coats of arms of the regions and the large state coat of arms, as well as the imperial regalia and orders.
The funeral chariot was carried by horses in black blankets. If the emperor was buried, there were 8 horses, if the Grand Duke - 6. Before the chariot went the representatives of the higher clergy and singers, and behind it - the heir, the grand dukes. The women of the royal dynasty rode in carriages. The rear of the procession was a detachment of horse guards. A short funeral litia was served in each church along the way. The cortege arriving at the resting place of the crown bearer was greeted by members of the Holy Synod. The emperor and the grand dukes brought the coffin into the Peter and Paul Cathedral, at the entrance to which an honor guard was posted.
Where Russian princes and tsars rest
The last refuge of most of the princes and kings of the state of the Russian pre-Petrine era was the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Here the remains of more than fifty representatives of the Rurikovich and Romanov clans, the two ruling dynasties of Russia, rest in sarcophagi decorated with skillful carvings made of white stone. The first burial - of Prince Ivan Kalita - is dated by historians in 1340.
After the state was headed by the first All-Russian Emperor, the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg became the burial vault of the rulers. Only the young emperor Peter II, the grandson of Peter I, did not get into these walls. In 1730, the 14-year-old ruler died in Moscow from smallpox, and it was decided not to transport his body to St. Petersburg, but to bury it in the Archangel Cathedral.
Why Russian tsars were not buried in the ground
The Emperor is the anointed of God. This has always been an immutable truth. Therefore, it is quite natural that even after death he should be closer to heaven than commoners, and to lower the body of the sovereign into the ground meant to belittle his social position. For the ruler - not a cemetery grave, but a magnificent tomb-crypt.
Most historians are inclined to believe that the practice of burying members of the reigning dynasties in special tombs dates back to the traditions of Byzantium, which had a great influence on Ancient Russia. One of the first imitations of these customs is the burial of the Kiev prince Yaroslav the Wise - a monolithic stone sarcophagus. Moscow princes and tsars also sought to emphasize the royal status after death, not only their God-given power, but also spiritual holiness. For this purpose, temples were often built as future tombs, and burials in them were made similar to the graves of the higher clergy.
And at the funeral of Romeo and Juliet there was a special secret.
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