"Kings Can Do Anything": the Most Scandalous Misalliance in Russian History
"Kings Can Do Anything": the Most Scandalous Misalliance in Russian History

Video: "Kings Can Do Anything": the Most Scandalous Misalliance in Russian History

Video:
Video: Foucault annonce la société disciplinaire dans Surveiller et Punir - YouTube 2024, November
Anonim
Left - V. Eriksen. Portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna, 1757. On the right - Unknown artist. Portrait of Alexei Razumovsky, mid-18th century
Left - V. Eriksen. Portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna, 1757. On the right - Unknown artist. Portrait of Alexei Razumovsky, mid-18th century

“No king, no king, can marry for love,” the famous song says. Concept misalliance - unequal marriage - once really was of great importance and warned royalty from rash decisions. But some noble and titled persons still decided to "marry for love." The most scandalous and sensational unequal marriages of noble persons in Russian history - further in the review.

A. Prostev. What God Has Combined, Let Man Not Separate, 2008. (Saints Peter and Fevronia)
A. Prostev. What God Has Combined, Let Man Not Separate, 2008. (Saints Peter and Fevronia)

Mesalliance is a marriage between people of different classes, very different in their property or social status. Often, as a result of misalliance, a spouse or spouse of a lower social status received the same status - for example, by marrying a nobleman, a commoner became a noblewoman. There were examples of such marriages in Russia. For example, the peasant woman Fevronia married the Murom prince Peter. The boyars did not want to submit to the beekeeper's daughter and drove her out of the city. Peter loved his wife so much that he gave up his position and followed her. Soon the residents of Murom asked the spouses to return. They went down in history as patrons of lovers Saints Peter and Fevronia.

Martha Skavronskaya and Peter I
Martha Skavronskaya and Peter I

Such was the first marriage in the Romanov dynasty, when Peter I married Martha Skavronskaya in 1717. So a simple washerwoman and cook, the mistress of Peter A. Menshikov's associate, who served at his table, became the first Russian empress Catherine I.

Left - Louis Caravacc. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, 1750. Right - Karl Vanloo. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, 1760
Left - Louis Caravacc. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, 1750. Right - Karl Vanloo. Portrait of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, 1760

In the case when the spouse does not receive a high social status, the marriage is called morganatic. Children born in such a marriage, although considered legal, do not inherit the title and wealth of a parent with a higher social status. This was the marriage of the youngest daughter of Peter I, Empress Elizabeth and Alexei Razumovsky in 1742. Elizabeth's chosen one was the Chernigov Cossack (according to some sources - the son of a swineherd), the choir singer of the court choir Alexei Rozum, who later received the title of count. The marriage was not officially announced, but everyone at court knew about it.

Anichkov Palace, presented by Elizabeth Petrovna to Count A. Razumovsky
Anichkov Palace, presented by Elizabeth Petrovna to Count A. Razumovsky

Although the marriage was secret, it was committed by a priest according to the church canon and was considered legal, while the spouse did not receive the right of succession to the throne and did not interfere in the management of state affairs. Documents confirming the marriage were not preserved - allegedly after the death of the Empress, Catherine II sent an envoy to Razumovsky, and he burned the papers, abandoning the struggle for power.

Ekaterina Dolgorukaya
Ekaterina Dolgorukaya

The marriage of Emperor Alexander II and Catherine Dolgoruka was called a happy misalliance. For the first time Katenka met His Majesty when she was 13 years old. She was the daughter of Prince Mikhail Dolgoruky. And although Katerina was not a commoner, after the death of her father, her family only got debts. Alexander II took the prince's six children under his care, and when Katya turned 18, the emperor saw in her a charming girl and lost his head from her beauty. At that time he was 47 years old, he was married, and no one took this novel seriously - Alexander II had many hobbies.

Ekaterina Dolgorukaya and Alexander II with children
Ekaterina Dolgorukaya and Alexander II with children

After the birth of their son George and daughters Olga and Catherine, the head of the secret investigation, Count Shuvalov, considered it his duty to warn the emperor about the dissatisfaction of the royal family and society with this state of affairs. As a result, the emperor sent Shuvalov as ambassador to England, silencing all the dissatisfied, and settled the princess with the children in the Winter Palace. After the death of the empress in May 1880, Alexander II decided to marry Catherine, which they did already in July, without waiting for the end of mourning. The marriage was morganatic, the princess did not receive the status of an empress, their children were deprived of the right of succession to the throne. This marriage was also unequal regarding the age difference - they were separated by 29 years. In Russia, the new wife of the emperor was never accepted, she had to leave for France.

Ekaterina Dolgorukaya and Alexander II
Ekaterina Dolgorukaya and Alexander II

There are many examples of misalliance in history, not only among royalty. Age is not a hindrance: happy "unequal" marriages

Recommended: