A young girl sits alone,
in a cold room in a great house,
on a German coast and dreams
of being a queen. {Intro} That girl's name
was Sophia. Or Sophie, depending
on who's writing about her. She was born
in the spring of 1729. But her mother
would never forgive her for the crime of being a girl. Her mother,
young, ambitious always wanting
to be the center of attention was deeply discontent
on her life having been married off at 15,
to a man 21 years her senior. Worse still,
that man was poor (at least, by her standards) and stuffy. Her life was nothing like the glittering court
that she'd known as a girl. She still had ambition. She still wanted
to escape her husband's drab military post, to live in high society and see the world, and,
to her mind, that required a male heir. And so, poor Sophia was neglected, often told
that she was ugly, yelled at for minor offenses or, simply, left entirely alone. She was bright,
and could memorize things with ease. But she frequently infuriated
her tutors by asking questions like: "Why were the great men
of antiquity damned just because
they lived before Christ?" ...or... "What was the universe like
before creation?" She found solace only in the lessons
she was taught by one of her governesses who introduced her to French and brought her books
by Racine and Molière. And all the while her mother doted
on her sickly and infirmed brother who'd been born an year and a half after
she'd entered the world ...unwanted. Sophia would always harbor
a resentment over the treatment she received compared
to her brother. But in 1742,
when she was 13 her brother died,
succumbing to scarlet fever. She had one other brother,
who would survive their youth but he was
a half decade younger. And so now, at last, her ambitious mother's eye
finally turned to her. But she didn't receive the warmth
and the affection that she had hoped for. Her mother's aim was to see her married. After all,
her mother thought taking her daughter out
in search of a match to travel and get back to court might provide a path
to escape her drab life. Unfortunately, her daughter
was proud, impertinent and arrogant. (Or at least, so she felt.) If there was to be any attempt
at matchmaking she was going have to break Sophia
of these habits. And so, Sophia learned
to hide her pride to hide her talents and her mother began writing
and visiting all of their relatives in search of a match. And she made sure that Sophia knew just what failing to find
a match would mean. From time to time she would take Sophia
to see spinster relatives locked away in a convent or shut away in a remote wing
of a family house. One of these encounters Sophia
would remember forever. An aunt, who lived
in one small room with 16 pug dogs. 16 pugs,
who did everything that dogs do... ...in that one room. The smell would hunt her
for all her days. So she rapidly became enamored
of the idea of marriage. She saw it as a way out, an escape from her mother. But her prospects were limited. Her father was not a man
of great means. And though he was a prince of one of the tiny principalities that then made up
the Holy Roman Empire he wasn't even THE prince
of that domain having others in the line
of succession before him. Her mother, on the other hand was of the house Holstein-Gottorp one of the great houses
of the Holy Roman Empire. And though she was
from a minor branch she could still reach out
to all her cousins. And so it was, that even before her brother died, on a visit to her uncle,
Sophia met the orphaned duke of Holstein: Peter Ulrich,
11 years old at the time. This young man was
the heir to the throne of Sweden and the last surviving grandson
of Peter the Great. He was also sickly though doughy of features and even at the age of 11 given to drink. This meeting would prove
fortuitous in years to come... or disastrous, depending
on how you look at it. But long before
that chance encounter was to change her life as she was making the rounds,
looking for a suitor attention of this type fell on
her much closer to home. At the age of 14 a 24 year old cuirassier, her cousin, began to... (what was called at the time) ...show his affections. Often finding her in some
secluded corner of the house when no one else was around to kiss her. He eventually proposed to her. Although she expertly put him off by agreeing to it only if he could get
the consent of her parents. Then in the middle
of dinner one night a letter came. It was from Russia. From the Russian empress, Elizabeth Elizabeth whose sister
had married a Holstein. Elizabeth who was
the aunt of Peter Ulrich. Elizabeth had been betrothed,
at one point, to Sophia's uncle. Elizabeth whose association Sophia's mother
had been very careful to cultivate regularly sending her news
and portraits of her daughter. Elizabeth had recently
become the guardian of young Peter Ulrich adopting him as her own. And as such, young Peter
had lost the right to the crown of Sweden BUT had gained
a much greater prize: succession to the crown of Russia. Elizabeth's letter
said nothing of it's purpose but simply implored Sophia
and her mother to travel at once to Russia. Despite the letter's vagueness the implications were clear. Sophia might yet find
her way to being a queen as she had so often daydreamed. But the night surprises
weren't over yet! Mere hours after
the first letter's arrival a second courier,
breathless and panting, burst into the house. He too had a letter... But this one was
from Fredrick the Great summoning to his court in Berlin. Sophia's mother wasted
no time starting to pack. The invitation to Russia
had come with a bank note for 10,000 rubles
to equip them for their journey. This, of course, went not to making sure
that Sophia looked like a bride that they had both hoped she would be but instead went towards outfitting her mother
with a splendid array of court dresses. And so, they began their journey. First to Berlin... ...and then to Moscow. When they arrived at Berlin Sophia's mother raced
to present herself to Frederick. But, to her shock he simply asked
where her daughter was. She hadn't taken
Sophia with her to court thinking that the king couldn't possibly want to talk to the girl
more than to her incredible self. So she said
that Sophia was sick. The next day too
she showed up at court alone and again Frederick asked
where Sophia was. And again, her mother said
that she was sick. On the third day Frederick pressed the issue and Sophia's mother said that she couldn't come because
she had nothing to wear. At which juncture a somewhat miffed Frederick the Great cut her off and asked one of his sisters
to "just lend the poor girl a dress ...please". Finally, Sophia appeared before the king in an ill-fitting dress,
without jewels or finery. She was shy, worried about
what this great man might think. But to her surprise (and, undoubtedly, the surprise of her mother) she was seated at dinner
that night right next to the king. Her mother wasn't
even seated at the same table! The king tried make her feel comfortable speaking to her of poetry and of the opera, plays and ballet. And though everyone stared at the king talking to a child he continued on and she opened up speaking to him throughout the meal. By the end, he saw in her, hidden just below that layer of humility, an intelligence and a perception. He wrote to Elizabeth
of Russia to say as much. He had been assessing her. Because in his bid to make Prussia a player in the world stage he had already created many enemies. And he knew that he would have
to have Russia on his side. It was his hope that this German princess
could help ensure that. But his business
was not just with Sophia. In private his agents
asked her mother to be their agent in the Russian court. They explained how
one Count Bestuzhev was the sworn enemy
of Prussia and that he would stop
Sophia's marriage if he could. So Sophia's mother, Johanna,
should do everything on her power to make him lose favor. Never again would
these two rulers meet in person. These rulers
whom history titles "The Great". But it's far from the last time
that their paths will cross. Join us next time as Sophia finally makes
her way to Russia and her mother sets about trying to destroy Count Bestuzhev.
I love extra history
They have amazing series. All of them are definitely worth watching. They have done a few civs actually. Suleiman, Justinian/Theodora, Zulu, and now, Catherine. Great for casual lovers of history which most civ fans are.