[88] Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. [117] While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the Old Believers into the official church. Catherine tried to keep the Jews away from certain economic spheres, even under the guise of equality; in 1790, she banned Jewish citizens from Moscow's middle class.[112]. [44] Another source of tension was the wave of Dzungar Mongol fugitives from the Chinese state who took refuge with the Russians. How can history remember her for anything else if she died whilst trying to have sexual intercourse with a horse? He died at the age of 52 in 1791. A self-described glutton for art, the empress strategically purchased paintings in bulk, acquiring as much in 34 years as other royals took generations to amass. [83][84], Catherine also received Elisabeth Vige Le Brun at her Tsarskoye Selo residence in St Petersburg, by whom she was painted shortly before her death. 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]. If persistent tabloid covers and made-for-television miniseries . [117] In later years, Catherine amended her thoughts. Hulus The Great offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress life. "Catherine II and the Socio-Economic Origins of the Jewish Question in Russia", This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 14:56. [53] By 1800, approximately 2million inoculations (almost 6% of the population) were administered in the Russian Empire. [78] Catherine expressed some frustration with the economists she read for what she regarded as their impractical theories, writing in the margin of one of Necker's books that if it was possible to solve all of the state's economic problems in one day, she would have done so a long time ago. Russia's State Council in 1770 announced a policy in favour of eventual Crimean independence. For all her achievements, Catherine is often remembered for the multitude of salacious and slanderous rumours attached to her name, none more famous than the one surrounding her death. The objective was to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia, to weaken the influence of Austria, and to overthrow the chancellor Alexey Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a known partisan of the Austrian alliance on whom Russian Empress Elizabeth relied. When Catherine agreed to the First Partition of Poland, the large new Jewish element was treated as a separate people, defined by their religion. Finally Catherine annexed the Crimea in 1783. Longest ruling Russian empress, 17621796, "Catherine II" redirects here. 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The pair met on the day of Catherines 1762 coup but only became lovers in 1774. Writing in The Romanovs, Montefiore characterizes Catherine as an obsessional serial monogamist who adored sharing card games in her cozy apartments and discussing her literary and artistic interests with her beloved. Many sordid tales of her sexuality can, in fact, be attributed to detractors who hoped to weaken her hold on power. The formidable Catherine had little time for her heir. It opened in Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1769. . Later, several rumours circulated regarding the cause and manner of her death. Although Catherine did not descend from the Romanov dynasty, her ancestors included members of the Rurik dynasty, which preceded the Romanovs. Sophie had turned 16. In this act, she gave the serfs a legitimate bureaucratic status they had lacked before. Denmark declared war on Sweden in 1788 (the Theatre War). Catherine did turn Russia into a global great power not only a European one but with quite a different reputation from what she initially had planned as an honest policy. [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. Their son, Aleksey Grygoriovich Bobrinsky (17621813), had one daughter, Maria Alexeyeva Bobrinsky (Bobrinskaya) (17981835), who married in 1819 the 34-year-old Prince Nikolai Sergeevich Gagarin (London, England, 17841842) who took part in the Battle of Borodino (7 September 1812) against Napoleon, and later served as ambassador in Turin, the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia. A portrait of Catherine the Great by Fedor Rokotov, 1763. Her face was left uncovered, and her fair hand rested on the bed. Princess Sophie's father, a devout German Lutheran, opposed his daughter's conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. [64] However, they were already suspicious of Catherine upon her accession because she had annulled an act by Peter III that essentially freed the serfs belonging to the Orthodox Church. On the night of 8 July (OS: 27 June 1762),[22] Catherine was given the news that one of her co-conspirators had been arrested by her estranged husband and that all they had been planning must take place at once. In reality, Catherine the Great died of a stroke and she was discovered collapsed on the floor in her washroom. It's unclear if the murder was ordered by Catherine the Great, or carried out without her consent. I hate fountains that torture water in order to make it take a course contrary to its nature: Statues are relegated to galleries, vestibules etc. Jaques says that Catherine initially started collecting art as a political calculation aimed at legitimizing her status as a Westernized monarch. [70] In a letter to Voltaire in 1772, she wrote: "Right now I adore English gardens, curves, gentle slopes, ponds in the form of lakes, archipelagos on dry land, and I have a profound scorn for straight lines, symmetric avenues. Potemkin quickly gained positions and awards. Catherines contributions to Russias cultural landscape were far more successful than her failed socioeconomic reforms. [19] In the first version of her memoirs, edited and published by Alexander Hertzen, Catherine strongly implied that the real father of her son Paul was not Peter, but rather Saltykov.[20]. [115] She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. She was also very fat, but her face was still beautiful, and she wore her white hair up, framing it perfectly. However, the Moscow Foundling Home was unsuccessful, mainly due to extremely high mortality rates, which prevented many of the children from living long enough to develop into the enlightened subjects the state desired. Catherine the Great was Russia's longest-serving female leader. Both women kissed the child on her forehead following the Russian Orthodox rites. The cause of death is unclear, though the official autopsy report indicates that he died of hemorrhoids and an apoplectic stroke. She thus spent much of this time alone in her private boudoir to hide away from Peter's abrasive personality. Catherine decided it promoted the dangerous poison of the French Revolution. So far, she's the woman who's ruled Russia the longest 34 years on the throne. In the east Russians became the first Europeans to colonise Alaska, establishing Russian America. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. After holding more than 200 sittings, the so-called Commission dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory. Paul ascended to the throne and was known as Emperor Paul I. Catherine's will was discovered in . [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 fifth film. //-->