The Plague Riot of 1771 in Moscow According to Eyewitnesses

Abstract

The article presents eyewitnesses’ accounts of the riot that took place in Moscow
from 15 to 17 September 1771 and received the name «The Plague Riot». This event is notable
for several historical moments, the main of which was the assassination of the Moscow archbishop
Ambrose (Zertis-Kamensky), whom the rebels accused of robbing the (image of) the Theotokos and calling for observation of the quarantine rules imposed by the state to resist the spread of the plague. For a clearer reconstruction of the historical picture, the researcher undertook an analysis of the texts of four authors who were direct participants in those events: the two reports to Empress Catherine II by Lieutenant-General Pyotr Dmitrievich Yeropkin, a description of the revolt by Archpriest Pyotr Alekseyev, a letter to an unknown addressee from the nephew of the murdered Archbishop [Ambrose] Nikolai Nikolaevich Bantysh-Kamensky and an anonymous letter published in the «Russian Word» magazine.