(5.04.1684 (according to other data - 1683, 1685 or 1686) - 6.05.1727, St. Petersburg), imp. All-Russian (from 28 January 1725), 2nd wife of the im. Peter I. Several survived. versions of the origin of EA, according to one of them she was the daughter of the Lithuanians. peasant from Livonia and before the adoption of Orthodoxy bore the name of Marta Skavronskaya. Polsk. the language was native to her family, which was found by order of Peter I, but until 1726 was kept "under a strong guard" to avoid publicity: brother EA Friedrich was a coachman, and sister Khristina and her husband were serfs. Ye. A. did not receive education, she only knew how to sign. In her youth she lived in the house of Pastor Gluck in Marienburg (now Aluksne, Latvia), worked as a laundress and cook. She was married to a Swede. dragoon I. Kruse, to-ry soon left for the war. 25 Aug 1702, during the Northern War, during the capture of Marienburg, Rus. troops were captured, became a servant of General-Field Marshal BP Sheremetev, then "portomoya" (laundress) at gr. A. D. Menshikov. In 1703, Peter I noticed her, and she became one of his favorites. Took Orthodoxy. baptism with the name Ekaterina Alekseevna, Tsarevich Aleksey Petrovich became her godfather. EA and Peter I had 11 children, most of them died in infancy, Anna (1708-1728) and Elizaveta Petrovna (later Russian emp.) (1709-1761) survived.

Since 1709, EA accompanied Peter I on military campaigns and various trips. Before leaving for the Prut campaign on March 6, 1711, she secretly married the tsar, a public wedding took place after her return, on February 19. 1712 During the campaign, when the Russian. the troops were surrounded, influenced the decision of Peter I to begin negotiations with the Turks about an armistice, according to legend, she sent her jewelry to the great vizier. In memory of EA's participation in the campaign, Peter I established the Order of the Liberation (after Catherine's holy order) and 24 November. 1714 awarded them to his wife. E. A. was a caring wife and mother. Distinguished by an even and cheerful character, she calmed her husband during outbursts of anger, shared with him the difficulties of a camp life, bought food for the yard herself, always tried to make a pleasant surprise for her husband. In turn, Peter I showed concern for the "friend of the heart". Preserved approx. 200 of his letters to his wife, the king missed her and often called to him: “For God, come fast! And if it’s impossible to be for something soon, write it down, it’s not without sadness that I neither hear nor see you. "

After the wedding, Ye. A. had her own court, she received foreign ambassadors, met with Europeans. monarchs. Descriptions left by foreigners noted that she dresses tastelessly, her low origins are conspicuous. During this period, the queen did not take part in the management of the state. She did not interfere in the solution of political issues, but often interceded before the tsar for Menshikov and other guilty nobles. Peter I informed her about military campaigns and battles, but did not devote to business. 15 nov. In 1723, a manifesto was issued about the upcoming coronation of Ye. A., who “was a great helper, and not exactly in this, but in many military actions, postponing a woman’s sickness, she was present with us by will and perhaps only helped ... ". The coronation took place on May 7, 1724 in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Peter I entrusted the im. a crown on the head of a kneeling wife. It is believed that he was going to transfer to EA the pre-emptive right to occupy the throne after death, counting on the support of his inner circle. But in 1724 she lost the confidence of the emperor: in November. The head of her office, Willem Mons, was arrested and executed, according to contemporaries for her connection with E.A. EA was afraid for her future, tried to regain her husband's affection and begged for forgiveness from him.

In Jan. 1725, during the dying illness of Peter I, to-ry did not leave heirs and did not have time to draw up a will, a split was outlined in the ruling elite: some considered it necessary to elevate the son of Tsarevich Alexei Peter (later Emperor Peter II) to the throne under Regent E A. and under the control of the Senate, others (Menshikov, Count P. A. Tolstoy) - to make E. A. autocratic ruler. At a critical moment, the empress distributed money to the guards officers and paid the delayed salary to the guards from her own funds. Another 7414 p. from personal funds went "for some extraordinary expenses" to the majors of the guard and other higher ranks. As a result, Jan 28. the same year, after the death of Peter I, she was enthroned.

EA promised "the deeds conceived by the labors of the emperor, with the help of God," and tried to follow this program. For the current government of the country Feb. 1726 by decree of the empress the Supreme Privy Council was formed, which included Menshikov, Tolstoy, gr. G. I. Golovkin, gr. F. M. Apraksin, Baron A. I. Osterman and Prince. D. M. Golitsyn (Menshikov moved up to 1st place). E. A. several. once attended council meetings, but since December. 1726 until the end of the reign did not appear there, 4 Aug. In 1726, a decree was issued on the validity of the decrees signed by all members of the Supreme Privy Council. The importance of the Senate and the Holy Synod fell sharply, they began to obey the Supreme Privy Council. EA controlled it through the Cabinet (personal office), to-ry received information from the governors and commanders of the troops and on behalf of the empress communicated with the Supreme Privy Council. Ye.A. in these cases, she sometimes defended her right against the opinion of the members of the Supreme Privy Council.

EA approved the states of the state considered by Peter I. institutions. The poll tax was reduced by 4 kopecks. In June 1725, she ordered to stop all cases of denunciations by the fiscal authorities, which had begun before 1721. By a decree of 28 May 1726, the Secret Chancellery was liquidated, and all its cases were transferred to the Preobrazhensky Prikaz. In 1726-1727. The Supreme Privy Council discussed the country's financial problems that arose during the years of wars and reforms. Pursuant to the decrees of E.A. in Jan.-Feb. In 1727, the parallel civil military (regimental) administration was liquidated, the collection of the capitation tax was transferred to the governors, the Household Office was established, local institutions and posts in the Justitz and Chamber Collegia system were abolished, and the payment of salaries was canceled. categories of officials. Under EA the improvement of St. Petersburg continued, new streets were paved, and the first benches were erected on the B. Pershpektivnaya road (afterwards. Nevsky Prospect) for the rest of passers-by. Fixed prices for bread were set in the capital. In aug. 1725 the empress received the first Russian academicians, officers. the opening of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences took place on December 27. the same year. In Russian. the service was still often accepted by foreigners. EA sent an expedition of Captain-Commander V. Bering to Kamchatka in order to find out whether Asia was connected with North. America. Before her death, she ordered all Jews "to be expelled from Russia abroad immediately and henceforth not to let them into Russia under any guise."

The Empress could maintain a conversation in 4 languages, learned the outward appearance of dignified greatness and some ideas about the problems facing the country, but seriously lead the state. was not capable of deeds. After the mourning for the deceased emperor ended, EA spent most of her time in the company of her favorites. The court "Pokhodnyi zhurnal" for 1726 describes the way of life of EA. According to the Petrine tradition, she still visited shipyards, hospitals, and went out on fires. Following the example of her husband, she was a caring "colonel": she attended the "performances" of the guards, gave gifts to the soldiers for the name day and christening of their children, she herself was more than once a recipient of babies, examined the petitions of soldiers, and provided assistance to those in need. But EA devoted most of her time to walks "in the garden in the summer house", in other residences and along the streets of the capital, as well as to table "amusements" and various amusements. Under her, nobles, even retired ones, were forbidden to go "with beards and in an old dress" on pain of a fine and beating with batogs.

EA considered it her duty to arrange the marriage of her daughters. Anna's marriage was predetermined by Peter I: in 1725 she married a Hertz. Karl Friedrich Holstein. EA wanted to return to her son-in-law the lands taken from him by Denmark. In May 1726, the empress ordered her yacht to be armed with cannons and was going to personally lead the fleet on a campaign to Denmark. These measures provoked protests from Europe. powers. The Baltic area includes English. squadron, and military preparations had to be urgently stopped. Negotiations on an alliance with France did not yield results, and in 1726 an allied treaty was concluded with Austria, which became the basis of Russia's foreign policy until the 60s. XVIII century

Vice-President of the Synod, Archbishop of Novgorod. Theodosius (Yanovsky) publicly criticized the church policy of Peter I and Ye. A. and declared that "the spiritual pastors are very enslaved." After several. refusals of archbishop. Theodosius to appear at the royal table in the Secret Chancellery began an investigation about "abusive words about their imperial majesty." Archbishop. Theodosius was arrested on April 27. 1725, and on May 11 of the same year he was sentenced to eternal imprisonment in Korelsky monastery in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, where he died.

The main event in church life was the division on July 15, 1726 of the Holy Synod into 2 departments. The 1st department consisted of bishops and was in charge of exclusively spiritual affairs and censorship; 2nd (Collegium of Economy of the Synodal Government) - from secular officials who dealt with judicial affairs of the clergy, determining the residence of retired soldiers and officers in mon-ri, managing church estates (income from them went to the department, these funds could not be spent without determining Chamber collegium). The post of Chief Prosecutor remained vacant; the Novgorod Archbishop began to play the main role in the 1st Department. Feofan (Prokopovich). The Synod ceased to be called the Governing Synod, the names "Holy Synod" and "Spiritual Assembly" were used. EA confirmed and supplemented the orders introduced by Peter I and concerning the life of mon-rey. Only widowed priests were allowed to tonsure without restrictions; all others had to receive permission from the Holy Synod. Fugitive monks were ordered to be tried and publicly punished with whips. In 1726, at the request of the steward Andrei Shepelev, Optina was restored empty. , abolished in 1724. The school at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery (after the Lavra) in 1726 was transformed into a seminary.

At the insistence of Menshikov, E.A. announced the heir. book Peter Alekseevich, to-rogo Menshikov was going to marry his daughter Maria. P. A. Tolstoy and General Police Chief A. M. Devier wanted to transfer the throne to the daughters of Peter I. In April. In 1727, EA began a fever, according to the later conclusion of doctors - inflammation or "some kind of damage in the lehkom." Menshikov got her to order the arrest of Devier, then Tolstoy and their supporters were arrested. The investigation took place in a hurry and under pressure from Menshikov. The report and the verdict were ready by the evening of May 6 of the same year; in the last hours of her life, EA signed the documents. At the same time, with the participation of Menshikov, a will was drawn up in favor of Peter Alekseevich. EA could no longer sign it, and Elizaveta Petrovna signed a short "extract" of the will.

The coffin with the body of E.A. was placed in the chapel inside the unfinished Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, next to the coffin of Peter I. walls in front of the altar.

Source: Letters rus. sovereigns and other persons of the royal family. M., 1862.Vol. 1: Correspondence of the imp. Peter I with Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna; PSPiR. T. 4-5.

Lit .: Semevsky M.I. Tsaritsa Katerina Alekseevna, Anna and Willim Mons: 1692-1724. SPb., 1884. M., 1994; Brickner A.G. Imp. Catherine I: 1725-1727 // BE. 1894. No. 1. S. 121-148; No. 2. S. 615-646; he is. Russia and Denmark under the imp. Catherine I // RM. 1895. No. 2. S. 39-60; No. 3. S. 41-56; No. 7. S. 104-118; No. 9. S. 24-33; N. A. Belozerskaya The origin of Catherine I // IV. 1902. No. 1. S. 60-66; Kirchner W. The Death of Catherine I of Russia // AHR. 1946. Vol. 51. P. 250-261; Pavlenko N.I. M., 1988; he is. Peter the Great. M., 1990; he is. Ekaterina I. M., 2004. (ZhZL); Anisimov E.V. Women on the rise. throne. SPb., 1998; Kurukin I. V. The era of "court storms": Essays watered. history of post-Petrine Russia, 1725-1762 Ryazan, 2003; Vodarsky Ya. E. Riddles of the Prut campaign of Peter I. M., 2004.

I. V. Kurukin

No matter how they call Catherine I - the "marching wife" of Peter I, the Chukhonskaya empress, Cinderella - she is not the first woman on the throne of Moscow (for example, Elena Glinskaya), but the first on the throne in the history of the Russian state. Historians joke that Catherine I opened the "woman's age", after all, after her for a century the country was ruled by the weaker sex, who, under the reign of Catherine II, refuted the myth of weakness and secondary roles.

Catherine I - nee Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, was born on April 5, 1684. Martha made her way to the throne of a huge empire more fabulous than Cinderella.

Childhood and youth

The origin and place of birth of Martha has not been unequivocally established. The biography of the empress is woven from white spots and speculation.

According to one version, the parents of Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya are Latvian peasants from Windzeme, the central region of Latvia (at that time the Livonian province of the Russian Empire). The future queen and successor of Peter the Great was born in the vicinity of Kegums.

The question immediately arises: is she Lithuanian or Latvian? However, Estonians also consider it theirs, since Peter I laid out a park in Tallinn in her honor, named Kadriorg (Katrin's garden).

And just according to another version, Catherine I appeared in the family of Estonian peasants in Dorpat (now Tartu). Researchers pay attention to the surname Skavronskaya and her Polish origin.

There is also information that the Skavronskys came from near Minsk, which was then part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They were originally called Skavroshchuk. Samuil Skavroshchuk was a serf peasant of a Polish landowner and from the latter's oppression fled into the possession of the Swedes. Although the Swedes did not abolish serfdom in Livonia, they considered the fugitives free people and were not given back.

Martha's parents died of the plague in 1684. It is reliably known that further she was a servant of the German pastor Gluck in the city of Marienburg (Livonia), which was owned by the Swedes. In the service of the Lutheran pastor Gluck, according to one version, the girl was given at the age of 12 from the family of her aunt Anna-Maria Veselovskaya. According to another version, she got to Gluck immediately after the death of her parents.

Martha, together with the pastor's children, received an education that boiled down to the ability to manage households and do needlework, but the pastor never taught Martha to read or write. He didn't care much about her education. Subsequently, it took a lot of work to teach her to sign at least the most important imperial decrees.

First marriage

Shortly before the siege of the Marienburg fortress, Pastor Gluck decided to marry Martha. The "kind" pastor gave the orphan a dowry and found her a groom - the royal dragoon Johann Kruse. The wedding was celebrated on Midsummer's Day, July 6, 1702. She was 18 years old at that time - quite a mature woman at that time. Martha remained in the house of Pastor Gluck, while Johann served in the garrison of Marienburg. The young couple did not manage to start their own household - a week after the wedding, Russian troops besieged Marienburg. The Northern War began for the return of the Baltic to Russia.

The Marienburg Fortress was built in knightly times in the middle of Lake Aluksne, on the territory of modern Latvia. The fortress was connected to the lake shore 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 dropped in 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 since then Martha has never seen him again.

Johann Kruse did not die and served in the Swedish army for many more years, in old age - in the garrisons on the Åland Islands. Having served his pension, he did not go anywhere, since he did not have any relatives or 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 lawful wife Martha, dying in 1733.

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) into a family of Estonian peasants.

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.

Currently, a hypothesis has appeared about its Belarusian origin. Allegedly, Catherine's father, Samuil Skavronsky, was in the service of Kazimir Jan Sapega, lived in Minsk and fled to Livonia. There he settled not far from Marienburg.

-1725 years

The mistress of Peter I

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 ally of Peter I, became its owner. So says the Frenchman Franz Villebois, who was in the Russian service in the navy since 1698 and was married to the daughter of Pastor Gluck. 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 from the elderly field marshal a few months later, fell out with Sheremetev.

The 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 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 at the general's, 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 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. "

“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 humorous 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 it 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. "

“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 vigorous. "

In his personal letters, the tsar showed an unusual tenderness for his wife: “ Katerinushka, my friend, hello! I can 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 -), and direct descendants of Anna ruled Russia after Elizabeth's death, from to. One of the sons who died in childhood, Pyotr Petrovich, after the abdication of Alexei Petrovich (the eldest son of Peter from Evdokia Lopukhina) was considered from February 1718 until his death in 1719 the official heir to the Russian throne.

Peter I and Catherine I ride on the Neva

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, the launching of a ship, a ceremony or a holiday at which she would not appear ... Catherine, confident in her husband's heart, laughed at his frequent love affairs, as Livia did 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. "

The offspring of Peter I from Catherine I

Rise to power

The popular majority was in favor of the only male representative of the dynasty - Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich, grandson of Peter I from the eldest son Aleksey who died during interrogation. For Peter Alekseevich there was a well-born nobility (Dolgoruky, 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 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 affection to Catherine.

Guard officers from the Preobrazhensky regiment came to the Senate meeting, knocking down the door to the room. They openly declared that they would smash 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 shelves here without my knowledge? Am I not a field marshal?"Buturlin, the commander of the Semyonovsky regiment, answered Repnin that he called the regiments at the will of the empress, to whom all subjects are obliged to obey," not excluding you"He added impressively.

Thanks to the support of the guards regiments, it was possible to convince all opponents of Catherine to vote for her. The Senate "unanimously" elevated her to the throne, calling her " All-Blessed, Most Powerful Great Sovereign Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the autocrat of the All-Russian”And in justification by announcing 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.

Under Peter, she shone not with her own light, but borrowed from the 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 the proper attention to matters, especially internal affairs, and their details, nor the ability to initiate and direct.

Portrait of A. D. Menshikov

Foreign policy

For 2 years of the reign of Catherine I, Russia did not wage big 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. Russia's preparation 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 signed 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.

End of reign

Catherine I did not rule for long. Balls, festivities, feasts and carousing, which followed an uninterrupted succession, undermined her health, and on April 10 the empress took to her bed. The cough, which was previously weak, began to intensify, a fever was found, 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.

The question of succession

Catherine I. Portrait of an unknown artist.

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.

Subsequent articles dealt with the custody of the minor emperor; determined the power of the Supreme Soviet, the order of the inheritance of the throne 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 had 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 d'état.

Article 11 of the will amazed those present. It commanded all the nobles to promote the betrothal of Peter Alekseevich to one of the daughters of Prince Menshikov, and then, upon reaching the age of majority, to promote their marriage. Literally: “In the same way, our princes and the administration’s government have 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 drawing up 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.

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 version, Ekaterina Alekseevna was born on April 5, 1684 in the family of a Lithuanian (and 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 went down in history. Her real surname 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 mystery. 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 perished 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, the main opposing forces in which were Sweden and Russia. In 1702, the Russian army stormed the impregnable fortress of Marienburg. After which Ernst Gluck and Martha were sent to Moscow as prisoners. After a while, on receipt of the pastor Fagezia, they settled in his house, in the German settlement. 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 provides 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 learned to read and write and various handicrafts.

According to the third version, she got into the Gluck family when she was 12 years old. 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 Marienburg fortress. 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 triumphant, however, subjected the region to a merciless plunder. He himself reported to the Russian Tsar as follows: "... 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 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 he took Martha as his mistress by force. 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.

After 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, visited 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 features and mannerisms. 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 unattended 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 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 "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 - Nyenskans). Peter went to Livonia, but wanted to stay with his friend Menshikov. On the same evening, he saw his chosen one for the first time. 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 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 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 marched across the square. Sources say that among them was Catherine's husband 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 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. No one could do anything with them. Ekaterina Alekseevna was his "analgesic". When the king's next attack began, she sat down next to him, hugged him and stroked his head, in a few minutes he fell asleep soundly. Upon awakening, he felt fresh, vigorous, ready for new challenges.

In the spring of 1711, setting off 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 on, Ekaterina Alekseevna was 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).

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.

Ascent to the throne

As you know, Peter was remembered as a tsar-reformer. 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 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 called 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 Great Senate under Catherine, was in full force. Prince Menshikov was endowed with unlimited power, 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, entrusting all 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 is tired of it. At the same time, there was a poor 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 Peter's death, Catherine's life spun: masquerades, balls, festivities greatly undermined her health. 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.

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 internal energy. After his death, Catherine spent the remaining 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.

No matter how they call Catherine I - the "marching wife", the Chukhonskaya empress, Cinderella - she took a place in the history of the Russian state as the first woman on the throne. Historians joke that Ekaterina Alekseevna opened the "woman's age", because after her for a century the country was ruled by the weaker sex, who reigned as a reign of the myth of weakness and secondary roles.

Martha Katarina, she is the Empress and Autocrat of All Russia, has gone the way to the throne of a huge empire more fabulous than Cinderella. After all, the fictional heroine had a noble origin, and the genealogy of the queen of all Russia was "written" by the peasants.

Childhood and youth

The biography of the empress is woven from white spots and speculation. According to one version, the parents of Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya are Latvian (or Lithuanian) peasants from Windzeme, the central region of Latvia (at that time the Livonian province of the Russian Empire). The future queen and successor of Peter the Great was born in the vicinity of Kegums. According to another version, Catherine I appeared in a family of Estonian peasants in Dorpat (Tartu). Researchers pay attention to the surname Skavronskaya and her Polish origin.

Marta was orphaned early - her parents died of the plague. The further fate of the girl is also vague. According to some reports, until the age of 12, Skavronskaya was brought up in the family of Anna-Maria Veselovskaya's aunt, then she was given into the service of the Lutheran pastor Ernst Gluck. According to others, the uncle took little Martha to Gluck as soon as her parents died. And in the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron it is indicated that a widowed mother brought her daughter to the pastor.

The information about what young Martha was doing in the pastor's house also varies. Some sources claim that she served around the house, others (Brockhaus and Efron's dictionary) - Skavronskaya learned to read and write from Gluck. The third, less common version is that Marta's surname is not Skavronskaya, but Rabe. A man named Johann Rabe is called her father. in the novel Peter the Great, under the name Rabe, he mentioned Martha's husband.

At 17, the girl was married to a Swedish dragoon, but the marriage with Johann Kruse lasted two days - the dragoon, along with the regiment, left for the war and disappeared without a trace. The future empress is credited with being related to Anna, Christina, Karl and Friedrich Skavronsky. But in the correspondence, Peter I called his wife Veselovskaya (Vasilevsky), so there is a version that the relatives who have appeared in the Baltic are Martha's cousins.

In 1702, the troops led by Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev, during the Northern War, took Marienburg, the fortress of the Swedes (modern Latvia). Martha was among the captured four hundred inhabitants. Further versions of her fate vary. One by one, the field marshal noticed the black-browed beauty, but soon presented the 18-year-old concubine to Alexander Menshikov, who was visiting him.

Another version belongs to the Scotsman Peter Henry Bruce and is more favorable to the reputation of the queen. Dragoon Colonel Baur took the housekeeping girl to serve around the house. Martha has put the house in perfect order. In the house of Baur, Prince Menshikov, the colonel's patron, saw the broken girl. Having heard laudatory comments about Martha's economic abilities, Alexander Danilovich complained about the neglected house. Wanting to please his patron, Baur handed the girl over to Menshikov.

In 1703, in the St. Petersburg house of the favorite, he noticed the servant, making her his mistress. The following year, the woman gave birth to the firstborn child Peter from the tsar, in 1705 the second boy - Paul. Both died in infancy. In the same 1705, the tsar moved his mistress to the summer residence of Preobrazhenskoye and introduced her to her sister Natalya Alekseevna.

Marta was baptized, taking the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova. The godfather of Skavronskaya, who was converted to Orthodoxy, was the tsar's son Alexei Petrovich. In Preobrazhensky, the future wife of Peter the Great learned to read and write. Thus began another, tsarist chapter in the biography of the future Empress of All Russia. Before the official marriage, Catherine gave birth to Peter Alekseevich's daughters Anna and.

Peter I's wife

In 1711, Peter ordered his sister and nieces to consider Ekaterina Alekseevna their legal wife. The conversation took place before the Prut campaign. The monarch told his family that in case of death, they are obliged to respect Catherine as his wife. Peter Alekseevich promised to marry his mistress after a military campaign, in which he took her too.

Catherine I went on a hike with her future husband, being seven months pregnant. The army got into the Turkish "cauldron" together with the tsar and his companion. According to legend, Catherine took off the jewelry donated by her husband and bought freedom. The army came out of the encirclement, tens of thousands of soldiers were saved from certain death. But the shock experienced affected the health of Catherine I - the child was born dead.

In February 1712, the tsar took Catherine down the aisle. The wedding ceremony took place at St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. A year later, Peter, in gratitude to his wife, established the Order of Liberation, which he awarded Ekaterina Alekseevna. Later it was renamed the Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine.

The queen one after another gave birth to her husband 11 offspring, but only the eldest daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, survived. The wife became the only close person who managed to calm down the raging monarch. The woman knew how to soothe her husband's headaches that had tormented him for the past 10 years. Not a single significant event in the state took place without the wife of the emperor. On May 7, 1724, the coronation of the Empress took place in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow.

Self-government

The question of succession to the throne became acute at the beginning of 1725: the emperor was dying. Three years earlier, he had revoked an earlier decree that allowed an exclusively direct male descendant to be crowned to reign. Since 1722, the throne could be taken by the one whom the emperor called worthy. But Peter the Great did not leave a will with the name of the heir to the vacated throne, thereby dooming the state to turmoil and palace coups.

The people and noble nobility saw on the throne the young grandson of the deceased tsar - Peter Alekseevich, the son of Aleksey Petrovich, who had died from torture. But Catherine did not want to give the throne to the boy, commanding Alexander Menshikov and Pyotr Tolstoy to act in their own interests.

The army, the guards adored Peter the Great, transferring love to his wife. The empress won the respect of the guards because she easily endured the hardships of army campaigns, living in a cold tent. Like soldiers, she slept on a hard mattress, was not picky about food, she could easily drain a glass of vodka. The Empress possessed considerable physical strength and endurance: accompanying her spouse, she made 2-3 trips a day on horseback in a man's saddle.

Mother intercessor won the salary of three regiments of grenadiers overdue for a year and a half. In 1722-23, on a campaign to the Transcaucasus and Dagestan (Persian campaign), Ekaterina Alekseevna shaved her hair and put on a grenadier's cap. She inspected the troops personally, encouraging the soldiers and appearing on the battlefield.

Is it any wonder that the officers of the Preobrazhensky regiment arrived at the meeting of the Senate, where the issue of succession to the throne was decided. The guards came up to the palace. Ivan Buturlin, the commander of the Transfiguration, announced the demand of the military to obey the empress. The Senate unanimously voted for the enthronement of Catherine I. There was no popular uprising, although bewilderment was felt at the appearance of a woman on the Russian throne.

On January 28, 1725, the Empress ascended the throne. The Empress entrusted the rule of the country to Alexander Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council. Catherine I was content with the role of the mistress of Tsarskoye Selo. During the reign of Catherine I, the doors of the Academy of Sciences were opened, the expedition of Vitus Bering took place and the Order of the Saint was established. New coins appeared (a silver ruble with a picture of the Empress's profile).

The state did not get involved in big wars. In 1726, the queen and her government concluded the Vienna Treaty with Emperor Charles VI. Ill-wishers recall the short reign of Catherine I by the debauchery and money-grubbing of the empress, imputing to her the money put in the Amsterdam bank and the beginning of the "tradition" of transferring funds to the accounts of Western banks. The Russian tsarina astonished refined European ambassadors with the crowd of jesters and adherents who settled at the palace.

Many books have been written about the rule of the first woman on the Russian throne and more than a dozen films have been shot. Since 2000, TV viewers have seen the series “Secrets of Palace Revolutions. Russia, XVIII century ", where Catherine I played, and the role of the tsar went.

Personal life

Until 1724, the relationship between the tsar and Catherine I was surprisingly gentle and trusting. Peter Alekseevich was known as a womanizer until the end of his life and shared with his wife stories about his intrigues and adventures. Each confession ended with the words that “there is no one better than you, Katya”.

But a year before his death, the emperor suspected his wife of treason: he was told about his wife's adultery with the chamberlain Willim Mons. The king found something to execute Mons for, bringing his wife his severed head on a tray. Peter forbade his wife to go to him. At the request of his daughter Elizabeth, the sovereign dined with Ekaterina Alekseevna, but never reconciled. The silence was broken a month before the death of the tsar: the sovereign died in the arms of his wife.

Death

Revels and balls undermined the health of the queen. In the spring of 1727, Catherine fell ill, a weak cough intensified, a fever appeared, the empress grew weaker day by day.

Catherine I died in May of the same year. Doctors called the cause of death a lung abscess, but they also point to another possible reason for leaving - a severe attack of rheumatism.

Image in culture (films)

• 1938 - "Peter the First"
• 1970 - "The Ballad of Bering and His Friends"
• 1976 - "The Tale of How Tsar Peter Got Married"
• 1983 - The Demidovs
• 1986 - ""
• 1997 - "Tsarevich Alexei"
• 2000 - "Secrets of Palace Revolutions"
• 2011 - “Peter the First. Will"
• 2013 - The Romanovs