The early years of the empress are shrouded in many secrets, at present there is absolutely no reliable information about this period. The origin and exact country are also not known, historians still 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 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 Katya was not called Russian, her roots were different. Therefore, when she received the throne, her name Marta Skavronskaya was changed to the one already known in world literature.
adolescence
Martachka was settled 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 of 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 was trained in spelling and other innovations that are supposed to be secular. 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 of her biography data.
History 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 at that time was traveling to Livonia, but he decided to visit and stayed there. On the day of arrival, he met his lady of the heart, then she served the guests' 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 one ducat to his nightly mistress.So the first meeting of the king with the princess took place, if it were not 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 arranged, where the captured Swedes were led. Then Martha's husband, nicknamed Kruse, was also led along this procession, after his words that the girl was his, he was sent into exile, where he died in 1721.
A year after the first meeting with the king, Catherine gave birth to a son, and a year later, the second, and they all died after some time. Peter called his wife Vasilevskaya, after which he ordered her to live with her sister Natashka, 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 she was baptized, then became Alekseevna Mikhailova. The surname was given on purpose so that Marta remained secret, and received a patronymic from the red.
Mistress 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 king himself often suffered from severe headaches, the empress was his only remedy. When the king had an attack, his love sat next to him and hugged him, then the king fell asleep within a minute.
With the onset of the spring of 1711, the tsar was supposed to go 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 pointed out that in the event of death, consider her the rightful queen. A year later, the wedding took place and from that moment Catherine became a 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 in younger age.
Ascension to the throne
The king was a great builder of new reforms, also regarding thrones he also changed the whole system. In 1722, a very significant reform was launched, according to which, not the first son of the king becomes the heir to the throne, but the person appointed by the ruler himself, so any subject could head the throne. A year later, namely on November 15, 1723, a coronation manifesto was issued. It happened a year later on May 7th.
During his last year, Peter was very ill, and in the end he fell completely ill. Then Catherine understood that something had to be done, the king was very ill, so his death was near. She summoned Prince Menshikov and Tolstoy, gave them a decree, and she herself asked that it was necessary to lure 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 heiress, most of the nobles and the guards helped her in this.
Board results
During the reign of the empress, there was no autocracy, almost everything was decided by a secret council. However, much also depended on the Senate, which bowed more to the Empress, who subsequently renamed him the Great. The count also had a lot of power, he had a good relationship with the princess, especially since he once took it to his house. 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. Further, the council was disbanded, the documents were determined and created by the secret council, she only needed to sign them.
During the years of the reformer's reign, there were many wars, all this burden and cost fell on the common people, who were rather tired of pulling all this. Also, the time of bad harvests has come, the prices for products began to grow restlessly. With all this, unrest began to grow in the country. Catherine ordered to reduce taxes from seventy-four kopecks to seventy. Martha herself was not a reformer, therefore she did not appoint anything and did not make innovations, she dealt only with small details beyond politics and state issues.
During this time, embezzlement of public funds and other arbitrariness at the state level began to develop very much. Although she did not understand anything in public affairs, she was poorly educated, but the people simply adored her, because she was a native of him. She helped a lot ordinary people gave charity. She was invited to the holidays dreamed that she was a godfather. She practically did not refuse 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 trip to the Bering Strait and introduced the Order of Nevsky, which was made a Saint.
Sudden death
After the death of the tsar, Catherine's life went into full swing. She began to run around hot places, arranged all kinds of balls, went to festivities and celebrated a lot. Because of the endless parties, the ruler undermined her health and fell ill. Immediately she developed a cough, then it began to intensify. 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, she did not have time to sign, so her daughter vouched for her and put her signature. 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 walking woman. She spent all her time drinking and celebrating, while others said that she simply wanted to forget the death of her beloved. However, the people loved her, and she won over many men, while remaining the empress. We can say one thing with certainty that this girl began the era of women's rule in the Russian Empire.
Fatal Empresses of Russia. From Catherine I to Catherine the Great Pazin Mikhail Sergeevich
Marta Zhavoronkova Empress Catherine I
Marta Zhavoronkova
Empress Catherine I
The queen knelt before the emperor for a long time, asking for forgiveness for all her actions; the conversation lasted more than three hours, after which they had dinner together and dispersed. Relations between Peter I and Catherine remained very strained until the death of the first. They no longer spoke to each other, dined or slept together. Less than a month later, Peter I died.
We know this lady under the name of Empress Catherine I (1725-1727). Its origin is dark and mysterious, and indeed, where did it come from on the Russian throne? Let's try to understand the personality of this woman and her love affairs.
It is reliably known that she was born on April 5, 1684 and was a servant of the German pastor Peter Gluck in the city of Marienburg (Livland), which was owned by the Swedes. She was a Lutheran, so in Russia she was considered either German, or Polish, or Latvian. Then they wrote simply - "Livonian", according to the place of residence, without indicating nationality. Her maiden name, Skavronskaya, was also known. From Polish, her surname is translated as Zhavoronkova (skavronek - a lark).
There are at least four versions of who these Skavronskys were. The first version is that Martha was the daughter of the Lithuanian peasant Samuil Skavronsky. The question immediately arises: is she Lithuanian or Latvian? However, Estonians also consider her theirs, since Peter I laid out a park in Tallinn in her honor, named Kadriorg (Katrin's garden). Alexei Tolstoy's deceitful novel "Peter I" mentions that she spoke Russian with an accent. But if she was Lithuanian, then the surname betrays her Russian or, at least, Belarusian origin. Consequently, she could not speak Russian with an accent. The Skavronskys originated from near Minsk, which was then part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They were originally called Skavroschuks. Samuil Skavroschuk was a serf of a Polish landowner and fled to the possessions of the Swedes from the harassment of the latter. Although the Swedes did not abolish serfdom in Livonia, the fugitives were considered free people and they were not given back. During the flight from Pan, Samuil Skavroschuk Polonized his surname, taking the name of his master, and now began to be called Skavronsky. However, the Polished Byelorussians Counts Skavronsky were also well known. When they appeared in St. Petersburg in the 1710s, a rumor spread that they were Catherine's nephews and brothers, but all this turned out to be fiction: she did not know anyone about the Skavronsky Counts.
Samuil Skavronsky had money to rent a manor near Marienburg, and on this manor he had seven children - four boys and three girls. But then there was a plague, and God took Martha's father and elder brother to himself. It was then that pastor Gluck took Martha into his service. Martha's mother, before her marriage, allegedly belonged to the Livonian nobleman von Alvedal, who made her his mistress, and Martha was the fruit of this connection. So, in sin, the one who later became the Russian Empress under the name of Catherine I was conceived. The mother's family depravity is transmitted as a family curse - Martha knew men early, was an incredible whore and did not leave these occupations until the very end of her life.
Initially, the name of the future empress was Martha, and she was Orthodox, but pastor Gluck baptized her into Lutheranism. In doing so, he only slightly modernized her name; so Martha became Martha. The pastor had a large house, and since there was little housing in the fortress of Marienburg, he always had lodgers. It was out of the kindness of their souls that “pious Martha” gratified them. From one of them, the Lithuanian nobleman Tizenhausen, Marta even gave birth to a daughter who died a few months later. It was rumored that she was the mistress of the pastor himself, but this information is only at the level of rumors.
She, along with the children of the pastor, received an education that boiled down to the ability to manage the household and needlework, but the pastor did not teach Marta to read or write. He didn't care much about her education. Subsequently, it cost a lot of work to teach her to sign at least the most important imperial decrees.
Shortly before the siege of the fortress, pastor Gluck decided to put an end to Martha's debauchery by marrying her off. The "kind" pastor gave the orphan a dowry and picked her a groom - the royal dragoon Johann Kruse. The wedding was celebrated on Ivan's Day, July 6, 1702. At that time she was 18 years old - quite a mature woman at that time. Marta remained at Pastor Gluck's house, while Johann served in the Marienburg garrison. The young couple did not have time to start their own household - a week after the wedding, Marienburg was besieged by Russian troops. The Northern War began for the return of the Baltic states to the bosom of Russia.
Marienburg Fortress was built back in knightly times in the middle of Lake Aluksne, on the territory of modern Latvia. The fortress was connected with the shore of the lake by a bridge on stone piles. On August 25, when the Russians were already entering the fortress, and the garrison was preparing to surrender, Johann Kruse went to say goodbye to his wife. She herself suggested that he run away - they say, look, there are no Russians on the other side of the lake! Johann and two other Swedish soldiers sailed across the lake, and Marta never saw him again since.
Johann Kruse served in the Swedish army for many more years, in his old age - in the garrisons on the Åland Islands. Having served his pension, he did not go anywhere, because he had no relatives and relatives. Johann did not start a new family either, and explained to the pastor that he already had a wife, he did not want to be a bigamist and take sin on his soul. Johann briefly outlived his legal wife Martha, dying in 1733.
The further history of Martha, or rather, Fr Kruse, is more or less known. During the assault on the fortress of Marienburg, the flooring of the bridge connecting the island with the shore was smashed with cannons, but the stone pillars on which it stood remained. A whole flotilla of Russian ships and boats approached the island. When negotiations began on the surrender of the fortress, the civilian population began to move along the somehow induced bridge deck. At this time, two Swedish officers blew up the powder magazines in the fortress. The explosion was so strong that stones began to fall into the lake and killed many people who were trying to cross the makeshift bridge.
There are two versions of what happened next. According to one of them, Russian soldiers began to grab people and divide them. The morals then were rude, and the cities were taken "on the bayonet", with all the ensuing consequences. Martha got one of them. According to the second version, Marta fell into the lake: she was pushed there by people rushing about under a hail of stones. She began to shout in Russian: “Soldier, help!” One Russian soldier dragged her into his boat. Later versions differ only in minor details. For example, whether she was a short-term mistress of only one soldier who pulled her out of the lake, or several, moving from one to another. Did the soldiers themselves sell it to Field Marshal B.? Sheremetev for a silver ruble, or he himself noticed it and took it from the soldiers on his own initiative. The main thing is that she ended up in the house of an elderly, 50-year-old Sheremetev, thereby making a dizzying sexual career - from a one-time soldier slut to the concubine of the commander in chief.
Then the versions begin again - either the field marshal himself, out of a great mind, boasted of his concubine to Menshikov, or Menshikov, being at Sheremetev’s, spotted Marta and exchanged her with Boris Petrovich for three rubles of money and an “English saber”. So she ended up with the all-powerful favorite of Peter I Menshikov, continuing an incredible sexual career. The tsar, who was often in Menshikov's house, spotted Marta, and the favorite, knowing Peter's love of love, offered to "try" her. "Test" came to Peter's taste. This happened no later than 1703, since the next year Marta was already pregnant by the king. However, no change in Martha's life was planned from this. For three years she continued to live in the Menshikov house with her sisters Varvara and Daria Arsentiev and Anisya Tolstaya. All four women were something like a personal harem of Peter I and his favorite Menshikov. (By the way, Menshikov later married Daria Arsentieva, probably because Peter also married his former mistress Martha. He took an example from his benefactor in everything.)
Peter at that time had other mistresses, but Marta did not even dare to reproach him for this. This will continue in the future - she not only did not reproach the king for extramarital affairs, but she even looked for his mistresses herself.
It was in Menshikov's house that they began to call her Ekaterina - either Ekaterina Trubacheva (they said that her husband was a trumpeter), then Katerina Vasilevskaya (after the name of Vasilyevsky Island, on which the Menshikov Palace stood). She spent three whole years with him, until Peter I took Martha from Menshikov to him, and since then they have not parted. When in 1708 she again converted to Orthodoxy, she was christened Ekaterina Alekseevna, because Peter's son, Tsarevich Alexei, acted as her godfather.
Catherine, judging by her portraits, was not a beauty. However, in her full cheeks, upturned nose, in her velvety languid eyes, in her scarlet lips and round chin, there was so much passion, in her graceful figure there was something that Peter liked, and he completely surrendered to this woman. Starting from 1709, she no longer left the king, accompanied him everywhere on all campaigns and trips. Before leaving for the Prut campaign in 1711, Peter announced his intention to marry Catherine.
Did Peter love Catherine? We do not mean sex, this is just clear. Hard to tell. Perhaps they were close in spirit. In the letters of 1711, he addresses her: “Katerinushka, my friend, hello!” And here is another letter dated 1707: “For God’s sake, come soon, and if it’s impossible to get it soon, write it down, because I’m not without sadness that I don’t hear or see you.” This is how they express their feelings close person. In a word, Catherine enjoyed the respect and love of Peter. To marry a rootless captive, who even had a reputation as a "moth of the night", and neglect overseas princesses or boyar daughters was an unheard-of challenge to the entire society, a violation of age-old traditions. However, Tsar Peter did not care about all this - he also did not violate such traditions.
The church marriage of Peter I with Catherine took place on February 19, 1712, and in 1721 she was declared empress and in May 1724 crowned with this title. It was believed that after chrismation, she was responsible only to God for all her actions.
They had eleven children, and almost all of them died in infancy. Only two daughters survived - Anna and Elizabeth (the future empress). Catherine, realizing how lucky she was, obeyed Peter in everything, studied his character to the subtlety, knew how to please him, could, when necessary, please him and calm him down. I was ready to share with him both a cheerful meal and camping everyday life. In general, for Peter I, she became an ideal wife.
Peter's first wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, whom he imprisoned in a monastery, did not suit him in any way. But Catherine was a mirror image of the "Father of the Fatherland." It would seem that this cannot be so that some rootless whore becomes worthy of marriage with a representative of the hundred-year-old Romanov dynasty, but, remembering how Peter I behaved in everyday life, it immediately becomes clear that these boots were a pair. Even before her marriage to Peter, Catherine was a real officer's wife: she accompanied him on all military campaigns, drank vodka on a par with men and had fun on the ruins of fortresses. The king could not stop looking at her: this is a woman! Real Amazon! Having become queen, she did not change her habits, she loved booze, men and cheerful revelry. Recall that she was 12 years younger than Peter and, due to her long-standing habit, needed the attention of men. And not only Petra...
Did she love Peter? I doubt it - she was quite satisfied with this situation; she simply allowed Peter to love her and nothing more. Some men probably know the type of woman who allows herself to be loved, enjoys all the advantages of the woman she loves, accepts gifts and so on, but at the same time gives nothing in return. Sometimes even intimacy is denied or “given” once a year, and then on a great promise. At the same time, arranging everything so that the lover from intimacy with her was in seventh heaven with happiness! They just take advantage of men. Guys! From such women you need to immediately run away without looking back! Catherine was somewhat different - she willingly slept with Peter (she would have tried to refuse him!), But she did not forget herself at the same time. Even in our “progressive” and liberal time, the time of freedom of morals, few people doubt that loving women they don’t sleep with just anyone, as soon as the “beloved” husband gapes. Catherine was asleep...
For the first time after her marriage, Catherine behaved in this respect quieter than water, lower than grass. True, not at all because of her virtue, but because she continuously gave birth to children to Peter, who also died continuously. And only when her childbearing functions faded did she again remember her profession as a regimental whore. Still, she was still young, although barren from frequent childbirth. It was for the best - there was no need to worry about contraception: she would not get pregnant anyway. To this should be added the fact that Peter became impotent by 1724. Either because of the urolithiasis that tormented him, or because of the immoderate consumption of alcohol. So Katerina had all the cards in her hands.
His first lover from the tsar’s entourage, Aleksashka Menshikov, had to be dismissed for two reasons: firstly, he was the second “I” of his respected “Minkher”, and secondly, having once lost a woman to him, he would have nothing to do with her peek. However, persistent rumors circulated that Menshikov did not break his love affair with Catherine for even a month and that some of Peter's children were actually born from the Most Serene Prince. If we also take into account the cohabitation of Menshikov with Peter in a "foul way", then we get a classic "Swedish" family. But, in my opinion, this is all untrue, but, by the way, anything could be ...
Therefore, Catherine had to cast languid glances in the other direction. Once, the handsome and merry fellow Willim Mons came into her field of vision.
Yes, he, ironically, was the younger brother of the very mistress of Peter I, Anna Mons, whom we wrote about in the previous chapter. However, she was smart enough to stay in the role of the king's favorite, and she fell, but she managed to nominate her brother Willim and sister Matryona to profitable posts. The fall of Anna Mons did not affect the fate of these two offspring of the Mons family in any way: by the 1720s, Matryona was already Catherine's lady of state and the wife of General Balk, and Willim became a chamber junker of the court in 1716. Prior to that, he participated in the battle of the Forest and Poltava battles, where he showed himself to be a courageous and brave officer. Peter I, noting the dexterity and quickness of Willim, made him his batman, and then, thanks to the efforts of Matryona, he became a chamber junker, and later, in 1724, a chamberlain. At the time of the Chamberlain he was 36 years old.
Willim Mons was good-looking, handsome, graceful, gallant and widely educated. Without any doubt, the heart of the young Empress Catherine could not remain indifferent to the brilliant courtier. In addition, Catherine's inferiority complex had an effect - she, who barely knew how to write, was inevitably attracted to the European-educated Mons. In addition, the chamberlain compares favorably with other courtiers. Rude martinets, thieving merchants, outright pirates, for whom the rope wept in their homeland, and similar personalities prevailed in Peter's entourage. Their interests clearly did not extend into the field of belles-lettres. In this environment, Willim Mons seemed like a black sheep.
He knew how to perfectly describe the epistolary genre that overwhelmed him with love languor. He sent his love letters in abundance to the ladies of his heart. He also wrote poetry. Noting his poor knowledge of Russian grammar, he wrote Russian words in Latin letters. Everyone who read his letters and poems noted the amazing elegance of style. Which of the ladies of the court did not dream of receiving such a letter? And Willim, once having got into a high-society society, did not miss his chance. In the Petrine era, it was customary to hold parties (which were proudly called assemblies), balls and masquerades. Mature ladies, languishing from love languor, at these evenings struck up fleeting romances with young people, and Willim Mons's letters were like a burning torch brought to the brushwood of a weary female soul. And the unrecognized poet widely used this: unfortunately, the list of his amorous victories did not reach us (and there were many of them), but the whole court spoke about one victim of his literary amusements. There was indisputable evidence that couriers with notes were constantly running between Willim and Catherine, the contents of which were unknown to anyone. These, in all likelihood, were love messages that Catherine pecked at and which played a fatal role in the fate of Mons.
Willim Mons soon became Catherine's favorite. Peter had no idea about anything. Approaching the court, he managed to make the necessary connections. The handsome young man longed for money, money and only money from his profitable post. When the opportunity arose, he went abroad with Peter and Catherine and so deftly arranged all the royal affairs that the emperor issued a special decree that "Mons should be used in our yard service with our dearest wife." Thus, Peter himself let the goat into the garden. Thanks to the patronage of the sovereign himself, he began to manage the villages and villages belonging to Catherine, organize festivities and amusements, to which the empress was so eager, and in the end he began to move from the secretary's office to the royal bedroom. Willim Mons reported to Catherine on all affairs and news, conducted all correspondence, was in charge of her own treasury and "was relentless with Katerinushka." He dreamed of only one thing - how to become a "deputy king" in the field of bed.
In view of the frequent absences of the "old man" Peter, Mons entertained Catherine in every possible way and was finally graciously admitted to her bedroom. The sympathy was mutual - Catherine was drawn to a young, cheerful and dexterous chamberlain, and he needed a position at court in order to get money. In general, both were satisfied, plus pleasant sex, of course.
The courtiers, quickly realizing what was the matter, began to seek the favor of Catherine's favorite. So the minion of fate instantly turned into a rich and influential person, the owner of a huge number of estates, and already decided that he had caught luck by the tail. Mons's activity quickly increased - he began to interfere in the affairs of the government and the court, and since he did not understand any belmes in this, he only tried to snatch another bribe. Such activities of Catherine's secretary cast a shadow not only on the empress, but also on the tsar himself. But people who stood close to the throne resolutely "protected" Peter from the truth about his "deputy"; it was beneficial for them to use the services of Catherine's favorite, doing their dark deeds. So, Menshikov, who in 1722-1723 fell into disfavour with Peter because of excess of power and indefatigable passion for state property, was saved only thanks to the intercession of Mons and Catherine. The Most Serene Prince was then threatened not by the tsar's beatings with his famous stick, but almost by the death penalty. The emperor then forgave Aleksashka thanks to the insistent request of his wife and her secretary, who had previously given him a bribe of many thousands.
In charge of the patrimonial office, that is, the department, which in our time was called the State Property Committee, Willim Mons took huge bribes from interested parties. He did this with the help of his sister Matryona Iogannovna, who found him the “right” people. Mons refused no one, thanks to which he gained a reputation as a benevolent person. The more Catherine's goodwill towards the chamberlain grew, the more the power of Willim Mons expanded. To understand the influence Willim Mons achieved, let's say that even Tsarina Praskovya, the widow of the deceased co-ruler of Peter, Ivan V, turned to him for help. But she was with Peter I for a short time! Catherine's favorite was showered with offerings, fawned over him.
However, the rapid rise of Willim Mons caused an attack of envy among his ill-wishers - look what an upstart you found! It's time to open your eyes to everything that is happening to Peter Alekseevich, it's time ... And an anonymous denunciation addressed to Peter I was born. An unknown person wrote that Mons planned to poison the sovereign in order to rule with Catherine himself. Of course, all this was nonsense - Mons's plans did not extend that far; he would fill his pockets, no more. And Peter, of course, did not believe in the version of the attempt on his person, but the hint of a love affair between his adored Katerinushka and Mons was taken to heart by him. And the emperor was furious. He ordered to seize the dandy and torture him mercilessly. This happened in November 1724.
When Mons was arrested, the corrupt Petersburg society was struck like a thunderbolt, as many of those who were used to acting in their own interests through the Empress's lover were now waiting for the inevitable reprisal.
The inquiry into the Mons case was conducted personally by the head of the Secret Chancellery, P. Tolstoy. Arrested, barely seeing the instruments of torture, almost fainted and immediately confessed to everything he was accused of. This polished handsome man, who cared deeply about his appearance and could not stand pain, at the sight of a rack and red-hot tongs, could slander himself and anyone. Therefore, they did not believe him, but when intimate letters from Mons to Catherine were found, Peter became furious. The idea of poisoning the king, as Peter thought, was not in sight, but the bed escapades of Mons with Catherine were. He was infuriated by the confessions of Willim Mons, and one can only guess what was happening to him these days, knowing his tendency to unbridled anger and intolerance of even the slightest hint of a violation of his honor! Attacks of royal anger were dangerous for everyone who got in his way. One day, blinded by rage, he almost killed his own daughters, Elizabeth and Anna. It was said that the tsar’s face was convulsed every now and then, sometimes he took out his hunting knife and, in the presence of his daughters, beat it on the table and wall, stamped his feet and waved his arms. Leaving them, he slammed the door so hard that it crumbled to pieces. We already wrote in the previous chapter that Peter was subject to fits of unbridled rage, which only Catherine could extinguish. When those around noticed the twisted mouth of the king - a harbinger of anger, they immediately sent for her. She laid Peter's head on her knees, stroked it, and he fell asleep. However, this time there was no one to calm the king - it was Catherine, the only one who could extinguish his anger, who turned out to be a traitor!
It is natural that Peter allowed himself to violate marital fidelity, but did not consider that Catherine had exactly the same right. In general, our statement was true - two pair of boots.
It's hard to put into words what was going on in Peter's soul! The only person close to him betrayed him! Who became the one to whom he addressed with the words: “Katerinushka, my friend!”? He demanded an explanation from his "faithful" wife. It was then that the scene we described above took place - the queen begged forgiveness from Peter on her knees. Like no one else, knowing Peter, she could expect anything from him - even execution for adultery! She already imagined the severed head of Mashka Hamilton, wallowing in the mud! However, Peter managed to tame his anger and did not severely punish Catherine - after all, she was the mother of his children. Peter, of course, did not believe in God, to whom Catherine was responsible after the coronation, nor in hell. It was not necessary to do this for political reasons - not to make a scandal out of this, so that it would become a laughing stock in the eyes of all the ruling courts of Europe. The acknowledgment of the main guilt of Mons struck the king so deeply that he looked at all the other misdeeds of the prisoner only slightly, only as an official pretext for condemnation. It seemed to him too petty to pursue bribe-givers.
Peter had the presence of mind to accuse Mons only of economic crimes. He was accused of misappropriation of quitrent from the villages included in the patrimonial office, taking bribes for providing a place in government service, bribery, and so on in the same vein. Not a word was said about Catherine.
On November 15, 1724, a royal decree was announced to the residents of St. 10 o'clock before noon, there will be an execution on Trinity Square to former chamberlain Willim Mons and his sister Balksha, clerk Yegor Stoletov, footman Ivan Balakirev - for their swindle such: that Mons, and his sister, and Yegor Stoletov, being at the court of His Majesty , entered into deeds contrary to the decrees of His Majesty, not according to their rank hid wine rogues from exposing their wines, and took great bribes for that: Balakirev also served Mons and others in that. And the true description of their wines will be announced at the execution.”
It is noteworthy that the court jester Balakirev was involved in the Mons case, who probably suffered only because he carried love notes from the chamberlain to Catherine.
The emperor's decree did not go unnoticed. The next morning, a huge crowd of citizens gathered on Trinity Square in front of the scaffold, wishing to stare at the terrible and bloody spectacle. By 10 o'clock in the morning a gloomy procession approached the square. The soldiers were leading Willim Mons. He was accompanied by a Lutheran pastor. The former lover of the Empress, the chamberlain of the Court, a well-known dandy and dandy, now appeared before the public pale and haggard. He was wearing a sheepskin coat and looked with horror at the pole with a pointed end, prepared for his head. Eyewitnesses testified that before the execution he was firm in spirit and only asked the executioner to cut off his head with the first blow of the ax.
Meanwhile, the execution ceremony continued. The verdict was read to the hushed crowd. At this time, Mons, who looked around the crowd with a clouded look, did not show any emotions. His pale face was like a mask. When to him for last word the pastor came up, he gave him the last property he had left - a precious watch with a portrait of Catherine on the lid. At a signal from the executioner, he took off his sheepskin coat and neckerchief and laid his neck on the chopping block. As Mons asked, the executioner cut off his head from his shoulders with one blow and then planted it on a pole. Then the body of the former favorite was tied to a special wheel, which was also put on public display.
Let's digress a little from the descriptions of this bloody scene. It was almost the only case of execution in the time of Peter the Great for bribery and embezzlement. The fact that Peter's personal ambitions were involved in this case is emphasized by the fact that only Willim was executed out of all those involved in this case. Bribery and embezzlement under Peter in Rus' flourished in terry color, and it was necessary to execute all the tsar's entourage, but no, only Mons suffered.
Some time later, on the same blood-drenched platform, Matryona Balk, Yegor Stoletov and the jester Balakirev were brutally whipped with a whip. The first was then exiled to Tobolsk, and the latter were sent to hard labor for life.
Let's talk a little about the person of Matrena Balk. As we wrote earlier, she was the sister of the same Anna Mons, Peter's first mistress. In the past, she was also the Tsar's mistress, and then became Catherine's closest friend and confidante, initiated into all her heart secrets. She was a lady of state of the Court of the Empress and married General Balk. They say that Catherine was very fond of Matryona; perhaps this was due to the Empress's passion for her brother, Willim Mons. Matryona was also involved in her brother's case. As it turned out, she helped him in beneficial mediation between the courtiers, nobles and Catherine. After Willim was arrested, it was Matryona's turn. In November 1724, she was interrogated twice with prejudice, and the frightened confidante said that she received bribes from almost thirty persons, including such high-ranking persons as His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Menshikov, Tsaritsa Praskovya Fedorovna, Duchess Anna Ivanovna of Courland, Duke of Holstein Friedrich and many others. From them she accepted money, expensive fabrics, coffee, flour, even old dresses and some kind of “carriage”. In general, she did not shy away from anything - she took what they give. After a public execution was carried out over Matryona, she was exiled to Tobolsk. Catherine could do nothing to help her former confidante. It is obvious that it was not the bribes that were the main thing in Matryona's accusation, but the fact that she contributed to the amorous connection between her brother and Catherine.
Two of her sons also suffered from the bribery of their mother - they were sent from St. Petersburg to serve in the troops stationed in the Persian province of Gilan. Six days after the execution, Matryona was taken to Tobolsk. However, she did not have time to get there. Catherine, who came to power after the death of Peter, ordered her to be returned from the road and brought to Moscow, and her two sons were “dismissed” from serving in Iran (then Persia). The sons of Matryona under subsequent emperors made a good career.
It is difficult to say whether the former confidante was able to restore her former influence on Catherine, the latter herself was only miraculously saved from such an execution. What was she thinking while having sex with Mons? About the fact that Peter does not know about her tricks? I don’t know… She probably hoped for a Russian, maybe Peter wouldn’t find out anything, maybe he’d blow it away, maybe the courtiers would shield her, and so on. Basic Instinct took over.
It is not known whether Peter himself was present at the execution of Mons - after all, he loved bloody spectacles, but that Catherine was not there, that's for sure. She was in a deep depression because of the execution of her lover, and most of all after a difficult conversation with Peter. However, the king decided to finally mock her. Three days after the execution of Mons, Peter, walking around the city with Catherine, deliberately turned into Trinity Square, where the decomposing corpse of her lover lay on the wheel. This was done on purpose to bring her even more suffering. Looking at the mortal body of Willim Mons, the empress sadly remarked: “How sad that the courtiers can have so much corruption.” By this, she wanted to isolate herself from the unfortunate favorite, they say, she is to blame. Is she a saint? Who would believe...
The tsar ordered the head of Willim Mons to be preserved in alcohol and placed in the Kunstkamera, where before that the head of Maria Hamilton had already been placed as an exhibit (we talked about her in the previous chapter). According to rumors, before that, Peter ordered the head of Mons to be put in the bedroom of his unfaithful wife as a warning to her so that she would no longer fornicate. Allegedly, Catherine was forced to contemplate this nightmarish sight for five whole months. However, this could hardly have been, since Peter died about a month after the execution of Mons. For a while, no more, he really could put the jar in Catherine's bedroom, it would have happened to him. Already Catherine II ordered both heads to be destroyed.
And what about Catherine? She temporarily had to reduce her appetites. Peter forbade collegiums, that is, ministries, to accept recommendations and orders from the empress. There was no money overnight - her husband ordered the arrest of all her foreign accounts, she stopped receiving money from the treasury. (She had accounts in an Amsterdam bank, which she replenished with bribes from people who were threatened with disgrace, standing up for them before Peter.) In order to pay off local merchants, Ekaterina Alekseevna was even forced to borrow money from her ladies-in-waiting.
Peter I died in terrible agony on January 28, 1725. Already in our time, in 1970, doctors determined that he died of urolithiasis, complicated by the return of a poorly healed venereal disease. Probably the same syphilis that Avdotya Rzhevskaya "awarded" him. Although Peter declared Catherine the empress, because of the incident with Mons, he did not dare to transfer the throne to her, or rather, did not bring the act of coronation to its logical conclusion. It is known that, setting off on the Persian campaign of 1724, Peter wanted to declare her his heiress, but after the Mons affair he tore up his will.
Peter I did not leave any will at all. According to the law on succession to the throne of 1722, signed by Peter, the emperor himself must appoint a successor to himself, but this did not happen: his wife cheated on him, and he simply had no other candidate. Thus, the question of succession to the throne hung in the air.
Catherine was well aware that she had absolutely no rights to the throne. The champions of antiquity predicted nine-year-old Peter, the son of the martyred Tsarevich Alexei, as king. There were even rumors about her imprisonment in a monastery along with her daughters.
In this case, all the former entourage of Peter I had to resign, or even pay with their heads, but they didn’t want to. So they elevated Catherine to the throne. At the head of this party was Catherine's former lover Alexander Menshikov. Peter's body had not yet had time to cool down (he died at 5 pm), as already at 8 o'clock the highest ranks of the state gathered in the Winter Palace. They began to argue about the successor. Catherine primarily relied on the guards. The empress promised the soldiers immediate payment of salaries, delayed for a year and a half, and 30 rubles of reward for each guardsman who supported her. And the guard supported her. So Catherine, a former laundress and a prostitute, came to the Russian throne.
As we already wrote, Catherine could neither read nor write. In the eyes of Peter I, who himself wrote with monstrous grammatical errors, it did not look reprehensible, but the All-Russian Empress did not like this. According to a contemporary, for three months she only learned to put her signature on documents. And no more! This, in fact, limited her state activity. In February 1725, the Supreme Privy Council of six people was placed at the head of the empire (as they would say now - an unconstitutional body that was not subordinate to either the Senate or the Synod), in which Alexander Menshikov played the main violin. He actually ruled the country.
And Catherine, sensing freedom, set off in all serious ways. Long held back instincts awakened in her - coarse sensuality, the desire for base debauchery and the base inclinations of the mind and flesh. She was just as fierce as Peter. Once she personally tortured her maid in the dungeon for some petty offense.
Having spent her whole life with Peter, who drank often and without any measure, she also became addicted to alcohol, and this made her brakes fail. After Peter's death, drunkenness became her constant occupation. All 26 months of her reign were, as it were, one continuous revelry. Having become an autocratic empress, Catherine unrestrainedly indulged in entertainment and spent almost all her time at feasts, balls and various holidays. And she was also interested in outfits. Balls were replaced by masquerades, masquerades - by festivities on the occasion of awarding orders. Catherine even issued a special decree, which ordered the nobility to gather weekly, on Thursdays at five o'clock in the afternoon, at her "kurtagas". It was prescribed to hold assemblies on other days, and not only with her, but also with other nobles. With the indispensable drinking of strong drinks, of course.
According to a contemporary, Catherine's morning began with Menshikov's visit. A conversation about state affairs was always preceded by the question: “What would we like to drink?” - and several glasses of vodka were immediately emptied (yes, Marta Skavronskaya drank vodka with glasses!). Then she went out to the reception room, where many soldiers, sailors, working people were already gathering, and distributed alms to everyone. If anyone asked the queen to be the godmother of a newborn child, she never refused - well, there was another reason to drink. From time to time she was present at the reviews of the guards regiments and personally distributed vodka to the soldiers, not forgetting to help herself at the same time. Her day usually ended with a party in a circle of warm company, and she spent the night with one of her lovers. Among them were the Chief Prosecutor Yaguzhinsky, Count Peter Sapieha, Baron Levenwolde, General Police Chief of the capital Anton Devier. The names of other, less eminent and short-lived lovers of the Empress were known only by her personal maid. According to unverified reports, there were at least 20 of them! Her bedroom has turned into a tavern and a den of debauchery.
All the ladies of the court and Catherine's confidantes tried to keep up with their benefactor in nothing. Thus, the Russian Imperial Court turned into a real den and was a picture of the most unbridled debauchery. Another contemporary wrote: “There is no way to determine the behavior of this court. The day turns into night… Everything stands still and nothing is done… Everywhere there are intrigues, searching, disintegration…”
From such an unhealthy lifestyle and constant drunkenness (fortunately, she did not smoke, like Peter, strong tobacco), the previously strong, fresh and healthy Catherine began to have problems. "Sex-bomb" seriously ill. In March 1727, she developed a swelling on her legs, which began to quickly rise to her thighs. She started having coughing fits and developed a fever. In April, she went to bed, and on May 6 she died very young, at 43, and was buried next to her husband in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Before the death of Catherine I, Alexander Menshikov forced her to write a will, according to which power in the country was transferred to the young Tsarevich Peter, the son of the unfortunate Alexei Petrovich, who was tortured to death by his father in 1718. He hoped to become regent under him.
So who was the Russian Empress Catherine I? Logically, she was a bigamist, had many lovers, including Field Marshal Sheremetev, Generalissimo Menshikov, Willim Mons and Emperor Peter I, but she remained Fra Johann Kruse, nee Martha Zhavoronkova.
R.?S. It is interesting that none of the future All-Russian empresses wanted to use the crown ordered by Peter I for the coronation of Catherine. They considered it a shame to wear a crown that was made for a rootless Baltic whore. Each of them now ordered her own crown.
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Biography, life story of Catherine I
Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya (Kruse), whom we know as the Russian Empress Catherine I, was born in Livonia on April 5, 1684. Having lost her parents who died of the plague in early infancy, she was given by her own uncle to the house of the Lutheran priest Ernst Gluck, who, being a very educated person, later became the founder of the first gymnasium in Moscow. Martha lived in the pastor's service until the age of 17.
First marriage
Martha was married off in 1702. Her husband was the Swedish dragoon Johann Kruse, who soon left with his regiment for the war with Russia, where he went missing. On August 25 of the same year, Martha Kruse became a war trophy, as Russian troops took the Swedish fortress of Marienburg, where the future Russian Empress lived at that time. First, the pastor's maid ended up in the convoy with the commander of the army, Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetyev, and then was given into the service of A.D. Menshikov.
In 1703, Martha Kruse was seen by the Russian Emperor. The crowned lady was so impressed by her beauty that soon Martha became one of his mistresses. Gradually, their relationship grew into something more. Over the next two years, she gave birth to two sons, who soon died.
In 1705, Marta Kruse was sent by the emperor to Preobrazhenskoye to her sister Natalya Alekseevna. There, the tsar's passion learned Russian and became friends with the Menshikov family. A few years later, she was baptized into Orthodoxy. Since her godfather was Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, she took the name Ekaterina Alekseevna. The surname Mikhailov was borrowed from the emperor himself, who used it in those cases when he wished to remain unrecognized.
In January 1710, she met her first husband, Johann Kruse, who, being a prisoner, immediately spoke about his wife cohabiting with the emperor. Such a confession could not go unnoticed - the Swedish dragoon was immediately exiled to Siberia, where he spent the rest of his life until 1721.
CONTINUED BELOW
Second marriage
Returning from another military campaign in St. Petersburg, the emperor almost immediately legalized relations with Catherine, who by that time had managed to give birth to two more daughters - Anna and Elizabeth. The wedding took place on February 19, 1712, after which their daughters were given the opportunity to officially be called princesses.
The following year, in honor of his wife, the tsar established the Order of Liberation, which later became known as the Order of St. Catherine. It was with this insignia that the emperor awarded his own wife for her worthy behavior during the Prut campaign, which ended very unsuccessfully for the Russian army.
In the autumn of 1724, a quarrel broke out between the spouses. Its cause was the emperor's suspicions of his wife's infidelity with her chamberlain Mons, who was executed shortly thereafter on a far-fetched pretext. Only being mortally ill, the tsar reconciled with his wife, passing away in January 1725 in her arms.
empress
After the death of the sovereign, the reins of government were transferred to his wife, who became Empress Catherine I. Accession to the throne did not happen without the active help of Menshikov, who organized the Supreme Privy Council, which exercised the real control of the country. Menshikov himself became the head of this executive body. To some extent it was forced measure, since the empress did not possess the knowledge and skills of a statesman.
In addition to unbridled entertainment, the 16-month period of the reign of Catherine I was remembered for the opening of the Academy of Sciences, the dispatch of the Vitus Bering expedition and the establishment of the Order of the Saint. In addition, during this time, the country practically did not fight with its neighbors, while conducting active diplomatic activities. It was during her reign that the Treaty of Vienna was concluded with Austria, which became the basis for the military-political alliance of the two countries until the second half of XVIII century.
On April 10, 1727, the Empress fell seriously ill, dying from complications of a lung abscess on May 6 of that year.
Portrait of Catherine I. Artist J.-M. Natya. 1717
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. Until now, her place of birth and nationality have not been precisely determined.
According to one version, 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, in the family of a Latvian or Lithuanian peasant from the vicinity of Kegums. According to another version, the future empress was born in Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) in a family of Estonian peasants.
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). Marta was used in the house as a servant, she was not taught to read and write.
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, the girl 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 Kruse, 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 the Empress had two sisters - Anna and Christina, and two brothers - Karl and Friedrich. Catherine moved their families to St. Petersburg in 1726. According to A. I. Repnin, who led the search, Khristina Skavronskaya and her husband “lie”, they are both “stupid and drunk people”, Repnin suggested sending them “somewhere else, so that there would be no big lies from them.” Catherine awarded Charles 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 siblings, 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 name of her first dragoon husband (this version was included in fiction, for example, the novel by A. N. Tolstoy "Peter the Great"), according to others - this is her maiden name, and a certain Johann Rabe was her father.
1702 - 1725 years
Mistress of Peter I
On August 25, 1702, during the Great Northern War, the army of Russian Field Marshal Sheremetev, leading fighting against the Swedes in Livonia, took the Swedish fortress of Marienburg (now Aluksne, Latvia). Sheremetev, taking advantage of the departure of the main Swedish army to Poland, subjected the region to merciless ruin. As he himself reported to Tsar Peter I at the end of 1702:
“I sent in all directions to captivate and burn, there was nothing left, everything was ruined and burned, and your military sovereign people took in full male and female and rob several thousand, also working horses, and cattle from 20,000 or more ... and what they could not lift they stabbed and chopped”
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 Marta 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.
Portrait of Alexander Danilovich Menshikov in 1698, painted in Holland during the Great Embassy of Peter the Great
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):
“[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).
Peter I with the sign of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on a blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. Artist J.-M. Nattier, 1717
Franz Villebois relates their first meeting as follows:
“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 softly in his ear with this favorite, who answered him only with a nod of his head, he looked at Catherine for a long time and, teasing her, said that she was smart, and ended his joking speech by telling her, when she went to bed, to take light a candle in his room. It was an order, spoken in a playful tone, but not subject to any objections. Menshikov took it for granted, and the beauty, devoted to her master, spent the night in the king's room ... The next day the king left in the morning to continue his journey. He returned to his favorite what he lent him. The satisfaction of the king, which he received from his nightly conversation with Catherine, cannot be judged by the generosity that he showed. She limited herself to only one ducat, which is equal in value to half of one louis d'or (10 francs), which he thrust into her hand in a military way at parting.
Catherine I. Portrait of an unknown artist.
In 1704, Katerina will give 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
The wedding of Peter I and Katerina Alekseevna in 1712. Engraving by A.F. Zubov.
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:
“The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter; then she sat him down and took him, caressing him, by the head, which she scratched lightly. This had a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. In order not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her breast, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and vigorous.
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:
“In the evening, shortly before his departure, the tsar called them, his sister Natalya Alekseevna, to one house in Preobrazhenskaya Sloboda. There he took his hand and placed before them his mistress Ekaterina Alekseevna. For the future, the tsar said, they should consider her his lawful wife and Russian tsarina. Since now, due to the urgent need to go to the army, he cannot marry her, he takes her away with him in order to do this on occasion in more free time. At the same time, the king made it clear that if he died before he had time to marry, then after his death they would have to look at her as his lawful wife. After that, they all congratulated (Ekaterina Alekseevna) and kissed her hand.
In Moldova in July 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38,000th Russian army to the river, completely surrounded by numerous cavalry. Ekaterina went on a long trip, being 7 months pregnant. According to a well-known legend, she took off all her jewelry in order to bribe the Turkish commander. Peter I was able to conclude the Prut Peace and, having sacrificed the Russian conquests in the south, to withdraw the army from the encirclement. The Danish envoy Just Yul, who was with the Russian army after she left the encirclement, does not report such an act of Catherine, but says that the queen (as everyone now called Catherine) handed out her jewelry to the officers for safekeeping and then collected them. Brigadier 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.
Unknown artist. Portrait of Catherine I.
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:
“Our dearest wife, Empress Catherine, was a great helper, and not only in this, but also in many military actions, postponing the infirmity of a woman, she was present with us by her will and helped us as much as possible, and especially in the Prut campaign with the Turks, read the desperate time, as acted masculinely, and not feminine, our entire army is aware of this ... "
Peter I and Catherine I ride along the Neva
In personal letters, the tsar showed 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) was considered 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:
“He loved to see her everywhere. There was no military review, descent of the ship, ceremony or holiday at which she would not be ... Catherine, confident in the heart of her husband, laughed at his frequent love affairs, like Livia at the intrigues of Augustus; but on the other hand, when he told her about them, he always ended with the words: nothing can compare with you.
Artist Stanislav Khlebovsky. Assembly under Peter I.
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.
Opinions about the appearance of Catherine are contradictory. If we focus on male eyewitnesses, then, in general, they are more than positive, and, on the contrary, women were sometimes biased towards her: “She was short, fat and black; her whole appearance did not make a favorable impression. One had only to look at her to immediately notice that she was of low birth. The dress she was wearing was in all probability bought from a shop in the market; it was of an old-fashioned style, and all trimmed with silver and sequins. From her outfit, one could mistake her for a German itinerant artist. She wore a sash adorned on the front with an embroidery of precious stones, a very original design in the form of a two-headed eagle, the wings of which were studded with small precious stones in a bad setting. The queen was hung with about a dozen orders and the same number of icons and amulets, and when she walked, everything rang, as if a dressed up mule had passed.
The family of Peter I in 1717: Peter I, Catherine, the eldest son Alexei Petrovich from his first wife, the youngest two-year-old son Peter and daughters Anna and Elizabeth. Enamel on copper plate.
Descendants of Peter I from Catherine I
Anna Petrovna (1708-1728) 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).
Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-1762). Russian empress from 1741.
Natalia Petrovna (1713-1715).
Margarita Petrovna (1714-1715).
Petr Petrovich (1715-1719). He was considered the official heir to the crown from 1718 until his death.
Pavel Petrovich (1717-1717).
Natalia Petrovna (1718-1725).
Portrait of Catherine I by Karel de Moor, 1717.
Rise to power
By a manifesto of November 15, 1723, Peter announced the future coronation of Catherine as a token of her special merits.
May 7, 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as empress in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. 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, 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, the grandson of Peter I from his eldest son Alexei, who died during interrogations. For Pyotr Alekseevich there was a well-born nobility (Dolgoruky, Golitsyn), 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 regiments here without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal?" Buturlin, the commander of the Semyonovsky regiment, replied to Repnin that he had called up the regiments at the behest of the empress, to whom all subjects were 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 "the most glorious, most powerful great empress, Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, autocrat of all Russia" and in justification announcing the will of the late sovereign interpreted by the Senate. The people were very surprised at the ascent for the first time in Russian history to the throne of a woman, but there was no unrest.
On January 28, 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.
Unknown artist. Portrait of Catherine I with a black child.
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 touched her too.
The nobles wanted to rule with a woman, and now they really achieved their goal.
From the "History of Russia" S.M. Solovyov:
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 on known altitude, 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 over the earth. 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 Russian Empire under the formal presidency 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. A month later, the son-in-law of the Empress, the Duke of Holstein Karl-Friedrich (1700-1739), was included in the number of members of the Supreme Privy Council, on whose zeal, as the Empress officially announced, "we can fully rely on."
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.
Silver ruble of 1727
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, Russia was diplomatically active in defending the interests of the Duke of Holstein (husband of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Catherine I) against Denmark. The preparation of an expedition by Russia to return Schleswig, taken by the Danes, to the Duke of Holstein led to a military demonstration in the Baltic by Denmark and England.
Another direction of Russian policy under Catherine was to ensure the guarantees of the Nishtad peace and the creation of an anti-Turkish bloc. In 1726, the government of Catherine I concluded the Treaty of Vienna with the government of Charles VI, which became the basis of the Russian-Austrian military-political alliance in the second quarter of the 18th century.
Unknown artist Portrait of Empress Catherine I.
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. The queen died from complications of a lung abscess. According to another unlikely version, death came from a severe attack of rheumatism.
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) as her heir, did not dare to accept Osterman's project and continued to insist on her right to appoint her successor, hoping that the issue would be resolved over time. Meanwhile, the main supporter of Ekaterina Menshikov, having assessed the prospect of Peter becoming the Russian emperor, went over to the camp of his adherents. Moreover, Menshikov managed to get Catherine's consent to the marriage of Maria, Menshikov's daughter, with Peter Alekseevich.
The party led by Tolstoy, which most of all contributed to the enthronement of Catherine, could hope that Catherine would live for a long time and circumstances might change in their favor. Osterman threatened people with uprisings for Peter as the only legitimate heir; they could answer him that the army was on the side of Catherine, that it would also be on the side of her daughters. Catherine, for her part, tried to win the affection of the troops with her attention.
Menshikov managed to take advantage of the illness of Catherine, who signed on May 6, 1727, a few hours before her death, an accusatory decree against Menshikov's enemies, and on the same day Count Tolstoy and other high-ranking enemies of Menshikov were sent into exile.
Artist Heinrich Buchholz. Portrait of Catherine I. 1725
Will
At 9 pm on May 6, 1727, the 43-year-old Empress died.
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 palace coup 1741
The 11th article of the will amazed those present. It ordered all the nobles to contribute to the betrothal of Peter Alekseevich with one of the daughters of Prince Menshikov, and then, upon reaching adulthood, to promote their marriage. Literally: “our princesses and the government of the administration also have to try to arrange a marriage between his love [Grand Duke Peter] and one princess of Prince Menshikov.”
Such an article clearly testified to the person who participated in the preparation of the will, however, for Russian society, the right of Peter Alekseevich to the throne - the main article of the will - was indisputable, and there were no unrest.
Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered Chancellor Golovkin to burn the spiritual Catherine I. He did, nevertheless keeping a copy of the will.
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 official version, did not rule the country on their own for a single day.
