Boris was a court
chamberlain since 1676. He was the young tsar
Peter the Great's tutor and chief supporter when, in 1689, Peter resisted the usurpations of his elder half sister
Sophia, and the head of the loyal council which assembled at the
Trinity monastery during the crisis of the struggle. It was Golitsyn who suggested taking refuge in that strong fortress and won over the
boyars of the opposite party. Cathedral, in 1700–1710 In 1690 he was created a boyar and shared with Lev
Naryshkin, Peter's uncle, the conduct of home affairs. After the death of the
tsaritsa Natalia, Peter's mother, in 1694, his influence increased still further. The estate
Bolshiye Vyazyomy was given to him; since then Vyazyomy remained the ancestral estate of the Golitsyns, although Boris rarely came to Vyazyomy preferring to live at the
Dubrovitsy estate (near
Podolsk), which came from his wife's family. From 1690 to 1704, in the Dubrovitsy estate, he led the construction of a stone
Church of the Theotokos of the Sign. His son Vasily (1681-1710) inherited the estate. He accompanied Peter to the
White Sea (1694–1695); he took part in the
Azov campaign (1695); and was one of the triumvirate who ruled Russia during
Peters first foreign tour (1697–1698) to Holland and England. The
Astrakhan rebellion (1706), which affected all the districts under his government, shook Peter's confidence in him, and seriously impaired his position. In 1707 he was superseded in the
Volgan provinces by
Andrei Matveev. A year before his death he entered a monastery. Golitsyn was a typical representative of Russian society of the end of the 17th century leaning towards
Westernism. In many respects he was far in advance of his time. He was highly educated, spoke
Latin with graceful fluency, frequented the society of scholars and had his children carefully educated according to the best European models. Yet this eminent, superior personage was an habitual drunkard, an uncouth savage who intruded upon the hospitality of wealthy foreigners, and was not ashamed to seize upon any dish he took a fancy to, and send it home to his wife. It was his reckless drunkenness which ultimately ruined him in the estimation of Peter the Great, despite his previous inestimable services. The Polish diplomat
Foy de la Neuville visited Moscow at the end of 1689 and hosted a banquet for two Russian nobles, Golitsyn and
Matveev, who had long wanted to try French roast. Both nobles were so pleased with this meal that they sent several plates to their wives. Three days after this banquet, Matveev invited to dine at his house, where Neuville was received with great dignity. ==References==