In any family, the birth of children was considered a blessing given from above. For some people, they were an extra workforce, for others, extra mouths, and still others considered them ordinary human joy. However, the further life of the child depended on how he was born.
What is a bastard
A child who was born to a mother who was not married to his biological father automatically received the nickname Bystryuk, that is, born out of law. In the old days, the appearance of such children was not approved, and if the kids managed to survive, they were still waiting for an unenviable fate.
Etymology
Etymologists suggest that this word appeared under the influence of the European expression bastard - a baby born from a union not consecrated by the church.
Synonyms of baistruck
Synonyms are words that are close in meaning. The synonyms of the word bystryk, which also called illegitimate children, include: bastard, geek, bastard, fatherlessness, half-breed, illegitimate and so on.
What did the word “bajstryuk” mean in the fate of illegitimate children
Modern time has a sad tendency to increase the number of divorces, which leads to the appearance of millions of children raised without a father. Therefore, such babies no longer surprise anyone and, as a rule, their attitude towards them is no different from how they perceive children who have a mom and dad.
But in tsarist Russia and medieval Europe, girls and women tried to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. If there was no male shoulder nearby, then the sudden appearance of the child was guaranteed to become a disgrace for his mother, and for the baby itself it would provide a fate that the enemy could not wish. He could be helped only by the noble birth of one of the parents, who, showing an indifferent attitude, could help his offspring, alleviating the fate of the bastard. But this was not common. Even such peers who were fortunate enough to be born in a complete family were mocking such children, and therefore did not find out who such a bastard is.
Bajstryuki were poor, and even in their declining years had nothing for their soul. In the case when they managed to achieve the location of a high-ranking parent, they could get some titles and a condition sufficient for a further prosperous life. If this was not the case, then the bailstacks remained on the lowest social step, suffering mockery and bullying from all the people around them.
Baistruks who left their mark on the history of Russia
Historians are at a loss as to how many descendants the crowned persons left in secret from their circle. According to speculation, rumors and individual flashes of information, they identified an approximate number of their illegitimate offspring: Catherine II - 7, Alexander II - 12, Nicholas I - 9 and so on. The most famous of these children were:
Alexei Mikhailovich, in addition to the official 16 offspring, had an illegitimate son, Ivan Musin-Pushkin. The titles given to those born in marriage did not shine for him, but he was able to gain the trust of Peter the Great and become his right hand.
- Peter Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky.
Peter the Great was not far from his predecessors. There were legends about his love of love, respectively, the version of the number of illegitimate offspring was also different. Among his possible descendants, the commander Peter Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky is distinguished.
The children of Catherine II are also considered extramarital. Historians constantly argue about the origin of Paul I and Alexei Bobrinsky. The most popular version is that Pavel was born from Sergei Saltykov, and Alexey was born from Count Orlov.
Among the children of Alexander I, General Nikolai Isakov stands out. Of course, his official parents were different. But among the people there was a legend about how Alexander forbade his daughter and Nikolai to build relationships because of close relationship.
There were many rumors about the origin of Fedor Trepov. The emperors Nicholas I and Wilhelm I were assigned to his biological fathers. The reason for such suspicions was the huge annual maintenance of the usual city mayor - more than 18 thousand rubles, which at that time was a mad state.
One of the most famous Mogilev governors, who took office at a relatively young age of 30, was Alexander Dembovetsky. Throughout his service, he was under the auspices of Alexander II, who helped and supported the young governor. This gave rise to suspicions of their close relationship.
Historians have no unequivocal opinion about who is actually the father of the son of Akhmatova. But according to some signs and crumbs of information, they are inclined to believe that Akhmatova had a love affair with Nicholas II, from whom she conceived a child.