Catherine's nationality 1. Russian Empress Catherine I. Years of reign, domestic and foreign policy, reforms. Recognition of Catherine Alekseevna as empress

Empress Catherine the First was one of the most famous personalities of the eighteenth century in Russia. This girl did not have any political motivation or knowledge of the political system, but she had strong personal qualities and thanks to this she left a huge mark on history. Catherine the first was first the lady of love ties, and then the wife of Peter I, and later became the heir to the throne.

The early years of the Empress are shrouded in many secrets; at present there is no absolutely reliable information about this period. The origin and exact country are also unknown; historians cannot give a truthful and accurate answer. One version says that she was born on April 5, 1684 in the Baltic region in the vicinity of the mountains, at that time these territories were under the command of the Swedes.

Another version says that her homeland was Estonia, then she was born in a local small town at the end of the seventeenth century, it also says that she was from the peasants. There is another version that her father was a certain Skavronsky, who served a local warrior and subsequently fled, settled there in the areas of Marienburg and started a family. It is worth noting that Katka was not called Russian, her roots were different. Therefore, upon receiving the throne, her name Martha Skavronskaya was changed to one already known in world literature.

Boyhood

At that time, the plague was sweeping the world, and her family also could not avoid this scourge. According to legend, when the princess was born, her parents died of illness. She only had one relative left, but he gave the baby to another family. Then in 1700 the Northern War began, where Russia was Sweden's enemy. In 1702, the Marienburg fortress was taken by the Russians, a girl with a certain Gluck was captured and they were sent to Moscow.

Martachka was placed in a strange family, and she was there as a servant; she was not taught to read and write. However, another version also says that the mother never died from the plague, but simply gave her daughter to the family of the same Gluck. It is already said here that she was not a servant, but studied spelling and other innovations as befits a secular dma. It is also said according to other sources that at the age of seventeen she was married to a Swede on the eve of the capture of the fortress; a few days later her husband went missing. From these data we can say that the future princess does not have one hundred percent information about her biography.

The story of Peter and Catherine

Peter, on one of his trips to Menshikov, met Martochka, then she became his loving woman. Then Menshikov himself lived in St. Petersburg, the emperor was traveling to Livonia at that time, but decided to stop by for a visit and stayed there. On the day of his arrival, he met his lady of his heart, then she served the guests at the table. Then the king asked everything about her, watched her and told her to bring and light a candle before going to bed. Then they spent the night together, then the king left and finally left his night lover one ducat.

This is how the first meeting of the king and the princess took place; if it had not been for her, she would never have become the heir to the throne. After the victory in the Battle of Poltava in 1710, a triumphal procession was organized where the captured Swedes were paraded. Then Martha’s husband, nicknamed Kruse, was also led along this procession, after he said that the girl had been sent into exile, where he died in 1721.

A year after the first meeting with the Tsar, Catherine gave birth to a son, and a year later a second one, and they all died some time later. Peter called his bridegroom Vasilevskaya, after which he ordered her to live with his sister Natasha, where she learned to read and write and became very friendly with the Menshikov family. Two years later, the future princess converted to Orthodoxy and after that was baptized, then became Alekseevna Mikhailova. The surname was given specifically so that Marta would remain hidden, and she received her middle name from the red one.

Lover and wife

Peter loved her very much; he considered her the only one in his life. Although the prince had many other mistresses, various fleeting meetings, he loved only her. The latter knew about it. The Tsar himself often suffered from severe headaches; the Empress was his only cure. When the king had an attack, his love sat down next to him and hugged him, then the king fell asleep within a minute.

With the onset of spring 1711, the tsar had to set off on a Prussian campaign, then he brought out all his friends and relatives and indicated that Catherine was considered his wife and queen. He also indicated that in the event of death, she should be considered the rightful queen. A year later the wedding took place and from that moment Catherine became the legal wife. Then she followed her husband everywhere, even during the construction of the shipyard. In total, the princess gave birth to ten children, but many died at a young age.

Ascension to the throne

The king was a great leader of new reforms; also regarding thrones, he also changed the entire system. In 1722, a very significant reform was launched, according to it, the heir to the throne becomes not the first son of the king, but the person appointed by the ruler himself, so any subject could lead the throne. A year later, namely on November 15, 1723, the coronation manifesto was published. It happened a year later on May 7th.

During his last year, Peter was very ill, and in the end he became completely ill. Then Catherine understood that something had to be done, the king was in a very bad way, so his death was near. She summoned Prince Menshikov and Tolstoy, gave them a decree, and she herself asked that it was necessary to win over those in power to her side, because the tsar did not have time to draw up a will. Already on January 28, 1725, Catherine was proclaimed empress and heir, most of the nobles and the guard helped her in this.

Board results

During the reign of the empress there was no autocracy; almost everything was decided by the privy council. However, much depended on the Senate, which bowed more to the empress; the latter subsequently renamed it the Great. The count also had a lot of power; he had a good relationship with the princess, especially since he took it into his house at one time.

The future heiress herself was a simple ruling lady and practically did not conduct state affairs, she was not even interested in them. Everything was run by the council, as well as the great figures Tolstoy and Menshikov. However, she kept showing interest in some industry. Namely, to the fleet, because she inherited it from her husband. Then the council was disbanded, documents were determined and created by the privy council, she only needed to sign them.

During the years of the reformer's reign there were many wars, all this burden and costs fell on the common people, who were quite tired of dragging it all out. It was also a time of poor harvests, and product prices began to rise uncontrollably. With all this, a turbulent situation began to grow in the country. Catherine ordered taxes to be reduced from seventy 4 kopecks to seventy. Martha herself was not a reformer, so she did not prescribe anything or make innovations; she dealt only with small details beyond politics and government issues.

During this time, embezzlement and other arbitrariness at the state level began to develop. Although she did not understand anything about government affairs and had a poor education, the people simply adored her, because she came from them. She helped ordinary people a lot and gave alms. They invited her to holidays and dreamed that she would be godfather. She practically never refused and gave money to each godson. In total, she ruled for two years from 1725 to 1724. During this time, she opened an academy, organized a campaign to the Bering Strait and introduced the Order of Nevsky, who was made a Saint.

Sudden death

After the death of the Tsar, Catherine’s life went into full swing. She began to run around the hot spots, organized all kinds of balls, went to festivities and celebrated a lot. Due to endless partying, the ruler undermined her health and fell ill. She immediately developed a cough, then it began to get worse. And then it turned out that she had problems with one lung and it was damaged, then the doctors concluded that she had no more than a month to live.

On the evening of May 6, 1727, she died when she was 43 years old. However, before her death, she managed to draw up a will, but she did not have time to sign it, so her daughter vouched for her and signed it. According to the will, the throne passed to the son-in-law, who was the grandson of Peter the Great. During their lives, these people were a very successful and good couple; Martha always supported him and reassured her husband.

After the death of the princess, there were many rumors that she was a very active woman. She spent all her time drinking and celebrating, while others said that she simply wanted to forget the death of her loved one. However, the people loved her, and she endeared herself to many men, while remaining an empress. One thing can be said with certainty: this girl began the era of women’s rule in the Russian Empire.

Ekaterina Alekseevna Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya


Coronation:
Predecessor:
Successor:
Birth:

Buried:	Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg
Dynasty:	Romanovs (by marriage)
	According to the most common version, Samuil Skavronsky
	Assum. (Anna-)Dorothea Hahn
	1) Johann Kruse (or Rabe) 2) Peter I
	Anna Petrovna Elizaveta Petrovna Pyotr Petrovich Natalya Petrovna the rest died in infancy
Monogram:

early years

Question about origin

1702-1725

Mistress of Peter I

Wife of Peter I

Rise to power

Governing body. 1725-1727

Foreign policy

End of reign

Question of succession to the throne

Will

Catherine I (Marta Skavronskaya, ; 1684-1727) - Russian empress from 1721 as the wife of the reigning emperor, from 1725 as the reigning empress; second wife of Peter I the Great, mother of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

According to the most common version, Catherine’s real name is Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, later baptized by Peter I under a new name Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. She was born into the family of a Baltic (Latvian) peasant from the outskirts 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 Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (built under her daughter Elizabeth) also bears the name of Catherine I.

early years

Information about the early life 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 sent the girl to the house of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck, famous for his translation of the Bible into Latvian (after the capture of Marienburg by Russian troops, Gluck, as a learned man, was taken into Russian service, founded the first gymnasium in Moscow, taught languages and wrote poetry in Russian). Marta was used in the house as a servant; she was not taught literacy.

According to the version set out in the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary, Martha’s mother, having become a widow, gave her daughter to serve in the family of Pastor Gluck, where she was allegedly taught literacy and handicrafts.

According to another version, until the age of 12, Katerina lived with her aunt Anna-Maria Veselovskaya, before ending up in the Gluck family.

At the age of 17, Martha was married to a Swedish dragoon named Johan Cruse, just before the Russian advance on Marienburg. A day or two after the wedding, trumpeter Johann and his regiment left for the war and, according to the widespread version, went missing.

Question about origin

The search for Catherine's roots in the Baltic states, 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 “ they 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 Charles and Frederick the dignity of counts in January 1727, without calling them her brothers. In the will of Catherine I, the Skavronskys are vaguely named “ close relatives of her own surname" Under Elizaveta Petrovna, the daughter of Catherine, immediately after her accession to the throne in 1741, the children of Christina (Gendrikovs) and the children of Anna (Efimovskys) were also elevated to the dignity of counts. Subsequently, the official version became that Anna, Christina, Karl and Friedrich were Catherine’s siblings, 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 Catherine’s origin have been proposed, according to which she is a cousin, and not the 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 surname of her first husband, a dragoon (this version found its way into fiction, for example, the novel by A. N. Tolstoy “Peter the Great”), according to others, this is her maiden name, and someone Johann Rabe was her father.

1702-1725

Mistress of Peter I

On August 25, 1702, during the Great Northern War, the army of Russian Field Marshal Sheremetev, 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 devastation. 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 residents, Sheremetev noticed the maid Martha Kruse and forcibly took her as his mistress. After a short time, around August 1703, Prince Menshikov, a friend and comrade-in-arms of Peter I, became its owner. So says the Frenchman Franz Villebois, who had been in Russian service in the navy since 1698 and was married to the daughter of Pastor Gluck. Villebois's story is confirmed by another source, notes from 1724 from the archives of the Duke of Oldenburg. Based on these notes, Sheremetev sent Pastor Gluck and all the inhabitants of the Marienburg fortress to Moscow, but kept Marta for himself. Menshikov, having taken Marta from the elderly field marshal a few months later, had a strong falling out with Sheremetev.

The Scotsman Peter Henry Bruce in his Memoirs presents the story (according to others) in a more favorable light for Catherine I. Martha was taken by Dragoon Colonel Baur (who later became a general):

“[Baur] immediately ordered her to be placed in his house, which entrusted her to his care, giving her the right to dispose of all the servants, and she soon fell in love with the new manager for her manner of housekeeping. The general later often said that his house was never as tidy as during 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. Having asked who she was and whether she knew how to cook, he heard in response the story he had just told, to which the general added a few words about her worthy position in his house. The prince said that this is the kind of woman he really needs now, because he himself is now being served very poorly. To this the general replied that he owed too much to the prince not to immediately fulfill what he had just thought about - and immediately calling Catherine, he said that before her was Prince Menshikov, who needed just such a maid like her, and that the prince will do everything within his power to become, like himself, her friend, adding that he respects her too much not to give her the opportunity to receive her share of honor and good fate.”

In the fall of 1703, during one of his regular visits to Menshikov in St. Petersburg, Peter I met Martha and soon made her his mistress, calling her Katerina Vasilevskaya in letters (possibly after her aunt’s last name). Franz Villebois recounts their first meeting as follows:

“This is how things stood when the tsar, traveling by mail from St. Petersburg, which was then called Nyenschanz, or Noteburg, to Livonia 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, having spoken quietly in the 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 humorous speech by telling her, when she went to bed, to carry a candle to his room. It was an order spoken in a joking tone, but brooking no objection. Menshikov took this 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 had lent him. The satisfaction the king received from his night conversation with Catherine cannot be judged by the generosity 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 put into her hand in a military manner when parting.”

In 1704, Katerina gives birth to her first child, named Peter, and the following year, Paul (both soon died).

In 1705, Peter sent Katerina to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, to the house of his sister Princess 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 her godfather was Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, and the surname Mikhailov was used by Peter I himself if he wanted to remain incognito.

In January 1710, Peter organized 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 to one after another of children 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 Catherine's living legal husband during the years of the birth of Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) was later used by opposing factions in disputes about 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, for whom grooms were sought among the German appanage rulers.

Wife of Peter I

Even before her legal marriage to Peter, Katerina gave birth to daughters Anna and Elizabeth. Katerina alone could cope with the king in his fits of anger; she knew how to calm Peter’s attacks of convulsive headaches with affection and patient attention. According to Bassevich's memoirs:

In the spring of 1711, Peter, having become attached to a charming and easy-tempered former servant, ordered Catherine to be considered his wife and took her on the Prut campaign, which was unlucky for the Russian army. The Danish envoy Just Yul, from the words of the princesses (nieces of Peter I), wrote down this story as follows:

“In the evening, shortly before his departure, the tsar called them, his sister Natalya Alekseevna, to a house in Preobrazhenskaya Sloboda. There he took his hand and placed his mistress Ekaterina Alekseevna in front of them. For the future, the tsar said, they should consider her his legitimate wife and Russian queen. Since now, due to the urgent need to go to the army, he cannot marry her, he takes her with him to do this on occasion in more free time. At the same time, the king made it clear that if he died before he could get married, then after his death they would have to look at her as his legal wife. After that, they all congratulated (Ekaterina Alekseevna) and kissed her hand.”

In Moldavia in July 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38 thousand-strong Russian army to the river, completely surrounding them with numerous cavalry. Catherine went on a long hike while she was 7 months pregnant. According to a well-known legend, she took off all her jewelry to bribe it to the Turkish commander. Peter I was able to conclude the Prut Peace and, sacrificing Russian conquests in the south, lead the army out of encirclement. The Danish envoy Just Yul, who was with the Russian army after its release from encirclement, does not report such an act of Catherine, but says that the queen (as everyone now called Catherine) distributed her jewelry to the officers for safekeeping and then collected them. The notes of Brigadier Moro de Braze also do not mention bribing the vizier with Catherine’s jewelry, although the author (Brigadier Moro de Braze) knew from the words of the Turkish pashas about the exact amount of government funds allocated for 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 Dalmatia in St. Petersburg. In 1713, Peter I, in honor of the worthy behavior of his wife during the unsuccessful Prut campaign, established the Order of St. Catherine and personally conferred the insignia 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 remembered Catherine’s merits during the Prut campaign in his manifesto on the coronation of his wife dated November 15, 1723:

In his personal letters, the tsar showed unusual tenderness for his wife: “ Katerinushka, my friend, hello! I hear that you are bored, and I am not bored either...“Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to 11 children to her husband, but almost all of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizaveta. Elizabeth later became empress (reigned 1741-1762), and Anna's direct descendants ruled Russia after Elizabeth's death, from 1762 to 1917. One of the sons who died in childhood, Pyotr Petrovich, after the abdication of Alexei Petrovich (Peter's eldest son from Evdokia Lopukhina) was considered from February 1718 until his death in 1719, he was the official heir to the Russian throne.

Foreigners who closely followed the Russian court noted the tsar’s affection for his wife. Bassevich writes about their relationship in 1721:

In the fall of 1724, Peter I suspected the empress of adultery with her chamberlain Mons, whom he executed for another reason. He stopped talking to her and 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.

Descendants of Peter I from Catherine I

	Year of birth	Year of death	Note
Anna Petrovna			In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl Friedrich; went to Kiel, where she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian Emperor Peter III).
Elizaveta Petrovna			Russian Empress since 1741.
Natalia Petrovna
Margarita Petrovna
Petr Petrovich			He was considered the official heir to the crown from 1718 until his death.
Pavel Petrovich
Natalia Petrovna

Rise to power

With a manifesto dated November 15, 1723, Peter announced the future coronation of Catherine as a sign of her special merits.

On May 7 (18), 1724, Peter crowned Catherine empress in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral. This was the second coronation of a female sovereign's wife in Rus' (after the coronation of Marina Mnishek by False Dmitry I in 1605).

By his law of February 5, 1722, Peter abolished 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. According to the Decree of 1722, any person who, in the opinion of the sovereign, was worthy to lead the state could become a successor. Peter died in the early morning of January 28 (February 8), 1725, without having time to name a successor and leaving no sons. Due to the absence of a strictly defined order of succession to the throne, the throne of Russia was left to chance, and subsequent times went down in history as the era of palace coups.

The popular majority was for the only male representative of the dynasty - Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, the grandson of Peter I from his eldest son Alexei, who died during interrogations. Peter Alekseevich was supported by well-born nobility, who considered him the only legitimate heir, born from a marriage worthy of royal blood. Count Tolstoy, Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky, Chancellor Count Golovkin and Menshikov, at the head of the serving nobility, could not hope to preserve 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 indication of the heiress. When Catherine saw that there was no longer hope for her husband’s recovery, she instructed Menshikov and Tolstoy to act in favor of their rights. The guard was devoted to the point of adoration for the dying emperor; She transferred this affection to Catherine as well.

Guard officers from the Preobrazhensky Regiment appeared at the Senate meeting, knocking down the door to the room. They openly declared that they would break the heads of the old boyars if they went against their mother Catherine. Suddenly a drumbeat was heard from the square: it turned out that both guards regiments were lined up under arms in front of the palace. Prince Field Marshal Repnin, president of the military college, angrily asked: “ Who dared to bring shelves here without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal?“Buturlin, commander of the Semenovsky regiment, answered Repnin that he called up the regiments at the behest of the empress, 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 of Catherine’s opponents to give her their vote. The Senate “unanimously” elevated her to the throne, calling her “ the Most Serene, Most Sovereign Great Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, Autocrat of the All-Russian” and in justification, announcing the will of the late sovereign interpreted by the Senate. The people were very surprised by the accession of a woman to the throne for the first time in Russian history, 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 to power 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.

Governing body. 1725-1727

The actual power in Catherine's reign was concentrated by the prince and field marshal Menshikov, as well as the Supreme Privy Council. Catherine, on the other hand, was completely satisfied with the role of the first mistress of Tsarskoye Selo, relying on her advisers in matters of government. 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 “History of Russia” by S.M. Solovyova:

Under Peter, she shone not with her own light, but borrowed from the great man whose companion she was; she had the ability to hold herself at a certain height, to show attention and sympathy for the movement taking place around her; she was privy to all the secrets, the secrets of the personal relationships of the people around her. Her situation and fear for the future kept her mental and moral strength in constant and strong tension. But the climbing plant reached its height only thanks to the giant of the forests around which it twined; the giant was slain - and the weak plant spread out on the ground. Catherine retained knowledge of persons and relationships between them, retained the habit of making her way between these relationships; but she did not have the proper attention to matters, especially internal ones, and their details, nor the ability to initiate and direct.

On the initiative of Count P. A. Tolstoy, a new body of state power was created in February 1726, the Supreme Privy Council, where a narrow circle of top dignitaries could govern the Russian Empire under the formal chairmanship of the semi-literate empress. The Council included Field Marshal General Prince Menshikov, Admiral General Count Apraksin, Chancellor Count Golovkin, Count Tolstoy, Prince Golitsyn, Vice-Chancellor Baron Osterman. Of the six members of the new institution, only Prince D. M. Golitsyn came from well-born nobles. In April, the young Prince I. A. Dolgoruky was admitted to the Supreme Privy Council.

As a result, the role of the Senate sharply declined, although it was renamed the "High Senate". The leaders decided all important matters together, 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 that Russia waged affected the country's finances. Due to crop failures, bread prices rose, and discontent grew in the country. To prevent uprisings, the poll tax was reduced (from 74 to 70 kopecks).

The activities of Catherine's government were limited mainly to minor issues, while embezzlement, arbitrariness and abuse flourished. There was no talk of any reforms or transformations; there was a struggle for power within the Council.

Despite this, the common people loved the empress because she had compassion for the unfortunate and willingly helped them. Soldiers, sailors and artisans were constantly crowding in its halls: some were looking for help, others asked the queen to be their godfather. She never refused anyone and usually gave each of her godsons several ducats.

During the reign of Catherine I, the Academy of Sciences was opened, the expedition of V. Bering was organized, and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established.

Foreign policy

During the 2 years of the reign of Catherine I, Russia did not wage major wars, only a separate corps under the command of Prince Dolgorukov operated in the Caucasus, trying to recapture Persian territories while Persia was in a state of turmoil, and Turkey unsuccessfully fought the Persian rebels. In Europe, matters were limited to diplomatic activity in defending the interests of the Duke of Holstein (husband of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Catherine I) against Denmark.

Russia fought a war with the Turks in Dagestan and Georgia. Catherine's plan to return Schleswig, which had been taken by the Danes, to the Duke of Holstein led to military action against Russia by Denmark and England. Russia tried to pursue a peaceful policy towards Poland.

End of reign

Catherine I did not rule for long. Balls, celebrations, feasts and revelries, which followed in a continuous series, undermined her health, and on April 10, 1727, the empress fell ill. The cough, previously weak, began to intensify, a fever developed, the patient began to weaken day by day, and signs of lung damage appeared. Therefore, the government had to urgently resolve the issue of succession to the throne.

Question of succession to the throne

Catherine was easily elevated to the throne due to Peter Alekseevich’s minority, but in Russian society there were strong sentiments in favor of the maturing Peter, the direct heir to the Romanov dynasty in the male line. The Empress, alarmed by anonymous letters directed against the decree of Peter I of 1722 (according to which the reigning sovereign had the right to appoint any successor), turned to her advisers for help.

Vice-Chancellor Osterman proposed to reconcile the interests of the well-born and new serving nobility to marry Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich to Princess Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine’s daughter. The obstacle was their close relationship; Elizabeth was Peter’s aunt. In order to avoid a possible divorce in the future, Osterman proposed, when concluding a marriage, to more strictly define the order of succession to the throne.

Catherine, wanting to appoint her daughter Elizabeth (according to other sources, Anna) as heir, did not dare to accept Osterman’s project and continued to insist on her right to appoint a successor for herself, hoping that over time the issue would be resolved. Meanwhile, the main supporter of Catherine Menshikov, appreciating the prospect of Peter becoming the Russian emperor, moved to the camp of his adherents. Moreover, Menshikov managed to obtain Catherine’s consent to the marriage of Maria, Menshikov’s daughter, with Pyotr Alekseevich.

The party led by Tolstoy, which most contributed to Catherine’s enthronement, could hope that Catherine would live for a long time and circumstances might change in their favor. Osterman threatened popular uprisings for Peter as the only legitimate heir; they could answer him that the army was on Catherine’s side, that it would also be on the side of her daughters. Catherine, for her part, tried to win the affection of the army 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 indictment against Menshikov’s enemies, and on the same day Count Tolstoy and other high-ranking enemies of Menshikov were sent into exile.

Will

When the Empress became dangerously ill, members of the highest government institutions: the Supreme Privy Council, the Senate and the Synod gathered in the palace to resolve the issue of a successor. Guards officers were also invited. The Supreme Council decisively insisted on the appointment of the young grandson of Peter I, Pyotr Alekseevich, as heir. Just before his death, Bassevich hastily drew up 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, Pyotr Alekseevich.

Subsequent articles related to the guardianship of the 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 (“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 contenders for the throne who were not of the Orthodox faith or who had 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 to in a manifesto outlining her rights to the throne after the palace coup of 1741.

The 11th article of the will amazed those present. It commanded all nobles to promote the betrothal of Pyotr Alekseevich to one of the daughters of Prince Menshikov, and then, upon reaching adulthood, to promote their marriage. Literally: “In the same way, our crown princesses and the government administration are trying to arrange a marriage between his love [Grand Duke Peter] and one princess of Prince Menshikov.”

Such an article clearly indicated the person who participated in the drawing up of the will, however, for Russian society, Pyotr Alekseevich’s right to the throne - the main article of the will - was indisputable, and no unrest arose.

Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered Chancellor Golovkin to burn the spiritual will of Catherine I. He complied, nevertheless keeping a copy of the will.

Before Peter, there was no officially pleasant law on succession to the throne in Russia. Over several centuries, a tradition developed according to which the throne passed through a direct descending male line, i.e. from father to son, from son to grandson. By 1725, Peter had no sons: his eldest son Alexei, born in marriage to Evdokia Lopukhina, was accused of conspiracy against his father, convicted and died in 1718 in prison under unclear circumstances. From Peter’s marriage to Ekaterina Alekseevna (nee Marta Skavronskaya), a son, Peter, was born in 1715, but he also died at the age of four. At the time of Peter’s death, there was no official written will, nor did he give any oral instructions about who he saw as the heir to the Russian throne.

There is a legend that the dying Peter, with a weakening hand, wrote on the slate he carried the words: “Give everything...”, but could not finish this phrase. No one knows whether this actually happened, but, one way or another, there was no official heir to the Russian throne after the death of Peter I.

In this situation, several candidates could lay claim to the throne: Ekaterina Alekseevna, whom Peter I crowned on his own initiative in 1724 (many viewed this as the Tsar’s intention to transfer the Russian throne to Ekaterina), his eldest daughter Anna and the son of the deceased Tsarevich Alexei 9- summer Peter. Behind each of the candidates were the interests of many other people fighting for power and wealth.

The group of Catherine's supporters turned out to be stronger. These were mainly those who sought to continue Peter's policies: former associates of the tsar who received enormous power during his reign. One of the most interested in the transfer of power to the widow of Peter I was A.D. Menshikov. In fact, it was he who managed to organize Catherine’s victory in the struggle for the Russian throne. The guard regiments that surrounded the palace when the issue of power was being decided there also played a significant role in this victory.

Catherine I became the successor to the Russian throne. She assured everyone that, like her late husband, she would tirelessly take care of the good of Russia. The new Russian empress was magnificently crowned in May 1725 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.

Who would argue that Peter I was not only a great monarch, but also one of the most extraordinary personalities in Russian history? It would be surprising if next to him was the most ordinary woman who did not stand out from the crowd. Maybe that’s why the tsar rejected the noblewoman Evdokia Lopukhina, and the love of his life became a rootless Baltic peasant woman, Marta Skavronskaya...

There is not much reliable information about Martha’s life before marriage. It is known that she was born on April 5 (15), 1684 on the territory of modern Estonia, which was then part of Swedish Livonia. Having lost her parents early, the girl was raised by her aunt, and then, at the age of 12, was given into the service of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck.

At the age of 17, the girl was married to the Swedish dragoon Johann Kruse, but their marriage lasted only a couple of days: Johann and his regiment were forced to go to defend the Marienburg fortress, which was being attacked by the Russians. Martha never saw her first husband again - he disappeared without a trace.

After Marienburg was taken by the army of Field Marshal Boris Petrovich Sheremetev on August 25, 1702, he accidentally saw the pastor’s maid, and he liked her so much that he took her as his mistress.

According to another version, Marta Skavronskaya became the housekeeper of General Baur. A few months later she ended up with Peter I’s closest associate, Prince Alexander Menshikov, who also could not resist her charms.

In the fall of 1703, Peter first met a young woman in Menshikov’s house. Before going to bed, he told Martha to take the candle to his room, and they spent the night together. In the morning the king put a golden ducat in her hand...

Peter did not forget Menshikov’s affectionate, cheerful and beautiful “field wife”. Soon he took her to his place. A few years later, Martha was baptized into Orthodoxy and began to be called Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova: her godfather was Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, and Peter himself sometimes introduced himself as Mikhailov if he wanted to remain incognito

Peter was very attached to his partner. “Katerinushka, my friend, hello!” he wrote to her when they were apart. “I hear that you are bored, and I am not bored either...” Katerina was the only one who was not afraid to approach the king during his famous fits of anger and knew how to cope with the headaches that often occurred to him. She took his head in her hands and stroked it tenderly until the king fell asleep. He woke up fresh and invigorated...

According to legend, in the summer of 1711, while on the Prut campaign with Peter, Katerina took off all the jewelry donated by Peter and gave it to the Turks who surrounded the Russian army as a ransom. This touched Peter so much that he decided to make his beloved his legal wife. This monarch never cared about conventions. He quickly got rid of his unloved first wife, the noblewoman Evdokia Lopukhina, imposed on him by his mother in his youth, sending her to a monastery... And Katerina was his beloved.

Their official wedding took place on February 19, 1712 in the Church of St. Isaac of Dalmatia in St. Petersburg. In 1713, Peter I, in memory of the Prut campaign, established the Order of St. Catherine, which he personally awarded to his wife on November 24, 1714. And on May 7 (18), 1724, Catherine was crowned empress. Even before this, in 1723, the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals was named after her...

Despite the obvious love and affection of Peter and Catherine for each other, not everything was rosy between them. Peter allowed himself other women, and Catherine knew about it. In the end, she too, according to rumors, started an affair with the chamberlain Willim Mons. Having learned about this, Peter ordered Mons to be impaled on the wheel, allegedly for embezzlement, and his severed head, preserved in alcohol, according to legend, was placed in the queen’s bedroom for several days so that she could look at it.

Communication between the spouses stopped. And only when Peter was already on his deathbed did they reconcile. The Tsar died in the early morning of January 28 (February 8), 1725, in the arms of Catherine.

The reign of Catherine I lasted a little over two years. On May 6 (17), 1727, she died of pneumonia. She was only 43 years old.

Over the years of her life with Peter, Catherine gave birth to 11 children, but only two of them - Anna and Elizaveta - lived to adulthood.

Elizaveta Petrovna subsequently went down in history as one of the most famous rulers of Russia, and Anna's direct descendants ruled the country until the revolution. It turns out that the last representatives of the Romanov dynasty descended from a courtesan, whom the great love of the great king made empress.

http://www.opeterburge.ru/history_143_163.html http://oneoflady.blogspot.com/2012/02/i.html#more

Ekaterina Alekseevna Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya


Coronation:
Predecessor:
Successor:
Birth:

Buried:	Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg
Dynasty:	Romanovs (by marriage)
	According to the most common version, Samuil Skavronsky
	Assum. (Anna-)Dorothea Hahn
	1) Johann Kruse (or Rabe) 2) Peter I
	Anna Petrovna Elizaveta Petrovna Pyotr Petrovich Natalya Petrovna the rest died in infancy
Monogram:

early years

Question about origin

1702-1725

Mistress of Peter I

Wife of Peter I

Rise to power

Governing body. 1725-1727

Foreign policy

End of reign

Question of succession to the throne

Will

early years

Information about the early life 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.

According to another version, until the age of 12, Katerina lived with her aunt Anna-Maria Veselovskaya, before ending up in the Gluck family.

Question about origin

1702-1725

Mistress of Peter I

In 1704, Katerina gives birth to her first child, named Peter, and the following year, Paul (both soon died).

Wife of Peter I

Foreigners who closely followed the Russian court noted the tsar’s affection for his wife. Bassevich writes about their relationship in 1721:

Descendants of Peter I from Catherine I

	Year of birth	Year of death	Note
Anna Petrovna			In 1725 she married the German Duke Karl Friedrich; went to Kiel, where she gave birth to a son, Karl Peter Ulrich (later Russian Emperor Peter III).
Elizaveta Petrovna			Russian Empress since 1741.
Natalia Petrovna
Margarita Petrovna
Petr Petrovich			He was considered the official heir to the crown from 1718 until his death.
Pavel Petrovich
Natalia Petrovna

Rise to power

With a manifesto dated November 15, 1723, Peter announced the future coronation of Catherine as a sign of her special merits.

Governing body. 1725-1727

The nobles wanted to rule with a woman and now they really achieved their goal.

From “History of Russia” by S.M. Solovyova:

During the reign of Catherine I, the Academy of Sciences was opened, the expedition of V. Bering was organized, and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established.

Foreign policy

End of reign

Question of succession to the throne

Will

Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered Chancellor Golovkin to burn the spiritual will of Catherine I. He complied, nevertheless keeping a copy of the will.

the site continues the series of materials about the great women of our country. We have already discussed first ladies and outstanding actresses, this time we decided to analyze even more large-scale personalities - Russian empresses. The ascension of each of them to the throne was accompanied by a palace coup. They loved and hated, tried to improve the life of the country and “drank the blood” of the common people, enjoyed omnipotence and carried out harsh reforms - such different, but equally interesting destinies! We will start with the beloved woman of Peter I - Catherine I.

“Baby Age” is how some sources call the eighteenth century. We think you already guessed why. It was in the 18th century (and only in it!) that our country was ruled by women. The question of why this happened is answered by a variety of hypotheses. The most popular of them: the century was a bad harvest for boys. Sounds strange, doesn't it?

We won’t even try to get to the bottom of the truth - we’ll leave that to historians.

Instead, we will tell you how they lived, who they loved, and what goals the empresses of Russia pursued. Over the centuries-old history of our country, there were only four of them: Catherine I, Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II.

Each of them came to power through a palace coup. Their reign was accompanied by intrigue, love passions and significant events in the history of the Russian state. We will start with Empress Catherine I Alekseevna (1684-1727).

Her life was short but rich. The wife of Peter I was at different times called Cinderella, a “camping wife,” or a “Chukhon simpleton,” but she will forever remain in the history of the Russian state as the first female ruler of our country.

From hand to hand

Ekaterina Alekseevna was born on April 15, 1684, but in what family is not known for certain. The future wife of Peter I is credited with a whole bunch of nationalities, but the most popular version remains that she was born into the family of the Latvian peasant Samuil Skavronsky under the name Marta.

Marta spent her youth in the house of Pastor Gluck in Marienburg (today the city of Aluksne in Latvia), where she worked as a laundress and cook. The girl did not receive an education, and during her turbulent and difficult life she only learned to sign documents. Soon the pastor married Skavronskaya to the Swedish dragoon Johann Kruse. But two days later, Martha’s husband went to war, where he disappeared without a trace.

In 1702, the Russian army captured Marienburg and captured hundreds of citizens. Marta Skavronskaya also became a military trophy.

Russian Field Marshal Boris Sheremetyev liked the girl, and he forcibly took her as his mistress. Sheremetyev was already old, so without much resistance, as a thing, he gave Marta to Prince Menshikov, who also drew attention to the young and full of life girl. By the way, there is a version that Menshikov took Skavronskaya for himself exclusively as a servant.

Peter I liked Marta at first sight

Martha was not a beauty and did not know how to dress up, but her fiery temperament, ample breasts and flirtatious manner of communication drove men crazy. The future emperor could not resist either: one day Peter I was visiting the house of Prince Menshikov, where he saw Martha. The king unceremoniously demanded that the girl be handed over to him. So Skavronskaya became one of the mistresses of the young ruler of Russia.

Cinderella story

From “one of” Martha soon became the main concubine, and then, in fact, the wife. In 1704, Skavronskaya converted to Orthodoxy, receiving the name Ekaterina Alekseevna at baptism.

Her godfather was the Tsar's son from his first marriage, Alexei (hence Catherine's patronymic). That same year, Catherine gave birth to a son, Peter, who was named after his father, and a year later, a son, Pavel. It is interesting that the king recognized these children - this was a great rarity and luck for mistresses. Unfortunately, both boys died before they were three years old.

Peter became more and more attached to his mistress.

Catherine was the only one who knew how to cope with the royal whims, extinguished his outbursts of anger, helped during attacks of epilepsy, and relieved him of the headaches that tormented him.

“The sound of Katerina’s voice calmed Peter; then she sat him down and took him, caressing him, by the head, which she lightly scratched. This had a magical effect on him; he fell asleep within a few minutes. So as not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and cheerful,” the tsar’s contemporaries wrote in their memoirs.

Catherine easily got along with Peter, whose difficult character was legendary

Still from the TV series “The Romanovs”

Although Catherine had influence on Peter, she did not interfere in state affairs. Only sometimes did she stand up for Prince Menshikov. The main thing for her was to protect the king from drunkenness and wild life. In 1708, Catherine and Peter’s daughter Anna was born, and a year later, daughter Elizabeth. Only these two children of the couple survived.

In total, Catherine gave birth to eleven children. Most died in infancy, and none (except Anna and Elizabeth) lived into adolescence.

It’s not for nothing that Catherine is called a marching wife: she accompanied the Tsar on all military campaigns and trips, slept on a hard bed, lived in a tent, ate whatever they were given and sat astride a horse like a man. She didn’t complain, wasn’t capricious, and didn’t ask for anything. One day she even shaved her head to wear a grenadier's cap. Together with her husband, Catherine reviewed the troops, encouraging the soldiers: sometimes with a kind word, sometimes with a glass of vodka. By the way, she herself could have a drink with the military personnel. For her simplicity, masculine strength and at the same time femininity, the soldiers idolized her.

Catherine always accompanied Peter I, and even pregnancy did not stop her.

In 1711, being in her seventh month, she and her husband took part in the Prut campaign. Then the Russian troops were surrounded, and only Catherine was able to save her husband and the entire army from inevitable death. She gave away her jewelry, persuading the Turkish vizier to sign a peace treaty. Alas, due to the stress experienced, Catherine’s child was stillborn.

Upon returning to St. Petersburg, on February 20, 1712, Peter finally legalized relations with Catherine. The wedding was secret and took place in a chapel belonging to Prince Menshikov.

Catherine was together with Peter for almost ten years before they got married

Still from the series “Peter the Great. Will"

Also, in memory of the Prut campaign, the tsar established the Order of St. Catherine, which he awarded her on her name day.

The love of his life... betrayed

Peter I adored his wife, she was his closest friend, a true life partner. “Katerinushka, my friend, hello! I hear that you are bored, and I am not bored either,” the emperor wrote tender letters to his wife. At the same time, the ruler of Russia did not change his habits and even with his wife he had more than one concubine. Catherine learned about her husband’s adventures from him, but each confession ended with the words: “There is no one better than you, Katenka.”

In 1721, Peter I called himself emperor, and three years later, in the spring of 1724, he crowned Catherine Empress, ordering her a crown many times richer and more beautiful than his own.

And a few months later, the formidable ruler learned of her infidelity. The wife he adored became infatuated with the German Willim Mons, who, by the way, was immediately executed with the light hand of the emperor.

His wife’s betrayal finally undermined Peter’s already weak health

Still from the series “Secrets of Palace Coups”

Peter I was killed by the betrayal of his wife and forever forbade her to approach him and talk about anything. Only once did daughter Elizabeth convince her father to communicate with her mother. Dying, in 1725, Peter still found the strength to forgive his wife, she was constantly there, and he died in her arms.

Palace coup

It was Peter I who abolished the tradition of inheriting the throne. Before him, for many centuries in a row, the Russian throne went to direct male descendants, most often to sons. Now, by decree of Peter I, the reigning monarch could single-handedly choose his successor (in fact, anyone) by writing a corresponding will.

There is an opinion that the new law was issued specifically for Catherine: Peter loved his wife so much that he wanted to leave the entire empire to her.

The Tsar planned to publicly announce Catherine as his successor, but upon learning of his wife’s infidelity, he changed his mind, thereby dooming the country to palace coups.

After the death of Peter I, a time of troubles began at court: there was no strict procedure for choosing a new ruler, as well as a will. The people, accustomed to seeing a man on the throne, supported Prince Peter Alekseevich, the grandson of Peter I. However, the guard was so faithful to the departed emperor that they transferred all their love to Catherine.

Officers came to the Senate meeting without an invitation and lined up thousands of soldiers with weapons in front of the palace. To the question “Who dared?” the answer was that the regiments had arrived at the will of the empress, whom everyone was now obliged to obey. Thus, the Senate, to the sounds of clattering weapons, “unanimously” elevated Catherine to the throne.

Having secured the support of the guard, Catherine I became the new ruler of Russia

Still from the TV series “The Romanovs”

Many people wonder how it happened that hundreds of far from stupid officers entrusted the management of a huge country to a woman, who was also illiterate? There are two versions: either the guard loved Catherine so much that they forgave her all her shortcomings, or they were sure that a woman could be easily manipulated, and with her hands they could lead the state...

And the king is naked!

Actual power belonged to Prince Menshikov and the Secret Supreme Council, while Catherine was quite content with her role as mistress of Tsarskoye Selo. There were no significant changes in the life of the country during the reign of Catherine I: new coins appeared (of course, with the image of the Empress), the First Kamchatka Expedition took place, and the Academy of Sciences opened. The country did not get involved in wars.

Meanwhile, state affairs fell into a deplorable state, the treasury was empty. Theft and arbitrariness flourished in the country, the people rebelled. What kind of reforms are there?

Having become the ruler of all Rus', Catherine fell in love with entertainment. Balls and other celebrations became regular (if not daily) events at the palace. If earlier the empress was restrained by her husband, now no one could blame her for her wrong lifestyle. The courtiers sought friendship with Catherine so as not to anger her, although, as contemporaries claim, the empress was neither cruel nor vindictive.

Even after becoming empress, Catherine I was not interested in state affairs, continuing to lead an idle lifestyle

Catherine I, alas, justified the jealous fears of her late husband. Unbridled passion and love awoke in the empress. She succumbed to vices and became addicted to wine. Every day in the palace ended with a noisy party, and the empress spent the night with one of her lovers.

This lifestyle could not pass without a trace, and after two years of wild life, Catherine’s health was undermined.

In March 1727, the ruler developed a tumor on her leg, which soon spread to her thigh. Added to this were rheumatism, fever, severe cough and abscess (accumulation of pus) of the lung. In April of the same year, Catherine fell ill and died on May 6. She was 43 years old.

Before her death, Catherine wanted to transfer the rights to the throne to her daughter Elizabeth, but under pressure from Prince Menshikov she wrote a will, where she named Peter II Alekseevich as her successor. The boy was 12 years old at that time, and power automatically fell back into the hands of Menshikov. However, not all women were ready to come to terms with this... (Continued in the next part.)