Going to Oranienbaum for the ball dedicated to the birthday of the future Emperor Peter III, 24-year-old Polish diplomat Stanislav Ponyatovsky did not suspect that his life was about to change. At the ball he will meet the wife of the heir to the throne - young Catherine. Love for her distorts not only the life of Stanislav himself, but also the fate of his homeland - Poland. Thanks to Catherine II, he - who comes from a not very noble family - will become the last king of his country.
Calling for kisses
On June 29, 1756, Oranienbaum sparkled. All the nobility gathered for the ball. Dancing, beautiful women, wine, talking about politics - all this occupied Stanislav Poniatovsky exactly until the minute he saw Ekaterina Alekseevna. Then he will write: “She was 25 years old. Recovering from the first birth, she blossomed in the way that a woman endowed with beauty by nature can only dream of. Black hair, amazing whiteness of skin, big blue bulging eyes, very long black eyelashes, a sharp nose, a mouth calling for a kiss …"
They were introduced by the new English envoy to the Russian court, Henbury Williams, in whose retinue Poniatovsky was. Catherine uttered a couple of routine phrases, smiled at Stanislav, and the young man fell in love for the first time in his life.
After the ball, Poniatovsky began to puzzle over how to see Catherine again. The task is not trivial: he is the fourth son of the Krakow Kashtelian (headman) and did not dare to look in the direction of her chambers. The chance and friend of the future empress, Lev Naryshkin, with whom Stanislav made friends, helped. Once Naryshkin fell ill and, unable to personally see Catherine, sent her letters. But the "writer" from him was not very important. And then Poniatovsky offered his services to him.
Lev Naryshkin.
The Grand Duchess quickly realized that the author of the messages was anyone but Naryshkin. “I answered,” Ekaterina later recalled. - He asked me in these letters, then jam, then other similar trifles, and then amusingly thanked me for them. These letters were well written and very witty … And soon I learned that the role of secretary was played by Poniatowski. " After the "epistolary novel", a personal meeting was only a matter of time.
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The lovers met stealthily: not only would Catherine's husband Pyotr Fedorovich not appreciate such leisure, but also the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna stood guard over morality. But Catherine had fun from the bottom of her heart, watching how clever Stas, right under the noses of the court spies, makes his way to her boudoir. Of course, there were also failures. Once the future empress showed her chambers to the Swedish envoy, Count Horn, who was accompanied by Ponyatovsky. Catherine's little lapdog ran out to the guests: she barked at someone else's count, and met her acquaintance Ponyatovsky with wild delight. “My friend,” the Swedish envoy said to Stanislav at the time. - There is nothing more treacherous than a little lapdog. The first thing that I gave to my mistress was a dog, and through it I always found out if she had someone more favored than me."
Despite all the precautions, rumors of an affair spread throughout the yard. And Pyotr Fedorovich decided to put an end to this connection. By his order, the servants seized Ponyatovsky when he was returning from Catherine again. “The Grand Duke in the most unequivocal terms asked me if I had slept with his wife,” the Pole recalled. Of course, he denied everything, and Peter pretended to believe. He even offered to arrange a reconciliation, calling Stanislav, two more nobles and his own mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova to Monplaisir for a feast. When the unsuspecting Poniatovsky came to the meeting, Peter, having said "There is clearly someone else missing here," went to his wife's room, pulled her out of bed and brought her half-dressed to the men. They had fun until 4 o'clock in the morning, and the offended Catherine endured in silence. And even beloved Stas did not intercede for her. It was impossible to do this with a proud German woman. After this "party" love went downhill.
Royal gift
Soon after this scandal, Poniatowski was forced to leave Petersburg and return to Poland. And in the capital, meanwhile, events developed rapidly: Empress Elizabeth died, Peter III ascended the throne, but did not stay there for long. During the palace coup, power was in the hands of Catherine. Upon learning of this, Poniatovsky began to pack his things: faster, to his beloved woman. But the young empress, just a few days after the coup, in a letter advised Stas "not to rush to come here." And later, on August 2, 1762, in another message she admitted: “I have no time to write dangerous love notes … I must observe a thousand decencies and a thousand precautions. Know that everything arose out of hatred of foreigners, that Peter III himself is reputed for such a thing. " The hint is clear: the throne under Catherine is still shaking,Well, where is her foreign lover? In addition, the empress has long had a new affection: the sweet but weak-willed Stas was replaced by the 27-year-old gallant officer Grigory Orlov.
Catherine was a generous lady. For example, Grigory Potemkin received 50 million rubles from her, and the Orlov brothers - 17 million. But Poniatowski got the most generous gift - the Polish throne. In October 1763, King August III died in Warsaw, and two months later, so did his son. With the help of intrigues, threats, diplomatic games and the 30-thousandth Russian army introduced into Poland, Catherine put her former lover on the throne of the Commonwealth. At first, the Empress's advisers were at a loss: has Catherine really gone completely crazy with past feelings? But in fact, this woman was far from sentiment. She understood: if the obedient and still in love with her Ponyatovsky did not sit on the throne, then the protege of the Potocki princes, who were close to Austria and held militant anti-Russian positions, would take over the crown. And then - goodbye to the puppet Rzeczpospolita! And only the naive Stas did not understand anything until the very end, and kept writing to Catherine plaintive letters: "Don't make me king, you'd better call me to you." The empress knew which was better without Ponyatovsky.
Catherine II spared nothing for her favorites. Vigilius Eriksen "Portrait of Catherine II on horseback" (After 1762).
Feast in Time of Plague
On September 7, 1764 Stanislav became the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But in fact, all affairs in the state were run by the Russian envoy in Warsaw, Nikolai Repnin. The tame Stas, who faithfully looked towards Russia, insanely irritated the Polish patriots. And four years after the accession of the “straw king” (as Poniatowski was nicknamed in Warsaw), the gentry revolted. Of course, the Russian army, which had settled in the country by that time, suppressed it. And then a nightmare began for Rzecz Pospolita: Austria and Prussia, hungry for new territories, took advantage of the turmoil. They decided to divide a part of the Polish lands among themselves, explaining that the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is still not able to establish order there. Russia, occupied by that time with the war with Turkey (1768-1774), could not resist the Prussians and Austrians, and therefore … decided to join the partition. From the point of view of the big politics of that time, it was a right step. In 1772, a fairly large part of the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ceded to Russia, Prussia and Austria. Poniatowski, instead of defending his country, said with bravado that he needed as much land as would fit under his triangular hat. His request was heard. The second partition of Poland took place in 1793. This time, part of the territory of the already pretty bitten country was divided between Russia and Prussia. Stas himself at this time sent Catherine the next plaintive letters:The second partition of Poland took place in 1793. This time, part of the territory of the already pretty bitten country was divided between Russia and Prussia. Stas himself at this time sent Catherine the next plaintive letters:The second partition of Poland took place in 1793. This time, part of the territory of the already pretty bitten country was divided between Russia and Prussia. Stas himself at this time sent Catherine the next plaintive letters:
“But it’s not so that they hate me, do you want to make me king? Not so that Poland would be dismembered under my rule, would you like me to wear a crown?"
Nikolay Repnin.
Crying for the fate of the Commonwealth, Poniatovsky did not deny himself pranks and entertainment. While the country was being gnawed, he made millions in debts, which Catherine paid, spent time at masquerades and balls, gathered intellectuals in his palace, read poetry to them. The famous Italian adventurer and womanizer Casanova also attended these meetings.
Following Stanislav, the rich gentry also had a good time, as if everyone had gone mad at once. One of the most ardent Polish patriots, Prince Karl Radziwill, started almost a harem in his castle in the town of Nesvizh: many women pleased him, and the main mistress ruled over them. Every day the patriot arranged dinners for about a hundred people, and having overeat himself, he went out into the street and fired from rifles, or even from cannons.
Jan Matejko. “Adoption of the Constitution on May 3. Stanislav Ponyatovsky enters the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw”. Fragment.
200 years of wandering
It is unlikely that the weak-willed Stanislav Poniatovsky could save the dying Rzeczpospolita. The uprising that began in 1794 against the partition of Poland under the leadership of 47-year-old General Tadeusz Kosciuszko was brutally suppressed by Alexander Suvorov. Soon the third, final division of the Rzecz Pospolita between Russia, Prussia and Austria took place. The country ceased to exist …
Alexander Suvorov.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
On November 15, 1795, the last Polish king abdicated the throne. Stanislav was ordered to go to live in Grodno, where the countries that divided the Rzeczpospolita graciously agreed to pay for his maintenance. Poniatovsky never saw Catherine the Great: until the end of her life, she refused to meet with her former lover. And only Paul I, having ascended the throne, summoned the ex-king to Petersburg.
Stanislav died in the Marble Palace in 1798. They placed a silver crown on his head and buried him with all the honors in the Church of St. Catherine on Nevsky Prospect. True, for a long time the remains of this king, who let his own country down the wind, did not have peace.
In 1938, the Bolsheviks opened the tomb and transferred the remains to Poland. They were buried in a modest church in the village of Volchin, where Poniatovsky was born. The next year, Volchin went to the USSR, the grave was opened again, while Stanislav's silver crown was stolen. The church itself was turned into a warehouse for the Zhdanov collective farm. Soon the warehouse fell into such desolation that it was simply boarded up tightly, and Stanislav was forgotten for many years. And only at the end of the 90s the remains of the last Polish king were reburied with honors in Warsaw. So, almost 200 years after his death, the country forgave him.
Author: Katerina Kuznetsova
It is interesting:
Casanova about Ponyatovsky:
"Every time I remember the truly respectable qualities that this magnificent sovereign possessed, I cannot understand how he could have made such grandiose blunders - being able to survive his homeland was not the only one of them."
Casanova, Italian adventurer (1725-1798).
The secret of the king
In 1998, Poland decided to find the remains of its last monarch. Excavations were carried out inside the church in Volchyn and fragments of a coffin, pieces of cloth and some bones were found. They were transported for burial in Warsaw. However, some scientists doubt that these are the remains of Poniatovsky. Still, other people were buried in the church, but no one carried out a genetic examination. There is a version that the remains of the king were reburied near the temple during the war years. Until now, archaeologists are trying to find them.
In the Church of St. Catherine on Nevsky Prospekt, the remains of Ponyatovsky were buried until 1938.