King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,001
Hi Guys,
It’s impossible to portray the last of the Romanov dynasty without including the sinister, brooding presence of Grigori Rasputin.
Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the Royal Family of Czar NicholasⅡ, the last, doomed Emperor of Russia.
He was often described as an itinerant monk or ‘wandering pilgrim’, although he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church.
After wandering far and wide across Imperial Russia he eventually turned up in St. Petersburg where he somehow managed to intrigue several church leaders and some high members of high society in the winter of 1904/5.
The most important members of that society were, of course, the Czar Nicholas and his wife, Czarina Alexandra.
Rasputin became a most divisive figure at court, regarded by a few as a visionary and prophet, but at the same time repulsed many as a religious charlatan and a debauched criminal.
What protected him was that he was able, on several occasions, to seemingly heal and ease the pain of the Czar’s son and heir Alexei who suffered from hemophilia... Much to the relief of the boy’s parents.
The Royal Family’s belief in Rasputin’s healing powers brought him considerable power and status in Court circles. This allowed the strange mystic to indulge all of his many vices without fear of threat or retribution.
Eventually however a group of nobles and politicians decided that the ‘wandering pilgrim’ was indeed a triple threat to the Empire, the Emperor and the Royal Family... He had to go.
In the early hours of 30 December 1916, Rasputin was lured to a meeting at one of the nobles’ houses where a group of them first tried to poison him, then shot him three times before dumping his body in a nearby river. A nasty end to a nasty character... but a very interesting historical personality.
This K&C figure is based on photographs taken just before the outbreak of war in 1914.
Best wishes,
Andy
It’s impossible to portray the last of the Romanov dynasty without including the sinister, brooding presence of Grigori Rasputin.
Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the Royal Family of Czar NicholasⅡ, the last, doomed Emperor of Russia.
He was often described as an itinerant monk or ‘wandering pilgrim’, although he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church.
After wandering far and wide across Imperial Russia he eventually turned up in St. Petersburg where he somehow managed to intrigue several church leaders and some high members of high society in the winter of 1904/5.
The most important members of that society were, of course, the Czar Nicholas and his wife, Czarina Alexandra.
Rasputin became a most divisive figure at court, regarded by a few as a visionary and prophet, but at the same time repulsed many as a religious charlatan and a debauched criminal.
What protected him was that he was able, on several occasions, to seemingly heal and ease the pain of the Czar’s son and heir Alexei who suffered from hemophilia... Much to the relief of the boy’s parents.
The Royal Family’s belief in Rasputin’s healing powers brought him considerable power and status in Court circles. This allowed the strange mystic to indulge all of his many vices without fear of threat or retribution.
Eventually however a group of nobles and politicians decided that the ‘wandering pilgrim’ was indeed a triple threat to the Empire, the Emperor and the Royal Family... He had to go.
In the early hours of 30 December 1916, Rasputin was lured to a meeting at one of the nobles’ houses where a group of them first tried to poison him, then shot him three times before dumping his body in a nearby river. A nasty end to a nasty character... but a very interesting historical personality.
This K&C figure is based on photographs taken just before the outbreak of war in 1914.
Best wishes,
Andy
