When it comes to the children of Emperor Peter the Great, as a rule, they recall the eldest son of Tsarevich Alexei, as well as daughter Elizabeth Petrovna, who became the empress.
In fact, in two marriages, Peter I had more than 10 children. Why, at the time of the emperor's death, he did not have obvious heirs, and how did the fate of the offspring of the most famous Russian reformer develop?
Tsarevich Alexey Petrovich. reproduction
Alexey
The firstborn of Peter and his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina, named Alexei, was born on February 18 (28 in a new style) in 1690 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye.
The first years of his life, Alexei Petrovich was in the care of his grandmother, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna. The father, immersed in state affairs, practically did not pay attention to raising his son.
After the death of Natalya Kirillovna and the imprisonment of his mother, Evdokia Lopukhina, in a monastery, Peter handed his son over to his sister, Natalya Alekseevna, to be raised.
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Peter I, who nevertheless took care of the education of the heir to the throne, could not manage to find worthy teachers for him.
Alexey Petrovich spent most of his time away from his father, surrounded by people who were not distinguished by high moral principles. Peter's attempts to involve his son in state affairs turned out to be failures.
In 1711, Peter organized the marriage of his son to Princess Charlotte Wolfenbüttel, who gave birth to Alexei's daughter Natalia and son Peter. She died shortly after the birth of her son.
By that time, the chasm between Peter and Alexei had become almost insurmountable. And after the second wife of the emperor gave birth to a son named Peter, the emperor began to seek from the firstborn to renounce the rights to the throne. Alexei decided to flee and left the country in 1716.
The situation was extremely unpleasant for Peter I - the heir could well have been used in political games against him. Russian diplomats were ordered to return the tsarevich to his homeland by all means.
At the end of 1717, Alexei agreed to return to Russia and in February 1718 solemnly renounced his rights to the throne.
Despite this, the Secret Chancellery began an investigation, suspecting Alexei of treason. As a result of the investigation, the prince was put on trial and sentenced to death as a traitor. He died in the Peter and Paul Fortress on June 26 (July 7) 1718, according to the official version, from a blow.
Peter I published an official notice, which said that after hearing the death sentence, the prince was horrified, demanded his father, asked his forgiveness and died in a Christian way, in complete repentance from what he had done.
Alexander and Pavel
Alexander, the second child of Peter and Evdokia Lopukhina, like his older brother, was born in the village of Preobrazhenskoye on October 3 (13), 1691.
The boy lived only seven months and died in Moscow on May 14 (24), 1692. The prince was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The inscription on his tombstone reads: “In the summer of 7200 of the month of May, from the 13th day at the fifth hour of the night in the second quarter from heel to Saturday in memory of the holy martyr Isidor like in the island of Chios, the servant of God, the Blessed and Pious Great Tsar and Great Prince Peter Great and Small and White Russia of the Autocrat, and the Blessed and Pious Sovereign Queen and Grand Duchess Evdokia Feodorovna's son, the Blessed Sovereign Tsarevich and Grand Duke Alexander Petrovich, of all the Great and Small and White Russia, and was buried on the 14th day of that month …
The existence of another son of Peter and Evdokia Lopukhina, Paul, is even questioned by historians. The boy was born in 1693, but died almost immediately.
Ekaterina
In 1703, Marta Skavronskaya became the mistress of Emperor Peter I, whom the tsar called in the first years of relations in letters to Katerina Vasilevskaya.
Even before marriage, Peter's mistress was pregnant several times by him. The first two children were boys who died shortly after birth.
On December 28, 1706 (January 8, 1707) in Moscow, Marta Skavronskaya gave birth to a daughter named Catherine. The girl lived one year and seven months and died on July 27, 1708 (August 8, 1709).
Like her two younger sisters, Catherine was born out of wedlock, but was later officially recognized by her father and was posthumously recognized as the Grand Duchess.
She was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Princess Anna Petrovna. Commons.wikimedia.org
Anna
Anna Petrovna was born on January 27 (February 7) 1708. The girl, being an illegitimate child, received the same generic name "Anna" as her legal cousin, daughter of Ivan V, Anna Ioannovna.
Anna became the first of Peter's daughters and the first of Marta Skavronskaya's children to survive infancy.
In 1711, her father, who had not yet concluded a legal marriage with Anna's mother, officially proclaimed her and her sister Elizabeth princesses.
A large plot of land in St. Petersburg was transferred to Anna's ownership. Subsequently, the Annenhof country estate was built for Anna near Yekateringof.
In 1724, Peter I agreed to his daughter's marriage with Duke Karl Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp.
According to the marriage contract, Anna Petrovna retained the Orthodox faith and could bring up daughters born in marriage in Orthodoxy, while her sons had to be raised in the faith of their father. Anna and her husband refused the opportunity to claim the Russian crown, but the treaty had a secret article, according to which Peter reserved the right to proclaim the son of their marriage as the heir.
The father did not see his daughter's wedding - Peter died two months after the signing of the marriage contract, and the marriage was concluded on May 21 (June 1), 1725.
Anna and her husband were very influential figures in Petersburg during the short period of the reign of her mother, in the past Maria Skavronskaya, who ascended the throne under the name of Catherine I.
After Catherine's death in 1727, Anna and her husband were forced to leave for Holstein. In February 1728, Anna gave birth to a son, who was named Karl Peter Ulrich. In the future, Anna's son ascended the Russian throne under the name of Emperor Peter III.
Anna Petrovna died in the spring of 1728. According to some sources, the cause was the consequences of childbirth, according to another, Anna caught a bad cold at the celebrations in honor of the birth of her son.
Before her death, Anna expressed a desire to be buried in St. Petersburg, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, next to her father's grave, which was done in November 1728.
Princess Elizaveta Petrovna. Painter Toque Louis (1696-1772). Reproduction.
The third daughter of Peter I and his second wife was born on December 18 (29), 1709, during the celebrations of the victory over Charles XII. In 1711, together with her older sister Anna, Elizabeth was officially proclaimed princess.
His father made big plans for Elizabeth, intending to intermarry with the French kings, but proposals for such a marriage were rejected.
During the reign of Catherine I, Elizabeth was viewed as the heir to the Russian throne. Opponents, primarily Prince Menshikov, in response began to promote the project of the princess's marriage. The groom, Prince Karl August of Holstein-Gottorp, came to Russia to get married, but in May 1727, in the midst of wedding preparations, he contracted smallpox and died.
After the death of Emperor Peter II in 1730, the throne passed to Elizabeth's cousin, Anna Ioannovna. For ten years of her cousin's reign, Elizabeth was in disgrace, under vigilant supervision.
In 1741, after the death of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth stood at the head of a coup against the young emperor Ivan VI and his relatives. Having achieved success, she ascended the throne under the name of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
The daughter of Peter occupied the throne for twenty years, until her death. Unable to enter into an official marriage, and, accordingly, give birth to the legitimate heirs to the throne, Elizabeth Petrovna returned from abroad the nephew of Duke Karl-Peter Ulrich Holstein. Upon arrival in Russia, he was renamed in the Russian manner to Peter Fedorovich, and the words "grandson of Peter the Great" were included in the official title.
Elizabeth died in St. Petersburg on December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762) at the age of 52, and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Natalia (senior) and Margarita
On March 3 (14), 1713, a daughter was born to Peter I and his second wife in St. Petersburg, who was named Natalia. The girl became the first legitimate child of the emperor and his new wife.
Named after her grandmother, mother of Peter the Great, Natalia lived for 2 years and 2 months. She died on May 27 (June 7) 1715 and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
On September 3 (14), 1714, Tsarina Catherine gave birth to another daughter, who was named Margarita. The girl lived 10 months and 24 days and died on July 27 (August 7) 1715, that is, exactly two months after her sister. Margarita was also buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Tsarevich Pyotr Petrovich in the image of Cupid in the portrait by Louis Caravac Photo: reproduction
Peter
On October 29 (November 9), 1715, the son of Peter the Great was born, who, like his father, was named Peter. The tsar made big plans in connection with the birth of his son - he was supposed to replace his elder brother Alexei as heir to the throne.
But the boy was in poor health, and by the age of three he had not begun to walk or speak. The worst fears of doctors and parents were justified - at the age of three and a half years, on April 25 (May 6), 1719, Pyotr Petrovich died.
For Peter the Great, this death was a heavy blow. The hope for a son who would become the successor of the business was finally destroyed.
Paul
Unlike Paul, allegedly born by Evdokia Lopukhina, the fact of the birth of a son with that name by the second wife of Peter I is confirmed.
The boy was born on January 2 (13), 1717 in the German Wesel, during the foreign trip of Peter the Great. The tsar was at that time in Amsterdam and did not find his son alive. Pavel Petrovich died after living only one day. Nevertheless, he received the title of Grand Duke and was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral of St. Petersburg, becoming the first man from the Romanov family to be buried there.
Natalia (junior)
On August 20 (31), 1718, during the peace negotiations with Sweden, the queen gave birth to Peter the Great another daughter, who was destined to become his last child.
The baby was named Natalya, despite the fact that just three years earlier, the royal couple's daughter with the same name had died.
The younger Natalia, unlike most of her brothers and sisters, managed to survive infancy. At the time of the official proclamation of the Russian Empire in 1721, only three daughters of Peter the Great remained alive - Anna, Elizabeth and Natalia.
Alas, this girl was not destined to become an adult. In January 1725, her father, Peter I, died without leaving a will. Among the tsar's associates, a fierce struggle for power broke out. In these conditions, few people paid attention to the child. Natasha fell ill with measles and on March 4 (15), 1725 she died.
By that time, Peter I had not yet been buried, and the coffins of the father and daughter were put together in one room. Natalia Petrovna was buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral next to her brothers and sisters.
Andrey Sidorchik