June 9, 1672: Birth of Peter I The Great, Emperor of Russia

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Alexei of Russia, Battle of Azov, Emperor of Russia, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia

Peter the Great (June 9,1672 – February 8, 1725) was a monarch of the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from May 7, 1682 until his death in 1725, jointly ruling before 1696 with his elder half-brother, Ivan V. Under his reign, Russia was modernised and grew into a European power.

Peter was a son of Tsar Alexei of Russia and Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, from a Russian noble family of Tatar descent, daughter of Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin (1623–1691), and wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva (d. 1706, daughter of Leonty Dimitriyevich Leontyev and spouse Praskovya Ivanovna Rayevskaya who died in 1641), she was brought up in the house of the great Western-leaning boyar Artamon Matveyev. She was given a freer and more Western-influenced upbringing than most Russian women of the time.

Through a number of successful wars, he captured ports at Azov and the Baltic Sea, laying the groundwork for the Imperial Russian Navy, ending uncontested Swedish supremacy in the Baltic and beginning the Tsardom’s expansion into a much larger empire that became a major European power. He led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist and medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, Westernised and based on the Enlightenment.

Peter’s reforms had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of the Russian government trace their origins to his reign. He founded and developed the city of Saint Petersburg, which remained the capital of Russia until 1917.

Peter’s last years were marked by further reform in Russia. On October 22, 1721, soon after peace was made with Sweden, he was officially proclaimed Emperor of All Russia. Some proposed that he take the title Emperor of the East, but he refused. Gavrila Golovkin, the State Chancellor, was the first to add “the Great, Father of His Country, Emperor of All the Russias” to Peter’s traditional title Tsar following a speech by the archbishop of Pskov in 1721.

Peter’s imperial title was recognized by Augustus II of Poland, Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia, and Frederick I of Sweden, but not by the other European monarchs. In the minds of many, the word emperor connoted superiority or pre-eminence over kings. Several rulers feared that Peter would claim authority over them, just as the Holy Roman Emperor had claimed suzerainty over all Christian nations.

May 10, 1774: Death of King Louis XV of France & Navarre. Part I.

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Emperor Peter I of Russia, Henry IV of France, King Louis XIV of France and Navarre, King Louis XVI of France, King of Navarre, le Bien-Aimé, Louis XIII of France, Louis XV of France., Peter the Great, Philippe II Duke of Orleans, Regent of France, The Beloved

Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France and Navarre from September 1, 1715 until his death on May 10, 1774.

Young Louis XV, King of France and Navarre.

Ancestry

Louis XV was the great-grandson of Louis XIV and the third son of the Louis, Duke of Burgundy (1682–1712), and his wife Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Duke Vittorio-Amedeo II of Savoy and of Anne-Marie d’Orléans. Louis XV’s mother Anne-Marie d’Orléans was the daughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger brother of Louis XIV, and Henrietta of England. As the maternal grandmother of King Louis XV, Henrietta of England also brought in more blood from the House of Bourbon as the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland and his wife, Henrietta Maria of France, the youngest daughter of Henri IV of France (Henri III of Navarre) and his second wife, Marie de’ Medici.

Louis, Duke of Burgundy, father of Louis XV.

Louis XV’s father, Louis, Duke of Burgundy was the eldest son of the young 21-year-old Dauphin, Louis, who would later be called le Grand Dauphin, and his wife, Maria-Anna-Victoria of Bavaria. Louis, le Grand Dauphin was the eldest son of Louis XIV of France and Navarre and his first wife, Infanta Maria-Theresa of Spain, born an Infanta of Spain and Portugal at the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, she was the daughter of Felipe IV-III, King of Spain and Portugal and his wife Elisabeth of France, the eldest daughter of King Henri IV of France and his second spouse Marie de’ Medici.

Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, mother of Louis XV.

Maria-Anna-Victoria of Bavaria, the wife of Louis, le Grand Dauphin, was the eldest daughter of Ferdinand-Maria, Elector of Bavaria and his wife Princess Henriette-Adelaide of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Vitoria-Amedeo I, Duke of Savoy and Christine-Marie of France, the second daughter of Henri IV of France and Marie de’ Medici, thus her husband the dauphin was her second cousin.

Louis, le Grand Dauphin, Grandfather of Louis XV.

Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria, Grandmother of Louis XV.

Louis XV was a great-great-great grandson of the first French Bourbon King, Henri IV and a descendent through his eldest son Louis XIII. However, as we’ve seen, Louis XV also descended from Henri IV through all three of his daughters, Elisabeth, Christine-Marie and Henrietta-Maria.

Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre, great-grandfather of Louis XV.

Infanta Maria-Theresa of Spain and Portugal, Archduchess of Austria, great-grandmother of Louis XV.

Becoming Heir to the Throne

Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on February 15, 1710 during the reign of his great-grandfather, Louis XIV. When he was born, he was created the Duke of Anjou. The possibility of his becoming King seemed very remote; King Louis XIV’s oldest son and heir, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, Louis’s father (Louis, Duke of Burgundy) and his elder surviving brother (Louis, Duke of Brittany) were ahead of him in the succession.

However, the Grand Dauphin died of smallpox on April 14, 1711. On February 12, 1712 the mother of Louis, Marie-Adélaïde, was stricken with measles and died, followed on February 18, by Louis’s father, the former Duke of Burgundy, who was next in line for the throne. On March 7, it was found that both Louis and his older brother, (also named Louis) the former Duke of Brittany, who was now the new Dauphin, had the measles. The two brothers were treated in the traditional way, with bleeding. On the night of 8–9 March, the new Dauphin died from the combination of the disease and the treatment. The governess of Louis, Madame de Ventadour, would not allow the doctors to bleed Louis further; he was very ill but survived and was now the new dauphin and sole heir to his great-grandfather’s throne. When Louis XIV died on September 1, 1715, Louis, at the age of five, inherited the throne and became King Louis XV of France and Navarre.

Regency

The Ordinance of Vincennes from 1374 required that the kingdom be governed by a regent until Louis XV reached the age of thirteen. The title of Regent was given to his nearest relative, his cousin Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans, son of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, (brother of Louis XIV) and his wife, Elisabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate, daughter of Charles I Ludwig, Elector Palatine of the Simmern branch of the House of Wittelsbach, and Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.

Philippe II, the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France

Elisabeth-Charlotte of the Palatinate is directly related to several iconic European monarchs. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Stuart was a Scottish and later English princess, daughter of King James VI-I of England, Scotland and Ireland and she was the granddaughter of Mary I, Queen of Scots. Her first cousin became George I, the first Hanover King of Great Britain. Through her daughter, Élisabeth-Charlotte d’Orléans who married Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate was the great-grandmother of Archduchess Marie-Antoinette of Austria the wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre.

The Regent and Louis XV

In February 1717, when Louis XV reached the age of seven, he was taken from his governess Madame Ventadour and placed in the care of François de Villeroy, the 73-year-old Duke and Maréchal de France, named as his governor in Louis XIV’s will of August 1714. Villeroy instructed the young King in court etiquette, taught him how to review a regiment, and how to receive royal visitors.

Louis XV’s guests included the Russian Tsar Peter I the Great in 1717; contrary to ordinary protocol, the two-meter-tall Tsar picked up Louis and kissed him. Louis also learned the skills of horseback riding and hunting, which became the great passion of the young King. In 1720, following the example of Louis XIV, Villeroy had the young Louis dance in public in two ballets at the Tuileries Palace on February 24, 1720, and again in The Ballet des Elements on December 31, 1721. The shy Louis evidently did not enjoy the experience; he never danced in another ballet.

Tsar Peter I of Russia holding King Louis XV of France

End of the Regency

On June 15, 1722, as Louis XV approached his thirteenth birthday, the year of his majority, he left Paris and moved back to Versailles, where he had happy memories of his childhood, but where he was far from the reach of public opinion. On 25 October, Louis was crowned King at the Cathedral of Reims. On February 15, 1723, the king’s majority was declared by the Parlement of Paris, officially ending the regency. In the beginning of Louis’s reign, the Duke of Orleans continued to manage the government, and took the title of Prime Minister in August 1723, but while visiting his mistress, far from the court and medical care, Orleans died in December of the same year. Following the advice of his preceptor Fleury, Louis XV appointed his cousin Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon, to replace the late Duke of Orléans as prime minister.

Young Louis XV, King of France and Navarre

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 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.

These dates in History: October 22nd…

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Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, Charles Martel, Emperors of Russia, England, German Empress & Queen of Prussia., Ireland, October 22nd, Peter the Great, Prince of Orange, Willem IV

Today, October 22, is my birthday and these are the Royal events that occurred on this date.

1383 – King Fernando of Portugal dies without a male heir to the Portuguese throne, sparking a period of civil war and disorder.

Peter I the Great, Emperor of Russia

* 1721 – Russian Empire is proclaimed by Tsar Peter I after the Swedish defeat in the Great Northern War.

* 1727 – George II and Caroline of Ansbach were crowned King and Queen of Great Britain.

* 1923 – The royalist Leonardopoulos–Gargalidis coup d’état attempt fails in Greece, discrediting the monarchy and paving the way for the establishment of the Second Hellenic Republic.

* 1978 – Papal inauguration of Pope John Paul II.

Births

Princess Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg, The German Empress, Queen of Prussia

* 1071 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine (d. 1126)
* 1197 – Juntoku, Japanese emperor (d. 1242).
* 1689 – John V, Portuguese king (d. 1750)
* 1701 – Maria Amalia, Holy Roman Empress (d. 1756)
* 1781 – Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France (d. 1789).
* 1858 – Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein (d. 1921)
* 1859 – Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria (d. 1949)

Deaths

Willem IV, Prince of Orange

* 741 – Charles Martel, Duke and Prince of the Franks, Mayor of the Palace, (b. 688)
* 842 – Abo, Japanese prince (b. 792)
* 1383 – Ferdinand I of Portugal (b. 1345)
* 1751 – Willem IV, Prince of Orange (b. 1711)
* 1761 – Louis George, Margrave of Baden-Baden (b. 1702)
* 2002 – Geraldine, Queen of Albania (b. 1915)

John V, Portuguese king

Pretenders Russia ~ Part III

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Bagration-Mukhrani, Cathereine the Great, Czar Paul, Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duke George, Kingdom of Georgia, Peter the Great, Prince Nicholas Romanov, Romanov Family Association, Russia, Wilhelm II of Germany

Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia was born in Finland as his parents had fled there during the Revolution. Upon the death of his father Grand Duke Vladimir assumed the headship of the Imperial Russian House. Although a minor faction of monarchists did not recognize his claim, due to their beliefs that his parents marriage was illegal, the majority of Russian monarchists did support his claim. Gand Duke Vladimir’s claim to the throne was questioned when he married Princess Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhransky in August of 1948. The question arose for some members of the Romanov family was the Bagration-Moukhransky family of equal status for this to be considered an equal marriage.

The Bagrationi Dynasty, which Leonida was a member of, originated in the country of Georgia and this family ruled as kings of Georgia from 1505 until 1800 when Czar Paul, supposedly at the request of King George XII of George, annexed the country into the Russian Empire. Grand Duke Vladimir insisted that the union was equal based of the fact that Leonida was the daughter of HRH Prince George Alexandrovich Bagration-Mukhrani the Head of the Georgian Royal House,. Also, Grand Duke Vladimir pointed to the fact that the Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783 recognized the permanent royal status of the House of Bagration.

The main member of the Romanov family to contend Grand Duke Vladimir’s claim is Prince Nicholas Romanov the son of Grand Duke Peter Nicolaievich and Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaievna, born a Princess of Montenegro. Prince Nicholas is a great-great grandson in the male line of Czar Nicholas I of Russia and Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna ( born Princess Charlotte of Prussia, sister to German Emperor Wilhelm I). Prince Nicholas is the Head of the Romanov Family Association which consists of members of the Romanov Family descended from Czar Nicholas I of Russia. It is their contention that the marriage between Grand Duke Vladimir and Princess Leonida was morgantatic.

Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia died in 1992 while giving a speech to Spanish-speaking bankers and investors in Miami, Florida. His only child, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, has claimed the headship of the House of Romanov since this point. Prince Nicholas feels her right to the succession is also in violation of the Pauline Laws which barred women from succeeding to the Imperial Throne.

One of the motives for the Pauline Laws was due to the animosity Czar Paul felt toward his mother, Czarina Catherine II the Great of Russia (1762-1796). At that time the Czar had all the power to appoint their successor. Peter I the Great of Russia (1682-1725) named his wife, Catherine I of Russia, as his successor despite the fact that she had no royal blood and was born a Russian Peasant. Catherine II was born a Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst but obtained the throne in a coup by having her husband, Czar Peter III, murdered shortly after his accession. To prevent this from happening again Czar Paul outlawed women on the Russian throne. The only stipulation which a woman could mount the throne of Russia is when all the male members of the Romanov have died out or contracted unequal marriages. There are those that believe Prince Nicholas himself contracted such a marriage in 1950 when he married Countess Sveva della Gherardesca who is a member of the Italian della Gherardesca noble family from Tuscany. Prince Nicholas is accepted by many within the Romanov clan as Head of the Imperial House, while many monarchists associations recognize the claim of Grand Duchess Maria.

Grand Duchess Maria has made an equal marriage. In 1976 Maria married HRH Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia a great grandson of Germany’s last emperor, Wilhelm II. Franz Wilhelm did convert to the Russian Orthodox faith and they had one son, Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, Prince of Prussia born in 1981. Franz Wilhelm and Maria divorced in 1985. Prince Nicholas and the Romanov Family Association do not recognize Grand Duke George as a member of the House of Romanov and instead view him as a German prince of the Prussian royal family. Unmarried Grand Duke George is under pressure to contract an equal marriage if he is to retain his claim to the Russian throne in the future.