[The following is in regards to a bloody palace coup that was witnessed by a young Peter I of Russia, later to be known as Peter the Great. In essence, there were rumors spread by Peter’s power-hungry sister, Sophia, that the next in line for the throne, Ivan V, was to be passed over in favor of his half-brother, Peter, when a successor was needed. This was true, as Ivan was mentally and physically handicapped. However, Sophia was bent on keeping Ivan on the throne, as she intended to manipulate him for her own gain. Ultimately, the two brothers would be allowed to co-rule.]
The petrified little tsar silently clutched his mother’s hand as the mass murderous pikesmen thronged beneath them, braying for blood. Then, amid a horrific roar, Prince Michael Dolgoruky was hoisted from a balcony above the frenzied crowd and violently cast down upon their sharpened weapons. He was instantly hacked to pieces. One by one, various boyars and other “traitors” were chopped to bits as well – their remains heaped onto a grisly pile that grew ever larger in Red Square. While young Tsar Peter watched the unfolding madness in stupefied horror (with the murder of his own two uncles still yet to come), his older half-sister, Sophia, seemed to celebrate it. There was opportunity in the slaughter, and Sophia sensed it. Indeed, she emerged from the gore of the Kremlin massacre with autocratic powers no Russian woman had ever possessed before.
Source:
Farquhar, Michael. “Chapter 1 – Ivan V and Peter I (1682-1696): One Autocrat Too Many.” Secret Lives of the Tsars: Three Centuries of Autocracy, Debauchery, Betrayal, Murder, and Madness from Romanov Russia. Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014. 18. Print.
Further Reading:
Peter the Great (Russian: Пётр Вели́кий); Peter the Great
Sophia Alekseyevna (Russian: Со́фья Алексе́евна)
The Moscow uprising of 1682, also known as the Streltsy uprising of 1682 (Russian: Стрелецкий бунт)
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