by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

On an island in the Neva River that flows through St. Petersburg, Russia is the Peter and Paul Fortress, the original citadel of the city established by Peter the Great in 1703. Inside the fortress is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, built under Peter I (the Great) and designed by Domenico Trezzini, a Swiss Italian architect who designed many of the first buildings in St. Petersburg.

The cathedral’s famed bell tower, the world’s tallest Orthodox bell tower, has a gilded spire with a flying angel at the very top. Peter and Paul Cathedral is the burial place of almost all the Russian emperors and empresses from Peter the Great to Nicholas II and his family, who were finally laid to rest in July 1998. Of the Russian emperors and empresses after Peter the Great, only Peter II and Ivan VI are not buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

In 1865, all the tombstones were replaced with the same type of white marble sarcophagi with bronze gilded crosses. During the reign of Alexander III, sarcophagi were made for his parents who had died after 1865 –  the sarcophagus of Alexander II from the green jasper and the sarcophagus of Empress Maria Alexandrovna from pink rhodonite.

On July 17, 1998, on the 80th anniversary of their murders, the remains of Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, and three of their five children Olga, Tatiana, and Anastasia along with the remains of physician Yevgeny Sergeyevich Botkin, maid Anna Demidova, cook Ivan Khartinov, and footman Alexei Trupp were buried in the Chapel of St. Catherine in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The remains of the last two children of Nicholas II – Maria and Alexei – were found in 2007 and positively identified the following year but their remains have not yet been buried.

On September 28, 2006, Empress Maria Feodorovna, born Princess Dagmar of Denmark, wife of Alexander II and mother of Nicholas II, was reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. She had died in Denmark in 1928 and was initially buried at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial site of the Danish Royal Family.

• Unofficial Royalty: Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in St. Petersburg, Russia
• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Index

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The Romanov tsars before Peter the Great – Michael I, Alexis I, Feodor III, and Ivan V – were buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Dedicated to the Archangel Michael, the cathedral was built between 1505 and 1508 in the same location as a previous cathedral. All Russian tsars and grand princes from 1331 through 1696 are buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel with the exception of Boris Godunov. Peter the Great’s grandson Peter II, Emperor of Russia, who died in Moscow, was buried at the Archangel Cathedral, Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. When Peter the Great moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to the new city of St. Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Cathedral became the new burial site.

• Unofficial Royalty: Archangel Cathedral, Moscow Kremlin in Moscow, Russia

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House of Romanov

Tsars of All Russia

• Michael I: reigned 1613 – 1645, founder of the Romanov Dynasty
• Alexis I: reigned 1645 – 1676, son of Michael I and Eudoxia Streshneva
• Feodor III: reigned 1676 – 1682, son of Alexis I and Maria Miloslavskaya
• Sophia Alekseyevna: ruled as regent of Ivan V and Peter I 1682 – 1689, daughter of Alexis I and Maria Miloslavskaya, sister of Feodor III and Ivan V, half-sister of Peter I
• Ivan V: reigned 1682 – 1696, son of Alexis I and Maria Miloslavskaya, younger brother of Sophia Alekseyevna and Feodor III, ruled jointly with his half-brother Peter I (the Great)
• Peter I (the Great): reigned as Tsar of Russia 1682 – 1721, reigned as Emperor of Russia 1721 – 1725, son of Alexis I and Natalya Naryshkina, the younger half-brother of Sophia Alekseyevna, Feodor III, and Ivan V, ruled jointly with his half-brother Ivan V

Emperors/Empresses of All Russia

• Peter I (the Great): reigned as Tsar of Russia 1682 – 1721, reigned as Emperor of Russia 1721 – 1725, son of Alexis I and Natalya Naryshkina, the younger half-brother of Sophia Alekseyevna, Feodor III, and Ivan V, ruled jointly with his half-brother Ivan V
• Catherine I: reigned 1725 – 1727, wife of Peter I, born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya
• Peter II: reigned 1727 – 1730, grandson of Peter I
• Anna: reigned 1730 – 1740, daughter of Ivan V
• Ivan VI: reigned 1740 – 1741, great-grandson of Ivan V, imprisoned and later murdered
• Elizabeth: 1741 – 1762, daughter of Peter I and Catherine I
• Peter III: reigned January 9, 1762 – July 9, 1762, grandson of Peter I, murdered
• Catherine II (the Great): reigned 1762 – 1796, wife of Peter III, born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst
• Paul I: reigned 1796 – 1801, son of Peter III and Catherine II, assassinated
• Alexander I: reigned 1801 – 1825, son of Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna)
• Nicholas I: reigned 1825 – 1855, son of Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna)
• Alexander II: reigned 1855 – 1881, son of Nicholas I and Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Feodorovna), assassinated
• Alexander III: reigned 1881 – 1894, son of Alexander II and Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Maria Alexandrovna)
• Nicholas II: reigned 1894 – 1917, son of Alexander III and Dagmar of Denmark (Maria Feodorovna), abdicated during the February 1917 Revolution, executed by Bolsheviks

Note: All pictures and photos of the Tsars, Emperors, and Empresses of Russia are from Wikipedia.

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Index

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Michael I, Tsar of All Russia
reigned 1613 – 1645

• Unofficial Royalty: Michael I of Russia, Tsar of All Russia

Michael I, Tsar of All Russia was born July 22, 1596, in Moscow, the son of Feodor Nikitich Romanov and Xenia Ivanovna Shestova. In 1613, 16-year-old Michael became the first ruler of the House of Romanov when he was unanimously elected Tsar of Russia by the Russian nobility. His first wife Princess Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova died four months after marriage. Eudoxia Streshneva, Michael’s second wife had ten children, but only four reached adulthood: Tsar Alexis and his three sisters Irina, Anna, and Tatiana.

Michael died at the age of 49 on July 13, 1645, and was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia where many of the earlier rulers of Russia were buried.

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Alexis I, Tsar of All Russia
reigned 1645 – 1676

• Unofficial Royalty: Alexis I of Russia

Alexis I, Tsar of All Russia, the son of Tsar Michael and Eudoxia Streshneva, was born on March 29, 1629, in Moscow. He became Tsar when he was 16-years-old upon the death of his father in 1645. On January 16, 1648, Alexis married his first wife, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya. Together they had thirteen children including Feodor III, Ivan V, and Sophia Alexeevna who was regent for her brother Ivan V and her half-brother Peter I. Maria died of childbed fever after giving birth to her last child. Alexis then married Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina on February 1, 1671. Natalya gave birth to three children including Peter I (the Great).

Alexis died of a heart attack on January 29, 1676, aged 46 and was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow.

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Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia
reigned 1676 – 1682

• Unofficial Royalty: Feodor III of Russia

The eldest surviving son of Tsar Alexis and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya, Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia was born in Moscow on June 9, 1661. Although Feodor was intelligent and well-educated, he was disabled by an unknown disease which left him disfigured and partially paralyzed. He succeeded to the throne when he was 16-years-old. Feodor married Agaphia Simeonovna Grushevskaya on July 28, 1680. A year later, Agaphia gave birth to a son, but both mother and child soon died. Feodor married a second time on February 24, 1682, to Marfa Apraksina. He died childless three months after his second wedding on May 7, 1682, and was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow.

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Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia
reigned 1682 – 1696

• Unofficial Royalty: Ivan V of Russia

Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia was the youngest son of Tsar Alexis and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya. He was born in Moscow on September 6, 1666. A joint Tsar of Russia with his younger half-brother Peter I who co-reigned from 1682 until Ivan’s death in 1696, Ivan’s reign was only a formality because he had serious physical and mental disabilities. In late 1683 or early 1684, Ivan married Praskovia Saltykova. They had five daughters including Empress Anna of Russia. Their granddaughter Anna Leopoldovna was the mother of the tragic Tsar Ivan VI.

By the age of 27, Ivan was senile, paralyzed and almost blind. He died February 8, 1696, at the age of 29 was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow.

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Peter I (the Great)
Tsar of All Russia 1682 – 1721
Emperor of All Russia 1721 – 1725

• Unofficial Royalty: Peter I the Great

Regarded as one of the greatest Russian monarchs, Peter I, Tsar of All Russia and later Emperor of All Russia was born on June 9, 1672, in Moscow. He was the only son and the eldest of the three children of Alexis I, Tsar of All Russia and his second wife Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina. After his father’s death, Peter’s half-brother Feodor III succeeded to the throne. Feodor’s reign lasted only six years and then starting in 1682, Peter co-reigned with his half-brother Ivan V. Ivan has serious physical and mental disabilities and died in 1696. Peter then became the sole ruler.

Peter implemented sweeping reforms aimed at modernizing Russia. His reforms and ideas have had a lasting effect on Russia. During his lifetime, “the Great” was added to his titles.

In 1689, Peter married Eudoxia Lopukhina and she gave birth to three sons, but only the eldest Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia survived childhood. Unhappy with his first wife, Peter divorced her. Marta Skavronskaya, a peasant, became Peter’s mistress between 1702 and 1704. Marta converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Catherine, She and Peter married in 1707. Between 1704 and 1724, Catherine gave birth to twelve children, all of whom died in infancy or early childhood except the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia and Anna Petrovna, the mother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia.

In 1718, Peter’s eldest child and heir Tsarevich Alexei was suspected of plotting to overthrow his father. Alexei was tried, confessed under torture, convicted and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be carried out only with Peter’s signed authorization, but Alexei died in prison because Peter hesitated to make the decision.

By 1723, all but two of Peter’s fourteen children had died. In 1724 Peter had his second wife Catherine crowned as Empress, but he remained Russia’s actual ruler. On February 8, 1725, Peter I (the Great) died at the age of 52 from a bladder infection without naming a successor. Peter was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Catherine I, Empress of All Russia
reigned 1725 – 1727

• Unofficial Royalty: Catherine I of Russia

Thought to be born on April 15, 1684, as Marta Helena Skowrońska, the future Catherine I, Empress of All Russia has a sketchy early background. After her town was invaded by the Russian army, Marta, as a maid or as the mistress of the Russian general, traveled back to the Russian court with the army.

Marta became part of the household of Prince Alexander Menshikov, the best friend of Peter I the Great. In 1703, while visiting Menshikov, Peter met Marta. By 1704, Marta was well established in Peter’s household as his mistress and given birth to a son. In 1705, she converted to Russian Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism and took the name of Catherine Alexeyevna. Two years later, Catherine married Peter. Between 1704 and 1724, Catherine gave birth to twelve children, all of whom died in infancy or early childhood except the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia and Anna Petrovna, the mother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia.

Peter died in 1725 without naming a successor. A coup arranged by Peter’s best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Catherine, Peter’s second wife the ruler of Russia. During Catherine’s short reign, the real power was held by Menshikov and members of the Supreme Privy Council.

Catherine I, Empress of All Russia died from tuberculosis on May 7, 1727, aged 43, at the Tsarskoye Selo estate in the Catherine Palace which still bears her name. Catherine was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg next to Peter the Great.

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Peter II, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1727 – 1730

• Unofficial Royalty: Peter II of Russia

Peter II, Emperor of All Russia was the grandson of Peter the Great. He was in Saint Petersburg on October 23, 1715, the son of Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia and Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who died shortly after his birth due to childbirth complications. Peter’s father died in prison in 1718 after being convicted of plotting to overthrow his father Peter the Great.

During the reign of Catherine the Great, Peter was named her heir due to the machinations of Prince Alexander Menshikov who had been Peter the Great’s best friend, despite the fact that Catherine and Peter the Great had two living daughters. After Catherine’s death and the proclamation of Peter II as Emperor of All Russia, Menshikov took Peter into his household and had complete control over all of him.

On January 30, 1730, Peter II, Emperor of All Russia died of smallpox at the age of 14. Because he died in Moscow, he was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Kremlin in Moscow.

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Anna I, Empress of All Russia
reigned 1730 – 1740

• Unofficial Royalty: Anna I of Russia

Born on February 7, 1693, in Moscow, Anna, Empress of All Russia was the daughter of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and Praskovia Saltykova. Anna’s father had been co-ruler with Peter the Great, but he was physically and mentally disabled. In 1710, Peter the Great arranged for his niece to marry Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland, but on their way home to Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm died. Anna, who never remarried, continued on to Courland (now in Latvia) and ruled there from 1711 to 1730.

In 1730, 14-year-old Peter II died and the main line of the Romanov dynasty became extinct. There were five possible candidates for the throne, all female: the three surviving daughters of Ivan V, Catherine, Anna herself and Praskovya, and the two surviving daughters of Peter the Great, Anna, and Elizabeth. The Russian Supreme Privy Council selected Anna, the second daughter of Ivan V, to be the new Empress of Russia.

As Anna’s health worsened, she named her infant grand-nephew Ivan (VI) as her successor in an attempt to secure the line of her father Ivan V and exclude the descendants of Peter the Great. Anna, Empress of All Russia died a slow and painful death from a kidney stone on October 17, 1740, at the age of 47 and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1740 – 1741

• Unofficial Royalty: Ivan VI of Russia

Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia was born on August 23, 1740, in St. Petersburg. His mother, born Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, was the daughter of Catherine Ivanovna of Russia who was the third of the five daughters of Ivan V, and Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. In 1733, Elisabeth converted to the Russian Orthodoxy and was given the name Anna Leopoldovna, which made her acceptable as an heir to the throne. Anna Leopoldovna married Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and a year later Ivan was born.

At the time of Ivan’s birth, his mother’s aunt Empress Anna sat upon the Russian throne, but the childless Anna was dying and she adopted the two-month-old Ivan and proclaimed him heir to the Russian throne. A few weeks later Empress Anna died and the infant Ivan was proclaimed Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia. Two months later, Elizabeth Petrovna, a daughter of Peter the Great, seized power with the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and became the Empress of All Russia.

Ivan and his parents were imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Anna Leopoldovna died on March 18, 1746, during childbirth. Her son Ivan VI, who had been imprisoned as a four-month-old, was murdered on July 16, 1764, at the age of 24. His burial place is unknown. Ivan’s father Anton Ulrich died in prison on March 19, 1776, after spending 36 years in captivity. Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich had four additional children while imprisoned, born between 1741 – 1746. In 1780, they were released into the custody of their maternal aunt, born Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, but then the Queen Dowager of Denmark.

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Elizabeth I, Empress of All Russia
reigned 1741 – 1762

• Unofficial Royalty: Elizabeth I of Russia

One of the two surviving children of the twelve children of Peter the Great and Catherine, Elizabeth was born on December 29, 1709, in Moscow. Elizabeth was engaged to be married, but her fiancé died before the wedding. By the end of May 1727, Elizabeth at age 17 had lost both her parents and her fiancé, and her half-nephew Peter II was on the throne. When Peter II died three years later, Elizabeth was bypassed for the throne once again. Instead, it went to her cousin Anna, the daughter of Ivan V. During Anna’s reign, there was no prospect of either any Russian nobleman or any foreign prince seeking Elizabeth’s hand in marriage. However, Elizabeth did have lovers throughout her life.

When Empress Anna was dying, she named the infant Ivan, the son of her niece, as her heir. Within a few weeks, Anna died and the infant was Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia. With the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, Elizabeth executed a bloodless coup, overthrew Ivan VI and became Empress of All Russia. Elizabeth made a vow not to execute anyone during her reign. She kept that vow and among those who were imprisoned for life instead of being executed were Ivan VI and his parents. Ivan was murdered in prison, 24 years later, but that was during the reign of Catherine II (the Great) who felt threatened by him as she had usurped the throne from her husband Peter III, grandson of Peter the Great.

As her heir, the unmarried and childless Elizabeth selected Peter of Holstein-Gottorp, the only child of her sister Anna Petrovna. During the 1750s, Elizabeth’s health began to decline. She died on January 5, 1762, and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Peter III, Emperor of All Russia
reigned January 9, 1762 – July 9, 1762

• Unofficial Royalty: Peter III of Russia

Peter III, Emperor of All Russia was born Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp on February 21, 1728. He was the only child of Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and Anna Petrovna, the younger of the two surviving children of Peter the Great. By the time, he was 11-years-old, Peter was an orphan. His mother died when he was three months old and his father died eleven years old. At that time, Peter succeeded his father as Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

In 1741, when Peter’s maternal aunt became Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia, she brought him to the Russian court and proclaimed him as her heir. Peter converted to Russian Orthodoxy and received the name Peter Fedorovich. Empress Elizabeth arranged a marriage for him with his second cousin Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst who converted to Russian Orthodoxy, Sophie took the name Ekaterina Alexeievna (Catherine). The couple married on August 21, 1745. Their marriage was not a happy one and both Peter and Catherine took lovers. Catherine had two children who are attributed to Peter, but there remains some doubt about that: the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and Anna who died at age two.

On January 5, 1762, Empress Elizabeth died and was succeeded by her nephew as Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. Immediately, Peter pursued a strongly pro-Prussian policy, which made him an unpopular leader. Six months later, Peter was deposed and forced to abdicate in a coup led by his wife Catherine, who succeeded him as Catherine II. Peter died on July 17, 1762, at the age of 34. The circumstances of his death are unclear, but he was probably murdered. Peter was originally buried in the Annunciation Church at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. In December 1796, his son Paul I ordered his remains to be exhumed and reburied with full honors at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia
reigned 1762 – 1796

• Unofficial Royalty: Catherine II the Great

Catherine II was born as Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2, 1729, the eldest of the five children of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Sophie was chosen as a bride for the future Peter III, Emperor of Russia by his maternal aunt Elizabeth, Empress of Russia and Friedrich II (the Great), King of Prussia. When in Russia, Sophie converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Ekaterina Alexeievna (Catherine). Catherine and Peter married on August 21, 1745. Their marriage was not a happy one and both Peter and Catherine took lovers. Catherine had two children who are attributed to Peter, but there remains some doubt about that: the future Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and Anna who died at age two.

After Empress Elizabeth’s death in January 1762, Sophie’s husband succeeded his aunt as Emperor Peter III. Peter’s support for the King of Prussia alienated some at court. In July 1762, Catherine led a coup with the help of the Ismailovsky Regiment, her lover Grigory Orlov and Grigory’s brother Alexei. Peter was forced to abdicate the throne and his wife became Catherine II, Empress of All Russia. Eight days after the coup, Peter was dead, probably murdered by Alexei Orlov.

Catherine did not marry again but had many lovers and two more children. Catherine died from a stroke at the age of 67 on November 17, 1796, and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Her son Paul succeeded her. Catherine had intended to exclude Paul from the succession in favor of her eldest grandson, the future Alexander I, but failed to do so before her death.

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Paul I, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1796 – 1801

• Unofficial Royalty: Paul I of Russia

Paul was born on October 1, 1754. Officially, he was the son of Peter III and Catherine II (the Great), but there is doubt about his paternity. His mother Catherine hinted that Paul was the son of her lover Sergei Saltykov. At birth, Paul was taken away from his mother and raised by Empress Elizabeth, Peter III’s maternal aunt. When Empress Elizabeth died, Paul’s father became Emperor, but six months later he was deposed and murdered in a coup led by his mother Catherine, who then became the Empress Regnant.

In 1773, Paul married Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt (Natalia Alexeievna), but she died delivering a stillborn son in 1776. Six months later, Paul married again to Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna). The couple had ten children including future Emperors Alexander I and Nicholas I. and Anna Pavlovna who married King Willem II of the Netherlands.

In 1796, Paul’s mother died and he succeeded to the throne as Paul I, Emperor of All Russia. Paul’s his intense dislike of his mother who had usurped the throne from his father probably contributed to the adoption of the Pauline Laws which established the strict principle of primogeniture in the House of Romanov, leaving the throne to the next male heir. Females could only succeed if there were no more male dynasts.

Emperor Paul was disliked by the nobility because he planned to adopt policies that annoyed the nobility. A conspiracy was formed to murder Paul. On the night of March 23, 1801, the conspirators charged into Paul’s bedroom, forced him to abdicate, and then strangled and trampled him to death. Paul was succeeded by his son Alexander I who did not punish the conspirators. The court physician declared that Paul had died from a stroke. Paul was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Alexander I, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1801 – 1825

• Unofficial Royalty: Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I was born December 23, 1777, the eldest child of Paul I, Emperor of All Russia and his second wife Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna). He was raised by his grandmother Catherine the Great along with his brother Constantine. Catherine had intended to replace her son Paul in the line of succession with her grandson Alexander, but she died before she could make the change. The unpopular policies of his father Paul caused him to be assassinated by a group of conspirators, but there is still debate about Alexander’s role. Alexander became Emperor of Russia upon his father’s assassination in 1801.

In 1793, Alexander married Louise of Baden (Elizabeth Alexeievna) and the couple had two daughters who died in childhood. Alexander’s reign saw the chaotic Napoleonic Wars and his greatest triumph came in 1812 when Napoleon’s invasion of Russia proved a total disaster for the French.

Alexander I died from typhus on December 1, 1825, at the age of 44 and he buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Nicholas I, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1825 – 1855

• Unofficial Royalty: Nicholas I of Russia

The third of the three sons and the ninth of the ten children of Paul I, Emperor of Russia and his second wife Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna), Nicholas I was born June 25, 1796. Nicholas was not expected to be Emperor as he had two older brothers. However, neither of his elder brothers had sons. When Alexander I died suddenly at the age of 44, Nicholas was caught between swearing allegiance to his second-eldest brother Constantine and accepting the throne for himself. Constantine refused the throne and Nicholas was proclaimed Emperor of All Russia.

On 13 July 1817, Nicholas married Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Feodorovna). The couple had eight children including Nicholas’ successor Alexander II. Nicholas caught a cold, refused medical treatment and developed pneumonia. He died on March 2, 1855, at the age of 58 and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1855 – 1881

• Unofficial Royalty: Alexander II, Emperor of All the Russias

Alexander II was born on April 29, 1818, the eldest child of Emperor Nicholas I and Charlotte of Prussia. The infant Alexander was considered an heir to the throne at birth as his uncle Alexander I had only two daughters. On a European trip, Alexander met his future wife Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.  Alexander and Marie were married on April 16, 1841. The couple had eight children including Alexander II’s successor, Alexander III and Maria Alexandrovna who married Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, a son of Queen Victoria.

In 1855, Alexander succeeded his father as Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia upon the death of his father. He is known as the most reforming tsar since Peter the Great. His foremost accomplishment was the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.

Alexander II’s wife Maria Alexandrovna died from tuberculosis on June 3, 1880, and Alexander made a morganatic marriage with his long-time mistress Catherine Dolgorukova with whom he already had four children.

On March 13, 1881, as Tsar Alexander II was on his way back to the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, a bomb was thrown at Alexander’s carriage, and it landed directly between his legs. When the smoke cleared, Tsar Alexander II lay mortally wounded, his legs crushed and torn from the blast of the bomb. He was taken back to the Winter Palace where he died at the age of 62. Alexander II was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Emperor Alexander II of Russia

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Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1881 – 1894

• Unofficial Royalty: Alexander III, Emperor of All the Russias

The third child and second son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (Empress Maria Alexandrovna), Alexander was born on March 10, 1845. Alexander’s elder brother Nicholas died from meningitis on April 24, 1865, and Alexander became the Tsesarevich of Russia, the heir to the Russian throne.

On November 9, 1866, Alexander married his deceased brother’s fiancée, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, whose family nickname was Minnie. Minnie converted to Russian Orthodoxy and received the name Maria Feodorovna. Alexander and Minnie had six children including Alexander III’s successor Nicholas II. On March 13, 1881, Alexander’s father, Emperor Alexander II, was assassinated in St. Petersburg and Alexander succeeded to the Russian throne.

In 1894, Alexander became ill with nephritis, a kidney disorder. While on his way to recuperate in the warm Greek climate, Alexander became too ill to continue so stayed at Livadia Palace, his home in the Crimea. He died there on November 1, 1894, at the age of 49, and was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Dagmar of Denmark, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

• Unofficial Royalty: Dagmar of Denmark, Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 26, 1847, Princess Dagmar of Denmark, called Minnie in the family, was the fourth child and the second daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel. In 1864, Minnie was first engaged to Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, the eldest son and heir of Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia. However, Nicholas died from meningitis in 1865 before the wedding. Nicholas’ death wish was that his next brother, the future Alexander III marry Minnie. Minnie converted to Russian Orthodoxy and received the name Maria Feodorovna. Alexander and Minnie were married on November 9, 1866. Alexander and Minnie had six children including Alexander III’s successor Nicholas II.

In 1881, Minnie’s husband succeeded to the throne as Alexander III, Emperor of All Russia upon the assassination of his father. In 1894, Alexander III died from nephritis, a kidney disease, and was succeeded by his son Nicholas II. Nicholas married Princess Alix (Alexandra Feodorovna) on Minnie’s 47th birthday, November 26, 1894, just eight days after Alexander III had been buried.

When the Russian Revolution broke out during World War I in 1917, Minnie was in Kyiv (now in Ukraine). After Nicholas II abdicated, she saw him one last time, and then she went to the Crimea where members of the Imperial Family had several summer homes. There she witnessed the October Revolution later that year, and then in 1918 came the news of the murder of her son and his family, which she did not believe.

Although the monarchy was abolished by the Russian Revolution, Minnie did not initially leave Russia. She finally fled in 1919 to London when her nephew King George V of the United Kingdom sent the warship HMS Marlborough to retrieve his aunt when she could no longer stay in the Crimea. Rescued along with Minnie were 25 other Romanovs and/or their relatives.

After a short stay in London, Minnie returned home to her native Denmark where she briefly lived with her nephew King Christian X in a wing of the Amalienborg Palace in Copenhagen. Minnie then decided to live at Hvidøre, the holiday villa she had purchased with her sister Alexandra in 1906, near Copenhagen.

Minnie died on October 13, 1928, at Hvidøre. Following services in Copenhagen’s Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Church, Minnie was interred in the crypt of the Christian IX Chapel at Roskilde Cathedral, the traditional burial place of the Danish royal family in Roskilde, Denmark.

Minnie had wished that at some point in time she could be buried with her husband. In 2005, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed, along with their governments, that Minnie’s wish should be fulfilled. Minnie’s remains were transported to St. Petersburg. Following a service at Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, she was interred next to her husband Emperor Alexander III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral on September 28, 2006.

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Nicholas II, Emperor of All Russia
reigned 1894 – 1917

• Unofficial Royalty: Nicholas II, Emperor of All the Russias
• Unofficial Royalty: Execution by firing squad of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family

Nicholas II was born May 18, 1868, at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, St Petersburg. He was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Dagmar of Denmark (Maria Feodorovna). At a family wedding, 16-year-old Nicholas met 12-year-old Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Five years later, while Alix was visiting her sister in Russia, that the two would fall in love. The couple became engaged in 1894 at another family wedding.

In November 1894, Nicholas’ father died and he became Emperor. Because of this Nicholas and Alix’s wedding date was moved up. Alix converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Alexandra Feodorovna and the couple married on November 26, 1894. Nicholas and Alexandra had four daughters and one son, who tragically inherited hemophilia from his mother.

Nicholas’ reign saw a steady decline in his popularity and support. His decision to fully mobilize the Russian troops in 1914 led to Russia’s entrance into World War I. By 1917, his authority had diminished, and on March 15, 1917, he was forced from the throne. For the rest of their lives, Nicholas, Alexandra, and their five children were held in protective custody. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, that Nicholas, his wife and children, and the few retainers who had remained with them, were killed by the Bolsheviks.

The bodies of Nicholas, his family, and their retainers were initially thrown down a mine, but fearing discovery, they were mutilated and hastily buried beneath some tracks. In 1979, a mass grave was discovered, believed to include the remains of the Imperial Family. The bodies were exhumed in 1991, and in 1998, through DNA testing, it was formally announced that the remains were of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters. On July 17, 1998 – 80 years to the day of their murders – the bodies were interred in the St. Catherine Chapel at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The remains of the last two children were found in a nearby grave in 2007 and positively identified the following year but their remains have not yet been buried.

Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

Unofficial Royalty: Alix of Hesse and by Rhine, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia

Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine was born on June 6, 1872, the sixth of seven children of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, a daughter of Queen Victoria, and Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine.

In 1894, while the family was all gathered in Coburg for the wedding of Alix’s brother Ernie and their first cousin, Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Alix and the heir to the Russian throne, Nicholas Alexandrovich became engaged. Later that year Emperor Alexandra III died and Nicholas succeeded him. Because of this Nicholas and Alix’s wedding date was moved up. Alix converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Alexandra Feodorovna and the couple married on November 26, 1894. Nicholas and Alexandra had four daughters and one son, who tragically inherited hemophilia from his mother.

Alix found it very difficult to relate to the Russian people and was perceived as being very haughty and aloof. Those who knew her attribute this to her extreme shyness. Her son’s hemophilia caused Alix great pain and great measures were taken to protect him from harm and to hide the illness from the people. Many historians believe her close, and disastrous, relationship with Grigori Rasputin, a mystic whom she thought could help her son, contributed greatly to the fall of the Russian monarchy.

During World War I, in March 1917, Nicholas was forced to abdicate and the family was kept in protective custody. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, that Nicholas, his wife and children, and the few retainers who had remained with them, were killed by the Bolsheviks. Their bodies were hastily buried.

In 1979, a mass grave was discovered, believed to include the remains of the Imperial Family. The bodies were exhumed in 1991, and in 1998, through DNA testing, it was formally announced that the remains were of Nicholas, Alexandra and three of their daughters. On July 17, 1998 – 80 years to the day of their murders – the bodies were interred in the St. Catherine Chapel at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The remains of the last two children were found in a nearby grave in 2007 and positively identified the following year but their remains have not yet been buried.

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