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 century of women on the Russian throne began. She was not a person of strong political will or a state mentality, 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 ruler of the Russian state.
Secret one. 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 version, 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 Vidzeme. Then these territories were part of the most powerful Swedish state.
Another version testifies to her 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 the environment of the peasantry.
In recent years, another version has appeared. Catherine's father was Samuil Skavronsky, who served Kazimir Jan Sapieha. Once he fled to Livonia, settled in the Marienburg region, where he started a family.
Here is another nuance. Ekaterina Alekseevna - the Russian princess - did not have such a name, under which she went down in history. Her real name is Skavronskaya, named Martha, who was the daughter of Samuel. But it is not good for a woman with that name to occupy the Russian throne, so she received new "passport data" and became Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova.
The second secret. Boyhood
In Europe in those distant years, the plague was still dangerous. And her family could not avoid this danger. As a result, in the year of Martha's birth, her parents died from the Black Death. Only the uncle remained, who could not assume the duties 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 his translation of the Bible into Latvian. In 1700, the Northern War began, in which Sweden was the main opposing force.and Russia. In 1702, the Russian army stormed the impregnable fortress of Marienburg. After that, Ernst Gluck and Martha were sent to Moscow as prisoners. After a while, under the receipt of the pastor, Fagecy settled in his house, in the German Quarter. Martha 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 from the plague, but lost her husband. Having been 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 needlework.
According to the third version, she got into the Gluck family when she was 12 years old. Prior to that, Martha had 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 went missing.
Ekaterina Alekseevna shrouded her personality with such secrets of birth and early years. Her biography does not become 100% clear from now on, various kinds of white spots will still appear in it.
Field Marshal Sheremetev in Catherine's life
Russian troops at the beginning of the Northern War in Livonia led by Sheremetev. He managed to capture the main fortress of Marienburg, after which the main forces of the Swedes retreated further. The victor subjected the region to merciless looting. He himself reported to the Russian Tsar as follows: "… sent in all directions to burn andcaptivate, nothing remains intact. Men and women are taken prisoner, everything is ruined and burned. 20,000 working horses and other livestock were taken, the rest was chopped and stabbed."
In the fortress itself, the field marshal captured 400 people. With a petition about the fate of the inhabitants, pastor Ernst Gluck came to Sheremetev, and here he (Sheremetev) noticed Ekaterina Alekseevna, who then had the name Marta Kruse. The aged field marshal sent all the inhabitants and Gluck to Moscow, but took Martha by force as 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 become associated with a new military and political figure, Peter's closest associate.
Peter Henry Bruce 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.
After placing her in his home, Baur instructed her to take care of the household. She had the right to full control of the servants. What she did skillfully enough, as a result, earned the love and respect of her subordinates. Later, the general recalled that his house had never before been as well-groomed as under Marta. Once, Prince Menshikov, Baur's immediate superior, visited him, during which he noticed a girl, she turned out to be Ekaterina Alekseevna. There was no photograph in those years to capture her, but Menshikov himself noted her extraordinary facial features and mannerisms. He became interested in Martha and asked abouther at Baur's. In particular, whether she knows how to cook and run a household. To which he received an affirmative answer. Then Prince Menshikov said that his house was actually without good supervision and needed just such a woman as our heroine.
Baur was greatly obliged to the prince and after these words he called Martha and said that Menshikov was in front of her - her new master. He assured the prince that she would become 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 "opportunities in receiving 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 Ekaterina
On one of his frequent trips to Menshikov, Tsar Peter I met and then turned Martha into his mistress. There remains a written record of their first meeting.
Menshikov lived in St. Petersburg (then - Nienschanz). Peter was going to Livonia, but he wanted to stay with his friend Menshikov. That same evening, he saw his chosen one for the first time. She became Ekaterina Alekseevna - the wife (in the future) of Peter the Great. That evening she waited at the table. The tsar asked Menshikov who she was, from 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 said that she should bring a candle to him before going to bed. However, this joke was an order that could not be refused. They spent that night together. In the morning Peter left, in gratitude heleft her 1 ducat, putting it in Martha's hand in a military way at parting.
This was the first meeting of the king with the servant girl who was destined to become the 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 in the Battle of Poltava, a triumphal procession was organized in Moscow. The prisoners of the Swedish army were led across the square. Sources report that among them was Catherine's husband Johann Kruse. He announced that the girl who gives birth to children one after another 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 her second child, Pavel, appeared. They soon died. 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 Natalya in Preobrazhensky. There, Martha learned Russian 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 would remain incognito.
Legal wife of Peter the Great
Catherine was Peter's beloved woman, shewas the love of his 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 had another attack, she sat next to him, hugged him and stroked his head, in a few minutes he fell asleep soundly. After waking up, he felt fresh, alert, ready for new challenges.
In the spring of 1711, setting off on the Prut campaign, Peter gathered his relatives in Preobrazhensky, brought his chosen one in front of them and said that from now on everyone should consider her a lawful wife and queen. He also said that if he died before he could marry, then everyone should consider her the legitimate 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 on, Ekaterina Alekseevna is Peter's wife. The couple were strongly attached to each other, especially Peter. He wanted to see her everywhere: at the launch of the ship, the military review, at the holidays.
Children of Peter and Catherine
Katerinushka, as the tsar called her, bore Peter 10 children, however, most of them died in infancy (see table).
| Name | Birth | Death | Additional information |
| Pavel | 1704g. | 1707 | Officially unconfirmed children born before marriage |
| Peter | September 1705 | 1707 | |
| Catherine | January 27, 1706 | July 27, 1708 | First daughter born out of wedlock named after mother |
| Anna | January 27, 1708 | May 15, 1728 | The first child not to die in infancy. In 1711 she was declared a princess, and in 1721 - a princess. In 1725 she married and went to Kiel, where her son Karl Peter Ulrich was born (later he would become the Russian Emperor) |
| Elizabeth | December 18, 1709 | December 25, 1761 | In 1741 she became the Russian Empress and remained so until her death |
| Natalia (senior) | March 14, 1713 | June 7, 1715 | First child born in marriage. Passed away at the age of 2 years and 2 months |
| Margarita | September 14, 1714 | August 7, 1715 | Received such an atypical name for the Romanovs, perhaps in honor of the daughter of pastor Gluck, with whom she grew up |
| Peter | October 29, 1715 | 6 May 1719g. | Was declared and considered the official heir. Named after the king |
| Pavel | January 3, 1717 | January 4, 1717 | He was born in Germany, Peter himself was in the Netherlands at that time. Only lived one day |
| Natalia (younger) | August 31, 1718 | March 15, 1725 | Natalia became the last child of Catherine and Peter |
Only with his two daughters is the further political history of the Romanov dynasty connected. Ekaterina Alekseevna's daughter Elizaveta ruled the country for more than 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 reformer king. Regarding the process of succession to the throne, he did not bypass this issue. In 1722, a reform was carried out in this area, according to which not the first male descendant 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.
November 15, 1723, Peter issued the Manifesto on the coronation of Catherine. The coronation itself took place on May 7, 1724.
The last weeks of his life, Peter fell very ill. And when Catherine realized that he would not recover from his illness, she called Prince Menshikov and Count Tolstoy to her so that they could work to attract those in power to her side, since Peter's will did notmanaged to leave.
On January 28, 1725, with the support of the guards and most of the nobles, Catherine was proclaimed empress, heir to Peter the Great.
Great Ekaterina Alekseevna on the Russian throne
Russian imperial power during the reign of Catherine was not autocratic. In practice, power was in the hands of the Privy Council, although it was argued that the Senate, which under Catherine was renamed the Great Senate, possessed all of it. Unlimited power was vested in Prince Menshikov, the same one who took Martha Skavronskaya from Count Sheremetev.
Ekaterina Alekseevna is an empress without state affairs. She was not interested in the state, placing all her worries on Menshikov, Tolstoy and the Privy Council created in 1726. She was only interested in foreign policy and especially in the fleet, which she had inherited from her husband. The Senate lost its decisive influence during these years. All documents were developed by the Privy Council, and the function of the Empress was to simply sign them.
The long years of the reign of Peter I 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 were poor harvests in agriculture, and the price of bread rose. A tense situation was created in the country. In order to somehow defuse it, Catherine lowered the poll tax from 74 to 70 kopecks. Born Marta Skavronskaya, unfortunately, did not differ in her reformist characteristics, which were endowed with her namesake - Empress Catherine 2Alekseevna, and her state activity was limited to petty matters. While the country was drowning in embezzlement and arbitrariness on the ground.
Poor education and non-participation in public affairs, however, did not deprive her of people's love - she drowned in it. Catherine willingly helped the unfortunate and just people asking for help, others wanted to see her as a godfather. As a rule, she did not refuse anyone and gave the next godson several gold coins.
Ekaterina 1 Alekseevna was in power for only two years - from 1725 to 1727. During this time, the Academy of Sciences was opened, the Bering expedition was organized and carried out, and the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was introduced.
Departure
After Peter's death, Catherine's life began to spin: masquerades, balls, festivities, greatly undermined her he alth. In April 1727, on the 10th, the empress fell ill, her cough intensified, and signs of lung damage were found. The death of Ekaterina Alekseevna was a matter of time. She had less than a month to live.
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 her daughter Elizabeth's signature was there. 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, calming him, while Peter, in turn, restrained her inner energy. After his death, Catherine spent the rest of her time in festivities and drinking bouts. 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 win over men and remained the empress, having no real power in her hands. Catherine 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 breaks of several years.
