Catherine the Great
A first look at The Great (Season 2)
Hulu has given us a glimpse at the second season of The Great and a release date as well. The second season will begin on 19 November 2021.
Catherine the great
Book Reviews
Book Review: The Tsarina’s Lost Treasure by Gerald Easter and Mara Vorhees
*review copy* *contains affiliate links* In October 1771, the Vrouw Maria merchant ship sank off the coast of Finland. She carried lots of cargo, including several works of art that Empress Catherine the Great had bought at auction in Amsterdam from the collection of Gerrit Braamcamp. The lost works included Paulus Potter’s Large Herd of [read more]
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great – The later years (Part five)
Read part four here. Catherine saw her son as her rival, and she never gave him a role in government. Despite this, he and his wife were required to appear at official ceremonies. He and his mother had very little contact otherwise. Catherine even began to consider skipping Paul all together and making her eldest [read more]
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great – Ruling an Empire (Part four)
Read part three here. Catherine enforced her success by rewarding those who helped to put her on the throne, including the church and the army. She also cancelled the unpopular alliance with Prussia but assured them she had no wish for a new war. She also called on Russia’s two most experienced statesmen. She settled [read more]
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great – The coup that made her Empress in her own right (Part three)
Read part two here. As Empress Elizabeth’s health deteriorated, Catherine found herself pregnant with Gregory Orlov’s child, and she began to seclude herself. Peter was already talking of repudiating her and Catherine did not want to fuel the fire by appearing in public while pregnant. On 3 January 1762, Empress Elizabeth suffered a massive stroke, [read more]
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great – An Empress-in-waiting (Part two)
Read part one here. Sophie had arrived at the Russian court as a 14-year-old German Princess to marry the 15-year-old Grand Duke Peter – heir and nephew of Empress Elizabeth of Russia – accompanied by her mother, Johanna. They were received like Queens, much to Johanna’s delight who considered the match her personal triumph. Sophie [read more]