by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, heir to the Russian throne, was the elder of the two sons of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia and his first wife Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina. He was born on February 28, 1690, at Preobrazhensky, a village east of Moscow where the Romanov tsars had a summer residence. Peter was very proud of his son’s birth and celebrated it with banquets and fireworks.

Alexei had one younger brother who lived to be only seven months old:

• Alexander Petrovich (1691 – 1692)

Alexei had twelve half-siblings from his father’s second marriage to Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, renamed Catherine (Ekaterina) Alexeievna, and Peter I’s successor on the Russian throne as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia. All of Alexei’s half-siblings died in childhood except Anna and Elizabeth:

• Pyotr Petrovich born 1704, died in infancy
• Pavel Petrovich born 1705, died in infancy
• Catherine Petrovna (1706 – 1708)
• Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (1708 – 1728), married Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, had one son Carl Peter Ulrich, the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia, Anna died of childbirth complications
• Elizabeth, Emperor of All Russia (1709 – 1762), unmarried
• Maria Petrovna of Russia (1713–1715)
• Margarita Petrovna (1714 – 1715)
• Pyotr Petrovich (1715 – 1719)
• Pavel Petrovich (born and died 1717)
• Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (1718 – 1725), died from measles a month after her father’s death
• Pyotr Petrovich (born and died 1723)
• Pavel Petrovich (born and died 1724)

The marriage of Alexei’s parents was a disaster from the start. Eudoxia was brought up staunchly Russian Orthodox, basically uneducated, and with a strong dislike of anything foreign. Peter I was the complete opposite. Peter had an insatiable curiosity. He was not religious and chose what he wanted to learn about – Russian history, battles, heroes, foreign cities, blacksmithing, carpentry, printing, sailing, and shipbuilding – anything that interested him. By the time Alexei’s younger brother died, Peter was so estranged from Eudoxia that he did not attend his son’s funeral. Peter abandoned his wife for a mistress, Anna Mons, the daughter of a Dutch wine merchant. Their relationship lasted twelve years until Peter met Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, first his mistress, then his second wife, and finally his successor on the Russian throne as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia.

As Alexei grew up, Peter spent less and less time with him as he was absorbed by his many activities and his mistress Anna Mons. Because of his negative relationship with Eudoxia, Peter avoided her and therefore, also avoided Alexei. Even as a young boy, Alexei sensed the breach between his parents and understood that in his father’s mind, he was associated with his mother. Alexei began to see Peter as disapproving and even as a threat. He took his mother’s side and adopted her ways. When Alexei was six years old, Nikifor Kondratievich Vyazemsky became his tutor. Because Eudoxia did not believe in Peter’s Western reforms, Alexei’s education consisted of Bible readings and other religious lessons.

In 1697, Peter traveled incognito to Western Europe on an 18-month tour called the “Grand Embassy”.  During his journey, Peter instructed his uncle Lev Naryshkin and Eudoxia’s confessor to persuade Eudoxia to enter a convent and become a nun. Eudoxia did not agree, insisting that her seven-year-old son Alexei needed her. When Peter returned to Russia in August 1698, he continued his relationship with Anna Mons. More dramatically, Peter decided to force Eudoxia into a convent. In September 1698, Eudoxia was finally banished to the Intercession Convent of Suzdal and their marriage was over.

Alexei was placed in the care of Peter’s unmarried sister Tsarevna Natalya Alexeievna, a playwright and founder of the first public theater in Russia. His education now was more in line with his father’s Western reforms. Alexei learned French, German, Latin, mathematics, history, and geography. He read foreign newspapers and exercised by fencing, dancing, riding, and playing ball games.

In 1702, Alexei began his military training. All of Alexei’s teachers had high opinions of his intellect. His father expected Alexei to completely serve the new, reformed Russia and demanded much from his son. Peter’s duties kept him busy and away from Alexei. It was inevitable that the relationship between father and son would become strained. Alexei was often left among nobles and priests who did not like Peter’s reforms and encouraged Alexei to hate his father.

In 1703, it was proposed that Alexei marry Princess Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg.  Four years younger than Alexei, Charlotte Christine was the second of the three surviving children (all daughters) of Ludwig Rudolf, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Princess Christine Luise of Oettingen-Oettingen. Her elder sister Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel married Karl VI of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor, and was the mother of Empress Maria Theresa and the grandmother of Maria Antonia of Austria, better known as Queen Marie Antoinette of France.

Charlotte Christine was brought up in Dresden in the Electorate of Saxony at the court of Augustus II, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony. Augustus’ wife Christiane Eberhardine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth was Charlotte Christine’s godmother. In 1709, Alexei was sent to Dresden to finish his education and there he met Charlotte Christine for the first time. Peter I thought that Charlotte Christine was a good diplomatic match because of her sister’s marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor, whose support he would need in his upcoming war with the Turks. On October 25, 1711, 21-year-old Alexei married 17-year-old Charlotte Christine in Torgau, Saxony. The bride was allowed to remain Lutheran but any children would be brought up in the Russian Orthodox religion.

Alexei and Charlotte Christine had two children:

• Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna (1714 – 1728), died of tuberculosis at age 14
• Peter II, Emperor of All Russia (1715 – 1730), died of smallpox at age 14

Alexei and Charlotte Christine’s marriage went well for about six months but then things began to go downhill. Alexei was drunk constantly, complained about his wife’s appearance, and had mistresses. During her second pregnancy, Charlotte Christine suffered from rheumatic pains. When she was seven months pregnant, she fell down the stairs. In severe pain, she was forced to spend the last weeks of her pregnancy in bed. On October 23, 1715, Charlotte Christine gave birth to a son Peter Alexeivich, the future Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. The new mother felt well until the third day after the birth when abdominal pain, fever, and delirium developed. On November 1, 1715, 21-year-old Charlotte Christine died from puerperal fever (childbed fever).

In 1715, Peter became dissatisfied with Alexei’s lack of enthusiasm and his lackluster performance of his duties as heir to the throne. Peter sent Alexei a stern letter, urging him to take interest in the affairs of the state and threatening to cut him out of the succession. Alexei, in reply, offered to renounce the succession in favor of his infant son. Peter would agree but only on the condition that Alexei would remove himself as a dynastic threat and become a monk.

While Alexei was deciding what to do, he received a letter from his father in August 1716 ordering him to report to Peter and the army without delay if he wished to remain the heir to the throne. Instead, Alexei fled to Vienna and placed himself under the protection of his brother-in-law Karl VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who was married to the sister of Alexei’s deceased wife Charlotte Christine. Peter felt insulted. The flight of the Tsarevich of Russia to a foreign monarch was a scandal. Peter ordered Alexei brought back to Russia at all costs.

Alexei was returned to Russia in January 1718 and Peter began an inquisition regarding Alexei’s behavior. Under torture, Alexei confessed to being involved in a plot to overthrow his father and implicated most of his friends. Alexei’s mother Eudoxia was dragged from her monastery and publicly tried for alleged adultery and transferred to the Ladoga Uspensky Monastery where she lived for seven years under strict supervision until Peter I’s death. Anyone who had befriended Alexei was brutally executed including Eudoxia’s brother Abram Fedorovich Lopukhin.

Alexei was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be carried out only with Peter’s signed authorization but Peter hesitated in making the decision. On July 7, 1718, 28-year-old Alexei died at the Fortress of St. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg. His death most likely resulted from injuries suffered during his torture. Alexei was buried next to Charlotte Christine at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

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Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexei_Petrovich,_Tsarevich_of_Russia [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Christine_of_Brunswick-L%C3%BCneburg [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, Robert K. (1980). Peter The Great: His Life and World. New York, NY.: Alfred A. Knopf
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Алексей Петрович. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Шарлотта Кристина Брауншвейг-Вольфенбюттельская. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%82%D0%B0_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BD%D1%88%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%B3-%D0%92%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B1%D1%8E%D1%82%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].