Catherine I (In
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
: Екатерина I Алексеевна) (born
Marta Helena Skowrońska, , later
Marfa Samuilovna Skavronskaya) ( – ), the second wife of
Peter the GreatPeter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V....
, reigned as Empress of
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
from 1725 until her death.
Lowly origins
The life of Catherine I was said by
VoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, essayist, and philosopher known for his wit and his defense of civil liberties, including both freedom of religion and free trade.Voltaire was a prolific writer and produced works in almost every...
to be nearly as extraordinary as Peter the Great himself. There are no documents that confirm the ascent of Catherine. The commonly accepted version is that Catherine was born in Ringen (
Rõngu-External links:...
), in present-day
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
. At the time this area was the Swedish province of Livonia. Originally named 'Marta Skowrońska', she was the daughter of Samuel Skowroński, later Samuil Skavronsky, a
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
n
peasantA peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground. The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists...
of
PolishThe Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...
origin, most likely a
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
, and who was already a widower of one Dorothea Hann. Her mother has been listed on at least one site as Elisabeth Moritz, whom her father married at Jakobstadt in 1680. There is some speculation that her parents were runaway
serfA spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s. Some sources state her father was a
gravediggerA gravedigger is a cemetery worker responsible for digging graves used in the process of burial.-Fossors:Fossor or Fossarius , from the Latin verb fodere 'to dig', referred to grave diggers in the Roman catacombs in the first three or four centuries of the Christian Era...
. Samuil and her mother died of plague around 1684 or 1685, leaving five children. She was taken by an aunt who sent her to be raised by Ernst Glück, the Lutheran pastor and educator who first translated the Bible into
LatvianLatvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
, in
MarienburgAlūksne is a town on the shores of Lake Alūksne in northeastern Latvia near the borders with Estonia and Russia. It is the seat of Alūksne District.- History :...
. She was essentially a house servant. No effort was made to teach her to read and she remained illiterate throughout her life.
She was a very beautiful young girl, and there are accounts that Frau Glück became fearful that Marta would become involved with her son. At the age of seventeen, she was married off to a
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
dragoonDragoons were originally infantrymen deployed by horse, but later became cavalry. They were therefore trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. Dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, Johan Cruse or Johann Rabbe, with whom she remained for eight days in 1702, at which point the Swedish troops were withdrawn from Marienburg. When Russian forces captured Marienburg the Pastor Glück offered and was taken to Moscow to work as a translator for Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev. There are unsubstantiated stories that Marta worked briefly in the laundry of the victorious regiment, and also that she was presented in her undergarments to the Brigadier General Adolf Rudolf Bauer to be his mistress. She definitely worked in the household of his superior, the Field Marshal Sheremetev. It is not known whether she was his mistress, or domestic servant.
She then became part of the household of Prince
Aleksandr MenshikovAleksandr Danilovich Menshikov was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora...
, the best friend of
Peter the GreatPeter I the Great or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov ruled Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V....
. Anecdotal sources suggest that she was purchased by him. Whether the two of them were lovers is highly disputed, for Menshikov was engaged to Darya Arsenyeva, his future well-loved wife. It is clear that Menshikov and Marta formed a lifetime alliance, and it is possible that Menshikov who was quite jealous of Peter's attentions and knew his tastes, wanted to procure a mistress on whom he could rely. In any case, in 1703, while visiting Menshikov at his home, Peter met Marta, and shortly after, he took her as his own mistress. In 1705, she converted to
OrthodoxyThe word orthodox, from Greek orthodoxos "having the right opinion", from orthos + doxa , is typically used to mean adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith, especially in religion.The term did not conventionally exist with any degree of formality The word orthodox, from Greek...
and changed her name to
Yekaterina Alexeyevna. She and Darya accompanied Peter and Menshikov on their military excursions.
Marriage and family life
Catherine and Peter married secretly in 1707. They had nine children, two of whom survived into adulthood,
YelizavetaElizaveta Petrovna , also known as Yelisavet and Elizabeth, was the Empress of Russia who took the country into the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War...
(1709) and Anna (born 1708). Peter had moved the capital to St Petersburg in 1703. While the city was being built he lived in a
three-room log cabinThe cabin of Peter the Great is a small wooden house which was the first St Petersburg "palace" of Tsar Peter the Great....
with Catherine, where she did the cooking and caring 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 a great number of letters exist demonstrating the strong affection between Catherine and Peter. As a person she was very strong, energetic, compassionate, charming and always cheerful. She was able to calm Peter in his frequent rages and was called in to attend him during his epileptic seizures.
Catherine continued to accompany Peter on his Pruth Campaign in 1711. There Catherine was said to have saved Peter and his Empire. Surrounded by overwhelming numbers of Turkish troops, Catherine suggested before surrendering, her jewels and those of the other women be used in an effort to bribe the Grand Vizier Baltaji into allowing a retreat. Baltaji allowed the retreat, whether motivated by a bribe or considerations of trade and diplomacy. In any case Peter credited Catherine and proceeded to marry her again (this time officially) at
Saint Isaac's CathedralSaint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest cathedral in the city and was the largest church in Russia when it was built...
in St. Petersburg on 9 February 1712. Catherine was Peter's second wife; he had previously married and divorced
Eudoxia LopukhinaTsarina Evdokiya Feodorovna Lopukhina was the first wife of Peter I of Russia. They married in 1689 but divorced in 1698...
, who had borne him the
TsarevichTsarevich is a Slavic term for the Tsar's son. Under the Pauline house law, the term was discontinued. The tsar's eldest son , came to be called Tsesarevich...
Alexis Petrovich. Upon their wedding,she (Catherine) took the style of her husband and became Tsarina. When Peter elevated the Russian Tsardom to Empire,Catherine became Empress (Imperatrica). The Order of Saint Catherine was instituted by her husband on the occasion of their wedding.
Upon Peter's death, Catherine found her four siblings, Christine, Anna, Karl and Friederich/Theodor, gave them the newly created titles of Count and Countess, and brought them to Russia. Christine Skowrońska, renamed Christina Samuilovna Skavronskaya (1687 – 14 April 1729), married Simon-Heinrich N (1672-1728) and their issue were
Counts Hendrikov; Anna Skowrońska, renamed Anna Samuilovna Skavronskaya, married one Michael-Joachim N and their issue were
Counts Efimovsky; Karl Skowroński, renamed Karel Samuilovich Skavronsky, was created a Count of the Russian Empire on 5 January 1727 and made a
ChamberlainA chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....
of the Imperial Court, married to Maria Ivanovna, a
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n woman, by whom he had issue extinct in male line in 1793; Friedrich/Theodor Skowroński, renamed Feodor Samuilovich Skavronsky, was created a Count of the Russian Empire on 5 January 1727 and married twice to N, a
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
n woman, and to Ekaterina Rodionovna Saburova, without issue of any of them.
Issue
Ultimately Catherine and Peter had nine children, all of whom died in childhood except Anna and
ElizabethElizaveta Petrovna , also known as Yelisavet and Elizabeth, was the Empress of Russia who took the country into the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War...
:
- Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna (1708–1728)
- Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna
Elizaveta Petrovna , also known as Yelisavet and Elizabeth, was the Empress of Russia who took the country into the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War...
(1709–1762)
- Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (1713–1715)
- Grand Duchess Margarita Petrovna (1714–1715)
- Grand Duke Pyotr Petrovich (1715–1719)
- Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (1717-1717)
- Grand Duchess Natalia Petrovna (1718–1725)
- Grand Duchess Stillborn Daughter (1720-1720)
- Grand Duke Pyotr Petrovich (1723–1723)
Succession to the throne
In 1724 Catherine was officially named co-ruler.
The year before his death, Peter and Catherine had an estrangement over her support of William Mons (brother of Peter's former mistress and secretary to Catherine) and his sister Matrena, one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting. Peter had fought his entire life a somewhat hopeless battle to clear up corruption in Russia. Catherine had a great deal of influence on who could gain access to her husband. William Mons and his sister had begun selling their influence to those who wanted access to Catherine and, through her, to Peter. Apparently this had been overlooked by Catherine, who was fond of both. Peter found out and had Mons executed and his sister exiled. He and Catherine did not speak for several months. Rumors flew that she and Mons had had an affair, but there is no evidence for this.
Peter died (28 January 1725
Old StyleOld Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though contemporary documents use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar ,...
) without naming a successor. Catherine represented the interests of the "new men", commoners who had been brought to positions of great power by Peter based on competence. A change in government was likely to favor the entrenched aristocrats. For that reason during a meeting of a council to decide on a successor a coup was arranged by Menshikov and others in which the
guards regimentsGuards or Guards units were and are elite military units in Imperial Russia, Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The tradition goes back to the retinue of a knyaz of medieval Kievan Rus' and the streltsy, the Muscovite harquebusiers formed by Ivan the Terrible by 1550...
with whom Catherine was very popular proclaimed her the ruler of Russia, giving her the title of Empress. Supporting evidence was "produced" from Peter's secretary Makarov and the
Bishop of Pskovthumb|Theophan ProkopovichFeofan/Theophan Prokopovich was an archbishop and statesman in the Russian Empire, of Ukrainian descent. He elaborated and implemented Peter the Great's reform of the Russian Orthodox Church...
, both "new men" with motivation to see Catherine take over. The real power, however, lay with Menshikov, Peter Tolstoy and with other members of the
Supreme Privy CouncilThe Supreme Privy Council of Imperial Russia was founded on 8 February 1726 as a body of advisors to Catherine I.Originally, the council included six members — Alexander Menshikov, Fyodor Apraksin, Gavrila Golovkin, Andrey Osterman, Peter Tolstoy, and Dmitry Galitzine. Several months later,...
.
Assessment
Catherine was the first woman to rule Imperial Russia, opening the legal path for a century almost entirely dominated by women, including her daughter Elizabeth and Catherine the Great, all of whom continued Peter the Great's policies in modernizing Russia. She was said to be a just and fair ruler.
The
Supreme Privy CouncilThe Supreme Privy Council of Imperial Russia was founded on 8 February 1726 as a body of advisors to Catherine I.Originally, the council included six members — Alexander Menshikov, Fyodor Apraksin, Gavrila Golovkin, Andrey Osterman, Peter Tolstoy, and Dmitry Galitzine. Several months later,...
concentrated power in the hands of one party, and thus was an executive innovation. In foreign affairs, Russia joined the Austro-Spanish league to reluctantly defend the interests of Catherine's son-in-law, the
Duke of HolsteinDuke Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp , was the son of Frederick IV of Holstein-Gottorp and his wife, Hedvig Sophia, daughter of King Charles XI of Sweden. He became reigning duke in infancy, upon his father's death in 1702.Duke Charles Frederick was under the regency of his mother, with...
, against England.
Catherine established the
Russian AcademyThe Russian Academy or Imperial Russian Academy was established in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1783 by Empress Catherine II of Russia and countess Daskova as a reseacrh center for Russian language and Russian literature, following the example of the Académie française...
, gave her name to
CatherinehofEkaterinhof or Catherinehof is a historic district in the south-west of St Petersburg, Russia. Its name originated in 1711, when Peter the Great presented the Ekanerinhof Island and adjacent lands along the Ekateringofka River to his wife Catherine, whose name they memorialize.The emperor...
near St. Petersburg, and built the first bridges in the new capital. She was also the first royal owner of the
Tsarskoye SeloTsarskoye Selo is a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In the 17th century, the...
estate, where the
Catherine PalaceThe Catherine Palace is the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo , 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia.- History :...
still bears her name.
In general, Catherine's policies were reasonable and cautious. She died just two years after Peter, at age 43, at St. Petersburg, where she was buried at St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress. The story of her humble origins was considered by later generations of
tsarTsar or czar , occasionally spelled csar or Tzar in English, is a Slavic term with Bulgarian origins used to designate certain monarchs...
s to be a state secret.