Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
Maria Feodorovna | |
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Empress consort of Russia | |
Tenure | 17 November 1796 – 23 March 1801 |
Coronation | 5 April 1797 |
Born | Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg 25 October 1759 Stettin, Kingdom of Prussia (today Szczecin, Poland) |
Died | 5 November 1828 Winter Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire | (aged 69)
Burial | |
Spouse | |
Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (by marriage) | |
Father | Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg |
Mother | Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt |
Religion | Russian Orthodox prev. Lutheranism |
Signature |
Maria Feodorovna (Russian: Мария Фёдоровна; née Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg; 25 October 1759 – 5 November 1828 [OS 24 October]) became Empress of Russia as the second wife of Emperor Paul I. She founded the Office of the Institutions of Empress Maria.
Daughter of Duke Frederick Eugene of Württemberg and Princess Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt, Sophie Dorothea belonged to a junior branch of the House of Württemberg and grew up in Montbéliard, receiving an excellent education for her time. After Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia) became a widower in 1776, King Frederick II of Prussia (Sophie Dorothea's maternal great-uncle) and Empress Catherine II of Russia chose Sophie Dorothea as the ideal candidate to become Paul's second wife. In spite of her fiancé's difficult character, she developed a long, peaceful relationship with Paul and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1776, adopting the name Maria Feodorovna. During the long reign (1762–1796) of her mother-in-law, she sided with her husband and lost the initial affection the reigning Empress had for her. The couple were completely excluded from any political influence, as mother and son mistrusted each other. They were forced to live in isolation at Gatchina Palace, where they had many children together.
After her husband ascended the Russian throne in 1796, Maria Feodorovna had a considerable and beneficial influence during his four-year reign. On the night of Paul I's assassination (23 March [
Childhood
Sophie Marie Dorothea Auguste Luise was born on 25 October 1759 in
Montbéliard not only was the seat of the junior branch of the
In 1773, Sophie Dorothea was among the group of German princesses considered as possible wives of the heir to the Russian throne, the future Tsar
Grand Duchess
Engagement
After the Tsarevich became a widower in 1776, Frederick II of Prussia proposed his grandniece as the ideal candidate to be Paul's second wife. Russian Empress, Catherine II, was delighted with the idea: The Princess of Württemberg shared with her not only a similar education, but also the same original name and place of birth. When her mother lamented the unfortunate destiny of some Russian sovereigns, a pleased Sophie Dorothea replied that her only concern was to make her way in her new country quickly and successfully. Her former fiancé received a monetary compensation when the engagement was broken.
Sophie and Paul met for the first time at a state dinner given in honour of his arrival in Berlin. Having learned that her fiancé's tastes were serious, she spoke about geometry during their first interview. The next day, she wrote a glowing letter to a friend in which she declared that "I am more than content. The Grand Duke could not be more kind. I pride myself on the fact that my dear bridegroom loves me a great deal, and this makes me very, very fortunate." Paul was as happy with the young princess as she was with him and wrote to his mother that: "I found my intended to be such as I could have dreamed of. She is shapely, intelligent, quick-witted, and not at all shy."[3]
First years
By early fall, Sophie fell in love with her future husband. "I cannot go to bed, my dear and adored Prince, without telling you once again that I love and adore you madly," she wrote to Paul. Soon after arriving at
As Grand Duchess, Maria Feodorovna possessed such parsimony that she was prepared to spend the whole day in full dress without fatigue and implacably imposed the same burden on her entourage. She didn't hesitate to take over the clothes of her husband's first wife and dispute with her ladies-in-waiting the defunct Natalia's slippers.[2] At the beginning, Catherine II was enchanted with her daughter-in-law, about whom she wrote to a friend: "I confess to you that I am infatuated with this charming Princess, but literally infatuated. She is precisely what one would have wished: the figure of a nymph, a lily and rose complexion, the loveliest skin in the world, tall and well built; she is grateful; sweetness, kindnesses and innocence are reflected in her face."[6]
However, the relationship between the two women quickly turned sour: Maria Feodorovna sided with her neglected husband in the family's acrimony and despite her good intentions to ease the difficult situation, meddling only aggravated their differences. In December 1777, she gave birth to the first of her ten children, future Tsar Alexander I. Just three months later, Catherine II took the newborn to raise him without interference from the parents. When a second son was born in April 1779, she did the same thing. This caused bitter animosity with Maria, who was only allowed weekly visits with Paul. For the next four years, the couple didn't have any more children. Deprived of her sons, Maria occupied herself by decorating Pavlovsk Palace, Catherine's gift to celebrate the birth of her first grandson.
European tour
Tired of being excluded in political affairs, Paul and Maria asked Catherine for permission to travel abroad to
During their visit to Italy, the couple proved to be much in love since Paul couldn't stop giving kisses in public to his wife, surprising their travelling companions. On their way back to St. Petersburg, Maria went to Württemberg to visit her parents. At the end of 1782, the couple returned to Russia and devoted their attention to Pavlovsk Palace, where Maria gave birth to
Last years
During the long years of Catherine's reign, Maria and Paul were forced to live in isolation in Gatchina with a tight
Maria Feodorovna kept voluminous
Empress of Russia
After twenty years in the shadows, the death of Catherine II in 1796 allowed Maria Feodorovna to have a prominent role as Empress consort. During Catherine's lifetime, Maria had no chance of interfering in affairs of state, as Paul himself was excluded, but after her husband's accession to the throne, she took to politics, at first timidly, but increasingly resolutely afterwards.[8] Her influence over her husband was very great, and in general beneficial. Even so, it is possible that she abused it in order to help her friends or hurt her enemies. Although the imperial couple wasn't as close as they once had been, there remained a good deal of respect, dependence and warmth between them. Their relationship suffered further in the last years of Paul's life. After Maria gave birth to her tenth and last child in 1798, Paul became infatuated with 19-year-old Anna Lopukhina and lied to his wife that the relationship was of a paternal nature. Paul was Emperor for exactly four years, four months, and four days. He was murdered on 12 March 1801.
On the night of her husband's assassination, Maria Feodorovna thought to imitate the example of her mother-in-law and tried to seize power to become empress regnant on the grounds that she had been crowned with Paul. It took her son Alexander several days to persuade her to relinquish her reckless claim, for which she had no party to support her. For some time afterward, whenever her son came to visit, the Dowager Empress would place a casket between them containing the bloodstained nightshirt that his father was wearing on the day of the murder as a silent reproach. The strained relationship between mother and son improved though and thanks to the new Tsar, 42-years-old Maria Feodorovna kept the highest female position at court and often took the emperor's arm in public ceremonies, while Empress Elizabeth had to walk behind. This custom of precedence and superiority of the Dowager Empress over the reigning monarch's wife was introduced by Maria and was unique to the Russian court, though it caused resentment with her eldest daughter-in-law. Perpetuating the tradition of Catherine II, she attended parades in military uniform, the cordon of an order across her breast.[9]
Charity Institutions
In May 1797, Tsar Paul asked Maria Feodorovna to oversee the national charities. She encouraged a thorough inspection of prospective foster parents and limited admissions "from the street", measures which decreased the inflow of new orphans and considerably reduced mortality. By 1826, the mortality rate was reduced to 15% per annum,[10] a figure outrageous by modern standards but a great improvement on the 18th century.
Even after her husband's death, Maria Feodorovna continued to manage all the empire's charitable establishments and control the bank for
Maria Feodorovna realized the need to downsize the institution, separating children from older tenants and improving the educational program for the former. She transferred the younger inhabitants to new, independent orphanages. The Moscow Crafts College, the largest spin-off, was established as an orphanage for teenagers in 1830 and continues today as the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.[12] In the Orphanage, there were high-level educational programs along the lines of the "Latin classes for boys and the "midwife classes for girls". After meeting a
Building projects
Maria Feodorovna had exceptional taste. She was skilled at architecture, watercolor; engraving; designing objects of ivory and amber; and horticulture.[2] The palaces of Pavlovsk, Gatchina,
Maria Fedorovna and Paul began remodelling Pavlovsk. She insisted in having several rustic structures which recalled the palace where she grew up at Étupes, 40 miles from Basel.[14] During their travels in 1781, the couple sent back and forth drawings, plans and notes on the smallest details.[15] She brought Italian architect Carlo Rossi to redesign the library to contain more than twenty thousand books.[16] After Paul's death in 1801, Gatchina Palace came into the ownership of the new Dowager Empress, who used her experience from her travels around Europe to redo the interiors in the Neoclassical style and make alterations to adapt it "in case of winter stay" in 1809.
Foreign relationships
Maria Feodorovna enjoyed a considerable income which made possible for her to live in grand style.[11] Her elegant receptions, where she appeared sumptuously dressed and was surrounded by chamberlains, were in sharp contrast with the simple court life of Alexander I, whose retiring ways and the withdrawn personality of his wife were no match for the Dowager Empress' old splendor in the style of the time of Catherine the Great.[9] Her exalted position made her palace at Pavlovsk a mandatory place to visit for the great personages of St. Petersburg. She used her position to help as much as possible her numerous poor relations, some of whom were invited to Russia. Examples include her brother, Prince Alexander of Württemberg (1771–1833).
Maria Feodorovna transformed her court into the center of anti-Napoleon sentiment during the
Dowager Empress and Death
Even past age 50, Maria Feodorovna retained traces of her youthful freshness. Of a robust constitution, she outlived five of her ten children, including her eldest son and his wife, and saw the ascension to the throne of her third son, Nicholas I. Once all her children were grown up, she maintained an avid correspondence with them, but both mother and children could be cool and remote at times because of their temperaments.
In 1822, Empress Maria Feodorovna moved into the renovated
Issue
Throughout her marriage with Paul I of Russia, Maria Feodorovna had ten children.
Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
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12 December 1777 | 19 November 1825 | Married Princess Luise Auguste of Baden (Elizabeth Alexeiyevna) (1779–1826) and had two daughters (both died in childhood).
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Grand Duke Constantin Pavlovich of Russia |
27 April 1779 | 15 June 1831 | Married Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (Anna Feodorovna) (1781–1860). Married Joanna, Countess Grudsinska, Princess Lowicz (1791–1831). No issue.
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Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia |
9 August 1783 | 16 March 1801 | Married Archduke Joseph of Austria, Count Palatine of Hungary (1776–1847). Had one daughter (died at birth).
|
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia |
13 December 1784 | 24 September 1803 | Married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778–1819). Had two children. |
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia |
4 February 1786 | 23 June 1859 | Married Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1783–1853). Had four children. |
Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia | 21 May 1788 | 9 January 1819 | Married Duke Georg of Oldenburg (1784–1812) and had two sons. Married King William I of Württemberg (1781–1864) and had two daughters. |
Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna of Russia | 22 July 1792 | 26 January 1795 | |
Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna of Russia | 7 January 1795 | 1 March 1865 | Married King William II of the Netherlands (1792–1849) and had five children. |
25 June 1796 | 18 February 1855 | Married Princess Charlotte of Prussia (Alexandra Feodorovna) (1798–1860) and had ten children. | |
Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia | 8 February 1798 | 9 September 1849 | Married Princess Charlotte of Württemberg (Elena Pavlovna) (1807–1873) and had five children.
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Maria Feodorovna was a considerate, loving mother who managed to maintain genuinely close relationships with all her children despite the fact that Catherine II took over her two eldest sons in their early years. The future of her daughters and the education of her younger sons kept Maria's attention occupied during the first years of her widowhood.[19] She had total control over the future Nicholas I and Grand Duke Michael. She was influential in the early education of her grandson, the future Alexander II. Maria tried to surpass the education which Catherine II had provided for her two eldest sons, but didn't choose the best teachers for the younger ones.
Archives
Maria Feodorovna's letters to her brother, Frederick I of Württemberg, are preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart (Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart) in Stuttgart, Germany,[20][21][22][23] as well as her correspondence with other family members.[24] Maria Feodorovna's correspondence with her parents, Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, and Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt, written between 1776 and 1797, is also preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart.[25] In addition, Maria Feodorovna's letters to Friedrich Freiherrn von Maucler and his wife Luise Sophie Eleonore LeFort are also preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart.[26]
See also
Ancestry
Ancestors of Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) |
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Notes
- ^ Massie, Suzanne, Pavlovsk, p. 8.
- ^ a b c d Waliszewski, Kazimierz, Paul the First, p. 17.
- ^ Lincoln, W. Bruce, The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias, p. 367.
- Feodorovna as a Romanov patronymic
- ^ Massie, Suzanne, Pavlovsk, p. 12.
- ^ Troyat, Henri, Catherine the Great, p. 268
- ^ Ragsdale, Hugh, Tsar Paul and the Question of Madness, p. 19.
- ^ Waliszewski, Kazimierz, Paul the First, p .18.
- ^ a b Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, p. 112.
- ^ a b (in Russian) Volkevich, ch.3
- ^ a b Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, p. 111.
- ^ a b (in Russian) Volkevich, ch.4
- ^ Burch, Susan, "Transcending Revolutions: The Tsars, the Soviets and Deaf Culture" p. 394.
- ^ Massie, p. 22.
- ^ Massie, p. 32
- ^ Massie, p. 99
- ^ Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, p. 119.
- ^ Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, p. 123.
- ^ Massie, Suzanne, Pavlovsk, p. 36.
- ^ "Korrespondenzen und Unterlagen von Zarin Maria Feodorowna - Schreiben an ihren Bruder, den König Friedrich, 1769–1774". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Korrespondenzen und Unterlagen von Zarin Maria Feodorowna - Schreiben an ihren Bruder, den König Friedrich, 1775-1780". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ "Korrespondenzen und Unterlagen von Zarin Maria Feodorowna - Schreiben an ihren Bruder, den König Friedrich, 1781-1786". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
- ^ "Korrespondenzen und Unterlagen von Zarin Maria Feodorowna - Schreiben an ihren Bruder, den König Friedrich, 1786-1789, 1791-1797, 1813". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Korrespondenzen und Unterlagen von Zarin Maria Feodorowna - Briefwechsel mit Familienangehörigen". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart.
- ^ "Herzog Friedrich Eugen (1732-1797) - Briefwechsel des Herzogs mit dem kaiserlichen Hause von Russland, 1776-1797". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Briefe der Großfürstin (Zarin) Maria Feodorowna von Russland geb. Prinzessin Sophie Dorothee von Württemberg an Friedrich Freiherrn von Maucler und dessen Gattin Luise Sophie Eleonore, 1780-1801". Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
Bibliography
- Lincoln, W. Bruce, The Romanovs: Autocrats of All the Russias, Anchor, ISBN 0-385-27908-6.
- Bernhard A. Macek, Haydn, Mozart und die Großfürstin: Eine Studie zur Uraufführung der "Russischen Quartette" op. 33 in den Kaiserappartements der Wiener Hofburg, Schloß Schönbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H., 2012, ISBN 3-901568-72-7.
- Burch, Susan. "Transcending Revolutions: The Tsars, the Soviets and Deaf Culture." Journal of Social History 34.2 (2000): 393–401.
- Massie, Suzanne, Pavlovsk: The Life of a Russian Palace, Hodder & Stoughton,1990, ISBN 0-340-48790-9.
- Ragsdale, Hugh, Tsar Paul and the Question of Madness: An Essay in History and Psychology, Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-26608-5.
- Troyat, Henri, Alexander of Russia, Dutton, ISBN 0-525-24144-2
- Troyat, Henri, Catherine the Great, Plume, ISBN 0-452-01120-5
- Madame Vigée Lebrun, Memoirs, Doubleday, Page & Company, ISBN 0-8076-1221-9
- Waliszewski, Kazimierz, Paul the First of Russia, the son of Catherine the Great, Archon, ISBN 0-208-00743-1