“Though not stupid, he was totally lacking in common sense, and he quickly set about alienating all the powerful parties at court,” Madariaga wrote. The two of them hated each other, and he ruled ineptly. Madariaga wrote that Catherine's opportunity came when her husband ascended to the throne as Peter III at the end of 1761. She also allowed a system of serfdom to continue in Russia, something that would contribute to a full-fledged revolt led by a pretender to the throne.Ĭatherine had no claim whatsoever to the Russian throne, according to Isabel de Madariaga, a professor emeritus of Slavonic Studies at the University of London in the opening of her book 'A Short History of Catherine the Great' (Yale University Press, 2002).

Power and loveĬatherine was also a successful military ruler her troops conquered a great deal of new territory. 'Kurakina's songs were so popular that Breitkopf (Petersburg) published a collection of eight of her French romances in 1795,' wrote Harley. 'These female aristocrats followed a new model of empowered and extremely cultured womanhood, modeled by four women who ruled the Russian empire for more than two-thirds of the 18th century: Catherine I, Anna, Elisabeth, and Catherine II,' wrote Harley in her paper.Īmong the most prolific Russian female artists was Princess Natalia Ivanovna Kurakina (lived 1768-1831) who wrote at least 45 songs. These female artists tended to be from the aristocratic class but they followed the lead of Catherine II ('the great') and other women who held power in Russia in the 18th century.

Catherine the great by simon dixon