Gossip, Power and Myth: Peter the Great’s Relationships in a New Light
He was one of Russia’s most legendary rulers. But now, attention is drawn to something less expected than the battles against Charles XII’s Caroleans during the Great Northern War: Peter the Great’s alleged relationships with men.
Peter the Great (1672–1725) has often been portrayed as the father of Russian empire-building and a forceful reformer. In the book Male Same-Sex Relations and the Court of Peter I: Turning Muscovite, historian Hanna Filipova directs attention to a subject long unexplored: Tsar Peter the Great’s alleged intimate relations with men, male sociability, and favouritism at court.
In her research on him, Hanna Filipova has used a wide range of sources: from Russian documents on cases of lèse-majesté, contemporary diaries, letters and reports from European diplomats stationed in Russia, to political pamphlets and, of course, Peter I’s own letters.
“Each source poses its own challenges, particularly given today’s difficult geopolitical situation. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, access to Russian archives has become increasingly restricted, creating major obstacles for researchers in the West,” says Hanna Filipova, who herself fled from Ukraine a month after Russia’s invasion and now is an independent scholar after three years as a visiting researcher at the University of Gothenburg.
Gossip and Testimonies
Filipova has been working on research about Peter the Great for over a decade and describes it as “pure intellectual delight” when the pieces of the puzzle slowly began to fall into place.
“It was such a joy of discovery. Every researcher recognises that rush you get when a new piece of evidence suddenly changes the whole picture.”
In the documents, both gossip and testimonies emerged that shed light on the tsar’s private life.
“One example is Ivan Rokotov’s testimony from 1703. He was a soldier in the elite Preobrazhensky regiment and had witnessed a scene during the Azov campaign in 1695 or 1696. He testified: ‘When he was standing guard at the royal tent, he saw the tsar in nothing but his undershirt kiss Alexander [Menshikov], and after the kiss lie down with him to rest.’”
According to Filipova, this is remarkable because it differs from the otherwise strict and formal style of Russian political cases, and instead resembles an erotic vignette set against a military and everyday backdrop.
Political Consequences
Rumours about the tsar’s private life also had political consequences.
“Gossiping about celebrities, including rulers, has always been a way for people to make political realities more manageable and comprehensible,” says Filipova.
“In Peter’s case, rumours about his sexuality played a deeply ambivalent role. On the one hand, they were used as weapons by opponents of his reforms. On the other, stories of his hypersexuality were woven into the image of him as a virile and dominant ruler who embodied masculine virtues. These narratives were not merely personal scandals but contributed to shaping the very symbolic structure surrounding his power.”
Propaganda During the Great Northern War
In the imperial era, anything associated with the sacred figure of the monarch was inherently political. Accusations of sodomy – which at the time referred to all kinds of “unnatural” sexual behaviour contrary to divine order – were used as a powerful rhetorical weapon.
“The Swedish side in the struggle over the Baltic region exploited this extensively, joining broader European notions of transgressive sexuality, where sodomy was regarded as one of the gravest sins, punishable by death.”
One of the most striking examples is the case of the German Martin Neugebauer, formerly tutor to Peter’s son, Tsarevich Alexei, who left Russian service and joined the Swedish side.
“In Charles XII’s service, he published a series of venomous anti-Russian pamphlets. In them, he depicted Russians as barbaric, cruel, and sexually depraved. His main target was Peter and Peter’s favourite Alexander Menshikov, whom he accused of being sexually involved with each other.”
Russian anti-Swedish propaganda, however, did not reflect these accusations.
“Rooted in a Byzantine-coloured sexual culture, male same-sex relations in Russian discourse were considered sinful, but not among the gravest transgressions. Therefore, sodomy did not take a prominent place in their rhetorical arsenal. This is a fundamental difference from how homosexuality is regarded in Russia today, and from their rhetoric about the ‘gay Europe’!”
Surrounded by Both Women and Men
What does it mean, then, to “queer” a historical figure? Filipova describes it as viewing Peter the Great through a lens that challenges the patriarchal, heteronormative template.
“I queer Peter not only by exploring his alleged relationship with Alexander Menshikov, and other men, but also by examining the period in his life when he lived in a kind of chosen family structure, surrounded by several women and Menshikov, in a way that defied conventions.”
For Filipova, the study is not only about shedding new light on a single historical figure, but about understanding power and sexuality in a broader perspective.
“This approach opens new ways of understanding how authority was built, contested, and mythologised. But more than that: openly discussing these intimate dimensions helps us understand the nature of power in Russia in a more nuanced way. It also makes iconic historical figures like Peter the Great less distant and more complex – less like marble statues, and more like human beings.”
How the book will be received in today’s Russia remains to be seen. Filipova is realistic, however.
“Given the political situation and the laws against so-called propaganda of ‘homosexualism’, I do not expect any great visibility there, but in the West the book has already attracted interest. I am fully aware that the subject is sensitive, even provocative, and I am prepared for both heated debates and critical reviews. But I believe that a certain degree of provocation is part of what makes research innovative. It pushes boundaries, invites reflection, and opens new conversations – even when they are uncomfortable.”
Contact:
Hanna Filipova, E-mail: filipovahanna118@gmail.com
Hanna Filipova will talk about her book at the History Seminar on 23 September, 15:15–17:00 in room C454 at Humanisten.
