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.

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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

• 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].