Though she was born a
minor German princess, Catherine the Great wound
up marrying the heir to the throne of Russia. She would eventually
become a powerful ruler in her own right, known for
vigorous foreign and domestic policies, as well as some
arguably more tyrannical tendencies. In her personal time,
Catherine carried on affairs, studied philosophy,
collected art, and exchanged letters with one
of the most famous thinkers in the history of
Western civilization. Yet despite living
such a dramatic life, Catherine is best remembered for
something she never really did. Today, we're going to list some
dramatic facts about Catherine the Great. But before we get started, be
sure to subscribe to the Weird History channel, and let
us know in the comments below what other female monarchs
you would like to hear about. OK. Time for some history
from Russia, with love. Born Princess Sophie of
Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2nd 1729, the future Catherine
the Great was invited to Russia at the age
of 15 by Czarina Elizabeth. Elizabeth, who was a
daughter of Peter the Great, had decided to make her nephew-- also named Peter-- her heir. She was also eager
to find him a bride. Young Catherine
knew exactly what was at stake when she
moved to what would become her adopted homeland. Her father had
stressed the importance of adapting to Russian
culture, and most importantly, of impressing the empress. Catherine succeeded
on both fronts. She learned the Russian language
and ultimately converted to Russian Orthodoxy
before marrying Peter. As for Empress
Elizabeth, she's said to have grown a soft
spot for her future niece while the young girl was
recovering from an illness. Czarina Elizabeth, who was
responsible for the marriage of Peter and Catherine,
was the kind of person who is used to being in charge
of literally everything. While Catherine initially
won the elder woman over, Elizabeth would dominate
the couple's marriage. And after Catherine
finally gave birth, their relationship
quickly soured. It doesn't take a detective
to figure out why. Catherine was cruelly
denied the chance to bond with her newborn. Instead, Elizabeth
swept young Paul up and rarely let the mother
and child see each other. The empress essentially
raised the boy as her own, and Catherine was only allowed
to visit him on occasion. Tsar Peter III, is one
of Russia's less fondly remembered leaders, and he
wasn't particularly well-liked in his own lifetime, either. For despite being
Tsar of Russia, Peter was way more
into German culture. He tried to force the Russian
Orthodox church to conform to Lutheran traditions, a
move that proved unpopular with the religious community. He also made peace with
Russia's archenemy, Prussia, which didn't make the Russian
military particularly happy. Finally, he tried
to initiate a litany of liberal social
programs designed to improve the lives
of the poor, which created all sorts of problems
with the lower nobility. Needless to say,
Peter's reign did not wind up lasting too long. Representatives of all
the alienated factions turned to Catherine, and she was
only too happy to oblige them. A plan to overthrow
the Tsar formed. It was discovered, but
by then, it was too late. Catherine used her new
military connections to have her husband
arrested, and only six months after he assumed the throne,
Peter was forced to abdicate. After that, he was
detained, and after that, he got killed in what was
alleged to be a drunken fight. Right now, I hope you're
wondering if Catherine had her husband killed. The anticlimactic truth is
that no one really knows. What we do know, is that
Catherine definitely benefited from her husband's death. And it is generally
believed that she was happy to be free from
the loveless marriage. After Catherine the
Great passed, a rumor emerged that the
female ruler had a great sexual
appetite, one that didn't stop at human beings. Of course, those
who write history are known to exaggerate or
even manufacture stories to malign figures
they don't like, or simply to make a
more scandalous tale. So take this with
a grain of salt. According to an infamous
legend, Catherine died while trying to get
friendly with a horse. Of course. It's tempting to
make a joke here about Catherine sowing her
wild oats or going bareback. Nay, we definitely won't. But the long and short of
it is, the story isn't true. Catherine died in bed
after having a stroke. However, the fact that
the horse story was even considered plausible,
certainly raises some interesting questions about
culture in late 18th century Russia. As for Catherine's
real life, historians agree that like many of
her male counterparts, she took numerous lovers
throughout her life. All of them were human,
disappointingly human. One of those famous
lovers was Grigory Orlov, who helped Catherine
overthrow her husband. Another was Sergei
Saltykov, who Catherine claimed in her memoirs was the
real father of her first son. The Eastern Roman
Empire, more widely known as the Byzantine Empire, had
been under Ottoman Turk control for centuries by the time
Catherine the Great became leader of Russia. Despite this, Catherine
dreamed of restoring the Greek monarchy. And she developed something
called the Greek Project to accomplish that goal. The project aimed to put
Catherine's grandson, who was very appropriately named
Constantine, on the newly restored Greek throne. A later iteration of
the project planned a new kingdom called Dacia,
which many suspected was designed especially for
one of Catherine's lovers, Grigory Potemkin. Catherine was extremely
dedicated to carrying out the Greek Project, but in
the end, the effort failed. As a silver lining,
the treaty that ended the hostilities between
Russia and the Ottoman Turks gave Catherine control
over the Black Sea. It wasn't quite what she was
hoping for when she kicked off the whole Greek Project
thing, but it was still a highly important
political prize. It's well known that after
the death of her husband, Catherine the Great
took a number of lovers. But historians
suspect she may have enjoyed an affair or two
while Peter was still alive and kicking. In fact, it is widely believed
that one of those affairs might have resulted in the
conception of Catherine's son, the future Paul
I. You see, Peter suffered from a condition
called phimosis, which can make sexual
intercourse very uncomfortable. As a result, their
marriage remained unconsummated for years. Eventually, Peter underwent
surgery to correct his problem, and Catherine soon
thereafter became pregnant. The circumstances have led
many to question whether Paul was really a true-born heir. It is known that
Catherine had taken Sergei Saltykov as a
lover by that point, and even Catherine
herself hinted that Paul wasn't really Peter's son. Countess Praskovya Bruce sounds
like a character from a James Bond movie, but she was actually
one of Catherine the Great's best friends. The two had been extremely
close since their teenage years. In fact, they were
so close for so long that Catherine dedicated an
entire section of her memoirs to the Countess. Rumor has it though, that
Catherine's friendship wasn't free. In fact, it came with a
rather hefty and boudoir responsibility. According to the world-famous
lover and adventurer Giacomo Casanova, Catherine
arranged for Praskovya to test all of her
potential lovers for her. If you think that sounds like a
way to ruin a friendship, then congratulations, you're smarter
than Catherine the Great. The arrangement allegedly proved
to be the end of the pair's friendship, when Catherine
found the Countess in a bed with a man she had
already fallen for. [MUSIC PLAYING] Shortly before she staged
her coup and became empress, Catherine secretly gave birth
to a child she conceived with her lover, Grigory Orlov. Given that her husband
was still the Tsar, Catherine had to
conceal her pregnancy. When the due date came, she
even let one of her servants set his own house on
fire as a distraction, because they knew Peter
liked watching flames. The baby, Catherine's only
officially illegitimate son, was named Alexei Bobrinsky. As an adult, Alexei
ran up big debts, but his mother
indulged him anyway. He was given the freedom
to do as he pleased, and when his half-brother
Paul became emperor, he made Alexei a Count
of the Russian Empire, and a general major. Known for being a so-called
enlightened despot, Catherine enjoyed
reading philosophy. In particular, she was
into the philosophers of the Enlightenment,
specifically the French writer, Voltaire. Now, being Empress of
Russia came with some perks, and one of them was
being the kind of person Voltaire would take the
time to correspond with. Though the two
never met, they did begin to communicate through a
fascinating series of letters that went on for 15 years. They got along like old
friends, and Voltaire even helped mold the image
of Catherine the Great as a wise and just monarch. His allegiance is
believed to be as personal as it was political,
since it is known he kept a picture of the
empress in his bedroom. Catherine may have moved
into the Winter Palace along with her
husband Peter, but she was the one who turned
the palace into something akin to one of the
world's finest museums. Catherine is widely considered
one of the greatest art collectors of all time. She acquired so many
pieces, she eventually even had to build an
addition to the Winter Palace to house the collection. The works of art at the palace
included countless paintings Catherine had
purchased, as well as numerous pieces she
had specifically commissioned for her court. As a monarch, one of Catherine's
main areas of interest was public health. She was known to be eager
to protect her people, and herself, against
the ravages of smallpox, which was highly contagious. The cause was
especially personal since Tsar Peter II had
perished from the disease. In 1786, Catherine had herself
and her son inoculated. The two lived
smallpox-free lives, and served as an
example that helped fellow Russians see
early inoculation wasn't such a bad idea. Still isn't. Elvis Presley is probably the
most famous historical figure to ever die on the
porcelain, but he almost had some very
serious competition. In 1796, at the then
ripe old age of 67, Catherine the Great
went to the bathroom to do her royal business. She sat down and
then had a stroke. Her servants
discovered her there, and were able to
carry the Empress back to her bed, which is where
she eventually perished. So while the fatal stroke may
have occurred in the bathroom, her actual death
happened in the bedroom. Much more respectable. So what do you think? What fact about Catherine the
Great impressed you the most? Let us know in the
comments below. And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos from our Weird History. [MUSIC PLAYING]
