Peter the Great founded a drinking club when he was a young man. Because he was tsar, he took it too far.

Paul Delaroche [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Anyway, they stopped wandering around so much and started putting down roots in Moscow. The Jolly Company metamorphosed into something more formal, the beautifully named All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters. Or, as Google Translate has it, the “clown, drunk, and haunted cathedral.” This club made fun of religious formalities by electing a Prince-Pope and parodying orthodox rites and rituals – most of which (surprise surprise) involved them drinking an extraordinary amount of vodka.

• All-Joking, All-Drunken Synod of Fools and Jesters

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The Generalist

I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and am curious about most things.