by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Russian Titles and Patronymics

The story of Ivan VI and his family is one of the most tragic stories in royal history. Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia (Ivan Antonovich) succeeded to the throne at the age of two months. A little more than a year later, Ivan was deposed and spent the next 23 years imprisoned before being murdered during the reign of Catherine II (the Great). His parents spent the rest of their lives imprisoned and except for his sister Catherine, all his other siblings were born while their parents were imprisoned. His siblings remained imprisoned until 1780.

Ivan had four younger siblings.

• Catherine Antonovna of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1741–1807)
• Elizabeth Antonovna of Brunswick -Lüneburg (1743–1782)
• Peter Antonovich of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1745–1798)
• Alexei Antonovich of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1746–1787)

Ivan was the oldest of the five children of Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Elisabeth was the daughter of Ekaterina Ivanovna of Russia and Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Ekaterina Ivanovna was the eldest of the three surviving daughters of the five daughters of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova.  Ekaterina’s father Ivan V was co-ruler of Russia with his younger half-brother Peter I (the Great)  until Ivan V died in 1696. However, Ivan V had serious physical and mental disabilities, possibly caused by Down’s Syndrome or a consequence of a disease. He was unable to participate in ruling Russia so Peter ruled alone. Upon Ivan’s death, there was no question about the succession because all his children were daughters. Peter I (the Great) became the sole Tsar of All Russia and in 1721, Emperor of All Russia.

When Ekaterina’s uncle Peter the Great died in 1725, Peter’s second wife succeeded to the throne as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia.  However, she died two years later and was succeeded by Peter the Great’s 11-year-old grandson, the only remaining male Romanov, as Peter II, Emperor of All Russia.  In 1730, 14-year-old Peter II died of smallpox. With Peter II’s death, the direct male line of the Romanov dynasty ended. He had left no descendants and had not named an heir.

There were five possible candidates for the throne, four adult females and one two-year-old male: the three surviving daughters of Peter the Great’s half-brother Ivan V who were all in their 30s: Ekaterina Ivanovna, Anna Ivanovna, and Praskovia Ivanovna, and the only surviving child of Peter the Great and Catherine I: 20-year-old Elizabeth Petrovna (the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia), and lastly, Peter the Great’s grandson: two-year-old Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp (the future Peter III, Emperor of All Russia), the only child of Peter’s daughter Anna Petrovna, who died due to childbirth complications, and her husband Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. The Supreme Privy Council selected Ivan V’s daughter Anna Ivanovna to be the new Empress of All Russia.

Empress Anna had married when she was a teenager but her husband died two months after the wedding and Anna never remarried. Because her marriage was unhappy, Anna’s sister Ekaterina Ivanovna and her daughter Elisabeth returned to Russia in 1722. In 1732, Empress Anna Ivanovna announced that the throne would be inherited in the male line of her niece, born Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the daughter of Anna’s sister Ekaterina Ivanovna and Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. This was an attempt to secure the future of the Russian throne for the descendants of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia instead of the descendants of his half-brother Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia.

In 1733, Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin converted to Russian Orthodoxy and was given the name Anna Leopoldovna and the title Grand Duchess. Six years later, Anna Leopoldovna married Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, son of Ferdinand Albrecht II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Anton had lived in Russia since 1733 so the couple could get to know each other. On August 23, 1740, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to a son, Ivan Antonovich. Empress Anna adopted the infant Ivan Antonovich on October 5, 1740, and proclaimed him heir to the Russian throne. Twenty-three days after proclaiming the infant Ivan Antonovich her heir, Anna I, Empress of All Russia died at the age of 48, and two-month-old Ivan Antonovich was Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia.

Before Empress Anna died, she had agreed that her longtime lover and advisor Ernst Johann von Biron would serve as regent until Ivan came of age. The Russian nobility had enough of Biron during Empress Anna’s reign. Biron was regent for three weeks and on November 19, 1740, he was seized and banished to Siberia. Ivan’s mother Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna was named regent. Little Ivan was never crowned.

22-year-old Anna Leopoldovna was not qualified to be the regent. She did as little as possible concerning state affairs and argued with her advisers. A conspiracy soon arose intending to obtain the Russian throne for Elizabeth Petrovna, the only surviving child of Peter the Great. A coup occurred during the night of December 5-6, 1741 with financial support from France and military support from the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Elizabeth Petrovna arrived at the regiment’s headquarters wearing armor over her dress asking, “Who do you want to serve, me, your natural sovereign, or those who have stolen my inheritance?” The Preobrazhensky Regiment marched to the Winter Palace and arrested the infant Emperor Ivan and his parents. It was a daring coup and succeeded without bloodshed. The new 32-year-old Empress of All Russia, Elizabeth Petrovna, vowed that she would not sign a single death sentence, a promise she kept throughout her 20-year reign.

Now that she had the throne, Elizabeth had a problem. A living Emperor, great-grandson of her father’s half-brother Ivan V, and his mother, granddaughter of Ivan V, remained in St. Petersburg. They were both threats to her throne. Even though 15-month-old Ivan did not know he had been Emperor, his image was on coins used throughout Russia and prayers had been said for him in all Russian churches. Elizabeth originally planned to send Ivan, his mother Anna Leopoldovna, his father Anton Ulrich, and his sister Catherine Antonovna somewhere in Europe so she sent them to Riga (now in Latvia) as the first stage of their journey. However, once the family arrived in Riga, Elizabeth had second thoughts – perhaps it would be a better idea to keep her young, dangerous prisoner under guard in Russia. Ivan was separated forever from his parents and his sister and classified as a secret state prisoner.

Ivan was first sent to Kholmogory, where, seeing no one other than his jailer, he remained for the next twelve years. Eventually, news of Ivan’s whereabouts began to be known. He was then secretly transferred to the Fortress of Shlisselburg where he was under heavy guard and not even the commandant of the fortress knew his true identity. Although instructions had been given not to educate him, Ivan had been taught his letters and could read his Bible. He also seemed aware of his former imperial status and always called himself Gosudar (Sovereign).

Empress Elizabeth died in 1762 and her nephew succeeded her as Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. Ivan’s situation improved a bit and Peter III even visited him. However, Peter III’s reign lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

Catherine II ordered Ivan to be placed in manacles and further ordered that if any attempt were made to free the prisoner, he was to be put to death immediately. Ivan’s presence at the Fortress of Shlisselburg could not remain concealed forever. In 1764, Vasily Mirovich, one of the men guarding Ivan, learned his identity and formulated a plan for freeing and proclaiming him Emperor. At midnight on July 16, 1764, Mirovich and his supporters attempted to free Ivan. However, another guard immediately murdered Ivan, following Catherine II’s orders. Mirovich and his supporters were executed. Ivan VI’s burial place is unknown but it is commonly believed that he was buried in the Fortress of Shlisselburg.

• Unofficial Royalty: Assassination of Ivan VI, deposed Emperor of All Russia

The fate of the rest of Ivan’s family is nearly as grim. His parents were imprisoned for the rest of their lives. Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich had three additional children while imprisoned, born between 1743 – 1746. On March 18, 1746, Anna Leopoldovna died during childbirth at the age of 27. In 1762, Catherine II offered Anton Ulrich permission to leave Russia with the condition he would leave his children behind but he declined. At the age of 59, Anton Ulrich died in prison on March 19, 1776, after spending 36 years in captivity.

In 1780, Ivan’s four siblings, ranging in age from 34 – 39, were released into the custody of their maternal aunt, born Juliana Maria of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel but then the Queen Dowager of Denmark. The four siblings had spent their entire lives imprisoned. They lived under house arrest in Horsens in Jutland, Denmark under the guardianship of Juliana Maria and at the expense of Catherine II. Although they were really prisoners, they lived in relative comfort and had a small court of between 40 and 50 people, all Danish except for their Russian Orthodox priest. The siblings were unhappy in Denmark because they were not used to their new freedom and their new environment and were surrounded by people whose language they could not understand.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanov Frequently Asked Questions
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution
• Russian Titles and Patronymics

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Anna Leopoldovna. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anna_Leopoldovna_of_Russia [Accessed 28 Dec. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Ivan VI of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_VI_of_Russia [Accessed 28 Dec. 2017].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Massie, R. (2016). Catherine the Great. London: Head of Zeus.
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Иван VI. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_VI [Accessed 28 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Anna I, Empress of All Russia was the fourth of the five daughters of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova. She was born at the Terem Palace in the Moscow Kremlin on February 7, 1693. Anna’s father Ivan V was co-ruler of Russia with his younger half-brother Peter I (the Great) until Ivan died in 1696. However, Ivan had serious physical and mental disabilities which may have been caused by Down’s Syndrome or a consequence of a disease, and was unable to participate in ruling Russia so Peter ruled alone. Upon Ivan’s death, there was no question about the succession because all his children were daughters. Peter became the sole Tsar of All Russia and later Emperor of All Russia.

Anna had three older sisters and one younger sister. Only two of her sisters survived to adulthood.

• Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna (1689–1692), died young
• Tsarevna Feodosia Ivanovna (1690–1691), died young
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Ivanovna (1691–1733), married Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one surviving daughter Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, later known as Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna, mother of Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia
• Tsarevna Praskovia Ivanovna (1694–1731), married Ivan Ilich Dmitriev-Mamonov, had one son who died in childhood

After the death of her father, three-year-old Anna and her two surviving sisters, five-year-old Ekaterina Ivanovna and two-year-old Praskovia Ivanovna, along with their mother Praskovia Feodorovna, were moved from the Moscow Kremlin to the Izmaylovo Estate, a Romanov country residence outside of Moscow. From an early age, the sisters were taught reading, mathematics, geography, French and German, and dancing.

In 1708, Anna’s mother Praskovia Feodorovna and her three daughters, by order of Peter the Great, moved to the new city of St. Petersburg where Peter gifted her with a home on the banks of the Neva River. Praskovia Feodorovna had great respect for her brother-in-law Peter I and often served as the first lady, welcoming visitors to the Russian court. She understood the need for the changes Peter was making in Russia, raised her daughters and held her court in a modern Western manner, which made her well-regarded by Peter.

In 1710, Peter the Great made a diplomatic deal related to the Great Northern War to marry 17-year-old Anna to 17-year-old Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland and Semigallia (now part of Latvia).  This marriage was important to Peter the Great.  Anna was the first Russian princess to marry a foreign prince in two hundred years. The marriage signaled Europe’s acceptance of Russia’s new status in the world and that Russian princesses could be used in diplomacy. The wedding took place on November 11, 1710, in St. Petersburg at the palace of Prince Alexander Menshikov, a close friend of Peter the Great. The next day, Menshikov hosted a spectacular banquet in honor of the couple. The newlyweds spent two months in Russia before heading to Courland. Just twenty miles outside of Moscow, Friedrich Wilhelm died on January 21, 1711, probably due to excessive drinking while in Russia.

After her husband’s death, Anna continued to Courland, where from 1711 to 1730, Anna acted as reigning Duchess of Courland using a local Russian resident Peter Bestuzhev as her advisor, and perhaps also as a sometime lover. Anna decided not to remarry after her husband’s death but had a long-term relationship with Ernst Johann von Biron, a prominent courtier.

Meanwhile in Russia, upon the death of Anna’s uncle, Peter the Great died in 1725, Peter’s second wife succeeded to the throne as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia.  However, she died two years later and was succeeded by Peter the Great’s 11-year-old grandson as Peter II, Emperor of All Russia.  In 1730, 14-year-old Peter II died of smallpox. With Peter II’s death, the direct male line of the Romanov dynasty ended. He had left no descendants and had not named an heir.

There were five possible candidates for the throne, four adult females and one two-year-old male: the three surviving daughters of Peter the Great’s half-brother Ivan V who were all in their 30s: Ekaterina Ivanovna, Anna Ivanovna, and Praskovia Ivanovna, and the only surviving child of Peter the Great and Catherine I: 20-year-old Elizabeth Petrovna, and Peter the Great’s grandson: two-year-old Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Anna Petrovna, who died due to childbirth complications, and her husband Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. (Note: Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp was later Peter III, Emperor of All Russia.) The Supreme Privy Council selected Anna Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan V, as the new Empress of All Russia.

Anna was chosen because the Supreme Privy Council thought she would be easy to manipulate and was too conservative to restore Peter the Great’s reforms. To become Empress, Anna had to sign “The Conditions” which gave substantial power to the Supreme Privy Council. Anna could not exercise any of the following powers without the approval of the Supreme Privy Council: declaring war, signing treaties, imposing new taxes, appointing officers to ranks higher than Colonel, depriving and granting estates, appointing to the court ranks, and using public revenues. However, when Anna returned to Russia from Courland, she revoked her approval of “The Conditions” and dissolved the Supreme Privy Council. The members of the Council were removed from the government and some were exiled to Siberia, allowing Anna to become an absolute monarch like her uncle Peter the Great.

The coronation of Anna, Empress of All Russia took place on April 28, 1730. Anna’s reign, which lasted ten years, left the Russians with a bitter memory and was considered more Germanic than Russian. Her favorite Ernst Johann von Biron and his wife, Anna’s lady-in-waiting, moved with her to Russia where Biron was appointed Great Chamberlain, made a Count of the Russian Empire, and had much influence at court. Biron surrounded himself with German ministers and generals who were driven by greed.

Anna continued Peter the Great’s Westernization plans including the continued building of St. Petersburg, the canals for seafaring ships, and the expansion of the navy. She founded the Cadet Corps, a school for young boys who started at the age of eight being trained for the military. Anna also continued to fund the Russian Academy of Science which Peter the Great had founded to allow for the development of science in Russia.

In 1732, Empress Anna announced that the throne would be inherited in the male line of her niece, born Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the daughter of Anna’s sister Ekaterina Ivanovna and Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. This was an attempt to secure the future of the Russian throne for the descendants of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia instead of the descendants of his half-brother Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia.

Ekaterina Ivanovna’s marriage was unhappy and she returned to Russia in 1722 with her surviving daughter. The couple never divorced and never saw each other again. In 1733, Elisabeth converted to Russian Orthodoxy and was given the name Anna Leopoldovna and the title Grand Duchess. Six years later, Anna Leopoldovna married Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, son of Ferdinand Albrecht II, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Anton had lived in Russia since 1733 so the couple could get to know each other. On August 23, 1740, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to a son, Ivan Antonovich. Empress Anna adopted the infant Ivan Antonovich on October 5, 1740, and proclaimed him heir to the Russian throne.

Suffering from an ulcer on her kidney and repeated attacks of gout, Empress Anna was not in good health. On October 16, 1740, Anna sat down to dine with her favorite Ernst Johann von Biron. Suddenly, she felt ill and became unconscious. Doctors deemed her condition to be serious. The question of succession to the throne had previously been solved, but it remained to decide who would be the regent for the young Ivan Antonovich. Biron was able to secure enough votes to be named regent. Anna I, Empress of All Russia died on October 28, 1740, at the age of 48, apparently from gout and a very painful kidney stone. She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Anna’s two-month-old great-nephew succeeded her as Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia. However, a little more than a year later, Peter the Great’s surviving daughter Elizabeth Petrovna sat upon the throne as Empress of All Russia, and little Ivan was imprisoned until his murder 22 years later during the reign of Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Anna of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_of_Russia [Accessed 27 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
• https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%98%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

A child emperor who ruled for less than three years, Peter II, Emperor of All Russia (Pyotr Alexeievich) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on October 23, 1715. He was the only son and the second of the two children of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, the heir to the Russian throne, and Princess Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and the grandson of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of Russia and his first wife Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina.

Peter had one elder sister:

• Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna (1714 – 1728), died of tuberculosis at age 14

The marriage of Peter’s parents, Alexei and Charlotte Christine, went well for about six months but then went rapidly downhill. Alexei was drunk constantly, complained about his wife’s appearance, and had mistresses. During her pregnancy with Peter, 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. After giving birth to Peter, the new mother felt well until the third day after the birth when abdominal pain, fever, and delirium developed. Ten days after Peter’s birth, on November 1, 1715, 21-year-old Charlotte Christine died from puerperal fever (childbed fever).

Three years later, Peter and his sister Natalia were orphans. In 1718, Peter’s father Tsarevich Alexei was suspected of plotting to overthrow his father, Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. Alexei was tried, confessed under torture, convicted, and sentenced to be executed. The sentence could be carried out only with the emperor’s signed authorization, but Alexei died in prison because his father hesitated in making the decision. Alexei’s death most likely resulted from injuries suffered during his torture.

At the time of Alexei’s death in 1718, Peter the Great had only one living son, two-year-old Peter Petrovich, the son of his second wife Catherine Alexeievna, born Marta Helena Skowrońska, the future Catherine, Empress of All Russia. All of Peter’s other sons, except Alexei, had died in infancy. Peter the Great put a lot of stock in little Peter Petrovich but he died a year later. One more son would be born but he died the day of his birth. Out of Peter the Great’s fourteen children, only three reached adulthood: Tsarevich Alexei by his first wife and two daughters by his second wife: Anna who would die as a result of childbirth complications after the birth of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia and the future Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia.

In 1722, Peter the Great issued a decree stating that the reigning emperor should appoint a successor during his lifetime and that anyone may be named as his heir. It may be that he had his wife Catherine in mind as his successor when he had her crowned as Empress and named co-ruler on May 18, 1724.

Alexei’s son Peter had been basically ignored by his grandfather Peter the Great but now because of the succession issue, little Peter received a little more attention. Besides his grandfather, he was the only living male Romanov. His grandfather ordered his best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov to find tutors for Grand Duke Peter. The tutors Menshikov picked were of low quality for a reason – Menshikov supported Peter the Great’s second wife Catherine as his successor.

During the last two years of his life, Peter the Great suffered from urinary tract problems. During the illness of his grandfather, Peter Alexeievich met Ivan Dolgorukov, his future favorite. Peter often visited the Dolgorukovs’ home where his rights to the Russian throne were explained to him. The young Peter vowed to crush the favorite of his grandfather Prince Alexander Menshikov, who led the opposition to the old noble families who had not been in favor of the Westernizing reforms of Peter the Great. However, there was strong opposition to Peter succeeding his grandfather. Peter was the son of the disgraced Alexei and the grandson of the conservative Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina and this would give the opponents of the reforms hope that the old order would be restored.

On February 8, 1725, Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 52 from a bladder infection without naming a successor. A coup arranged by Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Catherine, Peter’s second wife, the ruler of Russia. During the two-year reign of Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, the real power was held by Menshikov and members of the Supreme Privy Council.

During Catherine I’s reign, Peter was mostly ignored although Menshikov replaced his tutors with Count Andrey Ivanovich Osterman. Osterman did teach Peter history, geography, mathematics, and foreign languages but Peter was not much of a student. His favorite occupations were hunting and feasting.

Catherine I’s reign was only two years and even before her death, it was clear that the inheritance of Peter the Great’s grandson could not be denied. Menshikov began to see this during the end of Catherine I’s reign. Through his efforts, Peter was named Catherine’s heir apparent, even though Catherine had two daughters. Catherine also gave her consent to the betrothal of Peter to Menshikov’s daughter Maria.

On May 17, 1727, 43-year-old Catherine I, Empress of All Russia died of tuberculosis and 11-year-old Peter became Emperor of All Russia. Menshikov took the young emperor into his home and had full control of him. The old nobility, represented by the Dolgorukovs and the Galitzines, united to overthrow Menshikov. He was deprived of all his dignities, offices, and wealth, expelled from St. Petersburg, and banished to Siberia with his entire family. The Senate, the Supreme Privy Council, and the emperor’s guards took an oath of allegiance to Peter II, and German mathematician Christian Goldbach was appointed as his tutor.

Peter’s grandmother Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, banished to a convent by Peter the Great and then to Shlisselburg Fortress by Catherine I, was brought to Moscow by her grandson. She lived first in the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin, and then at the Novodevichy Convent. The Supreme Privy Council issued a decree restoring to her the honor and dignity of Tsaritsa.

Peter’s coronation took place in Moscow on January 9, 1728. Later that year, on November 22, 1728, Peter’s elder sister Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna died of tuberculosis at the age of 14. Natalia was a kind and intelligent girl, and was very close to her brother.

Peter was much too young to deal with government issues. His main favorites were Prince Alexei Dolgorukov and his son Ivan, who had great influence over him. Ivan Dolgorukov was a bad influence on Peter, encouraging him to spend time feasting, playing cards, drinking, and enjoying the company of women. Peter moved the court back to Moscow which was annoying to the nobles as they had to move from St. Petersburg.

Because of the Dolgorukov influence, 14-year-old Peter became betrothed to 18-year-old Ekaterina Alexeievna Dolgorukova, the daughter of Prince Alexei Dolgorukov. The wedding was due to take place on January 30, 1730.

On January 17, 1730, a frigid day, Peter II attended a parade. When he returned to the palace, he had a fever that developed into smallpox. Ivan Dolgorukov, forced by his relatives, forged Peter’s will with the goal of elevating his sister Ekaterina Alexeievna, Peter’s fiancee, to the throne. On January 30, 1730, which was supposed to be his wedding day, the delirious Peter ordered his sleigh to be readied so he could visit his sister Natalia who had died a little more than a year earlier. Peter died a few minutes later. With Peter’s death, the direct male line of the Romanov dynasty ended. He had left no descendants and had not named an heir.

Peter II, Emperor of All Russia was buried at the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin. Peter II and Ivan VI, who was murdered at Shlisselburg Fortress and probably buried there, are the only Romanov rulers after Peter the Great who were not buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

After the death of Peter II, the Supreme Privy Council did not accept the will the Dolgorukovs had forged.  There were five possible candidates for the throne, four adult females and one two-year-old male: the three surviving daughters of Peter the Great’s half-brother Ivan V who were all in their 30s: Ekaterina Ivanovna, Anna Ivanovna, and Praskovia Ivanovna, the only surviving child of Peter the Great and Catherine I: 20-year-old Elizabeth Petrovna, and Peter the Great’s grandson: two-year-old Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, son of Anna Petrovna, who died due to childbirth complications, and her husband Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. (Note: Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp was later Peter III, Emperor of All Russia.) The Supreme Privy Council selected Anna Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan V, to be the new Empress of All Russia.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Peter II of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_II_of_Russia [Accessed 24 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). Пётр II. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%91%D1%82%D1%80_II [Accessed 24 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Catherine I, Empress of All Russia was the second wife of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. She succeeded her husband upon the Russian throne, a very unexpected occurrence considering her meager beginnings. Her early background is very sketchy. Marta Helena Skowrońska is said to have been born on April 15, 1684, in Jakobstadt, Semigallia, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. Today Jakobstadt is known as Jēkabpils and it is in Latvia. At the time of Catherine’s birth, the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a vassal state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Her parents were Samuel Skowroński, an ethnic Polish Roman Catholic peasant, and Dorothea Hahn, who both died of the plague around 1689, leaving their five children orphans.

Catherine had four siblings. When she became Empress of All Russia in 1725, she brought them to St. Petersburg, Russia, and created them Count/Countess:

• Krystyna Skowrońska (1687 – 1729), renamed Christina Samuilovna Skavronskaya, married Simon Heinrich <surname unknown>, their descendants became the Counts Gendrikov
• Anna Skowrońska, renamed Anna Samuilovna Skavronskaya, Michael-Joachim <surname unknown>, their descendants became the Counts Efimovsky
• Karol Skowroński, renamed Karel Samuilovich Skavronsky, married a Russian woman Maria Ivanovna <surname unknown>, created Count of the Russian Empire, male line died out in 1793
• Fryderyk Skowroński, renamed Feodor Samuilovich Skavronsky, married (1) an unknown Lithuanian woman (2) Ekaterina Rodionovna Saburova, created Count of the Russian Empire, no children from either marriage

Five-year-old Marta was sent by her uncle to the household of Johann Ernst Glück, a Lutheran pastor, the first to translate the Bible into Latvian. Marta served as a maid, was not taught to read, and remained illiterate for her entire life. At the age of 17, Marta was married to a Swedish dragoon named Johann Raabe during the Great Northern War. A few days after the wedding, Marta’s husband left with his regiment which departed for the war and was never heard of again.

After the Russian army invaded her town, Marta was either a maid or the mistress of the Russian general, and she traveled back to the Russian court with the army. She became part of the household of Prince Alexander Menshikov, the best friend of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. Peter met Marta while visiting Menshikov. 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 (Ekaterina) Alexeievna. Although no official record exists, Peter and Catherine secretly married between October 23 and December 1, 1707, in St. Petersburg. They married publically on February 19, 1712, at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Their daughters Anna and Elizabeth were the bridal attendants.

Catherine and Peter had twelve children, all of whom 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, Empress 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)

In 1703, Peter started building the new city of St. Petersburg. While the city was being built, he lived in a three-room log cabin with Catherine, where she did the cooking and cared for the children, and he tended a garden, as though they were an ordinary couple. The relationship was the most successful of Peter’s life and many letters exist demonstrating the strong affection between Catherine and Peter.  Catherine was very energetic, compassionate, charming, and always cheerful. She was the only one able to calm Peter in his frequent rages.

Previously titled Tsar of All Russia, Peter was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia on October 22, 1721.  In 1724, all of Peter’s sons were dead and the only other surviving male Romanov besides Peter was his young grandson Peter Alexeievich, the future Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. In 1722, Peter issued a decree stating that the reigning emperor should appoint a successor during his lifetime and that anyone may be named as his heir. Perhaps he had Catherine in mind as his successor when he had her crowned as Empress and named co-ruler on May 18, 1724, at the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Even though Catherine had the title of Empress, Peter remained Russia’s actual ruler.

On February 8, 1725, Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 52 from a bladder infection without naming a successor. Catherine never left Peter’s bedside during his final illness and he died in her arms. A coup arranged by Peter’s best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Catherine the ruler of Russia. During the two-year reign of Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, the real power was held by Menshikov and members of the Supreme Privy Council.

During her short reign, Catherine was happy to leave the job of governing to her advisers. She was interested only in issues regarding the navy as Peter’s love for the sea had also touched her. Catherine spent much time at Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar’s Village), 15 miles/24 kilometers outside St. Petersburg. The estate had originally belonged to a Swedish noble. Peter gave it to Catherine in 1708 and Catherine started to develop Tsarskoye Selo as a royal country residence. In 1717, Catherine hired German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein to construct a summer palace that was named after her, the Catherine Palace. Her daughter Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia later remodeled the palace into the one we see today.

Catherine’s health was adversely affected by living a difficult life, giving birth to twelve children, having a venereal disease that she contracted from Peter, and her heavy drinking after Peter’s death. On May 17, 1727, 43-year-old Catherine I, Empress of All Russia died of tuberculosis at the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. She was buried in a tomb next to her husband’s tomb at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Later their daughter, Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia was buried next to Catherine.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Catherine I of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_I_of_Russia [Accessed 23 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). Екатерина I. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%95%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_I [Accessed 23 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna was one of three of the fourteen children of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia to survive childhood. Anna was the fourth of the twelve children of Peter the Great and his second wife, Catherine (Ekaterina) Alexeievna, born Marta Helena Skowrońska, the daughter of an ethnic Polish peasant, later Catherine I, Empress of All Russia. She was born in Moscow on February 7, 1708.

Anna had eleven siblings, all of whom died in childhood except Elizabeth:

• Pyotr Petrovich born 1704, died in infancy
• Pavel Petrovich born 1705, died in infancy
• Catherine Petrovna (1706 – 1708)
• 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)

Anna had two half-siblings from Peter the Great’s first marriage to Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina:

• Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1690 – 1718), married Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had two children: Grand Duchess Natalya Alexeievna and Peter II, Emperor of All Russia; both children died in their teens and Charlotte Christine died of childbirth complications a few days after the birth of her son
• Alexander Petrovich (1691 – 1692)

Although no official record exists, Anna’s parents, Peter the Great and Catherine, secretly married between October 23 and December 1, 1707, in St. Petersburg, Russia. They married officially on February 19, 1712, at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Their daughters Anna and Elizabeth were the bridal attendants and were legitimized on the same day as the wedding.  Anna’s early years were spent at Kolomenskoye near Moscow. Her parents were mostly absent, so Anna and her younger sister Elizabeth were under the care of Russian and Finnish nannies. Later, Anna, Elizabeth, and their younger sister Natalia were placed in the household of Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova, the widow of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (older half-brother of Peter I) and the mother of Anna I, Empress of All Russia. Peter the Great employed foreign tutors to teach his children but Anna and her two sisters remained highly uneducated, mainly learning foreign languages to prepare her for life at a foreign court.

•  

In 1721, Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp came to Russia hoping that Peter the Great would help him regain the territory of Schleswig from Denmark. Peter declined to help him but Karl Friedrich returned to his duchy with the hope that he would marry one of Peter’s daughters. In May 1724, Peter the Great agreed to the marriage of Anna and Karl Friedrich, and a marriage contract was signed in November 1724. The marriage contract stipulated that Anna could retain her Russian Orthodox religion and that any daughters would be raised as Russian Orthodox while any sons were to be raised in the Lutheran religion of their father. Anna and her husband renounced any claim to the Russian crown for themselves and their descendants. However, Peter the Great inserted a secret clause that reserved the right to proclaim a son from their marriage as the heir to the Russian throne. Peter had earlier proclaimed a succession decree stating that the reigning emperor could appoint a successor during his lifetime and that anyone may be named as his heir.

Peter the Great died two months after the marriage contract was signed without naming a successor. While Peter was dying, he asked for Anna Petrovna to tell her his last wishes. By the time Anna arrived, Peter could no longer speak. Some historians speculate that Peter the Great wanted to declare Anne Petrovna as his heir. A coup arranged by Peter’s best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Peter the Great’s second wife (and Anna’s mother) Catherine the ruler of Russia. During the two-year reign of Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, the real power was held by Menshikov and members of the Supreme Privy Council.

On May 21, 1725, Anna Petrovna and Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp were married in St. Petersburg. Both the wedding ceremony and the banquet afterward were extravagant affairs. Anna’s mother Catherine I, Empress of All Russia made her son-in-law Karl Friedrich a lieutenant colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment and gave him a place on the Supreme Privy Council and his own court, palace, and income. Anna and Karl Friedrich stayed in Russia for two years, until the death of Catherine I in 1727 changed their situation. Through the efforts of Prince Alexander Menshikov, Peter Alexeievich, the only son of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, Peter the Great’s deceased son from his first marriage, had been named by Catherine I as her heir. The 11-year-old boy reigned for three years as Peter II, Emperor of All Russia before he died from smallpox.

With a power shift to Menshikov, a quarrel between Karl Friedrich and Menshikov, Anna and her husband left Russia and went to Kiel, the capital of Karl Friedrich’s Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp. They arrived in Kiel in August 1727 and Anna was already pregnant with her first child. On February 21, 1728, at Kiel Castle in Kiel, then in the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, now in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, Anna gave birth to a son named Karl Peter Ulrich. Sadly, Anna died three months later, on May 4, 1728, at the age of 20. Before her death, Anna expressed her desire to be buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Anna’s coffin was taken by boat to St. Petersburg, where it was buried across from her parents’ tomb at the Peter and Paul Cathedral on November 23, 1728.

Anna’s son Karl Peter Ulrich succeeded her younger sister Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia as Peter III, Emperor of All Russia. However, the reign of Peter III lasted only six months. He was deposed by his wife, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who reigned as Catherine II (the Great), Empress of All Russia.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2018). Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Duchess_Anna_Petrovna_of_Russia [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].
• Fr.wikipedia.org. (2018). Anna Petrovna de Russie. [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Petrovna_de_Russie [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2018). Анна Петровна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 18 Jan. 2018].

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.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

The last ethnic Russian and non-foreign wife of a Russian tsar or emperor, Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina was the first wife of Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia. She was born in Moscow, Russia on August 9, 1669, one of the four children of nobleman Feodor Abramovich Lopukhin and Ustinia Bogdanovna Rtishcheva.

Eudoxia had three siblings:

• Abram Fedorovich Lopukhin (executed 1718), married (1) Princess Theodosia Fedorovna Romodanovskaya, had two sons (2) Princess Tatiana Alexeyevna Golitsyna
• Anastasia Feodorovna Lopukhina, married Prince Ivan Borisovich Troyekurov, had three children
• Xenia Feodorovna Lopukhina (1678 – 1699), married Prince Boris Ivanovich Kurakin, had two children

Eudoxia was brought up staunchly Russian Orthodox, basically uneducated, and with a strong dislike of anything foreign. Her future husband 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. Peter’s mother Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina thought if the 17-year-old Peter married, he would settle down and turn from an adolescent into a man.

Peter accepted his mother’s will without argument but had minimal interest in the marriage plans. He agreed to the traditional bride-show but decided that his mother would choose his bride from among the young women assembled. Once his mother had chosen Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, Peter made no complaint and the couple was married on January 27, 1689.

The marriage was a disaster from the start although, within two years, Eudoxia had given birth to two sons, however, the second son died after seven months. By that time, Peter was so estranged from Eudoxia that he did not attend his son’s funeral. Peter had abandoned his wife for a mistress, Anna Mons, the daughter of a Dutch wine merchant. Their relationship lasted for 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.

Eudoxia and Peter had two sons but only one survived infancy:

• Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1690 – 1718), married Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had two children: Grand Duchess Natalya Alexeievna and Peter II, Emperor of All Russia; both children died in their teens and Charlotte Christine died of childbirth complications a few days after the birth of her son Alexander
• Alexander Petrovich (1691 – 1692)

While Peter’s mother Natalia Kirillovna was alive, he did not openly show negative feelings towards Eudoxia. During the last years of her life, Natalia Kirillovna became disillusioned with her daughter-in-law because of her independence and obstinacy. After the death of Natalia Kirillovna in 1694, Peter stopped corresponding with Eudoxia. Although Eudoxia was still called Tsaritsa and lived with her son in a Kremlin palace, her Lopukhin relatives who occupied prominent state posts, fell into disgrace. Eudoxia began to keep in touch with people who were dissatisfied with Peter’s reform policies.

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.

Eventually, Eudoxia and her son Alexei became the center of opposition to Peter’s reforms. 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. 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 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.

Peter had issued a decree stating that the reigning emperor should appoint a successor during his lifetime and that anyone may be named as his heir. However, 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 the two-year-reign of Catherine I, Eudoxia was a great threat to the new empress whose rights to the throne were precarious since she was a wife of Peter the Great and not a real Romanov, just like Eudoxia. Eudoxia was sent to Shlisselburg Fortress where she was kept in strict secret confinement as a state criminal.

Upon the death of Catherine I in 1727, Eudoxia’s 11-year-old grandson, the son of Alexei, succeeded to the throne as Peter II, Emperor of All Russia. Eudoxia was brought to Moscow with honor, and lived first in the Ascension Convent in the Kremlin, and then at the Novodevichy Convent. The Supreme Privy Council issued a decree restoring to her the honor and dignity of Tsaritsa. Peter II’s reign was not long. He died from smallpox on January 30, 1730, at the age of 14. Upon her grandson’s death, Eudoxia demanded that she be his successor but her claim was rejected in favor of the claim of Anna Ivanovna, daughter of Peter the Great’s half-brother and co-ruler, Ivan V.

Eudoxia died in Moscow, Russia on September 7, 1731, at the age of 62 and was buried at the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, Russia by the southern wall of the Smolensk Cathedral near the tombs of Peter the Great’s half-sisters Sophia Alexeievna, Regent of Russia and Ekaterina Alexeievna.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Eudoxia Lopukhina. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudoxia_Lopukhina [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). Лопухина, Евдокия Фёдоровна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0,_%D0%95%D0%B2%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 21 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

In 1669, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, the wife of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia, died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. The death of Tsar Alexei’s heir 15-year-old Tsarevich Alexei in January 1670, so soon after his wife’s death, was especially difficult for the Tsar because his only surviving sons were Feodor, who was disabled by an unknown disease that left him disfigured and partially paralyzed, and Ivan, who had serious physical and mental disabilities. On February 1, 1671, Alexei married 19-year-old Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, hoping his second marriage would give him a healthy son to continue the fledgling Romanov dynasty, and it did – a son who is now known as Peter the Great.

Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (Pyotr Alexeievich) was the eldest of the three children of Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia, the second ruler of the Romanov dynasty, and his second wife Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina. Named after the apostle St. Peter, he was born at the Moscow Kremlin on June 9, 1672. The infant was robust and healthy, not like the sickly sons of Alexei’s first marriage.

Peter had two siblings:

• Tsarevna Natalya Alexeievna (1673–1716), unmarried, a playwright and founder of the first public theater in Russia
• Tsarevna Fyodora Alexeievna (1674–1677)

Peter had thirteen half-siblings from his father’s first marriage to Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya but at the time of his birth in 1672, only eight were living.  None of Peter’s sisters married.  They lived their lives in isolation in the terem, separate living quarters, and were prevented from socialization with men outside their immediate family.

• Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeievich (1648–1649); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alekseevna (1650–1712)
• Tsarevna Marfa Alexeievna (1652–1707)
• Tsarevich Alexei Alexeievich (1654–1670); died unmarried, age 15
• Tsarevna Anna Alexeievna (1655–1659); died in infancy
• Tsarevna Sofia Alexeievna (1657–1704), Regent of Russia (1682–89) for her two younger brothers Ivan V and Peter I; unmarried
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeievna (1658–1718)
• Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna (1660–1723)
• Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia (1661–1682); succeeded his father as Tsar of Russia; married (1) Agaphia Simeonovna Gruszewska, no surviving children (2) Marfa Matveievna Apraksina, no children
• Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeievna (1662–1713)
• Tsarevich Simeon Alexeievich (1665–1669); died in infancy
• Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (1666–1696); was co-ruler along with his younger half-brother Peter I; married Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova, had five daughters including Anna, Empress of All Russia
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeevna (1669–1669)

Alexei did not expect his sickly sons from his first marriage, Feodor and Ivan, to survive him. Only 43 years old at the time of Peter’s birth, Alexei expected to reign for many more years before Peter would come to the throne. However, on February 9, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died of a heart attack at the age of 46.

Alexei was succeeded by 15-year-old Feodor III, his eldest surviving son from his first marriage. Even though Feodor was well educated and had a fine intellect, his debilitating physical condition prevented him from fully participating in reigning. Throughout Feodor’s reign, the government was largely run by Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev, who had raised Natalya Kirillovna and had become a close friend of her husband Alexei.

While Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina was married to Tsar Alexei, her family held powerful positions. However, with a new Tsar who was the son of Alexei’s first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, the Miloslavsky family came back to power. Feodor III held no ill feelings against his stepmother and his half-siblings but Natalya knew her son Peter was the Naryshkin family’s hope for the future and feared for his safety. As time progressed, Natalya realized that Peter was still an important figure and that Feodor III was also kind and sympathetic towards them. Natalya and her children faded from public view remaining cloistered in the Moscow Kremlin.

Peter had started his education while his father was still alive, learning the alphabet and numbers. When he was five years old, Peter was given a tutor, Nikita Moiseevich Zotov.  Historians differ regarding the quality of Zotov’s teaching but he remained a lifelong friend of Peter. Although initially asked to teach reading and writing, Zotov found Peter curious and interested in many things. Peter asked for lessons on Russian history, battles, and heroes. At Zotov’s request, Peter’s mother ordered engravings of foreign cities and palaces, sailing ships, weapons, and historical events. Zotov placed them in Peter’s classroom, along with a globe. Other tutors and experts instructed Peter in royal and military history, blacksmithing, carpentry, printing, sailing, and shipbuilding – all subjects Peter wanted to learn. His tutor Nikita Moiseevich Zotov stimulated his curiosity and facilitated his learning. Peter chose what he wanted to learn and, in effect, became a self-made man.

Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia had married twice but he had no surviving children and died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20. Feodor’s death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I. Feodor was followed next in the line of succession by his only surviving full brother, the 15-year-old Ivan, who had serious physical and mental disabilities but nevertheless, was the choice of the Miloslavsky family to become Tsar. The family of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, instead wanted the healthy ten-year-old Peter to succeed. The Boyar Duma, a council of Russian nobles, chose Peter to become Tsar of All Russia with his mother as regent.

To protect Ivan’s interests, Sophia Alexeievna, Alexei’s eldest surviving daughter from his first marriage and Ivan’s sister, led a rebellion of the Streltsy, an elite military corps, in April – May 1682. During the rebellion, some of Peter’s relatives and allies were murdered, including two of his maternal uncles and his father’s good friend Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev. The young Peter witnessed some of these violent acts.

The rebellion made it possible for Sophia Alexeevna, her maternal family the Miloslavskys, and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being the senior Tsar. Although Ivan was called the senior Tsar, he never directly dealt with government affairs due to his disabilities. He did, however, participate in ceremonies. On  June 25, 1682, Ivan V and Peter I were crowned in the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Sophia acted as regent during the minority of Ivan and Peter. During this time, Natalya Kirillovna received her only financial support from the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church and lived away from the court, at Tsar Alexei’s former summer residence in Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

In 1689, 17-year-old Peter overthrew his half-sister Sophia Alexeevna. Peter I and Ivan V continued as co-tsars, and Sophia was forced to enter a convent and give up her position as a member of the royal family. Because of his young age, Peter could not acquire actual control over Russian affairs. Instead, the power was controlled by his mother and her brother Lev Naryshkin who was appointed the minister of foreign affairs and was the de facto prime minister. It was not until his mother died in 1694 and his half-brother’s death in 1696 that Peter assumed complete authority.

In 1689, at the insistence of his mother, Peter married Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, the last ethnic Russian and non-foreign wife of a Russian monarch.  Eudoxia was brought up staunchly Russian Orthodox, basically uneducated, and with a strong dislike of anything foreign. Her future husband Peter I was the complete opposite. Peter’s mother Natalya Kyrillovna Naryshkina thought if the 17-year-old Peter married, he would settle down, and turn from an adolescent into a man.

Peter accepted his mother’s will without argument but had minimal interest in the marriage plans. He agreed to the traditional bride-show but he decided instead of him, his mother would choose his bride from among the young women assembled. Once his mother had chosen Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, Peter made no complaint and the couple was married on January 27, 1689.

The marriage was a disaster from the start, although within two years, Eudoxia had given birth to two sons, however, the second son died after seven months. By that time, Peter was so estranged from Eudoxia that he did not even attend his son’s funeral. Peter had abandoned his wife for a mistress, Anna Mons, the daughter of a Dutch wine merchant. Their relationship lasted for twelve years until Peter met Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, first his mistress, then his second wife renamed Catherine (Ekaterina) Alexeievna, and finally his successor on the Russian throne as Catherine I, Empress of All Russia. In 1698, Peter forced Eudoxia to become a nun, freeing himself from the unsuccessful marriage.

Peter and Eudoxia had two sons but only the eldest survived infancy.

• • Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (1690 – 1718), married Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had two children: Grand Duchess Natalya Alexeievna and Peter II, Emperor of All Russia; both children died in their teens and Charlotte Christine died of childbirth complications a few days after the birth of her son
  • Alexander Petrovich (1691 – 1692)

Peter was an imposing person, both personally and physically. He grew to be exceptionally tall, 6 feet 8 inches (203 cm), and 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 1697, Peter traveled incognito to Western Europe on an 18-month tour called the “Grand Embassy”.  He used a pseudonym, allowing him to escape social and diplomatic events but since he was far taller than most others, he did not fool anyone of importance. In the Netherlands, he studied shipbuilding which he later used to build the Russian navy. In England, Peter met with King William III, visited Greenwich and Oxford, posed for artist Sir Godfrey Kneller, and saw a Royal Navy Fleet Review. He traveled to Manchester to learn the techniques of city-building which he would later use to found the city of St. Petersburg.

Peter’s modernization reforms included:

• Reorganizing the Russian army along modern lines
• Establishing a Russian navy
• Introducing French and Western dress to his court
• Requiring courtiers, state officials, and the military to shave their beards and adopt modern clothing styles
• Made calendar adjustments to be in line with Western Europe
• Reorganized government agencies
• Succession decree stating that the reigning emperor appoints a successor during his lifetime and that anyone may be named as his heir – in effect until the reign of Paul I
• Created a new order of precedence known as the Table of Ranks
• Compulsory education for 10- to 15-year-old children of the nobility, government clerks, and lesser-ranked officials
• The first Russian newspaper was founded and translations of many books into Russian appeared
• Abolished the land tax and household tax and replaced them with a poll tax
• Reformed the Russian Orthodox Church administration
• Founded schools of higher education: a school of mathematical and navigational sciences, artillery, engineering, and medical schools, and a naval academy
• 4,500 new words were added to the Russian language, borrowed from European languages

In 1703, Peter met 19-year-old Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, born Marta Helena Skowrońska, the Polish widow of a soldier. Marta has a sketchy early background. After her town was invaded by the Russian army, Marta, a maid or mistress of the Russian general, traveled back to the Russian court with the army. She became part of the household of Prince Alexander Menshikov, Peter’s best friend. Peter met Marta while visiting Menshikov. 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 (Ekaterina) Alexeievna. Although no official record exists, Peter and Catherine secretly married between October 23 and December 1, 1707, in St. Petersburg. They married publicly on February 19, 1712, at St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Their daughters Anna and Elizabeth were the bridal attendants.

Catherine and Peter had twelve children, all of whom 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, Empress 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)

Perhaps Peter’s biggest accomplishment was founding the city of St. Petersburg. Peter was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, and he wanted Russia to have a seaport to be able to trade with other maritime nations. He needed a better seaport than Arkhangelsk, that was on the White Sea to the north and closed to shipping during the winter.

In 1611, Swedish colonists built Nyenskans, a fortress at the mouth of the Neva River. During the Great Northern War in 1703, Peter captured Nyenskans and replaced the fortress. On Zayachy Island in the Neva River, Peter built the Peter and Paul Fortress which became the first permanent structure of the new city of St. Petersburg.

The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia and Swedish prisoners of war under the supervision of Peter’s friend Prince Alexander Menshikov. In 1712, Peter moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

While St. Petersburg was being built, Peter lived in a three-room log cabin with his second wife Catherine, where she cooked and cared for the children, and he tended a garden as though they were an ordinary couple. The relationship was the most successful of Peter’s life and many letters exist demonstrating the strong affection between Catherine and Peter. Catherine was very energetic, compassionate, charming, and always cheerful. She was the only one able to calm Peter in his frequent rages.

In 1718, Peter’s eldest child and heir Tsarevich Alexei was suspected of plotting to overthrow his father.  In 1715, Peter became dissatisfied with Alexei’s lack of enthusiasm and 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 by becoming 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 a sister of his 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. His mother Eudoxia was dragged from her monastery, publicly tried for alleged adultery, and then 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 to authorize his son’s execution. 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.

Previously titled Tsar of All Russia, Peter was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia on October 22, 1721.  In 1724, all of Peter’s sons were dead and Peter had his second wife Catherine crowned as Empress and named co-ruler, although Peter remained Russia’s actual ruler.

During the last two years of his life, Peter suffered from urinary tract problems. In the summer of 1724, doctors performed surgery that released four pounds of blocked urine and Peter remained bedridden until late autumn. On February 8, 1725, Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia died at the age of 52 from a bladder infection without naming a successor. He was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. A coup arranged by Peter’s best friend Prince Alexander Menshikov proclaimed Catherine, Peter’s second wife, the ruler of Russia. During the two-year reign of Catherine I, Empress of All Russia, the real power was held by Menshikov and members of the Supreme Privy Council.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Peter the Great. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great [Accessed 20 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). Пётр I. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%91%D1%82%D1%80_I [Accessed 20 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova, the wife of Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia and the mother of Anna I, Empress of All Russia, was born in Moscow, Russia, on October 23, 1664. Her father was Feodor Petrovich Saltykov and her mother was either Yekaterina Fyodorovna <surname unknown> or Anna Mikhailovna Tatishcheva. The Saltykovs were an old Boyar (noble) family as were the Romanovs originally. The later Saltykovs were descended from Tatiana Feodorovna Romanova, a sister of Michael, the first Romanov Tsar.

Praskovia Feodorovna had three siblings:

• Vasily Fedorovich Saltykov (1672 – 1730), married (1) Princess Agrafena Petrovna Prozorovskaya (2) Princess Alexandra Grigorievna Dolgorukova
• Anastasia Fedorovna Saltykova (died 1736), married Prince Ivan Fedorovich Romodanovsky, had one daughter
• Fedosya Fedorovna Saltykova, married Vasily Ivanovich Kasimovsky

When Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20, he left no children although he had been married twice. His death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I, Feodor III’s father. Feodor, the son of Alexei I’s first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya,  was followed next in the line of succession by his only surviving full brother, 15-year-old Ivan who was physically and mentally disabled. The family of his father’s second wife Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, instead wanted her healthy ten-year-old son Peter (the future Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia) to succeed. The Boyar Duma, a council of Russian nobles, chose Peter to become Tsar of All Russia with his mother as regent.

To protect her brother Ivan’s interests, his sister Sophia Alexeievna led a rebellion of the Streltsy, an elite military corps, in April – May 1682. The rebellion made it possible for Sophia, her maternal family the Miloslavskys, and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being the senior Tsar. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of Ivan V and Peter I. Although Ivan was called the senior Tsar, he never directly dealt with government affairs due to his disability.

Sophia recognized that her brother Ivan would never be able to truly reign because of his mental and physical disabilities. She thought if she could arrange a marriage for Ivan and if he could father a son, Ivan might be recognized as Russia’s sole Tsar. Sophia could then continue as Ivan’s Regent and if Ivan died before his son reached the age of majority, she could then be her nephew’s Regent. A bride-show, the custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars used to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country, was held and 19-year-old Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova was chosen to be 17-year-old Ivan V’s wife. This was the last time the bride-show was used to choose the wife of the Tsar of Russia. On January 9, 1684, Ivan and Praskovia were married.

For five years, the couple was childless but in 1689, the first of their five daughters was born.

• Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna (1689–1692), died young
• Tsarevna Feodosia Ivanovna (1690–1691), died young
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Ivanovna (1691–1733), married Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one surviving daughter Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, later known as Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna who served as Regent for her infant son Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia
• Anna Ivanovna, Empress of All Russia (1693–1740), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland who died three months after the wedding, no issue, Anna became Empress of All Russia upon the death of Peter II, Emperor of All Russia, the grandson of Peter I (the Great)
• Tsarevna Praskovia Ivanovna (1694–1731), married Ivan Ilich Dmitriev-Mamonov, had one son who died in childhood

In 1689, 17-year-old Peter I overthrew his half-sister Sophia Alexeievna. Peter I and Ivan V continued as co-rulers, and Sophia was forced to enter a convent and give up her position as a member of the royal family. With Ivan both incapable and disinterested, Peter functioned as though he were the only Tsar, and eventually Ivan became a non-entity in the Russian court. For the last decade of his life, Ivan spent his days with Praskovia fasting and praying and was completely overshadowed by Peter.

By the age of 27, Ivan V was senile, paralyzed, and almost blind. He died on February 8, 1696, at the age of 29. Because Ivan’s children were all daughters, there was no question about the succession upon his death. Peter I (the Great), his half-brother and co-ruler, was left to be Tsar of All Russia and later Emperor of All Russia.

After Ivan’s death, Praskovia lived in Alexei I’s Izmailovo Estate outside of Moscow and began a long-term affair with her steward, the noble Vassili Alexeievich Yushkov who was accepted by Peter I as a member of his sister-in-law’s household. Peter’s surviving daughters Elizabeth (the future Empress) and Anna (the mother of the future Peter III) were educated in Praskovia’s household.

In 1708, Praskovia and her family, by order of Peter I, moved to the new city of St. Petersburg where Peter gifted her with a home on the banks of the Neva River. She had great respect for her brother-in-law Peter I and often served as the first lady, welcoming visitors to the Russian court. Praskovia understood the need for the changes Peter was making in Russia. She raised her daughters and held her court in a modern Western manner, which made her well-regarded by Peter.

Praskovia’s health began to suffer towards the end of her life. On October 24, 1723, the day after her 59th birthday, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Praskovia Fedorovna died. Her funeral, which Peter I attended, was held on November 2, 1723, at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery of St. Petersburg where Praskovia was buried in the crypt of the Annunciation Church in front of the altar.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Praskovia Saltykova. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praskovia_Saltykova [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Салтыкова, Прасковья Фёдоровна. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D1%82%D1%8B%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D1%8C%D1%8F_%D0%A4%D1%91%D0%B4%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2018

• Unofficial Royalty: Russian Titles and Patronymics

Co-ruler with his half-brother Peter I (the Great), Ivan V, Tsar of All Russia (Ivan Alexeevich) was born in Moscow on September 6, 1666. He was the twelfth of the thirteen children and the youngest of the five sons of Alexei, Tsar of All Russia and his first wife Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya.

Ivan had twelve siblings. None of his sisters married. They lived in seclusion with their sisters and aunts in the terem, the separate living quarters occupied by royal and noble Russian women. Only two of Ivan’s seven brothers survived childhood.

• • Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeievich (1648–1649); died in infancy
  • Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeievna (1650–1712)
  • Tsarevna Marfa Alexeievna (1652–1707)
  • Tsarevich Alexei Alexeievich (1654–1670); died unmarried, age 15
  • Tsarevna Anna Alexeievna (1655–1659); died in infancy
  • Tsarevna Sofia Alexeievna (1657–1704), Regent of Russia (1682–89) for her two younger brothers Ivan V and Peter I; unmarried
  • Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeievna (1658–1718)
  • Tsarevna Maria Alexeievna (1660–1723)
  • Feodor III, Tsar of All Russia (1661–1682); succeeded his father as Tsar of Russia; married (1) Agaphia Simeonovna Gruszewska, no surviving children (2) Marfa Matveievna Apraksina, no children
  • Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeievna (1662–1713)
  • Tsarevich Simeon Alexeievich (1665–1669); died in infancy
  • Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeievna (1669–1669)

From childhood, Ivan had serious physical and mental disabilities which may have been caused by Down’s Syndrome or a consequence of a disease. In 1669, 3-year-old Ivan’s mother Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya died due to childbirth complications following the birth of her thirteenth child who also died. The death of Ivan’s brother the heir 15-year-old Tsarevich Alexei in January 1670, so soon after his mother’s death, was especially difficult for his father Tsar Alexei because his only surviving sons were the physically and mentally disabled Ivan and his elder brother Feodor who was disabled by an unknown disease which left him disfigured and partially paralyzed.

Nineteen-year-old Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was picked as Tsar Alexei’s second wife. On February 1, 1671, the couple was married in Moscow. Alexei hoped his second marriage would give him a healthy son, and it did, Peter the Great.

Ivan had three half-siblings from his father’s second marriage with Alexei Nataliya Kyrillovna Naryshkina:

• • Peter I (the Great), Emperor of All Russia (1672–1725), married (1) Eudoxia Feodorovna Lopukhina, had three sons including Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (2) Martha Skavronskaya (Catherine I, Empress of All Russia), had eleven children, only two daughters survived childhood Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (mother of Peter III, Emperor of All Russia) and Elizabeth, Empress of All Russia
  • Tsarevna Natalya Alexeievna (1673–1716), unmarried, a playwright and founder of the first public theater in Russia
  • Tsarevna Fyodora Alexeievna (1674–1677)

On February 9, 1676, five years after marrying Natalya Kiillovna, Alexei I, Tsar of All Russia died of a heart attack at the age of 46. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son from his first marriage, 15-year-old Feodor III. Even though Feodor was well educated and had a fine intellect, his debilitating physical condition prevented him from really reigning. Throughout Feodor’s reign, the government was largely run by Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev, who had raised Natalya Kirillovna and had become a close friend of her husband Alexei. Feodor married twice but he had no surviving children and died on May 7, 1682, at the age of 20.

Feodor’s death triggered the Streltsy Uprising of 1682, a struggle for the succession between the families of the two wives of Alexei I. Alexei’s son by his first wife, Feodor III, left no surviving heir. Feodor was followed next in the line of succession by his only surviving full brother, 15-year-old Ivan. The family of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, instead wanted her healthy ten-year-old son Peter to succeed. The Boyar Duma, a council of Russian nobles, chose Peter to become Tsar of All Russia with his mother as regent.

To protect her brother Ivan’s interests, his sister Sophia Alexeievna led a rebellion of the Streltsy, an elite military corps, in April – May 1682. During the rebellion, some of Peter’s relatives and allies were murdered, including two of his maternal uncles and his father’s good friend Artamon Sergeyevich Matveev. The rebellion made it possible for Sophia, her maternal family the Miloslavskys, and their allies to insist that Peter and Ivan be proclaimed joint Tsars, with Ivan being the senior Tsar. Sophia acted as Regent during the minority of Ivan and Peter and ruled as an autocrat. Although Ivan was called the senior Tsar, he never directly dealt with government affairs due to his disability. He did, however, participate in ritual ceremonies. On  June 25, 1682, Ivan V and Peter I were crowned in the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

Sophia recognized that Ivan would never be able to truly reign. She thought if she could arrange a marriage for Ivan and if he could father a son, Ivan might be recognized as Russia’s sole Tsar. Sophia could then continue as Ivan’s Regent and if Ivan died before his son reached the age of majority, she could then be her nephew’s Regent. Finding a bride for disabled Ivan was easy. Young Russian noblewomen were fated to arranged marriages or living lives in isolation in the terem and they would be eager to marry the gentle Ivan. On January 9, 1684, Ivan married Praskovia Feodorovna Saltykova.

Ivan and Praskovia had five children but all of them were daughters.

• • Tsarevna Maria Ivanovna (1689–1692), died young
  • Tsarevna Feodosia Ivanovna (1690–1691), died young
  • Tsarevna Ekaterina Ivanovna (1691–1733), married Karl Leopold, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one surviving daughter Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, later known as Grand Duchess Anna Leopoldovna who served as Regent for her infant son Ivan VI, Emperor of All Russia
  • Anna Ivanovna, Empress of All Russia (1693–1740), married Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Courland who died three months after the wedding, no issue, Anna became Empress of All Russia upon the death of Peter II, Emperor of All Russia, the grandson of Peter I (the Great)
  • Tsarevna Praskovia Ivanovna (1694–1731), married Ivan Ilich Dmitriev-Mamonov, had one son who died in childhood

In 1689, 17-year-old Peter overthrew his half-sister Sophia Alexeievna. Peter I and Ivan V continued as co-rulers, and Sophia was forced to enter a convent and give up her position as a member of the royal family. With Ivan being both incapable and disinterested, Peter functioned as though he were the only Tsar, and eventually Ivan became a non-entity in the Russian court. For the last decade of his life, Ivan spent his days with his wife Praskovia fasting and praying and was completely overshadowed by Peter.

By the age of 27, Ivan was senile, paralyzed, and almost blind. He died February 8, 1696, at the age of 29, and was buried in the Cathedral of the Archangel in the Moscow Kremlin. Because Ivan’s children were all daughters, there was no question about the succession upon his death. Peter I (the Great), his half-brother and co-ruler, was left to be Tsar of All Russia and later Emperor of All Russia.

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Romanov Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Tsardom of Russia/Russian Empire Index
• Romanov Births, Marriages and Deaths
• Romanov Burial Sites
• Romanovs Killed During the Russian Revolution
• Romanovs Who Survived the Russian Revolution

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. (2017). Iwan V. (Russland). [online] Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iwan_V._(Russland) [Accessed 18 Dec. 2017].
• En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Ivan V of Russia. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_V_of_Russia [Accessed 18 Dec. 2017].
• Lincoln, W. Bruce. (1981). The Romanovs: Autocrats of  All the Russias. New York, NY.: Doubleday
• Ru.wikipedia.org. (2017). Иван V. [online] Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_V [Accessed 18 Dec. 2017].