Catherine II and her sexual life. Celebrities. Catherine II and her sex life Catherine 2 and her intimate
Dear old lady lived
It's nice, it's kind of crazy.
Voltaire was the first friend,
Wrote prose, burned fleets,
And died boarding the ship
A.S. Pushkin
Exactly 215 years ago, on November 17 (November 6 O.S.), 1796, Catherine the Second, Empress and Autocrat of All Russia, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Queen of Kazan, Queen of Astrakhan, Queen of Siberia, Empress of Pskov and Grand Duchess of Smolensk, Princess of Estlyandskaya, Livonia, Korelskaya, Tverskaya, Yugorskaya, Permskaya, Vyatskaya, Bulgarian and others, Empress and Grand Duchess of Novgorod of Nizovsky lands, Chernigovskaya, Ryazanskaya, Rostovskaya, Yaroslavskaya, Beloozerskaya, Udorskaya, Obdorskaya, Kondiyskaya and all Northern countries Sovereign and Sovereign of the Iberian Land, Kartalian and Georgian Kings and Kabardian lands, Cherkasy and Mountain Princes and other Hereditary Sovereign and Possessor.
A rumor immediately spread among the people that Catherine II died while trying to have sexual relations with a stallion, whom they allegedly tried to pile on her with ropes. Although there is not a single historical evidence of Catherine's "special" affection for horses, this rumor turned out to be quite persistent. In particular, this particular episode became one of the scenes of the masterpiece of German cinema in 1983, from which, at the dawn of home video in the USSR, I began my acquaintance with world cinema classics - the film “Catherine and Her Wild Stallions”. Death and injuries allegedly received from shrapnel were not the cause a chamber pot that collapsed under the empress's huge ass, which was the second rumor.
There was also a third false rumor that had a true basis: the toilet room in which Catherine II lost consciousness was one of the first full-fledged toilets in Europe with running water, the “stool” of which the empress, not without humor, ordered to be made from a gilded ancient Polish throne of the Piast dynasty , fanned by centuries of the glorious history of the Commonwealth. According to this rumor, the empress was found bleeding - she allegedly had a severe stab wound, which was inflicted by a blow from below. It was assumed that inside the former throne there was a Polish dwarf avenger, who allegedly hit the empress with a cleaver, after which he managed to safely leave the Winter Palace.
It remains unknown where such juicy stories came from. The rumor about the stallion most likely traces its history to revolutionary France, where the monarchy was unpopular, and similar gossip about horses spread about Marie Antoinette. The rumor about a chamber pot could have been successfully launched by Paul I, offended by his mother, whose courtiers were famous for their ability to spread gossip. Well, the rumor about the Polish avenger most likely has Polish roots - I don’t remember something more cynical and humorous abuse of the history of another state, like the Polish throne in the role of Catherine’s toilet bowl.
There was also a fourth persistent rumor. According to him, shortly before her death - November 13, 1796 - the Empress was allegedly visited by a ghost in the form of herself. At night, the ladies-in-waiting, who were on duty at the door of Catherine's bedroom, saw that the Empress, dressed in a night dress and with a candle in her hands, was entering the throne room. Next, they heard a call from the bedroom, which called the servants on duty. The ladies-in-waiting opened the doors and saw the empress lying in bed. It turned out that she heard someone's steps and they prevented her from sleeping.
Having learned about the strange vision, Catherine ordered to get dressed and, accompanied by her ladies-in-waiting, went to the throne room. There, in a hall lit by a greenish glow, another Catherine appeared. She sat on the throne and was silent. The real empress managed to shout out an order for the guards to open fire on the ghost, and fainted.
Whatever happened with the ghost, but on the morning of November 16, as usual, Catherine, getting out of bed and drinking coffee, went to the toilet room, and, contrary to her usual habit, stayed there longer than usual. The valet on duty of the Empress Zakhar Zotov, sensing something unkind, quietly opened the door of the dressing room and saw with horror the body of Catherine lying on the floor. Her eyes were closed, her complexion was purple, and wheezing came from her throat. The Empress was transferred to the bedchamber. During the fall, Catherine dislocated her leg, her body became so heavy that six people of the room servants did not have enough strength to lift him onto the bed. Therefore, a red morocco mattress was laid on the floor and the dying empress was laid on it.
The Empress had a brain hemorrhage, according to the terminology of the XVIII century - "apoplexy." According to the Chamber Fourier magazine - this kind of diary-chronicle of the life of Her Majesty - "the suffering continued uninterruptedly, the sigh of the womb, wheezing, at times the eruption of dark sputum from the larynx."
Despite the fact that Catherine did not regain consciousness, the Chamber Fourier journal reports that the Empress was confessed by her confessor, communed with the holy mysteries and unction with oil by Metropolitan Gabriel. True, it remains unclear how a person lying in an unconscious state can confess and take communion ...
Meanwhile, the doctors continued to conjure over the motionless thing that used to be Empress Catherine - her body: they applied Spanish flies to her legs, put emetic powders in her mouth, let "bad blood" out of her hand. But all was in vain: the empress’s face turned purple, then filled with a pink blush, her chest and stomach constantly rose and fell, and the court lackeys wiped the sputum flowing from her mouth, straightened her arms, then her head, then her legs.
Doctors predicted that death would come at 3 o'clock the next day, and indeed, at this time, Catherine's pulse noticeably weakened. But her strong body continued to resist the impending death and lasted until 9 pm, when the life physician Rogerson announced that the Empress was ending, and the happy Pavel, his wife, older children, the most influential dignitaries and room servants lined up on both sides of the morocco mattress. (from the web)
Everyone has the right to privacy, but when you are a real celebrity, even if you live decades ago, your intimate secrets will sooner or later come to the surface. And so it happened with these rulers, writers and scientists, whose sexual preferences can hardly be called normal.
1. Maxim Gorky
The well-known proletarian writer Maxim Gorky was faithful to high ideas not only in relation to his homeland, but also in matters of sex. No, of course, he did not refuse him, however, in his youth, when his peers were already discovering the wonderful world of sexual pleasures with might and main, Maxim behaved a little differently. He also went to "public establishments", but did not take an active part in the action itself, instead, he watched everything, moving to the wall and ... singing folk songs at the same time.
2. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was known as a supporter of rather aggressive sex. Turgenev even compared him with the Marquis de Sade himself. Such inclinations of the writer were confirmed by his second wife Anna Snitkina. According to her, among other things, her husband asked her to describe in detail all the sensations that she experienced while having sex with him. She also emphasized that Fyodor Mikhailovich was insanely aroused by the fact that young Anna found him a sexually attractive man.
3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
One of the greatest musicians in the history of mankind was obsessed with excrement. Although, it must be admitted that he began to compose music at the age of 5. So Wolfgang Amadeus wrote 600-something pieces of music, as well as a bunch of letters to his cousin, where he quite frankly admitted that he wanted to "defeat on her face."
4. James Joyce
The greatest writer of Ireland and the surrounding area, a pioneer of modern literature, the creator of such masterpieces as "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man", "Dubliners" and "Ulysses" was very fond of non-traditional sex. While away, he liked to write long and frank letters to his wife Nora. If not for them, humanity would never have known that the classic of literature loved Nora for her "fat thighs" and for allowing her to release gases in her face.
5. Catherine the Great
Catherine has always been famous for her restless sexual appetite. Her palace even had a special room with a huge bed. If necessary, a secret mechanism divided the bed into two parts with a wall - the favorite remained on the hidden half, and on the second, the empress, who had not cooled down from love pleasures, received ambassadors and ministers. In addition, some historians argue that Catherine passionately loved horses, and this is not about platonic feelings.
6. Peter III
The husband of Catherine II had a very unusual oddity, for which, some historians classify his sexual orientation as non-traditional. The fact is that Peter III could not achieve an erection until his wife put on a male military uniform, and not any, but an enemy one, that is (for that time), the uniform of a German soldier.
7. Benjamin Franklin
The politician, diplomat, statesman, scientist and inventor, forever imprinted on a 100-dollar bill, had fun not only with natural electricity and lightning rods, but also with elderly ladies. As mistresses, he chose women 20-30, or even 40 years older than himself. Why did he prefer old women as mistresses, although he was a zealous defender of the institution of marriage? Because, as he wrote in a letter to a friend: "They have more experience, they are more reasonable and restrained, they keep a better secret and do not arouse suspicion of adultery. As for what is below the waist, you will never distinguish a young woman from an old one" .
8. Albert Einstein
The greatest mind of the 20th century, of course, most of all loved science and only science. Well, after her - everything that moves, and what the skirt is wearing. He was married twice (once to his cousin), and honestly cheated on both wives. Although, it must be said in his defense, he presented his first wife with a list of rules, in which there was a clause that she did not expect "neither intimacy nor fidelity" from him. Before marrying his cousin Elsa, he almost committed marriage to her 22-year-old daughter. In addition, he had intimate relationships with almost all of his female relatives.
9. Marquis de Sade
The French aristocrat, writer and philosopher, became famous for being a preacher of absolute freedom, not limited by morality, religion, or law, but only by satisfying the aspirations of the individual. At a time when showing a knee wrapped in a stocking was considered the height of immorality, the Marquis de Sade (actually, a count) wrote about such things that even modern man hair stands on end. For which he was imprisoned. True, immediately after he left the gloomy dungeons, he organized a paradise for a pervert in his castle, settling sex slaves of both sexes there for his pleasure. Having spent a total of 32 years in prisons and psychiatric hospitals, the Marquis de Sade gave the world the term "sadism", and explained that you can give yourself pleasure by whipping someone with a whip.
10. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
To achieve sexual arousal, the great French writer had to be spanked, or better yet, whipped. "He who loves punishes well," writes the inventor of direct democracy. And he also confesses that this strange feature was laid down by his own governess, who in childhood spanked the child for any offense.
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Catherine the Great
The empress was very fond of this word. And not only loved, she rightfully deserved it. For "Greatness in everything" is the motto of this extraordinary woman! But we will not touch on her public deeds, this is not our task, although we, of course, know that she is both a great statesman and an excellent politician. We are more interested in the alcove side, especially since it has become overgrown with such myths, such legends, that it is time to separate the “grains and tares”, since there are plenty of fiction and rumors running around the world and memoirs. What kind of slander was erected on our mother, the Empress, taking her excessive sensuality for nymphomania and sexual pathology! Until now, some believe that she really built a company of soldiers and looked for among them men with a particularly large phallus, for which purpose they put on special cases that emphasize the shape and beauty of the reproductive organ. You wandered into the wrong century, dear gossips! This was indeed the case with Europeans of the 14th-16th centuries, when it was fashionable for men to put so-called nets on their bodies, sometimes of unimaginable sizes, because the cult of the phallus flourished. Well, maybe the men of Siberia still put on some kind of little cases there, but it’s not from fashion, only from the desire to protect male nature from the frosty climate.
D. G. Levitsky. Portrait of Catherine II in the form of a legislator in the temple of the Goddess of Justice. 1780
They whisper about some stallions, which, as if by no means for riding, were looked for for the queen. And the well-known English writer and psychologist Dian Ackerman in her new book “A Natural Love Story” authoritatively states that such a fact took place in the life of Catherine the Great and that a special design was attached to the stallion for safety.
All this is wild nonsense, dear reader, there was something, of course, but it never reached such a degree of perversion. Although, of course, we will not argue, under her love joys flourished in full bloom, shone with golden placers for many and many years, entering into amazement all of humanity, because never before has the institution of favorites reached such glory, brilliance, power and greatness!
Empire of favorites! Have you seen this?
And for starters, the pedigree: she was born on April 21, 1729 in the small German principality of Anhalt-Zerbst Princess Sophia Augusta Frederick. Her parents are Prince Anhalt-Zerbst and Princess Goldstein. She arrived in Russia in 1744 during the coronation of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and in 1745 she married Grand Duke Peter III.
In 1762, after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna and the brief reign of Peter III, she ascended the Russian throne. She died in February 1796 at the age of 67. Reigned for 34 years.
She loved order and moderation in everything, except for love pleasures, there was no measure. And so all her life she followed this “golden mean” of Confucius. Moderation in food, almost asceticism in alcoholic beverages, the maximum number of hours at the desk, at which state affairs are intertwined with literary activity. Connoisseurs did not highly appreciate the literary work of Catherine II, we do not undertake to judge this, we can only say that its genre was quite diverse. Here are the plays: the comedies “Oh, Time”, “Name Day of Mrs. Vorchalkina”, “Deceiver”, and fairy tales for children written for educational purposes for her grandchildren, but intended for wide distribution: “The Tale of Tsarevich Chlor”, “The Tale of Prince Fabia. Even the libretto for the opera was written by the queen, and the most famous is Fedul with Children, the plot of which tells about the ups and downs of poor Fedul, who was left a widower with 15 children. Surprisingly, the opera was staged on the St. Petersburg stage, and the music was written by the court bandmaster V. Pashkevich.
Many believed that Catherine had wonderful talents and a subtle mind. Here is how the French envoy Segur writes about her: “She had great talents and a subtle mind. It combines qualities that are rarely found in one person. Inclined to pleasure and industrious, simple in domestic life and secretive in political affairs. Her ambition is boundless, but she knew how to direct it to prudent goals. Passionate in hobbies, but constant in friendship. Majestic before the people, kind and condescending in society. Her importance was always mixed with good nature, gaiety was decent. The French envoy, Count Segur, states: "She was a majestic monarch and a kind lady."
The appearance of Catherine, at least in her youth and years of maturity, is attractive: "She had an aquiline nose, a lovely mouth, blue eyes, black eyebrows, a pleasant look, a charming smile."
The portrait of Catherine the Great, given by a man in love, is similar to the original, except for ... the eyes. Some believed that Catherine the Great's eyes were gray. Maybe that's why indecisive historians, entangled in conflicting assessments of the color of the Empress' eyes, compromised and wrote: "She has blue eyes with a grayish veil." That is, gray-blue or bluish-gray. Do not be surprised, dear reader, that it is not so easy to determine the color of the eyes of reigning monarchs. Even mere mortals have the ability to change their color depending on the mental state of its owner. Recall that there are still conflicting estimates of Grigory Rasputin's eye color. Green - say some, others - blue, third - gray, fourth - azure, and the fifth declare: "Rasputin's eyes are whitish with such deep sockets that the eyes themselves are not visible."
Let us return, however, to Empress Catherine the Great.
She got up early, although somewhat later than the "early bird" Anna Ioannovna, who was usually on her feet at six o'clock in the morning. Catherine got up at seven - seven thirty in the morning. She worked at her desk until nine o'clock.
At nine in the morning she returned to the bedroom and received reports. When the favorites appear, all the officials leave with a bow. For favorites, the doors of Her Highness are always open. Then the queen goes to a small dressing room, where she is combed by the palace hairdresser Kozlov. Her hair is thick and long and does not at all correspond to the Russian proverb: "the hair is long, the mind is short." When she sits down in front of the toilet, they fall to the ground. The personal apartments of the queen are magnificent and equipped with great taste: “It is impossible to imagine anything more refined and magnificent than the dressing room, bedroom and boudoir of Her Majesty. The dressing room is all furnished with mirrors decorated with golden frames. The bedroom is surrounded by small pillars, covered from top to bottom with massive silver, half silver, half purple. The background of the columns is formed by mirrors and a painted ceiling. All three chambers are luxuriously decorated with bronze and gilded garlands around all columns.
In this little dressing room they finish dressing her. Her costume is simple: a simple Moldavian dress with wide sleeves. There are no jewels on the dress. She wears jewelry and a ribbon with the Order of Catherine only at ceremonial receptions. On parade days, a simple suit will be replaced by a red velvet dress, which Catherine called the “Russian dress”. She generally liked to demonstrate everything Russian, even with some exaggeration. All her servants, unlike other queens, are only Russians. While she is taking her toilet, she is surrounded by four chamber-jungfers. Recall that at that time Elizabeth Petrovna was surrounded by up to forty ladies-in-waiting. All Kammer Jungfers are old maids and, of course, ugly.
Staying in a small closet is a big reception time. And the room itself resembles a reception room. It is packed full of people: here are the grandchildren who came to greet their grandmother, several close friends, the court jester Naryshkin, Matryona Danilovna, who amuses the empress with her jokes, through which the queen learns about St. Petersburg gossip, which she did not shun at all.
Catherine's palaces are magnificent. Here and Zimny, in which her son Pavel especially loved to live later, and Ekateringof, built by Peter I in honor of his wife Catherine, completed by Elizaveta Petrovna, who turned it from a one-story building into a two-story one with twenty rooms on each floor. Preserving the first floor in modesty and asceticism, as Peter loved, she turned the upper floor into luxurious salons with walls upholstered in white velvet with flowers and satin damask. Everywhere, as in a museum, magnificent paintings in heavy gilded frames. This palace was especially close to Elizabeth Petrovna. Here she died.
Catherine the Second preferred to stay in the Hermitage - the Big and the Small. The Hermitage impressed with the hugeness of the halls and galleries, the richness of the furnishings, the many mirrors and paintings by great masters and the magnificent winter garden, where greenery, flowers and birdsong are at any time of the year. Here at the end of the palace was a beautiful theater hall. It is semicircular, without boxes, with benches arranged in an amphitheatre. Twice a month, solemn performances take place here, at which the presence of the entire diplomatic corps is obligatory. On other days, the number of spectators did not exceed 20 people, and the actors complained that they were playing almost without an audience.
In addition to the Russians, a troupe of French actors was discharged from France, who were constantly at a loss: how can you play in an empty hall? There was an intimate Small Hermitage here, in whose apartments only the closest circle of people was allowed and whose intimacy was kept by a well-trained footman and lady Perekusikhina, but there was an unhealthy rumor about him: they say, unbridled orgies are committed there. So what? Kings and kings also need privacy. Not all live for show! Commercials and under a nervous breakdown you can fall. Louis XV, who had cooled to his Pompadour to the point of purely physical disgust, when the great woman cried from the coldness of the king, who ran away from her bed at night to an uncomfortable couch, supposedly from the heat, also had his own "Deer Park" - a small but superbly furnished building in which young prostitutes grew up for him. True, Louis XIV did not have the Deer Park, but his apartments were always connected by some secret corridors and secret stairs with the chambers of his mistresses. Henry II dug an underground corridor from his palace to the palace of Diana Poitiers for unhindered communication with her.
In a word, there is nothing new in these secret apartments. And there is nothing to be surprised at by one foreign ambassador, who, after the death of Catherine, opened two small rooms in the Winter Palace, located behind the bedroom of the empress: the walls of one of them were hung from top to bottom with very valuable miniatures in gold frames depicting voluptuous scenes. The second room was an exact copy of the first, but only all the miniatures were portraits of men whom the Empress loved and knew.
In 1785, Catherine left the Hermitage and moved to live in the Winter Palace. Her private quarters are on the ground floor and are very small. Climbing up a small staircase, one must enter a room where almost the entire place is occupied by a table for secretaries. Nearby is a lavatory with windows overlooking the Palace Square. Here Catherine makes a toilet. This is a small exit. There are two doors in the dressing room: one leads to the Diamond Hall, the other to Catherine's bedroom. The bedroom communicates in the back with a small dressing room, where everyone is forbidden to enter, and to the left - with the queen's study. It is followed by the Hall of Mirrors and other reception rooms of the palace.
From here, the queen goes to the church for worship. IN certain days all foreign ambassadors were to take part in this. By the way, about the ambassadors. Foreign ambassadors have long existed in Russia. But in the beginning they were isolated and their deeds were random. But already under Ivan the Terrible in Russia there was a permanent ambassador of the Queen of England, and under Peter I the institution of ambassadors increased. They represented strong powers seeking friendship with Russia. There were embassies of Denmark, Holland, Austria, Saxony, Brandenburg, Sweden, England and France in St. Petersburg.
The English ambassador Cox describes the visit of Empress Catherine to the Great Church in 1778 as follows: “After mass, a long line of courtiers of both sexes stretched out, the Empress walked alone, moving forward with a quiet and solemn step, with her head proudly raised and incessantly bowing to both sides. At the entrance, she stopped for a few seconds and spoke affably to the foreign ambassadors who kissed her hand. The empress was dressed in a Russian attire: a light green silk dress with a short train and a corsage of golden brocade with long sleeves. She seemed heavily rumpled. Her hair was combed low and lightly powdered. The headdress is all studded with diamonds. Her person is very majestic, although her height is below average, her face is full of dignity and is especially attractive when she speaks.
The empress allowed herself to rest only in the evening and after dinner. After dinner, she embroidered while her secretary, Betsky, read aloud to her. In the evening - theater, balls and masquerades, as well as a card game, before which there was a great hunter and which her son Paul subsequently banned, and the merry court of the queen became as boring as Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV's secret wife, Madame Montenon.
This hypocrite, the daughter of a counterfeiter, born in prison, raising the illegitimate children of the king, whom he hated at first, crept into his confidence so much that she claimed to openly proclaim herself queen of France. But how bored this "cold snake" was! There are such people, Catherine's son Paul belongs to them, who have the ability to extinguish the spark of God in everything. Catherine, filled with life and fun, on the contrary, inflated her. Her balls and masquerades are very interesting and devoid of prim court etiquette. Citizens were even allowed not to get up in her presence. Thanks to such immediacy, the atmosphere at her balls became relaxed, the fun was natural. Masquerades received a lot of attention. If Catherine the Great adopted anything from her aunt Elizabeth Petrovna, it was a passion for masquerades. At that they took place regularly, twice a week, with great fanfare and a huge number of guests. There were up to 1000-1500 people invited. It was considered a great honor to receive an invitation ticket to the masquerades of Elizabeth Petrovna, which took place in the palace, located on the corner of the Moika and Nevsky Prospekt. All the front chambers leading to the great hall opened up there. All wooden decorations and carvings were painted green, and the wallpaper panels were gilded. On one side were 12 large windows and as many mirrors, the largest you could possibly have. The hall, by its immensity, made a colossal impression. Countless masks in the richest costumes moved along it. All the chambers were richly lit, with ten thousand candles. There were several rooms for dancing, for playing cards. In one of the rooms, the empress played “pharaoh” or “picket”, and at ten o’clock in the evening she left and appeared in a fancy dress, remaining in it until 5–6 o’clock in the morning. Catherine the Great limited the number of masquerades, they took place once a week, and their duration was only until two in the morning. As for costumes, Elizabeth, who has unusually slender legs, invariably appeared in men's attire, each time in a different one: once she was a page, another time - a French musketeer, and then a Ukrainian hetman. Catherine, who did not have the graceful legs of Elizaveta Petrovna, wore a man's outfit not for masquerades, but out of necessity, for fishing or horse riding, and at masquerades she appeared in women's dresses, but so filthy and poor that she always succeeded in the desired incognito, and courtiers brought to curious cases.
A certain courtier wrote in his diary: “A female mask approaches, dressed very simply and not very neatly, and puts a silver ruble at stake. The banker objected dryly: “You can’t bet less than a gold piece.” The mask, without saying a word, pointed to the image of the empress on the ruble. “All respect is due to her,” Freigold said, kissing the portrait, “but this is not enough for the bet.” The mask suddenly shouted: "All in." The banker got angry, threw a deck of cards at her, which he was holding in his hands, and, giving another ruble, said with annoyance: “It’s better to buy yourself new gloves instead of these, full of holes.” The mask laughed and walked away. The next day, Freigold found out that it was Catherine. “Your lame major is good,” she said to one of the courtiers. “Almost beat me up.”
There can be no doubt about the impunity of such an act. Catherine had an excellent sense of humor. The old General Sh. once introduced himself to Catherine. “I still did not know you,” said the Empress. The bewildered general answered not entirely successfully: “Yes, and I, mother empress, did not know you until now.” “I believe,” Catherine objected with a smile. - Where to know me, poor widow!
The widow, of course, will remain so for the entire thirty-four years of her reign, but by no means poor, and most importantly, not lonely. The rude word "lover" is not very suitable for those men whom Catherine allowed herself. She adored her favorites, who were enough for three decades of reign, from 12 to 26 pieces, but qualitatively their significance is much higher than, say, that of her predecessor, Elizabeth Petrovna. Under Elizabeth, they served exclusively for love pleasures; under Catherine, they served not only her, but also the state. Catherine's favorite is always rich, noble, deified. He is charged with the obligation to have personal dignity.
And if some "little gray bird" on which the attention of the empress fell, well, simply does not possess them, he should have instantly acquired them: fall in love with literature, learn some foreign language, to play a musical instrument yourself and adore music, as well as to know palace etiquette and be able to express yourself gracefully. “We all learned a little, something and somehow” - these words of Pushkin are the most suitable for Catherine's favorites. She skillfully created “magnificent”, “great” and even “brilliant” personalities from modest possibilities, with whom it is not a sin to surround the empress.
However, Catherine bowed before true genius and talent without undue praise and honored without idle colorful words, for she knew how to distinguish gold from glass. Such a favorite, after the loss of her love for him, became for life her sincere friend, friend, adviser in all matters, from love to government, became her first assistant. This is what happened to Prince Potemkin.
Everyone praises Catherine's favorite to the skies, of course, more from a desire to please the queen than from a sincere feeling. He gets a big position, and if he is also vain, then he will be allowed to run the state a little. But only a little! Catherine did not want to share power with anyone. This is not Anna of Austria, who, having fallen madly in love with Cardinal Mazarin and secretly married him, became almost his slave, not having her own voice. Business is time, and fun is an hour, as they say. And Catherine distinguished fun from business very significantly. “I rule the state, and you do what I consider it possible for you to give or take” - as if offered to her favorites. But it is impossible to say for one hundred percent that the queen mother was always free in her feelings. There were times when her public affairs suffered greatly from her mood.
In 1772, Catherine II did not read anything for more than four months and hardly touched the papers, as she was busy with the affairs of the Orlov family.
“I received great sensuality from nature,” Catherine writes in her notes. Of course it is. Only in scientific medical terminology is it called either sexual hysteria or nymphomania. “Ekaterina was never a nymphomaniac,” says researcher-historian K. Valishevsky. Practice says something completely different. No matter how we call Catherine's immoderate sensuality, there is only one conclusion - she is exaggerated, which means it is not normal from the point of view of an ordinary person. To give one's sensuality such gigantic proportions, to nurture it with such cynicism, shamelessness, in the complete absence of elementary female modesty, which is already in the very nature of a woman, is this not a pathology?
To trample on one's sex, one's great rank, one's mind, one's genius, and, finally, a lofty mission, satisfying bestial instincts - is this not a crime against humanity? - say too jealous moralizers. In the learned Forel, we read about the pathological phenomenon of satyriasis in men and nymphomania in women, when they are in the grip of so-called lust and when they are unable and unable to do anything else but satisfy their sizzling physical passion. Was it the same with Catherine? Yes, in the last years of her life, during the period of aging, one could detect these traits of immoderation in her, when base orgies were organized in the secret room of the Hermitage, but basically her love ardor, outwardly at least, was quite decent.
Yes, the state treasury suffered greatly from the appetite of the favorites. And who will calculate the moral damage? After all, moral principles were overthrown. Many dignitaries of that time pointed to the negative phenomenon of "favoritism". So, in a letter to a friend, Prince Shcherbatov openly denounced this shameful phenomenon in Russian life, because the royal court, which legally cultivated adultery, contributed to the decline in morals in Russian society, since society took an example from the court.
Catherine not only did not hide her relationship with her lovers, but clearly preached them, raised them to a pedestal, made them a kind of cult. Otherwise, why would she decorate all the walls of a small boudoir with magnificent miniature portraits depicting her long-term and short-term lovers, as a museum rarity, for everyone to see. Her cynicism in the matter of morality and morality knows no equal, and this despite the sanctimonious appearance of a champion of moral standards. Let us recall how sharply she spoke out against the free morals of French actresses, or with what passion she fought against the traditional washing of women and men in the same bath.
The appointment of a favorite was made very quickly, although not without a certain ceremony. All young officers who really had or believed that they had a beautiful figure, and in particular, excuse us for obscene frankness, impressing the phallus, which was not difficult to detect with the then fashion for tight white trousers, could count on special service in the queen's palace apartments. She loved to pass into private rooms among two rows of handsome young men lined up, proudly displaying their charms. The courtiers laughed: "The palace apartments were a place where the lower part of the body was especially valued." Many families based their hopes on some young relative who fell into the retinue of the empress, if, in their opinion, his constitution deserved the attention of the queen's watchful eye.
At the evening reception, the courtiers suddenly noticed that the empress was staring at some lieutenant. The next day, he was expected to be promoted - he was appointed adjutant wing of the queen. The position of the adjutant wing is the road to the alcove of Catherine II. In the afternoon, a young man was summoned to the palace with a short note. He is undergoing a medical examination by the life physician of the Empress, the Englishman Rogerson - a precaution far from superfluous in caring for the health of the Empress.
After all, Catherine in no case could make the mistakes of her predecessors - Ivan the Terrible and Peter I, who, without special precautions, gave themselves up to love pleasures, not thinking about its consequences. Historians and chroniclers, in order not to belittle the greatness of the genius, bashfully kept silent about the venereal disease of Peter I. Only two dared to break this taboo: the emigrant Stepanov in 1903 and the modern writer Valentin Lavrov. The latter not only mentions this incident, but also goes into details: with whom and when.
And other historical examples in this regard are far from comforting. The royal courts of the advanced countries of Europe were infected with venereal diseases. Peyron, the surgeon of King Louis XV, treated the ladies of the court for syphilis.
Louis XIV was ill with syphilis and was cured with difficulty in his early youth. And the court physician did not treat him with anything for seven whole months: he washed the organ with formic alcohol, forced him to drink bull's blood and some mysterious elixirs, the recipe of which was kept in great secret. Barely cured, because then there was no saving penicillin.
The doctor of Henry VII treated him for syphilis for a very long time with a medicine based on mercury, the composition of which was kept in deep secrecy.
The great Frederick II, who was not specifically a Don Juan, managed to get a severe form of syphilis from a prostitute and remained barren for the rest of his life.
Cardinal Dubois surgeons were forced to remove the genitals altogether, because untreated, chronic syphilis gave a dangerous ulcer on the bladder. The courtiers maliciously sneered: "A great man will go to the next world without his manhood."
Queen Elizabeth fled Vienna because her husband infected her with gonorrhea. The incorrigible Don Juan, the French king Henry IV, suffered from this disease an infinite number of times, in whose democratic alcove a variety of ladies visited: aristocrats, courtesans, actresses and many peasant girls, in total, as not entirely objective chroniclers say, up to eleven thousand, for this overly sensual the king had a weakness for the female sex in all its diversity: from secular ladies and prostitutes to nuns, inclusive. And he especially loved these “black” pious quiet women who served God: they brought the necessary pepper to his sexual intercourse. Well, I received an “award” from such a nun Katerina Verdun - severe syphilis. Forcefully healed.
The father of Catherine de Medici was ill with a severe form of syphilis, who adopted this heredity not in its direct form, but in frail offspring, including Queen Margot and the son of Charles IX. Venereal disease at court is the scourge of the Renaissance, no wonder King Francis I was so mortally afraid of contracting it that, being very eager for love pleasures, he forced his mistresses, regardless of their social status, even famous secular ladies, before going to bed in his bed , to undergo the humiliating procedure of a gynecological examination by a court physician. Some husbands were afraid of venereal diseases like fire, which their wives could pick up in the bed of the king.
So, after a medical examination, Catherine's favorite is entrusted to the care of Countess Bruce, whose task was to take care of the appropriate wardrobe of the chosen one. He passes the next stage of testing at the alcove lady, Mrs. Protasova, and then, checked, washed, dressed in the thinnest shirts and hastily trained in palace etiquette, he is taken to the prepared apartments. He is expected here by comfort, unprecedented luxury, servants. Opening his desk drawer, he finds 100,000 rubles (a fixed rate for sexual favors to newly minted favorites) in it.
Then he is solemnly escorted into the bedroom of the Empress. In the evening, cheerful and contented, the empress appears before the assembled court, leaning on the hand of her favorite. By her mood, the courtiers will know if he is left in his position. If not, they will let him go with God, and even the award of 100,000 rubles will not be taken away. We remind dear readers that with this money he could buy three thousand serf girls.
But the favorite is confirmed. Exactly at ten o'clock in the evening, having finished playing cards, the empress retires to her bedchamber, where the favorite slips after her with a nimble mouse. From now on, his future depends only on himself. If the empress is satisfied with his services, he will remain in his “golden cage” for as long as the empress wishes, unless, of course, unforeseen circumstances occur for his somewhat hasty resignation, which happened to the empress more than once.
From the moment he is approved for the position of favorite, he will accompany the queen everywhere, in all her trips and exits. When leaving, his apartments will be located next to the apartments of the queen, and the beds will be masked by a huge mirror, which can move aside with the help of a special spring - and now the double marital bed is ready.
The position of the favorite is very well paid. Much more than all other positions. Unheard-of wealth and royal honors await the lover, and if he is ambitious, then glory. From now on, he does not have to worry about his future. If, after some time, he is shown the door, he will not leave empty-handed. He will take with him the granted estates, palaces, furniture, utensils, how many thousands of souls of peasants there, he will be allowed to marry, go abroad, in a word, he will be happy for the rest of his life. It is estimated that Catherine the Great distributed 800,000 acres of land, along with the peasants inhabiting them, and 90 million in money to her favorites. The position of favorite thus became an official state institution. What the first Russian tsarinas timidly began, what Elizabeth Petrovna had already introduced with some courage, was ingeniously improved, exalted, introduced to the rank of honorary titles by Catherine II. With what disarming simplicity and naturalness she accepts the services of a favorite, without making any secret of this, even before her grandchildren. In the evening, a friendly family gathers in her apartment: son Pavel with his wife and children and a favorite. They drink tea, joke, talk about family affairs, then the family delicately says goodbye, the grandchildren kiss their grandmother's hand, she kisses them on the cheek, and leaves, leaving the favorite alone with the queen.
Everything is decent, as in a respectable family. No one ever expressed any censure at court on this occasion. Only foreigners were indignant, believing that Catherine was compromising both her deeds and her great name. She herself sincerely did not see anything discrediting her in this.
Well, what is it about this that Catherine raised the bed to the highest pedestal, created a cult of sensual love? She was not only sensual by nature, but also an educated woman, well-read, besides German, where the cult of the bed had its own historical traditions. “You get into bed and you get your rights,” says an old German proverb. And sexual insatiability was one of the features of this era, serving three cults: food, drink and sexual pleasures. And if Catherine was extremely moderate in food and drink, then she gave herself to love with all the passion she was capable of.
The Empress guards her favorites and is jealous. Usually they are not allowed to leave the palace without her knowledge. There were exceptions, of course. Such an exception was Grigory Orlov, who openly cheated on the queen with his numerous mistresses and often left her for whole weeks. Such an exception was Prince Potemkin, the only one who retained his independence and, having ceased to be Catherine's lover, became her friend, adviser, an absolutely necessary and valuable person. But other favorites were forced to reckon with their dependent position and not to forget that they are supposed to be unobtrusive and inoffensive. So, Mamonov only once received permission to go himself to the house of the ambassador Count Segur, but the empress was so worried and jealous of her lover that her carriage flashed back and forth in front of the windows of the embassy, to the great bewilderment of the astonished guests.
It would be best for Catherine if the favorite absolutely merged with her "I". Observed the same interests, tastes and desires.
That is why she was so willing to educate them. And when in other royal courts of Europe they began to whisper about the immorality of Catherine the Great, Masson declared: "Her manners were refined and dissolute, but she always retained some outward decency."
What about other monarchs? At the Viennese court, the favorite is a common thing: he played the role of a servant, lover and friend. The mistress maintains him and pays him a salary. He is always with her, during the toilet he replaces the maid, at dinner - a friend, on a walk - a companion, in bed - her husband. Blaming Catherine the Great, we forget that long before her, European queens introduced the position of favorite. Neither Elizabeth of England, nor Mary of Scotland, nor Christina of Sweden made secrets from their relationship with favorites.
From time immemorial, the mistress of the king was higher than the legitimate spouse. Madame Montespan, mistress of King Louis XIV, had twenty rooms in Versailles on the first floor, and the queen only eleven, and then on the second floor. In front of the palace of the favorite of the Prussian king Frederick II, ballerina Barbarini, there was a guard of honor, there were maids of honor at her service, as to the persons of the King, and the honors accorded to her were truly royal. Exorbitant signs of attention turned out to the Marquise Pompadour, the mistress of King Louis XV, and neither King Frederick II, nor Queen Maria Theresa, nor our Catherine the Great considered it shameful for themselves to correspond with her.
Henry IV had a Gabrielle who felt so queen that only her death prevented this official appointment. Henry II appears as a submissive slave before the all-powerful Diana Poitier, about whom his wife Catherine de Medici said: "This whore rules the state."
Are we accusing Catherine the Great of indefatigable sensuality? But how many erotomaniac kings reigned in Europe, giving an example "worthy of imitation" to their subjects? With Louis XIV, the parade of favorites begins. Under Friedrich Wilhelm II, the entire court was one great brothel. Everyone vied with each other to offer both their wives and daughters to the bed of the king, and this was considered the highest favor on his part. The favorite "dish" of Louis XV were girls, who were not difficult to seduce just because for his pleasures the girls were fattened like geese for slaughter.
In general, the whole life of this king is a continuous chain of immorality and obscenity. It is difficult to instill morality in subjects. They tried with might and main, wanting to outdo each other in perversion and sadism. Count Haufeld indulged in debauchery openly, in front of everyone, most unceremoniously in front of his own wife. In her presence, he caressed the women who were staying in the castle, forced his wife to be a witness to his nightly adventures. Husbands needed to test their sexual sadism on the patience of their wives. When Count Haufeld's wife gave birth to a dead child and her life was in danger, her husband did not find anything better to console her than to copulate with her best friend Countess Nesselrode right there, in front of her eyes.
He forced his wife to submit to all his lustful desires, all the disgusting depraved tricks he had learned from prostitutes, and to top it all, he infected her with a venereal disease.
Watteau. French theatre.
In France, a certain nobleman, Becker, maintained relations for seven years with children of school age from eight years old. The judicial authorities became interested in him when a pregnant thirteen-year-old girl indicated the name of her father. In prestigious brothels, customers, as a special dessert - quite expensive, however - demanded children.
It is known that Ivan the Terrible was madly in love with his first wife Anastasia. How many times did he cheat on her? The chroniclers found out that after her burial, in the deepest grief, already on the eighth day after her death, he indulged in unbridled debauchery.
And so for centuries. Here is the report of the Board of Trustees of the committee of the St. Petersburg House of Mercy for 1908: "A twelve-year-old prostitute specialized in the unnatural satisfaction of the lust of erotomaniacs." By unnatural meant oral contact. In less than ninety years, in the most backward state in sexual development, which was considered the socialist USSR, where the sexual problem was forbidden, now there is a program on television about the merits of oral sex as the highest degree of sexual pleasure. The program is called "About It" and is presented in such a way that people who have traditional sex should feel inferior.
Sexologist Ellis Gevlock, who studies the sexual question in society, writes: “The libertine will inevitably face a complete moral decline, he reaches the very latest sexual perversions in his striving.”
But, actually, what is "sexual perversion"? Who determines the criteria for what is permitted and what is not permitted? And here we, dear reader, are completely at a loss: it turns out that there is no such criterion. "One likes watermelon, the other pork cartilage." That which among the Europeans was reputed to be refined debauchery, among primitive tribes, by virtue of their animal instinct, is considered the most natural and most natural. The theory of relativity makes itself felt here too.
So, in Australia, young boys and barely formed girls back in the 19th century, starting at the age of ten, cohabited quite freely. The very act of sexual intimacy is not given any bad meaning. Often, parents copulated with children, and the girls were obliged to spend the night with guests accepted by the tribe.
The northern peoples still have a custom, as a sign of special favor to the guest, to give him his wife for the night. Almost since childhood Polynesian girls behave, according to European concepts, with unbridled promiscuity: they are constantly given or sold with the consent of their parents. And when the sailor Cook, glorified by Vysotsky, eaten by the natives, arrived on one of the African islands, he was struck by the sight of local men vying with each other offering their wives, sisters and daughters to the sailors. While Europeans severely punish the newlywed if she turned out to be a non-virgin.
In a word, everything is relative! And give us free rein, we would give this Einstein not one, but a thousand Nobel awards only for one brilliant statement that EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS RELATIVE.
Thus, we will not be too strict with Catherine the Great, but we will try, without emotions, to calmly deal with her lovers.
The most difficult and burdensome for Catherine II was her favorite Grigory Orlov. He was the second son of the remaining five (four sons died at an early age). His father, also Grigory, married at the age of 53 a sixteen-year-old girl, Zinovieva. All the sons lived in complete harmony and loved each other. With Grigory Orlov, the queen, then still the former Grand Duchess, was brought together by chance. And it was like this: after one unpleasant scene with her husband Peter III, with whom, as we already know, Catherine lived worse than ever, she opens the window to cool off at least a little from the quarrel and breathe fresh air. And then her eyes fall on Grigory Orlov. And this moment decided everything: the return look of a handsome young man pierced her like an electric current. The historian tells about this event as follows: “The mere thought of it filled in her heart that void that had formed as a result of the departure of Count Poniatowski from St. Petersburg. Grigory Orlov very soon and not without pleasure noticed what a strong impression he made on the young princess. Thus, an intrigue was born between Ekaterina and Orlov, which proceeded in the usual way. Night darkness covered the forbidden meetings in Gregory's rooms.
In a word, a holy place is never empty. Poniatowski drove off, Orlov appeared. We just don’t understand in any way, in which rooms of Grigory Orlov intimate dates took place? He then lived in an apartment on the corner of Nevsky and Moika. It was difficult for the princess to visit there under the watchful eye of Elizabeth Petrovna. In the palace, too, it doesn’t hurt to scatter with love, around your eyes and ears. But one way or another, Catherine and Grigory Orlov nevertheless found secluded places for love pleasures, and successfully, if she became pregnant from him soon. And since there had been no bodily contacts with her legal husband for a long time, the pregnancy had to be hidden, since the dresses were then worn wide. But God saves the safe. Ekaterina, in order to hide her pregnancy from Aunt Elizabeth, sat all the time, explaining this with a leg disease. For several months, the leg continued to hurt, until the time for childbirth came. And it was in 1762, already in the reign of Peter III, who to deceive - just spit.
And Catherine the Great will give birth many more times, without breaking the record for illegitimate children of Elizaveta Petrovna.
In general, Catherine the Great, who gave birth to about nine illegitimate children, including those who died immediately at birth, gave the next child either to Mrs. Protasova, her trusted maid, or to Mrs. Perekusikhina, her lady's alcove, or to her trusted stoker Shkurin. That big maneuvers had to be carried out so that the queen could give birth safely. Later, when Peter III, her husband, forcibly passed away, the queen could not be embarrassed to walk with a swollen tummy, but the fruits of love joys often appeared even in the presence of her husband. Then this very Shkurin came up with such a maneuver: as soon as the queen felt labor pains, Shkurin's house was on fire. Peter III - we know, we know such a passion of the kings, Ivan the Terrible was seized by it, and Peter I - retired to put out the fire. The owner set fire to the house. And while Peter III extinguished the fire, the queen was safely relieved of the burden.
Mother Catherine the Great always followed both the upbringing and the further fate of her children. Each of them received an estate, money in the bank, education and ... a surname. Well, of course, not royal, really. But quite worthy. Surnames arose either from the name of the estate, as was the case with the son of Catherine and Grigory Orlov - Bobrinsky. He - received a surname from the Bobrino estate donated to him, and one million money was put in a bank in his name. Parents will not be so generous to other children. This Bobrinsky spoiled a lot of blood for the Empress. This son turned out to be an ungrateful scoundrel. Sent abroad, he boasted to foreigners of his illegally high origin, compromising the great queen, losing huge sums in cards, forcing his mother to pay. In general, a worthless son was born, although he was kept almost in a golden carriage, his father and mother secretly, in a closed carriage, often visited Shkurin. He did not take anything from his great mother, but from his father he had an immoderate rage and a quick-tempered temper. He was sent to Revel, to vegetate in the provinces, but the legitimate son of the tsarina, Pavel, who did everything in spite of his mother, avenging his infringed youth, caressed Bobrinsky, called him to the court, elevated him to the counts, and even “for no reason at all” awarded him the Order of the Holy Anna.
The second son was tutored by Ribas, a scientist husband. The child was sent to the cadet corps and his royal origin was not advertised on purpose. But it was an open secret: everyone knew where he came from, and they gave him much more attention than the rest of the children in this very cadet corps.
The next son - Galaktion - remained in the palace for a long time, and he was often seen running around the rooms of the queen's apartments. Then, when he grew up, he was made an officer and sent to England for an education. But Galaktion did not want to be educated, but began, like his older brother, to drink and walk, and died at a young age. The fourth son - Ospin, modest and quiet, who, as we have already told you, received his last name for the smallpox serum given to Pavel, was a page, but also died early.
All the sons of the queen and Orlov were losers and worthless. But daughter Natalya was a success. Natalya Alekseevna Alekseeva, she bore such a surname, like Natasha Rostova, had no conceited claims, was a beautiful blonde, a good mother and wife of a Russian general. She believed that her life, although modest, quiet, was very calm and happy, which, in fact, was necessary for a person.
One daughter, they said, was from Potemkin, and was brought up by him, imitating his sixth niece.
Among historians, dear reader, there was a rumor that Catherine II also had a son from his brother Grigory Orlov, Alexei. But there is no exact data on this topic, so, some vague assumptions. Actually, in the variety of illegitimate children of Catherine, this does not matter much: one more, one less, what a difference! They will educate everyone, they will bring them out to the people, they will give estates and a surname.
Grigory Orlov, fast for love pleasures, will become the father of several more children from the Empress's ladies-in-waiting. Two of his illegitimate daughters from maids of honor are known, about whom the father did not care at all, so one of them, outraged by such an attitude of her father towards her person, decided to seek justice from the empress herself. Somehow she ambushed her in the garden and threw herself at her feet, complaining about her father, from whom she did not know any kindness in infancy, and when she became a girl, she did not receive a dowry and in general almost dies of hunger. Catherine the Great, in accordance with her good nature, of course, provided this girl, adopted by Orlov with her maid of honor, with a dowry, but, frightened by such scenes (that is, all the illegitimate children of her favorites will begin to watch for her in the garden and demand a dowry), she forbade strangers to enter the park, when she walks her dogs there. So it was lucky for our Masha Mironova that, before this order, she ambushed the queen in the park, if this happened a little later, her beloved Grinev would rot in prison dungeons.
And Grigory Orlov was directly insolent in his love affairs, he did not even give married women rest, always getting into incidental stories. So, once Senator Muromtsev found his wife in bed with Grigory Orlov and made a loud noise, demanding a divorce. Catherine again had to intervene in the matter and shut her horned husband's mouth, giving him a beautiful estate in Livonia.
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Catherine II the Great, Empress of All Rus', died of apoplexy in her bed in 1796, at the age of sixty-seven.
It is true that the blow caught Catherine in her toilettes(The restroom (fr.)), but the empress was immediately transferred to bed, where she soon died.
Contrary to the common misconception, Catherine II was not crushed by a stallion with an impressive "household", which they allegedly tried to pile on her; were not the cause of death and injury allegedly received from fragments of a chamber pot that collapsed under a huge derriere(Ass (fr.).) Empress. There is also no evidence of Catherine's "special" affection for horses, except for animals that are ridden.
It is not clear where such juicy stories come from. Perhaps it was only “black” propaganda, successfully launched by Paul I, offended by his mother, whose courtiers were famous for their ability to spread gossip. Or maybe it's the fault of the vile French, who after the Revolution found themselves at war with a coalition of several states at once, including Russia. (The stories about Marie Antoinette, by the way, were no better.)
But no matter where all these stories came from, Catherine's extraordinary behavior, of course, created a certain erotic frisson(Trembling, trembling, shuddering (fr).). The Empress really had a lot of lovers, most of them were "running in" on her ladies-in-waiting. If they successfully passed the “examination”, the candidates received good positions, a title and a position at court.
One of Catherine's favorites, Prince Potemkin (the famous battleship from the film is named after him), himself was once her lover and died at the age of fifty-two after “shaking with a fever, he ate a huge piece of ham at dinner, a whole goose, several chickens and drank an incredible amount of kvass, mead and wine.
Whatever the true number of extramarital affairs of the Empress - only eleven (officially confirmed in her letters) or two hundred and eighty-nine (as inveterate gossips claim) - Catherine II's much more important legacy is her transformation in politics and culture.
Under her, much more was built in St. Petersburg than under its founder Peter I, the confusion and confusion in Russian laws was eliminated; the most beautiful gardens have been planted; Russian picture galleries were filled with works of European art; smallpox vaccination was mandatory. Catherine II patronized writers and philosophers from all over Europe, including Diderot and Voltaire, who called her the Star of the North.
The genetic heritage of the Empress turned out to be much less impressive. Her son, Emperor Paul I (1796-1801), even as a child betrayed and executed a rat for daring to drop his tin soldiers. At an already more mature age, he gave his own horse to the tribunal and sentenced him to fifty lashes. In the end, Paul I was killed (without any trial) by his own close associates, and royal throne passed on to his son.
Catherine II Alekseevna (1729 - 1796), German princess Sophia Frederick Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst - since 1762 the Russian empress.
From the age of 16, Catherine married her 17-year-old cousin Peter, nephew and heir to Elizabeth, the ruling Empress of Russia (Elizabeth herself had no children).
Peter was completely insane and also impotent. There were days when Catherine even thought about suicide.
Catherine II and Peter III
After ten years of marriage, she gave birth to a son. In all likelihood, the father of the child was Sergei Saltykov, a young Russian nobleman, Catherine's first lover.
As Peter became completely insane and increasingly unpopular with the people and at court, Catherine's chances of inheriting the Russian throne looked completely hopeless. Peter, in addition, began to threaten Catherine with a divorce. She decided to organize a coup d'état. In June 1762, Peter, who by that time had already been emperor for half a year, was seized by another crazy idea. He decided to declare war on Denmark. To prepare for military operations, he left the capital. Catherine, guarded by a regiment of the imperial guard, left for St. Petersburg, and declared herself empress. Peter, shocked by this news, was immediately arrested and killed. Catherine's main accomplice was her lovers Count Grigory Orlov and his two brothers. All three were officers of the imperial guard.
During her more than 30 years of rule, Catherine significantly weakened the power of the clergy in Russia, put down a major peasant uprising, reorganized the state administration apparatus, introduced serfdom in Ukraine, and added more than 200,000 square kilometers to Russian territory.
Even before marriage, Catherine was extremely sensual. So, at night she often masturbated, holding a pillow between her legs. Since Peter was completely impotent and completely uninterested in sex, the bed for him was the place where he could only sleep or play with his favorite toys. At 23, she was still a virgin. One night on an island in the Baltic Sea, Catherine's lady-in-waiting left her alone (possibly at the direction of Catherine herself) with Saltykov, a famous young seducer. He promised to give Catherine great pleasure, and she really did not remain disappointed. Catherine was finally able to give free rein to her sexuality. Soon she was already the mother of two children. Naturally, Peter was considered the father of both children, although one day his close associates heard such words from him: “I don’t understand how she becomes pregnant.” Catherine's second child died shortly after his real father, a young Polish nobleman who worked at the British embassy, was expelled from Russia in disgrace.
Three more children were born to Catherine from Grigory Orlov.
Grigory Orlov
Fluffy skirts and lace each time successfully hid her pregnancy. The first child was born to Catherine from Orlov during Peter's lifetime. During childbirth, a large fire was set up near the palace by Catherine's faithful servants to distract Peter. It was well known to everyone that he was a great lover of such spectacles.
The remaining two children were brought up in the homes of Catherine's servants and ladies-in-waiting. These maneuvers were necessary for Catherine, since she refused to marry Orlov, as she did not want to end the Romanov dynasty. In response to this refusal, Gregory turned Catherine's court into his harem. However, she remained faithful to him for 14 years and finally abandoned him only when he seduced her 13-year-old cousin.
Catherine is already 43 years old. She still remained very attractive, and her sensuality and voluptuousness only increased. One of her faithful supporters, cavalry officer Grigory Potemkin, swore his loyalty to her until the end of his life, and then went to the monastery. He did not return to social life until Catherine promised to make him her official favourite.
Empress Catherine II and Grigory Potemkin
For two years, Catherine and her 35-year-old favorite led a stormy love life filled with quarrels and reconciliations.
When Catherine tired of Gregory, he, wanting to get rid of her, but not lose his influence at court, managed to convince her that she could change her favorites as easily as any of her other servants. He even swore to her that he himself would be engaged in their selection.
Such a system worked great until Ekaterina turned 60. A potential favorite first got to be examined by Ekaterina's personal doctor, who checked him for any signs of a venereal disease. If a favorite candidate was recognized as healthy, he had to pass another test - his masculinity was tested by one of Catherine's ladies-in-waiting, whom she herself chose for this purpose. The next step, if the candidate, of course, reached it, was moving into special apartments in the palace. These apartments were located directly above Catherine's bedroom, and a separate staircase, unknown to outsiders, led there. In the apartments, the favorite found a significant amount of money prepared in advance for him. Officially, at court, the favorite had the position of Catherine's chief adjutant. When the favorite changed, the outgoing "night emperor", as they were sometimes called, received some kind of generous gift, for example, a large amount of money or an estate with 4,000 serfs.
Over the 16 years of the existence of this system, Catherine has changed 13 favorites. In 1789, 60-year-old Catherine fell in love with a 22-year-old officer of the Imperial Guard Platon Zubov. Zubov remained the main object of Catherine's sexual interest until her death at the age of 67.
There were rumors among the people that Catherine died while trying to have sexual relations with a stallion.
In fact, she died two days after suffering a severe heart attack.
Peter's impotence is probably explained by the deformity of his penis, which could be corrected with surgery.
Saltykov and his close friends once got Peter drunk and persuaded him to undergo such an operation. This was done in order to explain Catherine's next pregnancy. It is not known whether Peter had sexual relations with Catherine after that, but after a while he began to have mistresses.
Stanislav August Poniatowski. White General.
He died in 1865.
He was buried in the Main Temple of the Prior of the White (Maltese) Order
On Nevsky Prospekt, house 38. Where Paul I was buried.
In 1764, Catherine made the Polish Count Stanisław Poniatowski, her second lover, who had once been expelled from Russia, King of Poland. When Poniatowski was unable to cope with his internal political opponents, and the situation in the country began to get out of his control, Catherine simply erased Poland from the world map, annexing part of this country and giving the rest to Prussia and Austria.
The fate of the rest of Catherine's lovers and favorites turned out differently.
Grigory Orlov went crazy. Before his death, it always seemed to him that he was being haunted by the ghost of Peter, although the assassination of the emperor was planned by Alexei, brother of Grigory Orlov.
