The Lebedyn Executions (1708–1709)
A punitive campaign against Mazepa's supporters after the hetman went over to the Swedes. In January 1709 the headquarters of the tsar and Menshikov were at Lebedyn and Sumy, from where the investigation of the Cossack officers was conducted[1]. The model of intimidation was the destruction of the hetman capital: on 2 November 1708 Baturyn was taken by Menshikov's troops, "the town was razed to the ground and its inhabitants annihilated," and when in July 1709 the tsar permitted it to be resettled, he obliged the inhabitants to pay a special tax to the treasury "for treason"[2]. The punishment fell on everyone: "in the bloody massacre and fire a multitude of the town's defenders and inhabitants perished"[1].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy | 2 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 2 |
Procedures Carried Out
The destruction of the political leadership that supported the hetman: "the entire (!) general starshyna" followed Mazepa, and of the Left-Bank colonels only four remained loyal to the tsar[1]. The investigation of the officers was directed from the tsar's headquarters, where "being at Lebedyn and Sumy, Peter and Menshikov in January 1709" oversaw the reprisals[1]. The ecclesiastical punishment was arranged by the tsar's direct order - by a letter of 31 October 1708 (No. 2795) Peter I instructed metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky: "be pleased to have him, for such a deed of his, publicly cursed in the cathedral church..."[1][3].
Intimidation of the population by an exemplary reprisal against an entire town: during the capture of Baturyn "in the bloody massacre and fire a multitude of the town's defenders and inhabitants perished"[1], "the town was razed to the ground and its inhabitants annihilated," and the returning residents were charged a special tax "for treason"[2]. The devastation of the hetman capital also destroyed the state archive of the Hetmanate, which suffered "during the storming of Baturyn castle by A. Menshikov in 1708"[2].