The stay in Karelia of Robert Erskine, chief physician to the Emperor Peter the Great

The article reconstructs the events surrounding related Peter the Great’s chief physician, Robert Erskine, during his stay at the Marcial Waters Resort. Erskine was a prominent advocate of balneotherapy for disease treatment and played an active role in establishing Russia’s first resort, Marcial Waters. The significance and novelty of this research lie in the introduction of new documentary sources that shed light on popular medical practices of the period. The study notes that Erskine arrived at the resort in a critically ill state, effectively on the brink of death. However, due to the scarcity of available sources, the precise nature of his illness remains unknown, precluding any definitive assessment of the efficacy or ineffectiveness of the treatments administered. In conclusion, the paper suggests that Erskine’s death near Olonets did not alter the views of Peter the Great’s, who acknowledged the possibility of Erskine’s poisoning – the Emperor continued to endorse balneotherapy as a treatment for all ailments.