[100] Two years after the implementation of Catherine's program, a member of the National Commission inspected the institutions established. She is often included in the ranks of the enlightened despots. Catherine led a successful bloodless coup and put herself on the throne in his stead. It's unclear if the murder was ordered by Catherine the Great, or carried out without her consent. These were the privileges a serf was entitled to and that nobles were bound to carry out. Several years into her reign, Catherine embarked on an ambitious legal endeavor inspired byand partially plagiarized fromthe writings of leading thinkers. In the west the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, ruled by Catherine's former lover King Stanisaw August Poniatowski, was eventually partitioned, with the Russian Empire gaining the largest share. In 1768, she formally became the protector of political rights of dissidents and peasants of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, which provoked an anti-Russian uprising in Poland, the Confederation of Bar (17681772), supported by France. Catherine waged a new war against Persia in 1796 after they, under the new king Agha Mohammad Khan, had again invaded Georgia and established rule in 1795 and had expelled the newly established Russian garrisons in the Caucasus. As Simon Sebag Montefiore notes in The Romanovs: 16181918, Peter, then on holiday in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, was oblivious to his wifes actions. She launched the Moscow Foundling Home and lying-in hospital, 1764, and Paul's Hospital, 1763. She was the second wife of Peter the Great. "The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those involved can never be known," wrote Robert K. Massie in his seminal biography, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman. Though Russia never officially adopted the Nakaz, the widely distributed 526-article treatise still managed to cement the empress reputation as an enlightened European ruler. The imperial couple moved into the new Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. [120] By separating the public interests from those of the church, Catherine began a secularisation of the day-to-day workings of Russia. In 1767, Catherine decreed that after seven years in one rank, civil servants automatically would be promoted regardless of office or merit. Catherines success as a ruler was also a driving factor behind the rumours. Closer to home, her success, coupled with how she came to power, led to jealously and fear among her male objectors in the Russian court. This is why some serfs were able to do things such as to accumulate wealth. [45] In a 1790 letter to Baron de Grimm written in French, she called the Qianlong Emperor "mon voisin chinois aux petits yeux" ("my Chinese neighbour with small eyes"). The monarch was succeeded by her son,. [89] In 1764, she sent for Dumaresq to come to Russia and then appointed him to the educational commission. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. In her accession to power and her rule of the empire, Catherine often relied on her noble favourites, most notably Count Grigory Orlov and Grigory Potemkin. Sophie recalled in her memoirs that as soon as she arrived in Russia, she fell ill with a pleuritis that almost killed her. She made use of the social theory ideas of German cameralism and French physiocracy, as well as Russian precedents and experiments such as foundling homes. Several bank branches were afterwards established in other towns, called government towns. [51], In 1768, the Assignation Bank was given the task of issuing the first government paper money. The official cause of death was advertised as hemorrhoidal colican absurd diagnosis that soon became a popular euphemism for assassination, according to Montefiore. She fell into a coma and died the next day whilst lying in her bed. Did you know that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women, causing 1 in 3 deaths every year? [63] Catherine became the Empress of Russia and turned her love for reading and philosophy into practice. She later wrote that she stayed at one end of the castle, and Peter at the other.[10]. She tells Heathcliff "You have killed me - and thriven on it, I think."(Bronte 1847, 167). Death and succession. She established a centralised medical administration charged with initiating vigorous health policies. In the end, it seems the misogynists somewhat got their wish since the rumour still doggedly persists to this day. Peter was her second cousin. [41], Being afraid of the May Constitution of Poland (1791) that might lead to a resurgence in the power of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth and the growing democratic movements inside the Commonwealth might become a threat to the European monarchies, Catherine decided to refrain from her planned intervention into France and to intervene in Poland instead. [23][24] On 17 July 1762eight days after the coup that amazed the outside world[25] and just six months after his accession to the thronePeter III died at Ropsha, possibly at the hands of Alexei Orlov (younger brother to Grigory Orlov, then a court favourite and a participant in the coup). [102], However, in accord with her anti-Ottoman policy, Catherine promoted the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. Based on her writings, she found Peter detestable upon meeting him. Longest ruling Russian empress, 17621796, "Catherine II" redirects here. Over this tunic she wore a red velvet dolman with very short sleeves. That same morning, two of the Orlov brothers arrested Peter and forced him to sign a statement of abdication. She fell into a coma and died the next day whilst lying in her bed. Catherine the Great is a monarch mired in misconception. In 1780, she established a League of Armed Neutrality, designed to defend neutral shipping from being searched by the British Royal Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Bored with her husband, Catherine became an avid reader of books, mostly in French. [53] By 1800, approximately 2million inoculations (almost 6% of the population) were administered in the Russian Empire. In addition to collecting art, Catherine commissioned an array of new cultural projects, including an imposing bronze monument to Peter the Great, Russias first state library, exact replicas of Raphaels Vatican City loggias and palatial neoclassical buildings constructed across St. Petersburg. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. The cause of death is unclear, though the official autopsy report indicates that he died of hemorrhoids and an apoplectic stroke. [28] From 1762, the Great Imperial Crown was the coronation crown of all Romanov emperors until the monarchy's abolition in 1917. Shuvalov under Elizabeth and under Peter III. [126] The last of her lovers, Platon Zubov, was 40 years her junior. By November, they were stationed at the confluence of the Araks and Kura Rivers, poised to attack mainland Iran. She disapproved of off-color jokes and nudity in art falling outside of mythological or allegorical themes. It was instituted by the Fundamental Law of 7 November 1775. The pair met on the day of Catherines 1762 coup but only became lovers in 1774. For Latin Empress, see, Partitions of PolishLithuanian Commonwealth. [3] He failed to become the duke of Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and at the time of his daughter's birth held the rank of a Prussian general in his capacity as governor of the city of Stettin. Peter III's temperament became quite unbearable for those who resided in the palace. Peter III; Catherine II, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg, Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff, "Instructions for the Guidance of the Assembly", Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt, Duchess Sophie Auguste of Holstein-Gottorp, Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Duke Christian August of Holstein-Gottorp, Princess Frederica Amalia of Denmark and Norway, Duchess Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, Princess Albertina Frederica of Baden-Durlach, Duchess Auguste Marie of Holstein-Gottorp, "Religion and Enlightenment in Catherinian Russia: The Teachings of Metropolitan Platon by Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter", Christian August (Frst von Anhalt-Zerbst), "Coronation of the Empress Catherine II [ , II-]", "Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea From the Perspective of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources", "ahin Girey, the Reformer Khan, and the Russian Annexation of the Crimea", "Doctor Thomas Dimsdale, and Smallpox in Russia: The Variolation of the Empress Catherine the Great", "Naive Monarchism and Rural Resistance In Contemporary Russia", "Catherine II, Potemkin, and Colonization Policy in Southern Russia", "Herzog Friedrich Eugen (1732-1797) - Briefwechsel des Herzogs mit dem kaiserlichen Hause von Russland, 1768-1795 - 1. Ruler of Russia from 1762 to 1796, Catherine championed Enlightenment ideals, expanded her empires borders, spearheaded judicial and administrative reforms, dabbled in vaccination, curated a vast art collection that formed the foundation of one of the worlds greatest museums, exchanged correspondence with such philosophers as Voltaire and Dennis Diderot, penned operas and childrens fairy tales, founded the countrys first state-funded school for women, drafted her own legal code, and promoted a national system of education. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. On 28 June 1791, Catherine granted Daikokuya an audience at Tsarskoye Selo. [49], Catherine imposed a comprehensive system of state regulation of merchants' activities. [108] Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. As many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisors, she refrained from immediately putting them into practice. Grigory Orlov and his other three brothers found themselves rewarded with titles, money, swords, and other gifts, but Catherine did not marry Grigory, who proved inept at politics and useless when asked for advice. Born in 1729, and known as Catherine the Great because she served as Russia's longest-reigning female ruler, she was empress from 1762 until her death in 1796. 2, part 2, Chapter 3, V]. Four years later, in 1766, she endeavoured to embody in legislation the principles of Enlightenment she learned from studying the French philosophers. the official cause of death was given as haemorrhoids and Catherine never . They submitted recommendations for the establishment of a general system of education for all Russian orthodox subjects from the age of 5 to 18, excluding serfs. While she had collapsed in the bathroom, she had spent many hours in her bed, with her servants taking care of her. [9] It was during this period that she first read Voltaire and the other philosophes of the French Enlightenment. 679 Words; 3 Pages; Open Document. After the rebels, their French and European volunteers, and their allied Ottoman Empire had been defeated, she established in the Commonwealth a system of government fully controlled by the Russian Empire through a Permanent Council, under the supervision of her ambassadors and envoys. [13], According to Alexander Hertzen, who edited a version of Catherine's memoirs, Catherine had her first sexual relationship with Sergei Saltykov while living at Oranienbaum as her marriage to Peter had not been consummated, as Catherine later claimed. 5 November]1796, Catherine rose early in the morning and had her usual morning coffee, soon settling down to work on papers; she told her lady's maid, Maria Perekusikhina, that she had slept better than she had in a long time. The most famous of these rumors is that she died after having sex with her horse. Historians have argued that the horse myth represents how her enemies wished to paint her rule and her ascension to the throne as unnatural. The palace of the Crimean Khanate passed into the hands of the Russians. In 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire. Though the young Prussian princess had been imported to . In 1780, Emperor Joseph II, the son of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, toyed with the idea of determining whether or not to enter an alliance with Russia, and asked to meet Catherine. Empress Elizabeth knew the family well and had intended to marry Princess Joanna's brother Charles Augustus (Karl August von Holstein); however, he died of smallpox in 1727 before the wedding could take place. The future Peter III was born Karl Peter Ulrich in 1728, in Kiel, Germany. Russia was to stop any involvement in internal affairs of Sweden. Catherine kept her illegitimate son by Grigory Orlov (Alexis Bobrinsky, later elevated to Count Bobrinsky by Paul I) near Tula, away from her court. Many Orthodox peasants felt threatened by the sudden change, and burned mosques as a sign of their displeasure. [128], Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, the British ambassador to Russia, offered Stanislaus Poniatowski a place in the embassy in return for gaining Catherine as an ally. The official cause of death was a stroke but was possibly an assassination. [90] However, no action was taken on any recommendations put forth by the commission due to the calling of the Legislative Commission. 12. pp. In 1777, the empress described to Voltaire her legal innovations within a backward Russia as progressing "little by little". Catherine wanted to become an empress herself and did not want another heir to the throne; however, Empress Elizabeth blackmailed Peter and Catherine to produce this heir. She consulted British education pioneers, particularly the Rev. The rumours tell us more about the time in which Catherine lived than they do about the cause of her death. Catherine and Peter were ill-matched, and their marriage was notoriously unhappy. If a noble did not live up to his side of the deal, the serfs could file complaints against him by following the proper channels of law. Running and games were forbidden, and the building was kept particularly cold because too much warmth was believed to be harmful to the developing body, as was excessive play. She came from a very poor family and did not have a pleasant childhood. Biography 27 (2004), 51734. Though not stupid, he was totally lacking in common sense, argues Isabel de Madariaga in Catherine the Great: A Short History. They introduced numerous innovations regarding wheat production and flour milling, tobacco culture, sheep raising, and small-scale manufacturing. "[6] Although Sophie was born a princess, her family had very little money. [77] She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as Moritz August von Thmmel and Christoph Friedrich Nicolai. The commission had to consider the needs of the Russian Empire and the means of satisfying them. [52], Catherine made public health a priority. Teplov, T. von Klingstedt, F.G. Dilthey, and the historian G. Muller. She called Potemkin for help mostly military and he became devoted to her. [139][140] According to lisabeth Vige Le Brun: "The empress's body lay in state for six weeks in a large and magnificently decorated room in the castle, which was kept lit day and night. It is one of the main treasures of the Romanov dynasty and is now on display in the Moscow Kremlin Armoury Museum. She is one of historys greatest female rulers who modernised her adopted homeland, expanded its borders and transformed it into a global superpower. Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. Two wings were devoted to her collections of "curiosities". She applied herself to learning the Russian language with zeal, rising at night and walking about her bedroom barefoot, repeating her lessons. She . Her father did not travel to Russia for the wedding. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia. Today, the author adds, Wed call her a micromanager.. Isabel De Madariaga, "Catherine the Great." [74][75], Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. Assignation roubles circulated on equal footing with the silver rouble; a market exchange rate for these two currencies was ongoing. It was obvious to her that Peters hostility had evolved into a determination to end their marriage and remove her from public life., Far from resigning herself to this fate, Catherine bided her time and watched as Peter alienated key factions at court. [115], Catherine, throughout her long reign, took many lovers, often elevating them to high positions for as long as they held her interest and then pensioning them off with gifts of serfs and large estates. [88] Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. Catherine the Great. With the support of Great Britain, Russia colonised the territories of New Russia along the coasts of the Black and Azov Seas. So far, she's the woman who's ruled Russia the longest 34 years on the throne. Catherine and her new husband had a rocky marriage from the start. She once wrote to her correspondent Baron Grimm: "I see nothing of interest in it. As Robert K. Massie writes in Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman, [F]rom the beginning of her husbands reign, her position was one of isolation and humiliation. The empress prepared the "Instructions for the Guidance of the Assembly", pillaging (as she frankly admitted) the philosophers of Western Europe, especially Montesquieu and Cesare Beccaria.[80][81]. Catherine the Great was Russia's longest-serving female leader. [67] Their discontent led to widespread outbreaks of violence and rioting during Pugachev's Rebellion of 1774. In the east Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America. This raised her in the empress's esteem. [73], She made a special effort to bring leading intellectuals and scientists to Russia, and she wrote her own comedies, works of fiction, and memoirs. Catherine perceived that the Qianlong Emperor was an unpleasant and arrogant neighbour, once saying: "I shall not die until I have ejected the Turks from Europe, suppressed the pride of China and established trade with India". [115] She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. Her hunger for fame centred on her daughter's prospects of becoming empress of Russia, but she infuriated Empress Elizabeth, who eventually banned her from the country for spying for King Frederick. We will remember him forever. [115] Their place in government was restricted severely during the years of Catherine's reign. By 1782, Catherine arranged another advisory commission to review the information she had gathered on the educational systems of many different countries. Her reign was called Russia . Catherine gave away 66,000 serfs from 1762 to 1772, 202,000 from 1773 to 1793, and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795. The empress was a great lover of art and books, and ordered the construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings, sculpture, and books. Larry Frederick died: It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Larry Frederick on Thursday, March 2, 2023. As she learned Russian, she became increasingly interested in the literature of her adopted country.