A military headdress decorated with gold ornaments and precious stones is kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin under inventory number 4411. Until the middle of the 19th century, it was shown with the indication that it was the helmet of the Holy Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. The image of the helmet even ended up on the coat of arms Russian Empire- despite the fact that among the Christian symbols decorating it, Arabic script with a line from the Koran stands out. But how did this inscription end up on the headdress of an Orthodox prince?

Jericho cap

The appearance of the helmet is very remarkable. It is forged from red iron and covered with floral gold ornaments. There are 95 diamonds, 228 rubies and 10 emeralds placed on it, and crowns with crosses are incised in gold on three sides. Above the front flap that protects the nose is an image of the Archangel Michael.
The Arabic inscription represents the 13th verse of the 61st sura of the Koran and is translated as follows: ““Give joy to the faithful with the promise of help from Allah and speedy victory.” Even without a thorough examination, it is noticeable that Christian images on the helmet appeared later than this inscription - some of them slightly are placed on top of it.
In the surviving inventory of the royal armory treasury from 1687, the helmet is called the “Jericho hat” with the note “Mikitin of Davydov’s affairs.” That is, the creator of the headdress is the master Nikita Davydov, who worked in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin from 1613 to 1664. Other historical documents note that the helmet was presented as a gift to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the first of the Romanov dynasty, and the date of this event is mentioned - 1621.
But why is Alexander Nevsky, who lived much earlier, in the 13th century, called the owner of the headdress?

Death of the Grand Duke

Historians of the Russian Empire referred to a legend according to which the Jericho hat of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was reforged from the helmet of the holy Grand Duke.
In 1262, uprisings against Tatar-Mongol rule began in the Russian cities of Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov and Yaroslavl, during which Horde tribute farmers were killed. At the same time, Khan Berke, who was preparing to fight Iran, announced military recruitment among the residents of Russia. Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich, having transferred power to his sons, went to the khan to settle both of the most important political issues.

His visit lasted almost a year. The prince managed to persuade the khan not to destroy the rebellious cities and to refuse to call up Russian soldiers. But while in the Horde, Alexander Yaroslavich fell ill (according to some sources, he was poisoned). On the way back, he reached Gorodets Volzhsky (or Meshchersky) not far from Nizhny Novgorod, and there he died in the Fedorovsky Monastery in the fall of 1263, having adopted the schema under the name Alexy before his death. His body was transported and buried in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Vladimir (in 1724, the relics of the holy prince were reburied in St. Petersburg by order of Peter I).
Further, there is some inconsistency in the legend - because, according to legend, the helmet of the Grand Duke was transported to Moscow and later ended up in the Armory. Although Moscow only 100 years after the death of Alexander Nevsky became the center of the Russian state, and the Armory Chamber was first mentioned in documents as the Armory Order in general only in 1547!
Where the Grand Duke's helmet was all this time is unknown. But this legend was actively supported by representatives of the royal house of the Romanovs. This was done for two reasons at once: firstly, the headdress of Alexander Yaroslavich, remade for Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, symbolized the continuity of two dynasties - the Rurikovichs and the Romanovs. And secondly, the thing, which once belonged to Alexander Nevsky, who was canonized in 1547 and became a saint, in the eyes of the people, undoubtedly left an imprint of holiness on its subsequent owners.

Artist on the order

No documents have been preserved about the fate of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich’s belongings. Russian historians for a long time adhered to the version that the helmet could have been kept in the Fedorovsky Monastery - since in Rus', when accepting the schema, all personal property had to be given to the temple - and several centuries later it was transferred to the Armory Order.
Until the mid-19th century, it was believed that the helmet was forged in the Golden Horde, and the Arabic inscription was explained by the close ties of Alexander Nevsky with its rulers. Once upon a time, his father, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, gave his young son to be raised by Batu Khan - this was one of the conditions for Yaroslav’s approval for the great reign. Alexander grew up in a khan's family and even became blood brothers with Sartak, the son of Batu, so he undoubtedly knew the meaning of the Arabic inscription.
The assertion that the Jericho cap once belonged to the holy prince seemed indisputable, and its image appeared not only on the large coat of arms of the Russian Empire, but also on the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky established in 1725. The badge of the award was a cross, in the center of which there was a round medallion with an image of a prince on a horse. The figure was very small, which is why the facial features were undeveloped, but the helmet turned out to be very recognizable.
After the October Revolution, this award was abolished, but in 1942 it was re-established to reward senior command personnel. The sketch was developed by artist Ivan Telyatnikov. Since no lifetime images of Alexander Nevsky survived, he recreated on the order the image created by the artist Nikolai Cherkasov in the film “Alexander Nevsky” released in 1938 by director Sergei Eisenstein. Accordingly, the helmet of the Grand Duke became different, the same as in the movie - with a large forehead icon and without an Islamic inscription.

Arabic as a second church language?

In the middle of the 19th century, historians came to a unanimous conclusion - the Jericho hat of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich is not the headdress of Alexander Nevsky and was created in the 17th century (already in Soviet time This fact has been confirmed by thorough scientific examination). But scientists of the Russian Empire did not want such a striking example of weapons art to be considered the creation of foreign masters. The exhibit of the Armory Chamber was named “Damask steel helmet by Nikita Davydov” and dated 1621. The Islamic inscription was explained by the fact that at the beginning of the 17th century, Arabic was used in Rus' for some rituals and as a second church language.

At the same time, the researchers referred to the huge number of weapons and jewelry stored in various museums, on which Arabic inscriptions were applied. For example, on one of the richly inlaid sabers there is an Islamic saying that can be translated as “In the name of God, the good and the merciful.” On the helmet of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, also called the Jericho cap because of its shape, the Arabic words “Allah Muhammad” are repeated seven times around its circumference. The Islamic inscription is even present on the miter of an Orthodox bishop, which is kept in the museum of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - it is placed under a precious stone located next to the Orthodox cross.
A similar point of view was shared by Soviet researchers of the mid-20th century (in particular, F.Ya. Mishutin and L.V. Pisarevskaya): the helmet of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was made by the Russian master Nikita Davydov, and the Islamic inscription was made based on the existing military and religious traditions. But if we accept the version about Arabic as the second church language, why is there no Cyrillic inscription on the helmet relating to the main church language? And most importantly, why is there a quote on the headdress not from the Bible, but from the Koran?

Canvas for work

The colorful album “The State Armory Chamber” (authors I.A. Bobrovnitskaya, L.P. Kirillova and others, published in 1990) provides a different point of view. Researchers believe that Russian masters of the 17th century simply copied eastern weapons along with the inscriptions on them. In their opinion, Nikita Davydov created the helmet, which was once attributed to Alexander Nevsky, from a certain unpreserved sample, reproducing Arabic script and, in addition, decorating it with Orthodox symbols.
The mystery of the Jericho hat of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was revealed only at the end of the 20th century, when in the historical archives they found a sheet from the book of the State Order, dated 1621, about the issuance of several arshins of fabric to the master Nikita Davydov, which the sovereign granted to him for being a “crown , the targets and ears were covered with gold” (the crown is the top of the helmet, the target is a separate ornament, the ears are plates for protecting the ears). Thus, the Russian master clearly did not make the headdress, but only supplemented and decorated it.
Then everything is quite simple and clear. The very phrase “Jericho hat” indicates the Middle Eastern city of Jericho - that is, the helmet, like many other weapons, was forged in the Middle East, most likely in Iran. Eastern damask steel was highly valued in the Middle Ages, and inscriptions in Arabic were carefully preserved and served as something of a quality mark.
The authentic helmet of Alexander Nevsky has not yet been discovered. But we can remember that in the autumn of the distant 1808, near the village of Lykovo, Vladimir province, the peasant woman Larionova found a headdress that belonged to the father of the holy prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (in these places in 1216 there was a battle on the Lipitsa River - one of the internecine battles of the sons of Vsevolod the Big Nest for the Vladimir throne ). It was he who served as the prototype for the princely helmet in the film by Sergei Eisenstein and on the Soviet military order. So there is hope that one day Alexander Nevsky’s headdress will be found. And maybe not even one.

Mysteries love to surround not only living beings, but also inanimate objects. The helmet of Alexander Nevsky, which is kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, is from this number. This, of course, is not the Holy Grail, but there are no less mysteries in it.

Such a dress could crown the head of Rurikovich, the true Chosen One. All to one thing: red iron, a shape in the form of a temple dome, the image of the Archangel Michael the Archangel on the bow, designed to shake the enemy’s hand with an elevated sword, a golden notch, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... And suddenly - Arabic script! On the helmet of an Orthodox prince! What is this? The 13th verse of the 61st sura of the Koran: “Give joy to the faithful with the promise of help from Allah and speedy victory.”

Historians and collectors will find an explanation for everything. In the horizon of their own erudition, experience, dreams, obsessions... They love logic. The logic of teachers primary classes, explaining to students the impossibility of the existence of ghosts.

According to legend, Nevsky's helmet was reforged in the 17th century especially for Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Tsar from the Romanovs. The court master Nikita Danilov complemented it with precious stones. The updated helmet received the name “Jericho Cap of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.” There was no modernization here - helmets in Rus' were usually called that, since Russian monarchs from the time of Ivan the Terrible liked to compare themselves with Joshua, the Old Testament king who took Jericho.

In the 20th century, historians did not believe the legend, doubting that the helmet once belonged to Alexander Nevsky. Having subjected the damask headdress to countless examinations and analyses, scientists came to the conclusion that the “Jericho Cap” was forged in the East (where the Arabic inscriptions come from) in the 17th century. Then, by chance, the helmet ended up with Mikhail Fedorovich, where it underwent “Christian tuning.”

True, no one explains why the tsar did not order the “Basurman letter” to be removed? By negligence? Hardly. Out of ignorance? Hardly. At the royal court there were always many Tatars familiar with Arabic calligraphy.

It is interesting that Arabic script also decorated the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, as well as other noble persons of medieval Rus'. Of course, we can say that these were trophies. But it is difficult to imagine that the regulated Ivan IV would place a used helmet on his crowned head. Moreover, in use by the “infidel”...

With a high degree of probability, the royal owners of the “Jericho hats” knew the origin and translation of the “Arab patterns.” But at the same time they showed tolerance to the presence on their own helmets. Perhaps the engraved suras from the Koran were given some magical properties– a sort of “graphic” trumpet of Jericho, destroying the walls of fortresses not with sound, but with writing.

Mysteries love to surround not only living beings, but also inanimate objects. The helmet of Alexander Nevsky, which is kept in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, is from this number. This, of course, is not the Holy Grail, but there are no less mysteries in it.

Beautiful, very beautiful... Such a dress could crown the head of Rurikovich, the true Chosen One. All to one thing: red iron, a shape in the form of a temple dome, the image of the Archangel Michael the Archangel on the bow, designed to shake the enemy’s hand with an elevated sword, a golden notch, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, pearls... And suddenly - Arabic script! On the helmet of an Orthodox prince! What is this? The 13th verse of the 61st sura of the Koran: “Give joy to the faithful with the promise of help from Allah and speedy victory.”

Historians and collectors will find an explanation for everything. In the horizon of their own erudition, experience, dreams, obsessions... They love logic. The logic of primary school teachers explaining to schoolchildren the impossibility of the existence of ghosts.

According to legend, Nevsky’s helmet was reforged in the 17th century especially for Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Tsar from the Romanovs. The court master Nikita Danilov complemented it with precious stones. The updated helmet received the name “Jericho Cap of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich.” There was no modernization here - helmets in Rus' were usually called that, since Russian monarchs from the time of Ivan the Terrible liked to compare themselves with Joshua, the Old Testament king who took Jericho.

In the 20th century, historians did not believe the legend, doubting that the helmet once belonged to Alexander Nevsky. Having subjected the damask headdress to countless examinations and analyses, scientists came to the conclusion that the “Jericho Cap” was forged in the East (where the Arabic inscriptions come from) in the 17th century. Then, by chance, the helmet ended up with Mikhail Fedorovich, where it underwent “Christian tuning.”

True, no one explains why the tsar did not order the “Basurman letter” to be removed? By negligence? Hardly. Out of ignorance? Hardly. At the royal court there were always many Tatars familiar with Arabic calligraphy.

It is interesting that Arabic script also decorated the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, as well as other noble persons of medieval Rus'. Of course, we can say that these were trophies. But it is difficult to imagine that the regulated Ivan IV would place a used helmet on his crowned head. Moreover, in use by the “infidel”...

With a high degree of probability, the royal owners of the “Jericho hats” knew the origin and translation of the “Arab patterns.” But at the same time they showed tolerance to the presence on their own helmets. Perhaps the engraved suras from the Koran were given some magical properties - a kind of “graphic” trumpet of Jericho, destroying the walls of fortresses not with sound, but with writing.

We will talk about this in our next materials.

Do not think that rare and very expensive helmets have been and are found only abroad. And it is even more stupid to consider their findings as some kind of derogation of our Russian culture. Well, there was no Roman culture on our lands, the Romans did not reach here. That’s why there are no Roman helmets in our archaeological finds, even the most tasteless ones. They reached England, and they reached France. But again, they were not beyond the Rhine, so a clear boundary of the finds is fixed - the Rhine River - and here are the Romans, and here are the “wild Germans”. But after the baptism of Rus', its spiritual development went in the same direction as European civilization; the same swords from Europe appeared, but, of course, their own local products, which were no worse than Western and Scandinavian ones. And just the helmet of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich is one of these products. This is an ancient Russian helmet, which dates back to the second half of the 12th - or the first half of the 13th century. It is located in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin.

Russian soldiers had good costumes in the film “Alexander Nevsky”!

According to the typology of the Russian scientist A.N. Kirpichnikova belongs to type IV. He also noted that the helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich is one of the first finds, with which “the study of not only Russian antiquities, but also Russian antiquities in general” began.

A copy of the helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. (State Historical Museum, original in the Kremlin Armory in Moscow)

Well, we found it completely by accident, and quite a long time ago. It so happened that the peasant woman A. Larionova from the village of Lykova, located near the city of Yuryev-Podolsky in the fall of 1808, “while in the bush for pinching nuts, she saw something glowing in a hummock near a walnut bush.” It was a helmet lying on top of chain mail, and both it and the helmet itself were very rusty. The peasant woman took her find to the village elder, and he saw the holy image on the helmet and handed it over to the bishop. He, in turn, sent it to Alexander I himself, and he handed it over to the President of the Academy of Arts A.N. Olenin.

A.N. Olenin. He was the first to study the helmet, which is now officially called the “helmet from Lykovo”...

He began to study the helmet and suggested that the helmet along with the chain mail belonged to Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and was hidden by him during his flight from the site of the Battle of Lipitsa in 1216. He discovered the name Theodore on the helmet, and this was the name of Prince Yaroslav, given to him at baptism. And Olenin suggested that the prince took off both his chain mail and his helmet so that they would not interfere with his escape. After all, from the Laurentian Chronicle we know that Prince Yaroslav, when he was defeated, fled to Pereyaslavl, where he arrived only on the fifth horse, and drove four horses along the road. His brother Yuri was also in a hurry to escape from the battlefield, so much so that he arrived in Vladimir only on his fourth horse, and the chronicle emphasized that he was “in his first shirt, with his lining out.” That is, in only his underwear, the poor fellow, he galloped up, in such fear.

Unfortunately, the crown of the helmet was preserved in very poor condition - in the form of only two large fragments, which is why its exact shape, as well as its design, is impossible to determine. It is generally accepted that it had a shape close to ellipsoidal.

Drawing from a pre-revolutionary book about Russian antiquities...

On the outside, the surface of the helmet was covered with silver sheet and gilded silver plates, with chased images of the image of the Pantocrator, as well as Saints George, Basil and Theodore. The forehead plate bore the image of the Archangel Michael and the inscription: “Great Archangel Michael, help your servant Theodore.” The edge of the helmet is decorated with a gilded border covered with ornaments.

In general, we can talk about the high artistic skill of the manufacturers of this helmet, their technical skill and good taste. Pre-revolutionary Russian historians saw Norman motifs in its design, but Soviet historians preferred to compare them with the white stone carvings of the churches of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. Historian B.A. Kolchin believed that the crown of the helmet was solidly forged and made of iron or low-carbon steel using stamping, followed by a knockout, and this distinguished it from other similar products of that time. For some reason, the half-mask of the helmet covers part of the inscription made along the perimeter of the icon, which allows us to claim that at first it was not there, but was added later.

According to A.N. Kirpichnikov, this helmet was remade at least three times and that it had owners before Prince Yaroslav. Moreover, at first he might not have had any decorations. Then silver plates were riveted to it. And only after that his pommel and half mask were added to it.

Historian K.A. Zhukov notes that the helmet did not have lower cutouts for the eyes. But, in his opinion, the helmet was not altered, but was immediately made with a half mask. Author of the article “Helmet of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich” N.V. Chebotarev points on it to the place where his forehead icon meets the half mask, and draws attention to the fact that for some reason it covers part of the inscription framing the icon, which, in general, should not be.

His drawing, made in pre-revolutionary times.

After all, if the helmet was made by one master and, so to speak, at the same time, then there is no doubt that then the inscription on the icon would correspond to its location. But it could also be that the half mask was temporarily removed from the helmet in order to fix the icon on it, as if its dimensions were not measured, and then, “due to tradition,” hoping “at chance,” they decided that ... “it will do.”

For some reason, Alexander has two helmets in the film. Moreover, he wears them during the action AT THE SAME TIME. The difference is that the second one has a half mask with a pointed nose attached! So to speak, he has a “more combative look.”

In any case, the shape of this helmet with a forehead icon and a half mask is reflected in art. It was this kind of helmet (and in two versions!) that director Sergei Eisenstein placed on the head of his hero in the feature film “Alexander Nevsky”. Sets of postcards with the image of Prince Alexander in this helmet were printed in thousands of copies, so it is not surprising that for a long time everyone thought that the “movie helmet” was made according to the model of a real one, although in fact this was not at all the case.

Turkish helmet from the early 17th century. from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Notice how much it resembles ancient Russian helmets. It is clear that this is not due to the fact that “Rus-Horde-Ataman Empire” (precisely “Ataman”, because “atamans”, that is, “military leaders”, that is, princes/khagans, are atamans!). This form is simply rational, that’s all. The Assyrians also had such helmets, and that they were also Slavs? And then to such helmets they added a visor, a “nasal arrow” that could be raised up and down, “earphones”, a back plate and it turned out... “Jericho hat” or as this helmet was called in the West - “eastern burgignot” (burgonet).

Western European burgonet in oriental style. End of the 16th century Made in Augsburg. Weight 1976 (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

The second helmet, again attributed to Alexander Nevsky, is also an exhibit of the Kremlin Armory, and not just an exhibit, but one of the most famous and famous!

Officially, it is called “The Jericho Cap of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich” - that is, that same Mikhail Romanov, who became the founder... of the royal house of the Romanovs. Why is it considered the helmet of the blessed prince Alexander Yaroslavich? It’s just that in the 19th century there was a legend that the helmet of Tsar Mikhail was a remake of the helmet of Alexander Nevsky. That's all!

Where this legend came from is not entirely clear. In any case, when the Great Coat of Arms of the Russian Empire was approved in 1857, its coat of arms was crowned with the image of the “helmet of Prince Alexander.”

However, it is quite obvious that this helmet could not have been made in Rus' in the 13th century. However, they could finally prove that it was made at the beginning of the 17th century only after the Great Patriotic War, when historians had the appropriate technologies in their hands. That is, everything that in one way or another connects this helmet with the name of Alexander Nevsky is just a legend and nothing more.

Well, what this helmet actually is was described in detail by the candidate of historical sciences S. Akhmedov in the article “Helmet by Nikita Davydov.” In his opinion, this helmet is made in the Eastern tradition, although along with the Arabic inscription it also contains Orthodox symbols. By the way, very similar helmets are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and it is known for sure that they are... from Turkey!

In “Antiquities of the Russian State, Published by the Highest Command” (1853), from where the lithograph given here is taken, the following translation is given of the 13th Ayat 61 of Sura: “Help from God and imminent victory and bring [this] goodness to the faithful ". 61 Surah is called Surah As-Saff ("Rows"). The Surah was revealed in Medina. It consists of 14 Ayats. At the very beginning of the Surah it is said that Allah is glorified both in heaven and on earth. And what he wants is for all those who believe in him to unite and become like one hand. In it, Musa and Isa brand the sons of Israel, declare them stubborn infidels and accuse them of wanting to extinguish the light of the faith of Allah. In the same sura, Allah promises to make his religion superior to all others, even if the pagan polytheists do not like this. At the very end of the Surah, believers are called upon to fight for faith in Allah, to defend his religion, so that they sacrifice their property and even their lives. And as an example, the apostles are given, who were followers of Isa, the son of Mariyam.
Verse 13:
وَأُخْرَىٰ تُحِبُّونَهَا ۖ نَصْرٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَفَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
One translation of this verse looks like this:
“There will also be what you love: help from Allah and imminent victory. Tell the good news to the believers!”;
“And the other thing you love: help from Allah and imminent victory. And give joy to the believers!”;
“And for you, O believers, there is another mercy that you love: help from Allah and imminent victory, the benefits of which you will enjoy. Give joy, O Muhammad, to the believers with this reward!”
And the question is, how could the Russian master Nikita Davydov make such a helmet (around 1621), and even being Orthodox, write on it in Arabic: “Please the faithful with the promise of help from Allah and an early victory”?

In the receipt and expenditure book of the Armory Prikaz dated December 18, 1621, there is the following entry: “The Sovereign’s salary from the Armory Prikaz to the self-made master Nikita Davydov was half a larshina (followed by a list of fabrics that must be given to the master), and the sovereign granted it to him because he and the crowns, he pointed both the targets and the ears with gold.” That is, he trimmed a certain helmet with gold, given to him for decoration, and for this he received payment in kind from the sovereign.

Drawings of a helmet from the book “Antiquities of the Russian State, Published by the Highest Command” (1853). Then this is how information about the cultural values ​​of the Russian Empire was presented! Front, back view.

Side view.

That is, Nikita Davydov himself did not make it, but only decorated it. And it had to be decorated, because it was an obvious gift to the king from the East. It is possible that the gift is directly from the sovereign, which cannot be ignored. But how can you wear it if you are an Orthodox king, and quotes from the Koran are written on the helmet? There is no way to offend an Eastern ruler by refusing his gift. But also his subjects... they are like that... Grishka Otrepyev was recognized as an impostor because he did not sleep after dinner, did not like to go to the bathhouse, and was even embarrassed to say such a thing - “he loved fried veal.” And then there are the words from the book of “filthy” on the tsar’s head... The Orthodox people simply will not understand this, and they will also start a rebellion.

Notched decorations.

That’s why Nikita Danilov was invited to bring this helmet into “usable form.” So on the nose arrow of the helmet there was a miniature figurine of the Archangel Michael made of colored enamels. On the dome, the master “stuffed” golden crowns with the help of a notch, and at the very top, that is, on the top, he strengthened a golden cross. True, it has not survived, but it is known that it existed.

Inside view.

And this, by the way, is not the first time that weapons from the East have found new owners in Rus'. From the East, the sabers of Mstislavsky (his helmet, by the way, is also eastern, Turkish!), Minin and Pozharsky, which were stored in the same Armory and also contained oriental marks and inscriptions in Arabic script, came to Russia from the East.

P.S. That's how interesting things are in life. I wrote this material at the request of one of the regular VO readers. But in the process of work I encountered a number of “ interesting moments", which formed the basis for the continuation of the topic, so...

To be continued…

Where did the Muslim script come from on Alexander Nevsky’s helmet, why did an eagle appear on the seal of Ivan III, did Ivan the Terrible kill his son? The history of Russian monarchs is full of mysteries.

Who was Rurik?
Historians have never come to a consensus about who Rurik was. According to some sources, he could be the Danish Viking Rorik of Jutland, according to others, the Swede Eirik Emundarson, who raided the lands of the Balts.
There is also a Slavic version of the origin of Rurik.
The 19th century historian Stapan Gedeonov associated the prince’s name with the word “Rerek” (or “Rarog”), which in the Slavic tribe of Obodrits meant falcon. During excavations of early settlements of the Rurik dynasty, many images of this bird were found.

Did Svyatopolk kill Boris and Gleb?
One of the main "anti-heroes" of history Ancient Rus' became Svyatopolk the Accursed. He is considered to be the murderer of the noble princes Boris and Gleb in 1015. Folk etymology connects the nickname of Svyatopolk with the name of Cain, although this word goes back to the Old Russian “kayati” - to repent.
Despite the accusation of murdering princes, the name of Svyatopolk was not removed from the family list of princely names until the middle of the 12th century.
Some historians, for example, Nikolai Ilyin, believe that Svyatopolk could not kill Boris and Gleb, since they recognized his right to the throne. In his opinion, the young princes fell victim at the hands of the soldiers of Yaroslav the Wise, who laid claim to the Kiev throne. For this reason, the name of Svyatopolk was not removed from the family list of names.

Where did the remains of Yaroslav the Wise disappear?
Yaroslav the Wise, son of Vladimir the Baptist, was buried on February 20, 1054 in Kyiv in the marble tomb of St. Clement. In 1936, the sarcophagus was opened and they were surprised to find several mixed remains: a man, a woman and several bones of a child.
In 1939, they were sent to Leningrad, where scientists from the Institute of Anthropology established that one of the three skeletons belonged to Yaroslav the Wise.
However, it remained a mystery who owned the other remains and how they got there. According to one version, Yaroslav’s only wife, the Scandinavian princess Ingegerde, rested in the tomb. But who was Yaroslav’s child buried with him? With the advent of DNA technology, the question of opening the tomb arose again.
The relics of Yaroslav, the oldest surviving remains of the Rurik family, were supposed to “answer” several questions. The main one is: are the Rurik family Scandinavians or Slavs?
On September 10, 2009, looking at the pale anthropologist Sergei Szegeda, the staff of the St. Sophia Cathedral Museum realized that things were bad. The remains of Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise disappeared, and in their place lay a completely different skeleton and the newspaper “Pravda” for 1964.
The mystery of the newspaper's appearance was quickly solved. It was forgotten by Soviet specialists, the last ones who worked with the bones.
But with “self-proclaimed” relics the situation was more complicated. It turned out that these were female remains, and from two skeletons dating back to completely different times! Who these women are, how their remains ended up in the sarcophagus, and where Yaroslav himself disappeared remains a mystery.

Where does the Muslim script on Alexander Nevsky's helmet come from?


On the helmet of Alexander Nevsky, in addition to diamonds and rubies, there is Arabic script, the 3rd verse of the 61st sura of the Koran: “Give joy to the faithful with the promise of help from Allah and speedy victory.”
During the course of countless checks and examinations, it was established that the “Jericho Cap” was forged in the East (where the Arabic inscriptions come from) in the 17th century.
Then, by chance, the helmet ended up with Mikhail Fedorovich, where it underwent “Christian tuning.” The helmet was mistakenly attributed to Nevsky, but because of this mistake it was on the coat of arms of the Russian Empire along with other royal “hats.”
It is interesting that Arabic script also decorated the helmet of Ivan the Terrible, as well as other noble persons of medieval Rus'. Of course, we can say that these were trophies. But it is difficult to imagine that the regulated Ivan IV would place a used helmet on his crowned head. Moreover, it is used by the “infidel”. The question of why the noble prince wore a helmet with Islamic inscriptions still remains open.

Why did an eagle appear on the seal of Ivan III?
The double-headed eagle in Russia first appeared on state seal Grand Duke Ivan III in 1497. Historians almost categorically assert that the eagle appeared in Rus' with light hand Sophia Paleologus, niece of the last Byzantine emperor and wife of Ivan III.
But no one explains why the Grand Duke decided to use the eagle only two decades later.
It is interesting that precisely at the same time in Western Europe the double-headed eagle became fashionable among alchemists. Authors of alchemical works put the eagle on their books as a sign of quality. The double-headed eagle meant that the author received Philosopher's Stone, capable of turning metals into gold. The fact that Ivan III gathered around him foreign architects, engineers, and doctors, who probably practiced then fashionable alchemy, indirectly proves that the tsar had an idea of ​​the essence of the “feathered” symbol.

Did Ivan the Terrible kill his son?
The murder of his heir by Ivan Vasilyevich is a highly controversial fact. So, in 1963, the tombs of Ivan the Terrible and his son were opened in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Research has made it possible to claim that Tsarevich John was poisoned. The poison content in his remains is many times higher than the permissible limit. Interestingly, the same poison was found in the bones of Ivan Vasilyevich.
Scientists have concluded that royal family has been a victim of poisoners for several decades.
Ivan the Terrible did not kill his son. This version was adhered to, for example, by the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Seeing Repin’s famous painting at the exhibition, he was outraged and wrote to Emperor Alexander III: “The painting cannot be called historical, since this moment... is purely fantastic.”
The version of the murder was based on the stories of the papal legate Antonio Possevino, who can hardly be called a disinterested person.

Why did Ivan the Terrible move to Alexandrovskaya Sloboda?


Grozny's move to Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda was an unprecedented event in Russian history. In fact, for almost 20 years Alexandrovskaya Sloboda became the capital of Russia. Here Ivan the Terrible began to establish the first after centuries of isolation international relationships, conclude important trade and political agreements, receive embassies of European powers.
Grozny moved there the first printing house in Russia, where the students of pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov Andronik Timofeev and Nikifor Tarasiev worked, who printed many books and even the first leaflets there.
Following the sovereign, the best architects, icon painters, and musicians came to Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. A book-writing workshop operated at the court, and the prototype of the first conservatory was created.
Tsarist diplomats were ordered to explain to foreigners that the Russian Tsar left for the “village” of his own free will “for his own coolness,” that his residence in the “village” is located near Moscow, therefore the Tsar “rules his state both in Moscow and in Sloboda.”
Why did Grozny decide to move? Most likely, the monastic brotherhood in Sloboda was formed in the wake of the conflict between Ivan IV and Metropolitan Philip. The head of the church exposed the king's unrighteous life. The presence of a monastic brotherhood in Sloboda showed everyone with their own eyes that the sovereign was leading the life of a saint. Ivan the Terrible did not flirt much with his brotherhood. In 1570-1571, some brothers were stabbed to death or hanged on the gates of their own houses, others were drowned or thrown into prison.

Where did Ivan the Terrible's library go?
According to legend, after his move to Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, Ivan the Terrible took the library with him. Another hypothesis says that John hid it in some reliable Kremlin hiding place. But be that as it may, after the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the library disappeared.
There are many versions of the loss. First: priceless manuscripts burned in one of the Moscow fires. Second: during the occupation of Moscow, the “liberea” was taken to the West by the Poles and sold there in parts.
According to the third version, the Poles actually found the library, but in conditions of famine, they ate it there in the Kremlin.
They searched for the library for a long time, but in vain. Searches for “liberea” were also carried out in the 20th century. However, academician Dmitry Likhachev said that the legendary library is unlikely to be of great value.

Why did Ivan the Terrible abdicate the throne?
In 1575, Ivan the Terrible abdicated the throne and placed the serving Tatar khan Simeon Bekbulatovich on the throne. Contemporaries did not understand the meaning of the monarch’s undertaking. A rumor spread that the sovereign was frightened by the predictions of the magicians. The news of this was preserved by one of the later chroniclers: “And the Netsy say that he imprisoned (Simeon) for this reason, that the wise men told him that in that year there would be a change: the Tsar of Moscow would die.”
The autocrat received warnings of this kind from sorcerers and astrologers more than once.
Ivan began to call himself “serf Ivashka.” But it is significant that for some reason the power of the “serf” continued to extend to the lands of the former Kazan Khanate, where Ivan retained the title of tsar.
Most likely, Ivan was afraid that, having found himself under the rule of a real Genghisid, the Kazan people would perhaps perk up and encourage Simeon to revolt. Of course, Simeon was not a real king; the uncertainty of his position was aggravated by the fact that he took the royal throne, but received only the title of grand duke instead of the royal one.
In the third month of Simeon’s reign, the Terrible told the English ambassador that he could again take the rank whenever he pleased, and would act as God instructed him, because Simeon had not yet been approved by the wedding ceremony and was appointed not by popular election, but only by his permission.
Simeon's reign lasted 11 months, after which Ivan deposed him and generously rewarded him with Tver and Torzhok, where Simeon died in 1616, having taken monasticism before his death. For almost a year, Grozny carried out his strange experiment.

Was False Dmitry a “false”


We have already accepted that False Dmitry I is the fugitive monk Grishka Otrepiev. The idea that “it was easier to save than to fake Demetrius” was expressed by the famous Russian historian Nikolai Kostomarov.
And indeed, it looks very surreal that at first Dmitry (with the prefix “false”) was recognized in front of all the honest people by his own mother, princes, boyars, and after some time - everyone suddenly saw the light.
The pathological nature of the situation is added by the fact that the prince himself was completely convinced of his naturalness, as his contemporaries wrote about.
Either this is schizophrenia, or he had reasons. It is not possible, at least today, to check the “originality” of Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich.

Who killed Tsarevich Dmitry?
If Dmitry did die, what caused his death? At noon on May 25, 1591, the prince was throwing knives with other children who were part of his retinue. In the materials of the investigation into the death of the son of Ivan the Terrible, there is evidence of one youth who played with the prince: “... the prince was playing poke with a knife with them in the backyard, and an illness came upon him - an epileptic illness - and attacked the knife.”
In fact, this testimony became the main argument for investigators to classify Dmitry Ioannovich’s death as an accident.
However, the official version still does not suit historians. The death of the last sovereign from the Rurik dynasty opened the way to the kingdom of Boris Godunov, who was actually the ruler of the country even when Fyodor Ioannovich was alive. By that time, Godunov had gained a popular reputation as the “killer of the prince,” but this did not bother him much. Through cunning manipulations, he was nevertheless elected king

Was Peter I replaced?
Many Russian boyars were of this conviction after the return of Peter I from a 15-month tour of Europe. And the point here was not only in the new royal “outfit”.
Particularly attentive persons found inconsistencies of a physiological nature: firstly, the king had grown significantly, and, secondly, his facial features had changed, and, thirdly, the size of his legs had become much smaller.
Rumors spread throughout Muscovy about the replacement of the sovereign.
According to one version, Peter was “put into the wall,” and instead of him, an impostor with a similar face was sent to Rus'. According to another, “the Germans put the Tsar in a barrel and sent it to sea.” Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Peter, who returned from Europe, began a large-scale destruction of “ancient Russian antiquity.”
There were also rumors that the Tsar had been replaced in infancy: “The Tsar is not of Russian breed, and not the son of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich; taken in infancy from a German settlement, from a foreigner on exchange. The queen gave birth to a princess, and instead of the princess they took him, the sovereign, and gave the princess instead of him.”

To whom did Peter I bequeath power?


Peter I died before he could appoint an heir. After him, Catherine I took the throne, and then followed a long political leapfrog called the Epoch palace coups. In 1812, after the collapse of the Napoleonic invasion, a certain “Testament of Peter I” became known.
In 1836 it was published, albeit in French. In his will, Peter allegedly called on his successors to wage constant wars with Europe, divide Poland, conquer India and neutralize Turkey. In general, to achieve complete and final hegemony in Eurasia.
The credibility of the document was given by some of the “testaments” that had already been fulfilled, for example, the division of Poland. But, at the end of the 19th century, the document was carefully studied and found to be fake.

Who was Paul I?
Emperor Paul I unwittingly continued the tradition of generating rumors around the House of Romanov. Immediately after the birth of the heir, rumors spread throughout the court, and then throughout Russia, that the real father of Paul I was not Peter III, but the first favorite of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna, Count Sergei Vasilyevich Saltykov.
This was indirectly confirmed by Catherine II, who in her memoirs recalled how Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, so that the dynasty would not fade away, ordered the wife of her heir to give birth to a child, regardless of who his genetic father would be. There is also a folk legend about the birth of Paul I: according to it, Catherine gave birth to a dead child from Peter, and he was replaced by a certain “Chukhon” boy.

When did Alexander I die?


There is a legend that Alexander the First left the royal throne, faking his own death, and went to wander around Rus' under the name of Fyodor Kuzmich. There are several indirect confirmations of this legend.
Thus, witnesses concluded that on his deathbed Alexander was categorically unlike himself.
In addition, for unclear reasons, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, the Tsar's wife, did not participate in the funeral ceremony.
The famous Russian lawyer Anatoly Koni conducted a thorough comparative study of the handwriting of the emperor and Fyodor Kuzmich and came to the conclusion that “the letters of the emperor and the notes of the wanderer were written by the hand of the same person.”