Grigori Rasputin - The Mad Monk - A Historian Reacts #1

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[NoBandwidth-]

I've been to Pokrovskoye, the village where Rasputin grew up, and I have done a tour around his house.
It's amazing the condition it's in, for how long it's been there.

[HistoryNerd]

That question about cause or symptom is such a great question that applies to so many figures in history. Did they shape history or was their rise a sign of a decaying order which would've changed even without them and they were just the person there at the perfect time? I think generally in history the answer is both. They never would've risen to power without the circumstances being perfect for it but once they were in power, they shaped the times in which they lived. Rasputin's no exception.

[theveryworstluck]

Wasn't expecting you to know about The King's Man version of Rasputin, lol. The real praise goes to the make up department for making the actor, Rhys Ifans, look as spot on as he did, because, while he's an outstanding actor, he's also a clean-shaven, blonde-haired Brit. According to that movie Rasputin was also a pretty adept ninja, lol.

[peterepeatepete]

One of my English teachers once pointed out that often people perceived to have “strange” or “intense” eyes have a trait where some of the white is actually visible under the pupil. Edgar Allen Poe and Rasputin were the examples she used and Looking at those pictures
I can see why. I think she also said that it was sometimes seen as a mark of high intelligence, but I never found much to back that up.

But yeah, look at most normal eyeballs when look straight ahead and the pupil usually takes up the entire middle with no white visible around the top or bottom. But pictures of both Rasputin and Poe, you can clearly see a strip of white under the pupil. It’s strange but something I would have never noticed myself.

[laughsatchungus]

I think it’s worth mentioning that Nicholas and his family never lived in the winter palace but rather in the Alexander Palace, next to the Catherine palace in Tsarskoe Selo, a then town ~6 miles south of st. Petersburg.
This change occurred after the assassination of Alexander II, when Alexander III thought the winter palace stopped being a safe residence
Nicholas still went to the winter palace when he had to work, however.

[caleblott]

5:53 This. I wish this could be broadcasted to every person on the planet at least once. This is how you need to treat accounts and documents: even modern accounts and news reports.

[nathansteinfromarkham]

14:09 You could say this about various types of men we call evil today. One example is H.H. Holmes. I abhor what the man did but he was a smart guy. If it wasn't for the circumstances of his childhood he would have probably been a great boon to the human race.

[KenVic]

I loved The King's Man...saw it a couple weeks ago. I could have sworn Rasputin was played by Peter Stormare. He looked and sounded just like him. But it was Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, who I'm not familiar with. Same guy who was Hugh Grant's deeebie roommate in Notting Hill. Mind blown. Thanks for covering this, Chris...fascinating person.

[RMSTitanicWSL]

She was one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Hemophilia was a huge problem for descendants of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, in fact. There's no history of it prior to Queen Victoria, and only one of her children had it, but it's believed her daughters Alice and Beatrice passed the disease on to their children. The Tsarina was one of Alice's daughters, and so passed it to her son, Alexis. Hemophilia proved a true nightmare for the royal families of Europe. Rasputin was supposedly charismatic and may have simply had a knack for manipulating people. He may or may not have had any real skills or abilities. History is full of such people. Sometimes, that's all it takes. The Tsarina was far from the only superprotective royal or parent with a hemophiliac child. She just had the misfortune and bad judgment to let it influence her to make decisions that would doom her and her country in a time when there was no margin for error.

[lunki]

I really liked how you researched things during the video, for example showing the literacy rate in Russia or the pictures of Rasputin's eyes. Great video!

[thomas]

A really good Netflix series in my opinion is called 'the last czars' it's a really good series about the russisn revolution, Nicholas the second and rasputin, it's really worth checking out!

[noblegas]

Just a note on pronunciation
In Russian we typically convert the letter H to a G, because we don't have a corresponding sound in our everyday speech. The same is the case for the digraph th, which we pronounce as either a t or an f. We also usually drop suffixes like es and us. Thus that preacher would be known as Germogen, the archbishop as Teofan. The word tsar also doesn't sound like "zar" in Russian, but rather the ts is read pretty much as written, the two sounds merged into one. Surnames in Russian that end in "in" or "ov" get an "a" added at the end when speaking about females - Rasputina, Romanova, etc. Finally, we usually call the wife of a tsar "tsaritsa" rather than "tsarina".

[mattyice]

Hi Mr. Chris, I'd like to recommend doing Extra History's one on the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Great. I was in my AP European History class (I'm a sophomore) and for a game we were playing involving absolute rulers in Europe at the time I played as Suleiman the Great. I figured "Huh" and looked up a video, and I saw Extra History, a channel I knew from some videos you did from them. I watched their series on it and it was amazing. Even as a devoutly protestant evangelical Christian, this story of a Muslim ruler struck me incredibly deep and the way they told his story was beautiful. The character of Suleiman the Great is so alluring to me, and I'd definitely recommend the video. It really wants to make me learn more about Islamic history. Either way, I'd recommend it, very much so. Have a good day, sir. God bless.

[scud]

The story of Rasputin is absolutely nuts. I studied abroad in Russia a couple years ago, and our tour guide in Saint Petersburg took us to where he was killed and told us incredible details about him. The way he explained it, it was believed back then (and even today really) that he actually had the ability to heal and did heal the Tsars child. We hear about it and laugh it off as a funny story, but it might be more true than we'd like to think. Not to mention the strange details around his death, which only adds to the mystery. I'm not necessarily saying he truly had these mystical powers, but I don't think simply being a smooth talker would have led to the creation of such legends.

[stephenparker]

That was fascinating I knew very little about Rasputin's early life or how he reached the position of influence he had. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[VortexThorne]

One of our historians in Poland (he also runs a YouTube channel, his name is Wojciech Drewniak), summed up Rasputin as "He is the proof that to achieve success, you just need to be the right person living in the right place and times." I think it is true.

[cassianoneto]

Please, whenever it is most convenient for you, react to the Empire of Brazil series. You already did the Simon Bolívar one and it’s interesting to hear from an American how they perceive other independence processes.

[imrpbtw]

Was gonna ask you about the Kingsman!! Really glad you mentioned it.

[stephenelberfeld]

It's weird that Rasputin was born within a few months of when my grandfather was born. My grandfather was a Unitarian minister, and was constantly having to move to a different parish. From Illinois to East Boston and New York to New Hampshire The constantly changing attitude toward the German last name and the his advocacy and coaching of sports would get him into trouble with parishioners.

[kamalindsey]

Look at one of his descendants, Maria Rasputin, she inherited his eyes. You can see they are quite piercing even in B&W fotos.