How did Catherine the Great die? This question is of interest to many today. After the death of the empress, various rumors spread around the country about her death. We will try to figure out who distributed them and why this was needed.
Causes of death
On November 14, 1796, Catherine II, the great empress who made Russia, became her second Motherland, became a European power. We will not call all its merits, but with it the territory of the Russian Empire has grown significantly, the population of the country has grown one and a half times and constituted 20% of Europe, 144 new cities have been built. She pursued an independent and independent state policy, which was not to the liking of many countries.
The cause of the death of Catherine the Great, presumably, was a hypertensive crisis and a stroke that struck her in the toilet room. She suffered injuries resulting from a fall. The valet Zakhar Zotov, worried about the empress’s long absence, quietly looked into the toilet room and saw her lying on the floor. He ordered the doctors and the priest to be called. With two servants, the empress tried to transfer the empress to the bed, but she managed to drag her only to the mattress spread on the carpet next to the bed.
The doctor examined the empress. Her face was either crimson or pale with a feverish blush. The chest heaved constantly, she did not regain consciousness. She was laid on the bed. The doctor used all the treatment methods accepted at that time, bleeding, but everything was in vain. The priest who came carried out all the necessary rituals. It became clear that the Empress did not get up. On November 14, Empress Catherine the Great died.
Grave of Catherine II
In the tomb of the Peter and Paul Fortress you can see the tomb of the Empress. She is next to the sarcophagus of her husband Peter III. So demanded the rules of decency, because she was his official wife. Although there are rumors that she was secretly married to Grigory Potemkin. The tombstone does not indicate the date of birth and year of death of Catherine the Great. On a white marble sarcophagus in the corners are gilded coats of arms, in the middle is an Orthodox cross.
Different versions of death
All rumors are born for one reason or another. They are associated with Catherine II. After all, how Catherine the Great died, interested everyone not only in Russia, but also in Europe.
The promiscuity of the empress, the favoritism generated by this, contributed to the fact that there was a rumor about bestiality of Catherine, which led her to death. Of course, this is nonsense. In patriarchal Russia, this behavior of the empress and her court provoked a negative reaction.
The fact that the queen's attack happened in the toilet also means nothing. A person can die anywhere, since he is not free to choose a place where to give his soul. But still there is something derogatory in this. Great, but she died in the toilet - this is just a reason to go out of bed because the queen died in her own bed.
There is another mystical version that Catherine saw her ghost on the throne and ordered to kill him, and after some time she died. A rational person will not believe in all this. But there is one rumor, which was confirmed by some of her relatives. Two days before her death, she saw a star falling from the sky, which made a strong impression on her. She was dejected and said that it was not good. Man always foresees his departure to another world.
Where do myths come from?
Of course, ordinary people and from the palace were interested in the details of how Catherine the Great died. It is no secret that the relations of the empress with her son were, to put it mildly, strained. The son hated his mother. She came to power through a palace coup, as a result of which his father was killed. The Orlov brothers became active participants in the event, one of whom, Gregory, was Catherine's lover. Favorites acted quite freely. Much depended on them. They flattered them, fawned on them, while the heir remained in the shadows.
They laughed at him, joked, considered him a fool, although in reality this was not so. But, like all weak people, he was vengeful. It is likely that it was from Paul and his entourage that various rumors went about how Catherine the Great died. Gossip passed from one to another, over time, overgrown with many details, and went to the people.
How myths about the death of Catherine II in Europe appeared
This was used by foreign diplomats, skillfully maneuvering between the warring parties and adding information beneficial to them. They described everything in their reports and sent to their capitals. So with all the rumors were sent messages about how Catherine the Great died.
European monarchs were well aware of everything that took place in the palace. Despite the fact that in Europe, morals at court were no better than in Russia, Catherine's behavior gave rise to slander, spreading incredible details about the "barbaric" country and its ruler.
Interesting facts about Catherine the Great
Historians estimate that the empress had 23 favorites, in relation to whom she was very generous. Only the 11 most famous of the state treasury allocated about 93 million rubles, which was several times higher than the country's internal and external debt.
The difference between the elderly empress and Platon Zubov - her last lover - was 43 years old. During the reign, she gave away to her relatives, courtiers, and favorites more than 800 thousand peasants.
In addition to the heir to Pavel, Catherine had two more illegitimate children who were officially adopted at court: a son from Grigory Orlov, Alexei Bobrinsky, and daughter Elizabeth, who was introduced as Potemkin’s niece, brought up in his house. For its maintenance, 100 thousand rubles were allocated annually from the treasury, and the empress gave her a million for her wedding. Another daughter from Stanislav Ponyatovsky died in infancy.