Tsarevna Catherine Ivanovna of Russia (20 October 1691 – 14 June 1733) was a daughter of

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Ivan V Ivan V Alekseyevich (; – ) was Tsar of all Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria Miloslavskaya, while Peter was the ...

and

Praskovia Saltykova Praskovia Fyodorovna Saltykova (; 12 October 1664 – 13 October 1723) was the tsaritsa of Russia as the only wife of joint-Tsar Ivan V of Russia. She was the mother of Empress Anna of Russia. She played an important part as the most senior woman ...

, eldest sister of Empress

Anna of Russia Anna Ioannovna (; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much of her administratio ...

and niece of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

. By her marriage, she was a Duchess of

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

Early life

Catherine was born in Moscow and baptized at Chudov Monastery; her godparents were her uncle Tsar Peter I and her great-aunt Princess Tatiana (daughter of Tsar

Michael I Michael I may refer to: * Pope Michael I of Alexandria, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark in 743–767 * Michael I Rangabe, Byzantine Emperor (died in 844) * Michael I Cerularius, Patriarch Michael I of Constantinop ...

). She was the third of five daughters, but the early deaths of her older sisters Maria (on 23 February 1692, aged three) and Feodosia (on 22 May 1691, aged one) left her as the eldest child of her parents. Two more sisters were born later:

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

, the future Russian Empress, and Praskovia (14 October 1694 – 19 October 1731). Catherine (reportedly the favorite child of her mother), spent her childhood in her mother's estate of Izmaylovo, also the birthplace of her paternal grandfather,

Tsar Alexis Alexei Mikhailovich (, ; – ), also known as Alexis, was Tsar of all Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. He was the second Russian tsar from the House of Romanov. He was the first tsar to sign laws on his own authority and his council ...

. Like her younger sisters, she received an occidental education: the study of German and French languages, dancing and etiquette. Her teachers were Johann-Dietrich Christopher Osterman (brother of the future Vice-Chancellor) and Frenchman Etienne Rambur. Of Ivan V's daughters, she seems to have been the most capable. In 1708 the family moved to the new capital,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Marriage

According to contemporaries, Catherine was a short, dark-haired, and pale beauty and was a popular socialite with her charm and sociability. At the request of her uncle Peter I, she was married on 19 April 1716 in Danzig to Karl Leopold, Duke of

. He had initially proposed to Catherine's sister Anna (then Dowager Duchess of Courland) but Peter I instead chose Catherine to be his bride. The marriage created a political alliance between Russia and

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, and was advantageous to Peter, as he wanted to use the port of Mecklenburg to harbour his

fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles * Fishing fleet *Naval fleet * Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles * Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Be ...

. According to the marriage contract, the Duke agreed to his future wife keeping her Orthodox faith, and to pay her 6,000 thalers per year. Peter I would, in return, contribute to the Duke's attempts to conquer the town of

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

. They had two daughters: Elisabeth Catherine Christine (born in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

on 18 December 1718), and one unnamed (who was either stillborn or died immediately after birth on 18 January 1722). The marriage was unhappy, as Karl Leopold

abused Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...

Catherine. She returned to Russia in 1722 with her surviving daughter. The couple never

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d, but they never saw each other again.

Later life in Russia

On the death of Peter II in 1730, the

Supreme Privy Council The Supreme Privy Council () of Imperial Russia, founded on 19 February 1726 and operative until 1730, originated as a body of advisors to Empress Catherine I. History Originally, the council comprised six members— Alexander Menshikov, Fyodor ...

considered Catherine as a candidate for the

tsardom Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Europ ...

as the eldest daughter of Ivan V, but the fear that her spouse would gain influence in Russia and her own independent and capricious nature led to her widowed younger sister Anna, Duchess of Courland, being chosen instead, because she was considered more docile. Catherine was involved in the events of 7 March 1730, when a group of nobles (between 150 and 800, according to sources), among whom were many officers of the Guards, arrived at the palace and gave a petition to the Empress. In this petition they requested the re-examination of the form of government that would be pleasing to all the people. Anna hesitated, but Catherine reportedly forced the Empress to sign the petition. Catherine kept at her court one of the first Russian theaters, with serfs as actors. She secretly cohabited with the naval officer Prince Michail Andreevič Belosel'skij-Belozerskij who was exiled to the Urals three years after her death for engaging in "immodest talk" about the princess.И. В Курукин. Бирон (ЖЗЛ). Молодая гвардия, 2006, p. 215. On 12 May 1733, Catherine was present at her daughter's conversion to the Orthodox religion, where she received the name ''

Anna Leopoldovna Anna Leopoldovna (; 18 December 1718 – 19 March 1746), born Elisabeth Katharina Christine von Mecklenburg-Schwerin and also known as Anna Carlovna (А́нна Ка́рловна), was regent of Russia for just over a year (1740–1741) dur ...

'', in order to make her acceptable as an heiress to the throne. Catherine died one month later and was buried next to her mother in the Annunciation Church of the

Alexander Nevsky Lavra Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, in the belief that this was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexa ...

monastery.

Notes

Ancestry

Sources

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine Ivanovna 1691 births 1733 deaths House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin House of Romanov Duchesses of Mecklenburg-Schwerin 17th-century Russian women 17th-century Russian people 18th-century women from the Russian Empire Burials at the Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra Members of the Russian Orthodox Church