Ekaterina Alekseevna |
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Coronation: |
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Predecessor: |
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Successor: |
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Birth: |
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Buried: |
Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg |
Dynasty: |
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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Monogram: |
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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).
early years
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, famous 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.
Origin question
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, Catherine's daughter, immediately after her accession to the throne in 1741, the children of Christina (Gendrikova) and the children of Anna (Efimovskaya) were also elevated to count dignity. Later, the official version was 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. It 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 surname of her first dragoon husband (this version got into fiction, for example, A. N. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter the Great”), according to others, this is her maiden name, and someone Johann Rabe was her father.
1702-1725 years
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 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. After a short time, around August 1703, Prince Menshikov, a friend and ally of Peter I, became its owner. This is how the Frenchman Franz Villebois, who has been in the Russian service in the navy since 1698 and married to the daughter of pastor Gluck, tells. The story of Villebois is confirmed by another source, notes of 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 Marta 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 more favorable light for 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, 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 in 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 possible 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 Marta 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 travel 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 quietly 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, the 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.
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 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, according to the words of the princesses (nieces of Peter I), wrote down this story in this way:
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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 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, 190,000 Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38,000th Russian army to the river, completely surrounding it with 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 Moro 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.
Descendants of Peter I from Catherine I
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 |
Rise to power
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 Rus' 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 marriage worthy of royal blood. 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 by the accession 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.
Governing body. 1725-1727 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 the climbing plant reached its height only thanks to that giant of the forests around which it twisted; 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 of state power, the Supreme Privy Council, was created, 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.
Foreign policy
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.
End of reign
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.
Question of succession
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), 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.
Will
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 ("descendents") 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 the palace coup of 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.
January 1725 was a sad month for Russia. The great tsar and emperor Peter died. His illness and death were so swift that Peter did not have time to appoint his successor. The successors to the Russian throne were: Peter, Peter's grandson, Catherine, Peter's wife, and Anna and Elizabeth, Peter's daughters. Even during the life of Peter the Great, Empress Catherine 1 the Great was crowned as the ruling queen. This gave her more chances for the throne. thus began the era of palace coups that have been torturing the country for more than fifty years.
A struggle for power unfolded. Noble noble families took the side of Peter, who at that time was only nine years old. The nobles pursued their own selfish interests, and Peter was chosen by them as a child who can be easily manipulated. The nobility, oppressed by the reformer Peter the Great, hoped by the approval of the nine-year-old Peter to cancel most of the laws on reforms in the country. The families of Repin, Dolgoruky and Golitsyn stood up for young Peter. They argued their actions by the fact that only Peter has legal rights to the throne, being the only representative of the Romanov family in the male line.
In contrast to the opinion of the noble families, the inner circle of the deceased king acted. They did not want to transfer the country into the hands of a child and thereby strengthen the power of the nobility, which could again harm the country. They decided that Empress Catherine 1 the Great should rule the country. Catherine was not only the wife of Peter, but also his companion. She personally contributed to the implementation of many reforms in the country. This gave hope that the course of Peter the Great would be continued.
A council met to determine the future ruler. The noble families, who had an advantage in that assembly, won. Then, by order of the closest associate of Peter the Great, Menshikov, the palace was surrounded by the troops of the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments. No one dared to oppose the army. Empress Catherine 1 the Great was approved as the ruler of Russia. Menshikov, who had contributed so much to Catherine's rise to power, was declared her first assistant.
The first thing Catherine did, as the leader of the country, was reconciliation with the palace nobility. For this purpose, she created a special body "Supreme Privy Council", which included both supporters of Peter and representatives of the nobility. At the same time, Menshikov was the key figure in the affairs of the Soviet. In general, during the reign of Catherine, it was Menshikov who was the second person in the country who solved almost any issue.
The reign of Catherine 1 was not destined to last long, already in May 1727 she died.
The biography, especially in her younger years, of Martha (Martha) Skavronskaya, the future Empress Catherine I, is confused by history or deliberately hidden. Modern historians use various versions and assumptions in their research, based on rumors and anecdotes of the early 18th century and having a pronounced influence of Western European historiography. Let us summarize what is considered an empress, find out how many years Catherine I ruled on her own.
Road to the Imperial Crown
Uncertainty in the fate of the future empress begins from the moment of birth. Historians consider about 10 versions. The most common of them:
- Born in the family of a Swedish quartermaster. His possible last name is Rabe.
- Born in the family of a Baltic peasant Samuil Skavronsky. Sometimes it is indicated that the father was a serf.
- Born in the family of a former servant of the Minsk governor Vladislav Sapega Litvin Semyon Skavron. Semyon fled to Estonia, where he rented a falvarok. From the surname Skavron, the Skavronskys were formed after Catherine I awarded the title of count to her relatives in 1727.
- The illegitimate daughter of the Livonian knight von Alvendahl, who made Martha's mother his mistress.
Catholic baptism is considered indisputable, a simple origin and date of birth - April 5, 1684.
At the age of 3 or 4, Marta lost her parents and lived with her aunt until she was 12 years old until she became a servant to the superintendent (pastor) Gluck in the city of Marienburg. At the same time, Marta was considered the pupil of the pastor. She accepted the Lutheran faith, was not taught to read and write.
There is a version that the widowed mother Dorothea Gan gave to pastor Gluck Mart.
Growing up, Martha became popular with men, having given birth to a daughter from one of them, who lived for several months. The behavior of the pupil did not suit the pastor, and he picked her a groom - a dragoon-trumpeter of the Swedish army I. Kruse (according to another version of Rabe). Whether the wedding took place or not is not known for certain. It is known that after the storming and looting of Marienburg by Russian troops in 1702, the groom disappeared (if, of course, he existed at all).
Marta Skavronskaya became the trophy of one of the Russian soldiers, was sold to a non-commissioned officer, and then fell into the service of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev. According to another version, Martha, along with Gluck, came to ask for mercy for the inhabitants of Marienburg, where she attracted the attention of Sheremetev.
Martha was taken away from Sheremetev by Alexander Menshikov, the all-powerful favorite of Peter I. In another version, General or Colonel Bauer appears instead of Sheremetev. Peter I, in turn, in 1703 recaptured Marta from Menshikov and made him his permanent passion.
In 1705, Peter transferred Marta from the Menshikov house to Preobrazhenskoye to serve Princess Natalia. In the same year, Marta changes the Protestant faith to the Orthodox. After baptism, Marta becomes Ekaterina Alekseevna Vasilevskaya (according to another version, her last name is Mikhailova). The reason for the change in Martha's patronymic was the old patronymic - Samuilovna, and not the fact that Tsarevich Alexei became the godfather. By this time (in 1704 and 1705), Marta had two sons from Peter - they have no official confirmation, they died in 1707.
Catherine was able to make sure that Peter, who had many connections with women, already in 1708, in the surviving letters, showed longing for her and love. Gradually, "Katenka" begins to accompany the emperor on all trips, becoming the usual kind and understanding attribute. The courtiers begin to appreciate Catherine, especially for her ability to calm Peter in moments of anger and epileptic attacks. From 1709 Catherine's presence under Peter became permanent.
There is a version that after the Battle of Poltava, Marta's ex-husband in 1710 participated in the procession of prisoners in Moscow and recognized his wife, after which he was exiled to Siberia, where he died in 1721. In fact, before the death of her first husband, Catherine was a bigamist, and her children were illegitimate. This definition extends to Anna (b. 1708) and to Catherine (b. 1709), the future empress.
In 1711, the engagement of the emperor with the favorite was announced. In the same year, during the Prut campaign, the encircled Russian army was able to escape only thanks to the jewels, which were partially collected from the officers, and the rest were donated by Catherine and personally taken to the Turkish vizier. By the way, the sultan later executed the bribe taker, thanks to the insistence of Charles XII, the eternal enemy of Peter I. In memory of this campaign, in 1714 Peter established the Order of St. Catherine, the first cavalier of which was Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Interesting! Before the wedding of Peter and Catherine, an official investigation was carried out to study the heredity of the future empress. Most likely, the purpose of this investigation was to confuse the biography of Catherine, because the main conclusion of the commission was the conclusion that “the impossibility of finding out the origin.” And it was only necessary to turn to the former pastor Gluck, who lived peacefully in Moscow, opened the first gymnasium in Russia and became one of the "chicks of Petrov's nest."
On February 19, 1712, in the small chapel of Prince Menshikov, the almost secret wedding of Peter I (Admiral Peter Mikhailov) and favorite Ekaterina Vasilevskaya (Mikhailova) took place. At the same time, illegitimate daughters Anna and Elizabeth received the titles of crown princes.
Life with her husband full of adventures continued. Catherine showed her unpretentiousness in everyday life - you need to sleep in a tent - she sleeps, you need to ride a horse - she jumps, she does not particularly bow to bullets flying over her head. During the Persian campaign in 1722-1723, in order not to see a woman from afar, she shaved her head and covered it with a grenadier cap. She did not get into state affairs, she only stood up for those with whom her husband was angry.
With all this, in the period from 1704 to 1723. gave birth to 11 children, of which only 2 daughters did not die in childhood, remained a reliable guardian of home comfort.
Catherine's coronation took place on May 7, 1724, when Peter himself placed the imperial crown on her head.
Peter, who was seriously ill from time to time, due to the fact that there was no direct heir in the male line, was going to transfer power to Catherine after his death (at least, this is the official version). However, a scandal erupted with the close chamberlain of the Empress V. Mons, the brother of Peter's former favorite Anna Mons. As a result of the investigation of an anonymous denunciation, the emperor was convinced of the betrayal of his beloved wife. Mons was accused of taking bribes and executed in mid-November 1724, and the emperor's trust in his wife was destroyed.
Peter stopped communicating with his wife, deprived her of funding, but did not accuse her of anything. External reconciliation took place in January 1725 at the initiative of Tsarina Elizabeth. However, sincerity and trust on the part of the emperor to his wife were not restored.
Empress CatherineI
On January 28, 1725, the first Russian emperor dies, leaving no direct heir and no will. According to the law of succession, Catherine was not included in the number of contenders for the throne in any way. But here, too, history played another joke with Catherine - it was she who became the ruler of a huge country under the name Catherine I. The grandson of Peter I, Peter Alekseevich, was appointed heir. The reason for the rise of Catherine was the support of her candidacy by the "chicks of Petrov's nest", who at that time were at the head of the guard, the Synod, the colleges and sat in the Senate. The "Chicks" headed by A. Menshikov were not going to lose power and privileges, which could happen with the accession of the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei and the possible coming to power of the "old", "Moscow" aristocracy.
The condition for Catherine's coming to power was her refusal to participate in state affairs, which were to be decided by the Supreme Privy Council, headed by His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Menshikov, the same commoner by birth as Marta Skavronskaya. The reason for this decision is the inability of the empress to state activities.
It is believed that Catherine's "rule" consisted of thoughtlessly signing the papers that Menshikov brought to her, for which she had to learn how to write.
During the short reign, Catherine showed herself to be a person prone to constant festivities, drunkenness, carnivals and balls. Among other things, under the influence of a riotous lifestyle, promiscuity in relations with men appeared. As a result of this lifestyle, a disease of the legs and lungs developed, which during March-May 1727 killed the Empress. After herself, Catherine left a country with a flourishing embezzlement, ruined treasury and multiplied abuses on the ground. The all-powerful Supreme Privy Council continued its rule under Peter II. The role of the Senate in government has declined significantly.
Of the positive events of the "reign" of Catherine I, it should be noted the opening of the Academy of Sciences and the organization of the expedition of Vitus Bering to Kamchatka, the approval of the Order of St. A. Nevsky.
Most of the "information" about Martha - Catherine, which is used, can be a simple fiction, invented to denigrate the first Russian Empress and, especially, her offspring. What was the real reason for such a dizzying "career", it will not be possible to find out without an honest study of the archives. The answer to the question “How many years did Catherine I rule?” can be twofold. From the chronological side, she was an autocratic ruler for 27 months. On the other hand, according to the official version, they did not rule the country on their own for a single day.
Catherine 1, Empress of the Russian Empire. Reigned 1725-1727
Catherine 1. Accession
Peter 1 was still dying, unable to name or write the name of the heir, and in the Kremlin there was already a struggle for the throne. The main contender for the throne Peter Alekseevich, son of Tsarevich Alexei and grandson of Peter 1, did not suit Menshikov and Tolstoy, who feared that, having ascended the throne, he would avenge their father and grandmother. Menshikov and Tolstov were more satisfied with the wife of Peter 1 Catherine, with whom Menshikov had long been associated with friendly relations, and under whose accession Menshikov became an actual, albeit not crowned, ruler. The opposing side proposed a compromise, to appoint the grandson of Peter 1 as emperor, but until he came of age, Catherine should rule with the support of the Senate. But this did not suit the supporters of Catherine's party, and Menshikov hurriedly enlisted the support of the guard, which in subsequent reigns would more than once decide the fate of the Russian throne. All debts were hastily paid to the Guards, rewards were promised and a change in official duties towards relief. But the guards were already on the side of Peter 1 and his wife, who often accompanied Peter 1 on military campaigns.
Enlisting the support of the guardsmen, Menshikov takes part in a meeting that decides the fate of the throne. During the meeting, officers began to arrive in the hall, and detachments of the guard lined up under the windows. In this situation, there were no objections to Catherine's accession, Catherine's coronation in 1724 was taken into account, and Empress Catherine 1 ascended the throne by unanimous decision. The Senate, announcing the coronation of Catherine 1 to the people, justified its decision by the fact that Emperor Peter 1 honored Catherine with anointing and a crown, and they only fulfill his will.
The daughter of the Lithuanian peasant Samuil Skavronsky was at the head of the Russian State. Catherine 1 was born on April 6, 1684. The daughter of a simple peasant, named Martha, when she grew up, received the usual education for that time, studying with the daughters of Superintendent Gluck, for whom she was in the service, working in the laundry and in the kitchen. Ekaterina learned to read and write, housekeeping and mastered needlework. Livonia at the beginning of the 18th century was not the most peaceful place in Europe, in 1700 a war began between Russia and Sweden, called the Northern War, which dragged on for decades, until 1721. The Russian army, led by Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev, in 1701 invaded South Livonia. The inhabitants of Merienburg, alarmed by the stories of refugees about the Russian offensive, their destruction of everything in their path and the fate of the prisoners, were preparing for a siege, but the Swedes did not have forces capable of resisting the Russian army in Livonia.
Catherine 1, Beginning
In 1702, Catherine, then still Marta, married a soldier in the Swedish army, a trumpeter. With her husband, Marta did not have time to know family happiness, it was a military time, and he was sent to Riga to pay his official duty to the Swedish crown. Marta is surrounded by Russian troops besieging the city of Merienburg. Not wanting to tempt fate and risk the lives of the inhabitants, the commandant of the city, Major Thiel, assessing the inevitable defeat from the vastly superior Russian forces, agrees on honorable terms of surrender, including the free withdrawal of residents and the garrison from the city. The Russian army complied with the terms of surrender until two soldiers from the garrison of the city, the captain of the artillery Wulf and the shtik-junker were blown up in the cellar with gunpowder, despite the fact that the shtik-junker dragged his wife with him, despite her active objections and resistance. After such an outburst, which claimed the lives of Russian soldiers and residents of the city, there could be no question of any honorable surrender. The inhabitants were taken prisoner, and the city was given over to be plundered. According to the military customs of that time, the captured became the slave of the soldier or officer who captured him.
Thus began the long journey of a simple commoner Martha to the throne, which she will take under the name of Catherine 1. After the fall of Merienburg, Martha becomes the prey of a soldier who presents her as a gift to his commander, Captain Bauer, hoping to achieve certain benefits for himself in the future thanks to such a gift . But Bauer also wanted to improve his official position, having appreciated the beauty and other abilities of the captive, he gives her as a gift to Field Marshal Sheremetev. The aged Sheremetev leaves Martha in the role of a servant and concubine. But less than six months later, the pretty and lively Martha attracted the attention of Menshikov, who was in the field marshal's house. It is not known whether he bought it or took it away, but Martha moves to the brightest. After living for some time with Menshikov, Marta catches the eye of Peter 1, who, in turn, takes her from Menshikov's house to him. However, Menshikov was not very upset, he decided to marry a decent girl from a noble family, and the complications that could arise due to a young and pretty maid living in his house were not needed.
Having become one of the tsar's metres, Catherine gradually gains the trust and disposition of Peter 1. She managed to captivate the tsar so much that persistent rumors began to circulate among the people that Catherine, with the help of Menshikov, drugged the Russian sovereign with a love potion. In his youth, Peter 1 was married at the insistence of Naryshkina's mother Natalya Kirillovna, and Lopukhin's wife Evdokia, due to traditional upbringing, could not understand and become a friend and ally of the king. Later, the mistress of Peter 1 from the German settlement, Anna Mons, who could have become a Russian tsar because of the sincere and deep affection of Peter 1, showed indifference to all his undertakings. Catherine, however, showed a lively participation in all the affairs of the king, participating in them to the best of her ability, not remaining indifferent to all aspects of his life, they were not only lovers, but also associates. Already in 1705, Peter 1 mentioned children in his letters, thereby recognizing them as his own. But they were not lucky with children, they died early. Of the eleven children born by Catherine to Peter 1, only two daughters survived, Anna, born in 1708, and the beautiful Elizabeth, born in 1709. Peter 1 settled Catherine in Preobrazhensky, entrusting her to the care of his sister Natalia, instructing Natalia to teach Catherine behavior and etiquette in society. In Preobrazhensky, Martha becomes Ekaterina Alekseevna, having been baptized, the son of Peter 1 Alexei acted as a godfather.
There is a legend that, participating in a campaign against the Turks in 1711, Catherine, at the most critical moment for the Russian army, who was surrounded, put all her jewels in a message with a proposal for negotiations to the vizier Mehmet Pasha, persuaded him to negotiate. As a result of the negotiations, the Russian army retreated without loss and returned to Moscow. Whether this is true or just a legend is unknown, but on November 24, 1714, having established a new Order of St. Catherine and presenting it to Catherine, Peter 1 emphasized that the order was established in memory of the events in the Turkish war, and with Catherine's actions near the Prut. Peter mentions participation in the events near the Prut in 1723, in the act of coronation, by which Catherine was recognized as the Empress of the Russian Empire. Returning from an unsuccessful military campaign in 1712, Catherine and Peter 1 consolidate their long-term relationship with a wedding and a wedding. The wedding ceremony included an episode when, after Catherine and Peter 1, around the lectern, their young daughters Elizabeth and Anna passed. This rite finally recognized the girls as the daughters of Peter 1. Peter 1 was waiting for an heir, but all the boys born to Catherine died as babies. Realizing that power in the country could go to those who would ruin all his undertakings and achievements, Peter 1 signs a charter regulating the transfer of power, which states that the current emperor can appoint anyone, even persons not related to him, as his heir. Peter 1 was looking for a person whom he could appoint as his successor, but there were no such people in the tsar’s environment, he was surrounded by people for whom personal well-being was above any state needs and achievements. Catherine, using her influence on the king, seeks to revise his will in her favor, deleting the eldest daughter Anna, who was previously entered. While the tsar is solving state problems, Catherine is in a hurry to get rid of her rivals to the throne, which her own daughters Elizabeth and Anna have become for her. The eldest Anna soon marries the Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich and leaves Russia.
But in the fall of 1724, not only the crown, but also the life of Catherine is under threat, Peter 1 learns about Catherine's betrayal with Willim Mons, a young and handsome courtier, brother of Anna Mons. The arrest of Willim Mons and the papers obtained during the search, among which were letters from the highest courtiers, including Menshikov and Yaguzhinsky, who asked for mercy from Mons, called him a patron and gave him villages and expensive gifts, left no doubt about the reasons for his elevation. Within a few days, Mons was convicted and executed, the official charge against Willim Mons was malfeasance and bribery. Peter 1 restrains himself and Catherine does not follow other punishments, except for the cooling of relations on the part of the tsar, but one has to forget about the succession to the throne, Catherine is deleted from the will.
The eldest Anna soon marries the Duke of Holstein, Karl Friedrich, and leaves Russia with her husband, signing a renunciation of the Russian throne for herself and her descendants. But there is also a secret agreement, according to the terms of which, Peter 1 could take Anna's son to Russia and transfer the Russian throne to him. The aging emperor hoped to live until the time when he could pass the throne to his grandson, but fate has its own plans.
Catherine 1. On the throne of the Russian Empire
After the death of Peter 1, Catherine still occupies the Russian throne, but having neither the necessary education nor management experience, Catherine 1 was forced to consult with those courtiers whose interests coincided with her own interests. So Prince Menshikov becomes the main adviser to the Empress. Having brought Catherine to power, he wanted to receive all possible rewards and privileges from her reign.
In the reign of Catherine 1, by inertia, the work begun by Peter 1 continues, they solemnly launched a ship, the construction of which had begun under Peter 1, and to which he gave the name “Do not touch me”. But this time the celebration on the occasion of the launching of the ship, and in which Catherine 1 took part, ended at nine o'clock in the evening, before such events were celebrated for several days. The Academy, for the creation of which Peter 1 spent so much effort, was finally completed, the academicians who arrived from Europe delivered a welcoming speech in Latin, which neither Empress Catherine 1 nor Prince Menshikov, who was with her, understood.
Catherine 1, who had no experience in ruling the country, very soon realized the impossibility of ruling alone, and in the winter of 1726, from the highest dignitaries of the empire, was the highest authority, designed to help Catherine 1 govern the Russian state. The council took over all current government work. The council included the most influential figures, Catherine 1 herself headed the council. Bored with the meetings of the council, Catherine soon ceased to attend them. The entire burden of the consequences of the reforms, the exhaustion of the country by many years of wars, fell on the ministers. The country was exhausted by exorbitant taxes, many villages were deserted, people fled south and into Siberia from the tax collectors.
While the Supreme Council was trying to solve state problems, the Empress was wasting her life, spending all her time in constant holidays.
“These entertainments consist in almost daily drinking parties in the garden, lasting all night and a good part of the day, with persons who, by duty of service, must always be at court,” wrote the French diplomat.
The year 1727 began for Catherine 1 with illnesses, her health deteriorated, her legs began to swell, she was tormented by suffocation, and the fever did not allow her to get out of bed. But as soon as it became easier for her, Catherine immediately arranged a new spree.
Catherine 1 was getting worse and worse, she could not attend the church on the first day of Easter, did not celebrate her birthday, which was not at all like the former cheerful empress. It is not known what illness Catherine 1 had, attacks of coughing and complete impotence were replaced by feverish activity, unbridled fun, most likely Catherine had transient consumption.
The Russian Empress Catherine 1 died on May 6, 1727, at nine o'clock in the evening.
Russian tsarina (March 6, 1717) and empress (December 23, 1721), crowned May 7, 1724 and ruling the country from January 28, 1725 to May 6, 1727.
She was born on April 5 (15), 1684 in Lithuania. The daughter of the Latvian peasant Samuil Skavronsky (according to other sources, the Swedish quartermaster I. Rabe, but there is a legend that her mother belonged to the Livonian nobleman von Alvendahl, who made her his mistress, and Catherine is the fruit of this misalliance). Before the adoption of Orthodoxy, she bore the name Marta. She did not receive an education and until the end of her days she could only put a signature. She spent her youth in the house of pastor Gluck in Marienburg (now Aluksne, Latvia), where she was both a laundress and a cook. According to another legend, she gave birth to a daughter from the Livonian nobleman Tizenhausen, who lived less than a year. In order to put an end to the free behavior of the maid, the pastor married her to the Swedish dragoon Kruse, who soon disappeared in the war.
On August 25, 1702, during the capture of Marienburg by Russian troops, Martha became a war trophy and the mistress of a certain non-commissioned officer, later she got into the convoy B.P. Sheremetev, who gave her porter (laundress) A.D. Menshikov. In 1703, Peter I noticed her and was captivated by something in her (according to modern ideas, she was not a beauty, her facial features are incorrect). Martha became one of his mistresses; in 1704 she, baptized according to the Orthodox custom under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna, was pregnant by Peter, in March 1705 they had two sons - Peter and Pavel. However, Catherine continued to live in the Menshikov house in St. Petersburg.
Gradually, the relationship between Peter and Catherine became closer (this can be seen from their correspondence in 1708). The king had many mistresses, whom he discussed with her, she did not reproach him and adapted to the royal whims, put up with his outbursts of anger, helped during epileptic attacks, shared with him the difficulties of camp life, imperceptibly becoming the actual wife of the king. She did not try to take direct part in solving political issues, but she had influence on the king. She acted as Menshikov's constant intercessor.
From 1709 she accompanied Peter on all campaigns and trips. In the Prut campaign of 1711, when the Russian troops were surrounded, she saved her husband and the army, giving the Turkish vizier her jewels and persuading him to sign a truce.
Upon returning to St. Petersburg on February 20, 1712, Peter married Catherine, their daughters Anna (later the wife of the Duke of Holstein) and Elizabeth (the future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna), then aged 3 and 5, performed the duties of maid of honor at the wedding. The marriage was almost secret, performed in a chapel that belonged to Prince. Menshikov.
From that time on, Catherine acquired a court, received foreign ambassadors, and met with European monarchs. Her descriptions, left by foreigners, said that she "doesn't know how to dress", her "low birth is conspicuous, and her court ladies are ridiculous". The clumsy wife of the reformer tsar was not inferior in willpower and endurance to her husband: from 1704 to 1723 she bore him 11 children, most of whom died in infancy, but frequent pregnancies did not prevent her from accompanying her husband on his wanderings. She could sleep on a hard bed, live in a tent and make many days of riding. In 1714, in memory of the Prut campaign, the tsar established the Order of St. Catherine and awarded his wife on her name day.
During the Persian campaign of 1722-1723, Catherine shaved her head and wore a grenadier cap. Together with her husband, she reviewed the troops, drove through the ranks before the battle. She placed all monetary gifts from her husband and other persons in the Amsterdam Bank - and this also made her different from the wives of the kings before her.
On December 23, 1721, the Senate and the Synod recognized her as empress. For her coronation in May 1724, a crown was made that surpassed the king's crown in splendor, Peter himself laid it on his wife's head. It is believed that he was going to officially proclaim her his successor, but did not do this when he learned about his wife's betrayal with chamberlain Willy Mons (his sister Modesta Balk was the empress's closest confidante). On November 16, 1724, Mons was beheaded, the colleges were forbidden to take orders from her, and a "questor" was imposed on her personal funds.
Relations between Peter and Catherine became strained. According to Y. Lefort, they no longer spoke to each other, did not dine, did not sleep together. In early January 1725, their daughter Elizabeth was able to bring her father and mother together. “The queen knelt before the king for a long time, asking for forgiveness for all her misdeeds; the conversation lasted more than three hours, after which they had dinner together and dispersed” (J. Lefort).
Less than a month later, Peter died.
Through the efforts of Menshikov, I.I. Buturlin, P.I. Yaguzhinsky, relying on the guards (the empress promised immediate payment of salaries to the guards, detained for 1.5 years and 30 rubles of reward for each soldier), she was enthroned under the name of Catherine I.
By agreement with Menshikov, she was not involved in state affairs. On February 8, 1726, she transferred control of the country to the Supreme Privy Council (1726–1730). Among the most significant events of this time is the opening of the Academy of Sciences on 19 November 1725, Vitus Bering sent an expedition to Kamchatka, improving diplomatic relations with Austria. Returned from exile shortly before her death P.P.Shafirov, instructing him to write a history of the deeds of his husband.
Having become an autocrat, she discovered a craving for entertainment and spent a lot of time at feasts, balls, and various holidays. This had a detrimental effect on her health. In March 1727, a tumor appeared on the Empress's legs, which quickly grew along her thighs. In April 1727 she fell ill, and on May 6 she died at the age of 43. She wanted to pass the throne to her daughter, Elizabeth Petrovna, but a few days before her death, she signed a will on the transfer of the throne to the grandson of Peter I, Peter II Alekseevich, who was advocated by representatives of the clan nobility even when she ascended the throne (D.M. Golitsyn, V.V. Dolgoruky).
Natalya Pushkareva
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