Despite the fact that many serious scholars dispute the role of chance in history, one cannot but admit that Catherine I ascended the Russian throne largely by accident. She ruled for a short time - a little more than two years. However, even in spite of such short term reign, she remained in history as the first empress.
Marta Skavronskaya, who will soon become known to the world as Empress Catherine 1, was born on the territory of today's Lithuania, on the lands of Livonia, in 1684. There is no exact information about her childhood. In general, the future Catherine 1, whose biography is very ambiguous, and sometimes contradictory, according to one version, was born into a peasant family. Her parents soon died of the plague, and the girl was sent to the pastor's house as a servant. According to another version, from the age of twelve, Marta lived with her aunt, after which she ended up in the family of a local priest, where she was in the service and studied literacy and needlework. Scientists are still arguing about where the future Catherine 1 was born.
And the origin of the first Russian Empress, and the date and place of her birth have not yet been established by domestic historians. More or less unequivocally, a version was established in historiography, proving that she was the daughter of the Baltic peasant Samuil Skavronsky. In the Catholic faith, the girl was baptized by her parents, giving her the name Marta. According to some reports, she was brought up in the Marienburg boarding school, under the supervision of Pastor Gluck.
The future Catherine I was never a diligent student. But they say that she changed partners with amazing frequency. There is even information that Marta, having become pregnant from a certain nobleman, gave birth to a daughter from him. The pastor managed to marry her, but her husband, who was a Swedish dragoon, soon disappeared without a trace in the years Northern war.
After the capture of Marienburg by the Russians, Marta, becoming a “war trophy”, was for some time the mistress of a non-commissioned officer, later, in August 1702, she ended up in the train of Field Marshal B. Sheremetev. He, noticing her, took her as a porter - a laundress, later handing her over to A. Menshikov. It was here that she caught the eye of Peter I.
Russian biographers royal family still wondering how she could capture the king. After all, Martha was not a beauty. Nevertheless, she soon became one of his mistresses.
In 1704 March, by Orthodox custom, was baptized under the name By that time she was already pregnant. The future empress was baptized by Tsarevich Alexei. Knowing how to easily adapt to any circumstances, Catherine never lost her presence of mind. She perfectly studied the character and habits of Peter, becoming necessary for him both in joy and in sorrow. In March 1705 they already had two sons. However, the future Catherine I still continued to live in Menshikov's house in St. Petersburg. In 1705, the future empress was brought to the house of the tsar's sister Natalia Alekseevna. Here the illiterate washerwoman began to learn to write and read. According to some reports, it was during this period that the future Catherine I established quite close relations with the Menshikovs.
Gradually, relations with the king became very close. This is evidenced by their correspondence in 1708. Peter had many mistresses. He even discussed them with Catherine, but she did not reproach him for anything, trying to adapt to the royal whims and put up with his frequent outbursts of anger. She was always there during his epileptic attacks, sharing with him all the difficulties of camp life and imperceptibly turning into the actual wife of the sovereign. And although the future Catherine I did not directly participate in solving many political issues, she had a great influence on the king.
From 1709, she accompanied Peter everywhere, including on all trips. During the Prut campaign of 1711, when the Russian troops were surrounded, she saved not only her future husband, but also the army, giving the Turkish vizier all her jewelry in order to persuade him to sign a truce.
Upon returning to the capital, on February 20, 1712, Peter 1 and Catherine 1 got married. Their daughters, Anna, who had already been born by that time, who later became the wife of the Duke of Holstein, as well as Elizabeth, the future empress, being at the age of three and five years, performed the duties of maids of honor accompanying the altar at the wedding. The marriage took place almost secretly in a small chapel that belonged to Prince Menshikov.
From that time on, Catherine I acquired a courtyard. She began to receive foreign ambassadors and meet with many European monarchs. Being the wife of the reformer tsar, Catherine the Great - the 1st Russian Empress - was in no way inferior to her husband in strength of will and endurance. In the period from 1704 to 1723, she bore Peter eleven children, although most of them died in infancy. Such frequent pregnancies did not in the least prevent her from accompanying her husband on his many campaigns: she could live in a tent and rest on a hard bed without a single grumble.
In 1713, Peter I, having highly appreciated the worthy behavior of his wife during the unsuccessful Prut campaign for the Russians, established the Order of St. Catherine. He personally laid signs on his wife in November 1714. Initially, it was called the Order of Liberation and was intended only for Catherine. Peter I remembered the merits of his wife during the ill-fated Prut campaign in his manifesto about the coronation of his wife in November 1723. Foreigners, who followed with great attention everything that was happening in the Russian court, unanimously noted the affection of the tsar for the empress. And during 1722, Catherine even shaved her head and began to wear a grenadier cap. Together with her husband, she conducted a review of the troops leaving directly for the battlefield.
On December 23, 1721, the collegiums of the Senate and the Synod recognized Catherine as the Russian Empress. Especially for her coronation in May 1724, a crown was ordered, which, in its splendor, surpassed the crown of the king himself. Peter himself placed this imperial symbol on his wife's head.
Opinions about what appearance Catherine had were contradictory. If you focus on her male environment, then opinions are generally positive, but women, being biased towards her, considered her short, fat and black. Indeed, the appearance of the Empress did not make much of an impression. One had only to look at her to notice her low birth. The dresses she wore were old-fashioned, sheathed entirely in sequined silver. She always wore a belt, which was embroidered in front of precious stones with the original pattern in the form of a double-headed eagle. Orders, a dozen icons and amulets were constantly hung on the queen. When she walked, all this wealth rang.
One of their sons, Pyotr Petrovich, who, after the abdication of the eldest heir to the emperor, was considered the official successor to the throne since 1718, died in 1719. Therefore, the reformer tsar began to see his future successor only in his wife. But in the fall of 1724, Peter suspected the empress of treason with the chamber junker Mons. He executed the latter, and stopped communicating with his wife: he didn’t talk at all, and forbade access to her. Passion for others dealt a terrible blow to the king: in anger, he tore up the will, according to which the throne passed to his wife.
And only once, at the insistent request of his daughter Elizabeth, Peter agreed to dine with Catherine, a woman who had been his inseparable friend and assistant for twenty whole years. This happened a month before the death of the emperor. In January 1725, he became ill. Catherine was always at the bedside of the dying monarch. On the night of the 28th to the 29th, Peter died in the arms of his wife.
Upon the death of her husband, who never had time to declare his last will, the “supreme gentlemen” - members of the Senate, the Synod and the generals, who had already been in the palace since the twenty-seventh of January, began to deal with the issue of succession to the throne. There were two parties among them. One, consisting of the remnants of the tribal aristocracy who remained at the very top of government power, was led by the European-educated Prince D. Golitsyn. In an effort to limit the autocracy, the latter demanded to enthrone Peter Alekseevich, the minor grandson of Peter the Great. It must be said that the candidacy of this kid was very popular among the entire aristocratic class of Russia, who wanted to find in the offspring of the unfortunate prince someone who could restore their past privileges.
The second party was on the side of Catherine. The split was inevitable. With the help of her longtime friend Menshikov, as well as Buturlin and Yaguzhinsky, relying on the guards, she ascended the throne as Catherine 1, whose reign for Russia was not marked by anything special. They were short lived. By agreement with Menshikov, Catherine did not interfere in state affairs, moreover, on February 8, 1726, she transferred control of Russia into the hands of the Supreme Privy Council.
The state activity of Catherine I was limited for the most part only to the signing of papers. Although it must be said that the Empress was interested in the affairs of the Russian fleet. On her behalf, the country was actually ruled by a secret council - a body created shortly before her ascension to the throne. It included A. Menshikov, G. Golovkin, F. Apraksin, D. Golitsyn, P. Tolstoy and A. Osterman.
The reign of Catherine 1 began with the fact that taxes were reduced and many prisoners and exiles were pardoned. The first was connected with the rise in prices and the fear of causing discontent among the people. Some of the reforms of Catherine 1 canceled the old ones adopted by Peter 1. For example, the role of the Senate was significantly reduced and local bodies were abolished, which replaced the governor with power, a Commission was formed, which included the generals and flag officers. According to the content of this reform of Catherine 1, it was they who were supposed to take care of the improvement of the Russian troops.
"Internal policy of Catherine II" - The clergy added to the category of bureaucracy. Order of public charity. Elected body local authorities from representatives of the nobility, townspeople, state peasants. Subordination of all military units of the province to the governor. Strengthening the personal dependence of serfs. The introduction of a system of urban self-government.
"The domestic policy of Catherine 2" - The purpose of the lesson: The policy of Catherine ii. Decree of 1767 “On the prohibition of peasants to complain about the landowners. The beginning of Catherine's reign was marked by reforms, within the framework of the policy of "Enlightened absolutism". Prove that Catherine was indeed an "enlightened" empress? Judicial system. Domestic politics Catherine II.
"The reign of Catherine 2" - Results of the reign: The main policy measures of enlightened absolutism. Either I die or I reign.” The people's war led by E. Pugachev is a black spot in Catherine's politics. Events in the interests of the nobility of Russia. The reign of Catherine II left a very significant imprint in the history of Russia. “I wanted to be Russian, so that the Russians would love me.
"Foreign policy of Catherine 2" - Polish direction. Polish. II period of Catherine's foreign policy 1775-1796. In 1774, after long negotiations, Russia managed to make peace with Turkey. Gdansk, Torun, Poznan. The results of foreign policy activities of Catherine II. The alliance with Austria led Russia to clash with Prussia in the Seven Years' War.
"Catherine the Second" - 4. Letters of grant to the nobility and cities of 1785. Changes in public administration. Educational activity. Conclusion. 5. Decrees of Catherine II on the enslavement of peasants. Count Alexei Orlov is one of the main participants in the conspiracy. Wedding of Catherine II and Peter III. Catherine had enough time to read many books.
"Empress Catherine II" - Wedding of Catherine II and Peter III. Letters of grant to the nobility and cities in 1785. Decrees of Catherine II on the enslavement of the peasants. You slew the wise man with your mind, Seeing you, I would have lost my mind. August 21, 1745. The right to buy villages is confirmed to the nobles. The nobles are allowed to have factories and plants in the villages. 29th.
Catherine I Romanova (1684-1727) - Empress, who ruled Russian Empire after the death of Peter I in 1725-1727. Since 1721, she was the wife of the reigning emperor. In 1723 she was crowned Empress in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. In the entire history of the Russian state, this was the second coronation of the sovereign's wife. The first took place in 1606, and the crown was placed on the head of Marina Mnishek, the wife of False Dmitry I.
Portrait of Catherine
(artist Jean-Marc Nattier, 1717)
With the origin of the reigning person, a lot is unclear. Her name was Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya (married to Kruse). It is believed that she was born into a peasant family. By nationality, she was either Latvian, or Lithuanian, or Estonian. At 6 months old, she was left an orphan, as her parents died of the plague. She was brought up in the home of the Lutheran priest Ernst Gluck. She performed the duties of a maid.
At the age of 17, the girl married the Swedish dragoon Johann Kruse. She lived with her husband in Marienburg. 2 days after the wedding, the husband left for the war with the army in the field, and the wife never saw her betrothed again.
At the end of August 1702, the Marienburg fortress was taken by Russian troops under the command of Field Marshal Sheremetyev. The city was sacked and many residents were arrested. Among those arrested was Martha. Soon Sheremetyev noticed her and made her his mistress. In the summer of 1703, the sovereign's favorite, Prince A. Menshikov, saw her. He took the woman to him and also made him his mistress.
In the autumn of 1703, Peter I saw Martha. He took her away from his favorite and made her his mistress. Apparently there was something special about this young woman, since high-ranking men were so attracted to her.
The king began to call her Katerina. In 1704, she gave birth to her lover's first child, who was named Peter. In total, she gave birth to 8 children: 6 girls and 2 boys. Of these, 6 died in childhood. Daughter Anna died at the age of 20, but managed to give birth to a son, who later became emperor Peter III. Daughter Elizabeth became the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.
In 1707 Katerina was baptized and converted to Orthodoxy. She changed her name, and they began to call her Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. She received her patronymic from her godfather, Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, and the tsar came up with her last name.
In 1710, a solemn parade was held in Moscow on the occasion of the victory in Poltava battle. At this parade, Swedish prisoners marched in front of the Muscovites. Among them was Martha's husband, Johann Kruse. He saw his lawful wife near the Russian Tsar and began to tell everyone about it. He was immediately exiled to a remote Siberian village, where Kruse died in 1721.
In February 1712, Peter and Catherine got married. After that, they began to be considered legal husband and wife. They lived well, as the wife knew how to adapt to the hot-tempered and uncontrollable nature of the sovereign. But in 1724 there was an embarrassment. The Empress was suspected of treason. Chamberlain Mons became her lover. She was executed, however, they found another reason for this.
The emperor then moved away from his wife. He reconciled with his wife only when he was near death. The forgiven wife sat all the time near the bed of the dying sovereign, and he died, practically, in her arms.
The sovereign died without naming a successor. Immediately, 2 groups were formed. One advocated the enthronement of the grandson of the late sovereign Peter Alekseevich, the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei, to the throne, and the other group rallied around Catherine.
The empress was supported by A. Menshikov, other associates of Peter and the guards. It was the Guards regiments that came to the Senate, where the fate of the succession to the throne was decided. The noble boyars had no choice but to recognize the power of the wife of the deceased emperor over themselves.
So, with the support of the guards bayonets, behind which stood A. Menshikov, Catherine I Romanova ascended the Russian throne. But she reigned formally. He had real power Supreme Privy Council led by Field Marshal A Menshikov. It began to function in February 1726.
In addition to the field marshal, the council included counts Apraksin, Golovkin, Tolstoy, Prince Golitsyn, Baron Osterman. Of all the members, only Golitsyn belonged to the noble nobles. The son-in-law of the Empress Duke of Holstein Karl-Friedrich was also included in this authority.
Portrait of A. Menshikov (unknown artist)
In this state of affairs, the role of the Senate fell. All important matters were decided in the Supreme Council, and the empress only signed the papers. She devoted almost all her time to balls, festivities, fireworks, which followed in a continuous series at her court.
In the meantime, in the country because of crop failure jumped the price of bread. Discontent began to grow among the people. The activities of the new rulers were limited only to minor issues. At the same time, embezzlement of public funds, corruption, abuse, and arbitrariness flourished. No serious steps were taken to improve the situation in the country.
The only positive thing they did was to open the Academy of Sciences and organize the expedition of V. Bering. In foreign policy, the Treaty of Vienna was concluded with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1726. He laid the foundation for the Russian-Austrian military-political alliance.
The reign of Catherine I Romanova lasted only 2 years. The woman's health was weak, and the wild life weakened him even more. In early April 1727, the empress fell seriously ill. She began to suffer from cough and fever. The woman grew weaker every day and died on May 6, 1727 at the age of 43. It is assumed that she died from abscess pneumonia.
According to legend, a few days before her death, the Empress had a dream that she was flying to a cloud on which Peter was standing. And on the ground, a hostile crowd surrounds her daughters Anna and Elizabeth. But their mother can no longer help them.
Thus ended the reign of another representative of the Romanov dynasty. But this ruler did not show herself. She only managed to achieve tremendous personal success, but he did not bring any benefit to society..
Alexey Starikov
In the section on the question Results of the reign of Catherine 1. asked by the author European the best answer is During the reign of Catherine I, the Academy of Sciences was opened, the expedition of V. Bering was organized, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established.
For 2 years of the reign of Catherine I, Russia did not lead big wars, only in the Caucasus a separate corps operated under the command of Prince Dolgorukov, trying to recapture the Persian territories, while Persia was in a state of unrest, and Turkey unsuccessfully fought the Persian rebels. In Europe, the matter was limited to diplomatic activity in defending the interests of the Duke of Holstein (husband of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Catherine I) against Denmark.
Russia waged war with the Turks in Dagestan and Georgia. Catherine's plan to return Schleswig taken by the Danes to the Duke of Holstein led to military operations against Russia from Denmark and England. In relation to Poland, Russia tried to pursue a peaceful policy.
Catherine's time was marked by the appearance of a whole galaxy of prominent statesmen, generals, writers, artists, musicians
Under her, the persecution of the Old Believers was stopped, Catholic and Protestant churches, mosques.
The war with Turkey ended in 1791. In 1792, the Treaty of Jassy was signed, which secured Russia's influence in Bessarabia and Transcaucasia, as well as the annexation of the Crimea. In 1793 and 1795, the second and third partitions of Poland took place, finally putting an end to Polish statehood.
Ekaterina Alekseevna |
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Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg |
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Romanovs (by marriage) |
According to the most common version, Samuil Skavronsky |
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Assume (Anna-) Dorothea Gan |
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1) Johann Kruse (or Rabe) |
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Anna Petrovna Elizaveta Petrovna Pyotr Petrovich Natalya Petrovna the rest died in infancy |
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early years
Origin question
1702-1725 years
Mistress of Peter I
Wife of Peter I
Rise to power
Governing body. 1725-1727 years
Foreign policy
End of reign
Question of succession
Will
Catherine I (Marta Skavronskaya, ; 1684-1727) - the Russian Empress from 1721 as the wife of the reigning emperor, from 1725 as the ruling empress; second wife of Peter I the Great, mother of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
According to the most common version, the real name of Catherine is Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, later baptized by Peter I under a new name Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. She was born in the family of a Baltic (Latvian) peasant, originally from the vicinity of Kegums, captured by Russian troops, became the mistress of Peter I, then his wife and the ruling Empress of Russia. In her honor, Peter I established the Order of St. Catherine (in 1713) and named the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals (in 1723). The name of Catherine I is also the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (built under her daughter Elizabeth).
Information about the youth of Catherine I is contained mainly in historical anecdotes and is not sufficiently reliable.
The most common version is this. She was born on the territory of modern Latvia, in the historical region of Vidzeme, which was part of Swedish Livonia at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries.
Martha's parents died of the plague in 1684, and her uncle gave the girl to the house of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck, known for his translation of the Bible into Latvian (after the capture of Marienburg by Russian troops, Gluck, as a learned man, was taken to the Russian service, founded the first gymnasium in Moscow, taught languages and wrote poetry in Russian). Martha was used in the house as a servant, she was not taught literacy.
According to the version set out in the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, Marta's mother, having become a widow, gave her daughter to serve in the family of pastor Gluck, where she was allegedly taught to read and write and needlework.
According to another version, until the age of 12, Katerina lived with her aunt Anna-Maria Veselovskaya before she ended up in the Gluck family.
At the age of 17, Martha was married to a Swedish dragoon named Johann Cruse, just before the Russian advance on Marienburg. A day or two after the wedding, the trumpeter Johann left for the war with his regiment and, according to the widespread version, went missing.
The search for Catherine's roots in the Baltics, carried out after the death of Peter I, showed that Catherine had two sisters - Anna and Christina, and two brothers - Karl and Friedrich. Catherine moved their families to St. Petersburg in 1726 (Karl Skavronsky moved even earlier, see Skavronsky). According to A. I. Repnin, who led the search, Khristina Skavronskaya and her husband “ lie", both of them" people are stupid and drunk", Repnin offered to send them" somewhere else, so that there are no big lies from them". Catherine awarded Karl and Friedrich in January 1727 the dignity of a count, without calling them her brothers. In the will of Catherine I, the Skavronskys are vaguely named " close relatives of her own surname". Under Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Catherine, immediately after her accession to the throne in 1741, the children of Christina (Gendrikova) and the children of Anna (Efimovsky) were also elevated to the dignity of a count. Further official version it became that Anna, Christina, Karl and Friedrich were Catherine's brothers and sisters, children of Samuil Skavronsky.
However, since the end of the 19th century, a number of historians have questioned this relationship. The fact is pointed out that Peter I called Catherine not Skavronskaya, but Veselevskaya or Vasilevskaya, and in 1710, after the capture of Riga, in a letter to the same Repnin, he called completely different names to “my Katerina’s relatives” - “Yagan-Ionus Vasilevsky, Anna Dorothea , also their children. Therefore, other versions of the origin of Catherine were proposed, according to which she is a cousin, and not a sister of the Skavronskys who appeared in 1726.
In connection with Catherine I, another surname is called - Rabe. According to some sources, Rabe (and not Kruse) is the name of her first dragoon husband (this version was included in fiction, for example, the novel by A. N. Tolstoy "Peter the Great"), according to others - this is her maiden name, and a certain Johann Rabe was her father.
On August 25, 1702, during the Great Northern War, the army of Russian Field Marshal Sheremetev, leading fighting against the Swedes in Livonia, took the Swedish fortress of Marienburg (now Aluksne, Latvia). Sheremetev, taking advantage of the departure of the main Swedish army to Poland, subjected the region to merciless ruin. As he himself reported to Tsar Peter I at the end of 1702:
In Marienburg, Sheremetev captured 400 inhabitants. When pastor Gluck, accompanied by his servants, came to intercede about the fate of the inhabitants, Sheremetev noticed the maid Martha Kruse and took her by force as his mistress. Through a short time Around August 1703, Prince Menshikov, a friend and ally of Peter I, became its owner. So says the Frenchman Franz Villebois, who has been in the Russian service in the navy since 1698 and is married to the daughter of pastor Gluck. Villebois' story is confirmed by another source, notes from 1724 from the archive of the Duke of Oldenburg. According to these notes, Sheremetev sent pastor Gluck and all the inhabitants of the Marienburg fortress to Moscow, while Martha left himself. Menshikov, having taken Martha from the elderly field marshal a few months later, had a strong quarrel with Sheremetev.
The Scot Peter Henry Bruce in his "Memoirs" sets out the story (according to others) in a light more favorable to Catherine I. Marta was taken by the colonel of the dragoon regiment Baur (later became a general):
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“[Baur] immediately ordered her to be placed in his house, which entrusted her to the cares, giving her the right to dispose of all the servants, and she soon fell in love with the new steward for her manner of household. The General later often said that his house was never as well maintained as in the days of her stay there. Prince Menshikov, who was his patron, once saw her at the general's, also noting something extraordinary in her appearance and manners. Asking who she was and whether she knew how to cook, he heard in response the story just told, to which the general added a few words about her worthy position in his house. The prince said that it was precisely such a woman that he really needed now, for he himself was now served very poorly. To this, the general replied that he owed too much to the prince so as not to immediately fulfill what he only thought of - and immediately calling Catherine, he said that in front of her was Prince Menshikov, who needed just such a servant as she, and that the prince will do everything within his power to become, like himself, her friend, adding that he respects her too much to prevent her from receiving her share of honor and a good fate. |
In the autumn of 1703, on one of his regular visits to Menshikov in St. Petersburg, Peter I met Martha and soon made her his mistress, calling her in letters Katerina Vasilevskaya (perhaps by the name of her aunt). Franz Villebois relates their first meeting as follows:
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“This is how things were when the tsar, traveling by post from St. Petersburg, which was then called Nienschanz, or Noteburg, to Livonia, in order to go further, stopped at his favorite Menshikov, where he noticed Catherine among the servants who served at the table. He asked where it came from and how he acquired it. And, speaking softly in his ear with this favorite, who answered him only with a nod of his head, he looked at Catherine for a long time and, teasing her, said that she was smart, and ended his joking speech by telling her, when she went to bed, to take light a candle in his room. It was an order, spoken in a playful tone, but not subject to any objections. Menshikov took it for granted, and the beauty, devoted to her master, spent the night in the king's room ... The next day the king left in the morning to continue his journey. He returned to his favorite what he lent him. The satisfaction of the king, which he received from his nightly conversation with Catherine, cannot be judged by the generosity that he showed. She limited herself to only one ducat, which is equal in value to half of one louis d'or (10 francs), which he thrust into her hand in a military way at parting. |
In 1704, Katerina gives birth to her first child, named Peter, in next year Paul (both died soon after).
In 1705, Peter sent Katerina to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, to the house of his sister Tsarevna Natalya Alekseevna, where Katerina Vasilevskaya learned Russian literacy, and, in addition, became friends with the Menshikov family.
When Katerina was baptized into Orthodoxy (1707 or 1708), she changed her name to Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova, since Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was her godfather, and Peter I himself used the surname Mikhailov if he wanted to remain incognito.
In January 1710, Peter staged a triumphal procession to Moscow on the occasion of the Poltava victory, thousands of Swedish prisoners were held at the parade, among whom, according to the story of Franz Villebois, was Johann Kruse. Johann confessed about his wife, who gave birth one after another to the Russian Tsar, and was immediately exiled to a remote corner of Siberia, where he died in 1721. According to Franz Villebois, the existence of a living legal husband of Catherine during the years of the birth of Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) was later used by opposing factions in disputes over the right to the throne after the death of Catherine I. According to notes from the Duchy of Oldenburg, the Swedish dragoon Kruse died in 1705, however one must keep in mind the interest of the German dukes in the legitimacy of the birth of the daughters of Peter, Anna and Elizabeth, who were looking for suitors among the German specific rulers.
Even before her legal marriage to Peter, Katerina gave birth to daughters Anna and Elizabeth. Katerina alone could cope with the tsar in his fits of anger, knew how to calm Peter's attacks of convulsive headache with kindness and patient attention. According to Bassevich's memoirs:
In the spring of 1711, Peter, having become attached to a charming and light-tempered former maid, ordered Catherine to be considered his wife and took her on the Prut campaign, which was unfortunate for the Russian army. The Danish envoy Just Yul, from the words of the princesses (nieces of Peter I), wrote this story down like this:
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“In the evening, shortly before his departure, the tsar called them, his sister Natalya Alekseevna, to one house in Preobrazhenskaya Sloboda. There he took his hand and placed before them his mistress Ekaterina Alekseevna. For the future, the tsar said, they should consider her his lawful wife and Russian tsarina. Since now, due to the urgent need to go to the army, he cannot marry her, he takes her away with him in order to do this on occasion in more free time. At the same time, the king made it clear that if he died before he had time to marry, then after his death they would have to look at her as his lawful wife. After that, they all congratulated (Ekaterina Alekseevna) and kissed her hand. |
In Moldova in July 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38,000th Russian army to the river, completely surrounded by numerous cavalry. Ekaterina went on a long trip, being 7 months pregnant. According to a well-known legend, she took off all her jewelry in order to bribe the Turkish commander. Peter I was able to conclude the Prut Peace and, having sacrificed the Russian conquests in the south, to withdraw the army from the encirclement. The Danish envoy Just Yul, who was with the Russian army after she left the encirclement, does not report such an act of Catherine, but says that the queen (as everyone now called Catherine) handed out her jewelry to the officers for safekeeping and then collected them. Brigadier Moreau de Brazet's notes also do not mention the bribery of the vizier with Catherine's jewels, although the author (the Brigadier Moro de Brazet) knew from the words of Turkish pashas about the exact amount of state sums aimed at bribes to the Turks.
The official wedding of Peter I with Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712 in the church of St. Isaac of Dalmatsky in St. Petersburg. In 1713, in honor of the worthy behavior of his wife during the unsuccessful Prut campaign, Peter I established the Order of St. Catherine and personally laid the signs of the order on his wife on November 24, 1714. Initially, it was called the Order of Liberation and was intended only for Catherine. Peter I recalled the merits of Catherine during the Prut campaign in his manifesto on the coronation of his wife dated November 15, 1723:
In personal letters, the tsar showed an unusual tenderness for his wife: “ Katerinushka, my friend, hello! I hear that you are bored, but I am not bored either ...» Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to her husband 11 children, but almost all of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizabeth. Elizabeth later became empress (ruled in 1741-1762), and Anna's direct descendants ruled Russia after the death of Elizabeth, from 1762 to 1917. One of the sons who died in childhood, Peter Petrovich, after the abdication of Alexei Petrovich (Peter's eldest son from Evdokia Lopukhina) from February 1718 until his death in 1719, he was the official heir to the Russian throne.
Foreigners, who followed the Russian court with attention, note the tsar's affection for his wife. Bassevich writes about their relationship in 1721:
In the autumn of 1724, Peter I suspected the empress of adultery with her chamberlain Mons, who was executed for another reason. He stopped talking to her, she was denied access to him. Only once, at the request of his daughter Elizabeth, Peter agreed to dine with Catherine, who had been his inseparable friend for 20 years. Only at death did Peter reconcile with his wife. In January 1725, Catherine spent all her time at the bedside of the dying sovereign, he died in her arms.
Year of birth |
Year of death |
Note |
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Anna Petrovna |
In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl-Friedrich; left for Kiel, where she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian Emperor Peter III). |
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Elizaveta Petrovna |
Russian empress since 1741. |
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Natalia Petrovna |
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Margarita Petrovna |
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Petr Petrovich |
He was considered the official heir to the crown from 1718 until his death. |
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Pavel Petrovich |
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Natalia Petrovna |
By a manifesto of November 15, 1723, Peter announced the future coronation of Catherine as a token of her special merits.
On May 7 (18), 1724, Peter crowned Catherine the empress in Moscow's Assumption Cathedral. This was the second coronation in Russia of a female sovereign's wife (after the coronation of Marina Mnishek by False Dmitry I in 1605).
By his law of February 5, 1722, Peter canceled the previous order of succession to the throne by a direct descendant in the male line, replacing it with the personal appointment of the reigning sovereign. Any person worthy, in the opinion of the sovereign, to head the state could become a successor according to the Decree of 1722. Peter died in the early morning of January 28 (February 8), 1725, without having time to name a successor and leaving no sons. In the absence of a strictly defined order of succession to the throne, the throne of Russia was left to chance, and the subsequent time went down in history as the era of palace coups.
The popular majority was in favor of the only male representative of the dynasty - Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, grandson of Peter I from his eldest son Alexei, who died during interrogations. For Pyotr Alekseevich there was a well-born nobility, who considered him the only legitimate heir, born from a worthy royal blood marriage. Count Tolstoy, Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky, Chancellor Count Golovkin and Menshikov, at the head of the service nobility, could not hope to retain the power received from Peter I under Peter Alekseevich; on the other hand, the coronation of the empress could be interpreted as Peter's indirect reference to the heiress. When Catherine saw that there was no longer any hope for her husband's recovery, she instructed Menshikov and Tolstoy to act in favor of their rights. The guard was devoted to adoration to the dying emperor; she transferred this attachment to Catherine.
Officers of the Guards from the Preobrazhensky Regiment came to the meeting of the Senate, knocking down the door to the room. They frankly declared that they would smash the heads of the old boyars if they went against their mother Catherine. Suddenly, a drum beat sounded from the square: it turned out that both guards regiments were lined up in front of the palace under arms. Prince Field Marshal Repnin, President of the Military Collegium, angrily asked: Who dared to bring shelves here without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal?"Buturlin, the commander of the Semenovsky regiment, replied to Repnin that he called the regiments at the behest of the empress, to whom all subjects are obliged to obey," not excluding you he added impressively.
Thanks to the support of the guards regiments, it was possible to convince all the opponents of Catherine to give her their vote. The Senate “unanimously” elevated her to the throne, calling her “ Most Gracious, Most Powerful Grand Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, Autocrat of All Russia”and in justification announcing the will of the late sovereign interpreted by the Senate. The people were very surprised at the ascent for the first time in Russian history to the throne of a woman, but there was no unrest.
On January 28 (February 8), 1725, Catherine I ascended the throne of the Russian Empire thanks to the support of the guards and nobles who rose under Peter. In Russia, the era of the reign of empresses began, when, until the end of the 18th century, only women ruled, with the exception of a few years.
The actual power in the reign of Catherine was concentrated by Prince and Field Marshal Menshikov, as well as the Supreme Privy Council. Catherine was completely satisfied with the role of the first mistress of Tsarskoye Selo, relying on her advisers in matters of state administration. She was only interested in the affairs of the fleet - Peter's love for the sea also touched her.
The nobles wanted to rule with a woman, and now they really achieved their goal.
From the "History of Russia" S.M. Solovyov:
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Under Peter, she did not shine with her own light, but with a light borrowed from the great man of whom she was a companion; she had the ability to keep herself at a certain height, to show attention and sympathy for the movement that took place around her; she was initiated into all the secrets, the secrets of the personal relationships of the people around her. Her position, her fear for the future, kept her mental and moral powers in constant and intense tension. But climbing plant reached a height thanks only to that giant of the forests, around whom it twined; the giant is slain - and the weak plant is spread on the ground. Catherine retained a knowledge of faces and relationships between them, retained the habit of wading between these relationships; but she had neither due attention to matters, especially internal ones, and their details, nor the ability to initiate and direct. |
On the initiative of Count P. A. Tolstoy in February 1726, a new body was created state power, the Supreme Privy Council, where a narrow circle of chief dignitaries could govern the Russian Empire under the formal chairmanship of a semi-literate empress. The Council included Field Marshal Prince Menshikov, Admiral General Count Apraksin, Chancellor Count Golovkin, Count Tolstoy, Prince Golitsyn, and Vice Chancellor Baron Osterman. Of the six members of the new institution, only Prince D. M. Golitsyn was a descendant of noble nobles. In April, the young prince I. A. Dolgoruky was admitted to the Supreme Privy Council.
As a result, the role of the Senate declined sharply, although it was renamed the "High Senate". The leaders jointly decided all important matters, and Catherine only signed the papers they sent. The Supreme Council liquidated the local authorities created by Peter and restored the power of the governor.
The long wars waged by Russia affected the country's finances. Due to crop failures, the price of bread rose, and discontent grew in the country. To prevent uprisings, the poll tax was reduced (from 74 to 70 kopecks).
The activity of the Catherine's government was limited mainly to petty issues, while embezzlement, arbitrariness and abuse flourished. There was no talk of any reforms and transformations; there was a struggle for power within the Council.
Despite this, the common people loved the empress because she sympathized with the unfortunate and willingly helped them. Soldiers, sailors and artisans were constantly crowding in her front rooms: some were looking for help, others asked the queen to be their godfather. She refused no one and usually gave each of her godsons a few chervonets.
During the reign of Catherine I, the Academy of Sciences was opened, the expedition of V. Bering was organized, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established.
During the 2 years of the reign of Catherine I, Russia did not wage major wars, only in the Caucasus a separate corps operated under the command of Prince Dolgorukov, trying to recapture the Persian territories, while Persia was in a state of unrest, and Turkey unsuccessfully fought against the Persian rebels. In Europe, the matter was limited to diplomatic activity in defending the interests of the Duke of Holstein (husband of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Catherine I) against Denmark.
Russia waged war with the Turks in Dagestan and Georgia. Catherine's plan to return Schleswig taken by the Danes to the Duke of Holstein led to military operations against Russia from Denmark and England. In relation to Poland, Russia tried to pursue a peaceful policy.
Catherine I ruled for a short time. Balls, festivities, feasts and revels, which followed a continuous series, undermined her health, and on April 10, 1727, the empress fell ill. The cough, previously weak, began to intensify, a fever was discovered, the patient began to weaken day by day, signs of damage to the lung appeared. Therefore, the government had to urgently resolve the issue of succession to the throne.
Catherine was easily enthroned due to the infancy of Peter Alekseevich, however, in Russian society there were strong sentiments in favor of the grown-up Peter, the direct heir to the Romanov dynasty in the male line. The empress, alarmed by anonymous letters sent against the decree of Peter I of 1722 (by which the reigning sovereign had the right to appoint any successor for himself), turned to her advisers for help.
Vice-Chancellor Osterman proposed, in order to reconcile the interests of the noble and new serving nobility, to marry Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich to Princess Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine's daughter. Their close relationship served as an obstacle, Elizabeth was Peter's own aunt. In order to avoid a possible divorce in the future, Osterman proposed to determine the order of succession to the throne more strictly when entering into a marriage.
Catherine, wanting to appoint her daughter Elizabeth (according to other sources - Anna) as her heir, did not dare to accept Osterman's project and continued to insist on her right to appoint her successor, hoping that the issue would be resolved over time. Meanwhile, the main supporter of Ekaterina Menshikov, having assessed the prospect of Peter becoming the Russian emperor, went over to the camp of his adherents. Moreover, Menshikov managed to get Catherine's consent to the marriage of Maria, Menshikov's daughter, with Peter Alekseevich.
The party led by Tolstoy, which most of all contributed to the enthronement of Catherine, could hope that Catherine would live for a long time and circumstances might change in their favor. Osterman threatened people with uprisings for Peter as the only legitimate heir; they could answer him that the army was on the side of Catherine, that it would also be on the side of her daughters. Catherine, for her part, tried to win the affection of the troops with her attention.
Menshikov managed to take advantage of the illness of Catherine, who signed on May 6, 1727, a few hours before her death, an accusatory decree against Menshikov's enemies, and on the same day Count Tolstoy and other high-ranking enemies of Menshikov were sent into exile.
When the empress fell dangerously ill, members of the highest government institutions gathered in the palace to decide on a successor: the Supreme Privy Council, the Senate and the Synod. Guards officers were also invited. The Supreme Council resolutely insisted on the appointment of the infant grandson of Peter I, Peter Alekseevich, as the heir. Before his death, Bassevich hastily compiled a will, signed by Elizabeth instead of the infirm mother empress. According to the will, the throne was inherited by the grandson of Peter I, Peter Alekseevich.
Subsequent articles dealt with the guardianship of a minor emperor; determined the power of the Supreme Council, the order of succession to the throne in the event of the death of Peter Alekseevich. According to the will, in the event of Peter's childless death, Anna Petrovna and her descendants became his successor, then her younger sister Elizaveta Petrovna and her descendants, and only then Peter II's sister Natalya Alekseevna. At the same time, those applicants for the throne who were not Orthodox or already reigned abroad were excluded from the order of succession. It was to the will of Catherine I that 14 years later Elizaveta Petrovna referred in the manifesto, setting out her rights to the throne after palace coup 1741
The 11th article of the will amazed those present. It ordered all the nobles to contribute to the betrothal of Peter Alekseevich with one of the daughters of Prince Menshikov, and then, upon reaching adulthood, to promote their marriage. Literally: “Our princesses and the government of the administration also have to try to arrange a marriage between his love [Grand Duke Peter] and one princess of Prince Menshikov.”
Such an article clearly testified to the person who participated in the preparation of the will, however, for Russian society, the right of Peter Alekseevich to the throne - the main article of the will - was indisputable, and there were no unrest.
Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered Chancellor Golovkin to burn the spiritual Catherine I. He did, nevertheless keeping a copy of the will.
