The Russian Empress Catherine I Alekseevna (née Marta Skavronskaya) was born on April 15 (5 old style), 1684 in Livonia (now the territory of northern Latvia and southern Estonia). According to some sources, she was the daughter of a Latvian peasant Samuil Skavronsky, according to others, a Swedish quartermaster named Rabe.

Martha did not receive education. Her youth was spent in the house of pastor Gluck in Marienburg (now the city of Aluksne in Latvia), where she was both a laundress and a cook. According to some sources, Martha was married to a Swedish dragoon for a short time.

In 1702, after the capture of Marienburg by Russian troops, she became a war trophy and found herself first in the wagon train of Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev, and then with the favorite and associate of Peter I, Alexander Menshikov.

Around 1703, a young woman was noticed by Peter I and became one of his mistresses. Soon Martha was baptized according to the Orthodox rite under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. Over the years, Catherine acquired a very great influence on the Russian monarch, which, according to contemporaries, depended in part on her ability to calm him down in moments of anger. She did not try to take direct part in solving political issues. Since 1709, Catherine no longer left the tsar, accompanying Peter on all campaigns and trips. According to legend, she saved Peter I during the Prut campaign (1711), when Russian troops were surrounded. Catherine handed over all her jewelry to the Turkish vizier, persuading him to sign an armistice.

Upon his return to St. Petersburg on February 19, 1712, Peter married Catherine, and their daughters Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) received the official status of crown princess. In 1714, in memory of the Prut campaign, the tsar established the Order of St. Catherine, which he awarded his wife on her name day.

In May 1724, Peter I, for the first time in the history of Russia, crowned Catherine as Empress.

After the death of Peter I in 1725, through the efforts of Menshikov and with reliance on the guards and the St. Petersburg garrison, Catherine I was enthroned.

In February 1726, under the empress, the Supreme Privy Council was created (1726-1730), which included princes Alexander Menshikov and Dmitry Golitsyn, Counts Fyodor Apraksin, Gabriel Golovkin, Peter Tolstoy, as well as Baron Andrey (Heinrich Johann Friedrich) Osterman. The Council was created as an advisory body, but in fact it ruled the country and decided the most important state issues.

During the reign of Catherine I on November 19, 1725, the Academy of Sciences was opened, an expedition of the officer of the Russian fleet Vitus Bering was sent to Kamchatka, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky.

There were almost no deviations from Peter's traditions in foreign policy. Russia improved diplomatic relations with Austria, obtained confirmation of the concessions made under Peter the Great in the Caucasus from Persia and Turkey, and acquired the Shirvan region. Friendly relations were established with China through Count Raguzinsky. Russia also gained exceptional influence in Courland.

Having become an autocratic empress, Catherine discovered a craving for entertainment and spent a lot of time at feasts, balls, various holidays, which adversely affected her health. In March 1727, a swelling appeared on the Empress's legs, growing rapidly, and in April she fell ill.

Before her death, at the insistence of Menshikov, Catherine signed a will, according to which the throne was to go to the Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich - Peter's grandson, the son of Alexei Petrovich, and in case of his death - to her daughters or their descendants.

On May 17 (6 old style), 1727 Empress Catherine I died at the age of 43 and was buried in the tomb of the Russian emperors in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Empress Catherine and

Catherine I (short biography)

Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova (aka Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya), who is the future Russian Empress Catherine the First, was born on the Livonian land near the city of Kegmus (the present territory of Latvia) in 1684. Her biography is ambiguous and contradictory. Little is known about her youth. It is only known that Martha was orphaned early, after which her aunt took custody of her (according to another version, she was raised by a pastor). At the age of seventeen, she marries Johann Kruse (Swedish dragoon), but he leaves for the war a few days later and disappears without a trace.

Together with four hundred people, she falls into Russian captivity (about 1702).

There are two versions of her future fate. According to some historians, Martha becomes Colonel Bauer's steward. Others claim that she was Sheremetyev's mistress, but later he concedes her to Prince Menshikov. Today it is impossible to refute (as well as prove) each of them. But it is reliably known that Peter the First met Martha in the Menshikov estate.

Soon Martha receives the name Catherine and gives birth to eleven children to the Tsar (most of them die in infancy) of which only Elizabeth and Anna remain. In 1705, Catherine studied writing and reading in the house of the Tsar's sister and struck up a relationship with Menshikov.

On February 19, 1714, Catherine and Peter the Great were married in the Dalmitsky Church. In honor of his wife, Peter establishes the Order of St. Catherine, which he awards her on November 24, 1724.

Ten years later, on May 7, Catherine was crowned in Moscow in the Assumption Cathedral. However, in the same year, the king removes her from himself, suspecting in connection with the chamberlain (he was later executed). In the winter of 1724, Catherine did not leave the bed of Peter, who was seriously ill and later died in her arms.

The Russian tsar died, canceling by decree the former order of succession to the throne, however, without appointing his heir. As a result, in the following years there were many palace coups, during one of which Catherine the First ascended to the Russian throne on January 28, 1725, thus becoming the first ruler of Russia.

At the same time, she was not engaged in governing the country itself, delegating all important affairs of the state to Menshikov and the so-called Supreme Privy Council.

The second wife of Peter the Great did not leave a special trace in the rule of the Russian Empire, since all two years of leadership of the vast state, the reins of government were given to those close to her. An idle pastime soon brought Catherine I to the grave - the windy empress was very fond of all kinds of amusements and balls.

Orphan Martha

The history of the ascension to the Russian throne of the Livonian simpleton Martha Skavronskaya, who by the will of fate turned into Catherine I, is as confusing and at the same time uncomplicated as the principle of relations between high-ranking officials of the Russian state with representatives of the lower classes in the 18th century. They (relationship), apparently, at that time were extremely simplified. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain the reason why an “ordinary” and even an illiterate servant in a relatively short time became the empress of such a state as Russia.

Martha's past is rather vague, little is known about him. She was left an orphan early (her parents died of the plague). There is different information about whom the future Russian empress was brought up, but one thing is clear that from early childhood Marta was in the "primacs", that is, in fact, in the service of strangers. At the age of 17, the girl married the Swede Johann Kruse. The young people did not have time to live, because almost immediately the husband left for the Russian-Swedish war. After that, traces of it are lost. There are two versions of the further fate of the first man Martha Skavronskaya: 1) he disappeared (died) in the Northern War; 2) Kruse "surfaced" as a prisoner, but at the behest of Peter I he was taken to Siberia, where the failed spouse disappeared.
It makes no sense to understand the plausibility of both versions, because in any case, Johann Kruse had no influence on the fate of his young wife.

The maid and the kept woman

Strange as it may seem, captivity played a decisive role in the amazing fate of Marta Skavronskaya-Kruse. Livonian Marienburg, where Marta lived, was taken by the Russians in 1702, and Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev, noticing a pretty German woman, took her as his mistress. Over time, she came into the possession of Prince Alexander Menshikov, a friend of Peter I. Martha, judging by the descriptions of contemporaries that have come down to us, was a "mankaya" girl, moderately curpulent (in those days, bodily texture was valued). She possessed that zest that is today called sexuality. Menshikov took Martha to Petersburg and mercifully made her a servant.

Came together "Water" and "Flame"

During one of the visits to his friend Menshikov, Peter I noticed Martha. The tsar (then still tsar, Peter would appoint himself emperor shortly before his death) with his wife Evdokia Lopukhina, in fact, did not live in marriage, although she gave birth to two sons from him. Considering himself free from all marital conventions, Peter laid eyes on the prince's maid and slept with her on the very first night after meeting. Menshikov, comradely, lost to Martha.

It is believed that Martha gave birth to her first children (both died in infancy) from Peter. Be that as it may, the tsar in 1705 moved his mistress to his sister's house, two years later she was baptized and since then began to be called Catherine. Interestingly, the eldest son of Peter, Tsarevich Alexei was the godfather. The social status for the newly-minted Catherine did not change - for the tsar, she was still not understand who.

Peter and Catherine were married in 1712. By that time, the wife already had two daughters from Peter, Anna and Elizabeth. Marriage could seem like the most perfect misalliance, if you do not take into account the character of the groom.

First, Peter was (and probably remained) the only ruler of the Russian state, whose degree of simplification had no boundaries. Rather, the sovereign installed them himself. Peter preferred to personally delve into many subtleties of the state structure, down to the details, everything was interesting to him. In Holland he studied shipbuilding as an ordinary person, hiding behind the pseudonym "Peter Mikhailov". Once again, he loved to tear sick teeth from the unfortunate. It is unlikely that among the Russian monarchs there is a more inquisitive rival to Peter.

Given all this, the autocrat did not care whether his chosen one had a solid social status or not.

Secondly, the Russian tsar was irrepressible in his exuberance. Apparently, Peter still suffered from some kind of mental illness, because, according to the memoirs of his contemporaries, he systematically, sometimes unmotivated, became enraged, in seizures he had a severe headache. Catherine alone could calm her spouse. And these truly magical abilities of hers had a strong influence on the king.

Stern in life, Peter was unusually affectionate with his wife. Catherine gave birth to 11 children, but only the premarital sisters survived - the other offspring died in childhood. The tsar was a walker in the female part, but his wife forgave everything and did not roll up the scenes. She herself had an affair with Chamberlain Mons, whom Peter eventually executed.

Shone in the light, and then faded

Emperor Peter I crowned his wife in 1723, 2 years before his death. Catherine was put on the first crown in the history of the Russian Empire. After Maria Mnishek (the failed wife of False Dmitry I), she was the second woman to be crowned to the Russian throne. Peter went against the rules, ignoring the law, according to which the direct descendants of the royal family in the male line became tsars in Russia.

After the death of her husband, Catherine ascended the throne with the help of her old friend Menshikov and his comrade, an associate of her late husband, the count. Peter Tolstoy. They pulled up to "strengthen" the Guards of the Preobrazhensky regiment, who broke the will of the dissenting "old boyars". The Senate approved the candidacy of Catherine, and the people, although they were amazed at this alignment, but silently - there was no excitement about this.

Catherine did not rule for long, only two years. The people loved her (the empress was engaged in charity work). But the state was actually led by Field Marshal Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council. Catherine herself loved balls and other entertainment. Perhaps an idle lifestyle led to the fact that she died at 43. Historians believe that she was a significant figure only under her husband Peter I.

Portrait of Catherine I. Artist J.-M. Nattier. 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 also bears the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe 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. Her place of birth and nationality have not yet 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) into a family of Estonian peasants.

Marta'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 scientist, was taken into Russian service, founded the first gymnasium in Moscow, taught languages \u200b\u200band wrote poetry in Russian). Martha was used in the house as a servant, she was not taught to read and write.

According to the version set forth in the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary, Martha's mother, having become a widow, gave her daughter into the service of the family of Pastor Gluck, where she was supposedly taught to read and write and handicrafts.

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

At the age of 17, Martha was married to a Swedish dragoon named Johann Kruse, just before the Russian advance on Marienburg. A day or two after the wedding, the trumpet player Johann with his regiment left for the war and, according to the widespread version, disappeared without a trace.

The question of origin

The search for the roots of Catherine in the Baltic States, 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 brought their families to St. Petersburg in 1726. According to A.I. Repnin, who led the search, Khristina Skavronskaya and her husband "lie", both of them are "stupid and drunk people", Repnin suggested sending them "somewhere else, so that there would be no big lies from them." Catherine conferred the title of count on Karl and Friedrich in January 1727, without calling them her brothers. In the will of Catherine I, the Skavronskys are vaguely named "close relatives of her own surname." Under Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Catherine, immediately after her accession to the throne in 1741, the children of Christina (Gendrikovs) and the children of Anna (Efimovskys) were also elevated to the rank of count. In the future, the official version was that Anna, Christina, Karl and Friedrich are the brothers and sisters of Catherine, children of Samuel 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 relatives” - “Yagan-Ionus Vasilevski, 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 got into fiction, for example, the novel by A. N. Tolstoy "Peter the First"), according to others, this is her maiden name, and someone Johann Rabe was her father.

1702 - 1725

Mistress of Peter I

On August 25, 1702, during the Great Northern War, the army of the Russian field marshal Sheremetev, fighting against the Swedes in Livonia, took the Swedish fortress 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 capture and burn, nothing was left intact, everything was ruined and burned, and your military sovereigns took full of male and female and rob several thousand, also work horses, and cattle with 20,000 or more ... and which they could not lift, they chopped and chopped "

In Marienburg, Sheremetev captured 400 residents. When Pastor Gluck, accompanied by his servants, came to intercede for the fate of the inhabitants, Sheremetev noticed the servant Martha Kruse and forcibly took her to his mistress. After a short time, approximately in August 1703, Prince Menshikov, a friend and colleague of Peter I, became its owner. This is how the Frenchman Franz Villebois, who was in the Russian service in the navy since 1698 and married to the daughter of Pastor Gluck, says. Villebois's story is confirmed by another source, notes from 1724 from the archives of the Duke of Oldenburg. According to these notes, Sheremetev sent pastor Gluck and all the inhabitants of the Marienburg fortress to Moscow, while he kept Martha for himself. Menshikov, taking Martha away from the elderly field marshal a few months later, fell out with Sheremetev.

Portrait of Alexander Danilovich Menshikov in 1698, painted in Holland during the Great Embassy of Peter the Great

Scotsman Peter Henry Bruce in his Memoirs presents history (from the words of others) in a more favorable light for Catherine I. Martha was taken by the Colonel of the Dragoon regiment Baur (who later became a general):

“[Baur] immediately ordered her to be placed in his house, which entrusted her to her care, giving her the right to manage 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-groomed as it was during her stay there. Prince Menshikov, who was his patron, once saw her with a general, also noting something extraordinary in her appearance and manners. After 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 now badly needed, because he himself was now being served very poorly. To this the general replied that he owed too much to the prince so as not to immediately do what he had just thought of - and immediately calling Catherine, he said that before her was Prince Menshikov, who needed just such a servant as she was, and that the prince will do everything in his power to become, like himself, a friend to her, adding that he respects her too much not to give her the opportunity to receive her share of honor and good fortune. "

In the fall of 1703, during one of his regular visits to Menshikov in St. Petersburg, Peter I met Martha and soon made her his mistress, calling her Katerina Vasilevskaya in letters (possibly by the last name of her aunt).

Peter I with the insignia of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called on the blue St. Andrew's ribbon and a star on his chest. Artist J.-M. Nattier, 1717

Franz Villebois reports their first meeting as follows:
“This was the case when the tsar, driving by post from St. Petersburg, which was then called Nyenskans, 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 she came from and how he got it. And, speaking quietly in his ear with this favorite, who answered him only with a nod of his head, he looked at Catherine for a long time and, teasing her, said that she was smart, and ended his joking speech by telling her that when she went to bed, take a candle to his room. It was an order, spoken in a joking tone, but not subject to any objection. Menshikov took this for granted, and the beauty, devoted to her master, spent the night in the Tsar's room ... The next day the Tsar left in the morning to continue his journey. He returned to his favorite what he had lent him. The satisfaction of the tsar, which he received from his nightly conversation with Catherine, cannot be judged by the generosity he showed. She limited herself to only one ducat, which is equal in value to half of one louis (10 francs), which he thrust into her hand in a military fashion 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 soon died).

In 1705, Peter sent Katerina to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, to the house of his sister, Princess Natalia Alekseevna, where Katerina Vasilevskaya learned Russian reading and writing, 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 wished to remain incognito.

In January 1710, Peter staged a triumphal march to Moscow on the occasion of the Poltava victory, thousands of Swedish prisoners were held at the parade, among whom, according to Franz Villebois, was Johann Kruse. Johann confessed about his wife, giving birth to children one by one to the Russian Tsar, and was immediately exiled to a remote corner of Siberia, where he died in 1721. According to Franz Villebois, the existence of Catherine's living legal husband during the years of the birth of Anna (1708) and Elizabeth (1709) was later used by opposing factions in disputes 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 bear in mind the interest of the German dukes in the legitimacy of the birth of the daughters Peter, Anna and Elizabeth, who were looking for suitors among the German appanage rulers.

Peter I's wife

Wedding of Peter I and Katerina Alekseevna in 1712. Engraving by A.F. Zubova.

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, was able to calm Peter's convulsive headaches with affection and patient attention. According to Bassevich's memoirs:
“The sound of Katerina's voice calmed Peter; then she would sit him down and take him, caressing him, by the head, which she lightly scratched. This produced a magical effect on him, he fell asleep in a few minutes. So as not to disturb his sleep, she held his head on her chest, sitting motionless for two or three hours. After that, he woke up completely fresh and cheerful. "

In the spring of 1711, Peter, having become attached to a charming and light-minded former servant, ordered Catherine to be considered his wife and took her on the Prut campaign, unlucky for the Russian army. The Danish envoy Yust Yul, from the words of the princesses (nieces of Peter I), wrote this story down:
“In the evening, shortly before his departure, the tsar called them, his sister Natalya Alekseevna, to a house in the Preobrazhenskaya Sloboda. There he took the hand and put his mistress Ekaterina Alekseevna in front of them. For the future, the tsar said, they should consider her his legitimate wife and Russian tsarina. Since now, due to the urgent need to go to the army, he cannot marry her, he takes her with him in order to do this on occasion in more free time. At the same time, the king made it clear that if he dies before he has time to marry, then after his death they will have to look at her as his legitimate wife. After that they all congratulated (Ekaterina Alekseevna) and kissed her hand. "

In Moldavia, in July 1711, 190 thousand Turks and Crimean Tatars pressed the 38-thousandth Russian army to the river, completely surrounded by numerous cavalry. Catherine went on a long hike, being 7 months pregnant. According to a well-known legend, she took off all her jewelry in order to bribe them to the Turkish commander. Peter I was able to conclude the Peace of Prut and, having sacrificed the Russian conquests in the south, to withdraw the army from the encirclement. The Danish envoy, Yust Yul, who was with the Russian army after leaving the encirclement, does not report such an act of Catherine, but says that the queen (as everyone called Catherine now) distributed her jewelry to the officers for preservation and then collected them. The notes of the brigadier Moro de Brazet 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 the Turkish pasha about the exact amount of state funds sent to bribe Turks.

Unknown artist. Portrait of Catherine I.

The official wedding of Peter I to Ekaterina Alekseevna took place on February 19, 1712 in the Church of St. Isaac of Dalmatsky in St. Petersburg. In 1713, Peter I, in honor of the dignified behavior of his wife during the unsuccessful Prut campaign for him, established the Order of St. Catherine and personally placed the insignia of the order on his wife on November 24, 1714. It was originally called the Order of the 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 on November 15, 1723:
“Our dear spouse, Empress Catherine, was a great helper, and not exactly in this, but in many military actions, putting aside a woman's sickness, she was present with us by will and perhaps helped, and especially in the Prut campaign from the Turks, consider a desperate time, as I acted masculinely, not femininely; our entire army knows about that ... "

Peter I and Catherine I ride along the Neva

In his personal letters, the tsar showed an unusual tenderness for his wife: “Katerinushka, my friend, hello! I hear that you are bored, but I am not bored either ... ". Ekaterina Alekseevna gave birth to her husband 11 children, but almost all of them died in childhood, except for Anna and Elizabeth. Elizabeth later became empress (ruled in 1741-1762), and direct descendants of Anna ruled Russia after Elizabeth's death, from 1762 to 1917. One of the sons who died in childhood, Pyotr Petrovich, after the abdication of Alexei Petrovich (Peter's eldest son from Evdokia Lopukhina) was considered from February 1718 until his death in 1719, 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, launching of a ship, ceremony or holiday at which she would not appear ... Catherine, confident in her husband's heart, laughed at his frequent love affairs, as Livia did at Augustus's intrigues; 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 fall of 1724, Peter I suspected the empress of adultery with her chamberlain Mons, whom he executed for another reason. He stopped talking to her, access to him was denied to her. 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 the time at the bedside of the dying sovereign, he died in her arms.

Opinions about Catherine's appearance are contradictory. If you focus on male eyewitnesses, then, on the whole, they are more than positive, and, on the contrary, women sometimes treated her with prejudice: “She was short, fat and black; all of her appearance did not make a favorable impression. It was worth looking at her to immediately notice that she was of low birth. The dress she was wearing was most likely purchased from a market store; it was old-fashioned and trimmed with silver and glitter. By her side one could take her for a German itinerant artist. She wore a belt adorned at 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 foul setting. About a dozen orders and the same number of icons and amulets were hung on the queen, and as she walked, everything rang like a dressed-up mule passed.

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 a copper plate.

The offspring 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 the son of Karl Peter Ulrich (later the Russian emperor Peter III).

Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-1762). Russian Empress from 1741.

Natalia Petrovna (1713-1715).

Margarita Petrovna (1714-1715).

Peter 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 sign of her special merits.

May 7, 1724 Peter crowned Catherine as Empress in the Moscow Dormition Cathedral. This was the second coronation of the sovereign's wife in Russia (after the coronation of Marina Mnishek by False Dmitry I in 1605).

By his law of February 5, 1722, Peter abolished the previous order of succession to the throne by a direct male descendant, 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 under the Decree of 1722. Peter died in the early morning of January 28, 1725, not having time to name a successor and leaving no sons. The absence of a strictly defined order of succession to the throne of Russia was given to chance, and subsequent times 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 the eldest son Alexei, who died during interrogation. For Peter Alekseevich there was a well-born nobility (Dolgorukiy, Golitsyn), who considered him the only legitimate heir, born of a marriage worthy of royal blood. Count Tolstoy, Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky, Chancellor Count Golovkin and Menshikov at the head of the serving nobility could not hope to preserve the power received from Peter I under Peter Alekseevich; on the other hand, the coronation of the empress could be interpreted as an indirect indication of Peter's heiress. When Catherine saw that there was no longer any hope of her husband's recovery, she instructed Menshikov and Tolstoy to act in favor of their rights. The guards were devoted to adoration to the dying emperor; She transferred this affection to Catherine.

Guard officers from the Preobrazhensky regiment came to the Senate meeting, knocking down the door to the room. They frankly declared that they would break the heads of the old boyars if they went against their mother Catherine. Suddenly there was a drumbeat 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 bring regiments here without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal? " Buturlin, the commander of the Semyonovsky regiment, answered Repnin that he had summoned 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 opponents of Catherine to vote for her. The Senate "unanimously" elevated her to the throne, calling her "the most glorious, most sovereign great empress Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the autocrat of all Russia" and in justification announced the will of the deceased sovereign interpreted by the Senate. The people were very surprised by the ascension of a woman to the throne for the first time in Russian history, but there was no excitement.

On January 28, 1725, Catherine I ascended the throne of the Russian Empire thanks to the support of the guards and nobles who had risen under Peter. In Russia, the era of empresses reign 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 little arapchon.

Governing body. 1725-1727 years.

The actual power in the reign of Catherine was concentrated by the prince and field marshal Menshikov, as well as the Supreme Privy Council. Catherine, however, 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 got their way.

From "History of Russia" S.M. Solovyova:
Under Peter, she shone not with her own light, but borrowed from a great man whom she was a companion; she had the ability to keep herself at a certain height, to show attention and sympathy to the movement that was taking place around her; she was privy to all the secrets, the secrets of the personal relationships of the people around her. Her position, fear for the future kept her mental and moral strength in constant and strong tension. But the climbing plant reached its height thanks only to the giant of the forests around which it twisted; the giant is slain - and the weak plant spreads on the ground. Catherine retained the knowledge of persons and the relationships between them, kept the habit of wading between these relationships; but she had neither due attention to matters, especially internal affairs, and their details, nor the ability to initiate and direct.

On the initiative of Count P.A.Tolstoy, in February 1726, a new body of state power, the Supreme Privy Council, was created, where a narrow circle of chief dignitaries could govern the Russian Empire under the formal chairmanship of a semi-literate empress. The Council included Field Marshal Prince Menshikov, Admiral General Count Apraksin, Chancellor Count Golovkin, Count Tolstoy, Prince Golitsyn, and Vice-Chancellor Baron Osterman. Of the six members of the new institution, only Prince D. M. Golitsyn came from a noble family. A month later, the empress's son-in-law, Duke of Holstein Karl-Friedrich (1700-1739), was included in the number of members of the Supreme Privy Council, on whose delight, as the empress officially declared, "we can quite rely."

As a result, the role of the Senate fell sharply, although it was renamed the High Senate. The supreme 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 governor's power.

Silver ruble 1727

The long wars waged by Russia affected the country's finances. Due to poor harvests, the prices of bread rose, and discontent grew in the country. To prevent uprisings, the poll tax was lowered (from 74 to 70 kopecks).

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

Despite this, the common people loved the empress for the fact that she sympathized with the unfortunate and willingly helped them. Soldiers, sailors and artisans constantly crowded in its front halls: some were looking for help, others asked the queen to be their godfather. She did not refuse anyone and usually gave each of her godchildren a few chervonets.

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

Foreign policy

During the 2 years of the reign of Catherine I, Russia did not wage major wars, only 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 turmoil, and Turkey unsuccessfully fought the Persian rebels. In Europe, Russia showed diplomatic activity in defending the interests of the Holstein Duke (husband of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Catherine I) against Denmark. The preparation by Russia of an expedition 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 the provision of guarantees for the Nystadt peace and the creation of an anti-Turkish bloc. In 1726, the government of Catherine I concluded the Vienna Treaty of Alliance 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 did not rule for long. Balls, festivities, feasts and carousing, which followed a continuous succession, undermined her health, and on April 10, 1727 the Empress took to her bed. The cough, previously weak, began to intensify, a fever was found, the patient began to weaken from day to 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.

The question of succession

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

Vice-Chancellor Osterman proposed to marry Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich to Princess Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Catherine, in order to reconcile the interests of the noble and new service nobility. Their close relationship served as an obstacle; Elizabeth was Peter's own aunt. In order to avoid a possible divorce in the future, Osterman suggested that at the time of marriage, the order of succession to the throne be determined more strictly.

Catherine, wishing to appoint her daughter Elizabeth (according to other sources - Anna) as the heir, did not dare to accept Osterman's project and continued to insist on her right to appoint a successor to herself, hoping that over time the issue would be resolved. Meanwhile, the main supporter of Catherine Menshikov, assessing the prospect of Peter to become the Russian emperor, moved to the camp of his adherents. Moreover, Menshikov managed to get Catherine's consent to the marriage of Mary, Menshikov's daughter, to Peter Alekseevich.

The party led by Tolstoy, who 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 to revolt the people for Peter as the only legitimate heir; he could be answered that the army was on the side of Catherine, that it would be on the side of her daughters. Catherine, for her part, tried to win the affection of the army with attention.

Menshikov managed to take advantage of Catherine's illness, who signed on May 6, 1727, a few hours before her death, an indictment against Menshikov's enemies, and on the same day Count Tolstoy and other high-ranking Menshikov enemies 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 was dangerously ill, members of the highest government institutions gathered in the palace to resolve the issue of a successor: the Supreme Privy Council, the Senate and the Synod. Guards officers were also invited. The Supreme Council decisively insisted on the appointment of Peter the Great's young grandson, Peter Alekseevich, as heir. Before his death, Bassevich hastily made a will, signed by Elizabeth instead of the ailing mother-empress. According to the will, the throne was succeeded by the grandson of Peter I, Peter Alekseevich.

Subsequent articles dealt with the custody of the minor emperor; determined the power of the Supreme Soviet, the order of the throne's inheritance in the event of the death of Pyotr Alekseevich. According to the will, in the event of the childless death of Peter, Anna Petrovna and her descendants ("descendents") became his successor, then her younger sister Elizaveta Petrovna and her descendants, and only then the sister of Peter II, Natalya Alekseevna. At the same time, those claimants to the throne who would not be of the Orthodox faith or who already reigned abroad were excluded from the order of inheritance. It was to the will of Catherine I 14 years later that Elizaveta Petrovna referred to in the manifesto, setting out her rights to the throne after the palace coup of 1741.

The 11th article of the will amazed those present. It commanded all nobles to promote the betrothal of Peter Alekseevich to one of the daughters of Prince Menshikov, and then, upon reaching adulthood, to promote their marriage. Literally: "Our princes and the administration's government have the same way to try to arrange a marriage between his love [Grand Duke Peter] and the one princess Prince Menshikov."

Such an article clearly testified to a person who participated in the drafting of the will, but for Russian society, the right of Peter Alekseevich to the throne - the main article of the will - was indisputable, and there was no excitement.

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

Ekaterina Alekseevna is an empress who has become one of the iconic figures in the history of Russia in the 18th century. It was with her that the so-called age of women on the Russian throne began. She was not a person of strong political will or a state, however, due to her personal qualities, she left her mark on the history of the Fatherland. We are talking about Catherine I - first the mistress, then the wife of Peter I, and later the full-fledged ruler of the Russian state.

The first mystery. Childhood

If we talk about the early years of this person, then you involuntarily come to the conclusion that there are more mysteries and uncertainties in her biography than genuine information. Her exact place of origin and nationality are still unknown - more than 300 years after her birth, historians cannot give an exact answer.

According to one of the versions, Ekaterina Alekseevna was born on April 5, 1684 in the family of a Lithuanian (or maybe Latvian) peasant in the vicinity of Kegums, which was located in the historical region of Vidzem. Then these territories were part of the most powerful Swedish state.

Another version testifies to its Estonian roots. It is said that she was allegedly born in the modern city of Tartu, which was called Derpt at the end of the 17th century. But it is also indicated that she did not have a high origin, but came from among the peasantry.

In recent years, another version has appeared. Catherine's father was Samuil Skavronsky, who served Casimir Jan Sapega. Once he fled to Livland, settled in the Marienburg region, where he started a family.

There is one more nuance here. Ekaterina Alekseevna, the Russian princess, did not have the name under which she entered history. Her real name is Skavronskaya, named Martha, who was the daughter of Samuel. But it is inappropriate for a woman with such a name to occupy the Russian throne, so she received new "passport data" and became Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova.

The second secret. Adolescence

In Europe in those early years, the plague was still dangerous. And her family could not escape this danger. As a result, in the year of Martha's birth, her parents died from the “black death”. Only her uncle remained, who could not assume the responsibilities of a parent, so he gave the girl to the family of Ernst Gluck, who was a Lutheran pastor. By the way, he is famous for the translation of the Bible into Latvian. In 1700, the Great Northern War began, in which Sweden and Russia were the main opposing forces. In 1702, the Russian army stormed the impregnable fortress of Marienburg. After that Ernst Gluck and Martha were sent to Moscow as prisoners. After some time, on receipt of the pastor Fagetsia settled in his house, in the Nemetskaya Sloboda. Marta herself - the future Ekaterina Alekseevna - did not learn to read and write and was in the house as a servant.

The version given in the Brockhaus and Efron dictionary gives other information according to which her mother did not die of the plague, but lost her husband. Widowed, she was forced to give her daughter to the family of the same Gluck. And this version says that she studied literacy and various handicrafts.

According to the third version, she got into the Gluck family at the age of 12. Before that Martha lived with Veselovskaya Anna-Maria, her aunt. At the age of 17 she was married to the Swede Johann Kruse on the eve of the Russian offensive on the fortress of Marienburg. After 1 or 2 days he had to leave for the war, where he disappeared without a trace.

Ekaterina Alekseevna enveloped her personality with such secrets of birth and early years. Her biography by no means becomes 100% clear from that moment on, various kinds of white spots will still appear in her.

Field Marshal Sheremetev in the life of Catherine

Russian troops at the beginning of the Northern War in Livonia were led by Sheremetev. He managed to capture the main one after which the main forces of the Swedes withdrew further. The victor, however, subjected the region to a merciless plunder. He himself reported to the Russian Tsar in the following way: "... sent in all directions to burn and capture, nothing remained intact. Men and women were taken prisoner, everything was ruined and burned. Work horses and other cattle were taken in the amount of 20,000, the rest was chopped up and chopped ".

In the fortress itself, the field marshal captured 400 people. Pastor Ernst Gluck came to Sheremetev with a petition about the fate of the inhabitants, here he (Sheremetev) noticed Ekaterina Alekseevna, who then had the name Marta Kruse. The aged field marshal sent all the residents and Gluck to Moscow, while Martha was forcefully taken into his mistress. For several months she was his concubine, after which, in a heated quarrel, Menshikov took Martha from him, since then her life has contacted a new military and political figure, Peter's closest associate.

Peter Henry Bruce's version

In a more favorable offering for Catherine herself, the Scotsman Bruce described these events in his memoirs. According to him, after the capture of Marienburg, Marta was taken by Baur - a colonel of the dragoon regiment, and in the future a general.

Placing her at home, Baur instructed her to do the housework. She had the right to completely dispose of the servants. What she did quite skillfully, as a result, she earned the love and respect of her subordinates. Later, the general recalled that his house had never been as well-groomed as it had under Marta. Once Prince Menshikov, Baur's immediate superior, was on a visit to him, during which he noticed the girl, she turned out to be Ekaterina Alekseevna. A photo in those years did not yet exist to capture it, but Menshikov himself noted her extraordinary facial features and manners. He became interested in Martha and asked Baur about her. In particular, does she know how to cook and farm. To which he received an affirmative answer. Then Prince Menshikov said that his house was in fact without good supervision and needed just such a woman as our heroine.

Baur was greatly indebted to the prince, and after these words he called Marta and said that before her Menshikov was her new master. He assured the prince that she would be a good support for him in the household and a friend on whom he could rely. In addition, Baur greatly respected Martha in order to prevent her "the opportunity to receive a share of honor and good fortune." Since that time, Catherine I Alekseevna began to live in the house of Prince Menshikov. It was 1703.

Peter's first meeting with Catherine

On one of his frequent trips to Menshikov, the tsar met and then turned Martha into his mistress. There is written evidence of their first meeting.

Menshikov lived in St. Petersburg (then - Nyenshants). Peter went to Livonia, but wanted to stay with his friend Menshikov. On the same evening, he first saw his chosen one. She became Ekaterina Alekseevna - the wife of (in the future) Peter the Great. She served the table that evening. The tsar asked Menshikov who she was, where and where he could get her. After that, Peter looked at Catherine for a long time and intently, as a result of which, in a joking manner, he told her to bring him a candle before bedtime. However, this joke was an order that could not be refused. They spent that night together. In the morning, Peter left, in gratitude he left her 1 ducat, putting it in Martha's hand in a military manner at parting.

This was the first meeting of the king with a maidservant who was destined to become an empress. This meeting was very important, because if it had not happened, Peter would never have known about the existence of such an unusual girl.

In 1710, on the occasion of the victory, a triumphal procession was organized in Moscow. The prisoners of the Swedish army were led across the square. Sources say that among them was the husband of Catherine Johann Kruse. He announced that the girl who gives birth to children one by one to the king is his wife. The result of these words was his exile to Siberia, where he died in 1721.

Mistress of Peter the Great

The next year, after the first meeting with the Tsar, Catherine I Alekseevna gave birth to her first child, whom she named Peter, a year later, a second child appeared - Pavel. They died soon after. The tsar called her Marta Vasilevskaya, probably by the name of her aunt. In 1705, he decided to take her for himself and settled in the house of his sister Natalia in Preobrazhensky. There Marta learned Russian literacy and became friends with the Menshikov family.

In 1707 or 1708 Marta Skavronskaya converted to Orthodoxy. After baptism, she received a new name - Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. She received her patronymic by the name of her godfather, who turned out to be Tsarevich Alexei, while the surname was given by Peter so that she remained incognito.

The legal wife of Peter the Great

Catherine was Peter's dearly beloved woman, she was the love of his whole life. Yes, he had a huge number of novels and intrigues, but he loved only one person - his Martha. She saw it. Peter I, as is known from the memoirs of his contemporaries, suffered from severe headaches. Nobody could do anything with them. Ekaterina Alekseevna was his "analgesic". When the king began another attack, she sat down next to him, hugged him and stroked his head, in a few minutes he fell asleep soundly. After waking up, he felt fresh, vigorous, ready for new challenges.

In the spring of 1711, going on the Prut campaign, Peter gathered his loved ones in Preobrazhensky, brought his chosen one in front of them and said that from now on everyone should consider her a legitimate wife and queen. He also said that if he dies without having time to marry, then everyone should consider her the legal heir to the Russian throne.

The wedding took place only in 1712, on February 19, in the Church of St. Isaac of Dalmatsky. From that moment, Ekaterina Alekseevna is Peter's wife. The couple were very attached to each other, especially Peter. He wanted to see her everywhere: at the descent of the ship, at the military review, at the holidays.

Children of Peter and Catherine

Katerinushka, as the tsar called her, gave birth to 10 children to Peter, however, most of them died in infancy (see table).

	Birth		Additional Information
			Children not officially confirmed, born before marriage
	September 1705
Ekaterina			First daughter born out of wedlock named after mother
			The first child not to die in infancy. In 1711 she was declared a princess, and in 1721 - a crown princess. In 1725 she married and left for Kiel, where her son Karl Peter Ulrich was born (later he would become the Russian emperor)
Elizabeth			In 1741 she became the Russian empress and remained so until her death
Natalia (senior)			The first child born in marriage. Died at the age of 2 years and 2 months
Margarita			Received such an atypical name for the Romanovs, possibly in honor of the daughter of pastor Gluck, with whom she grew up
			Was declared and was considered the official heir. Named after the king
			Born in Germany, Peter himself was in the Netherlands at that time. Only lived one day
Natalia (junior)			Natalia became the last child of Catherine and Peter

The further political history of the Romanov dynasty is connected only with his two daughters. Catherine's daughter ruled the country for over 20 years, and Anna's descendants ruled Russia from 1762 until the fall of monarchical power in 1917.

Ascension to the throne

As you know, Peter was remembered as a tsar-reformer. Regarding the process of succession to the throne, he did not ignore this issue. In 1722, a reform was carried out in this area, according to which not the first descendant in the male line became the heir to the throne, but the one who was appointed by the current ruler. As a result, any subject could become a ruler.

On November 15, 1723, Peter issued the Manifesto on the coronation of Catherine. The coronation itself took place on May 7, 1724.

During the last weeks of his life, Peter fell seriously ill. And when Catherine realized that he would no longer recover from his illness, she summoned Prince Menshikov and Count Tolstoy to her so that they would work to attract those in power to her side, since Peter did not have time to leave a will.

On January 28, 1725, with the support of the guards and most of the nobles, Catherine was proclaimed empress, heiress of Peter the Great.

Great Ekaterina Alekseevna on the Russian throne

Russian imperial power during the reign of Catherine was not autocratic. In fact, power was in the hands of the Privy Council, although it was argued that the Senate, which was renamed the Grand Senate under Catherine, possessed all of it. Prince Menshikov was endowed with unlimited power, the one who took Martha Skavronskaya from Count Sheremetev.

Ekaterina Alekseevna is an empress without state affairs. She was not interested in the state, entrusting all the concerns to Menshikov, Tolstoy and the Privy Council created in 1726. She was only interested in foreign policy and especially in the fleet, which was passed on to her from her husband. The Senate lost its decisive influence during these years. All documents were developed by the Privy Council, and the empress's function was to simply sign them.

Long ones passed in constant wars, the burden of which completely fell on the shoulders of the common population. It's tired of it. At the same time, there was a bad harvest in agriculture, and the prices of bread were rising. A tense situation was created in the country. To somehow defuse it, Catherine reduced the poll tax from 74 to 70 kopecks. Born Martha Skavronskaya, unfortunately, did not differ in her reformatory characteristics, which her namesake, Empress Ekaterina II Alekseevna, was endowed with, and her state activities were limited to minor matters. While the country was drowning in embezzlement and arbitrariness on the ground.

Poor education and lack of participation in state affairs, nevertheless, did not deprive her of the people's love - she was drowning in her. Catherine willingly helped the unfortunate and just people asking for help, others wanted to see her godfather. As a rule, she did not refuse anyone and gave the next godson a few ducats.

Ekaterina 1 Alekseevna was in power for only two years - from 1725 to 1727. During this time, the Academy of Sciences was opened, Bering's expedition was organized and carried out, and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was introduced.

Leaving life

After the death of Peter, Catherine's life spun: masquerades, balls, festivities, greatly undermined her health. In April 1727, on the 10th, the empress fell ill, her cough intensified, signs of lung damage were found. The death of Ekaterina Alekseevna was a matter of time. She had less than a month to live.

On May 6, 1727, in the evening at 9 o'clock, Catherine died. She was 43 years old. Just before her death, a will was drawn up, which the empress could no longer sign, so there was the signature of her daughter Elizabeth. According to the will, the throne was to be taken by Peter Alekseevich, the grandson of Emperor Peter I.

Ekaterina Alekseevna and Peter I were a good couple. They kept each other alive. Catherine acted magically, soothingly on him, while Peter, in turn, restrained her inner energy. After his death, Catherine spent the rest of the time in festivities and drinking. Many eyewitnesses claimed that she just wanted to forget herself, others talk about her walking nature. In any case, the people loved her, she knew how to endear men to herself and remained an empress, having no real power in her hands. Ekaterina 1 Alekseevna began the era of the rule of women in the Russian Empire, who remained at the helm until the end of the 18th century, with short interruptions of several years.