In the vague and often difficult history of our country, there are names of people who, by chance, entered the books telling about the development of Russia. Most often this happened with those individuals who, upon their birth, belonged to the royal family. This can be said about the princess, whose name is Ekaterina Ivanovna Romanova says little to the modern layman. Meanwhile, such a princess lived in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century.
Birth and childhood
To begin with, Catherine was lucky from childhood. Firstly, she was born in 1691 in the family of the young Tsar John Alekseevich, co-ruler of Peter the Great. Secondly, the little princess managed to survive, unlike her weather sisters. We will talk about the third luck of the young princess in more detail below.
As you know, all of the young and extremely painful Tsar John Alekseevich and his wife Praskovya had 6 daughters, but only a few girls survived to adulthood. Tsarevna Ekaterina Ioannovna just belonged to the number of such surviving children.
By the way, the godmothers of the little princess were the most eminent. They were her uncle Peter the Great and cousin, the sister of the sovereign Alexei Mikhailovich Tatyana Mikhailovna.
The childhood of little Catherine, especially until 1708, proceeded in quiet Moscow, under the walls of the Kremlin. The girl got stronger, by the time she moved to the new capital, which her royal uncle had founded, Ekaterina Ivanovna was already in good health. Photos of St. Petersburg at that time speak of the greatness of this city.
Marriage
Now it's time to talk about the third luck of the little princess. Catherine was lucky that in her time the tsar’s daughters were not kept in captivity until her death, and never married, but they found overseas suitors.
Moreover, these changes were introduced by her uncle Peter the Great. Before him, the girls in the royal families represented the decoration of the royal house, which no man, even from the most noble family, could take. They didn’t marry the princes, because they were not of their rank to them, and then did not favor overseas unchristians.
So the princes lived out their lives, forever remaining old virgins, went on a pilgrimage, commanded their courtyard girls, embroidered and missed.
Ekaterina Ioannovna, fortunately or unhappily for herself, escaped such a fate. She was married by a royal uncle, who, seeking to establish relations with the Mecklenburg court, gave his goddaughter to the ruler of the Duke Karl Leopold.
By the way, Catherine was well educated for her time: she knew several languages, she knew history, she was literate.
The wedding with a foreign spouse took place in 1716 in Danzig. The ceremony was magnificent. Peter the Great contributed to the fact that a marriage contract was drawn up between the spouses , suggesting that allied relations would be concluded between Russia and the Duchy of Mecklenburg.
Flight to Russia
However, on the mountain of the young wife, her marriage with Karl was unsuccessful. This was due to many reasons: the duke himself managed to quarrel with Peter, he treated his wife rudely and unceremoniously. Not accustomed to such treatment, Ekaterina Ioannovna returned home 6 years later with her young daughter, who bore the Protestant name of Elizabeth Katerina Kristina.
She was received at home with kindness and understanding of her difficult situation. The princess never saw her husband again. He lost the throne and died in the fortress many years later.
Here, Ekaterina Ioannovna, after the death of the grandson of Peter the Great, Peter Alekseevich, could herself become an empress, but this place, by the decision of the Senate, was taken by her younger sister Anna Ioannovna. This was due to the fact that formally Catherine was still married, so her husband had the right to apply for the Russian throne, which was unacceptable.
As a result, her widowed sister, Duchess of Courland Anna Anna Ivanovna, was elected to the throne.
Early death
However, the life of the princess at the court during the reign of her sister developed quite well. In addition, Ekaterina Ioannovna, whose children died, with the exception of one daughter, should also be glad that her childless sister Empress Anna appointed her daughter as heir to the throne.
Elizabeth Katerina Kristina received the name of Anna Leopoldovna in Orthodoxy . It was she who was destined to become regent under the young emperor John, who, as a result of a palace coup, would be sent to the side of the story by the daughter of Peter Elizabeth. But this event is only destined to happen.
And Ekaterina Ioannovna died early: in 1733, at the age of 41.