For the sake of this woman, the sovereign of all Russia Peter I sent his first wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, the last queen on the Russian throne, in whose veins there was no foreign blood, to eternal imprisonment in the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. Only an unfortunate accident prevented the favorite from entering into a legal marriage with him and ascending the throne of the world's largest power. Her name is Anna Mons. However, the inhabitants of Moscow called her the Queen of Kukuy, or simply Monsikha. Anna was not loved by our compatriots…
Moscow daughter of German parents
Anna-Margrette von Monson (that was the full name of the favorite of the sovereign Peter Alekseevich) was born on January 26, 1672 in Moscow in the German settlement. Her father (a native of Westphalia), having arrived in Russia, was engaged, according to some sources, in the wine trade, and according to others, in the jewelry business. But, one way or another, he managed to achieve success and by the time his daughter was born, he was part of the circle of we althy and respected inhabitants of the settlement.
It is known that twice his house was honored by his presence while still very young inthose years Peter. In addition to Anna-Margrette, the family had three more children. His wife - Modesta Mogerfleisch - led a lifestyle that has been inherent in a good German mistress from time immemorial. The whole world for her was limited to children, kitchen and church. About other relatives, it is only known that her paternal grandfather was the chief sergeant major of the cavalry.
Meet Peter and start a romance
It is not known exactly where and how fate brought Anna to the sovereign, but we can say with complete certainty that this happened in 1690. However, she became the favorite of the Russian crowned bearer only two years later, with the assistance of the famous Admiral Franz Lefort. By the way, evil tongues claimed that before that the admiral himself enjoyed the favor of a pretty German woman.
The young and loving Peter in those years brought her friend Elena Fademrekh closer to him, but she was not destined to take a place in the sovereign's heart for a long time, and her appearance could not compete with her rival. Anna Mons did not leave lifetime portraits, but the records of contemporaries that have come down to us draw us a woman of unprecedented beauty. However, there are many beauties in the world, but only rare chosen ones manage to keep the crowned bearers in their power for a long time. Apparently, there was something in Anna that was stronger than external charms, and that gave her this magical feminine power.
The Monarch's Generous Gifts
From 1703, five years before his wife Evdokia was forcibly tonsured a nun, the tsar began to openly live with Anna in her house. There are documents that testify to the generouspresents that Peter gave to his favorite. One of them was a miniature portrait of him set in diamonds, which, at that time, should have cost at least a thousand rubles, which was a huge sum.
Besides, among the gifts was a two-story house built by his order at the expense of the treasury. It was located in the German settlement near the new Lutheran church - the current Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, which rises in Starosadsky Lane of the capital. Anna Mons and her mother received an annual pension of seven hundred and eight rubles. To top it off, the tsar granted his favorite vast lands in the Dudinskaya volost of the Kozelsky district with villages numbering about three hundred households.
Dislike of Muscovites
As mentioned above, Muscovites did not like this woman. She was also reproached for her non-Russian origin, and the bitter fate of Evdokia Lopukhina, who ended up in the monastery through her fault, and the money Anna received from everyone she petitioned the sovereign for. But, obviously, the main reason was the envy that others experienced at the sight of a luxurious house and a shiny carriage of a pretty German woman.
German settlement from time immemorial was called Kukuy in Moscow. Hence the nickname given to the royal favorite - the Queen of Kukuy. The historian Huysen - the biographer of Pera I - tells that in all state institutions of those years there was an order to provide all possible assistance to Mrs. Mons and her mother, if they apply on their own business or with petitions forstrangers. The mother and daughter made extensive use of this privilege and benefited greatly from it.
Peter's unrequited love
Peter and Anna Mons were close for ten years and almost got married. What prevented this and put an end to their relationship? Many researchers, studying their mail, which has survived in large volumes to this day, pay attention to the fact that in Anna's messages, written over the course of a decade, there is not a single word about love, or even just affectionate words. They are more like business correspondence written in German and Dutch - correct, competent, but devoid of any feelings.
Franz Villebois, a Frenchman who, by the will of fate, found himself at the Russian court and left a description of his life and customs, claimed that Peter I would undoubtedly have married Anna if he had felt her sincere love for himself. But, alas, she saw in him only the emperor, intimacy with which opens the gates of an earthly paradise, and by no means a beloved man. There is even reason to believe that the Queen of Kukuy felt disgust for him, which she could not always hide. Peter, apparently, understood this, but for a long time he could not part with her.
The collapse of the favorite
Their relationship ended by chance. In 1703, a celebration was held in Shlisselburg on the occasion of the completion of the repair of the royal yacht. In the midst of the celebration, an accident occurred - the Saxon envoy F. Koenigsen fell into the water and drowned. After that, a love letter written to him by Anna Mons during the Great Embassy of Peter, and her medallion were accidentally discovered in his personal belongings. Upon learning of this,the sovereign was extremely angry, and one day the traitor from a brilliant favorite turned into a disgraced and abandoned criminal.
Anna Mons was put under house arrest, the tsar instructed F. Romodanovsky, the head of the detective order, to monitor compliance with it. Only three years later she was allowed to visit the church. According to a secret denunciation, Anna was accused of divination in order to regain the love of the monarch. More than thirty people were arrested and interrogated in this case. In 1707, the case was closed, but the house, once given to her by Peter, was confiscated. Fortunately, jewelry and almost all movable property remained.
The end of the life of a brilliant favorite
What happened to Anna Mons after the break with the king and all the misfortunes experienced? In 1711 she married the Prussian envoy Georg-John von Kaiserling, who died unexpectedly three months later. The cause of death was not established. The young widow was consoled only by the fact that she became the heir to the state of her deceased husband and his Courland estate. It is believed that her short marriage was not fruitless, but this is doubted by historians. Anna Mons, her children and relatives is a topic that is still waiting for its researchers. It is possible that there are documents in the archives that can shed light on it.
Anna Mons, whose biography is in many ways typical of the favorites of the august persons, died on August 15, 1714 from consumption. Shortly before her illness, she managed to go through a stormy romance with the captured Swedish captain Karl-Johann von Miller, to whom before her death she bequeathed her entire fortune, but her mother, brother and sister managed to challenge this last will through the court.
