For the first time, little Maria met Peter during the epic with the Prut campaign and the flight of the family from Moldova to Russia. She was eleven then. Peter was captivated by Catherine. But after a few years of a quiet life near Moscow, Maria turned into one of the most beautiful ladies of the Imperial Court. And at the end of the 20s of the 18th century, a mutual and passionate feeling flared up between the sovereign and the princess …
The history of the Kantemir princes in Russia began with the ill-fated Prut campaign. Russia was forced to leave Wallachia (Moldavia), and the Wallachian sovereign Dmitry Kantemir and his family left along with the Peter's army. Then he had a daughter, Maria, and 5 sons (according to other sources, two daughters, both Mary, one of them died in 1720 at the age of 19).
According to legend, in 1721, love broke out between 49-year-old Peter I and 20-year-old Maria Cantemir. In May 1722, Tsar Peter left Moscow for Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Astrakhan, from where his Persian campaign began. He was accompanied by Maria and her father Dmitry Cantemir. A son is born to her from Peter, a new hope of the king for an heir. Let us recall that in 1719 his son Alexei died in prison, and the son born to Catherine in 1720 died in infancy.
The tsar returned from a campaign to Moscow in December 1722. The story of this love became known to the court and was communicated by the Austrian envoy to the emperor. Taking into account the possible high appointment of Mary, in 1723 her father was awarded the title of prince of the Roman Empire, and she, as it were, received this title too and could already become a worthy wife to Tsar Peter.
But Maria's son also dies, along with him dies not only the hope of Peter, but also the hope of the Kantemirovs to return to Moldova with the Russian army …
A still from the film by Vladimir Bortko “Peter the First. Will.
The well-known story connected with the "last love interest" of Peter the Great, Maria Dmitrievna Kantemir (1700-1757) and her pregnancy by the emperor, which ended in a miscarriage provoked by the physician of Empress Catherine Georgy Polikala, is based on very shaky documentary grounds and looks more like an adventure novel …
The only evidence that such a hobby of the sovereign and its consequences actually took place is based on a document dated June 8, 1722, a report by the French ambassador to Russia Jacques de Campredon to Cardinal Dubois.
Promotional video:
Reporting about the beginning of the Persian campaign, the ambassador mentioned the rumors spreading in St. Petersburg about the pregnancy of Maria Cantemir from Emperor Peter:
“The Queen is frightened by the new inclination of the Monarch to the daughter of the Wallachian ruler [Dmitry Konstantinovich Cantemir]. She, they say (on pretend), has been pregnant for several months, and her father is a very clever, smart and nosy man.
The queen is afraid that the Tsar, if this girl gives birth to a son, would not yield to the convictions of the Wallachian prince and divorce his wife in order to marry his mistress, who gave the throne a male heir. This fear is not without foundation and there have been similar examples."
If you trust this rather cautious message from Campredon, who, by the way, had been in St. Petersburg all this time and was in personal correspondence with D. K. Cantemir, it is difficult to explain the desire of the "crafty" Moldovan prince to find support in the execution of his will from Catherine, that is, the obvious enemy of his daughter and his "insidious plans."
Indeed, the exacerbation of D. K. Kantemir (tabes, - diabetes) during the Persian campaign, led to the fact that on September 28 he wrote a will in the name of Empress Catherine I.
Supposed portrait of Maria Cantemir. Hood.: I. N. Nikitin, 1710s - 1720s
It is interesting that the supporters of the adventure novel preferred not to pay attention to another letter of the same Jacques de Campredon, sent by him a year after the events described, on July 13, 1723, addressed to the French king:
“They are already talking about a trip to Moscow next winter. They even say that the coronation of the Queen will take place there, that the king will introduce her to the reign and establish the order of succession to the throne.
It is certain that the influence of the Queen is increasing every day and that only for the sake of her pleasure the Tsar keeps away, in the village, the Moldovan ruler, whose daughter, it seemed at one time, attracted the attention of the Monarch."
Just at the time of writing this letter, Prince Kantemir with his family was moving from Astrakhan in the direction of Moscow with prolonged stops caused by his illness.
De Campredon, without hiding that, based both of his messages on rumors and speculation circulated at the court, who returned to St. Petersburg from Moscow immediately after the emperor's departure for the Persian campaign. Therefore, the records of the family biographer, I. Ilyinsky, who was personally present at D. K. Kantemir in Derbent and who was a direct witness of the reunification of the Kantemir family in Astrakhan on October 9, 1722.
Dmitry Konstantinovich Kantemir - Maria's father.
In some publications, an additional source of information about these events indicates a note attributed to the "Cesar diplomatic agent", that is, the Austrian ambassador, apparently S.-V. Kinsky, which was first published in the historical and geographical magazine "Shop of New History and Geography" in 1777:
“But among all the tsarist mistresses, no one was as dangerous for the tsarina as the young princess Kantemir, whom the tsar loved especially ardently in comparison with others, and Tolstoy in this love acted as an intermediary, who later used the tsar's and tsarina's mercy and for tsar's convenience was going to marry this lady himself and give her his name, wishing to tactfully distract the attention of the queen from this love.
But the tsar did not want to be content with such a turn of affairs, wanting to marry this young princess himself, so great was his love, however, he could not dare to go against his tsarina, the first Russian Catherine, with his children, because he was afraid of the Spiritual College, which could completely prevent this; but since the betrayal was mutual, permission for his wedding with Princess Cantemir as a second-order wife (Gemahlin Secundi) could be obtained after the birth of her son (because she was just then pregnant).
At the same time, the king undertook a campaign in Persia, as a result of which Princess Kantemir lost his attention, and it was after she had a miscarriage during her unsuccessful childbirth in Astrakhan that she fell into oblivion, and the queen, despite everything, accompanied the king everywhere, won again."
The numerous coincidences of this note with the reports of de Capredon are surprising, which indirectly may indicate that rumors about Mary's pregnancy were transmitted to the French envoy from the Austrian ambassador.
But let us briefly return to the legend most fully reflected in the article by L. N. Maikova:
“While this expedition was going on, in Astrakhan, in the sovereign's fish yard, where a room was allocated for the Kantemirov family, a dark matter prepared from afar was accomplished. Princess Maria was prematurely given birth to a premature baby.
There is news that these births were artificially accelerated by the measures taken by Polikala, the doctor of the Kantemirov family, who was also at the Tsaritsyn court, and the actions of Polikala were directed by none other than a friend of Prince Dimitri PA Tolstoy.
Portrait by Tannauer. Count Pyotr Andreevich Tolstoy - statesman and diplomat, associate of Peter the Great, one of the leaders of his secret service.
It was not the first time for him to play a dual role: bringing the princess closer to Peter, he at the same time wanted to be pleasing to Catherine; the unfortunate princess turned out to be his victim, a fragile toy in his hard hands. Now Peter's wife could be at peace; the danger she feared was eliminated, and Tolstoy could count on Catherine's gratitude / … /
In Astrakhan, among the family, the prince was greeted with sad news: he found his daughter seriously ill. There is reason to believe that the circumstances surrounding her illness remained unclear to him; at least Polikala's doctor continued to be with him. But the very outcome of the princess's pregnancy destroyed all the prince's secret plans and hopes, and this was quite enough to completely destroy his health."
In his reasoning, the researcher relied on the above anonymous and published 70 years after the events, "anecdote" about Princess Maria Cantemir as a "wife of the second rank", continuing with the words:
“… She [M. D. Kantemir - approx. AP] was pregnant; if she gives birth to a son, he [Peter I - approx. AP] will have to declare him heir to the throne. But Catherine escaped such disfavor as a result of two rather happy events.
Suddenly there is a need for an expedition to Persia. The tsar's ministers, wishing to show their ebullient activity, were hastily preparing the campaign and hurrying him [the Tsar - approx. AP] departure, which made him abandon all love affairs and all court intrigues.
At the same time, Kantemir had a miscarriage in Astrakhan; it ended with her losing her place near the Emperor, and Catherine, who accompanied her husband in Persia and endured the hardships of the trip and the deadly hot climate, regained the grace of Peter.
Peter I the Great.
The participation of P. A. Tolstoy in these events as a supporter of the interests of the Kantemir family led to the emergence of the "conspiracy" theory of L. N. Maikov about his dual participation in these events, despite the fact that the subsequent biography of this indisputably outstanding personality testifies to Tolstoy's personal commitment to the precepts of Peter and his selfless loyalty to Catherine after the death of the emperor.
The hope expressed in the father's will for what is still possible, according to D. K. Kantemir, the marriage of his daughter Maria with I. G. Dolgorukov, L. N. Maikov was inclined to interpret it as a cunning intrigue, invented by a deeply ill, emaciated man on the verge of death, designed to make it clear to the empress, "… that Peter's closeness to his daughter remained a secret for him."
Finally, the final design of the gossip about the proximity of the emperor and Maria Cantemir in the genre of an adventure novel belongs to the pen of the Polish historian, writer and publicist Kazimir Feliksovich Waliszewski (1849 - 1935), according to whom:
“… When Peter in 1722 set off on a campaign against Persia, his love affair with Maria Cantemir had been dragging on for several years and seemed close to a denouement, fatal for Catherine.
Both women accompanied the king during the campaign. But Maria was forced to stay in Astrakhan, as she was pregnant. This further strengthened her adherents in victory. After the death of little Peter Petrovich, Catherine no longer had a son whom Peter could make his heir.
It was assumed that if, upon the return of the tsar from the campaign, Cantemir gave him a son, then Peter would not hesitate to get rid of the second wife in the same way that he freed himself from the first.
According to Scherer [the alleged author of anonymous anecdotes published in 1792 - approx. AP], Catherine's friends found a way to get rid of the danger: upon returning, Peter found his mistress seriously ill after a premature birth; they even feared for her life."
Adolsky I-B. G. “Portrait of Catherine I with a little arapchon. 1725 g.
It is curious that none of the authors who held the opinion that the described adventurous circumstances took place in reality, for some reason, does not directly indicate under what circumstances Maria lost the child: whether it was a miscarriage provoked by a long journey, a sharp change in climate, or illness, whether the baby died as a result of unsuccessful childbirth, or, nevertheless, lived for several days, having received holy baptism.
Ignoring the numerous natural factors that could lead to this sad event, while persistent allegations about the poisoning of the princess sent by the doctor, also reduces confidence in the authenticity of this story.
The reason for doubt is the fact that the researchers of this dark history not only refrain from specifying the date of this event, but also evaded any temporary clarifications, such as, for example, it happened during the campaign (July 18 - October 9, 1722) or already after D. K. Cantemir to Astrakhan.
In addition, some of the authors completely mistakenly associate this event even with the death of Princess Maria Cantemir, ignoring the published later correspondence between Mary and her brother Antiochus in 1734-1744.
According to Bayer, the physician of the Empress Georgy Polikala, who took part in the campaign, was assigned to Kantemir at the direction of Peter I back in Derbent and arrived in Astrakhan with the prince, which means he could not participate in the "insidious intrigue" with the poisoning of one of the princesses Kantemir until D. K. Cantemir to Astrakhan.
It should be especially noted that none of the supporters of the "adventurous version" paid attention either to the pregnancy of the stepmother Maria, the Highness Princess Anastasia Kantemir, which took place just during the events described, or to the death of her child in Astrakhan at the end of November of the same 1722, information about which was published by Bayer back in 1783.
Anastasia Kantemir, nee Trubetskaya - stepmother of Maria Kantemir.
Such a rather strange "selectivity" in the interpretation of sources, coupled with the "doubling of events", seems to be a reason to doubt that both the stepmother and, who was her age, who had the same surname, the stepdaughter at about the same time, being in the same place, at the fish yard in Astrakhan, they had the same fate associated with the loss of their baby sons.
Meanwhile, a direct participant in the events, I. I. Ilyinsky, who during the campaign was in charge of receiving letters for D. K. Kantemira, who communicated with him every day, and reflected in detail in his journal the history of the family, does not mention a word about pregnancy, miscarriage, or illness, either Maria or Anastasia Cantemir, mentioning, nevertheless, about the first unsuccessful childbirth of the princess Anastasia.
One way or another, the only thing that should be considered reliable is that vague rumors about the pregnancy of one of the princesses Kantemir, nevertheless, were worn in the highest St. Petersburg society, one way or another, reaching the ears of de Capredon and Kinsky, who could not or did not find it necessary to find out and tell more accurate information.
On the other hand, reliable information about possible meetings of Princess Mary with the sovereign is exhausted by the few mentions of Peter I's visits to the house of the Cantemirs in St. Petersburg and meetings of the family with the emperor during the days of the protracted celebration of the Peace of Nishtad, which Maria could have attended.
It seems that the absence of any more definite data on this, with the high attention of contemporaries and researchers to the daily routine of the sovereign, makes this story even more doubtful.
On the other hand, the jealousy of His Serene Highness Prince D. K. Kantemir to his wife Anastasia, aggravated during the period of her frequent, almost regular meetings, which took place at the same time with her childhood friend, the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, was noted in the diary of Berhholz, and, of course, was not a secret for society together with “strange behavior of the Wallachian princess on April 14, 1722 (that is, 7 - 8 months before the birth) at a dinner party with the Austrian ambassador, Count Kinsky, the alleged author of one of the two main sources concerning this confusing story.
A. Poslykhalin
