There are many erroneous legends and misconceptions about Rasputin and his role in bringing on revolution. A simple summary is that his presence in the Winter Palace in 1916 and his meddling in political affairs helped to discredit the Romanovs, if not the whole concept of autocracy itself. A peasant of slovenly appearance, poor personal hygiene and dubious social activities (click here for more on this) Rasputin was considered to be a monk or starets ('holy man') though he had no religious training. He married at a young age, two years later travelling by foot on a pilgrimage to Greece and the Holy Lands. In 1904 he heard reports about the illness suffered by the young tsarevich Alexei, before being invited to bless the prince by one of the tsarina's confidantes. So effective were Rasputin's methods in comforting Alexei that he was repeatedly invited back, whenever the tsarevich was in pain or suffering a haemophiliac bleed. Though the tsarina believed his influence to be holy in nature, historians believe he may have comforted the boy with hypnosis, though evidence about this is sketchy.
Rasputin remained a regular visitor to the Romanov palaces until his death in 1916. Although this seems odd given his habits, it was not unusual for the royal family to receive visitors or delegations of peasant backgrounds; this formed something of a ceremonial practice of the tsar 'regularly meeting the people'. Rasputin had competitors for the Romanov's attention too: rival priests, faith healers and fortune tellers (magic and the occult were all the rage among some St Petersburg nobility). Despite this, the tsarina took a liking to him, referring to Rasputin as "our friend" regularly in her correspondence. She began to trust in Rasputin, not just about her son but about spiritual, personal and political matters. When the tsar left St Petersburg for the war front in September 1915, Alexandra was effectively left with the responsibility of domestic government. Rather than...