For almost 400 years of the existence of this title, it was worn by completely different people - from adventurers and liberals to tyrants and conservatives.
Rurikovichi
Over the years, Russia (from Rurik to Putin) has changed many times political system. At first, the rulers had a princely title. When after a period political fragmentation around Moscow a new Russian state, the owners of the Kremlin thought about taking the royal title.
This was done under Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584). This one decided to marry the kingdom. And this decision was not accidental. So the Moscow monarch emphasized that he was the successor. It was they who bestowed Orthodoxy on Russia. In the 16th century, Byzantium no longer existed (it fell under the onslaught of the Ottomans), so Ivan the Terrible rightly believed that his act would have serious symbolic significance.
Such historical figures as this king had a great influence on the development of the whole country. In addition to the fact that Ivan the Terrible changed his title, he also captured the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates, starting Russian expansion to the East.
Ivan's son Fedor (1584-1598) was distinguished weak character and health. Nevertheless, under him the state continued to develop. The patriarchate was established. Rulers have always paid much attention to the issue of succession to the throne. This time he stood up especially sharply. Fedor had no children. When he died, the Rurik dynasty on the Moscow throne came to an end.
Time of Troubles
After Fyodor's death, Boris Godunov (1598-1605), his brother-in-law, came to power. He did not belong to the royal family, and many considered him a usurper. With him because of natural disasters there was a huge famine. The tsars and presidents of Russia have always tried to keep calm in the provinces. Due to the tense situation, Godunov failed to do this. Several peasant uprisings took place in the country.
In addition, the adventurer Grishka Otrepiev called himself one of the sons of Ivan the Terrible and began a military campaign against Moscow. He really managed to capture the capital and become king. Boris Godunov did not live up to this moment - he died from health complications. His son Fyodor II was captured by the associates of False Dmitry and killed.
The impostor ruled for only a year, after which he was overthrown during the Moscow uprising, inspired by disgruntled Russian boyars who did not like that False Dmitry surrounded himself with Catholic Poles. decided to transfer the crown to Vasily Shuisky (1606-1610). AT Troubled times Russia's rulers changed frequently.
The princes, tsars and presidents of Russia had to carefully guard their power. Shuisky did not hold her back and was overthrown by the Polish interventionists.
First Romanovs
When in 1613 Moscow was liberated from foreign invaders, the question arose of who should be made sovereign. This text presents all the tsars of Russia in order (with portraits). Now it's time to tell about the ascension to the throne of the Romanov dynasty.
The first sovereign of this kind - Michael (1613-1645) - was just a young man when he was put to rule a vast country. His main goal began the struggle with Poland for the lands occupied by it during the Time of Troubles.
These were the biographies of the rulers and the dates of reign until mid-seventeenth century. After Michael, his son Alexei (1645-1676) ruled. He annexed left-bank Ukraine and Kyiv to Russia. So, after several centuries of fragmentation and Lithuanian rule, the fraternal peoples finally began to live in one country.
Alexei had many sons. The eldest of them, Fedor III (1676-1682), died in young age. After him came the simultaneous reign of two children - Ivan and Peter.
Peter the Great
Ivan Alekseevich was unable to govern the country. Therefore, in 1689, the sole reign of Peter the Great began. He completely rebuilt the country in a European manner. Russia - from Rurik to Putin (in chronological order consider all the rulers) - knows few examples of such an epoch so full of changes.
A new army and navy appeared. To do this, Peter started a war against Sweden. 21 years lasted North War. During it, the Swedish army was defeated, and the kingdom agreed to cede its southern Baltic lands. Petersburg was founded in this region in 1703 - new capital Russia. Peter's success made him think about changing his title. In 1721 he became emperor. However, this change did not abolish the royal title - in everyday speech, monarchs continued to be called kings.
The era of palace coups
Peter's death was followed by a long period of unstable power. The monarchs succeeded each other with enviable regularity, which was facilitated. As a rule, the guards or certain courtiers were at the head of these changes. During this era, Catherine I (1725-1727), Peter II (1727-1730), Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740), Ivan VI (1740-1741), Elizabeth Petrovna (1741-1761) and Peter III (1761-1762) ruled ).
The last of them was of German origin. Under the predecessor Peter III Elizabeth Russia waged a victorious war against Prussia. The new monarch renounced all conquests, returned Berlin to the king and concluded a peace treaty. With this act, he signed his own death warrant. The guard organized another palace coup, after which the wife of Peter Catherine II was on the throne.
Catherine II and Paul I
Catherine II (1762-1796) had a deep state mind. On the throne, she began to pursue a policy of enlightened absolutism. The Empress organized the work of the famous statutory commission, the purpose of which was to prepare a comprehensive project of reforms in Russia. She also wrote the Order. This document contained many considerations about the transformations needed for the country. The reforms were curtailed when, in the 1770s, the Volga region broke out peasant uprising under the leadership of Pugachev.
All the tsars and presidents of Russia (in chronological order, we listed all the royal persons) took care that the country looked worthy on the foreign arena. She was no exception. She led several successful military campaigns against Turkey. As a result, Crimea and other important Black Sea regions were annexed to Russia. At the end of Catherine's reign, three partitions of Poland took place. So Russian empire received important acquisitions in the west.
After death great empress her son Pavel I (1796-1801) came to power. This quarrelsome man was not liked by many in the St. Petersburg elite.
First half of the 19th century
In 1801 there was another and the last palace coup. A group of conspirators dealt with Pavel. His son Alexander I (1801-1825) was on the throne. His reign was Patriotic war and Napoleon's invasion. rulers Russian state For two centuries they have not encountered such a serious enemy intervention. Despite the capture of Moscow, Bonaparte was defeated. Alexander became the most popular and famous monarch of the Old World. He was also called "the liberator of Europe".
Inside his country, Alexander in his youth tried to implement liberal reforms. historical persons often change their policies with age. So Alexander soon abandoned his ideas. He died in Taganrog in 1825 under mysterious circumstances.
At the beginning of the reign of his brother Nicholas I (1825-1855) there was an uprising of the Decembrists. Because of this, conservative orders triumphed in the country for thirty years.
Second half of the 19th century
Here are all the tsars of Russia in order, with portraits. Further, we will talk about the main reformer of the national statehood - Alexander II (1855-1881). He became the initiator of the manifesto on the liberation of the peasants. The destruction of serfdom made it possible to develop Russian market and capitalism. The country began to grow economically. The reforms also affected the judiciary, local government, administrative and conscription systems. The monarch tried to raise the country to its feet and learn the lessons that the lost started under Nicholas I presented him.
But Alexander's reforms were not enough for the radicals. Terrorists attempted several times on his life. In 1881 they were successful. Alexander II died from a bomb explosion. The news came as a shock to the whole world.
Because of what happened, the son of the deceased monarch, Alexander III (1881-1894), forever became a tough reactionary and conservative. But he is best known as a peacemaker. During his reign, Russia did not conduct a single war.
The last king
Alexander III died in 1894. Power passed into the hands of Nicholas II (1894-1917) - his son and the last Russian monarch. By that time, the old world order with the absolute power of kings and kings had already outlived itself. Russia - from Rurik to Putin - knew a lot of upheavals, but it was under Nicholas that there were more than ever many of them.
In 1904-1905. the country experienced a humiliating war with Japan. It was followed by the first revolution. Although the unrest was suppressed, the king had to make concessions public opinion. He agreed to establish constitutional monarchy and parliament.
The tsars and presidents of Russia at all times faced a certain opposition within the state. Now people could elect deputies who expressed these sentiments.
In 1914 the First World War. No one then suspected that it would end with the fall of several empires at once, including the Russian one. In 1917 broke out February Revolution, and the last king had to abdicate. Nicholas II, together with his family, was shot by the Bolsheviks in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg.
The reign of the Romanov dynasty began with the demonstrative execution of a three-year-old child and ended with the execution of an entire family.
Between these atrocities lay centuries full of wild and unbridled scenes. Conspiracies, torture, murder, betrayal, lust and orgies - remember known facts and be surprised at what you didn't know.
Mikhail Fedorovich (from 1613 to 1645)
The first of the Romanovs was crowned king at the age of 16, and at that time he could hardly read. The following year, by his decree, the three-year-old son of Marina Mnishek was hanged in Moscow - allegedly the grandson and heir of Ivan the Terrible, to whom individual cities managed to swear allegiance. This was after the heavy Troubles, and the fear of new possible impostors forced the competitor to be eliminated publicly.
Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676)
The father of the future Emperor Peter the Great was a religious maniac, sometimes he prayed for six hours in a row and cracked down on those who missed church service: without asking about the reasons, he ordered to throw them into the icy river.
Peter I (1682-1725)
Lifetime portrait of 44-year-old Peter, artist Antoine Pen
Many terrible scenes are described in history, when Peter showed himself to be violent, inhumanly cruel and inadequate to the point of madness. Here are just some of the facts.
Shooting executions. 26-year-old Peter himself cut off heads in front of a huge crowd and forced each of his retinue to take up an ax (unless the foreigners refused, justifying themselves by the fact that they were afraid to incur the hatred of the Russians). Mass executions actually turned into a grand show: the crowd was poured free vodka and it roared with delight, expressing devotion and love to the dashing sovereign. In a drunken stupor, the king immediately invited everyone who wanted to be the executioners, and many agreed.
"Morning of the Streltsy Execution", Vasily Surikov
Death of Tsarevich Alexei. Acutely in conflict with his eldest son, Peter forced him to abdicate and began to zealously investigate his misdeeds, for which he specially created the Secret Chancellery. 28-year-old Aleksey was sentenced to death for treason and, after the verdict, he was tortured in prison: in the presence of his father, he received 25 lashes with a whip. According to some reports, he died from this. And Peter the next day feasted noisily, with an orchestra and fireworks, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava.
"Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof", Nikolai Ge
Execution of a mistress. The next year, Peter sent his former mistress, one of the most beautiful ladies-in-waiting at court, Maria Hamilton (Gamontova), having learned that she twice provoked miscarriages, and strangled the third baby. Although at that time she was already living with another, the king, apparently, suspected that the children could be from him, and was furious at such "murder". At the execution, he behaved strangely: he raised the severed head of Mary, kissed it and calmly began to lecture the people on anatomy, showing the organs affected by the ax, after which he again kissed the dead lips, threw his head into the mud and left.
Maria Hamilton before her execution, Pavel Svedomsky
Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740)
The niece of Peter I, like himself, was a big hunter for entertainment with the participation of dwarfs and "fools" - court jesters. If many of them really were distinguished by their wit, then the inventions of the Empress herself, which led her into stormy fun, were rather obscene.
Once, for example, one of her favorites, the Italian violinist Pietro Miro, nicknamed Pedrillo (Petrillo, Petrushka), laughed off an attempt to ridicule his ugly wife, saying that his “goat” was pregnant and would soon bring “kids”. It immediately occurred to Anna Ioannovna to put him to bed with a real goat, dressed for laughs in a peignoir, and to force the whole yard to bring them presents. Pedrillo, who pleased his mistress, enriched himself by several thousand rubles on that day alone.
“Jesters at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna”, Valery Jacobi (Pedrillo on the left, depicted with a violin, in the center of the picture in a yellow caftan, the famous jester Balakirev jumps above all)
The Empress generally adored all sorts of obscenities, especially gossip and stories of a pornographic nature. Knowing this, specially selected girls were sent to the court, capable of conducting such conversations and inventing more and more stories with juicy details.
Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1762)
The daughter of Peter I from childhood was known as a beauty and only did what she had fun, but she took care of her own appearance, remaining almost uneducated. She never read, and even in adulthood I didn't know that Great Britain is an island.
Most of all, Elizabeth was occupied with masquerades and especially the so-called "metamorphoses", where all the ladies had to appear in men's clothes, and men in women's. Moreover, the empress was convinced that her court rivals had ugly legs and that in men's leggings everyone except her made themselves a laughingstock.
One of the successful rivals, the lady of state Natalya Lopukhina, who was considered a beauty, Elizabeth "graciously" saved from death penalty, ordering instead to flog with a whip, pull out the tongue and exile to Siberia. Officially, Lopukhina was arrested and tortured in the case of a political conspiracy, but unofficially it was the empress's revenge for repulsed cavaliers and ridicule in her youth.
Natalya Fedorovna Lopukhina, engraving by Lavrenty Seryakov
Finally, Elizabeth doomed to a terrible existence the legitimate heir to the throne, appointed before her death by Anna Ioannovna. Emperor Ivan VI was only a year and a half old when Peter's daughter staged a coup and secretly ordered him to be thrown into prison, forever separating him from his parents and protecting him from human contact. The “famous prisoner,” as he was called after the strictest ban on mentioning his name, was stabbed to death by guards at the age of 23, already under Catherine II.
Catherine II (1762-1796)
33-year-old Catherine overthrew and arrested her own husband and second cousin Peter III, with whom relations did not work out from the very beginning. They were married when she was 16 and he was 17. According to one version, he was infantile almost to the point of dementia and for 9 years avoided marital debt, allegedly not knowing what to do in bed with a woman. According to another version (and Catherine admitted this in biographical notes), he did not love her and did not make attempts to get closer. At the same time, he openly made mistresses and even planned to marry one, but died under unclear circumstances 10 days after the deposition.
Coronation portrait of Emperor Peter III, Lucas Conrad Pfanzelt
Meanwhile, the unfortunate marriage made Catherine herself the greatest mistress on the Russian throne. She gave birth to her first child, the future Emperor Paul I, only 10 years after the wedding, which gave rise to rumors that he was not from Peter, although he looked like him. From different lovers, the Empress had two more children, and she gave birth to one in complete secrecy from her husband - in order to distract the emperor and take him away from the palace, her faithful valet set fire to his own house.
Modern painting "The Triumph of Catherine", Vasily Nesterenko (after right hand from the Empress to her famous favorite Prince Grigory Potemkin)
The “lecherous empress” brought her last favorite at the age of 60: it was the 21-year-old nobleman Platon Zubov, whom she enriched inexpressibly and who, five years after her death, participated in the murder of her son Paul I.
Platon Aleksandrovich Zubov, artist Ivan Eggink
Alexander I (1801-1825)
The 23-year-old grandson of Catherine came to power as a result of a conspiracy against his own father: he was convinced that if Paul was not overthrown, he would destroy the empire. At the same time, Alexander did not allow the murder, but the performers - officers flushed with champagne - decided otherwise: in the middle of the night they struck the emperor with a powerful blow to the temple with a golden snuffbox and strangled him with a scarf. Alexander, having learned about the death of his father, sobbed, and then one of the main conspirators said in French: “Enough childishness, go reign!”
Alexander II (1855-1881)
Having ascended the throne, Alexander, who had previously lived in a happy marriage with many children, began to have favorites, from whom, according to rumors, he had illegitimate children. And at the age of 48, he began to secretly meet with the 18-year-old Princess Katya Dolgorukova, who years later became his second wife.
Their extensive erotic correspondence has been preserved - perhaps the most frank on behalf of the head of state: “Waiting for our meeting, I am again trembling all over. I represent your pearl in the shell"; “We possessed each other the way you wanted. But I must confess to you: I will not rest until I see your charms again ... "
Drawing of the emperor: nude Ekaterina Dolgorukova
Nicholas II (1894-1917)
The most terrible secret was and remains the death of the family of the last Russian emperor.
Many more years after the execution in the basement without trial Soviet authorities they lied to the whole world that only Nikolai was killed, and his wife, four daughters and son were alive and well and "transported to a safe place where nothing threatens them." This gave rise to popular rumors about the allegedly saved princesses and Tsarevich Alexei and contributed to the emergence of a huge army of impostor adventurers.
In 2015, at the urging of the Church, an investigation into the death of royal family started with clean slate". A new genetic examination has confirmed the authenticity of the remains of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the three Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatyana and Anastasia, found near Yekaterinburg in 1991 and buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Reconstructed from the remains of the faces of Nicholas II and Princess Anastasia
Then they began to compare them with the genetic materials of Alexei and Maria, found in 2007. The timing of their burial depends on the readiness of the Church to recognize the remains.
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Greetings to all site visitors!
2013 marked the 400th anniversary of one of the great dynasties of the world - the Romanov dynasty. Since our site is predominantly female, I decided to make a publication about the women of the Romanov dynasty - those who were destined to become Russian empresses.
Catherine the First
Amazing fate! Laundress Marta Skavronskaya became the first Russian crowned empress! At first Field Marshal Sheremetyev liked it, then Menshikov and, finally, Peter the Great. She accompanied Peter on campaigns, was distinguished by good nature, excellent health, and cheerfulness. She knew how to "extinguish" the outbursts of anger of the quick-tempered Peter. True, in the last years of the life of Peter the Great, their relationship went wrong ... After the death of her husband, she was elevated to the Russian throne, but she reigned for only 2 years.
Anna Ioannovna
Niece of Peter the Great, daughter of his half-brother Tsar John Alekseevich. She was married to the Duke of Courland to strengthen dynastic ties. She was widowed almost immediately after her marriage. She was invited to the Russian throne for lack of a direct heir. She was distinguished by her rude disposition and cruelty. Russia was essentially ruled by her favorite Biron.
Elizaveta Petrovna
Daughter of Peter the Great. Could become a French queen! But somehow the negotiations between Russia and France regarding marriage with the heir to the French throne did not work out. Cheerful, kind, simple. When she was a princess, she baptized soldiers' children and adored folk festivals. The first fashionista of her time - after the death of Elizabeth, 15 thousand remained! dresses. I loved Russia, but I really didn’t like to study state affairs and sign decrees...
Catherine II
Great woman!!! The princess from the seedy principality of Anhalt-Zerbt came to Russia as a fifteen-year-old girl and was married to the future Peter III. All conquered and enchanted! Enthroned by the guards, overthrown her own husband. The years of her reign were the golden age of the Russian nobility. She managed everything - to deal with state affairs, change favorites, replenish the Hermitage collection, correspond with Voltaire, walk her favorite dogs, compose plays and fairy tales. Again, great woman!
Maria Fedorovna
Wife of Emperor Paul the First, mother of two emperors - Alexander the First and Nicholas the First. Born Princess of Württemberg. Catherine the Second called her daughter-in-law "cast-iron" - apparently due to a lack of emotionality and sensitivity. The main merit of Maria Feodorovna is that she strengthened the gene pool of the dynasty - she gave birth to 10 children. Tried to play political role during the reign of Alexander I. She did a lot of charity work.
Elizaveta Alekseevna
Wife of Emperor Alexander I. The most beautiful Russian Empress. Born Princess of Baden. As her contemporaries called her, "a woman higher order". Smart, educated, interested in music, history, literature. She was the only Russian empress to have mastered the Russian language. Pushkin admired her. According to modern literary critics, it was Elizaveta Alekseevna who was his MUSE. "Genius pure beauty”- this is about her, and not about Anna Kern at all. Faithful friend The empress was the great historian Karamzin.
Alexandra Fedorovna
Wife of Emperor Nicholas I. Daughter of the Prussian king. She was not interested in politics, preferring to be a "friend on the throne." A wonderful wife and mother. She looked condescendingly at her husband's love "pranks", which contributed to their happy family life. She was always kind and friendly with her subjects. But I never learned Russian!
Maria Alexandrovna
Wife of Emperor Alexander II. Born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. As her lady-in-waiting wrote in her memoirs, for almost all her life the empress had to “endure and forgive betrayal” of her amorous spouse. Mother of seven children. She was distinguished by intelligence, modesty, sincerity. She helped those in need a lot, often doing it anonymously. Last years life was seriously ill, lived a lot abroad.
Maria Fedorovna
Wife of Alexander III. Born Danish Princess Dagmar. Perhaps the most beloved among the people of the Empress. She was distinguished by her amazing charm, the ability to win over the most different people, cheerfulness. She was a faithful support to her husband, Alexander III, and son, Nicholas II. Miraculously escaped from the Bolsheviks - English king(native nephew of the Empress) sent a warship for her to the Crimea. She died in Denmark, never believing in the execution of the royal family.
Alexandra Fedorovna
The last Russian empress. Born Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt. Beloved granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. With her husband, Emperor Nicholas II, they were an exemplary family, maintaining strength and freshness of feelings throughout the marriage. The most slandered empress - she was accused of both spying for Germany and having close relations with Rasputin. She was a nurse at the Tsarskoye Selo hospital during the First World War. She was shot with her family in Yekaterinburg in 1918. Canonized by the Russian Church.
Thank you for your attention and patience to everyone who read and watched to the end !!!
(Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya, Ekaterina Alekseevna Mikhailova; April 5, 1684 - May 6, 1727) - Russian Empress from 1721 as the wife of the reigning emperor, from 1725 as the ruling empress; second wife of Peter I the Great, mother of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
In her honor, Peter I established the Order of St. Catherine (in 1713) and named the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals (in 1723). The name of Catherine I is also Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (built with her daughter Elizabeth). She gave birth to two daughters, Elizabeth and Anna, the son of Peter, who died in infancy.
Coronation: 7 (18) May 1724 (as empress consort)
Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna in mourning opposite the bust of her husband. Basin. 1831
After the mysterious death of Alexander I, she suddenly died in Belevo, accompanying her husband's coffin. She did not leave a will. When asked about its compilation, Elizaveta Alekseevna replied: “I didn’t bring anything with me to Russia, and therefore I can’t dispose of anything.” Before going to St. Petersburg, she only asked, in the event of her death, to hand over her personal diaries Nikolai Karamzin, who was a very close friend to her.
Coronation: 15 (27) September 1801
Almost 400 years ago, back in 1613, Mikhail Romanov ascended the Russian throne as a very young boy. His family was destined for three centuries to rule a vast empire stretching from the Baltic to the Sea of Okhotsk. It took a lot of effort to make the state prosper, and its subjects were satisfied.
In many respects, this also depended on who the ruler was married to - as the old proverb says, “the husband is the head, the wife is the neck, where she wants, she turns there” ...
At first, the Romanovs married Russian boyars: the young family should strengthen their position within the country, enlisting the support of ancient noble families.
True, sometimes the families of the royal brides were ready to fight over power, without thinking at all about the future of Russia. Peter I changed the situation: under him, the most inveterate skeptics ceased to doubt the ability of the Romanovs to be true rulers, who no longer need to prove the legitimacy of being on the Russian throne. It was time to cut a window to Europe and establish international relations. In 1721, a law was passed allowing mixed marriages Orthodox and other believers Christian denominations, and soon the first such weddings were played - both among the common people and noble persons.
Convenient marriages
Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich was one of the first in the Romanov dynasty to marry a German princess. In the royal family, the children of Peter Tsarevich Alexei, who married the Princess of Brunswick, and Anna, who became the Duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, paved the way in this matter.
These marriages were very convenient for the Romanovs: the prestige of Russia was ensured, and the international cooperation- not only political, but also economic and cultural, and spouses are not so eager to win political influence in the country. Indeed, these foreigners did not leave a noticeable trace in the history of the empire. The main result of their being in the role of Russian spouses is the creation of a completely new tradition.
Gradually, weddings between representatives of the Russian royal family and the offspring of German rulers became business as usual. Why is it mostly Germans? Their religious affiliation also played an important role in this: Lutheranism provided much more freedom to its believers than Catholicism.
So, it allowed to convert to Orthodoxy, which was an indispensable condition for marriage with representatives of the Romanov family. Catholics did not approve of such deviations from the faith. In addition, the German princesses quickly adapted to Russian conditions, diligently studying the Russian language, culture and customs: Catherine the Great was considered almost more Russian than all real Russians. With what only German houses the Romanovs were not related!
They brought brides for themselves from Baden, and from Württemberg, and from Prussia. Most often, the Russian rulers were looking for a betrothed among the representatives of the Hessian house, which became a real "forge" of the first ladies of the Russian Empire.
Bride of the Russian Tsarevich
The first princess from Hesse, who visited Russia as the bride of a Russian prince, was Wilhelmina, the future Natalya Alekseevna, the wife of Paul I. A very young girl arrived in the country in 1775 with her two sisters and everyone immediately liked her: those around her noted her charm and ability to behave in society. Pavel fell in love with the girl and chose her as his wife from the sisters of Hesse.
Unfortunately, Wilhelmina, so plainly and not having time to adapt to her new environment, died in childbirth at the age of 20, having lived in the country for only three years. Maybe Natalya Alekseevna didn’t do great things for her new homeland, but she established a connection between Hesse and Russia, paving the way for other representatives of her house.
Russian Empress from Darmstadt
The great-niece of Natalia Alekseevna, Maximilian, will also go to Russia in 1840 in order to become Empress Maria Alexandrovna in the future. Alexander II, her husband, seeing her in Darmstadt, immediately realized that this girl could become his true associate and assistant.
It was rumored that Maximilian, although officially recognized by the Hessian Grand Duke, Ludwig II, was in fact the daughter of her mother's favorite, the Baron de Grany. But even the secret of the origin of the German princess did not bother Alexander. In Russia, Maximilian, having turned into Maria Alexandrovna, quickly learned the Russian language and began to carefully comprehend the foundations of Orthodoxy.
The people fell in love with their ruler for her majestic modesty: she managed to do many good deeds, without boasting of the nobility of her nature.
Empress Maria became the patroness of the Red Cross organization, and during Russian-Turkish war 1877-78 personally went to open military hospitals. She was interested in questions women's education: once her reformer husband received from his wife a project to create women's gymnasiums and women's diocesan schools.
Maria Alexandrovna also supported Russian culture: on her initiative, the famous Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg was built, she also maintained a professional ballet school - the future Agrippina Vaganova Academy. Such deeds could not go unnoticed, and the names of the Siberian town of Mariinsk, the Chuvash Mariinsky Posad and the city of Mariehamn on the Aland Islands, which once belonged to Russia, speak of love for the Empress.
Elizaveta Fyodorovna Romanova
At the end of the century, the third representative of Hesse arrived in Russia - Elizabeth, or as she was affectionately called at home, Ella. She was to become the wife of Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov, son of Maria Alexandrovna and Alexander II.
Ella took her marriage seriously: although she was not the wife of the direct heir to the throne, the princess decided to convert to Orthodoxy and became Elizabeth Feodorovna. It was at the wedding of Elizabeth and Sergei Alexandrovich that the future Nicholas II and Alyx, Elizabeth's sister, later Alexandra Feodorovna, the last princess of Hesse-Darmstadt in the history of the Romanov dynasty, first met.
But back to the elder sister of the last Russian Empress. How did she spend her days in her new homeland? Ella has been involved in charity since childhood with her mother, Alice of Hesse Sr. She did not leave this occupation in Russia either: a hospital in Ilyinsky, the estate of Sergei Alexandrovich, was built at her expense, charity fairs for peasants were also held there.
After the appointment of Sergei Alexandrovich to the post of Moscow Governor-General, his wife organized the Elizabethan Charitable Society, which took care of children from poor families. Gradually, the society began to operate not only in Moscow itself, but throughout the Moscow province.
The Ladies Committee of the Red Cross, its Moscow Department, the Special Committee for Assistance to Soldiers during Russo-Japanese War- hard to enumerate full list charitable organizations with which Elizaveta Fedorovna worked. She has always been at the forefront of charity, she herself prepared parcels and medicines for the military, sewed clothes for them.
And in 1909, four years after the death of her husband at the hands of a terrorist, having sold her jewelry and bought a house with this money, Elizaveta Fyodorovna founded the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy, an organization of sisters of mercy close to the monastery according to its charter. In the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent, Elizabeth opened a free dining room, a hospital, and an orphanage. There, not only assistance was provided with gray-haired people, clothing and medicines, but also spiritual assistance to the suffering.
The princess organized educational lectures and spiritual readings. The monastery also held meetings of the Geographical and Palestinian Society, of which she became chairman after the death of her husband. As part of her charitable activities, Elizaveta Feodorovna was not afraid to visit the most criminal areas of Moscow to help young children, and it never occurred to any of the most inveterate criminals to interfere with the Grand Duchess.
Along with her sisters from the monastery, Elizabeth cared for the sick and dying. But all the good deeds did not save the princess from a tragic end. After the Bolsheviks came to power, Elizabeth remained in the country and was arrested. Together with other members of the Romanov family, she died in a mine near Alapaevsk, in the Urals. Even being seriously wounded, Elizabeth tried to help her relatives - she bandaged their wounds with improvised means. Named in honor of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia, famous for her good deeds, Ella herself was canonized in 1992 as an Orthodox saint.
Alexandra Fedorovna - Alice of Hesse
Elizaveta Feodorovna was an excellent role model for her younger sister. The beloved granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Alice of Hesse, after the death of her mother, grew up in Britain and for the time being did not even think about far northern Russia.
Arriving at her sister's wedding, Alice won the heart of Tsarevich Nicholas from the first meeting. Although the parents of the future emperor were not happy with the bride, the engagement nevertheless took place. Nicholas and Alice, who became Alexandra in Orthodoxy, were so intoxicated with each other that they did not wait for the end of mourning for the deceased to perform the marriage ceremony. Alexander III, and got married on November 14, 1894, on the birthday of Empress Maria Feodorovna, when some retreat from mourning was allowed.
Shortly after the wedding, Alexandra Feodorovna began to fulfill her imperial duties. In particular, the Empress took patronage over the Russian regiments - the Life Guards of the Ulansky Name of Her Majesty, the 5th Hussars of Alexandria, the 21st East Siberian Rifles of the Crimean Cavalry. In the future, the empress will have to interact very often with the military - she had two difficult wars for Russia - the Russo-Japanese and the First World War.
The experience of communicating with regimental servicemen was useful former princess Hessian: she knew how she could help the military. So, in 1904, at the suggestion of Alexandra Fedorovna, members of the Romanov family allocated funds to equip eight military hospital trains. When the eldest daughters of the empress, Olga and Tatyana, grew up, to the works of mercy, according to family tradition rulers of Hesse, they were also involved.
Their youth came during the First World War, and together with their mother, the girls began to take care of the sick and wounded who came from the fronts: Olga, Tatyana and Alexandra Fedorovna were trained in nursing, and then assisted in operations already as certified surgical nurses in the Tsarskoye Selo infirmary .
At the same time, it seemed to the wounded that the dressings made by the hands of the Romanovs held much better. In addition to direct work in the operating room, Alexandra Fedorovna visited other hospitals under her patronage. The Empress did not forget about the needs of the distant front. As in the last war, she helped to equip trains - military sanitary and mobile warehouse trains under the flag of the Red Cross.
At the same time, Empress Alexandra took care of those who had already given their debt to their homeland: she supported the Committee for finding places for military ranks who suffered in the war with Japan and the Charity House for crippled soldiers. In addition, she was in charge of the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society, the Alexandria Women's Shelter, the All-Russian Guardianship for the Protection of Motherhood and Infancy, a shelter for children with developmental disabilities and many organizations to help the poor.
Undoubtedly, to keep track of such a number of charitable causes in such hard time, you need great spiritual endurance and the ability to sympathize. The Empress learned these qualities from Orthodoxy.
Alexandra Feodorovna was deeply imbued with the spirit new religion and was actively interested in its traditions, directly taking part in Orthodox events. For example, the Empress venerated St. Seraphim of Sarov and in 1903 participated in the celebrations of the glorification and discovery of his relics in the Sarov Hermitage.
Alexandra Fedorovna believed that Orthodoxy should always be with her: in Darmstadt, for the Romanov couple, a Orthodox Church Mary Magdalene. Like her elder sister, in the same way devoted to Orthodoxy, Alexandra Fedorovna became a holy great martyr: as she herself said in conclusion, "I prefer to die in Russia than to be saved by the Germans." So the canonization of saints is a kind of tribute to the last Hessian princess in Russia, who, like her predecessors, was able to love her new homeland and give her a part of herself, having done many good deeds for the country.
Irina Holm-Martynyuk
