Terrible tsarinas
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However, in St. Petersburg, the rivals of the Dolgoruky coalition feared that this passing fancy, the reverberations of which
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Machinations around the Throne were already being heard, might lead to marriage. Such a union would end up making the tsar totally subservient to his in-laws and would close the door on the other members of the Supreme Privy Council. Peter seemed to be so smitten by his Katya that he had hardly returned to St. Petersburg when he decided to leave again. If he bothered to stop in the capital at all, it was only to round out his hunting gear. Having bought 200 hunting hounds and 400 greyhounds, he headed back to Gorenky. But, back where he’d enjoyed such great exploits in the field, he no longer seemed very sure how much fun he was having. He was bored, counting the hares, foxes and wolves that he had killed in the course of the day. One evening, citing the three bears listed in his hunting record, somebody complimented him for this latest prowess. With a sarcastic smile, he replied: “I did better than take three bears; I’m taking with me four two-footed animals.” His interlocutor recognized that as an unkind allusion to prince Alexis Dolgoruky and his three daughters. Such mockery, in public, made people suppose that, after the initial combustion, perhaps the tsar no longer burned so intensely for Katya and that he might be on the verge of abandoning her.
Ostermann, an astute strategist, followed the ups and downs of this unpredictable couple from afar, through the gossip and rumor mills of the court. Now he set about preparing a counteroffensive. Her grief at the death of her sister Anna having run its course, Elizabeth was again available. Admittedly, her thoughts often turned toward that baby, her nephew, deprived of tenderness and growing up at a distance, practically becoming a stranger. She wondered, from time to time, whether she should not draw him back in, nearer to her. And then the events of the day would distract her from these thoughts, so worthy of a guardian. It was even said that after a mystical crisis, she was experiencing such a new zest for life that she had fallen under the spell
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Terrible Tsarinas of the charming heir of a great family, the very seductive Count Simon Naryshkin. This magnificent and refined gentleman was of the same age as she, and his assiduous pursuit, over hill and dale, like an indefatigable barbet spaniel, showed how much they both enjoyed their tete-a-tetes. When she withdrew to her estate at Ismailovo, she invited him over. There, they enjoyed the healthy and simple joys of the countryside. What could be pleasanter than playing in the country with palaces and flocks of servants in the background? Every day they went to collect nuts, pick flowers, and hunt for mushrooms, speaking with a paternal kindness to the serfs on the estate, taking an interest in the health of the animals grazing in the meadows or ruminating in the cattle sheds.
While Ostermann quizzed the spies whom he had sent to Ismailovo, keeping tabs on the progress of Simon Naryshkin and Elizabeth’s bucolic love affair, the Dolgorukys in Gorenky continued to cherish, in spite of some alarms, the idea of a marriage between Katya and the tsar.
To cover all the bases, they thought it would be appropriate not only to wed Tsar Peter II to Catherine Dolgoruky, but for good measure to marry his aunt Elizabeth to Ivan Dolgoruky, as well. However, now the latest tidings held that the idiotic Elizabeth was infatuated with Naryshkin. Such an unexpected crush was liable to upset the entire plan. This would have to be stamped out at once! Going for broke, the Dolgorukys threatened to have Elizabeth locked up in a convent for misconduct if she insisted on preferring Naryshkin over Dolgoruky. But the young woman had the blood of Peter the Great in her veins, and in a flash of pride, she refused to obey. The Dolgorukys, however, had all the connections. The principal apparatuses of the State did their bidding, and Naryshkin received an order from the Supreme Privy Council to s et out immediately on a foreign mission. He would be kept abroad for as long as necessary for Elizabeth to forget about
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Machinations around the Throne him.
Frustrated once more in love, she wept, raged and pondered how to take her revenge. However, she quickly recognized that she was impotent to fight agains t the machinations of the High Council. And she could not even count on Peter to defend her interests anymore: he was far too absorbed by his own sentimental problems to deal with those of his aunt. According to the gossip, he had almost repudiated Katya when he learned that she had had clandestine meetings with another aspirant, a certain Count Millesimo, an attache at the German embassy in Russia. Frightened by the consequences of such a break-up, and under pressure to keep the tsar from balking, the Dolgorukys arranged for a discreet tete-a-tete between Katya and Peter, in a hunting lodge, hoping for a reconciliation. And that very evening, showing up just at the moment of the first caresses, the girl’s father declared the family’s honor to have been outraged and he demanded formal reparations. The strangest thing is that this crude subterfuge bore fruit. It is impossible to know whether the “culprit” thus surprised in flagrante delicto by an indignant pater familias finally gave in to his feelings for Katya, to fear of scandal, or simply to laziness.
In any event, on Catherine’s birthday, October 22, 1729, the Dolgorukys revealed to their guests that the girl had just been promised in marriage to the Tsar. On November 19, the Supreme Privy Council received the official announcement of the engagement and, on the 30th, a religious ceremony was held in Moscow at Lefortovo Palace, where Peter generally stayed during his brief stops in that city. The old tsarina Eudoxia agreed to come out of retirement to bless the young couple. All the dignitaries of the empire, all the foreign ambassadors were present in the room, awaiting the arrival of the bride-elect. Her brother Ivan, Peter’s former favorite, went to escort her from Golovin Palace, where she was staying with her mother. The procession traversed the city,
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Terrible Tsarinas cheered by a crowd of good people who, looking on such youth and such magnificence, thought they beheld the happy conclusion of a fairytale. At the entrance to the Lefortovo Palace, the crown surmounting the roof of the coach in which the bride was riding struck the lintel of the gateway and crashed resoundingly to the pavement. Superstitious onlookers saw this incident as a bad omen.
But Katya did not stumble. Crossing the threshold of the ceremonial hall, she stood perfectly straight. Bishop Feofan Prokopovich invited her to come forward with Peter. The couple took their places under a silver and gold canopy held aloft by two generals. After the rings were exchanged, artillery salutes and pealing bells preceded a long stream of congratulations. According to protocol, the Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna stepped forward and, trying to forget that she was the daughter of Peter the Great, kissed the hand of a “subject” named Catherine Dolgoruky. A bit later, it was Peter II’s turn to swallow his spite, for the Count de Millesimo, having approached Catherine, was bowing down before her. She was just about to extend her hand to him. Peter would have liked to prevent that gesture of courtesy, which he considered out of place. But she moved too quickly, and spontaneously presented her fingers to the attache, who brushed them with his lips before standing straight again, under the murderous gaze of the groom. Seeing the tsar’s rage, Millesimo’s friends took him by the elbow and propelled him into the crowd, where they disappeared. At this point Prince Vasily Dolgoruky, one of the most eminent members of this large family, felt that the proper time had come to address a short homily to his niece. “Yesterday, I was your uncle,” he said, facing a circle of attentive listeners.
“Now, you are my sovereign and I am your faithful servant. However, I call upon my former rights in giving you this advice: do not look upon the one whom you are marrying as your husband only,
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Machinations around the Throne but also as your master, and make it your only concern to please him… If any member of your family asks you for a favor, forget it and consider only the merits of the situation. That will be the best means of ensuring all the happiness that I wish you.”1 These judicious words completely spoiled Peter’s mood. He scowled until t
he end of the reception. Even during the fireworks at the end of the celebration, he did not so much as glance at the woman with whom he had just exchanged pledges of eternal love and confidence. The more he looked out at the faces surrounding him, the more he felt that he had fallen into a trap.
While he had allowed himself to be buffeted about between political intrigues, women, drink and the pleasures of hunting, the Supreme Privy Council had, after a fashion, managed the affairs of State. At the initiative of these wise men and with the tsar’s concurrence, measures were taken to reinforce their control over the magistrature, to regulate the use of bills of exchange, to ban the clergy from wearing lay clothing and to keep knowledge of Russia’s problems reserved to the Senate. In short, in spite of the emperor’s defection, the empire went on.
Meanwhile, Peter learned that his sweetheart Ivan Dolgoruky was planning to marry little Natalya Sheremetiev. To be honest, he did not see much problem in giving up his former favorite to a rival. It was agreed that, to affirm the bond of friendship between the four young people, their two marriages should be celebrated the same day. However, this reasonable arrangement still troubled Peter. Everything and everybody had disappointed him and annoyed him. There was no place where he could feel comfortable and he did not have anyone whom he felt he could trust.
Shortly before the end of the year, he paid a surprise visit to Elizabeth, whom he had neglected for the last several months. He found her poorly housed, poorly served, and lacking the essen«57»
Terrible Tsarinas tials - whereas she should have been the first lady in the empire.
He had gone to her to complain about his own distress, and instead it was she who complained to him about her destitution.
She accused the Dolgorukys of having humiliated her, of ruining her and of preparing to dominate him through the wife that they had tossed into his arms. Shaken by his aunt’s complaints (and still secretly in love with her), he answered, “This is not my fault!
No one obeys me; but I will soon find the means to break my chains!”12 These remarks were reported to the Dolgorukys, who put their heads together to work out a response that would be effective while preserving the appearance of respecting the tsar. Moreover, they had another family problem on their hands that required urgent intervention: Ivan had fallen out with his sister Katya, who had lost all sense of restraint since her engagement and was laying claim to the late Grand Duchess Natalya’s diamonds, saying that the tsar had promised them to her. This sordid quarrel over a box of jewels was liable to irritate Peter just at the moment when they needed more than ever to dampen his mistrust. But how could they make a woman listen to reason, when she was less sensitive to male logic than to the glitter of precious stones?
On January 6, 1730, at the time of the traditional blessing of the waters of the Neva, Peter arrived late at the ceremony and positioned himself behind the open sledge in which Catherine was seated. In the frozen air, the chanting of the priest and the singing of the choir resonated weirdly; vapor rose from the mouths of the singers. Peter shivered throughout the interminable service. Returning home, he could not stop shaking; he was put to bed. They thought he’d gotten a chill. And anyway, by January 12, he had recovered. But, five days later, the doctors detected symptoms of small pox, which was often fatal at the time. Receiving this news, all the Dolgorukys gathered together at the Golovin palace in ter«58»
Machinations around the Throne ror. They already foresaw the worst and started looking for ways to avert the catastrophe. Amid the general panic, Alexis Dolgoruky stated that only one solution existed, should the tsar die suddenly: to crown his chosen bride Catherine, little Katya, without delay. But this claim struck Prince Vasily Vladimirovich as exorbitant, and he protested in the name of all the family.
“Neither I nor any of mine will wish to be her subjects! She is not married!”
“She is promised in marriage!” retorted Alexis.
“That’s not the same at all!”
A heated debate erupted. Prince Sergei Dolgoruky suggested raising the Guard to support the cause of the tsar’s fiancee. Turning toward General Vasily Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, he exclaimed: “You and Ivan control the Preobrazhensky regiment. Together, the two of you can make your men do whatever you want!”
“We would be massacred!” retorted the General; and he walked out of the meeting.
After he left, another Dolgoruky, Prince Vasily Lukich, a member of the Supreme Privy Council, sat down by the fireplace where an enormous wood fire as burning and, on his own authority, drafted a will for the tsar to sign - while he still had the strength to read and sign an official document. The other members of the family flocked around him and suggested a sentence here, a word there to refine the text. When he was done, someone in the group spoke up, voicing the fear that their adversaries would dispute the authenticity of the document. A third Dolgoruky, Ivan, Peter’s little friend and the fiance of Natalya Sheremetiev, came to the rescue. Did they need the tsar’s signature?
Aha! He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and showed it to his relatives.
“Here is the tsar’s handwriting,” he said, cheerfully. “And
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Terrible Tsarinas here is mine. You yourselves would not be able to tell them apart.
And I know how to sign his name as well; I often did so as a joke!”
The onlookers were flabbergasted - but not indignant.
Dipping a quill into the inkwell, Ivan signed Peter’s name at the bottom of the page. They all leaned over his shoulder and murmured with wonder.
“That is exactly the hand of the tsar!”13 they exclaimed.
Then the conspirators exchanged half-reassured glances and prayed God that they would be spared the necessity of actually using this forgery.
From time to time, they sent emissaries to the palace for an update on the tsar’s condition. The news was grimmer and grimmer. Peter died at one o’clock in the morning, Monday, January 19, 1730, at the age of 14 years and three months. His reign had lasted just over two and a half years. January 19, 1730, the day of his death, is the date he had set a few weeks before for his marriage with Catherine Dolgoruky.
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Machinations around the Throne
Footnotes 1. Cf. Brian-Chaninov: Histoire de Russie.
2. A traditional term designating the daughter of the tsar.
3. Cf. Daria Olivier, op. cit.
4.
Cf. Waliszewski, L’Heritage de Pierre le Grand.
5. Cf. Daria Olivier, op. cit.
6. Details provided by Essipov: “L’Exil du prince Menshikov,” Annales de la Patrie, 1861, and cited by Waliszewski, op. cit.
7. Almost 2500 lbs.
8. Waliszewski, op. cit.
9. Menshikov’s two other children, his son Alexander and his daughter Alexandra, were recalled from exile only under the following reign. 10. The future Peter III, who would marry Catherine the Great. 11. Cited by Soloviov: Histoire de Russie, quoted by K Waliszewski, op. cit.
12. Ibid.
13.
Details found in the State Archives (Moscow) file on the Dolgoruky scan dal, and quoted by Kostomarov in his Monograph and by K. Wal iszewski, op. cit.
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Terrible Tsarinas
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THE SURPRISE ACCESSION OF ANNA IVANOVNA
The same uncertainty that had embarrassed the members of the Supreme Privy Council upon the death of Peter the Great gripped them again in the hours following the demise of Peter II.
In the absence of a male heir and an authentic will, who could replace the late ruler without sparking a revolution among the aristocracy?
The usual notables were gathered at Lefortovo Palace in Moscow, with the Golitsyns, Golovkins and Dolgorukys at the center. But nobody had the nerve, at first, to voice an opinion - as if all the titled “decision-makers” felt guilty for the tragic decline of the monarchy. Taking advantage of the general confusion, Vasily Dolgoruky chose his moment and,
hoisting his sword, gave a rallying cry: “Long live Her Majesty, Catherine!” And he cited the recently fabricated will, to justify this proclamation of victory.
Thanks to this intrigue, the Dolgorukys had a chance of attaining the highest position in the empire. The goal was worth a little cheating. But the clan of those who opposed that choice struck back at once: Dmitri Golitsyn stared down Vasily Dolgoruky and
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Terrible Tsarinas sharply asserted that the will was false.
And he looked as though he could somehow prove it. The Dolgorukys, fearing that the document would not stand up to serious examination and that they would then be liable to serious charges of counterfeit, decided not to push their luck any further.
That was the end of it for Catherine; there was no more talk of giving her a throne. Just as she was poised to take her seat, it was whisked out from under her. Pressing his advantage, Dmitri Golitsyn declared that in the absence of a male successor directly descended from Peter the Great, the Supreme Privy Council should turn to the offspring of the elder branch and offer the crown to one of the children of Peter I’s brother Ivan V (known as “the Simple”; although sickly and indolent, he had been “co-tsar” with Peter the Great during the five years when their sister Sophia had served as regent).