Open Secrets of Catherine The Great
Russia’s longest-ruling female leader had numerous secrets
Title. Check. A long list of affairs. Check. Feuds. Check. Flying rumors. Check, check, and check. Why should kings have all the fun?
Here is the queen of Russia, who was so powerful and loved that she was able to overthrow her husband and become the ruler. A queen whose rendezvous was so well known that rumors of her mating with a horse did rounds. A queen whose reign was known as the golden era of Russia.
Her name was not Catherine and she was not a Russian
Catherine II was born as Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst on 2 May 1729 in Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia. She was the daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, and Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp, a German family of Anhalt.
Peter III, Sophie’s second cousin, was raised by his childless maternal aunt, the Russian Empress Elizabeth, as the heir apparent. When Sophie arrived with Johanna in Russia, she quickly captivated the Empress with her charm and wits. Not just that, Sophie was eager to learn the language and threw herself in with fervor.
Another incident brought her into the good books of Elizabeth. When Sophie caught pneumonia, Johanna wanted her to be confessed by a Lutheran pastor. But Sophie said,
“I don’t want any Lutheran; I want my Orthodox father [clergyman].”
The Empress was enamored of Sophie and at the same time was highly displeased by Johanna. Elizabeth fixed the marriage between Peter and Sophie.
On 28 June 1744, Sophie converted to Eastern Orthodoxy despite her father’s opposition and was welcomed by the Russian Orthodox Church. She was rechristened as Catherine (Yekaterina or Ekaterina) and the (artificial) patronymic Алексеевна (Alekseyevna, daughter of Aleksey).
Catherine and her husband, Peter III never consummated their marriage…
The duo got married on 21 August 1745 in Saint Petersburg. The marriage was a tumultuous one. From the time Catherine met Peter, she had deep-rooted contempt for him. She disliked everything about him — his pale complexion, alcoholic consumption at a young age, and that he plays with toy soldiers.
Moreover, Peter had pro-Prussian ideologies that did not appeal to Catherine who had, by that time, become smitten with Russia.
For eight years after their marriage, the couples never had sex, and both began up having multiple sexual partners.
…Yet she had four children
Catherine’s favorites were innumerable. Though they were many, she held them in high esteem and showered them with gifts, lands, and titles. In case of discrepancies, she ended things amicably.
Catherine’s first son, Grand Duke Paul, born on 1 October 1754, was officially claimed to be the son of Peter. But she claimed in her memoirs that they had never consummated their marriage and that Paul might have been her lover, Sergei Saltykov’s, son. This claim has been disputed as many historians interpret this as a ruse for discrediting her husband.
She bore her favorite, Stanisław Poniatowski, a daughter named Anna Petrovna in the year 1757, though she died at the age of 14 months.
With Count Grigory Orlov, she had a son Aleksey Grigorievich Bobrinsky in 1762. She had him hidden away in Tula, away from the eyes of the court. Orlov and his three brothers participated in the coup d’état against Peter III and helped Catherine have him arrested.
Her final offspring, a daughter named Elizabeth Grigorevna Temkina, was born many years after her husband’s death. Though it was assumed that Grigory Potemkin might have been the father, the theory has not been proved. Catherine had no regard for Elizabeth Temkina and did not have much consideration for her.
She did NOT die while trying to mate with a horse
Many of the people were aware of her various sexual escapades and created downright untrue theories.
One claimed that she had died when the stallion (possibly her favorite horse, Dudley) that was brought to mate with her crushed her when it was lowered down for the act. The rumor was baseless.
On 16 November 1796, she was found purple-faced, pulse weak, and gasping for breath. The court physician diagnosed that she had suffered a stroke, and despite the best efforts to revive her, she fell into a coma. She passed away later that evening.
Despite her numerous accomplishments, she was demeaned for her open sexual conquests by the patriarchal world. She was notorious for her numerous affairs and never for her unparalleled rule. It was during her reign Russia saw an expansion and thus was pronounced as the golden era of Russia.
