Wars with Turkey and Sweden, further divisions of Poland. Political implications of Prince Arthur's death

Cathedral in Peterborough (Cambridgeshire). The majestic building evokes the memory of the Cathedral Notre Dame of Paris…

The abbey and cathedral of Saints Peter, Paul and Andrew were founded in 655. The current building is the third in a row, standing on the site of two burned down ones. Its construction began in 1118 and lasted 120 years. In addition to the magnificent western pediment and ancient interior decoration, the tomb of the first wife is of historical interest. Henry VIII Catherine of Aragon (left side of the Cathedral, on the grave - flowers and a postcard on Christmas, remember). Nearby is an exhibition-stand from the history of England and the Cathedral (apparently permanent: two years ago it was in the same place), a portrait of Henry VIII - a strong figure in a royal suit with regalia, a face expanding downwards, a portrait of his first wife Catherine of Aragon - a sweet female a rather strong-willed face, parted in the middle of the hair hidden under a light brown cap; downcast eyes.

Brown dress, matching decoration - beads around the neck.

She was the youngest daughter of the founders of the Spanish state, King Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the first wife of King Henry VIII of England. Catherine of Aragon arrived in England in 1501. She was 16 years old, and she was to become the wife of Crown Prince Arthur - the son of King Henry VII. Thus, the king wanted to protect himself from France and raise the authority of England among European states.

Arthur at the time of marriage was only 14 years old. He was a sickly, consumptive youth. And a year after the wedding, he died without leaving an heir, since he did not enter into an intimate relationship with his young wife. Catherine remained in England as a young widow, but in fact as a hostage, because by that moment her father had not yet managed to pay her dowry in full, and besides, it seems that he was not going to pay. She lived in such uncertainty for the next eight years.

She saw salvation in renunciation of the worldly bustle and turning to God (she had nothing but the title of dowager princess, a small allowance and a retinue exclusively consisting of Spanish nobles who came with her. She was a burden both for King Henry VII of England and for her father, King Ferdinand.Her mother, the brave Queen Isabella, has died.

By the age of twenty, she indulged in severe asceticism - constant fasting and masses. One of the courtiers, fearing for her life, wrote to the Pope. And an order immediately came from him: to stop self-torture, since it could be life-threatening.

In fact, the same state considerations as during the marriage of Catherine and Arthur contributed to the marriage of Henry, the youngest son of the King of England, and now the heir, to Catherine, who was six years older than the groom. Negotiations regarding their marriage began during the life of Henry VII and continued after his death. Catherine became Queen of England two months after Henry VIII's accession to the throne. However, before the wedding, Henry had to get permission from the Pope - Julius. Church law forbade such marriages, but the Pope gave the English king special permission, largely because Catherine and Arthur never actually became husband and wife.

Due to Catherine's lack of surviving sons, Henry insisted, after 24 years of marriage, on a divorce (more precisely, annulment) in 1533. This step was one of the reasons for Henry's conflict with the Pope, the break with the Roman Catholic Church and the reformation in England.

In May 1533 Henry married Anna. He never received the consent of either the Pope or Catherine. It was decided that from that moment on, the power of the Pope did not extend to England. Henry declared himself the head of the Church (since 1534), and the marriage with Catherine was invalid.

The people loved Queen Catherine: when Henry decided to fight the French, he longed for the glory of an outstanding military leader, he left Catherine as regent. At this time, taking advantage of the absence of the king, the Scottish lords, led by James IV, invaded the territory of England. The Queen personally designed much of the defense plan. On September 9, 1513, the Scots were defeated in the hills near Flodden, King James himself was killed. Catherine was proud of this victory.

Catherine did not recognize this marriage. She continued to call herself queen and answered all threats that she was the legitimate wife of the king of England.

Catherine spent two more years in obscurity, spiteful critics continued to pester her, she was not allowed to see her daughter. However, despite all the troubles in her heart there was a place for love for her husband. She wrote to the Pope, imploring him not to forget Henry and Mary.

She lived in a small room, the windows of which overlooked the moat, filled with rotten water, and the neglected hunting park of Kimbolton. Her retinue consisted of three ladies-in-waiting, half a dozen maids, and a few devoted Spaniards looking after the household. In 1535, she fell ill, as it later became known, incurably.

On January 7, 1536, Catherine felt that she was dying. She managed to dictate a will, according to which she left all the money she had to her close associates. Daughters ( eldest daughter Henry VIII from marriage with Catherine of Aragon - Mary I Tudor (1516 - 1558) - Queen of England since 1553, Also known as Mary the Bloody (or Bloody Mary), Mary the Catholic. Not a single monument was erected to this queen in her homeland) she bequeathed her furs and a gold necklace, which was part of her dowry brought from Spain. She also wrote a farewell letter to Heinrich. In it, she asked him not to forget his daughter, reminded him of her legal title and said that she still loved him.

Henry VIII was married six times.

His wives, each of whom was backed by a certain political or religious faction, were sometimes forced to make changes in their political or religious views.

In 1524, in the retinue of Catherine of Aragon, who was already rather tired of the king, the monarch noticed a new pretty face.

Daughter of one of the king's dignitaries, Earl Thomas Boleyn. The engagement to her former fiancé, Lord Percy, is broken off and preparations are made for a new wedding. In 1533, Henry married Anne Boleyn, in September their daughter Elizabeth was born. So, this passion of the king was worth the break with Rome, the elimination of Catholicism and its institutions in the country and the cooling of relations with Spain.

Only two years lasted love for Anne Boleyn. In his wife's retinue, Heinrich meets a new object of adoration - Jane Seymour. Possession of it becomes his goal for the near future. The wife, as luck would have it, does not give a divorce, it is worse for her. You have to understand that you can't command your heart. The king finds a way to gain freedom. If you do not disperse, then "remove" (in the modern language of criminal elements). The most convenient pretext is adultery. And "well-wishers", always ready to help their beloved king, begin to look for "evidence". At one of the balls, the queen drops her glove. She is raised and returned to her owner by Henry Noris, who is in love with her. The "Watching Eye" took note of this. Ease in communication with his brother, Lord Rochefort, provides a pretext for accusations of incest. Several more nobles are seen falling in love with the queen. One of them, Smytoks, promised to testify about adultery for a "moderate fee".

Apparently, Henry guessed that the church would not forgive him for a second divorce. In addition to divorce, only her death could free her from her former wife.

Henry called an executioner from France to execute his wife (the French succeeded in chopping off the head, because it was they who invented the guillotine - a device for quickly and painlessly chopping off the head). On May 15, 1536, the executioner cut off Anna's head not with an ax, but with a sharp and long sword, the first time. Anna did not suffer for long. Her daughter Elizabeth was denied the right to inherit the throne. Subsequently, the king, not without regret, remembered Anne Boleyn.

Recently published a love letter from Henry VIII to his future second wife Anne Boleyn, in French, believed to be January 1528. This letter has been kept in the Vatican for five centuries, it will be exhibited for the first time in the British Library in London.

"From now on, my heart will belong only to you."
“The expression of your affection for me is so strong, and the beautiful words of your message are so heartfelt that I am simply obliged to respect, love and serve you forever,” the king writes. “For my part, I am ready, if possible, to surpass you in loyalty and desire to please you.”

The letter ends with the signature: "Mr. loves A.B.” and the initials of the beloved enclosed in a heart.

After Pope Clement VII refused to invalidate Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon (in order to marry Anne Boleyn), the English monarch broke with the Vatican and eventually created the Church of England, independent of Rome.

The British monarch bears the title

Supreme Ruler of the Church of England.

... The ghost of Anne Boleyn is known (recall that she was accused of adultery and incest, although, apparently, her only fault was that she was tired of her husband) ... Anne Boleyn was executed in May 1536 directly in the Tower (the towers of the fortress was a state prison), where she was kept. After the execution, her body was hastily buried in the chapel of St. Peter, in the Tower. But the soul of the unfortunate queen did not calm down. Since then, her ghost has been regularly appearing for several centuries at regular intervals, sometimes at the head of a procession heading to the chapel of St. Peter, sometimes alone in different places in the old fortress: at the place where the execution took place ...

One of the most impressive apparitions of a ghost occurred in the winter of 1864. One night a sentry was found lying unconscious. He was court-martialed on the charge of falling asleep on duty. Then he said that before dawn he saw a white silhouette emerge from the fog. He wore a cap, under which his head was missing; silhouette went to the sentry.

After the usual three hails of warning, the soldier approached the ghost, but when the bayonet of the gun pierced him through, lightning ran through the barrel, and the sentry himself fainted from shock.

All this would seem to be just a clever excuse, if two other soldiers and an officer, who testified after the accused, did not say that they also noticed the ghost through the window. When it turned out that the ghost in all four cases appeared under the door of the room in which Anne Boleyn spent her last night On the eve of the execution, the tribunal decided to release the sentry.

The nightmare recurred from time to time until early XIX century. Once, late at night, a completely atheistic officer noticed a bright glow pouring from the windows of the chapel, which he himself locked at sunset. Having obtained a ladder, the officer climbed up it, looked out the window - and almost fell down from fear.

Inside, he saw a whole retinue of the Tudor court, led by Anna. A terrible procession moved towards the altar and, reaching it, gradually seemed to go under the floor ... After some time, the officer achieved the opening of the floor of the chapel, and under the slabs they found the remains of the queen along with her dead retinue ... After the remains were reburied with the appropriate royal honors , the ghost of the innocently injured queen disappeared from the Tower forever.

The King marries Jane Seymour. She could not boast of a brilliant education and "gallant" manners, since in the 16th century education English girls was reduced to religion, needlework and the basics of housekeeping. The ability to read and write was considered sufficient for a young aristocrat who wanted to make a court career.

Lady Jane's brothers, Thomas and Edward, on the contrary, were brought up at the king's court from childhood (they were pages), and subsequently occupied various lucrative positions. Therefore, there was nothing surprising in the fact that from the mid-1520s, their sister Jane was adopted as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon. After Anne Boleyn became queen, Lady Jane passed "at the disposal" of the new lady.

On Christmas Day 1533, the King gave gifts to several ladies-in-waiting, Lady Seymour among those honored.

After Anna Boleyn "disappointed" the king - instead of the desired son, she gave birth to only a girl (the future Elizabeth I), relations between Henry and the queen began to noticeably worsen. Moreover, Anna was intolerant, quick-tempered and ambitious. Having made many enemies at court, the queen gradually turned Henry away from herself. The years 1534 and 1535 passed in family scandals, stormy showdowns and the vain expectation of another queen's pregnancy.

It was at this time, in 1535, that the king became interested in the modest maid of honor Seymour. She was the complete opposite of Anna: blond, pale, very quiet and in agreement with everyone. If Anna was compared with a witch, and even with a witch - she was thin, dark-haired and black-eyed, then Jane looked much more like a bright angel.

The royal wedding of 1536 was unusually modest. in the spring of 1537, Jane informed Henry of her pregnancy. The king surrounded his wife with unprecedented care and fulfilled all her requirements and whims.

The heir was born healthy, handsome and similar to both spouses. But only Jane was not destined to rejoice ...

For two days the young queen suffered in childbirth. I had to choose - mother or child. Doctors, knowing the explosive nature of the sovereign, were even afraid to hint about it. "Save the child. I can get as many women as I like,” was the decisive and calm answer.

Jane died of puerperal fever.

famous ballad English bands The The Rolling Stones "Lady Jane" is dedicated to Jane Seymour and is based on the letters of King Henry VIII. The song also mentions Anna Boleyn (lady Ann) and Mary Boleyn (Mary). Each of the three women has their own verse.

In Europe, the monarch, so cold-bloodedly getting rid of his wives, began to be afraid. In 1539, Henry VIII met his "beloved", Princess Anna of Cleves, from a portrait. The daughter of the Duke of Cleves - Johann III and Maria von Geldern - was born on September 22, 1515, in Düsseldorf.

The portrait of Anna, painted by the great artist Holbein, made an excellent impression on the 48-year-old Heinrich. He was not embarrassed by the fact that his chosen one was engaged to the Duke of Lorraine for a short time - according to English laws, a new marriage could not be considered legitimate.

On September 4, 1539, the marriage contract was signed. At the very beginning of 1540, Anna arrived in England. The first meeting of the bride and groom took place in Rochester, where Henry arrived as a private person.

One look at Anna was enough - the king was disappointed. Instead of the pale and graceful beauty that Holbein portrayed, Heinrich was confronted by a large, massive woman with rather rough features. Straightforward Henry took out all his anger on Cromwell, who allegedly "slipped him a hefty Flemish mare."

The original was quite disappointing. Probably, it was not Anna's appearance that was repulsive at all, but her stiffness, inability to stay in society, the cut of her clothes, unusual for the king's eyes, and the lack of proper grace.

"Where did you find this scarecrow? Send her back immediately! ”He got angry at Cromwell (the Protestant party, led by the favorite and first minister of the king, Thomas Cromwell, found the bride for the king). "It's impossible, Your Majesty! If you break the marriage contract, Europe may declare war on England."

Anna did not like Heinrich either, besides, she heard rumors about the ruined Anne Boleyn even in Kleve.

Heinrich resigned himself, but he could not fulfill his conjugal duty. For six months, the Princess of Cleves lived in England - her husband did not honor her with his attention. Anna was a kind stepmother to both Prince Edward and Princesses Betsy and Mary. She got used to the English court: she fell in love with music and dancing, got herself dogs and parrots.

The divorce of the spouses went, surprisingly, calmly. Anna, having judged everything sensibly and sorted out all the pros and cons, gathered the Privy Council to give an answer to the divorce proposal.

Heinrich left Anna in his family - as a "sister". This was dictated by a number of circumstances: Anna of Klevskaya fell in love with the children of the king, a number of courtiers found her an extremely amiable and pleasant woman. Heinrich did not want to come into conflict with Anna's brother, the Duke of Berg-Julig-Cleve, who was one of the most influential rulers of Germany. And Anna herself sincerely fell in love with her new homeland.

Henry proclaimed Anna his "sister" and thus she remained the most noble lady after the new queen and princesses Mary and Betsy. Anna received generous gifts from the king: the castles of Richmond and Hever, as well as a solid annual income.

The correspondence between Heinrich and Anna suggests that the former spouses lived very friendly. The king always signed his messages "Loving Brother Heinrich".

The instigator of this marriage, Thomas Cromwell, was arrested and placed in the Tower. He lived only to testify in the divorce case - on June 28, 1540, he was executed on charges of treason and heresy.

Anna did not remarry. She survived both Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. Anna von Cleve died on July 16, 1557 in London. Anna of Cleves was buried in Westminster Abbey.

In July 1540, Henry married 19-year-old Kate Howard. The wedding was modest. After the wedding, Henry seemed to be 20 years younger - tournaments, balls and other entertainment resumed at the court, to which Henry remained indifferent after the execution of Anne Boleyn. He adored his young wife - she was incredibly kind, simple-minded, sincerely loved gifts and rejoiced at them like a child. Heinrich called Kate "a rose without thorns."

However, young Howard was extremely careless in her actions - Kate took all her "friends of youth" to the court, and they knew too much about the queen's life before marriage. In addition, Kate renewed her relationship with Francis Dirham, whom she made her personal secretary.

Then another gentleman appeared at the court from “ past life"- Thomas Kelpeper (a distant relative of Kate on her mother's side, whom she once wanted to marry).

However, the young woman had enemies at court (or rather, they were the enemies of her influential uncle Norfolk ...

The innocence of the young "rose" began to irritate the elderly king.

When Heinrich was informed that his naive Kate was not such a "rose" at all, he was simply confused. The reaction of the king was quite unexpected - instead of the usual anger, there were tears and complaints. The meaning of the complaints boiled down to the fact that fate did not give him a happy family life, and all his women are either cheating, or dying, or simply disgusting.

In early February 1542, Lady Howard was transferred to the Tower, and two days later she was beheaded in front of a curious crowd. The young woman met her death in a state of deep shock - she had to be carried to the place of execution.

After the execution, the body of Lady Kate was buried next to the remains of Anne Boleyn, another executed queen, who, by the way, was also a relative of the Howards.

Feeling in my heart that I am unloved,

Henry the Eighth executed his wives.

Henry's sixth wife is Katherine Parr, daughter of a baronet, widow of the elderly Lord Edward Borough. Young Kat Parr was only 14 or 15 years old when she was married in 1526 to an elderly, sixty-three-year-old lord. The family life of the spouses was quite happy. Moreover, Catherine managed to become a true friend for the children of Lord Borough, who were almost twice as old as their stepmother. However, in 1529 Lady Borough became a widow.

In 1530, the young widow received a new marriage proposal. It came from John Neville, Lord Latimer, a widower. Accepting this offer, Lady Catherine moved to her husband in Snape Castle. Here she again found herself in the role of a stepmother - Latimer had a daughter, Margaret, from her first marriage.

In the second half of the 1530s, the Latimers were often at the court of the king, and Henry VIII treated this couple very friendly.

In the second half of the 1530s, the Latimers often visited the king's court, and Henry VIII treated this couple very friendly. After the execution of his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, Henry increasingly paid attention to the smart and friendly Lady Latimer. She was already thirty-one years old, which by the standards of the 16th century was not considered the age of youth, however, the king himself was far from young.

Lord Latimer at that time was already seriously ill and, alas, there was no hope of recovery. When he died in 1543, the king began to aggressively court Lady Latimer.

Lady Latimer's first reaction to the King's offer to be his "comfort in old age" was fright. However, Heinrich did not abandon his intention to marry Catherine and, in the end, she gave her consent.

On July 12, 1543, the wedding took place in the royal chapel of Hampton Court. The wedding was played in Windsor.

From the very first days of her life together with Heinrich, Catherine tried to create conditions for a normal family life for him. Princess Elizabeth, the daughter of the executed Anne Boleyn, enjoyed her special disposition.

A strong friendship developed between the stepmother and stepdaughter - they corresponded actively and often had philosophical conversations.

Clever and energetic, Catherine skillfully neutralizes the court intrigues weaving against her. Despite the increased suspicion of her husband, Katerina throughout the four years of marriage does not give him a reason for discontent.

In 1545-1546, the king's health deteriorated so much that he could no longer fully deal with state problems. However, the suspiciousness and suspicion of the king, on the contrary, began to acquire a threatening character. Catherine was several times, as they say, on the verge of death: the queen had influential enemies, and, in the end, the king could believe them, and not his wife. The king several times decided to arrest Catherine, and each time he refused this step. The reason for the royal disfavor was mainly the radical Protestantism of Catherine, who was carried away by the ideas of Luther. January 28, 1547, at two o'clock in the morning, Henry VIII died. And already in May of the same year, the Dowager Queen married Thomas Seymour, Jane Seymour's brother.

Who knows, perhaps Henry VIII served as a prototype for the character of Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Bluebeard" (Perrault wrote it down in the 17th century in France, the name of the hero is Gilles de Ré. The last wife of Bluebeard has no name in the fairy tale, but her older sister's name is Anna )?..

“Once upon a time there was a man who had beautiful houses both in the city and in the countryside, dishes, gold and silver, furniture all embroidered and carriages gilded from top to bottom. But, unfortunately, this man had a blue beard…”

Death:

Dynasty:

• Romanovs, Oldenburgs, Württemberg dynasty

Father:

• Emperor Paul I

Mother

• Empress Maria Feodorovna

Spouse:

1. Peter Friedrich of Oldenburg
2. William I of Württemberg

Children:

from 1st marriage:

1. Friedrich-Paul-Alexander of Oldenburg (1810-1829)

2. Oldenburgsky, Pyotr Georgievich (1812-1881) Member State Council(1836). Senator, known for charitable work.

from 2nd marriage:

1. Maria (1816-1887), married to Imperial Count Alfred von Neipperg (1807-1865).

2. Sofia (1818-1877), married to King Willem III of the Netherlands.

Activity:

hospital

gymnasium (Königin-Katharina Stift)

Baden Württemberg Bank (Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW))

Agricultural University (Universität Hohenheim)

folk festival in the Cannstatt Meadows

The fourth daughter of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna, the beloved granddaughter of Empress Catherine II, lived a short life, only 31 years old. The charming Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna is one of the most bright stars Russian court in the early 19th century. She combined graceful beauty, subtle intelligence and considerable ambition. Alexander I adored his sister and considered her one of his closest friends. G.R. Derzhavin dedicated one of his enthusiastic messages to her. Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was in love with her. Ekaterina Pavlovna was so popular that, according to rumors, there even seemed to be a plan to enthrone her instead of Alexander after the emperor’s failures in the military and international field in 1807.

“Yesterday, the Grand Duchess gave birth to a daughter who was given my name, therefore, she is Catherine; mother and daughter are now healthy, and yesterday mother’s life was two hours and a half on a very thin thread; seeing the extreme, I decided to order Assofeir (obstetrician) to save her life, for which now both my husband and wife are very grateful to me" (from a letter from Catherine II to Potemkin). The birth of Maria Feodorovna was very difficult. Catherine II spent about seven hours at the bedside of her daughter-in-law and with her decisive instructions supported the confused doctors, fighting to save her mother. Catherine was expecting a grandson, not a granddaughter, so the appearance of a new daughter did not particularly please Maria Feodorovna. On the birthday of the Grand Duchess, St. Petersburg learned about the joyful event by hearing the firing of guns from both fortresses - Peter and Paul and Admiralty. The baptism of Ekaterina Pavlovna was on May 21 in Tsarskoye Selo. The child was carried to the church by the lady of state, Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, who then headed the Academy of Sciences. The Empress-grandmother placed the Order of St. Catherine on the child.

The upbringing of Catherine Pavlovna began under the supervision of the Empress and under the guidance of Countess Lieven. They brought up strictly, but quite versatile. In addition to the necessary knowledge of several foreign languages ​​- French, German and English - Ekaterina Pavlovna spoke and wrote well in Russian, which was a rarity for women from high society at the end of the 18th century. State Councilor Kraft read mathematics to her; political economy, history and geography were taught by the writer Heinrich Storch. She was taught music, she drew beautifully, even engraved. She also knew Latin.

By the age of sixteen, she was noted for her beauty, which became even more noticeable over the years. She had a lively, sociable character, a sharp tongue, as they would say now. Thanks to her high spiritual qualities, brilliant upbringing, royal origin, Ekaterina Pavlovna, who for her beauty was called "the beauty of the royal house", "the beauty of Russia" was at that time the most desired bride. The first among the suitors was the Austrian Emperor Franz I, who was widowed in 1807. This project did not find the support of Emperor Alexander I. Among the candidates were two Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand and John. In the summer of 1807, during a meeting between Alexander I and Napoleon in Tilsit, the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand, on behalf of his sovereign, hinted to the Russian Tsar that it would be nice to consolidate the state union between Russia and France by marriage. The king did not give a definite answer. But he informed the Empress Mother. “Alexander was not averse to agreeing to this marriage, but he met such strong opposition from the Empress Maria Feodorovna and the youngest Grand Duchess that he had to give in. They were both women of character ... Napoleon had to be refused for the first time since his elevation. It was for him the first betrayal of fortune" (from the memoirs of Countess Chausel-Goufier). In the Notes of another contemporary, M.S. Mukhanova, it is said that Ekaterina Pavlovna told him: "I would rather marry the last Russian stoker than this Corsican."

Soon Ekaterina Pavlovna agreed to become the wife of the Prince of Oldenburg. She was twenty years old (which at that time was a lot for a bride). The wedding was magnificently celebrated on April 18, 1809. The young couple spent their honeymoon and all summer in Pavlovsk, where the Konstantinovsky Palace was prepared for them. Emperor Alexander I presents the Anichkov Palace to his beloved sister Ekaterina Pavlovna on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Georg of Oldenburg. Prince Georg of Oldenburg was appointed governor-general of the three best Russian provinces - Tver, Yaroslavl and Novgorod and chief director of communications. In these positions, Georg showed himself from the very better side. He, in particular, established the Institute of Corps of Engineers in St. Petersburg, which trained railway specialists.

In August 1809, Ekaterina Pavlovna and her husband arrived in the city of Tver and settled in the Tver Imperial Palace.
Before her marriage, the influence of Ekaterina Pavlovna on the course of state affairs was not reflected, but with her resettlement in Tver, she develops a keen interest in politics, and she seeks to influence government activities. She set up a brilliant salon where many prominent people; Alexander himself often visited. The Tver salon of Ekaterina Pavlovna became the center of cultural life.
It is known that the first chapters of his "History of the Russian State" N.M. Karamzin read to the princess while visiting her in Tver in 1811.
She took painting lessons from the artist Alexei Yegorovich Yegorov (1776-1851), illustrated collections of her husband's poems.
Ekaterina Pavlovna gave balls in the palace, festivities were organized on the Volga with music, illuminations, fireworks. "The quiet and monotonous life of the provincial town has completely changed," wrote Prince A.P. Obolensky. Court secular life in the Tver Traveling Palace flowed according to a strict routine - there were no discounts for the fact that this was not the imperial court. Balls and gala dinners were arranged in their turn, audiences were given at meetings and farewells of guests of any rank, all church holidays and dates of the namesake of the reigning Russian Imperial House. Ekaterina Pavlovna made every effort to create in her "dear heart, dear Tver" a real "piece of St. Petersburg."

According to eyewitnesses, in particular Count Joseph Marie de Maistre (1754-1821), “the way of life of the Grand Duchess Catherine in Tver is truly amazing. In the evenings her house looks like a monastery; a famous writer, Mr. Karamzin, lectures there on Russian history ... and the persons whom she honors with her invitation have no other entertainment ... The princess herself teaches her husband her Russian language and serves as an intermediary between him and common people... The kindness and courtesy of the Grand Duchess are incomparable. If I were a painter, I would send you an image of her eyes, so that you can see how good nature has placed intelligence and kindness in them ... This young princess is in great favor with her brother (Alexander I), who showers her with wealth and all sorts of signs of attention. She is highly educated and very intelligent; Russians even exaggerate this last quality in her ... This is a head capable of foreseeing many things for a long time and taking the most decisive measures.

On August 18, 1810, Ekaterina Pavlovna gave birth to her first son, Friedrich-Paul-Alexander. (He died very young). Emperor Alexander I wanted to give the born nephew the title of Grand Duke if the child was baptized according to the rite Orthodox Church. But the father, Prince of Oldenburg, did not accept this proposal. The little prince was baptized according to the Lutheran rite.

According to contemporaries, the Grand Duchess had a remarkable, truly academic mind, beautiful appearance and brilliant qualities of an organizer and diplomat, which was especially appreciated by the August elder brother Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich, on whom the Grand Duchess had a great moral influence at the beginning of his more than 24-year-old Reigns.

At the Court, they said about the Grand Duchess: "A mixture of Peter the Great with Catherine II and Alexander I." It is known that Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich consulted a lot with his younger crowned sister on various issues of foreign and domestic policy, and initiated her into such plans and thoughts that remained a secret even for the closest circle of the Emperor.
According to contemporaries, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna contributed to the resignation of Count and St. Andrew's Knight Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (1772-1839) and the rise of Count and St. Andrew's Knight Fyodor Vasilyevich Rostopchin (1763-1826).

An extensive correspondence has been preserved between Alexander I and his sister, from which it is clear that brother and sister discussed the most different questions- from private to public. Ekaterina Pavlovna provided patronage to N.M. Karamzin. It was through her that he passed in 1811 his "Note on Old and New Russia".

With the beginning of the Patriotic War, in the midst of general confusion and depression, the Grand Duchess, among the few August persons, showed energy and initiative.
The Empress encouraged her August brother and strongly opposed the conclusion of a truce with Emperor Napoleon I, whom, like her Crowned Mother, she despised all her life.
It was Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna who was one of the first to support the idea of ​​convening a people's militia, and therefore, setting an example for other August persons of the Imperial Family and the nobility, she formed the “Jäger Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna Battalion” from her appanage peasants, which participated in many battles.

In August 1812, the Grand Duchess gave birth to her second son, Peter.

Great activity: courage, valor, courage and organization was shown in the Patriotic War and the husband of the Grand Duchess, Prince George of Oldenburg.
Unfortunately, on December 15 (28), 1812, 11 days before the expulsion of the French from the Russian Fatherland, while examining one of the infirmaries as governor, the prince fell ill with typhus and died suddenly at the age of 29, leaving the August wife with two August babies - sons.
In the year of the death of Prince Georgy Petrovich, his eldest son and Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna, Prince Pavel of Oldenburg (1810-1829), was in his third year, and the youngest, Prince Peter (1812-1881), was not even one year old.
The grief of the Grand Duchess was boundless.
Sovereign Emperor Alexander I took upon himself, as a brother, the care of his widowed sister. However, even after such royal patronage, the heart of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna was not healed of grief. She will outlive her husband by only six years and 14 days. "I lost everything with him" (from Catherine's letter to Alexander I).

Ovdovev, Elena Pavlovna, went abroad to improve her poor health, where she stayed from 1813 to 1815. In 1814, she lived in England for quite a long time.

In 1814, in Paris, liberated by the Allied forces from Napoleon I, the Grand Duchess met her cousin, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Wurtenberg.

The chosen one of the Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna in the first sovereign union for more than six years was connected by bonds with Princess Caroline Augusta von Wittelsbach (1792-1873), the fourth daughter of the first king of Bavaria Maximilian I (1756-1825), but had no offspring, and therefore in 1814 sovereign spouses officially filed for divorce.

In January 1816, the Grand Duchess was married to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Württemberg. Soon the couple left for Stuttgart. In October 1816, King Frederick fell ill. Despite the fact that Ekaterina Pavlovna was in the last months of pregnancy, she was almost constantly near the patient. He took medicine from her hands. She closed his eyes. Returning to her late at night, broken, tired from many hours of duty at the bedside of a dying man, she gave birth to a daughter that same day. Both news - the death of the king and the birth of a granddaughter - quickly spread throughout the city. It happened on October 30th. In honor of her grandfather, the king and grandmother, the empress, the little princess was named Maria Frederica. Ekaterina Pavlovna became the Queen of Württemberg.

Having ascended the throne, King Frederick William I Charles issued the Supreme Manifesto, by which he announced that he would conscientiously strive to develop the welfare of his people.
The confused state of affairs in finance was immediately put in order. From now on, thrift was introduced in the kingdom, and the Court was arranged in a military manner.
According to contemporaries, King Wilhelm I was a practical, far-sighted ruler, not alien to liberalism, but ambitious and power-hungry.
According to Countess D. H. Lieven, Grand Duchess and Queen of Württemberg Ekaterina Pavlovna “... was very power-hungry and was distinguished by great conceit. I have never met a woman who was so obsessed with the need to move, act, play a role and outshine others. She had charming eyes and manners, a confident step, a proud and graceful posture. Although her features were not classical, her striking fresh complexion, sparkling eyes and gorgeous hair captivated everyone. Brought up in a large school, she knew all the rules of decency very well and was gifted with strong elevated feelings. She spoke briefly but eloquently, her tone was always commanding.

Being less than three years Queen of Württemberg, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna was absorbed in the creation and organization of charitable and educational institutions in the kingdom.
So, during the famine that swept the kingdom in 1816, the Empress founded the Charitable Society, which existed for many years after her death.
In 1817, Queen Ekaterina Pavlovna became a trustee of the Society for the Encouragement and Propagation of Rural Economics and Industry.
Under her rule, King Friedrich Wilhelm I Karl abolished personal serfdom in the same year, and in the year of the death of his beloved sovereign wife (1818), he introduced a constitution in the kingdom.

In December 1818, Ekaterina Pavlovna felt unwell - she caught a cold during one of the trips. On January 7, a rash appeared on my face. But no one foresaw all the dangers. On January 8, the inflammation spread to the head and affected the brain. It was not possible to save the queen: on the morning of January 9, 1819, she was gone. The burial of Ekaterina Pavlovna took place in the crypt of the cathedral church of Stuttgart, and two years later, according to her once expressed wishes, the coffin was transferred to the top of Mount Rotenberg, where King Wilhelm built a church in the name of the heavenly patroness of the Queen - the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. This is one of the most poetic places around Stuttgart.

images/for_internal_use/Katharina_15.jpg

Over the vineyards
Golden clouds float
Below the green waves
Noisy faded river -
Gaze, gradually from the valley
Rising, rises to the heights
And sees on the edge of the top
Round-shaped light temple.
There in the mountain unearthly dwelling,
Where there is no place for mortal life,
And lighter and desert-cleaner
The air jet is flowing.
There, taking off the sound becomes numb,
Only the life of nature is heard there -
And something festive blows
Like the days of Sunday silence.
F.I. Tyutchev

After the death of Ekaterina Pavlovna, four of her children remained. One of them, Prince Peter of Oldenburg, showed a penchant for science and diligently engaged in jurisprudence. In 1830, Nicholas I summoned his eighteen-year-old nephew to Russia. The prince was enrolled in military service to the Preobrazhensky Regiment. He faithfully served his mother's homeland and his homeland; because he was born in Yaroslavl. On his initiative, pedagogical courses were opened for women's gymnasiums in St. Petersburg. He was a trustee of the Alexander Lyceum. Among these remarkable works, one event undoubtedly stands out - the creation in 1835 of the School of Law, which was located in the famous Marble Palace on the Field of Mars, which belonged to the Oldenburgs. The prince donated money to the school by selling the Anichkov Palace, which belonged to his mother, to the treasury. (Among the well-known pupils of the school are the composer Tchaikovsky, the poet Apukhtin) One of the daughters of Ekaterina Pavlovna, Princess Sofia, became Queen of the Netherlands.

In Russia, the name of the Grand Duchess, Princess and Queen Ekaterina Pavlovna, emerged from non-existence relatively recently.
Of great interest to her is both the personality of Emperor Paul I Petrovich himself, and the correspondence of the Grand Duchess with the well-known Russian historian Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin in Europe.
Until now, the archive of the Grand Duchess, who lived so little and did so much, has not been carefully studied.

King Wilhelm I of Württemberg, after a year of mourning, decided to re-create a family in order to have male heirs.
According to the tradition that existed from time immemorial in the August Houses of Europe, the Dowager Monarch had to ask permission for a subsequent sovereign union from the living sovereign parents of the deceased wife. In this case - at the crowned mother-in-law - the Dowager Empress Maria I Feodorovna, who magnanimously, in agreement with her eldest August son, her Emperor Alexander I Pavlovich, gave her blessing to her nephew for a new sovereign alliance.
In the meantime, from October 18 (31), 1816 - from the Day of the accession to the throne of King Friedrich Wilhelm I Charles, the younger royal brother of the king - Duke Eugenius Friedrich Karl Paul Ludwig von Württemberg (1788-1858) was declared the August heir to the kingdom. It was he who, in the absence of the king's August heir, was to take the throne of the kingdom. In order to avoid this, with the blessing of the Crowned mother-in-law and the August cousin - on the first (14) April 1820, King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Württemberg married his cousin and subject 20-year-old Princess Pauline Therese Louise von Württemberg.
They had three children:
- On February 23 (March 7), 1816, Queen Paulina gave the Monarch the long-awaited August son - the future king, Hereditary Duke Charles I Friedrich Alexander von Württemberg (1823-1891), who on the first (July 14), 1846, at the age of 23, married the second August daughter of the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich (1796-1855) Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna (1822-1892). From the Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, King Charles I, unfortunately, did not have offspring, and therefore the August cousin of the Sovereign, Crown Duke Wilhelm Karl Paul Heinrich Friedrich von Württemberg (1848) became the Monarch after his death, which followed on September 24 (October 7), 1891 -1921), who turned out to be the last king of Württemberg and St. Andrew's Knight under the name of Wilhelm II. The second and last August husband of the Grand Duchess and Queen of Württemberg Ekaterina Pavlovna, King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Württemberg, died on June 13 (26), 1864 at the age of 83 in Rosenstein.

In preparing the article, materials from the following sites were used:
(www.otechestvo.org)
www.anichkovpalace.spb.ru
www.liveinternet.ru
www.en.wikipedia.org

In the days of old, the Ampthilla veins were seen here,
The lamentable porch of the skrivgen queen;
Here flowed її pure, ale marnі tears,
Here, blinded by zatyatіst, її old fates.
Ale Svoboda zamayorіl on її osyaynoy styazі,
І Lyubov took revenge for the kingdom, was taken into slavery by the priests;
In the wake of Katherine's falsehood, people's enlightenment rose.
І light of Luther in the illegal bed of Henry.

original text(English)

In day "s of old here Ampthill" s towers were seen,
The mournful refugee of an injured Queen;
Here flowed her pure but unavailing tears,
Here blinded zeal sustain "d her sinking years.
Yet Freedom hence her radiant banner wav "d,
And Love aveng "d a realm by priests enslav" d;
From Catherine's wrongs a nation's bliss was spread.
And Luther's light from Henry's lawless bed.

4.3. Literature

4.4. At the cinema

• On the screen, the character of Catherine of Aragon is presented by actress Violet Vanbrugh in a role in a short film adaptation of Shakespeare Henry VIII" (eng. "Henry VIII" ).
• Gedwig Pauli-Winterstein inspired the image of the queen in the German film " Ann Bolein" (eng. "Anne Boleyn" ).
• In British fit melodrama " Sword and trojan" (eng. "The Sword and the Rose" ) to the fate of the role of Katherine Vikonal Rozali Kratchli.
• In a role in the British film directed by Charles Jerrot " Anna for a thousand days"(or " Thousand Days Annie", English. "Anne of the Thousand Days" ) Katerina Aragonskaya is figured as another character (Greek actress Iren Papas). The role of Heinrich is viscon Richard Burton, and Annie Boleyn is Geneva "ev Bugeaud.
• In the British film adaptation of rock " Henry VIII and yogo six squads" (eng. "Henry VIII and His Six Wives" ) director Waris Hussein, the role of Katerina was played by the British actress Francis Cook, and the king - by Kate Michel. This film is considered one of the best "old" films about Henry VIII. Vіn divisions into six parts, and skin rozpovidaє іstorіyu odnієї z squads.
• In the role, in the British television adaptation of the novel of the same name by Phillipi Gregory " Another one of the Boleyn family" (eng. "The Other Boleyn Girl" ) in the episodic role of Katerina z "is Yolanda Vakskes. Meanwhile, the division of the director's "sympathies" here is different: as Anna is shown as a worthy person, then Katerina Aragonska is depicted in an unacceptable light (divine site of the film).
• At the dramatic British mini-series rock " Henry VIII"The role of Catherine of Aragon was played by Assumpta Serna.
• At the series - rockiv " Tudor" (eng. "The Tudors"), which tells about the young fates of King Henry VIII, in the role of Katerina "is Mary Doyle Kennedy. Vaughn is one of the main characters in the continuation of two seasons. At the thought of some critics, Katherine is best for the whole history of cinema (divine site of the series).
• At the rest of the screen version of the novel by Philippi Gregory " Another one of the Boleyn family"(рік) episode the role of Queen Katerina was distaled by Anі Torrent. The film zmіg otrimati chimale recognition, prote іstorichna yogo warehousing was mostly spent. Zocrema, Katerina herself is depicted in a new brunette (divine site of the film).

Notes

6. Dzherela that literature

• Bimchenko M. Anne Boleyn: Love and death // Lviv newspaper - www.gazeta.lviv.ua/articles/2008/03/06/29703/. - 2008. - 6 birch. - S. 23.
• The World History in faces. Late Middle Ages / Ed. V. P. Butromeeva. - M. : Olma-press, 1998. - 320 p. - 11,000 approx. -
• Henry VIII // Axelrod A. Phillips C. Dictators and tyrants. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1997. - T. 1. - S. 195-199. - 5 000 approx. -
• Henry VIII // Ilovaisky D.I. Ancient history. Middle Ages. New story. - M.: Sovremennik, 1997. - S. 401-403. - 5 000 approx. -
• Henry VIII // One Hundred Great Lovers / ed. I.A. Muromov. - M.: Veche, 1998. - S. 171-180. - 33,000 approx. -
• Daughter of Spain. Married life // Lindsay K. Divorced. Headless. The Surviving Wives of King Henry VIII. - M. : KRON-PRESS, 1996. - S. 41-86. - 10 000 approx. -
• Ivonin Yu.E. Ivonina L.I. Rulers of the fate of Europe: emperors, kings, ministers of the 16th - 18th centuries - - Smolensk: Rusich, 2004. - 464 p. -
• Cowthorn N. intimate life English kings and queens. A frank and impartial presentation of the facts from the life of monarchs from Henry VIII to the present day. - M. : Ast, 1999. - 336 p. - 10 000 approx. -
• Lowes D. Henry VIII and his queens. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1997. - 320 p. - 10 000 approx. -

The daughter of the royal couple who united Spain, turning it into a mighty European power, and - Catherine of Aragon was loved both in her small homeland and in Albion for her modesty, honesty and kindness.

Genealogy

Catherine of Aragon came from the influential Spanish dynasty of Trastamara. She received her name in honor of her maternal great-grandmother Catherine of Lancaster. The Infanta was a distant relative of John of Gaunt, from whose illegitimate son the Tudor dynasty descended. In fact, Catherine of Aragon was related to her husband.

Catherine was also the sister of Juan of Asturias, heir to the throne of Spain, but who died of a fever at the age of 19. The elder sisters of the Infanta were Queen of Asturias, Queen Consort of Portugal Maria of Aragon and Queen of Castile Juana I the Mad.

Catherine of Aragon: biography

Catherine of Aragon was born on December 16, 1485 and was the youngest daughter. From childhood, the girl was prepared to become the Queen of England, since Ferdinand entered into a contract with King Henry VII of England, the first ruler of the Tudor dynasty.

At the age of 15, Katerina married the sickly 11-year-old Prince Arthur of Wales, heir to the throne. Just six months later, he died without fulfilling his marital duty. Catherine of Aragon was left princess dowager with a modest allowance and an uncertain future.

At the age of 23, the Spanish Infanta married Henry VIII, who had ascended the throne. Catherine was 6 years older than her husband, but this did not prevent her from living in harmony with Henry for a long time. For the people, she became a beloved queen, won the respect of most of the courtiers and was a faithful companion and ally of her king and husband.

Of the six children born to the queen, only one girl survived to adulthood. The daughter of Catherine of Aragon - Mary in the future will become the first female monarch to officially ascend the throne. However, Henry VIII longed for a male heir, realizing that after the sixth birth his wife was unlikely to become pregnant again, the king began divorce proceedings.

Catherine did not recognize her divorce from Henry until the end of her days, remaining faithful to her husband, she admitted that she still loved him and wrote to the Pope asking him not to forget about her and Henry and pray for the sinful soul of the King of England. Catherine of Aragon died on January 7, 1536.

Life in Spain

As a child, Catherine often moved from place to place, because Queen Isabella did not want to part with her children, especially girls, and strictly followed their education. All the daughters of the Spanish royal couple were from an early age engaged to the heirs of the thrones and therefore prepared to rule the state.

The childhood and youth of Catherine of Aragon passed in the heyday of the humanities and the ideals of the Renaissance. The tutor of the Infante and Prince Juan was Alessandro Geraldini. Queen Isabella insisted that the education of her daughters be at the level of what the heir to the throne received, so the girls were extremely smart, educated, well-read and knew ancient languages, including Latin and ancient Greek. On the recommendation of the courtiers of the English King Henry VII, Catherine of Aragon began to learn French. The Infanta was trained in court manners, ballroom dancing, and sewing and embroidery. According to contemporaries, even as a queen, she herself darned her husband's shirts.

Catherine had an unusual appearance for a Spaniard: blond hair with a reddish tint, gray eyes and pale skin with a slight blush. Her image was captured by eminent artists of the Renaissance. Many of them were amazed by the unique appearance that Catherine of Aragon possessed. Photos of her portraits (see above) prove that the Infanta looked more like an Englishwoman than a Spaniard.

Engagement and marriage to the Prince of Wales - Arthur

As soon as Catherine was 15 years old, the contract that her father concluded with Henry VII, when the infanta was only three years old, came into force. The young bride traveled with a small retinue and half of her dowry to England, where she was met by the royal family.

In 1501, Catherine married the 11-year-old heir to the English throne, Prince Arthur, but this marriage was not destined to last long. Immediately after the wedding, Catherine went to Wales with her husband, where Arthur ruled the entrusted territories, justifying the title of Prince of Wales.

Six months later, the newlyweds fell ill with prickly heat. Catherine soon recovered, but Prince Arthur died seven months after the wedding, leaving behind a young widow. The fate of Catherine of Aragon after the death of her husband was extremely uncertain, since the girl remained a pawn in political game his parents and the king of England.

Marriage to Henry VIII

In 1509, he stepped on the throne, who almost immediately married Catherine. Information about the reasons for the marriage varies, some claim that Henry loved Catherine, others that the young king did not dare to oppose the decree of his dying father. Whatever the true reasons for the marriage, Catherine of Aragon and Henry 8 lived in peace and harmony for almost 20 years.

During the first years of their marriage, Queen Catherine of Aragon played the role of the Spanish ambassador entrusted to her by Ferdinand in 1507, but Henry insisted that Catherine's destiny was to produce an heir. The queen's first pregnancy ended in premature birth, and the second gave birth to a healthy boy, Henry, Duke of Cornwall. The boy died two months later.

During the French-English War of 1513, Henry left England for the Continent. He appointed Catherine of Aragon as regent, temporarily handing over to her the reins of government. During her absence, she successfully suppressed the uprising of the Scottish lords, sentencing their leader to death.

Preconditions for Divorce

During the years of her married life with Henry VIII, Catherine was pregnant six times, but of all her children, only one daughter survived, named after Henry's sister Mary. After the sixth and again unsuccessful birth, the king despaired of getting an heir from Catherine and began to make plans for a divorce process.

Since 1525, the king was carried away by Anne Boleyn, the youngest daughter of one of their court lords. From that moment, attempts began to dissolve the marriage on the basis that Catherine could no longer give birth to an heir to the king. This reason, however, was not legitimate and canonical according to the rules of the Catholic Church, to which England belonged at that time. Pope Clement VII refused Henry permission to divorce, and the king decided to inform Catherine of his plans.

Divorce

In a conversation with the queen, Henry called their union sinful, since Catherine was the wife of his brother and asked her to annul the marriage and go to the monastery, to which Catherine reacted with an indignant refusal. The king was forced to start official ecclesiastical proceedings, which dragged on for five years.

In 1534, Henry VIII put pressure on Parliament and declared himself head of the new Anglican Church, which allowed him to dissolve the marriage with Catherine of Aragon, depriving her of the title of queen, and their daughter Mary the right to inherit the throne.

Life after divorce from the king

After the divorce, Catherine was sent away from the court with a small retinue. She was forbidden to communicate with her daughter, and all visits to her had to be approved by the king. Despite the court decision on divorce, Ekaterina to the very last days considered herself the queen of England and the only legal wife of Henry VIII. In addition to Catherine, Henry had five more wives, two of whom (Anne Boleyn and Kate Howard) were sentenced to death by the king.

Since 1535, Catherine of Aragon, officially called the Dowager Princess of Wales, lived in Cambridgeshire, enjoying the relative freedom and respect of a small retinue and servants. A year after moving to Cambridgeshire, Catherine died. Around the rather unexpected death of the former queen, there were persistent rumors of poisoning. Both the acting Boleyn and Henry VIII himself were suspected of the murder.

The topic of this article is the biography of Catherine the Great. This empress reigned from 1762 to 1796. The era of her reign was marked by the enslavement of the peasants. Also, Catherine the Great, whose biography, photos and activities are presented in this article, significantly expanded the privileges of the nobility.

Origin and childhood of Catherine

The future empress was born on May 2 (according to the new style - April 21), 1729 in Stettin. She was the daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, who was in the Prussian service, and Princess Johanna-Elisabeth. The future empress was related to the English, Prussian and Swedish royal houses. She received her education at home: she studied French and German languages, music, theology, geography, history, danced. Opening such a topic as the biography of Catherine the Great, we note that the independent nature of the future empress manifested itself already in childhood. She was a persistent, inquisitive child, had a penchant for mobile, lively games.

Baptism and wedding of Catherine

Catherine, together with her mother, was summoned by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna to Russia in 1744. Here she was baptized according to the Orthodox custom. Ekaterina Alekseevna became the bride of Peter Fedorovich, the Grand Duke (in the future - Emperor Peter III). She married him in 1745.

Hobbies of the Empress

Catherine wanted to win the favor of her husband, the empress and the Russian people. Her personal life, however, was unsuccessful. Since Peter was infantile, there was no marital relationship between them for several years of marriage. Catherine was fond of reading works on jurisprudence, history and economics, as well as French enlighteners. All these books have shaped her worldview. The future empress became a supporter of the ideas of the Enlightenment. She was also interested in the traditions, customs and history of Russia.

Personal life of Catherine II

Today we know quite a lot about such an important historical person as Catherine the Great: biography, her children, personal life - all this is the object of research by historians and the interest of many of our compatriots. For the first time we get acquainted with this empress at school. However, what we learn in history lessons is far from complete information about such an empress as Catherine the Great. A biography (grade 4) from a school textbook omits, for example, her personal life.

Catherine II in the early 1750s began an affair with S.V. Saltykov, Guards officer. She gave birth to a son in 1754, the future Emperor Paul I. Nevertheless, rumors that Saltykov was his father are unfounded. In the second half of the 1750s, Catherine had an affair with S. Poniatowski, a Polish diplomat who later became King Stanislaw August. Also in the early 1760s - with G.G. Orlov. The Empress gave birth to his son Alexei in 1762, who received the surname Bobrinsky. As relations with her husband deteriorated, Catherine began to fear for her fate and began to recruit supporters at court. Her sincere love for her homeland, her prudence and ostentatious piety - all this contrasted with the behavior of her husband, which allowed the future empress to gain authority among the population of St. Petersburg and the high-society metropolitan society.

Proclamation of Catherine as Empress

Catherine's relationship with her husband continued to deteriorate during the 6 months of his reign, eventually becoming hostile. Peter III openly appeared in the company of his mistress E.R. Vorontsova. There was a threat of arrest of Catherine and her possible expulsion. The future empress carefully prepared the plot. She was supported by N.I. Panin, E.R. Dashkova, K.G. Razumovsky, the Orlov brothers and others. One night, from June 27 to 28, 1762, when Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine secretly arrived in St. Petersburg. She was proclaimed in the barracks of the Izmailovsky Regiment as an autocratic empress. Other regiments soon joined the rebels. The news of the empress's accession to the throne quickly spread throughout the city. Petersburgers greeted her with delight. Messengers were sent to Kronstadt and the army to prevent the actions of Peter III. He, having learned about what happened, began to send proposals for negotiations to Catherine, but she rejected them. The empress personally went to St. Petersburg, leading the regiments of the guards, and received on the way a written abdication of the throne by Peter III.

More about the palace coup

As a result of a palace coup on July 9, 1762, Catherine II came to power. It happened in the following way. Because of the arrest of Passek, all the conspirators rose to their feet, fearing that under torture they might be betrayed by the arrested person. It was decided to send Alexei Orlov for Ekaterina. The Empress at that time lived in anticipation of the name day of Peter III in Peterhof. On the morning of June 28, Alexei Orlov ran into her bedroom and told her about Passek's arrest. Ekaterina got into Orlov's carriage, she was brought to the Izmailovsky regiment. The soldiers ran out to the square on the drum beat and immediately swore allegiance to her. She then moved to the Semyonov regiment, which also swore allegiance to the Empress. Accompanied by a crowd of people, at the head of two regiments, Catherine went to the Kazan Cathedral. Here, at a prayer service, she was proclaimed empress. She then headed to Winter Palace and found there the Synod and the Senate already assembled. They also swore allegiance to her.

Personality and character of Catherine II

Not only the biography of Catherine the Great is interesting, but also her personality and character, which left an imprint on her inner and foreign policy. Catherine II was a subtle psychologist and an excellent connoisseur of people. The empress skillfully chose assistants, while not being afraid of talented and bright personalities. Catherine's time was therefore marked by the appearance of many outstanding statesmen, as well as commanders, musicians, artists, writers. Catherine was usually restrained, tactful, and patient in dealing with her subjects. She was an excellent conversationalist, she could listen carefully to anyone. By the Empress's own admission, creative mind she did not possess, but she caught worthwhile thoughts and knew how to use them for her own purposes.

There were almost no noisy resignations during the reign of this empress. The nobles were not subject to disgrace, they were not exiled or executed. Because of this, the reign of Catherine is considered the "golden age" of the nobility in Russia. The Empress, at the same time, was very vain and valued her power more than anything in the world. She was ready to make any compromises for the sake of her preservation, including to the detriment of her own convictions.

Religiosity of the Empress

This empress was distinguished by ostentatious piety. She considered herself the protector of the Orthodox Church and its head. Catherine skillfully used religion for political interests. Apparently, her faith was not very deep. The biography of Catherine the Great is marked by the fact that she preached religious tolerance in the spirit of the times. It was under this empress that the persecution of the Old Believers was stopped. Protestant and catholic churches and mosques. Nevertheless, the conversion to another faith from Orthodoxy was still severely punished.

Catherine - an opponent of serfdom

Catherine the Great, whose biography interests us, was an ardent opponent of serfdom. She considered him contrary to human nature and inhumane. Many sharp statements on this issue were preserved in her papers. Also in them you can find her reasoning on how serfdom can be eliminated. Nevertheless, the empress did not dare to do anything concrete in this area because of the fear of another coup and a noble rebellion. Catherine, however, was convinced that the Russian peasants are spiritually undeveloped, so there is a danger in granting them freedom. According to the empress, the life of the peasants is quite prosperous with caring landowners.

First reforms

When Catherine came to the throne, she already had a fairly definite political program. It was based on the ideas of the Enlightenment and took into account the peculiarities of Russia's development. Consistency, gradualness and consideration of public sentiment were the main principles for the implementation of this program. Catherine II in the first years of her reign reformed the Senate (in 1763). His work became more efficient as a result. The following year, in 1764, Catherine the Great carried out the secularization of church lands. The biography for the children of this empress, presented on the pages of school textbooks, surely acquaints schoolchildren with this fact. Secularization significantly replenished the treasury, and also eased the situation of many peasants. Catherine in Ukraine liquidated the hetmanship in accordance with the need to unify local government throughout the state. In addition, she invited German colonists to the Russian Empire to develop the Black Sea and Volga regions.

The foundation of educational institutions and the new Code

During these same years whole line educational institutions was founded, including for women (the first in Russia) - the Catherine School, the Smolny Institute. In 1767, the Empress announced that a special commission was being convened to create a new Code. It consisted of elected deputies, representatives of all social groups of society, except for serfs. For the commission, Catherine wrote "Instruction", which is, in fact, the liberal program of the reign of this empress. However, her calls were not understood by the deputies. On the smallest issues they argued. deep contradictions between social groups revealed during these discussions, as well as low level many deputies have a political culture and the conservatism of most of them. The established commission was dissolved at the end of 1768. The empress appreciated this experience as an important lesson that introduced her to the moods of various segments of the population of the state.

Development of legislative acts

After the Russian-Turkish war ended, which lasted from 1768 to 1774, and the Pugachev uprising was suppressed, the new stage Catherine's reforms. The empress began to develop the most important legislative acts herself. In particular, a manifesto was issued in 1775, according to which it was allowed to start any industrial enterprises without restrictions. Also this year, a provincial reform was carried out, as a result of which a new Administrative division empire was established. It survived until 1917.

Expanding the topic "Brief biography of Catherine the Great", we note that in 1785 the Empress issued the most important legislative acts. These were letters of grant to the cities and the nobility. A charter was also prepared for the state peasants, but political circumstances did not allow it to be put into effect. The main significance of these letters was associated with the implementation of the main goal of Catherine's reforms - the creation of full-fledged estates in the empire on the model of Western Europe. The diploma meant for the Russian nobility the legal consolidation of almost all the privileges and rights that they had.

Recent and unrealized reforms proposed by Catherine the Great

Biography ( summary) of the empress of interest to us is marked by the fact that she carried out various reforms until her death. For example, education reform was continued into the 1780s. Catherine the Great, whose biography is presented in this article, created a network of school institutions based on the classroom system in cities. Empress in last years of her life continued to plan major transformations. The reform of the central administration was scheduled for 1797, as well as the introduction of legislation on the succession to the throne in the country, the creation of a higher court based on representation from the 3rd estates. However, Catherine II the Great did not have time to complete the extensive reform program. Her brief biography, however, would be incomplete if we did not mention all this. In general, all these reforms were a continuation of the reforms begun by Peter I.

Catherine's foreign policy

What else is interesting about the biography of Catherine the Great? The empress, following Peter, believed that Russia should actively act on the world stage, pursue an offensive policy, even to some extent aggressive. After accession to the throne, she broke the alliance treaty with Prussia, concluded by Peter III. Thanks to the efforts of this empress, it was possible to restore Duke E.I. Biron on the throne of Courland. Supported by Prussia, in 1763 Russia achieved the election of Stanisław August Poniatowski, his protege, to the Polish throne. This, in turn, led to a deterioration in relations with Austria due to the fact that she feared the strengthening of Russia and began to incite Turkey to war with her. On the whole, the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774 was successful for Russia, but the difficult situation inside the country encouraged her to seek peace. And for this it was necessary to restore the old relations with Austria. In the end, a compromise was reached. Poland fell victim to it: its first division was carried out in 1772 by Russia, Austria and Prussia.

The Kyuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty was signed with Turkey, which ensured the independence of the Crimea, which was beneficial for Russia. Empire in England's war with the colonies North America took up neutrality. Catherine refused to help the troops of the English king. A number of European states joined the Declaration on Armed Neutrality, created at the initiative of Panin. This contributed to the victory of the colonists. In subsequent years, there was a strengthening of the positions of our country in the Caucasus and in the Crimea, which ended with the inclusion of the latter in the Russian Empire in 1782, as well as the signing in the following year of the Treaty of St. George with Erekle II, King of Kartli-Kakheti. This ensured the presence of Russian troops in Georgia, and then the annexation of its territory to Russia.

Strengthening of authority in the international arena

The new foreign policy doctrine of the Russian government was formed in the 1770s. It was a Greek project. Its main goal was to restore the Byzantine Empire and declare Emperor Konstantin Pavlovich, who was the grandson of Catherine II. Russia in 1779 significantly strengthened its authority in the international arena, participating as an intermediary between Prussia and Austria in the Teschen Congress. The biography of Empress Catherine the Great can also be supplemented by the fact that in 1787, accompanied by the court, the Polish king, the Austrian emperor and foreign diplomats, she traveled to the Crimea. It became a demonstration of the military power of Russia.

Wars with Turkey and Sweden, further partitions of Poland

The biography of Catherine the Great continued with the fact that she started a new Russian-Turkish war. Russia was now acting in alliance with Austria. Almost at the same time, the war with Sweden also began (from 1788 to 1790), which tried to take revenge after the defeat in northern war. The Russian Empire managed to cope with both of these opponents. In 1791 the war with Turkey ended. The Peace of Jassy was signed in 1792. He secured the influence of Russia in Transcaucasia and Bessarabia, as well as the annexation of Crimea to it. The 2nd and 3rd Partitions of Poland took place in 1793 and 1795 respectively. They put an end to Polish statehood.

Empress Catherine the Great, short biography which was examined by us, died on November 17 (according to the old style - November 6), 1796 in St. Petersburg. So significant is her contribution to Russian history that the memory of Catherine II is kept by many works of domestic and world culture, including the works of such great writers as N.V. Gogol, A.S. Pushkin, B. Shaw, V. Pikul and others. The life of Catherine the Great, her biography inspired many directors - the creators of such films as "Caprice of Catherine II", "Royal Hunt", "Young Catherine", "Dreams of Russia", " Russian rebellion" and others.