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- [00:00]
Mark Gagnon
Rasputin. A mystic, a healer, a drunk, a prophet, a walking contradiction. Kind of depends on who you ask. He is either sent by God or maybe the devil. We're talking about a peasant who somehow clawed his way into the heart of the Russian Empire. No crown, no title, just a beard, some wild eyes, and a terrifying amount of influence. He didn't lead an army, he didn't pass laws. But he whispered in the ear of the Tsar's wife and that was enough to shake an empire. They said he couldn't die. They poisoned him, shot him, beat him, shot him again. And when that didn't work, they dumped him in an icy river. And even then, he still tried to claw his way out. It's not a myth. That apparently is in the police report. But Rasputin wasn't just a freak sideshow in Russian history. He was a symptom of something deeper. Empire rotting from the inside. A royal family out of touch, country on the brink. And. And one strange man who became the lightning rod for it all. So today we're going straight into the madness. The miracles, scandals, murder. And this is the story of Grigori Rasputin, the man who wouldn't die and helped bring down a dynasty. Let's dive in.
- [01:22]
Gabe
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- [01:51]
Mark Gagnon
What's up, people and welcome back to camp. My name is Mark Gagnon and thank you for joining me in my tent where every single week we explore the most interesting, fascinating stories from all from all history throughout ever in the universe. I'm joined by my dear friend Gabe over on the shiny buttons. What's up, Gabe? Okay, all right, all right, all right. Enough of that. Guys. I want to say thanks for everyone that commented on the the last episode both on YouTube and Spotify. I was asking what people do for their jobs and the response has been so overwhelming and I've truly enjoyed going through everything we got a is a business bank banker in Vancouver. Hell yeah. See, I knew we had just a a high class, wealthy, financially savvy audience. Ballin is a plumber. We also have blue collar, you know, hard working guys that just want to make a good Stable income. A John Deere mechanic. Let's freaking go. A groundskeeper. That's not even a real job. And we got a welder. I mean, dude, we got. We're across the board here. We got a couple welders. Dude, a pipe welder. That sounds sexual. So shout out to Shawnee Shields, the pipe welder. And a postman. Oh, one of my all time. That'd be my dream job. Honestly, when I was a kid, my dream job, I wanted to be a mailman or a garbage man because garbage man got to ride on the back of trucks and that shit seemed awesome. Anyway, if I couldn't do any of those things, I wanted to be a comedian. And if this doesn't work out, I will become a mystic. That's right. I will become closely entwined with powerful monarchs and oligarchs across the world and influence their politics. Just like the legend of Grigory Rasputin. That's right. That is the topic for today. We're going to be diving into the history of one of the most controversial, enigmatic and strange figures in world history, specifically Russian history. So without further ado, let's dive in. All right, let's begin from the start. Okay. Rasputin's family came from a small village in the Tobolsk region of Western Siberia along the Tura River. At the time, this was a remote and little known part of Russia. Basically, if Grigory Rasputin hadn't been born there, the town would likely be still unknown to this day. So in the 1800s, the town was a typical Russian village, home to a small population of mostly farmers who spent their day working the land and attending church. Rasputin's father, Yefim, was a peasant who also served as a church elder and sometimes worked as a coachman, delivering messages between two nearby towns. In 1863, Yefim married his wife Anna. They had several children, but most died young, a tragic but common occurrence in rural Siberia. Grigory was one of the few who survived past childhood. Some believe that surviving when his siblings did not gave Rasputin the strong will that he displayed later in life, while others see it as, you know, simple luck, a theme that would follow him throughout his life. But many have speculated that the loss of his siblings gave him some type of spiritual preoccupation later on. Historians have established that Rasputin was born in January 1869, though for many years his birth date was uncertain. The first decades of his life are largely unknown. I mean, no photographs exist from his childhood, and little is really documented about his early years, which is not surprising given his life as a Siberian peasant. Rasputin likely spent his youth like most village boys, right? Working on the farm, attending church. He married young and started a family. He had no formal education and was illiterate until adulthood. And even then, his writing was still very, very meager. Many of the details that we do know from his early years, including stories of misbehavior or time spent in prison, come from local legends and later rumors rather than verified historical records. Historians agree that Rasputin was born in this village and grew up in a peasant family. Else about his youth remains uncertain, or, at the very least, unverified. At some point in his 20s, Rasputin began taking these religious pilgrimages to nearby monasteries and villages, seeking some type of spiritual meaning. And around this time, he met Praskovia Dubrovina, a woman from a neighboring village. And they married in 1887. They had three children who survived into adulthood. And not much is known about his wife's personal life, but it's clear that she faced many challenges. I mean, Rasputin's reputation for drinking and his relationships with other women made life very difficult for her. But despite this, she remained loyal and supportive of her husband throughout his life. And Rasputin's life was taking a pretty normal trajectory for a peasant from Siberia. But one day, things shifted dramatically, and to this day, nobody knows exactly what happened, and we'll probably never know. But we do know what eventually occurred. When Rasputin was In his late 20s, his life just took a shift. He later wrote that he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. And this vision, or whatever truly occurred, made Rasputin want to travel across Russia on a religious journey. It was also during this trip that Rasputin discovered more mysterious and possibly darker types of Christianity. You see, in the countryside, the orthodox Christian religion still mixed with older, non Christian beliefs in certain ways. Eventually, Rasputin met an older religious man named Makari in a nearby town. And Rasputin learned about all kinds of unusual and extreme Christian groups, including one called the Klisti. Then, the Klisti were a group of Christians who mixed their religious teaching with mysterious and supernatural, almost mystical ideas. And some experts thinks that they participated in almost group sexual gatherings in order to connect with the divine, Almost a prototypical form of, like, sex magic. They believed that by sinning, a person could ask for forgiveness, and by asking for forgiveness, they could get closer to God. And there's no proof that Rasputin ever joined the ecclesi but these were the kinds of people that he met. And it seems that these ideas became an important part of how Rasputin came to understand Christianity. Rasputin eventually came back to his town as a completely different person, both inside and out. He stopped eating meat completely, became a vegetarian, and quit drinking alcohol altogether and started praying, often daily and more intensely than ever before. He was searching for something, and it seemed like he found it, or at least a version of what he was looking for. And then, in 1897, Rasputin would regularly pack up his things and walk across the Russian Empire, again looking for more religious understanding. And this type of trip, called being a stronik, was actually quite common in Russia at the time. There are probably close to a few hundred thousand people wandering across the empire on their own spiritual journeys. These wanderers wore simple clothes and lived like beggars, and they traveled from church to church looking for spiritual truth. And during his years as a wandering pilgrim, Rasputin endured significant hardship and deprivation. He often traveled on foot, sometimes covering 40 to 50 kilometers a day through harsh weather, and relied on charity of others for food and shelter. Rasputin rarely carried money and frequently went hungry, sometimes surviving on simple foods, just like potatoes or whatever other peasants could offer him. And on more than one occasion, he walked from Kyiv to Tobolsk without washing or changing his undergarments for up to six months, deliberately testing his endurance or ascetic resolve. He sometimes worked alongside day laborers to earn food and would take breaks to pray, whether in the fields or while tending horses. And fasting and prayer were central to his spiritual practice. And he often imposed additional hardships on himself, such as abstaining from drinking water on hot days. And these experiences shaped his reputation as this holy wanderer and contributed to the aura of mysticism that later surrounded him. I mean, it all sounds terrible, to be honest. During his wandering years, he was treated pretty terribly by upper class people. Thieves would beat him up and steal from him. This time served as Rasputin's education. You could say during these years of walking, he saw all different parts of Russia and its peoples, from beggars to criminals to, you know, the countryside to rich people in Russia's biggest cities. He saw everything. And he learned some reading and writing during his travels, but he mostly learned religious scripture just by talking to people and memorizing them. And as he learned and preached, he discovered that he had a special talent. Trained church officials preached in a way that was stiff and hard to understand, completely separate from people's everyday lives. Rasputin however, could explain scripture using rough sort of common person approach that made the religious writing seem relevant to their everyday lives. He preached Russian Orthodox Christianity in a way that appealed to the average person. And this special kind of appeal made Rasputin different from any other type of church person. Rasputin's looks were also unusual. Even in photographs, you can see that he was taller than most people and had these deep, sunken eyes that were like a greenish gray color along with his beard and his thin frame and black clothes. Rasputin understood that his appearance had a power in and of itself. And this was something that he cleverly focused on and used for the rest of his life. So by the early 1900s, Rasputin is preaching, and he had attracted a small group of followers. These were mostly distant relatives or farmers who prayed with him in his town. And Rasputin built a small chapel on his father's basement and held these secret religious meetings there. These gatherings created rumors and gossip and even angered some people in the village. Many people in the town claimed that there were sexual parts of his church services, which is potentially true based on what Rasputin would do later. But all of this, again, was just the beginning for Rasputin. And news of his unusual preaching style quickly spread around Siberia. And simply put, he kind of became a celebrity in the city of Kazan. Especially, Rasputin became known as a spiritual healer. Religious leaders in Kazan were impressed by Rasputin and made arrangements for him to travel to St. Petersburg to meet important bishops in Russia's capital city at the time. This happened in 1904, where Rasputin would have been about, like, 35 years old. And among Russia's working class people, individuals like Rasputin practiced this type of mixed Christianity. Many people in Russia at the time were fascinated by the occult and mysticism and the teachings of Theosophy by Helena Blavatsky had taken Russia by storm. And so you had these rich Russians in St. Petersburg that were sort of looking for something greater outside the confines of the strict Orthodoxy of Christianity. And they found that Rasputin's teaching was almost more pure in a way. It hadn't been influenced by city intellectuals, and they saw it as a more authentic version of the faith. And these wealthy people in the church and the government were very interested in this mystical approach. So Rasputin arrived in just the right time in the capital city of St. Petersburg. People quickly became attached to Rasputin. Indeed, Rasputin gained a small following amongst, you know, wealthy circles of St. Petersburg, and people claimed that he could cure physical pain and sickness just by waving his hand over them. His charming personality proved to also be very soothing. Most of his audience consisted of women, and this was probably not an accident. Rasputin taught that through sinning, he could receive God's forgiveness and become closer to the Lord. His followers saw Rasputin as very much like a God in some ways, both in terms of philosophy, but also sexuality. And at this point, Rasputin was very close to reaching the royal Romanov family. One day, Rasputin meets these two sisters, who are famously called the Black Crows. Militsa and Anastasia were royalty in Montenegro, and they had planned to marry into the Romanov family. And these two sisters introduced Rasputin to Tsar Nicholas and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Romanov. The Tsar and the Tsarina were perfectly ready for Rasputin to enter their lives for many reasons. To understand why Rasputin would eventually become so integral to the Romanov family, we need to understand the royal couple and their experience with the supernatural.
- [14:08]
Kaley Cuoco
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- [14:36]
Gabe
Go to your happy price, Priceline.
- [14:39]
Mark Gagnon
Before meeting Rasputin, the Tsarina Alexandra had an advisor, this guy Nazir Philippe, who was born in Lyon, France. And Philippe claimed to be a mystic and a healer. And members of the Romanov family had brought him to Russia, where he met the Tsar and his wife. And like most wealthy people, they were already quite interested in the supernatural. So they immediately liked Philippe and he worked as their advisor, often meeting with the royal family to discuss visions and predictions and other supernatural topics. But most importantly, Philippe claimed to have powers that could help Alexandria give birth to a son. Only a male could become the singular ruler of Russia. So as the Tsarina, having a son, an heir to the throne, was basically the only thing expected of her. But until she met Philippe, she had given birth to four daughters in a row. The wealthy class and Alexandria herself. They were very worried that she wouldn't be able to produce a male heir. Alexandra truly believed that Philippe had mystical powers and could help her have a male child. So he stayed around for several years, gaining more and more influence. There was also a growing dislike for Philippe because he wasn't actually Russian, he was French. People didn't want some foreigner having power over the empire. So eventually the situation gets out of hand and the family had sent Philippe back to France. But before he left, he made one final prediction. He told the Tsarina not to worry, that God would soon send another mystic to replace him. Soon after, Rasputin appeared. So understandably, the Tsar and Tsarina believed that Rasputin had been sent by God himself. Meanwhile, Tsar Nicholas had just in the same year, survived, was almost a revolution. There had been violence in the streets and strikes across the empire. Nicholas had been forced to give in to many of the people's demands. He created a parliament, started a free public newspaper, and really expanded the people's rights and their ability to assemble in free speech, really. The entire Romanov family had almost been basically ousted from power. And Nicholas was fortunate to still be in control and alive when Rasputin arrived. So the stage is basically set. The Tsar was probably at his most vulnerable point during his entire reign. He was looking for guidance and answers. And poor Alexandra had long thought that Nicholas was somewhat weak. So she didn't really think that, you know, he was very capable of even ruling the empire. So when Rasputin shows up, both the Tsar and the Tsarina are quite open to his influence. And so for all these reasons, the royal couple basically becomes attached and, you know, sort of follows Rasputin and his teachings. And they were fascinated by his presence. And soon he would start performing now infamous miracles. Around this time, Alexandra had given birth to her first son, Alexei. The child was alleged to have been born with hemophilia. This condition was often called the royal disease because so many 20th century European royals had married within their families over and over, and it became very common within royal bloodlines. It is said that Alexei had gotten hemophilia from his mother. And if you don't know, hemophilia makes it hard for the body to stop bleeding. Like, you can't actually clot your blood. So once you start bleeding, it takes much longer to stop. And this is a huge issue because, you know, it affects both injuries that you can see as well as internal bleeding. So when Alexei fell or bumped himself, he would start bleeding under his skin and he would become swollen and stretched out, and it was extremely painful. The Tsar and the Tsarina worried that this condition would eventually kill their son. People often said that Rasputin was brought to the palace because he could heal Alexei. And many historians say that this isn't true. Rasputin was a spiritual advisor first. And most importantly, his healing ability initially had nothing to do with why he was involved with the palace. But eventually he did become a healer. Nobody really knows when this started or when Rasputin even learned about Alexei's hemophilia. In fact, nobody knows how many times or how often Rasputin actually healed him. But, you know, there are very few definite examples of this happening. In 1907, Alexandria called for Rasputin to pray over Alexei when the child was suffering from internal bleeding. And Rasputin prayed, and the next day, Alexei got better. Besides, you know, healing her son, the incident also proved what the Tsarina also already believed. Tsarina, much like the wealthy class, had this obsessive interest in, you know, these sort of mystic peasants like Rasputin. And the incident was would have shown this interest was justified. The smart people, the educated doctors, the elite religious men, they could do nothing to help her son. But yet this magical peasant comes in waves his hand, and the problem is fixed. It's very easy for Alexandria to believe this and given her, you know, sort of spiritual beliefs, she buys in fully. So by the summer of 1912, Alexei had another major bleeding episode. And he was bleeding so heavily and experienced such terrible pain, it seemed like he was bound to die like any moment. And Alexandra even prepared an announcement of his death. The Tsarina sent a telegram to Rasputin, who was in Siberia at this point, and she asked Rasputin to pray. And he quickly wrote back this. God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Do not be sad. The little one will not die. Do not let the doctors bother him too much. Soon after, Alexei's bleeding stopped, and doctors at the time said the recovery was completely unexplainable. It was impossible. And from that day forward, Tsarina saw Rasputin as someone who could perform miracles. He quickly became her most trusted advisor. And so begins Rasputin's mystical, almost supernatural control over the royals. Rasputin was more than just a healer or just an advisor. The royals saw him as a connection also to the real people of Russia, to, you know, the working farmer class that they had a tendency to romanticize. But no matter how close he got to the palace, Rasputin was still someone who sought out these immoral pleasures. This type of behavior was much more acceptable amongst the working class. Rasputin knew that he had to keep this lifestyle hidden from the royals. And that was easy enough for a long time, for One thing, the royal family basically never left their palace. They were cut off from all of Russian society. There's actually a story that once one of the Tsar's daughters actually went to the store and paid a shopkeeper for some items. And when the shopkeeper gave her change, the daughter was confused. She couldn't understand why the shopkeeper was giving her money. That's how detached many of these royals were outside the palace walls. Rasputin spent his days taking actresses and prostitutes to public baths. He drank and partied a ton. And genuinely religious as he was, he really enjoyed life's pleasures. I mean, Rasputin didn't always stay in the city either. He frequently traveled and seemed to prefer the farming areas around Siberia. And you know, he liked that much more, you know, being in St. Petersburg, more St. Petersburg city. Certainly his drinking and sexual behavior were more acceptable to the Siberians than to the wealthy folks of St. Petersburg. What's up guys? We're going to take a break really quick because I got to tell you about a dirty little secret. Okay. The insurance industry doesn't want you to know this. 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And this is a paid advertisement. Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's get back to the show. What's up, guys? We're gonna take a break really quick because I'm sitting here in my beautiful tent, as you can see, every week, day in, day out. And people always ask, they say, mark, how do I have a tent like that? I want to. I want to sit in a beautiful tent and invite a lover, a friend, you know, someone that I appreciate and adore. I want to give them a good time inside my tent. Well, it's easy. Thanks to the good folks over@bluechew.com. that's right. Bluechew is the original OG brand offering chewable tablets. And what do these tablets do? Oh, I'm glad you asked. They are going to give you the just a stronger, harder and longer lasting sexual performance. That's right. They're going to help you pitch a tent any place, anywhere. And the best part, it's all done online. That means you don't have to go to a doctor's office and, you know, talk to them. Be like, oh, you know, I'm feeling some type of way. Look, this is not for people that are, you know, lacking necessarily. This is for people to want to have the best experience of their life, whether it's Valentine's Day, birthday, a funeral, who knows, whenever you need it. You never know when you could use bluechew. And we have a special deal for the listeners of this program. That's right. Try your first month of Bluechew for free. That's right. Completely free. Mark, is it going to work for me? Is this, hey, it's free. Why not just try it? Visit bluechew.com for more details and important safety information. And we thank BlueChew for sponsoring this podcast. All right, now let's get after it and let's get back to the show. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile with the price of just about everything going up.
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Kaley Cuoco
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Mark Gagnon
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Kaley Cuoco
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- [25:41]
Felix Yusupov
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- [26:19]
Mark Gagnon
Story about Rasputin during his travels. Probably one of the most famous stories, and it's often used to show just how wild and uncontrollable he had become. His story goes like this. Rasputin visited a hotel in Moscow where he drank and danced until late into the night and extremely drunk, he jumped onto a table and exposed himself to everyone in the hotel and supposedly yelled, this is the altar that the Tsarina worships. This infamous story appears in almost every biography about Rasputin, but recent research has shown that it might be completely false. The story is usually said to come from reports by secret police that were following Rasputin at the time. But when historians search through these police records, such as historian Douglas Smith, there's no mention of such incident. And these records show Rasputin went to the hotel, had a few glasses of wine, and then left. But what this historian did find were letters from a police chief who hated Rasputin. Like many wealthy people, he saw Rasputin as like a lowly peasant who had simply invaded their world. And this police chief decided to destroy Rasputin's reputation once and for all. In letters to his workers, he specifically asked them to make up stories to make Rasputin look bad. And in these letters, the stories just kept on getting more and more ridiculous. The police chief kept telling people to make them worse and worse. And at one point, Rasputin is supposedly part of a plan to make millions by selling used underwear from military soldiers. I mean, it's crazy. And the hotel incident is one of likely many lies found in these letters, or rather not found, as it may have simply never happened. People also point to memoirs from a British agent named Sir Bruce Lockhart. Bruce claims that he saw the entire thing. Rasputin getting drunk and exposing himself. But in his personal diary, written while he was staying in Russia, there's no mention of the incident. In fact, those diary entries show that he wasn't even in Moscow on the night. He later said that it happened. And the truth is, Lockhart just heard the story from someone and later added it to his memoir. When the police chief brought this made up story to the Tsarina, she laughed it off. She could see that it was so ridiculous, too ridiculous to be true. But from then on, whenever she heard actually true stories about Rasputin's behavior, and sure there were plenty, she assumed that they were also just lies meant to hurt his reputation. Alexandra was also fascinated by Rasputin, especially his abilities to heal Alexei, that she refused to believe that he would behave in such a way. There have long been rumors that Alexandra and Rasputin had some type of romantic relationship. But those never were substantiated. They just existed as rumors. But they were prevalent all over Russia. There's no hard evidence, no pun intended, to show that Rasputin was anything other than a close friend and an advisor. There were similar rumors that Rasputin had romantic relationships with the royal daughters. At one point, the daughter's teacher, Sophia Ivanov Ivanova Tucheva, Sorry, I don't speak Russian, wanted Rasputin banned from the royal children's area. The Tsarina fired her. And this teacher spread her stories around the royal family, creating more scandal amongst high society. As rumors began to spread, local newspapers printed cartoons of Rasputin seducing the Tsarina with her daughters in the background. And it was essentially a hit piece or propaganda. There's been no substantial evidence to show that Rasputin ever had sexual relationships with the Tsarina or her daughters. And who's to say? But most historians presume that it didn't actually happen. But regardless, this was when things began to turn against Rasputin. In 1914, Rasputin was approached by a woman named Kiona Gusevane in his home village in Serbia. This woman stabbed him in the stomach with a knife, screaming in his face, I've scared. I've killed the Antichrist. Rasputin ran away, bleeding heavily as a woman chased him down the street to attack him again. Eventually, he hit her and escaped. The stabbing, by all accounts, should have killed Rasputin. Even by today's medical standards, surviving a stab wound in the stomach is very difficult. Infection would spread rapidly or you could just bleed out. And in 1914, it was almost impossible to survive. But yet Rasputin had surgery and spent a long time in the hospital, during which doctors thought he would probably die. But he recovered. Years before, a priest named Sergei Trufanov had tried to force Rasputin out of the palace, only to fail and be sent away from St. Petersburg. This woman that stabbed him was a follower of Trufonov. Although she claimed to have acted alone, Rasputin believed that the stabbing had been ordered by Trufonov. She was declared mentally ill and was sent to an asylum. Although Rasputin survived, it was clear that the wealthy class was beginning to turn against him. You see, Rasputin had never been able to escape his peasant background, just an illiterate farmer from Serbia. And so some St. Petersburg elites believed that a peasant had no place in their society. Combined with the stories of his drinking and sexual behavior, some of which were true, they were clearly becoming tired of Rasputin. But this is when World War I breaks out and cements Rasputin's control in the royal family. By 1914, Russia declares war on Austria and Germany. In response, Rasputin wrote a prediction in a letter to the Czar, Quote, let Papa not plan for war, for with war will come the end of Russia and yourselves and all will be destroyed. Rasputin repeatedly warned that Russia's entry into the world war would bring disaster to the monarchy and the entire nation. He cautioned that war would lead to the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the destruction of Russian institutions. And despite these grave warnings, Tsar Nicholas II chose to proceed with the war, ignoring Rasputin's prophetic advice. After some problems in the war, the Tsar took control of the Russian military himself. Typically, the Tsar would just kind of control from his palace, but given the circumstances, he becomes the war general. And so he played a smaller role in the government. The Tsarina takes over much of Nicholas's governing responsibilities. And with her husband gone, she started to lean on Rasputin as her most trusted advisor. In letters to her husband, she would repeat Rasputin's views and opinions, calling him, quote, our friend. However, Nicholas was not very open to Rasputin's opinions. Today, it seems that Rasputin had very little real influence, but had the Tsarina's ear. Meanwhile, the war was going terribly for Russia. Millions of Russian soldiers had died. Rumors began to spread around the wealthy class, rumors blaming the Tsarina and Rasputin for the failing war efforts. The wealthy class couldn't accept that the failure was maybe Russia's own fault or just a circumstance of war. So they became convinced that German spies were everywhere. The Tsarina herself was born in Germany. So rumors spread that she and Rasputin were both German spies. Today, there's no substantial evidence to prove that, you know, Tsarina or Rasputin were actually working with the Germans. And German records show they never actually contacted Rasputin. But still, the wealthy people had to blame someone. And they couldn't blame Tsar Nicholas that would, you know, be committing political suicide. And they certainly couldn't bear the blame themselves. But here was this poor monk from a peasant background who had scandalous stories around him. You know, Rasputin was a peasant who had kind of just snuck into the highest levels of society. His very existence was a threat to the wealthy class as a whole. And he made an excellent scapegoat. Within two years, the Russian parliament was openly talking about their hatred for Rasputin. Monarchists and ultra nationalists began to attack Rasputin on every front. On 19 November 1916, one of the lead nationalists made a speech in the Duma where he attacked the influence of Rasputin and said that he had an unfair influence on Tsarina Alexandra. He said that Russia would never win the war while Rasputin was alive and the speech was taken seriously. To a certain group of wealthy people, it seemed that killing Rasputin was the only way to change the war's direction. Among that group was a man named Felix Yusupov. The Yusupovs were the richest family in Russia, even richer than the ruling Romanovs themselves. So he had a lot of influence. Felix Yusupov gathered a group of conspirators, including Tsar Nicholas's cousin Dmitri Pavlovich and Vladimir Purishkevich. Together they planned to kill Grigory Rasputin. On 21 November, Vladimir Pariskovich, the leader of the monarchists in the Duma, wrote to Yusupov. He says, I'm terribly busy working on a plan to eliminate Rasputin. Eventually, the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov joined Felix Yusupov, Parishkevich and many others to actually take down Rasputin. The story of Rasputin's death has become legendary. It usually goes something like this. Felix Yusupov called Rasputin inviting him to his home in the palace for dinner. Feeling flattered, Rasputin agreed, and the five conspirators waited for his arrival in the palace's study. When Rasputin arrives, Yusupov led him to the basement apartment. There, Yusupov offered Rasputin wine and cakes that had all been allegedly poisoned with cyanide. Rasputin drank and drank, and he ate all the food, and the alleged cyanide had no effect on him. Later, the doctor that actually laced the food and drink with cyanide later stated that he had this sort of pain of conscience and had put a harmless substance in the cakes and not actually powdered cyanide. But regardless, all the men were confused and they were worried. Yusupov pointed a gun at Rasputin's chest and shot Rasputin through the heart. The peasant man fell to the ground. Yusupov and the conspirators left the palace and drove to Rasputin's apartment, planning to make it look like Rasputin had come home. That night, they moved some things around in the apartment and returned back to the palace. Yusupov went down to the basement to make sure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin violently jumped onto his hands and knees, screaming. In a wild frenzy, Rasputin attacked Yusupov, who ran away up the stairs. Rasputin crawled on all fours, made his way up the basement steps and out into the courtyard. Vladimir Priskovich ran out into the courtyard and shot Rasputin twice more. Rasputin then collapsed into the snow. The conspirators wrapped Rasputin's body in cloth and threw him into a nearby river. Two days later, police found Rasputin's body in the frozen river. There had been rumors that he was still alive when he was thrown into the river, but there's nothing necessarily to actually prove that water was not found in his lungs, as has often been claimed. Rasputin, a corrupt person, a cheater, a drunk though he may have been, was maybe little more than someone to blame for the Russian wealthy class. So after they killed him, nothing really changed in Russia. Rasputin was many things, but he wasn't the cause of all of Russia's problems. In fact, Rasputin's predictions about the war turned out to be strangely accurate. That war did lead to Russia's downfall, and the Russian Revolution resulted in Nicholas and the Tsarina and their children being taken to a basement and shot. The monarchy was destroyed, and Russian institutions were eventually torn Apart. If Tsar Nicholas had listened to Rasputin, the entire world today could have been completely different. It's an interesting what if question. Felix Yusupov tricked an unarmed man into a basement to kill him in cold blood and in an act of cowardice, you know, plain and simple. And indeed, the only account we have of the assassination comes from Yusupov himself. And honestly, it reads kind of like a man trying to justify his own murderous desires. The series of events that makes Rasputin out to be this devilish Satan like figure who can't be killed while Yusupov plays this heroic angel determined to destroy evil. You know, it's difficult to really justify given the context. It's not just unreliable, it's also just pretty unbelievable. But we'll never fully know the truth. Today, lies about Rasputin's life has spread like wildfire. And thanks to one historian, we're starting to get some real answers. For a long time, Rasputin was a completely mysterious, mystical figure in history. Lies and guessing to find his life. But historian Douglas smith published a 900 page book about the man. While researching for his book, he traveled all across Russia, from Rasputin's birthplace to the place where he had died in St. Petersburg. He searched through previously undiscovered police records and journals and personal diaries to put together a realistic, factual picture of Rasputin. Smith's book has been the main source of information for this account. Above all else, Rasputin was complicated. Sure, he was a drunk and he loved little more than he loved wine. He was a serious sexual deviant. Almost any woman who sat down next to him would have been touched or grabbed inappropriately. Rasputin was accused of sexual misconduct and even assault more than once throughout his life. He cheated on his wife possibly hundreds of times. And sure, he was probably a crazed madman. Rasputin believed that he could heal people around him with just a touch of his hands and often took money in exchange for doing so. He cared very little for material possessions, but, you know, was fascinated by these intense experiences. Sexual behavior, drunkenness and fame all attract him. But still one question remains. How was Rasputin able to heal the heir, Alexei? Nobody really knows. To this day, it remains a mystery and probably always will. Original sources on the subject all contradict each other. Some say that he had no effect on the boy's health. Others say that, you know, he could wave his hand and miraculously he would stop bleeding. There's also some theories, most certainly untrue, that his healing was part of Some conspiracy. These theories suggest that Rasputin was working with a woman named Anna Verabova, who was a close friend of the Queen. Supposedly, Rasputin and Verabova would give Alexei some type of temporary poisoning to cause bleeding, and this would make the Tsarina panic, and she would call on Rasputin to heal her son. Rasputin would stop giving this poison, and Alexei would then become healthy again. And it would appear that Rasputin actually has mystical powers. And there's no evidence to show this, but this conspiracy theory still reigns out in the legend of Rasputin. It's been suggested that the doctors were giving the boy aspirin, which, as we know, makes the blood thinner. And Rasputin often told the doctors just to leave him alone. And by not allowing the use of aspirin, Rasputin may have actually accidentally helped Alexei's blood to clot a little bit faster. Again, this is just an educated guess, perhaps the best possible explanation, and it too is just a theory, relates to some type of mind body connection. Today, scientists are learning more about how a person's mental state can genuinely affect their physical being. So if Alexandra truly believed that Rasputin could heal her son, Alexei would have likely felt the same sense of safety. And perhaps this placebo effect could actually cause him to feel better. The legend of Rasputin and the mystique around him continues to rain on. I mean, there are countless accounts describing Rasputin's piercing eyes as having some type of hypnotic powers that could bend people to his will. And these theories claim that he could entrance people with just a single glance, controlling their minds and their actions. While Rasputin did have these intense, you know, penetrating eyes that many found unsettling, frankly, there's no evidence that he actually possessed any supernatural hypnotic ability. I mean, these hypnotic eyes and the legend around it appears to have grown from people's discomfort with his direct and unwavering stare that was likely embellished over time. And beyond his alleged ability to, you know, help heal people, Rasputin was credited with miraculous healing powers that could cure any ailment. I mean, stories circulated about him healing the blind and curing paralysis and even raising the dead. These tales are largely fabricated by his followers to enhance his reputation and also by his enemies to portray him as maybe a Satanist or a charlatan. While some people did claim to feel better after meeting him, there's no credible evidence of some type of supernatural healing ability. Many salacious stories spread about Rasputin's, you know, strange sexual conduct and these religious ceremonies that devolved into sexual orgies. I mean, these tales claim that he preached that sin was necessary for salvation and that physical contact with him had these purifying effects. And while Rasputin may have had unconventional religious ideas and was certainly sexually promiscuous, the stories of these organized religious orgies were difficult to really prove. Another strange claim put against Rasputin was that during the wartime, he was actually poisoning apples imported from Canada. Some claim that he was trying to start some type of cholera epidemic. And this tale suggests that he was trying to weaken Russia's war effort through biological warfare. The story was so outlandish that even at the time, very few people took it seriously. But it demonstrated how wild the accusations against Rasputin had become. After his death, many more stories emerged claiming that he had made detailed prophecies about the fall of the Romanov dynasty and the Russian Revolution. And a lot of these predictions were found in letters or spoken to his followers. However, most of these prophecies were written after the events they supposedly predicted and had already occurred. While Rasputin did warn against Russia entering World War I and predicted that it would be a disaster, detailed prophecies about specific future events were largely fictional additions to his legend. And that, folks, is the story of Grigory Rasputin, a madman, a peasant, a sexual deviant, a mystic who found his way from the cold farm arms of Siberia into the royal Palace. In my opinion, it seems like the perfect confluence of events. You know, there's a. An air of mysticism and occultism that's happening in Russia around the time, sort of led by Helena Blavatsky and many others. The strict rigidity of Orthodoxy and the search for the sort of unstructured spiritualism that Rasputin conveniently filled. And his desire to be seen as a mystic and really promoting this air of. Of divine knowledge made him really palatable to very wealthy people. I mean, we see this today, right? There's very many, you know, wives of billionaires that get into, you know, ayahuasca, and they have their own gurus that help give them divine guidance. The difference is that with the tsar and the Tsarina and the entrance Into World War I, Tsar Nicholas II was taken out of the palace, and Rasputin was kind of given the role as an advisor and a confidant and someone to lean on for the tsarina. And as his legend grew, people from both sides, his followers as well as his detractors, promoted wild stories about him that spread through the press and cemented his legacy as one of the most controversial and enigmatic advisors in all of world history. But I'm curious what you guys think. I mean, was Rasputin truly some type of supernatural healer? Did he have abilities? How was he able to heal the heir apparent, Alexei? Or was he just sort of lucky and in the right place at the right time and was able to go from humble beginnings into royal influence? Drop a comment. I read all of them. And if you have other ideas or suggestions for episodes, I would love to know what you guys think. Whether on YouTube or Spotify, I go through everything, so be nice. Okay? As always, my name is Mark Gagnon. Thank you for joining me in my tent and I will see you guys next week. Peace. What's up, people? Quick announcement. If you are a fan of Camp Gagnon or Religion Camp, I have great news because we are dropping History Camp. That's right. This is the channel. We're going to be exploring the most interesting, fascinating, controversial topics from all time throughout all history. Right. You probably know about Benjamin Franklin, I don't know, Thomas Jefferson, Nikola Tesla, interesting figures from history and you probably learned about in school and they were pretty boring, but not here. Now, as you know, I was raised by a conspiracy theorist. So I'm going to be diving deep into all of the interesting, strange, occult and secretive societal relationships that all of these famous, influential men from our shared past have. So if you're interested, please go ahead and subscribe to the YouTube channel. It will be pinned in the description as well as the comments. And if you're on Spotify, this doesn't really apply to you, but these episodes will be dropping as well. Just go ahead and give us a high rating because it really helps the show.