The Petrine instauration : religion, esotericism and science at the court of Peter the Great, 1689-1725 / / by Robert Collis.

• Superior document: Aries book series : texts and studies in Western esotericism, v. 14
• Author: Collis, Robert.
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Aries book series ; v. 14.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (604 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The reign of Peter the Great (1672-1725) was marked by an unprecedented wave of reform in Russia. This book provides an innovative reappraisal of the Petrine Age, in which hitherto neglected aspects of the tsar’s transformation of his country are studied. More specifically, the reforms enacted by the tsar are assessed in light of the religious notion of instauration – a belief in the restoration of Adamic knowledge in the last age – and a historical and cultural analysis of the impact of Western esotericism at the Russian court. This book will appeal to scholars of Russian history and religion, as well as being of wider interest to those studying Western esotericism in Early Modern and eighteenth-century Europe.

Table of Contents

Quirinus Kuhlmann's millenarian mission to Moscow in 1689 -- Jacobite servitors. Jacob Bruce (1669-1735): a scientific sorcerer at the court of Peter the Great ; Scottish Jacobite roots ; Mathematics, astronomy and astrology: early training in the foreign quarter in Moscow and in London in 1698 ; Natural philosophy, alchemy and Mysticism religion ; Advancement of learning ; Robert Erskine (1677-1718): an iatrochemist at the Petrine court ; Robert Erskine's ancestry and Jacobite links ; Medicine and alchemy: an iatrochemist at the Petrine Court ; Erskine the chemical philosopher ; Erskine, balneology and his treatment of Peter the Great ; Astral and divine medicine ; Erskine and natural philosophy ; Erskine the natural philosopher ; Erskine and religion -- Ukrainian clerics. Stefan Iavorskii (1658-1722): an esoteric wordsmith at the court of Peter the Great ; Iavorskii's Kievan period ; For tsar and country: the apocalyptic, mystical and esoteric sermons of Stefan Iavorski ; Mystical orthodoxy, progressive pietism and esoteric science: the eclectic worldview of Feofan Prokopovich (1681-1736) ; Prokopovich's theological system ; Prokopovich's natural philosophy ; Prokopovich's educational vision: pietism and the Petrine instauration -- Peter the Great. Peter the Great's divine mission ; Peter the Great as King David ; The prophetic significance of the Nystad Peace of 1721 ; St. Petersburg as "New Jerusalem" ; The role of religion and esotericism in shaping Peter the Great's vision of scientific reform ; Francis Lee's vision of scientific reform in Russia ; Gottfried Leibniz's vision of scientific reform in Russia ; Collecting and marvelling at the curious: Peter the Great and the development of the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera ; Towards an Academy of Sciences ; Esoteric interests of Peter the Great.