August 19, 2025 • 12 mins
Few figures in history are as renowned as Peter the Great, often hailed as the architect of modern Russian civilization. His legacy captures the imagination of many, particularly young people, largely due to his adventurous journey to Holland. There, he immersed himself in the world of shipbuilding, even rolling up his sleeves to work in a local shipyard. The very workshop where Peter honed his skills still stands in Saardam, near Amsterdam, albeit in a state of decay. To protect this historical gem, it has been encased in a larger brick structure, drawing curious visitors from around the globe each year. The captivating story of Peter the Great, underscored by his hands-on approach to learning, offers profound insights and lessons for everyone.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Peter
the Great by Jacob Abbot, Chapter twelve, The Revolt of
(00:23):
Mazeppa seventeen o eight. In the meantime, the war with
Sweden went on. Many campaigns were fought for the contest
was continued through several successive years. The King of Sweden
made repeated attempts to destroy the new city of Saint Petersburg,
but without success. On the contrary, the town grew and
(00:44):
prospered more and more, and the shelter and protection which
the fortifications around it afforded to the mouth of the
river and to the adjacent roadsteads enabled the Czar to
go on so rapidly in building new ships and in
thus increasing in strengthening his fleet, that very soon he
was much stronger than the King of Sweden in all
the neighboring waters, so that he not only was able
(01:06):
to keep the enemy very effectually at bay, but he
even made several successful descents upon the Swedish territory along
the adjoining coasts But while the Czar was thus rapidly
increasing his power at sea, the King of Sweden proved
himself the strongest on land. He extended his conquests very
rapidly in Poland and in the adjoining provinces, and at last,
(01:28):
in the summer of seventeen o eight he conceived the
design of crossing the Neeper and threatening Moscow, which was
still Peter's capital. He accordingly pushed his forces forward until
he approached the bank of the river. He came up
to it at a certain point, as if he was
intending to cross there. Peter assembled all his troops on
the opposite side of the river at that point in
(01:50):
order to oppose him. But the demonstration which the king
made of an intention to cross at that point was
only a pretense. He left a sufficient number of men
there to make a show, and secretly marched away the
great body of his troops in the night to a
point about three miles further up the river, where he
succeeded in crossing with them before the Emperor's forces had
(02:11):
any suspicion of his real design. The Russians, who were
not strong enough to oppose him in the open field,
were obliged immediately to retreat and leave him in full
possession of the ground. Peter was now much alarmed. He
sent an officer to the camp of the King of
Sweden with a flag of truce, to ask on what
terms the king would make peace with him. But Charles
(02:33):
was too much elated with his success in crossing the
river and placing himself in a position from which he
could advance without encountering any further obstruction to the very
gates of the capital, to be willing then to propose
any terms. So he declined entering into any negotiation, saying
only in a haughty tone, that he would treat with
his brother Peter at Moscow. On mature reflection, however, he
(02:57):
seems to have concluded that it would be more prudent
for him not to march at once to Moscow, and
so he turned his course for a time toward the southward,
in the direction of the Crimea and the Black Sea.
There was one secret reason which induced the King of
Sweden to move thus to the southward, which Peter did
not for a time understand. The country of the Cossacks
(03:18):
lay in that direction, and the famous Mazeppa, of whom
some account has already been given in this volume, was
the chieftain of the Cossacks, and he, as it happened,
had had a quarrel with the Czar, and in consequence
of it, had opened a secret negotiation with the King
of Sweden, and had agreed that if the King would
come into his part of the country, he would desert
the cause of the Czar and would come over to
(03:40):
his side, with all the Cossacks under his command. The
cause of Mazeppa's quarrel with the Czar was this. He
was one day paying a visit to his Majesty, and
while seated at table, Peter began to complain of the
lawless and ungovernable character of the Cossacks, and to propose
that Mazeppa should introduce certain reforms in the organization and
discipline of the tribe, with a view of bringing them
(04:03):
under more effectual control. It is probable that the reforms
which he proposed were somewhat analogous to those which he
had introduced so successfully into the armies under his own
more immediate command. Mazeppa opposed this suggestion. He said that
the attempt to adopt such measures with the Cossacks would
never succeed that the men were so wild and savage
(04:24):
by nature, and so fixed in the rude and irregular
habits of warfare to which they and their fathers had
been so long accustomed, that they could never be made
to submit to such restrictions as regular military discipline would impose. Peter,
who could never endure the least opposition or contradiction to
any of his ideas or plans, became quite angry with
(04:45):
Mazeppa on account of the objections which he made to
his proposals, and, as was usual with him in such cases,
he broke out in the most rude and violent language imaginable.
He called Mazeppa an enemy and a traitor, and threatened
to have him impaled alive. It is true he did
not really mean what he said, his words being only
empty threats dictated by the brutal violence of his anger. Still,
(05:08):
Mazeppa was very much offended. He went away from the
Tsar's tent, muttering his displeasure and resolving secretly on revenge.
Soon after this, Mazeppa opened the communication above referred to
with the King of Sweden, and at last an agreement
was made between them, by which it was stipulated that
the king was to advance into the southern part of
the country, where of course the Cossacks would be sent
(05:29):
out to meet him, and then Mazeppa was to revolt
from the Czar and go over with all his forces
to the King of Sweden's side. By this means, the
Tsar's army was sure they thought to be defeated, and
in this case the King of Sweden was to remain
in possession of the Russian territory, while the Cossacks were
to retire to their own fortresses and live thenceforth as
(05:49):
an independent tribe. The plot seemed to be very well laid,
but unfortunately for the contrivers of it, it was not
destined to succeed. In the first place. Mazeppa's scheme of
revolting with the Cossacks to the enemy was discovered by
the Czar and almost entirely defeated before the time arrived
for putting it into execution. Peter had his secret agents everywhere,
(06:12):
and through them he received such information in respect to
Mazeppa's movements as led him to suspect his designs. He
said nothing, however, but maneuvered his forces so as to
have a large body of troops that he could rely upon,
always near Mazeppa and the Cossacks, and between them and
the army of the Swedes. He ordered the officers of
these troops to watch Mazeppa's movements closely, and to be
(06:34):
ready to act against him at a moment's notice, should
occasion require. Mazeppa was somewhat disconcerted in his plans by
this state of things, but he could not make any objection,
for the troops thus stationed near him seemed to be
placed there for the purpose of co operating with him
against the enemy. In the meantime, Mazeppa cautiously made known
his plans to the leading men among the Cossacks, as
(06:57):
fast as he thought it prudent to do so. He
represented to them how much better it would be for
them to be restored to their former liberty as an
independent tribe, instead of being in subjugation to such a
despot as the Czar. He also enumerated the various grievances
which they suffered under Russian rule, and endeavored to excite
the animosity of his hearers as much as possible against
(07:19):
Peter's government. He found that the chief officers of the
Cossacks seemed quite disposed to listen to what he said
and to adopt his views. Some of them were really so,
and others pretended to be so for fear of displeasing him.
At length, he thought it time to take some measures
for preparing the minds of the men generally for what
was to come. And in order to do this he
(07:40):
determined on publicly sending a messenger to the Czar with
the complaints which he had to make, in behalf of
his men. The men, knowing of this embassy, and understanding
the grounds of the complaint which Mazeppa was to make,
by means of it would be placed, he thought in
such a position that in the event of an unfavorable
answer being returned, as he had no doubt would be
the case, they could be the more easily led into
(08:02):
the revolt which he proposed. Mazeppa accordingly made out a
statement of his complaints and appointed his nephew a commissioner,
to proceed to headquarters and lay them before the Czar.
The name of the nephew was Warnarowski. As soon as
Warnarowski arrived at the camp, Peter instead of granting him
an audience and listening to the statement which he had
(08:23):
to make ordered him to be seized and sent to prison,
as if he were guilty of a species of treason
in coming to trouble his sovereign with complaints and difficulties
at such a time when the country was suffering under
an actual invasion from a foreign enemy. As soon as
Mazeppa heard that his nephew was arrested, he was convinced
that his plots had been discovered, and that he must
(08:44):
not lose a moment of carrying them into execution, or
all would be lost. He accordingly immediately put his whole
force in motion to march toward the place where the
Swedish army was then posted, ostensibly for the purpose of
attacking them. He crossed a certain word river which lay
between him and the Swedes, and then, when safely over,
he stated to his men what he intended to do.
(09:07):
The men were filled with indignation at his proposal, which,
being wholly unexpected, came upon them by surprise. They refused
to join in the revolt. A scene of great excitement
and confusion followed. A portion of the Cossacks, those with
whom Mazeppa had come to an understanding beforehand, were disposed
to go with him, But the rest were filled with
(09:27):
vexation and rage. They declared that they would seize their chieftain,
bind him hand and foot, and send him to the Czar. Indeed,
it is highly probable that the two factions would have
come soon to a bloody fight for the possession of
the person of their chieftain, in which case he would
very likely have been torn to pieces in the struggle,
if those who were disposed to the revolt had not
(09:48):
fled before the opposition to their movement had time to
become organized. Mazeppa and those who adhered to him, about
two thousand men in all, went over in a body
to the camp of the Swedes. The rest, led by
officers that still remained faithful, marched at once to the
nearest body of Russian forces and put themselves under the
command of the Russian general. There. A council of war
(10:11):
was soon after called in the Russian camp for the
purpose of bringing Mazeppa to trial. He was, of course
found guilty, and sentence of death, with a great many
indignities to accompany the execution, was passed upon him. The sentence, however,
could not be executed upon Mazeppa himself, for he was
out of the reach of his accusers, being safe in
the Swedish camp, so they made a wooden image or
(10:33):
effigy to represent him, and inflicted the penalties upon the
substitute instead. In the first place, they dressed the effigy
to imitate the appearance of Mazeppa, and put upon it
representations of the medals, ribbons, and other decorations which he
was accustomed to wear. They brought this figure out before
the camp in presence of the General and of all
(10:54):
the leading officers, the soldiers being also drawn up around
the spot. A herald appeared and read the senate stints
of condemnation, and then proceeded to carry it into execution
as follows. First he tore Mazeppa's patent of knighthood and
pieces and threw the fragments into the air. Then he
tore off the metals and decorations from the image, and
(11:14):
throwing them upon the ground, he trampled them under his feet.
Then he stuck the effigy itself a blow, by which
it was overturned and left prostrate in the dust. The
hangman then came up and, tying a halt around the
neck of the effigy, dragged it off to a place
where a gibbet had been erected, and hanged it there.
Immediately after the ceremony, the Cossacks, according to their custom,
(11:36):
proceeded to elect a new chieftain in the place of Mazeppa.
The chieftain, thus chosen, came forward before the Czar to
take the oath of allegiance to him and to offer
him his homage. End of Chapter twelve h
Chapter twelve of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Peter
the Great by Jacob Abbot, Chapter twelve, The Revolt of
(00:23):
Mazeppa seventeen o eight. In the meantime, the war with
Sweden went on. Many campaigns were fought for the contest
was continued through several successive years. The King of Sweden
made repeated attempts to destroy the new city of Saint Petersburg,
but without success. On the contrary, the town grew and
(00:44):
prospered more and more, and the shelter and protection which
the fortifications around it afforded to the mouth of the
river and to the adjacent roadsteads enabled the Czar to
go on so rapidly in building new ships and in
thus increasing in strengthening his fleet, that very soon he
was much stronger than the King of Sweden in all
the neighboring waters, so that he not only was able
(01:06):
to keep the enemy very effectually at bay, but he
even made several successful descents upon the Swedish territory along
the adjoining coasts But while the Czar was thus rapidly
increasing his power at sea, the King of Sweden proved
himself the strongest on land. He extended his conquests very
rapidly in Poland and in the adjoining provinces, and at last,
(01:28):
in the summer of seventeen o eight he conceived the
design of crossing the Neeper and threatening Moscow, which was
still Peter's capital. He accordingly pushed his forces forward until
he approached the bank of the river. He came up
to it at a certain point, as if he was
intending to cross there. Peter assembled all his troops on
the opposite side of the river at that point in
(01:50):
order to oppose him. But the demonstration which the king
made of an intention to cross at that point was
only a pretense. He left a sufficient number of men
there to make a show, and secretly marched away the
great body of his troops in the night to a
point about three miles further up the river, where he
succeeded in crossing with them before the Emperor's forces had
(02:11):
any suspicion of his real design. The Russians, who were
not strong enough to oppose him in the open field,
were obliged immediately to retreat and leave him in full
possession of the ground. Peter was now much alarmed. He
sent an officer to the camp of the King of
Sweden with a flag of truce, to ask on what
terms the king would make peace with him. But Charles
(02:33):
was too much elated with his success in crossing the
river and placing himself in a position from which he
could advance without encountering any further obstruction to the very
gates of the capital, to be willing then to propose
any terms. So he declined entering into any negotiation, saying
only in a haughty tone, that he would treat with
his brother Peter at Moscow. On mature reflection, however, he
(02:57):
seems to have concluded that it would be more prudent
for him not to march at once to Moscow, and
so he turned his course for a time toward the southward,
in the direction of the Crimea and the Black Sea.
There was one secret reason which induced the King of
Sweden to move thus to the southward, which Peter did
not for a time understand. The country of the Cossacks
(03:18):
lay in that direction, and the famous Mazeppa, of whom
some account has already been given in this volume, was
the chieftain of the Cossacks, and he, as it happened,
had had a quarrel with the Czar, and in consequence
of it, had opened a secret negotiation with the King
of Sweden, and had agreed that if the King would
come into his part of the country, he would desert
the cause of the Czar and would come over to
(03:40):
his side, with all the Cossacks under his command. The
cause of Mazeppa's quarrel with the Czar was this. He
was one day paying a visit to his Majesty, and
while seated at table, Peter began to complain of the
lawless and ungovernable character of the Cossacks, and to propose
that Mazeppa should introduce certain reforms in the organization and
discipline of the tribe, with a view of bringing them
(04:03):
under more effectual control. It is probable that the reforms
which he proposed were somewhat analogous to those which he
had introduced so successfully into the armies under his own
more immediate command. Mazeppa opposed this suggestion. He said that
the attempt to adopt such measures with the Cossacks would
never succeed that the men were so wild and savage
(04:24):
by nature, and so fixed in the rude and irregular
habits of warfare to which they and their fathers had
been so long accustomed, that they could never be made
to submit to such restrictions as regular military discipline would impose. Peter,
who could never endure the least opposition or contradiction to
any of his ideas or plans, became quite angry with
(04:45):
Mazeppa on account of the objections which he made to
his proposals, and, as was usual with him in such cases,
he broke out in the most rude and violent language imaginable.
He called Mazeppa an enemy and a traitor, and threatened
to have him impaled alive. It is true he did
not really mean what he said, his words being only
empty threats dictated by the brutal violence of his anger. Still,
(05:08):
Mazeppa was very much offended. He went away from the
Tsar's tent, muttering his displeasure and resolving secretly on revenge.
Soon after this, Mazeppa opened the communication above referred to
with the King of Sweden, and at last an agreement
was made between them, by which it was stipulated that
the king was to advance into the southern part of
the country, where of course the Cossacks would be sent
(05:29):
out to meet him, and then Mazeppa was to revolt
from the Czar and go over with all his forces
to the King of Sweden's side. By this means, the
Tsar's army was sure they thought to be defeated, and
in this case the King of Sweden was to remain
in possession of the Russian territory, while the Cossacks were
to retire to their own fortresses and live thenceforth as
(05:49):
an independent tribe. The plot seemed to be very well laid,
but unfortunately for the contrivers of it, it was not
destined to succeed. In the first place. Mazeppa's scheme of
revolting with the Cossacks to the enemy was discovered by
the Czar and almost entirely defeated before the time arrived
for putting it into execution. Peter had his secret agents everywhere,
(06:12):
and through them he received such information in respect to
Mazeppa's movements as led him to suspect his designs. He
said nothing, however, but maneuvered his forces so as to
have a large body of troops that he could rely upon,
always near Mazeppa and the Cossacks, and between them and
the army of the Swedes. He ordered the officers of
these troops to watch Mazeppa's movements closely, and to be
(06:34):
ready to act against him at a moment's notice, should
occasion require. Mazeppa was somewhat disconcerted in his plans by
this state of things, but he could not make any objection,
for the troops thus stationed near him seemed to be
placed there for the purpose of co operating with him
against the enemy. In the meantime, Mazeppa cautiously made known
his plans to the leading men among the Cossacks, as
(06:57):
fast as he thought it prudent to do so. He
represented to them how much better it would be for
them to be restored to their former liberty as an
independent tribe, instead of being in subjugation to such a
despot as the Czar. He also enumerated the various grievances
which they suffered under Russian rule, and endeavored to excite
the animosity of his hearers as much as possible against
(07:19):
Peter's government. He found that the chief officers of the
Cossacks seemed quite disposed to listen to what he said
and to adopt his views. Some of them were really so,
and others pretended to be so for fear of displeasing him.
At length, he thought it time to take some measures
for preparing the minds of the men generally for what
was to come. And in order to do this he
(07:40):
determined on publicly sending a messenger to the Czar with
the complaints which he had to make, in behalf of
his men. The men, knowing of this embassy, and understanding
the grounds of the complaint which Mazeppa was to make,
by means of it would be placed, he thought in
such a position that in the event of an unfavorable
answer being returned, as he had no doubt would be
the case, they could be the more easily led into
(08:02):
the revolt which he proposed. Mazeppa accordingly made out a
statement of his complaints and appointed his nephew a commissioner,
to proceed to headquarters and lay them before the Czar.
The name of the nephew was Warnarowski. As soon as
Warnarowski arrived at the camp, Peter instead of granting him
an audience and listening to the statement which he had
(08:23):
to make ordered him to be seized and sent to prison,
as if he were guilty of a species of treason
in coming to trouble his sovereign with complaints and difficulties
at such a time when the country was suffering under
an actual invasion from a foreign enemy. As soon as
Mazeppa heard that his nephew was arrested, he was convinced
that his plots had been discovered, and that he must
(08:44):
not lose a moment of carrying them into execution, or
all would be lost. He accordingly immediately put his whole
force in motion to march toward the place where the
Swedish army was then posted, ostensibly for the purpose of
attacking them. He crossed a certain word river which lay
between him and the Swedes, and then, when safely over,
he stated to his men what he intended to do.
(09:07):
The men were filled with indignation at his proposal, which,
being wholly unexpected, came upon them by surprise. They refused
to join in the revolt. A scene of great excitement
and confusion followed. A portion of the Cossacks, those with
whom Mazeppa had come to an understanding beforehand, were disposed
to go with him, But the rest were filled with
(09:27):
vexation and rage. They declared that they would seize their chieftain,
bind him hand and foot, and send him to the Czar. Indeed,
it is highly probable that the two factions would have
come soon to a bloody fight for the possession of
the person of their chieftain, in which case he would
very likely have been torn to pieces in the struggle,
if those who were disposed to the revolt had not
(09:48):
fled before the opposition to their movement had time to
become organized. Mazeppa and those who adhered to him, about
two thousand men in all, went over in a body
to the camp of the Swedes. The rest, led by
officers that still remained faithful, marched at once to the
nearest body of Russian forces and put themselves under the
command of the Russian general. There. A council of war
(10:11):
was soon after called in the Russian camp for the
purpose of bringing Mazeppa to trial. He was, of course
found guilty, and sentence of death, with a great many
indignities to accompany the execution, was passed upon him. The sentence, however,
could not be executed upon Mazeppa himself, for he was
out of the reach of his accusers, being safe in
the Swedish camp, so they made a wooden image or
(10:33):
effigy to represent him, and inflicted the penalties upon the
substitute instead. In the first place, they dressed the effigy
to imitate the appearance of Mazeppa, and put upon it
representations of the medals, ribbons, and other decorations which he
was accustomed to wear. They brought this figure out before
the camp in presence of the General and of all
(10:54):
the leading officers, the soldiers being also drawn up around
the spot. A herald appeared and read the senate stints
of condemnation, and then proceeded to carry it into execution
as follows. First he tore Mazeppa's patent of knighthood and
pieces and threw the fragments into the air. Then he
tore off the metals and decorations from the image, and
(11:14):
throwing them upon the ground, he trampled them under his feet.
Then he stuck the effigy itself a blow, by which
it was overturned and left prostrate in the dust. The
hangman then came up and, tying a halt around the
neck of the effigy, dragged it off to a place
where a gibbet had been erected, and hanged it there.
Immediately after the ceremony, the Cossacks, according to their custom,
(11:36):
proceeded to elect a new chieftain in the place of Mazeppa.
The chieftain, thus chosen, came forward before the Czar to
take the oath of allegiance to him and to offer
him his homage. End of Chapter twelve h
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com