Petrine Era (Russia)
(1689 to 1725)
What happened?
Peter I Alexeyevich Romanov, better known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of Russia from 1682 until his death in 1725. Until 1696, he ruled with his older half-brother, Ivan V.
He was the first Russian tsar to travel beyond the borders of his empire. Through several successful wars, he captured ports and laid the foundations for the Imperial Russian Navy. Peter the Great brought about the modernization of his country and promoted science. Because of this, he led a cultural revolution.
With the foundation of the city of Saint Petersburg, the country focused more on Western Europe. The city remained the capital of Russia until 1918. Peter reformed the military, the Church, commerce, industry, education, and public health. His reforms had a lasting impact on Russia. The country became a much larger and important European superpower.
He did not receive his nickname the Great until 1721 when he changed the Tsardom of Russia to the Russian Empire and took the title of Emperor. His nickname did not refer to his tall stature, which was over 2 m, but because he brought Russia in the Modern Age as Father of the Fatherland and the Emperor of All Russia. He died of gangrene in 1725, as autopsy revealed.
Russian Orthodox Old Believers Cross
± 1600 to ± 1800
This fragment of an antique small Orthodox cross pendant has a post-medieval simple and humble Russian “Norwegian” design. An image of the three-bar Cross of the Redeemer with the instruments of the Passion over the skull is partially visible. On the reverse are abbreviated words in Church Slavonic of an Orthodox prayer. The cross is made of bronze or a similar copper alloy.
The image of the Cross suggests that it dates from the 17th or 18th century from the Imperial Russian North. The interior shows obvious signs of wear consistent with its suggested age and prolonged dedication wear, including distortion of the original shape. The images and inscriptions have reduced quality, scratches, dents, and original uncleaned patina.
The cross on the obverse is called the Suppedaneum Cross with three staves surrounded with the instruments of the Passion of Christ. The sacred lance or spear and the sacred sponge at the end of a stick, some inscriptions with Cyrillic letters and a small image of the skull under the cross. This is missing from our copy. The Byzantine cross with three staves is venerated in the Orthodox and some Eastern Catholic churches. It has three horizontal crossbars. The top one represents the “INRI” nameplate and the bottom one a footrest. That footrest is shown facing upwards. This refers to heaven, to the right of Christ where the repentant thief, St. Dismas, was crucified. The prayer in Church Slavonic on the reverse is a verse from Psalm 68 or a prayer to the Holy Cross. The words are incomplete and badly worn.
Old Believers or Old Orthodox is the collective term for traditional Christian groups in Russia. They are separate from the Russian Orthodox State Church because of their protest the ecclesiastical reforms of 1666-67. The renewals were intended to make the Russian church uniform with the then Byzantine church. Opponents strongly opposed the implemented reforms. The most active opponents were rounded up and some executed years later. After 1685 began a period of persecution that would last until 1905.