Full online course by Alexey Tolochko "Beginnings of Rus" on the Otium.Academy website: https://otium.academy/courses/tolochk... Lecture 4 Part 1: "Chronicle hoaxes of Vasily Tatishchev" What place does fiction occupy in the profession of a historian? This question is revealed by the topic of falsifications. There are two types of historical forgeries: selfish and disinterested. In the first case, interested parties forge documents or valuable artifacts. But if a person does not derive direct benefit, why arrange a forgery? A striking example of this kind is Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev. Tatishchev is a typical person of Peter the Great's time: he was in military and civilian service, studied in Europe and made a good career. He took part in a secret circle during the reign of Anna Ioannovna, happily avoided execution. He was repeatedly caught exceeding his official duties. He ended his life in the Boldino estate. Tatishchev is remembered not for his colorful biography, but for his passion for history. During the Åland negotiations between Russia and Sweden in 1718-1719, Tatishchev was tasked with studying Russian geography for diplomatic purposes. Geography led him to history. He became the largest collector of chronicle texts of his time. Tatishchev intended to create “the most complete chronicle” based on all available ones. There were no other genres of historical writing, except for the chronicle, in Russia at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. His “Russian History” (from ancient times) was a “combined” chronicle. Tatishchev wrote his work until his death. In the 19th century, the question of the reliability of Tatishchev’s sources arose in science. He received one of his chronicles, “Golitsyn”, from Prince Golitsyn. It turned out to be the famous Ermolaevsky copy of the Ipatiev Chronicle. Another chronicle, “Raskolnik’ya,” was given to him in the forest by a certain schismatic in Siberia. It is difficult to identify. The texts of some ancient sources were allegedly passed on to Tatishchev by his comrades in a secret circle who were executed before the beginning of the creation of “History”: Volynsky, Yeropkin, and Khrushchev. The most mysterious of Tatishchev’s sources is “Ioakimov Chronicle,” extracts from which were allegedly received from the mysterious abbot Melchizedek. These unknown chronicles allegedly contained the unique “Tatishchev” news. “Ioakimov Chronicle” offered an alternative history of the beginning of Rus’. A most curious fragment, allegedly received from Volynsky’s circle friends, told of a project for reforming the state structure of Rus’. According to Tatishchev, it was proposed by the Volyn prince Roman Mstislavich. The idea of ​​the project was to elect the Kyiv prince by six regional princes. But Roman was not supported and the reform failed. The “project” is undoubtedly a forgery, reflecting the views of an 18th-century man familiar with bureaucratic practices and the structure of the “Holy Roman Empire”. Why did Tatishchev compose “Roman’s project”? The short answer: to improve history. He knew about the traumatic experience of the “Mongol yoke”, which was believed to be caused by the fragmentation of Rus'. Tatishchev tried to overcome the trauma by inventing an attempt to rectify the situation on the eve of the Mongol invasion. The number of stories invented by Tatishchev is very large. By choosing the chronicle form of narration and making notes, he deprived himself of the opportunity to give interpretations. It is impossible to fit reasoning into the medieval type of historiography. Tatishchev clothed his guesses in the speeches of his heroes, following ancient models. Tatishchev has many verbal portraits of princes. According to ancient tradition, the appearance and character of the heroes should be correlated. Whole series of messages reflect Tatishchev’s favorite topics: social contract, schools and education. Tatishchev has what a modern person wants to read in the chronicles, but cannot find. He has a reputation as an honest man who did not invent anything, but wrote out what was in the chronicles that were lost. Otium.Academy - education of free people. https://otium.academy/ / otium.academy