February 21, 1728: birth of Emperor Peter III of Russia

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Carl XII of Sweden, Catherine II of Russia, Charles Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, Empress Elizabeth of Russia, Peter III of Russia, Russian Emperors, Russian Empire

Peter III (February 21, 1728 – July, 16, 1762) was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was born in Kiel as Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp the only child of Charles Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp (the son of Hedvig Sophia of Sweden, sister of Carl XII), and Anna Petrovna (the elder surviving daughter of Emperor Peter I the Great and Empress Catherine I of Russia). His mother died shortly after his birth. In 1739, Peter’s father died, and he became Duke of Holstein-Gottorp as Charles Peter Ulrich The German Peter could hardly speak Russian and pursued a strongly pro-Prussian policy, which made him an unpopular leader.

When Elizabeth, his mother’s younger sister, became Empress of Russia, she brought Peter from Germany to Russia and proclaimed him her heir presumptive in the autumn of 1742. Previously in 1742, the 14-year-old Peter was proclaimed King of Finland during the Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743), when Russian troops held Finland. This proclamation was based on his succession rights to territories held by his childless great-uncle, the late Carl XII of Sweden, who also had been Grand Duke of Finland.

Portrait of the Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna around the time of her wedding, by George Christoph Grooth, 1745.

Empress Elizabeth arranged for Peter to marry his 2nd cousin, Sophia Augusta Frederica (later Catherine the Great), daughter of Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst and Princess Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. The young princess formally converted to Russian Orthodoxy and took the name Ekaterina Alexeievna (i.e., Catherine). They married on August 21, 1745. The marriage was not a happy one but produced one son, the future Emperor Paul, and one daughter, Anna Petrovna (December 20, 1757 – March 19, 1759). Catherine later claimed that Paul was not fathered by Peter: that, in fact, they had never consummated the marriage.

Peter succeeded to the Russian throne (January 5, 1762) he withdrew Russian forces from the Seven Years’ War and concluded a peace treaty (May 5, 1762) with Prussia (dubbed the “Second Miracle of the House of Brandenburg”). He gave up Russian conquests in Prussia and offered 12,000 troops to make an alliance with Friedrich II of Prussia (June 19, 1762). Russia thus switched from an enemy of Prussia to an ally — Russian troops withdrew from Berlin and marched against the Austrians.

Despite his generally poor reputation, Peter made some progressive reforms during his short reign. The reign of Peter III is cast as progressive for its focus on transforming economically developed feudal Russia to a more advanced European state. During his 186-day period of government, Peter III passed 220 new laws that he had developed and elaborated during his life as a crown prince. He proclaimed religious freedom (a very enlightened move for the time) and encouraged education. He sought to modernize the Russian army. He abolished the secret police, which had been infamous for its extreme violence, and made it illegal for landowners to kill their serfs without going to court. Catherine adopted some of his reforms and reverted others.

It has been theorized that he wasn’t deposed for political reasons and was in fact murdered for personal reasons. He was deposed and possibly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his German wife, Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II. With the aid of the two Guards troops that Peter had planned to discipline more harshly, the emperor was arrested and forced to abdicate on July 9, 1762. Shortly thereafter, he was transported to Ropsha, where he was supposedly assassinated, although it is unknown how Peter died. However, one theory is that he died as a result of a drunken brawl with his bodyguard while he was being held captive after Catherine’s coup.

Dynasty ~ Royal Houses

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Act of Settlement 1701, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este, Dynastic Marriage, Dynasts, Dynasty, King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands., Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Queen Maria II of Portugal, Royal Family, Royal House

I will be examining the history of Royal Houses, or Dynasties, from time to time but before I do I’d like to examine just what is a Dynasty?

A Dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. Alternative terms for “Dynasty” may include “House”, “Family” and “Clan”, among others.

The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, otherwise known as the Yamato dynasty, whose reign is traditionally dated to 660 BC. The current Japanese Emperor is Naruhito. He acceded to the Chrysanthemum Throne on May 1 2019, beginning the Reiwa era, following the abdication of his father, Emperor Akihito (the Showa Emperor). He is the 126th monarch according to Japan’s traditional order of succession.

The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a “noble house”, which may be styled as “imperial”, “royal”, “princely”, “ducal”, “comital”, “baronial” etc., depending upon the chief or present title borne by its members.

Prior to the 20th century, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. In nations where it was permitted, succession through a daughter usually established a new dynasty in her husband’s ruling house. This has changed in some places in Europe, where succession law and convention have maintained dynasties de jure through a female.

For instance, the House of Windsor will be maintained through the children of Queen Elizabeth II, as it did with the monarchy of the Netherlands, whose dynasty remained the House of Orange-Nassau through three successive queens regnant. The earliest such example among major European monarchies was in the Russian Empire in the 18th century, where the name of the House of Romanov was maintained through Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna.

By the marriage of Duke Franz of Lorraine to Maria Theresa of Austria in 1736, and with the success in the ensuing War of the Austrian Succession, the House of Lorraine was joined to the House of Habsburg, and was now known as Habsburg-Lorraine. Franz, his sons Joseph II and Leopold II, and grandson Franz II were the last four Holy Roman Emperors from 1745 to the dissolution of the empire in 1806. Habsburg-Lorraine inherited the Habsburg Empire, ruling the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1918.

Queen Maria II of Portugal

This also happened in the case of Queen Maria II of Portugal, who married Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, but whose descendants remained members of the House of Braganza, per Portuguese law. In Limpopo Province of South Africa, Balobedu determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mother’s dynasty when coming into her inheritance. Less frequently, a monarchy has alternated or been rotated, in a multi-dynastic (or polydynastic) system – that is, the most senior living members of parallel dynasties, at any point in time, constitute the line of succession.

Dynasts

Louis XIV (seated) with his son le Grand Dauphin (to the left), his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy (to the right), his great-grandson Louis Duke of Anjou, and Madame de Ventadour, Anjou’s governess, who commissioned this painting; busts of Henri IV and Louis XIII are in the background.

A ruler from a dynasty is sometimes referred to as a “dynast”, but this term is also used to describe any member of a reigning family who retains a right to succeed to a throne. For example, King Edward VIII ceased to be a dynast of the House of Windsor following his abdication.

In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a “dynast” is a family member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchy’s rules still in force. For example, after the 1914 assassinations of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his morganatic wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, their son Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg, was bypassed for the Austro-Hungarian throne because he was not a Habsburg dynast.

Even since the abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. Although its senior agnates are the Dukes of Hohenberg, the house is currently headed by Charles von Habsburg-Lothringen (born 1961), oldest grandson of the last emperor Charles I.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este

The term “dynast” is sometimes used only to refer to agnatic descendants of a realm’s monarchs, and sometimes to include those who hold succession rights through cognatic royal descent. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people. For example, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, a nephew of Queen Elizabeth II through her sister Princess Margaret, is in the line of succession to the British crown; in that sense, he is a British dynast, but since he is not a patrilineal member of the British royal family, he is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor.

On the other hand, the German aristocrat Prince Ernst August of Hanover, a male-line descendant of King George III of the United Kingdom, possesses no legal British name, titles or styles (although he is entitled to reclaim the former royal dukedom of Cumberland). He was born in the line of succession to the British throne and was bound by Britain’s Royal Marriages Act 1772 until it was repealed when the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 took effect on March 26, 2015. Thus, he requested and obtained formal permission from Queen Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco in 1999.

Yet, a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time, stipulating that dynasts who marry Roman Catholics are considered “dead” for the purpose of succession to the British throne. That exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Roman Catholic.

A “dynastic marriage” is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, so that the descendants are eligible to inherit the throne or other royal privileges. The marriage of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands to Queen Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child Princess Catharina-Amalia is expected to inherit the Crown of the Netherlands eventually. However, the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau to Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau in 2003 lacked governmental support and parliamentary approval. Thus, Prince Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession to the Dutch throne, lost his title as a “Prince of the Netherlands”, and left his children without dynastic rights.

February 14, 1014: Heinrich II is crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII

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coronation, Duke Boleslaw I of Poland, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor Otto III, Holy Roman Empire, King of Germany, Pope Benedict VIII, St. Cunigunde of Luxembourg, St. Peter's Basilica

Heinrich II (May 6, 973 – July 13, 1024), also known as Saint Heinrich II the Exuberant, was Holy Roman Emperor (“Romanorum Imperator“) from 1014. He died in 1024 and was without an heir the last ruler in the imperial Ottonian line. As Duke of Bavaria, appointed in 995, Heinrich II became King of Germany (“Rex Romanorum“) following the sudden death of his second cousin, Emperor Otto III in 1002, was made King of Italy (“Rex Italiae“) in 1004.

Heinrich II was born in May 973, the son of Duke Heinrich II, Duke of Bavaria, and Gisela of Burgundy. Through his father, he was the grandson of Heinrich I Duke of Bavaria, and the great-grandson of King Heinrich I (The Fowler) of Germany. By his mother, he was the grandson of King Conrad I of Burgundy, and the great-grandson of King Rudolf II of Burgundy.

Royal Standard of the Holy Roman Empire

In 999 Heinrich II married St. Cunigunde of Luxembourg. This marriage granted him an extensive network of contacts in Germany’s western territories. St. Cunigunde was one of eleven children born to Count Siegfried I of Luxembourg (922 – August 15, 998) and a woman called Hedwig. Numerous genealogists have tried to find out which Hedwig it is, there are different views.

One of the most famous theses regarding her identity is from Joseph Depoin, who claims that Hedwig is the daughter of Duke Gilbert of Lorraine and his wife Gerberga of Saxony, the daughter of Heinrich I of Saxony. If this is correct, then Cunigunde married her distant cousin. Because Heinrich II was strongly against consanguineous marriage, it is assumed that this can not be. It can also often be read, that she is the daughter of Berthold of Schweinfurt from the House of Babenberg and Eilika of Walbeck, daughter of Count Lothar. Cunigundes paternal grandmother, also called Cunigunde, was a Carolingian. So Cunigunde of Luxembourg was a seventh-generation descendant of Charlemagne.

Heinrich II crowned as Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.

in 1012, Benedict VIII was elected to succeed him. Upon assuming the chair of St. Peter, however, Benedict VIII was forced to flee Rome by Gregory VI, an antipope, whom John Crescentius installed as the new head of the Catholic Church. Fleeing across the Alps to Germany, Benedict VIII appealed to Heinrich II for protection. Heinrich II agreed to restore Benedict VIII to his papal throne in return for his coronation as Emperor.

Near the end of 1013, Heinrich II gathered his army at Augsburg to march into Italy. Earlier in 1013, Heinrich II signed a peace treaty with Duke Bolesław I of Poland at Merseburg. The peace with Poland gave Heinrich II opportunity to address affairs in Italy. On the march across the Alps, Henry was accompanied by his wife, Queen Cunigunde and a number of clerics. Upon reaching Pavia other bishops and abbots joined him. Heinrich II’s forces trapped the King of Italy Arduin in his capital of Ivrea, where he remained until 1015.

Heinrich II arrived in Rome in early 1014, restoring Benedict VIII as Pope. On February 14, 1014, the Pope crowned Heinrich II as Holy Roman Emperor (“Romanorum Imperator“) in St. Peter’s Basilica. Then, under the presidency of the Emperor and Pope, the two held a synod in Rome, appointed five bishops, issued decrees against simony and promoting chastity within the clergy, and ordered the restitution of Church property. Shortly afterwards, the Emperor moved north again where he established the Diocese of Bobbio. Celebrating Easter in Pavia, Italy, Heinrich II then returned to Germany in mid-May 1014. He left the rule of Rome to the Pope and thereafter rarely intervened in the politics of Italy or the Papal States.

January 27, 1708: Birth of Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia.

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Catherine I of Russia, Charles Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp, Charles Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp, Empress Elizabeth of Russia, Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, Peter III of Russia, Peter the Great, Russian Empire

Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, Tsesarevna of Russia (January 27, 1708 – March 4, 1728) was the elder daughter of Emperor Peter I, the Great of Russia and his wife Empress Catherine I, (Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya). Her younger sister, Empress Elizabeth, ruled between 1741 and 1762. While a potential heir in the reign of her nephew, she never acceded to the throne due to political reasons. However, her son Duke Charles Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp would rule as Emperor Peter III in 1762, succeeding Elizabeth. Grand Duchess Anna was the Duchess Consort of Holstein-Gottorp by marriage.

Anna was born out of wedlock, although her parents were married in 1712 and she was later legitimized. Her earlier illegitimacy would pose great challenges for her marriage.

Anna grew up in the houses of Peter’s younger sister Natalia and Prince Alexander Menshikov. Although born illegitimate, she and her younger sister Elizabeth were awarded the titles of “princess” on March 6, 1711 and Grand Duchess Anna “crown princess” (tsesarevna) on December 23, 1721.

Peter planned to marry his daughters to foreign princes in order to gain European allies for the Russian Empire. The two girls were educated with this aim in mind, learning literature, writing, embroidery, dancing and etiquette. Anna developed into an intelligent, well-read girl who spoke four foreign languages – French, German, Italian and Swedish.

On March 17, 1721, Charles Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp arrived in Imperial Russia to get acquainted with his future wife and father-in-law. Charles Friedrich was born in Sweden, the son of Friedrich IV of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp and his consort, Hedvig Sophia, daughter of King Carl XI of Sweden and married Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark daughter of King Frederik III of Denmark. Charles Friedrich became reigning Duke of Holstein in infancy, upon his father’s death in 1702, co-ruling, however under guardianship till 1717, with his father’s cousin King Frederick IV of Denmark in the Duchy of Holstein, a Holy Roman imperial fief, and the Duchy of Schleswig, a Danish fief, there as a vassal to the Danish king. All his life was a legitimate claimant to the throne of Sweden, as pro forma heir to Carl XII, who was his maternal uncle.

Charles Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp

Charles Friedrich wanted to use the marriage in order to ensure Russia’s support for his plans of retrieving Schleswig from Denmark. He also entertained hopes of being backed up by Russia in his claims to the Swedish throne. Under the terms of the Treaty of Nystad Russia promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of Sweden, so his hopes proved ill-founded.

Another possible candidate as a husband was Prince Louis d’Orléans, Duke of Orléans, a son of Prince Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and his wife Madamme Françoise Marie de Bourbon (an illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his Chief Mistress, Françoise-Athénaïs, Madame de Montespan). The marriage proposal was ignored due to a difference in style of address. Grand Duchess Anna was addressed as Her Imperial Highness and Louis was as His Serene Highness.

On November 22, 1724, the marriage contract was signed between Charles Friedrich and Emperor Peter the Great. By this contract, Anna and Charles Friedrich renounced all rights and claims to the crown of the Russian Empire on behalf of themselves and their descendants. However a secret clause allowed the Emperor to name a successor out of any issue from the marriage. As a result of this clause, the Emperor secured the right to name any of his descendants as his successor on the Russian throne.

A few months thereafter, by January 1725, Peter the Great fell mortally ill. As the story goes, on his deathbed he managed to spell the words: to give all…, but could not continue further and sent for Anna to dictate his last will to her. By the time the princess arrived, the Emperor could not pronounce a single word. Based on the story, some historians speculated that Peter’s wish was to leave the throne to Anna, but this is not confirmed.

Emperor Peter III of Russia

On February 21, 1728, Anna gave birth in Kiel Castle to a son named Prince Charles Peter Ulrich, the future Peter III of Russia. Peter would go on to be the future Emperor of Russia and found the House of Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov that would go on to rule Russia until the early 20th-century. A few days after his birth, the barely twenty-year-old Duchess Anna caught puerperal fever (postpartum infection) and died on March 4, 1728. In memory of his wife, Carl Friedrich founded the Order of St Anna, which subsequently became a Russian decoration.

January 24, 1742: Election of Charles Albert of Bavaria as the Holy Roman Emperor.

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Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, Charles Albert of Bavaria, Clemens August of Bavaria, Elector of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII, Holy Roman Empire, House of Wittelsbach, Maria Theresa of Austria, Pragmatic Sanction

Charles VII Albert (April 7, 1697 – January 20, 1745) was the Prince-Elector of Bavaria from 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from January 24, 1742 until his death in 1745. A member of the House of Wittelsbach, Charles Albert was the first person not born of the House of Habsburg to become Holy Roman Emperor in three centuries, though he was connected to that house both by blood and by marriage. He was a great-great grandson of both Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and King Henri IV of France.

Charles Albert was born in Brussels, the son of Maximilian II Emanuel, Prince-Elector of Bavaria, and Theresa Kunegunda Sobieska, daughter of King John III Sobieski of Poland and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d’Arquien.

His family was split during the War of the Spanish Succession and was for many years under house arrest in Austria. Only in 1715 was the family reunited. After attaining his majority in August 1715, he undertook an educational tour of Italy from 3 December 1715 until 24 August 1716. In 1717, he served with Bavarian auxiliaries in the Austro-Turkish War (1716–1718).

On 5 October 1722, Charles Albert married Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, whom he had met at the imperial court in Vienna. She was the younger daughter of the late Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Wilhelmine Amalia of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1725 Charles Albert visited Versailles for the wedding of Louis XV of France, and established firm contacts with the French court.

In 1726, when his father died, Charles Albert became Duke of Bavaria and a Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He maintained good relations both with his Habsburg relatives and with France, continuing his father’s policies. In 1729 he instituted the knightly Order of St George. That year, he also started building the Rothenberg Fortress.

As son-in-law of Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles Albert rejected the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 and claimed the German territories of the Habsburg dynasty after the death of Holy Roman Charles VI in 1740. With the treaty of Nymphenburg concluded in July 1741, Charles Albert allied with France and Spain against Austria.

During the War of the Austrian Succession Charles Albert invaded Upper Austria in 1741 and planned to conquer Vienna, but his allied French troops under the Duc de Belle-Isle were redirected to Bohemia instead and Prague was conquered in November 1741. Therefore, Charles Albert was crowned King of Bohemia in Prague, December 19, 1741 when the Habsburgs were not yet defeated.

He was unanimously elected “King of the Romans” on January 24, 1742, also with the vote of King George II of Great Britain, Prince-Elector of Hanover, Charles Albert became Holy Roman Emperor upon his coronation on February 12, 1742. His brother Clemens August of Bavaria, Archbishop and Prince-Elector of Cologne, who generally sided with the Austria Habsburg-Lorraine faction in the disputes over the Habsburg succession, cast his vote for his brother and personally crowned him emperor at Frankfurt. Charles VII Albert was the second Wittelsbach emperor after Ludwig IV and the first Wittelsbach king of Germany since the reign of Rupert.

Shortly after the coronation most of Charles VII Albert’s territories were overrun by the Austrians, and Bavaria was occupied by the troops of Maria Theresa. The emperor fled Munich and resided for almost three years in the Palais Barckhaus in Frankfurt. Most of Bohemia was lost in December 1742 when the Austrians allowed the French under the Duc de Belle-Isle and the Duc de Broglie an honourable capitulation. Charles VII Albert was mocked as an emperor who neither controlled his own realm, nor was in effective control of the empire itself, though the institution of the Holy Roman Emperor had largely become symbolic in nature and powerless by that time.

The new commander of the Bavarian army, Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff, fought Austria in a series of battles in 1743 and 1744. In 1743 his troops and their allies took Bavaria and Charles VII was able to return to Munich in April for some time. After the allied French had to retreat after defeats to the Rhine, he lost Bavaria again. The new campaign of Frederick II of Prussia during the Second Silesian War finally forced the Austrian army to leave Bavaria and to retreat back into Bohemia. In October 1744 Charles VII regained Munich and returned. Under the mediation of the former Vice-Chancellor Friedrich Karl von Schönborn, the emperor then sought a balance with Vienna, but at the same time negotiated unsuccessfully with France for new military support.

Suffering severely from gout, Charles VII Albert died at Nymphenburg Palace on January 20, 1745. His brother Prince Clemens August once again leaned towards Austria. In Bavaria, Charles VII Albert’s eldest son succeeded as Maximilian III Joseph Prince-Elector of Bavaria and made peace with Austria. With the Treaty of Füssen Austria recognized the legitimacy of Charles VII Albert’s election as Holy Roman Emperor. Charles VII Albert is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

After the decisive defeat in the Battle of Pfaffenhofen on April 15 Maximilian III Joseph quickly abandoned his father’s imperial pretenses and made peace with Maria Theresa in the aforementioned Treaty of Füssen, in which he agreed to support her husband, Grand Duke Franz Stefan of Lorraine and Tuscany, in the upcoming imperial election. On September 13, 1745, Franz Stefan was elected Holy Roman Emperor in succession to Charles VII Albert and his wife, Maria Theresa of Austria, made him co-regent of her hereditary Habsburg dominions.

An interesting note is that among the many offspring of Charles VII Albert and his wife, Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria, was Maria Josepha of Bavaria who married Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II the son and successor of her father’s successor Holy Roman Emperor Franz I Stefan his wife, Maria Theresa of Austria.

January 18, 1871: Proclamation of the German Empire.

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Emperor of Germany, Emperor of the Germans, Frankfurt Parliament, Frederick III of Germany, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Great Hall of Mirrors, Otto von Bismark, Palace of Versailles, Revolutions of 1848, Wilhelm I of Germany, Wilhelm II of Germany

The future king and emperor was born Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig of Prussia in the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin on March 22, 1797. As the second son of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and King Friedrich Wilhelm III, himself son of King Friedrich Wilhelm II, Wilhelm was not expected to ascend to the throne. His grandfather died the year he was born, at age 53, in 1797, and his father Became the King of Prussia.

Ever since the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806 uniting the German lands into a modern Nation State, a new empire, was the goal of many statesman as well as the populace of the multi German states that had made up the Holy Roman Empire.

The first attempt to create the Second German Reich occurred in 1848. In the wake of the revolutions of 1848 that swept across Europe, where the people of the many autocratic monarchies demanded that their governments be ruled by laws granted in a Constitution, the liberal Frankfurt Parliament offered the title “Emperor of the Germans” (German: Kaiser der Deutschen) to King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia in 1849 but he declined it citing that it was “not the Parliament’s to give.” Friedrich Wilhelm further stated he would not “stoop down in the gutter to pick up a crown” for he strongly believed that only the German princes had the right to make such an offer, in accordance with the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.

German Emperor Wilhelm I

Despite this false start creating a German Empire was still the ultimate goal. After a series of wars orchestrated by the ultra conservative Otto von Bismarck, Minister President of Prussia and Chancellor of the North German Confederation; which culminated in uniting the North and South German Confederations at the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor in the Great Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles on January18, 1871. However, creating the title of Emperor and convincing the King of Prussia to take the crown proved almost as difficult as forging the Empire itself.

The German Emperor (German: Deutscher Kaiser [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈkaɪzɐ]) became the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. The title German Emperor was in direct contrast to both Emperor of the Germans or even Emperor of Germany (German: Kaiser von Deutschland).

The title was carefully chosen by Otto von Bismarck, after a discussion which continued until the proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as emperor at the Palace of Versailles during the Siege of Paris. Wilhelm accepted this title grudgingly on January 18 having preferred “Emperor of Germany.” However, that would have signaled a territorial sovereignty and superiority over all German monarchs and this was particularly unacceptable to the South German monarchs, as well as a claim to lands outside his reign (Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc.).

“Emperor of the Germans”, as had been proposed at the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849, was ruled out by Wilhelm as he considered himself a king who ruled by divine right and chosen “By the Grace of God”, not by the people in a popular monarchy. This was an identical stance held by his brother, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. But more in general, Wilhelm was unhappy about a crown that looked artificial (like Napoléon’s), having been created by a constitution. He was afraid that it would overshadow the Prussian crown.

Since 1867, the presidency of the North German Confederation had been a hereditary office of the kings of Prussia. The new constitution of January 1, 1871, following Reichstag and Bundesrat decisions on December 9/10, legally transformed the North German Confederation into the German Empire. This empire was a federal monarchy; the emperor was head of state and president of the federated monarchs (the kings of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, the grand dukes of Baden, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hesse, among others, as well as the principalities, duchies and of the free cities of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen).

German Emperor Friedrich III

Under the imperial constitution, the empire was a federation of states under the permanent presidency of the King of Prussia. Thus, the imperial crown was directly tied to the Prussian crown—something Wilhelm II discovered in the aftermath of World War I. He erroneously believed that he ruled the empire in personal union with Prussia. With the war’s end, he conceded that he could not remain emperor, but initially thought he could at least retain his Prussian crown.

However, his last chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, knew this was legally impossible, and announced Wilhelm II’s abdication of both thrones on November 9, 1918, two days before the Armistice. Realizing his situation was untenable, Wilhelm II went into exile in the Netherlands later that night. It was not until November 28 that Wilhelm II formally gave up all claim to “the throne of Prussia and to the German imperial throne connected therewith.”

German Emperor Wilhelm II

Full titles of the German Emperor

The German Emperors had an extensive list of titles and claims that reflected the geographic expanse and diversity of the lands ruled by the House of Hohenzollern.

His Imperial and Royal Majesty Wilhelm I, By the Grace of God, German Emperor and King of Prussia; Margrave of Brandenburg, Burgrave of Nuremberg, Count of Hohenzollern; sovereign and supreme Duke of Silesia and of the County of Glatz; Grand Duke of the Lower Rhine and of Posen; Duke of Saxony, of Westphalia, of Angria, of Pomerania, Lunenburg, Holstein and Schleswig, of Magdeburg, of Bremen, of Guelders, Cleves, Jülich and Berg, Duke of the Wends and the Kassubes, of Crossen, Lauenburg and Mecklenburg; Landgrave of Hesse and Thuringia; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia; Prince of Orange; Prince of Rügen, of East Friesland, of Paderborn and Pyrmont, of Halberstadt, Münster, Minden, Osnabrück, Hildesheim, of Verden, Cammin, Fulda, Nassau and Moers; Princely Count of Henneberg; Count of Mark, of Ravensberg, of Hohenstein, Tecklenburg and Lingen, of Mansfeld, Sigmaringen and Veringen; Lord of Frankfurt.

January 16, 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Czar of Russia.

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Anastasia Romanov, Czar, Elizabeth I of England, Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan III of Moscow, Ivan IV of Russia, Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Russian Empire, Tsar

January 16, 1547 – Grand Duke Ivan IV of Muscovy becomes the first Czar of Russia, replacing the 264-year-old Grand Duchy of Moscow with the Czardom of Russia.

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (August 25, 1530 – March 28, 1584), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, or more accurately, “Ivan the Formidable” or “Ivan the Fearsome”, was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Czar of Russia from 1547 to 1584.

Ivan IV was the son of Vasili III Ivanovich Grand Prince of Moscow (1479 – 1533) and and his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, daughter of Prince Vasili Lvovich Glinsky from Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Serb Princess Ana Jakšić, member of the Jakšić family.

Ivan IV, Czar of all the Russia’s.

When Ivan was three years old, his father died from an abscess and inflammation on his leg that developed into blood poisoning. Ivan was proclaimed the Grand Prince of Moscow at the request of his father. His mother Elena Glinskaya initially acted as regent, but she died of what many believe to be assassination by poison, in 1538 when Ivan was only eight years old.

The regency then alternated between several feuding boyar families fighting for control. According to his own letters, Ivan, along with his younger brother Yuri, often felt neglected and offended by the mighty boyars from the Shuisky and Belsky families. In a letter to Prince Kurbski Ivan remembers, “My brother Iurii, of blessed memory, and me they brought up like vagrants and children of the poorest. What have I suffered for want of garments and food!!” This account has been challenged by historian Edward L Keenan, who doubts the authenticity of the source in which these quotes are found.

On January 16, 1547, at age sixteen, Ivan was crowned Czar with Monomakh’s Cap at the Cathedral of the Dormition. He was the first to be crowned as “Czar of All the Russias.” Prior to this, rulers of Muscovy were crowned as Grand Princes of Moscow although Ivan III the Great had styled himself “Czar” in his correspondence. Two weeks after his coronation, Ivan married his first wife Anastasia Romanovna, a member of the Romanov family, who became the first Russian Czarina.

By being crowned Czar, Ivan was sending a message to the world and to Russia: he was now the only supreme ruler of the country, and his will was not to be questioned. “The new title symbolized an assumption of powers equivalent and parallel to those held by former Byzantine Emperor and the Tatar Khan, both known in Russian sources as Czar. The political effect was to elevate Ivan’s position.”

Monomakh’s Cap

The new title not only secured the throne, but it also granted Ivan a new dimension of power, one intimately tied to religion. He was now a “divine” leader appointed to enact God’s will, as “church texts described Old Testament kings as ‘czar’ and Christ as the Heavenly Czar. The newly appointed title was then passed on from generation to generation: “succeeding Muscovite rulers … benefited from the divine nature of the power of the Russian monarch … crystallized during Ivan’s reign.”

Background on the title of Czar

Czar is a title used to designate East and South Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers of Eastern Europe, originally the Bulgarian monarchs from 10th century onwards, much later a title for two rulers of the Serbian State, and from 1547 the supreme ruler of the Czar of Russia and the Russian Empire. In this last capacity it lends its name to a system of government, Czarist autocracy or Czarism.

The term is derived from the Latin word caesar, which was intended to mean “emperor” in the European medieval sense of the term—a ruler with the same rank as a Roman emperor, holding it by the approval of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official (the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch)—but was usually considered by western Europeans to be equivalent to King or to be somewhat in between a royal and imperial rank.

Ivan the Terrible Showing His Treasures to Jerome Horse, ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Following his assertion of independence from the khan, “Veliki Kniaz” Ivan III of Muscovy started to use the title of tsar regularly in diplomatic relations with the West. From about 1480, he is designated as “imperator” in his Latin correspondence, as “keyser” in his correspondence with the Swedish regent, and also as “kejser” in his correspondence with the Danish king, Teutonic Knights, and the Hanseatic League.

Ivan III’s son Vasily III continued using these titles. Sigismund von Herberstein observed that the titles of “kaiser” and “imperator” were attempts to render the Russian term “Czar” into German and Latin, respectively.

This was related to Russia’s growing ambitions to become an Orthodox “Third Rome”, after the Fall of Constantinople. The Muscovite ruler was recognized as an emperor by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in 1514. Some foreign ambassadors—namely, Herberstein (in 1516 and 1525), Daniel Printz a Buchau (in 1576 and 1578) and Just Juel (in 1709)—indicated that the word “Czar” should not be translated as “emperor”, because it is applied by Russians to David, Solomon and other Biblical kings, who are simple reges.

On the other hand, Jacques Margeret, a bodyguard of False Demetrius I, argues that the title of “Czar” is more honorable for Muscovites than “kaiser” or “king” exactly because it was God and not some earthly potentate who ordained to apply it to David, Solomon, and other kings of Israel. Samuel Collins, a court physician to Tsar Alexis in 1659-66, styled the latter “Great Emperour”, commenting that “as for the word Czar, it has so near relation to Cesar… that it may well be granted to signifie Emperour. The Russians would have it to be an higher title than King, and yet they call David Czar, and our kings, Kirrols, probably from Carolus Quintus, whose history they have among them”.

In 1610 Sigismund III of Poland manipulated his son Władysław IV’s election as Czar of Russia while Polish forces held Moscow during the Time of Troubles following the death of Boris Godunov. His election, which never resulted in his assumption of the Muscovite throne, was part of an unsuccessful plan by Sigismund to conquer all of Russia and convert the population to Catholicism. As a young man Władysław showed ability as a military leader in operations against Muscovy (1617–18) and the Ottoman Empire.

In 1670, Pope Clement X expressed doubts that it would be appropriate for him to address Alexis as “Czar”, because the word is “barbarian” and because it stands for an emperor, a title reserved for the Holy Roman Emperor. Abbot Scarlati’s opined that the term is not translatable and therefore may be used by the Pope without any harm. In order to settle the matter and to assert his imperial ambitions more clearly, Peter I the Great issued an edict that raised Russia to an empire and decreed that the Latin title imperator should be used instead of Czar.

By 1815, when a large part of Poland was annexed, the title had clearly come to be interpreted in Russia as the equivalent of Polish król (“king”), and the Russian emperor assumed the title “Czar
of Poland.”

Since the word “Czar” remained the popular designation of the Russian monarch despite the official change of style, (from King to Emperor) it is commonly used in foreign languages such as English.

December 17, 1619: birth of Prince Rupert of the Rhine & his life, Part I.

Tags

Charles I of England, Charles II of England, Elizabeth Stuart, English Civil War, Frederick V of the Rhine, George I of Great Britain, James I of England, James VI of Scotland, King of Bohemia, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Sophia of the Rhine (Electress Sophia)

Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (December 17, 1619 – November 29, 1682) was a German-British army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Cavalier, commander of a cavalry unit during the English Civil
War.

Parents and ancestry

His father was Friedrich V of the Palatinate, of the Palatinate-Simmern branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both roles, and the brevity of his reign in Bohemia earned him the derisive sobriquet “the Winter King.” As Elector Palatine, Friedrich was one of the most important princes of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also head of the Protestant Union, a coalition of Protestant German states. The Palatinate was a wealthy state, and Friedrich lived in great luxury.

Friedrich’s mother, Countess Louise Juliana of Nassau, was daughter of Willem the Silent, Prince of Orange and sister of Maurice, Prince of Orange, who as stadtholders of Holland and other provinces were the leaders of the Dutch Republic.

His mother was Elizabeth of England and Scotland daughter of King James I-VI of England, Scotland and Ireland. Thus Rupert was nephew of King Charles I of England, and first cousin of King Charles II of England, who made him Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness. His sister Electress Sophia was the mother of George I of Great Britain.

Rupert was named in honour of Rupert, King of Germany, a famous Wittelsbach ancestor.

Rupert (right) with his brother, Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine (left), in a 1637 portrait by Anthony van Dyck

As a child, Rupert was at times badly behaved, “fiery, mischievous, and passionate” and earned himself the nickname Robert le Diable, or “Rupert The Devil”. Nonetheless, Rupert proved to be an able student. By the age of three he could speak some English, Czech, and French, and mastered German while still young, but had little interest in Latin and Greek. He excelled in art, being taught by Gerard van Honthorst, and found mathematics and science easy. By the time he was 18 he stood about 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) tall.

Friedrich set about convincing an alliance of nations—including England, France and Sweden—to support his attempts to regain the Palatinate and Bohemia. By the early 1630s Frederick had built a close relationship with the Swedish King Gustaf II Adolph, the dominant Protestant leader in Germany. In 1632, however, the two men disagreed over Gustaf’s insistence that Friedrich provide equal rights to his Lutheran and Calvinist subjects after regaining his lands; Friedrich refused and set off to return to The Hague.

Friedrich V Palatine of the Rhine died of a fever along the way and was buried in an unmarked grave. Rupert had lost his father at the age of 13, and Gustaf’s death at the battle of Lützen in the same month deprived the family of a critical Protestant ally. With Frederick gone, King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland proposed that the family move to England; Rupert’s mother declined, but asked that Charles extend his protection to her remaining children instead.

Prince Rupert as a teen

Rupert spent the beginning of his teenage years in England between the courts of The Hague and his uncle King Charles I, before being captured and imprisoned in Linz during the middle stages of the Thirty Years’ War. Rupert had become a soldier early; at the age of 14 he attended the Dutch pas d’armes with the Protestant Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. Later that year he fought alongside him and the Duke of Brunswick at the Anglo-German siege of Rheinberg, and by 1635. Rupert went on to fight against imperial Spain in the successful campaign around Breda in 1637 during the Eighty Years’ War in the Netherlands. By the end of this period, Rupert had acquired a reputation for fearlessness in battle, high spirits and considerable industry.

In between these campaigns Rupert had visited his uncle’s court in England. The Palatinate cause was a popular Protestant issue in England, and in 1637 a general public subscription helped fund an expedition under his brother Charles Ludwig to try and regain the electorate as part of a joint French campaign. Rupert was placed in command of a Palatinate cavalry regiment. The campaign ended badly at the Battle of Vlotho (October 17, 1638) during the invasion of Westphalia; Rupert escaped death, but was captured by the forces of the Imperial General Melchior von Hatzfeldt towards the end of the battle.

Rupert was imprisoned in Linz and his mprisonment was surrounded by religious overtones. His mother was deeply concerned that he might be converted from Calvinism to Catholicism; his captors, encouraged by Emperor Ferdinand III, deployed Jesuit priests in an attempt to convert him. The Emperor went further, proffering the option of freedom, a position as an Imperial general and a small principality if Rupert would convert. Rupert refused.

Rupert’s imprisonment became more relaxed on the advice of the Archduke Leopold, Ferdinand’s younger brother, who met and grew to like Rupert. Rupert practised etching, played tennis, practised shooting, read military textbooks and was taken on accompanied hunting trips. He also entered into a romantic affair with Susan Kuffstein, the daughter of Count von Kuffstein, his gaoler. He received a present of a rare white poodle that Rupert called Boy, or sometimes Pudel, and which remained with him into the English Civil War.

Despite attempts by a Franco-Swedish army to seize Linz and free Rupert, his release was ultimately negotiated through Leopold and the Empress Maria Anna; in exchange for a commitment never again to take up arms against the Emperor, Rupert would be released. Rupert formally kissed the Emperor’s hand at the end of 1641, turned down a final offer of an Imperial command and left Germany for England.

Part II on the life of Prince Rupert will coincide with the articles I will be doing on Charles I and the English Civil War and his subsequent trial.

The Life of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia. Part V: Revolution.

Tags

Abdication, Duma, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, Rasputin, Russian Revolution, The Duma

My Note: I had planned to conclude this series today but found more information to disseminate.

Michael and other members of the imperial family, including Grand Dukes Alexander, George, Nicholas and Dmitri and Grand Duchess Elizabeth, warned of the growing public unrest, and of the perception that Nicholas was governed by his German-born wife Alexandra and the self-styled holy man Rasputin. Nicholas and Alexandra refused to listen. In December 1916, Dmitri and four of his friends killed Rasputin. Michael learned of the murder at Brasovo, where he was spending Christmas with his family. On December 28, according to the French ambassador, there was a failed attempt to assassinate Alexandra; the lone assailant was caught and hanged the next day.

In January 1917, Michael returned to the front to hand over command of his corps; from 29 January he was Inspector-General of Cavalry stationed at Gatchina. General Aleksei Brusilov, Michael’s commander on the south-eastern front, begged him to tell the Tsar of “the need for immediate and drastic reforms”, but Michael warned him, “I have no influence … My brother has time and time again had warnings and entreaties of this kind from every quarter.”

Through February, Grand Duke Alexander, Duma President Rodzianko and Michael pressured Nicholas II and Alexandra to yield to popular demands. Public unrest grew and, on February 27, soldiers in Petrograd joined demonstrators, elements of the military mutinied and prisoners were freed. Nicholas II, who was at army headquarters in Mogilev, prorogued the Duma, but the deputies refused to leave and instead set up their own rival government.

After consulting Rodzianko at the Mariinsky Palace in Petrograd, Michael advised Nicholas II to dismiss his ministers and set up a new government led by the leader of the majority party in the Duma. His advice was supported by General Mikhail Alekseyev, Nicholas II’s chief of staff. Nicholas II rejected the suggestion and issued futile orders for troops to move on Petrograd.

On the night of February 27-28, 1917, Michael attempted to return to Gatchina from Petrograd, where he had been in conference with Rodzianko and from where he had telegraphed the Emperor, but revolutionary patrols and sporadic fire prevented his progress. Revolutionaries patrolled the streets, rounding up people connected with the old regime. Michael managed to reach the Winter Palace, where he ordered the guards to withdraw to the Admiralty, because it afforded greater safety and a better tactical position, and because it was a less politically charged location. Michael himself took refuge in the apartment of an acquaintance, Princess Putyatina, on Millionnaya street.

Abdication of Nicholas II

On the afternoon of March 15, 1917, Emperor Nicholas II, under pressure from generals and Duma representatives, abdicated in favour of his son, Alexei, with Michael as Regent. Later that evening, though, he reconsidered his decision. Alexei was gravely ill with haemophilia and Nicholas feared that if Alexei was Emperor, he would be separated from his parents. In a second abdication document, signed at 11.40 p.m. but marked as having been issued at 3.00 p.m., the time of the earlier one, Nicholas II declared:

We have judged it right to abdicate the Throne of the Russian State and to lay down the Supreme Power. Not wishing to be parted from Our Beloved Son, We hand over Our Succession to Our Brother the Grand Duke Michael Aleksandrovich and Bless Him on his accession to the Throne

.

By early morning, Michael was proclaimed as “Emperor Michael II” to Russian troops and in cities throughout Russia, but his accession was not universally welcomed. While some units cheered and swore allegiance to the new Emperor, others remained indifferent. The newly formed Provisional Government had not agreed to Michael’s succession. When Michael awoke that morning, he discovered not only that his brother had abdicated in his favour, as Nicholas had not informed him previously, but also that a delegation from the Duma would visit him at Putyatina’s apartment in a few hours’ time. The meeting with Duma President Rodzianko, the new Prime Minister Prince Lvov and other ministers, including Pavel Milyukov and Alexander Kerensky, lasted all morning. Putyatina laid on a lunch, and in the afternoon two lawyers (Baron Nolde and Vladimir Nabokov) were called to the apartment to draft a manifesto for Michael to sign.

The legal position was complicated as the legitimacy of the government, whether Nicholas had the right to remove his son from the succession and whether Michael actually was Emperor were all open to question. After further discussion, and several drafts, the meeting settled on a declaration of conditional acceptance as an appropriate form of words. In it, Michael deferred to the will of the people and acknowledged the Provisional Government as the de facto executive, but neither abdicated nor refused to accept the throne.

The Life of Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia. Part IV, The Great War.

Tags

1916, Diptheria, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, Natalia, Rasputin, The Great War, World War I

Upon the outbreak of World War I, Michael telegraphed the Emperor Nicholas II requesting permission to return to Russia to serve in the army, providing his wife and son could come too. Nicholas agreed and Michael travelled back to Saint Petersburg, via Newcastle, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The war was not expected to last long and the couple assumed they would be moving back to England at its conclusion.

In the meantime, Michael offered its use to the British military. At Saint Petersburg, now named Petrograd, they moved into a villa at 24 Nikolaevskaya street, Gatchina, that Michael had bought for Natalia. Natalia was not permitted to live in any of the imperial palaces.

He was promoted from his previous rank of colonel to major-general and given command of a newly formed division: the Caucasian Native Cavalry, which became known as the “Savage Division”. The appointment was perceived as a demotion because the division was mostly formed from new Muslim recruits rather than the elite troops that Michael had commanded previously.

The men were all volunteers as conscription did not apply to the Caucasus and, although it was difficult to maintain discipline, they were an effective fighting force. For his actions commanding his troops in the Carpathian mountains in January 1915, Michael earned the military’s highest honour, the Order of St. George. He, unlike his brother the Emperor Nicholas II, was a popular military leader.

At the start of the war, Michael wrote to Nicholas II asking him to legitimise his son in order that the boy would be provided for in the event of Michael’s death at the front. Eventually, Nicholas II agreed to make George legitimate and granted him the style of “Count Brasov” by decree on March 26, 1915.

In July 1915, Michael caught diphtheria but recovered. The war was going badly for Russia and the following month Nicholas appointed himself Supreme Commander of the Russian forces. The move was not welcomed. Nicholas’s bad decisions included instructing Michael to authorise a payment to a friend of Rasputin, an army engineer called Bratolyubov, who claimed to have invented a devastating flame-thrower.

The claim was bogus and Bratolyubov was arrested for fraud, but Rasputin intervened and he was released. Michael appeared gullible and naïve; a friend of Natalia’s said he “trusted everybody … Had his wife not watched over him constantly, he would have been deceived at every step.”

In 1916 the slights against him by the Emperor ‘s retinue continued, though. When he was promoted to lieutenant-general in July the same year, unlike all other Grand Dukes who attained that rank, he was not appointed as an aide-de-camp to the Emperor with the rank of adjutant-general. Michael admitted that he “always despised Petrograd high society … no people are more devious than they are; with a few exceptions, they are all scum.”

Michael made no public political statements, but it was assumed that he was a liberal, like his wife, and British consul Bruce Lockhart thought he “would have made an excellent constitutional monarch”. The poor progress of the war and their almost constant separation depressed both Michael and Natalia. Michael was still suffering from stomach ulcers and, in October 1916, he was ordered to take leave in the Crimea.

Next week the conclusion.