February 14 — Peter I deprived his son Alexei of the rights of heir to the throne. Those rights passed to the underage Tsarevich Peter (who, however, died in 1719). Alexei was Peter’s son from his first marriage to Eudokia Lopukhina and was raised in an environment hostile to Peter. Peter wanted his son to become the continuer of his work—the radical reforming of Russia—but Alexei avoided this in every possible way. The clergy and boyars surrounding Alexei turned him against his father. Peter, for his part, threatened to disinherit Alexei and confine him to a monastery. In 1716, fearing his father’s wrath, Alexei fled abroad—first to Vienna, then to Naples. With threats and promises, Peter brought his son back to Russia and, in February 1718, stripped him of his rights of succession. Alexei, however, did this with joy; he wrote to his wife Euphrosyne: “Father has summoned me to himself and is treating me graciously! God grant it will be so henceforth as well, and that I may live to see you in joy. Glory be to God that I have been removed from the inheritance, for we shall remain at peace together. God grant that we may live happily with you in the countryside, for you and I desired nothing except to live in Rozhdestvenka; you yourself know that I want nothing—only to live with you until death.”
In exchange for abdication and an admission of guilt, Peter gave his son his word that he would not punish him.
But the abdication did not help, and Alexei’s wish to step aside from political storms did not come true. Peter ordered an investigation into his son’s case. Alexei naïvely told everything he knew and had planned. Many people from Alexei’s circle were tortured and executed. The tsarevich himself did not escape torture either. The denouement was swift. On (June 24) July 5, 1718, the Supreme Court, composed of generals, senators, and the Holy Synod (120 people in total), sentenced the tsarevich to death. Two days later, at 8 a.m., Peter himself arrived at the fortress where the tsarevich was held, accompanied by nine close associates. Alexei was tortured again, in an attempt to extract additional details. The tsarevich was tormented for three hours, and then they left. And in the afternoon, at the sixth hour, as recorded in the books of the chancellery of the Peter and Paul Fortress garrison, Alexei Petrovich passed away. Peter I published an official notice stating that, after hearing the death sentence, the tsarevich was horrified, summoned his father, begged his forgiveness, and died as a Christian—in full repentance for what he had done. Opinions differ as to the true cause of Alexei’s death. Some historians believe he died from the ordeal and emotional shock, while others conclude that the tsarevich was strangled on Peter’s direct orders in order to avoid a public execution.