Emperor Peter I

"The defeat of Narva on the 19. November 1700 was a great shock to Russia and lessened it's fame abroad". Platonov says, that Peter, after a short hesitation, began actively to prepare himself for the continuation of the struggle with Sweden, the final aim of which, he considered, would be the conquering of Ingria and Karelia and the foundation of a fortified port at the mouth of the Neva. Having created by heroic efforts in one year a strong artillery and an important army, Peter began the campaign. The year of 1701 is marked by the victory at Erestfer, in August 1702 Apraksin defeated Kroniort in Ijora, pursued him towards Sarskaya farm and compelled 'him to take refuge in Nien; in October Peter took Neteborg, the ancient Orehovetz, and in spring 1703 he occupied the estuaries of the Neva. All the further operations of Peter against the Swedes from that moment are directed against Ingria and Karelia. In 1703 the Tsar restored to Russia Koporie and Yama, in 1704 Narva and Derpt, the ancient Youriev. Cutting his way to the mouth of the Neva, Peter had the persuasion, that all land, once occupied by him, would never return to the Swedes, and looked upon the shores of the Gulf of Finland as on the ancient land of Novgorod. He rebuked Apraksin for burning and destroying the bridges and villages, as if it were an enemy's land, and Apraksin justified himself only by strategic combinations.

Remarkable are the words, which end the 16th volume of Soloviev's History of Russia:

"In the 9th century A. D. at the mouth of the Neva began the great road of the Varangians, to Greece; on this road in the middle of that century began Russian history. During eight centuries Russia moved to the East; she reached the Eastern Ocean, but at last, grieving for the Western Sea, near which she was born, returned to it for resources of revival."

"On the 16th of May 1703 on one of the islands near the Neva the axe began to sound, a wooden town was being built. That town was Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire."

The southern shore of the Gulf of Finland was soon taken possession of; the northern shore served for a long time as the arena of the struggle, and Petersburg was obliged to be on its guard against the Swedes, who, using Viborg as basis, attempted to occupy Peter's new capital. At last, in 1710 Peter took also Viborg, and Ingermanland, and Karelia were now in the hands of the Tsar. Having occupied the source of the Neva, Peter immediately attended to the administration of the province, restored to Russia, and appointed as Governor General of Ingermanland, Karelia and Estonia), his favorite, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, knowing his energetic nature.

The land laws, introduced by the Swedes, remained in full force, and when in 1707 Peter bestowed on Menshikov, already raised to the dignity of prince, the towns Koporie and Iamburg, the Most Serene, as feudal lord, became the owner of all the lands and revenues of those towns. Menshikov asked the local authorities, what was the population of his new estates. The "Landrichter" of Ingermanland Korsakov, reported, that Koporie possessed 2700 and Iama 425 houses.

Amongst the estates of the district of Koporie, belonging to the "own province" of the Most Serene Prince of the a land of Ijera, were Sarskaya and Douderhof farms.

The favorite of Peter, the "demi-sovereign master " Menshikov, was so mighty, that in a letter to Korsakov he commands: "Order, that in our own province, in the Russian as well as in the Lutheran churches, my name should be mentioned during prayers".

As far as one can judge from the scanty information of Ingermanland's historical geography, both those settlements, before coming into the possession of Menshikov, had been already for a long time in the hands of the local gentlemen. As far back as the 15th century the land was possessed by the Ovinovs, afterwards by the Bestuyevs, Hilkovs and others. In 1624 Counselor of the Swedish kingdom Johann Skutte, ex-tutor of the king Gustavus Adolphus, received in feudal patrimony the ancient Novgorodian parish of Douderhof, which, extended to the shores of the Gulf of Finland.

It is not known, whether Saritza, marked on the Swedish maps as a part of the Slaviansky parish, which came into existence already during the dominion of Moscow, composed a part of this fief. At all events, on one of the Swedish maps, kept in the archives of the Military -Topographical Section of the General Staff, Camme Peter Aryson Romais is said to possess Saritza or Saritzhof happened, it seems.

The evolution of the name of Saritza seems to have happened in the following way - the Swedish, feudal possessors, having received in fief the ancient Russian patrimony Saritza, transformed its name naturally into Saritzhof, because the addition "hof" indicated, that the estate had a manor-house. Such villages with a noble proprietor living in them, were commonly called by the Russians in the 16th and 17th centuries, "farm", because the local Finnish population named them "muis", that means farm. In that manner the aristocratic Saritzhof, in the language of the emigrants Finns was christened "Saarismuis" and in the Russian language became Saritza or Sarskaya farm. The name of Sarskaya farm was modified during the reign of the Empress Elizabeth into Sarskoe Selo, because around the former farm arose already a whole village with a church, attended by all the peasants of the neighbouring Russian villages. Little by little the word village in the official documents thrust out the word farm, and during the reign of Catherine II everybody said and wrote Tsarskoe Selo, though on official occasions one wrote till 1,808 Sarskoe. I believe that this explanation is less fantastical than the tales of the house, standing in 1752 on the place of the actual palace and belonging to a certain land proprietress Sarra, or, that the name Saary Muis denotes an ancient Finnish settlement, which existed, when the height of the palace of to day was yet an island (Saari). The Finns simply called Saritzhof Saarimuis, because in their language the sound "tz r" is unknown and, on the contrary, the sound "a" is often lengthened into two "a's"; as to the word "hof", the same Finns made it the habitual "muis" .

Menshikov did not possess the Sarskaya farm for a long time. Having given to Menshikov Ingermanland. the ancient land of Ijera, and having endowed him with immense patrimonies, Peter, in his, constant anxiety -of populating the surroundings of Petersburg, began to distribute the lands to other noblemen and in 1710 gave a part of the domain of Menshikov to Catherine Alekseyevna, not yet proclaimed Empress. Menshikov, notwithstanding all his power and avidity, did not dare to contradict the Emperor, evidently knowing, that the proclamation was only detained by some formal cause, and directly informed Commander Doumashev by the following letter on the 24th of June 1710 about the promulgated Supreme Order:

"His Imperial Majesty deigned to give to Catherine Alekseyevna the Sarskaya and Slavianskaya farms in the district of Koporie with all the appertaining villages, peasants and estates. As soon as you receive this order, give those farms and villages, with' everything, belonging to them, to her, Catherine Alekseyevna, and exclude these farms out of the taxbooks; send a list, containing the number of houses, cultivated lands, forests, meadows and other premises".

From that day the Sarskaya estate became the property of Catherine Alekseyevna, and was ruled by the order of the Chancery of Stable Affairs, entering "de facto" into the lands of the Court. In March 1711, before setting out on the Prussian campaign, Peter proclaimed in Moscow Catherine Alekseyevna as the true Empress, and from that time the patrimony of Catherine Alekseyevna became judicially the estate of the Court.

It is my opinion that from these documents it is clear enough, that Yakovkin's information, in his History of Tsarskoe Selo, about the incorporation of 'Sarskaya estate on the 30th of May 1708 to "the chamber of Her Majesty, Empress Catherine I", is false, as much as his affirmation, that Peter began the distribution of lands in Ingermanland, by presenting the Sarskaya estate to Catherine Alekseyevna. A note of Peter, dated from January 5th 1708 is, kept; from it we can see, that at that time the Tsar thought of leaving, in case of his death, only three thousand rubles to Catherine. That note says: "in case of anything happening to me, by the will of God, three thousand rubles, kept in the house of Prince Menshikov, should be given to Catherine Vassilevsky and the girl".

A year later Catherine Vassilevsky changed into Catherine Alekseyevna, and in three years only she was proclaimed Empress. The Sarskaya estate wholly belonged to Prince Menshikov only in 1708.