Why in Russia since the time of Ivan the Terrible, court doctors risked their own lives

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

Russian rulers, like all ordinary people, were periodically sick. But they were not treated in clinics, as today, but exclusively at home. The court doctors were sure to be near them. Since the 14th century, rulers have traditionally used the services of foreign doctors. Even Ivan III, at the insistence of his wife Sophia Palaeologus, ordered Italian court doctors. But their career was not the most successful. At that time, no one considered the medical error that took place. In 1490, after the death of his son Ivan III, the doctors who had failed to save his were executed.

Ivan the Terrible's pharmacists and passion for overseas specialists

Sovereign Ivan the Terrible gave preference to doctors from England. The first physician at his court was Ralph Standish, who arrived in Russia in 1557. Serving the health of the dignitaries was not easy. Permanent control was established for foreign doctors at the Moscow court. The Russian autocrat understood that there is always a threat of "witchcraft" (witchcraft) and the presence of "dashing potions" (poisons) in medicines.

And the closest courtier checked the medicines prepared for the tsar at the cost of his health. In 1581, the first court pharmacy was opened in Russia. It was located in the chambers of the Kremlin opposite the Chudov Monastery and, according to eyewitnesses, was luxuriously furnished. In addition to overseas raw materials, pharmaceutical gardens and orchards were a source for obtaining medicines. By order of Ivan the Terrible, vast lands were allocated for them - part of the current Alexander Garden.

Family physician

During the Troubles, all the court doctors fled. Therefore, the Romanovs were forced to re-form the Pharmaceutical Order. At first, doctors were invited from England and Holland, later the Germans came to the fore. The court doctors under Peter I were called life doctors. Their number grew, and already under Alexander I it was necessary to have 4 life-doctors and 4 life-surgeons. In 1842, the Court Medical Unit appeared, which was responsible for medical care for members of the imperial family and courtiers. Gradually, narrowly focused specialists stood out - life-pediatricians, life-obstetricians, life-oculists.

In addition, the monarch had a family doctor who monitored the health of the tsar and the next of kin. Such a therapist was practically a member of the family, becoming at times very influential at court. For example, the palace coup, which provided power to Elizaveta Petrovna, was organized by her life-doctor Lestok. For this he received the title of count and became a prominent dignitary. But because of the enmity with Vice-Chancellor Bestuzhev and after the intrigues of the latter, the medic was taken into custody and sent into exile. After this episode, life-doctors did not interfere in state affairs for a long time.

Medical examinations of favorites, the first vaccination and Mandt's homeopathy

The most famous personal physician of Catherine II was the Scotsman Rogerson. In addition to his main duties, he was engaged in a medical examination of the favorites, after which they already entered into love affairs with the empress. After the death of Peter the Great's grandson Peter II from smallpox, the Empress took the initiative regarding vaccination. Catherine, seeing the consequences of this disease, feared smallpox from a young age. In October 1768, Dr. Dimsdale was specially discharged from England, who inoculated the enlightened empress. After a successful experiment, the ballet Defeated Prejudice was staged in St. Petersburg, whose characters were symbolically Ruthenia, Minerva, the Genius of Science, Ignorance and Superstition. And Russia has become a leading state in the field of vaccination. When an unvaccinated French king Louis XV died of smallpox, Catherine II called it barbarism.

One of the doctors under Nicholas I, Martin Mandt, was invited to Russia from Germany. He enjoyed the complete confidence of the emperor. Relying on his influence, the doctor introduced unpopular views on medical practice in the Russian army. He was considered the founder of a special system of treatment, later transformed into a branch of homeopathy. Mandt's reputation in medical circles was not brilliant, and the Russian professor of medicine Nikolai Pirogov considered the German a charlatan at all. After the death of Nicholas, Mandt was accused of poisoning the emperor or at least assisting in suicide. Ostensibly oppressed by the defeat in the Crimean War, the autocrat decided to poison himself, and his personal doctor gave him the poison. However, modern doctors claim that the cause of the death of Nicholas I was a complication after pneumonia.

The development of domestic medicine and Rasputin's methods

From the middle of the 19th century, the court medical service was staffed by local specialists. In 1875, the title of life physician was awarded to a successful therapist and one of the founders of clinical medicine, Sergei Botkin. And one of the trusted doctors of Alexander III was the therapist Grigory Zakharyin. At the same time, the sovereign did not particularly favor doctors, did not like to be treated and did not believe in the power of medical science, calling it "a woman's business." The ranks of the imperial life-doctors consisted of Botkin's students, the titles of life-surgeons were worn by domestic surgeons Pavlov, Kruglevsky, Troyanov, Vilyaminov. The court consultants, obstetricians, otolaryngologists and ophthalmologists were also Russian and selflessly worked for the development of domestic medicine.

The last Russian emperor practically did not complain about his state of health. Only once, in 1900, was he diagnosed with typhoid fever. Much more attention of doctors was paid to his wife, who suffered from pain in the legs and headaches. Well, the main family ailment was hemophilia, which fell to the lot of the heir. This disease did not succumb to traditional medicine, so the royal family resorted to the services of the "folk healer" Rasputin. The last imperial life-doctor was the son of Sergei Botkin. After the events of February 1917, he voluntarily went into exile with the royal family and did not abandon his patients, remaining faithful to his professional duty until his last breath.

And personal Ivan the Terrible's doctor in general, one might say, went down in history.