Pavel I. Part 1.

Pavel I. Part 1.

Pavel I, Andrei Filippovich Mitrokhin

And so, on the Russian throne is the great-grandson of Peter the Great, in whose veins there is very little Russian blood left. His wife, a purebred German, had already given birth to eight children by that time. None of the monarchs of the Romanov dynasty has ever ascended the throne with such “wealth”.

Pavel Romanov began his reign with an order to place guard boxes painted in Prussian colors, white and black, along the streets of the city, and put sentries in them. The police began to scurry around the city, tearing off the round hats of passers-by men and cutting off the hems of tailcoats, frock coats and overcoats - again according to the Prussian model. The townspeople, although frightened by such drastic changes, did not hesitate, however, to show their joy and satisfaction in connection with the arrival of a new autocrat.

A few days after Paul's accession to the throne, a special window was made in the lower floor of the Winter Palace, through which anyone had the right to drop a petition addressed to the emperor. The key to the room where this window was located was kept by the sovereign himself. Every morning, Pavel opened the door to this room, collected all the letters and notes dropped into the window, carefully read them, made notes. He wrote answers to petitions personally and put his signature. Then they were published in newspapers. There were cases when the petitioner was asked to apply to the court or other department, then notify the emperor of the result of this appeal. Thanks to such "correspondence" it was possible to reveal flagrant lawlessness and injustice. In such cases, the king severely punished the guilty.

S.G. Moskvitin. Emperor Paul I.

Having begun his reign with punitive orders, the new emperor approved, however, most of the senior officials and officers who served at the court of his mother. Even Osterman, the youngest son of the same Osterman, who began his service under Peter I and was severely punished by his daughter, he did not remove him from the management of foreign affairs entrusted to him by Catherine II, but appointed him chancellor.

But Paul I dismissed the servants of the former Empress. Some were sent to prison, and some were generously rewarded. He also showed mercy to those who were convicted under his mother queen, declaring a general amnesty, which, however, did not apply to those serving sentences for especially serious crimes. Alexander Radishchev returned from exile. The disgraced comrades of Emperor Peter III, as well as the officers who stood on the side of the sovereign in the fateful year 1762, were called to Petersburg. True, they were already old people, because almost thirty-five years had passed since that time. Now they were showered with honors and enjoyed the attention of the sovereign himself. Yes, times have changed...

Emperor Paul I freeing Tadeusz Kościuszko.

Pavel was also merciful to his half-brother Alexei Bobrinsky, who was born by his mother from Grigory Orlov. In 1764, Catherine almost dethroned Paul, intending to marry her lover and appoint his son as heir instead of her ex-husband's son Peter. But this did not happen. Alexey Bobrinsky was deprived of the right to live in the capital for his unsightly behavior and was in Livonia. Pavel returned him to Petersburg: he received him very cordially, bestowed the title of count and presented the estate. Bobrinsky, having married in 1796 Baroness Anna Ungern-Sternberg, the daughter of the commandant of Revel, moved to Estonia, where he ended his life, forgotten by everyone.

Alexei Bobrinsky in the 1800s

Count Alexei Grigorievich Bobrinsky (1762-1813)

Anna Vladimirovna Bobrinskaya (1769-1846), wife of A.G. Bobrinsky, nee Baroness Ungern-Sternberg

Sokolov Petr Fyodorovich Portrait of Countess A.V. Bobrinsky. 1827

The attitude of the new emperor towards Prince Platon Zubov can be called truly chivalrous. Of course, the last favorite had to leave the Winter Palace, but he settled in a house specially bought for him at the expense of His Majesty's office. After the prince moved to a new building, Pavel, accompanied by his wife, visited Zubov, crossing the threshold of his new house with the words: "Whoever remembers the old, get out of his sight." And when champagne was served, the emperor said: “How many drops are here, so much I wish you all the best,” and, having drunk everything to the bottom, he broke the glass on the floor. Zubov threw himself at the emperor's feet, but was raised by him with the words: "I told you: whoever remembers the old, get out of his eye." Behind the samovar, the sovereign said to the empress: "Pour tea, because he has no mistress." But Paul's favors were short-lived - major violations were uncovered in the industries that Zubov was involved in, an investigation was appointed, and the prince was forced to resign. The last favorite of Catherine II became embittered against her son and dreamed of revenge.

His Serene Highness Prince (since 1796) Platon Aleksandrovich Zubov

Opala at the beginning of the reign of Paul I touched a few. Princess Dashkova, one of the main accomplices of the June events of 1762, was given the order of Paul I to immediately leave Moscow and not appear again either in it or in St. Petersburg. This mission was carried out by the Commander-in-Chief of Moscow himself.

“At twenty-four hours? the princess asked. “Report to the sovereign that I left at twenty-four minutes.” Immediately, she ordered the carriage to be laid down and, even in the presence of the emperor who had conveyed the command to her, left her Moscow house.

The ceremonial portrait of Vorontsova-Dashkova depicts her next to books, hinting at scholarship.

Paul, remembering that his father did not follow the advice of Frederick II - to put the crown on his head as soon as possible, hastened to set the day for the coronation. He gave instructions, however, that preparations for the festivities should be made with the utmost frugality in spending money. But he did not want to put his mother's crown on his head. Therefore, the jeweler Duval in a relatively short time made a large imperial crown and a new scepter, studded with precious stones. And its main decoration was a diamond presented to Catherine II by Grigory Orlov.

The red gate through which the coronation procession traditionally followed, lithographs by Arnoux J.-B. from the original by Vivien.

The crowning of the kingdom took place in April 1797, that is, four months after the death of Empress Catherine. The solemn entry into the ancient capital took place on Palm Sunday. The weather was perfect, the sun shone like spring. The emperor, in a Prussian-style military uniform, with a powdered head and a scythe, rode on horseback, and the empress in a carriage. Troops were lined up all along the way. Covered galleries were built for spectators. For the first time in the history of Russia, two persons were crowned on the same day: the emperor and the empress, his wife, to whom Paul personally placed another small crown on her head.

Coronation of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. Saratov State Art Museum

At the end of the church ceremony, Paul read right in the church the “Family Act on the Order of Succession” that he had drawn up and ordered this act to be kept forever in the altar of the Assumption Cathedral - the place of the coronation of Russian tsars, in a silver ark specially made for this purpose. Thus, he canceled the decree of his great-grandfather, Peter the Great, according to which the tsar himself determined his heir. From now on, the throne was to pass to the eldest in the family in the male line. Thus, once and for all, the main lawlessness in Russia was eliminated, the victim of which was himself, the natural heir of his father Peter III. Thanks to this decree, the Imperial House of Romanov will henceforth be represented only by males, passing the throne down the line. The kingdom of women remained in the past, although the spouses of Russian emperors performed some state and public functions. Maria Feodorovna, for example, Pavel entrusted the general management of educational institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Portrait of Maria Feodorovna (1759-1828), Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky

The emperor settled in the Winter Palace, choosing for himself and his large family the rooms he occupied when he was still a young man. He ordered them to be furnished as simply and modestly as possible, unlike the luxurious decoration of his mother's apartments.

Gerard von Kugelgen. Portrait of Paul I with his family. 1800. Pavlovsk State Museum-Reserve

A lot has been written about the personality of Paul I, as about one of the most mysterious and controversial figures in history, some consider him mentally ill, others great. His birth caused rejoicing at court, Empress Elizabeth herself took care of his upbringing, death caused both joy and sadness.

Vladimir Borovikovsky Portrait of Paul I

Portrait of Paul I in a white dalmatic, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky

He was eight years old when his father passed away. With a childlike instinct, he knew that something was wrong. But understanding came later. Teachers were assigned to him, who developed in him, first of all, his innate passion for military teachings and even came up with an alphabet for their student, where the letters were depicted in the form of soldiers. However, there was no clear lesson plan at the court with its magnificent festivities and entertainment. Classes were held when and how necessary, between walks, ceremonial dinners, masquerades, theatrical performances. They began to drive to the theater of the Grand Duke very early, indiscriminately, for each new performance. In general, already in childhood, Paul was looked upon as an adult, a future king.

Christinek Karl Ludwig. Portrait of Tsarevich Pavel in the costume of a Knight of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called

Portrait of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich in the study room. Around 1766. GEVigilius Eriksen

Stefano Torelli Portrait of Pavel Petrovich with a black chick.

Portrait of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, made by an unknown artist in the 1770s.

As a ten-year-old boy, he already expressed his opinion: he confidently praised someone, openly despised someone. He treated his servants harshly. Sometimes he dressed them up in the armor of the knights of the Crusades and arranged tournaments with them. In general, Pavel was a boy with fantasies, but not strong-willed and consistent enough. By nature, he was a kind, cheerful, frisky child, but, unfortunately, he learned too early what fate befell his father, and this developed in him a complex of suspicion and fear. Disturbing visions associated with the death of his father accompanied Paul all his life.

Peter III (in the uniform of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, 1762) Years of life: 1728-1762 Russian emperor in 1761-1762.

The personality of Nikita Panin had a positive impact on the upbringing of the Grand Duke. Already in his youth, Panin's student impressed with the vastness of his knowledge, intelligence and ingenuity, worship of beauty and goodness. He was fluent in Russian, French and German, knew the works of European writers well, loved painting and architecture.

Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718-1783) - Russian diplomat and statesman, Alexander Roslin

Having married, he became an impeccable spouse, although he had to endure the drama of death and, as he was convinced, the infidelity of his first wife, Natalya Alekseevna, whose marriage lasted a little more than three years. But in the second marriage, Paul found true family happiness.

Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna, Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, first wife of the future Paul I

Maria Fedorovna, Princess of Württemberg, turned out to be a wonderful wife, in love with her husband, and an impeccable mother. She had, of course, small flaws acquired in childhood.

She, for example, was so thrifty that, having arrived in St. Petersburg, she did not hesitate to appropriate all the dresses of Pavel's first wife so as not to buy new ones. Why the extra spending?

Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, A. Roslin

Portrait of Maria Feodorovna, A. Roslin

I.-B. Lumpy. Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.

It was not typical for her to dress luxuriously and luxuriously, she rather preferred modesty and smartness. Conscious of her high role in society, Maria Fedorovna was always dressed in full dress and beautifully combed her hair. Even during her pregnancy, she wore a dress and not a bonnet like other women in her position. Tucked into a corset, she was engaged in embroidery, sewing, reading German or French literature. Pavel's wife recorded all the impressions of the day in a diary, regularly wrote letters to relatives and friends.

I.-B. Lumpy. Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. 1795. Pavlovsk Museum-Reserve.

I.-B. Lumpy Sr. Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna. 1792

Friedrich Eugene, father of Maria Feodorovna

Duchess Frederica Dorothea of ​​Württemberg with a portrait of her eldest son Friedrich. Painting by Johann Georg Zizenis, mother

She devoted a lot of time to charitable and educational institutions. Without interfering in state affairs during the life of her mother-in-law, Maria Feodorovna began to play a prominent political role, becoming empress. Unlike Catherine II, her daughter-in-law remained a real German, she even spoke Russian with a strong German accent. However, she never tried to bring her countrymen closer to court; did not maintain close contacts with the Germans. The only exceptions were, perhaps, her childhood friend, Mrs. Benckendorff, who she had taken away from her native places, and the teacher of her daughters, Charlotte Lieven, nee von Gaugreben, a woman who, according to her contemporaries, was gifted with a rare mind and kind heart. She managed to force the emperor himself to respect her opinion and was elevated by him to the dignity of a count.

Portrait of Anna Juliana Benckendorff (1744-1797), ur. bar. Schilling-von-Kapstadt. Miniature from the collection of Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich

Charlotte Karlovna Lieven

A loving and devoted mother, Maria Fedorovna kept her children in strictness, raised them with a hard hand, although she loved with all her heart. True German technique! Even married daughters considered communication with their mother an ordeal for themselves, fearing her remarks. Maria Fedorovna also had a rather strong influence on her husband. They were considered an ideal couple, although outwardly they were the complete opposite. Pavel is short, balding early, with a large mouth and thick lips, a snub nose and anxiously shifting eyes. He always walked with his head held high, probably to appear taller. His wife is a stately blonde with myopic eyes and a very kind smile. With all her appearance, she showed calmness and generosity. Pavel was happy in his family life.

Portraits of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna

Portraits of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna I. Pullman, 1782 - 1787, (from the original by P. Batoni, 1782)

Nikolay ARGUNOV (1771 after 1829). Portrait of Emperor Paul I.

Large ceremonial portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna, Marie Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun

His daughter Anna later recalled how her father loved to be surrounded by children, how often he called the younger ones to play in his bedroom while he was combing his hair: this was his only free time, and he tried to spend it with children, with whom he always was gentle and kind. If time allowed, he willingly played various games with them, especially blind man's buff. The children loved to visit their father.

Back in 1781, the couple, under the name of Count and Countess Nord, made a long trip abroad - first to Poland, and then to Vienna, Rome, Paris, Berlin, visited many foreign courts. This trip had a decisive influence on Paul's horizons. And he himself made quite a favorable impression in the West, astonishing many with his sublime mentality, curiosity, vastness of his knowledge and simplicity of tastes. He was not fond of dancing, he preferred serious music and a good performance, he loved simple cuisine, especially sausages.

D. Fossati son. Triumphal chariots in Venice in honor of the Counts of the NorthItaly 1872. Engraving painted with watercolors

A.-L.-R. Ducrot. Vel. book. Pavel Petrovich andled. book. Maria Feodorovna at the Roman Forum

Reception by Pope Pius VI of the Count and Countess of the North on February 8, 1782. 1801. Etching by A. Lazzaroni. GMZ "Pavlovsk"
At the European courts, the Grand Duke was perceived as a strict, temperate person, but even then there was some kind of duality in his character, as if there were two people in him: one is witty, cheerful, playing with dignity the role of the crown prince, the other is gloomy, capable of sharp antics and bitter remarks. He did not believe in his long life and even once said at one of the receptions that he probably would not live to be forty-five years old.

Francesco Guardi. Ladies' concert in honor of the Counts of the North. OK. 1782

Suspicion was characteristic of Paul all his life. Once, during a dinner in Tsarskoe Selo, having found glass fragments in sausages, he began to shout that they wanted to kill him, took the dish to the empress and demanded the death of those responsible. And during a trip to Europe at one of the court banquets, the taste of wine seemed suspicious to him, and he demanded to replace his glass, saying that someone was plotting to poison him. The same story repeated a few months later. After drinking ice-cold beer, he felt bad and began to reproach the owner of the house - one of the French princes - that he encroached on his life. Almost got a major political scandal.

Returning to Russia, Pavel began to make extensive plans for future reforms. Even after the first trip to Berlin several years ago, he was amazed and sincerely saddened: “These Germans overtook us by two centuries!” he said.

Royal destinies

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S.S. Schukin "Portrait of Emperor Paul I"

Pavel I Petrovich, Emperor of All Russia, son of Peter III and Catherine II, was born on September 20, 1754 in the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg.

Childhood

Immediately after his birth, he fell under the full care of his grandmother, Elizaveta Petrovna, who took over all the care of his upbringing, effectively removing his mother. But Elizabeth was notable for her inconstancy of character and soon cooled off towards the heir, transferring him to the care of nannies, who were only concerned that the child would not catch a cold, hurt himself or be naughty. In early childhood, a boy with an ardent imagination was intimidated by nannies: later he was always afraid of the dark, shuddered at a knock or an incomprehensible rustle, believed in omens, fortune-telling and dreams.

In the fifth year of his life, the boy began to be taught grammar and arithmetic, his first teacher F.D. Bekhteev used an original technique for this: he wrote letters and numbers on wooden and tin soldiers and, lining them up in lines, taught the heir to read and count.

Education

Since 1760, Count N.I. Panin, who was his teacher before the marriage of the heir. Despite the fact that Pavel preferred military sciences more, he received a fairly good education: he easily explained himself in French and German, knew Slavonic and Latin, read Horace in the original, and made extracts from books in the process of reading. He had a rich library, a physics office with a collection of minerals, a lathe for manual labor. He knew how to dance well, fence, was fond of horseback riding.

O.A. Leonov "Paul I"

N.I. Panin, himself a passionate admirer of Frederick the Great, raised his heir in the spirit of admiration for everything Prussian to the detriment of the national Russian. But, according to contemporaries, in his youth, Paul was capable, striving for knowledge, romantically inclined, with an open character, sincerely believing in the ideals of goodness and justice. After the accession to the throne of the mother in 1762, their relationship was quite close. However, they got worse over time. Catherine feared her son, who had more legal rights to the throne than she herself. Rumors about his accession spread throughout the country, E. I. Pugachev called out to him as a “son”. The Empress tried not to allow the Grand Duke to participate in the discussion of state affairs, and he began to more and more critically evaluate the policy of his mother. Ekaterina simply “did not notice” the age of her son, without marking it in any way.

Maturity

In 1773, Pavel married the Hesse-Darmstadt princess Wilhelmina (baptized Natalia Alekseevna). In this regard, his education was completed, and he had to be involved in state affairs. But Catherine did not consider it necessary.

In October 1766, Natalya Alekseevna, whom Pavel loved very much, died in childbirth with a baby, and Catherine insisted that Pavel marry a second time, which he did, going to Germany. The second wife of Paul is the Württemberg princess Sophia-Dorotea-Augusta-Louise (baptized Maria Feodorovna). The encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron says this about Paul’s future position: “And after that, during the whole life of Catherine, the place occupied by Paul in government spheres was the place of an observer, aware of the right to supreme leadership of affairs and deprived of the opportunity to use this right for changes in even the smallest detail in the course of affairs. This situation was especially conducive to the development of a critical mood in Paul, which acquired a particularly sharp and bilious hue due to the personal element that entered him in a wide stream ... "

Russian coat of arms during the reign of Paul I

In 1782, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Fedorovna went on a trip abroad and were warmly received in European capitals. Pavel even gained a reputation there as a "Russian Hamlet". During the trip, Paul openly criticized his mother's policies, which she soon became aware of. Upon the return of the grand ducal couple to Russia, the Empress gave them Gatchina, where the “small courtyard” moved and where Paul, who inherited from his father a passion for everything military in the Prussian manner, created his small army, conducting endless maneuvers and parades. He languished in inactivity, made plans for his future reign and made repeated and unsuccessful attempts to engage in state activities: in 1774 he submits to the empress a note drawn up under the influence of Panin and entitled "Discourse on the state regarding the defense of all limits." Catherine rated her as naive and disapproving of her policies. In 1787, Pavel asks his mother for permission to volunteer for the Russian-Turkish war, but she refuses him under the pretext of the approaching birth of Maria Feodorovna. Finally, in 1788, he takes part in the Russian-Swedish war, but even here Catherine accused him of the fact that the Swedish prince Karl was looking for rapprochement with him - and she recalled her son from the army. It is not surprising that gradually his character becomes suspicious, nervous, bilious and despotic. He retires to Gatchina, where he spends 13 years almost without a break. The only thing left for him is to do what he loves: organizing and training "amusing" regiments, consisting of several hundred soldiers, according to the Prussian model.

Catherine hatched plans to remove him from the throne, citing his bad temper and inability. She saw her grandson Alexander, son of Paul, on the throne. This intention was not destined to come true due to the sudden illness and death of Empress Catherine II in November 1796.

on the throne

The new emperor immediately tried, as it were, to cross out everything done during the 34 years of the reign of Catherine II, to destroy the hated orders of Catherine's reign - this became one of the most important motives of his policy. He also tried to stop the influence of revolutionary France on the minds of Russians. It was in this direction that his policy was deployed.

First of all, he ordered to remove from the crypt of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra the remains of Peter III, his father, who were buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress along with the coffin of Catherine II. On April 4, 1797, Pavel was solemnly crowned in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. On the same day, several decrees were promulgated, the most important of which were: the "Law on the Succession to the Throne", which assumed the transfer of the throne according to the principle of pre-Petrine times, and the "Institution on the Imperial Family", which determined the procedure for keeping the persons of the reigning house.

The reign of Paul I lasted 4 years and 4 months. It was somewhat chaotic and inconsistent. He's been "kept on a leash" for too long. And now the leash was removed ... He tried to correct the shortcomings of the hated former regime, but he did it inconsistently: he restored the Petrine collegiums liquidated by Catherine II, limited local self-government, issued a number of laws leading to the destruction of noble privileges ... They could not forgive him for this.

In decrees of 1797, landowners were recommended to perform a 3-day corvee, it was forbidden to use the labor of peasants on Sundays, it was not allowed to sell peasants under the hammer, and Little Russians without land. It was ordered to appear in the regiments of the nobles, fictitiously enlisted in them. Since 1798, noble societies became controlled by the governors, the nobles again began to be subjected to corporal punishment for criminal offenses. But at the same time, the position of the peasants was not alleviated.

Transformations in the army began with the replacement of the "muzhik" uniforms with new ones copied from the Prussian. Wishing to improve discipline in the troops, Paul I was present daily at exercises and divorces and severely punished for the slightest mistake.

Paul I was very afraid of the penetration of the ideas of the Great French Revolution into Russia and introduced some restrictive measures: already in 1797, private printing houses were closed, strict censorship for books was introduced, a ban was imposed on French fashion, young people were forbidden to travel abroad to study.

V. Borovikovsky "Paul I in the uniform of Colonel of the Preobrazhensky Regiment"

Upon accession to the throne, Paul, in order to emphasize the contrast with his mother, declared peacefulness and non-interference in European affairs. However, when in 1798 there was a threat of the restoration of an independent Polish state by Napoleon, Russia took an active part in organizing the anti-French coalition. In the same year, Paul assumed the duties of the Master of the Order of Malta, thus challenging the French emperor, who had captured Malta. In this regard, the Maltese octagonal cross was included in the state emblem. In 1798-1800, Russian troops successfully fought in Italy, and the Russian fleet fought in the Mediterranean, which caused concern from Austria and England. Relations with these countries finally deteriorated in the spring of 1800. At the same time, rapprochement with France began, and a plan for a joint campaign against India was even discussed. Without waiting for the signing of the corresponding agreement, Pavel ordered the Don Cossacks to set out on a campaign, which were already stopped by Alexander I.

V.L. Borovikovsky "Portrait of Paul I in the crown, dalmatics and signs of the Order of Malta"

Despite the solemn promise to maintain peaceful relations with other states, given upon accession to the throne, he took an active part in the coalition with England, Austria, the Kingdom of Naples and Turkey against France. The Russian squadron under the leadership of F. Ushakov was sent to the Mediterranean Sea, where, with the Turkish squadron, they liberated the Ionian Islands from the French. In Northern Italy and Switzerland, Russian troops under the command of A.V. Suvorov won a number of brilliant victories.

The last palace coup of a bygone era

Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg, where Paul I was killed

The main reasons for the coup and the death of Paul I were the infringement of the interests of the nobility and unpredictability in the actions of the emperor. Sometimes he exiled or sent people to prison for the slightest offense.

He planned to declare the 13-year-old nephew of Maria Feodorovna the heir to the throne, adopting him, and to imprison his eldest sons, Alexander and Konstantin, in a fortress. In March 1801, a ban was issued on trade with the British, which threatened damage to the landowners.

On the night of March 11-12, 1801, Pavel I Petrovich was killed by conspiring officers in the newly built Mikhailovsky Castle: the conspirators, mostly guard officers, broke into the bedroom of Paul I demanding to abdicate. When the emperor tried to object and even hit one of them, one of the rebels began to choke him with his scarf, and the other hit him on the temple with a massive snuffbox. It was announced to the people that Paul I had died of apoplexy.

Paul I and Maria Feodorovna had 10 children:

Pavel I Petrovich (1754-1801)

The ninth All-Russian Emperor Pavel I Petrovich (Romanov) was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg. His father was Emperor Peter III (1728-1762), who was born in the German city of Kiel, and received the name Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp at birth. By coincidence, Karl Peter simultaneously had the right to two European thrones - Swedish and Russian, since in addition to kinship with the Romanovs, the Holstein dukes were in direct dynastic connection with the Swedish royal house. Since the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna had no children of her own, in 1742 she invited her 14-year-old nephew Karl Peter to Russia, who was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name of Peter Fedorovich.

Having come to power in 1861 after the death of Elizabeth, Pyotr Fedorovich spent 6 months in the role of the All-Russian Emperor. The activity of Peter III characterizes him as a serious reformer. He did not hide his Prussian sympathies and, having taken the throne, immediately put an end to Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War and entered into an alliance against Denmark, Holstein's longtime offender. Peter III liquidated the Secret Chancellery - a gloomy police institution that kept all of Russia at bay. In fact, no one canceled the denunciations, just from now on they had to be submitted in writing. And then he took away the lands and peasants from the monasteries, which even Peter the Great could not do. However, the time allotted by history for the reforms of Peter III was not great. Only 6 months of his reign, of course, cannot be compared with the 34-year reign of his wife, Catherine the Great. As a result of a palace coup, Peter III was dethroned on June 16 (28), 1762 and killed in Ropsha near St. Petersburg 11 days after that. During this period, his son, the future Emperor Paul I, was not yet eight years old. With the support of the guards, the wife of Peter III came to power, proclaiming herself Catherine II.

The mother of Paul I, the future Catherine the Great, was born on April 21, 1729 in Stettin (Szczecin) in the family of a general in the Prussian service and received a good education for that time. When she was 13 years old, Frederick II recommended her to Elizabeth Petrovna as a bride for Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. And in 1744, the young Prussian princess Sophia-Friederike-Augusta-Anhalt-Zerbst was brought to Russia, where she received the Orthodox name of Ekaterina Alekseevna. The young girl was smart and ambitious, from the first days of her stay on Russian soil she diligently prepared herself to become a Grand Duchess, and then the wife of the Russian Emperor. But the marriage with Peter III, concluded on August 21, 1745 in St. Petersburg, did not bring happiness to the spouses.

It is officially believed that Pavel's father is Catherine's legal husband, Peter III, however, in her memoirs there are indications (however, indirect) that Pavel's father was her lover Sergei Saltykov. In favor of this assumption is the well-known fact of the extreme hostility that Catherine always had for her husband, and against the significant portrait resemblance of Paul to Peter III, as well as Catherine's steady hostility to Paul. The examination of the DNA of the remains of the emperor, which has not yet been carried out, could finally reject this hypothesis.

September 20, 1754, nine years after the wedding, Catherine gave birth to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. This was a major event, because after Peter I, Russian emperors had no children, confusion and confusion reigned at the death of each ruler. It was under Peter III and Catherine that there was hope for the stability of the state system. In the first period of her reign, Catherine was worried about the legitimacy of her power. After all, if Peter III was still half (by mother) a Russian person and, moreover, was the grandson of Peter I himself, then Catherine was not even a distant relative of the legitimate heirs and was only the wife of the heir. Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich was the legitimate, but unloved son of the empress. After the death of his father, he, as the only heir, was supposed to take the throne with the establishment of a regency, but this, by the will of Catherine, did not happen.

Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich spent the first years of his life surrounded by nannies. Immediately after his birth, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna took him to her. In her notes, Catherine the Great wrote: “Just as they swaddled him, her confessor appeared on the orders of the empress and named the child Paul, after which the empress immediately ordered the midwife to take him and carry him with her, and I remained on the maternity bed.” The whole empire rejoiced at the birth of the heir, but they forgot about his mother: "Lying in bed, I continuously cried and moaned, I was alone in the room."

Paul's baptism was performed in a magnificent setting on September 25th. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna expressed her good will to the mother of the newborn by the fact that after the baptism she herself brought her a decree to the cabinet on the issue of 100 thousand rubles to her on a golden platter. After the baptism at the court, solemn holidays began - balls, masquerades, fireworks on the occasion of the birth of Paul lasted about a year. Lomonosov, in an ode written in honor of Pavel Petrovich, wished him to compare with his great great-grandfather.

Catherine had to see her son for the first time after giving birth only after 6 weeks, and then only in the spring of 1755. Catherine recalled: “He was lying in an extremely hot room, in flannel diapers, in a bed upholstered in black fox fur, they covered him with a quilted satin blanket, and moreover, with a pink velvet blanket ... sweat was on his face and all over his body When Pavel grew up a little, the slightest breath of wind caused him a cold and made him sick. In addition, many stupid old women and mothers were assigned to him, who, with their excessive and inappropriate zeal, caused him incomparably more physical and moral evil than good. " Improper care led to the fact that the child was characterized by increased nervousness and impressionability. Even in early childhood, Pavel's nerves were upset to the point that he hid under the table with any strong slamming of doors. There was no system in caring for him. He went to bed either very early, at 8 o'clock in the evening, or at the first hour of the night. It happened that he was given food when he “pleased to ask”, there were also cases of simple negligence: “Once he fell out of the cradle, so no one heard it. fast asleep."

Pavel received an excellent education in the spirit of the French Enlightenment. He knew foreign languages, had knowledge of mathematics, history, and applied sciences. In 1758, Fyodor Dmitrievich Bekhteev was appointed his tutor, who immediately began to teach the boy to read and write. In June 1760, Nikita Ivanovich Panin was appointed chief chamberlain under Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, the former aide-de-camp of Peter III, was the tutor and teacher of mathematics for Pavel, and Archimandrite Platon, hieromonk of the Trinity- Sergius Lavra, later Metropolitan of Moscow.

On September 29, 1773, 19-year-old Paul marries, marrying the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess Augustine-Wilhelmina, who received the name Natalya Alekseevna in Orthodoxy. Three years later, on April 16, 1776, at 5 o'clock in the morning, she died in childbirth, and the child died with her. The medical report, signed by doctors Kruse, Arsh, Bock and others, speaks of the difficult birth of Natalia Alekseevna, who suffered from a curvature of the back, and the "large child" was incorrectly positioned. Catherine, however, not wanting to waste time, begins a new matchmaking. This time, the queen chose the Württemberg princess Sophia-Dorotea-August-Louise. A portrait of the princess is delivered by courier, which Catherine II offers to Pavel, saying that she is "meek, pretty, charming, in a word, a treasure." The heir to the throne falls more and more in love with the image, and already in June he goes to Potsdam to marry the princess.

Seeing the princess for the first time on July 11, 1776 in the palace of Frederick the Great, Paul writes to his mother: “I found my bride the way I could only mentally wish: not ugly, great, slender, answers intelligently and quickly. As for her heart, then she has it very sensitive and gentle ... She loves to be at home and practice reading and music, she is greedy to learn in Russian ... "Acquainted with the princess, the Grand Duke fell passionately in love with her, and after parting, from the road she writes tender letters to her with a declaration of love and devotion.

In August, Sophia Dorothea arrives in Russia and, following the instructions of Catherine II, on September 15 (26), 1776, she accepts Orthodox baptism under the name of Maria Feodorovna. Soon the wedding took place, a few months later she writes: "My dear husband is an angel, I love him to the point of madness." A year later, on December 12, 1777, the young couple had their first son, Alexander. On the occasion of the birth of the heir in St. Petersburg, 201 cannon shots were fired, and the sovereign grandmother Catherine II gave her son 362 acres of land, which laid the foundation for the village of Pavlovskoye, where the palace-residence of Paul I was later built. 1778. The construction of a new palace designed by Charles Cameron was carried out mainly under the supervision of Maria Feodorovna.

With Maria Feodorovna, Pavel found true family happiness. Unlike mother Catherine and great-aunt Elizabeth, who did not know family happiness, and whose personal life was far from generally accepted moral standards, Pavel appears as an exemplary family man who set an example for all subsequent Russian emperors - his descendants. In September 1781, the Grand Ducal couple, under the name of the Count and Countess of the North, set off on a long journey through Europe, which lasted a whole year. During this trip, Paul did more than just sightseeing and acquiring works of art for his palace under construction. The journey also had great political significance. For the first time escaping from the tutelage of Catherine II, the Grand Duke had the opportunity to personally get acquainted with European monarchs, paid a visit to Pope Pius VI. In Italy, Paul, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Emperor Peter the Great, is seriously interested in the achievements of European shipbuilding and gets acquainted with the organization of naval affairs abroad. During his stay in Livorno, the Tsarevich finds time to visit the Russian squadron stationed there. As a result of assimilation of new trends in European culture and art, science and technology, style and way of life, Pavel largely changed his own worldview and perception of Russian reality.

By this time, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna already had two children after the birth of their son Konstantin on April 27, 1779. And on July 29, 1783, their daughter Alexandra was born, in connection with which Catherine II presented Pavel with the Gatchina manor, bought from Grigory Orlov. Meanwhile, the number of Paul's children is constantly increasing - on December 13, 1784, daughter Elena was born, on February 4, 1786 - Maria, on May 10, 1788 - Catherine. Pavel's mother, Empress Catherine II, rejoicing for her grandchildren, wrote to her daughter-in-law on October 9, 1789: "Really, ma'am, you are a craftswoman to bring children into the world."

The upbringing of all the older children of Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna was personally handled by Catherine II, in fact, taking them away from their parents and not even consulting with them. It was the Empress who came up with the names for the children of Paul, naming Alexander in honor of the patron saint of St. Petersburg, Prince Alexander Nevsky, and gave Konstantin this name because she intended her second grandson for the throne of the future Constantinople Empire, which was to be formed after the expulsion of the Turks from Europe. Catherine personally engaged in the search for a bride for the sons of Paul - Alexander and Constantine. And both of these marriages did not bring family happiness to anyone. Emperor Alexander only at the end of his life will find in his wife a devoted and understanding friend. And Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich will violate generally accepted norms and divorce his wife, who will leave Russia. Being the viceroy of the Principality of Warsaw, he will fall in love with a beautiful Polish woman - Joanna Grudzinsky, Countess Lovich, in the name of preserving family happiness, he will renounce the Russian throne and will never become Constantine I, Emperor of All Russia. In total, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna had four sons - Alexander, Konstantin, Nikolai and Mikhail, and six daughters - Alexandra, Elena, Maria, Ekaterina, Olga and Anna, of whom only 3-year-old Olga died in infancy.

It would seem that Paul's family life developed happily. Loving wife, many children. But the main thing was missing, which every heir to the throne strives for - there was no power. Pavel patiently awaited the death of his unloved mother, but it seemed that the great empress, who had an imperious character and good health, was never going to die. In previous years, Catherine wrote more than once about how she would die surrounded by friends, to the sounds of gentle music among the flowers. The blow suddenly overtook her on November 5 (16), 1796, in a narrow passage between two rooms of the Winter Palace. She had a severe stroke, and several servants with difficulty managed to pull the heavy body of the empress out of the narrow corridor and put it on a mattress spread on the floor. Couriers rushed to Gatchina to tell Pavel Petrovich the news of his mother's illness. The first was Count Nikolai Zubov. The next day, in the presence of her son, grandchildren and close courtiers, the Empress died without regaining consciousness at the age of 67, of which she spent 34 years on the Russian throne. Already on the night of November 7 (18), 1796, everyone was sworn in to the new emperor - 42-year-old Paul I.

By the time of accession to the throne, Pavel Petrovich was a man with established views and habits, with a ready-made, as it seemed to him, program of action. Back in 1783, he broke off all relations with his mother, among the courtiers there were rumors about the deprivation of Paul of the right to the throne. Pavel plunges into theoretical discussions about the urgent need to change the management of Russia. Away from the court, in Pavlovsk and Gatchina, he created a peculiar model of the new Russia, which seemed to him a model for governing the whole country. At the age of 30, he received from his mother a large list of literary works for in-depth study. There were books by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Corneille, Hume and other famous French and English authors. Paul considered the purpose of the state "the blessedness of each and all." He recognized only the monarchy as a form of government, although he agreed that this form "is associated with the inconvenience of mankind." However, Paul argued that autocratic power is better than others, as it "combines the power of the laws of the power of one."

Of all the occupations, the new king had the greatest passion for military affairs. The advice of the combat general P.I. Panin and the example of Frederick the Great drew him to the military path. During the reign of his mother, Paul, removed from business, filled his long hours of leisure with the training of military battalions. It was then that Paul formed, grew and strengthened that "corporal spirit", which he sought to instill in the entire army. In his opinion, the Russian army of Catherine's time was more of a disorderly crowd than a properly arranged army. Embezzlement flourished, the use of the labor of soldiers in the landowners' estates of commanders, and much more. Each commander dressed the soldiers to his liking, sometimes trying to save in his favor the sums of money allocated for uniforms. Pavel considered himself a successor to the cause of Peter I to transform Russia. The ideal for him was the Prussian army, by the way, the strongest in Europe at that time. Pavel introduced a new uniform form, charter, weapons. Soldiers were allowed to complain about the abuses of their commanders. Everything was strictly controlled and, in general, the situation, for example, of the lower ranks became better.

At the same time, Paul was distinguished by a certain peacefulness. During the reign of Catherine II (1762-1796), Russia participated in seven wars, which lasted more than 25 years in total and inflicted heavy damage on the country. Having ascended the throne, Paul declared that Russia under Catherine had the misfortune to use its population in frequent wars, and inside the country things were running. However, Paul's foreign policy was inconsistent. In 1798, Russia entered into an anti-French coalition with England, Austria, Turkey and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the insistence of the allies, the disgraced A.V. was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops. Suvorov, to whose jurisdiction the Austrian troops were also transferred. Under the leadership of Suvorov, Northern Italy was liberated from French rule. In September 1799, the Russian army made the famous crossing of the Alps. For the Italian campaign, Suvorov received the rank of Generalissimo and the title of Prince of Italy. However, already in October of the same year, Russia broke off the alliance with Austria, and Russian troops were withdrawn from Europe. Shortly before the murder, Paul sent the Don army on a campaign against India. It was 22,507 men without a wagon train, supplies, or any strategic plan. This adventurous campaign was canceled immediately after the death of Paul.

In 1787, leaving for the first and last time in the army, Paul left his "Instruction", in which he outlined his thoughts on the administration of the state. Enumerating all the estates, he stops at the peasantry, which "contains all the other parts by itself and by its labors, and therefore worthy of respect." Pavel tried to enforce the decree that serfs work no more than three days a week for the landowner, and on Sunday they did not work at all. This, however, led to their even greater enslavement. After all, before Paul, for example, the peasant population of Ukraine did not know corvée at all. Now, to the delight of the Little Russian landlords, a three-day corvee was introduced here. In Russian estates, it was very difficult to follow the implementation of the decree.

In the field of finance, Paul believed that the revenues of the state belonged to the state, and not to the sovereign personally. He demanded that expenditures be coordinated with the needs of the state. Pavel ordered that part of the silver services of the Winter Palace be melted down into coins, and up to two million rubles in banknotes should be destroyed to reduce the state debt.

Attention was also paid to public education. A decree was issued on the restoration of a university in the Baltic states (it was opened in Derpt already under Alexander I), a Medical and Surgical Academy was opened in St. Petersburg, many schools and colleges. At the same time, in order to prevent the idea of ​​"depraved and criminal" France from entering Russia, the study of Russians abroad was completely prohibited, censorship was established on imported literature and notes, and it was even forbidden to play cards. Curiously, for various reasons, the new tsar turned his attention to improving the Russian language. Shortly after accession to the throne, Paul ordered in all official papers "to express themselves in the purest and simplest style, using all possible accuracy, and grandiloquent expressions that have lost their meaning should always be avoided." At the same time, strange, arousing distrust in the mental abilities of Paul, were the decrees that forbade the use of certain types of clothing. So, it was impossible to wear tailcoats, round hats, vests, silk stockings; instead, a German dress was allowed with an exact definition of the color and size of the collar. According to A.T. Bolotov, Pavel demanded that everyone honestly fulfill their duties. So, driving through the city, writes Bolotov, the emperor saw an officer walking without a sword, and behind a batman carrying a sword and a fur coat. Pavel went up to the soldier and asked whose sword he was carrying. He replied: "The officer who goes ahead." "Officer! So, is it difficult for him to carry his sword? So put it on yourself, and give him your bayonet!" So Pavel promoted a soldier to an officer, and demoted the officer to the rank and file. Bolotov notes that this made a huge impression on the soldiers and officers. In particular, the latter, fearing a repetition of this, began to treat the service more responsibly.

In order to control the life of the country, Pavel hung a yellow box at the gates of his palace in St. Petersburg for filing petitions addressed to him. Similar reports were accepted by mail. This was new for Russia. True, this was immediately used for false denunciations, libels and caricatures of the king himself.

One of the important political acts of Emperor Paul after accession to the throne was the reburial on December 18, 1796 of his father Peter III, who was killed 34 years ago. It all started on November 19, when "by the order of Emperor Pavel Petrovich, the body of the late Emperor Pyotr Fedorovich, buried in the Nevsky Monastery, was taken out, and the body was laid in a new, magnificent coffin, upholstered with golden eyes, with imperial coats of arms, with an old coffin." On the same day in the evening, "His Majesty, Her Majesty and Their Highnesses deigned to arrive at the Nevsky Monastery, at the Lower Annunciation Church, where the body stood, and upon arrival, the coffin was opened; they deigned to kiss the body of the late sovereign ... and then it was closed" . Today it is difficult to imagine what the tsar "applied" to and forced his wife and children to "apply" to. According to eyewitnesses, the coffin contained only bone dust and pieces of clothing.

On November 25, according to the ritual developed by the emperor in the smallest detail, the ashes of Peter III and the corpse of Catherine II were crowned. Russia has never seen this before. In the morning in the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, Pavel laid the crown on the coffin of Peter III, and in the second hour of the day, Maria Feodorovna in the Winter Palace laid the same crown on the deceased Catherine II. There was one terrible detail in the ceremony in the Winter Palace - the chamber junker and the empress's valets during the laying of the crown "raised the body of the deceased." Obviously, it was imitated that Catherine II was, as it were, alive. In the evening of the same day, the body of the empress was transferred to a magnificently arranged mourning tent, and on December 1, Pavel solemnly transferred the imperial regalia to the Nevsky Monastery. The next day, at 11 o'clock in the morning, a funeral procession slowly set off from the Lower Annunciation Church of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In front of the coffin of Peter III, the hero of Chesma Alexei Orlov carried the imperial crown on a velvet pillow. Behind the hearse, the whole august family marched in deep mourning. The coffin with the remains of Peter III was transported to the Winter Palace and installed next to the coffin of Catherine. Three days later, on December 5, both coffins were transferred to the Peter and Paul Cathedral. For two weeks they were put up there for worship. Finally, on December 18, they were interred. On the tombs of the hated spouses, the same date of burial was indicated. On this occasion, N.I. Grech remarked: "You would think that they spent their whole lives together on the throne, died and were buried on the same day."

This whole phantasmagoric episode struck the imagination of contemporaries who tried to find at least some reasonable explanation for it. Some argued that all this was done in order to refute the rumors that Paul was not the son of Peter III. Others saw in this ceremony a desire to humiliate and insult the memory of Catherine II, who hated her husband. Having crowned the already crowned Catherine at the same time as Peter III, who did not have time to be crowned during his lifetime, with the same crown and almost simultaneously, Paul, as it were, remarried, posthumously, married his parents, and thereby nullified the results of the palace coup of 1762. Paul forced the murderers of Peter III to carry the imperial regalia, thereby exposing these people to public ridicule.

There is evidence that the idea of ​​a secondary burial of Peter III was suggested to Paul by the Freemason S.I. Pleshcheev, who wanted to take revenge on Catherine II for the persecution of "free masons". One way or another, the ceremony of reburial of the remains of Peter III was performed even before the coronation of Paul, which followed on April 5, 1797 in Moscow - the new tsar paid so much attention to the memory of his father, emphasizing once again that his filial feelings for his father were stronger than feelings for the imperious mother. And on the very day of his coronation, Paul I issued a law on succession to the throne, which established a strict order in the succession to the throne in a direct male descending line, and not at the arbitrary desire of the autocrat, as before. This decree was in effect throughout the 19th century.

Russian society was ambivalent about the government events of the Pavlovsk time and personally to Paul. Sometimes historians said that under Paul, the Gatchina people became the head of the state - ignorant and rude people. Among them, A.A. Arakcheev and others like him. The words of F.V. Rostopchin that "the best of them deserves to be wheeled". But we should not forget that among them were N.V. Repnin, A.A. Bekleshov and other honest and decent people. Among the associates of Paul we see S.M. Vorontsova, N.I. Saltykova, A.V. Suvorov, G.R. Derzhavin, under him the brilliant statesman M.M. Speransky.

Relations with the Order of Malta played a special role in Paul's politics. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which appeared in the 11th century, was associated with Palestine for a long time. Under the onslaught of the Turks, the Johnites were forced to leave Palestine, settling first in Cyprus, and then on the island of Rhodes. However, the struggle with the Turks, which lasted for more than one century, forced them to leave this refuge in 1523. After seven years of wandering, the Johnites received Malta as a gift from the Spanish King Charles V. This rocky island became an impregnable fortress of the Order, which became known as Maltese. By the Convention of January 4, 1797, the Order was allowed to have a Grand Priory in Russia. In 1798, Paul's manifesto "On the Establishment of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem" appeared. The new monastic order consisted of two priors - Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox with 98 commanderships. There is an assumption that Paul wanted to thereby unite the two churches - Catholic and Orthodox.

On June 12, 1798, Malta was taken by the French without a fight. The knights suspected Grand Master Gompesh of treason and defrocked him. In the autumn of the same year, Paul I was elected to this post, willingly accepting the signs of the new rank. Before Paul, an image of a knightly union was drawn, in which, in contrast to the ideas of the French Revolution, the principles of the order would flourish - strict Christian piety, unconditional obedience to elders. According to Paul, the Order of Malta, having so long and successfully fought against the enemies of Christianity, must now gather all the "best" forces of Europe and serve as a mighty bulwark against the revolutionary movement. The residence of the Order was moved to St. Petersburg. A fleet was equipped in Kronstadt to expel the French from Malta, but in 1800 the island was occupied by the British, and soon Pavel died. In 1817 it was announced that the Order no longer existed in Russia.

At the end of the century, Pavel moved away from his family, and his relationship with Maria Feodorovna worsened. There were rumors about the infidelity of the Empress and the unwillingness to recognize the younger boys as her sons - Nikolai, born in 1796, and Mikhail, born in 1798. Trusting and straightforward, but at the same time suspicious, Paul, thanks to the intrigues of von Palen, who became his closest courtier, begins to suspect all people close to him of hostility towards him.

Pavel loved Pavlovsk and Gatchina, where he lived in anticipation of the throne. Having ascended the throne, he began to build a new residence - Mikhailovsky Castle, designed by the Italian Vincenzo Brenna, who became the chief court architect. Everything in the castle was adapted to protect the emperor. Canals, drawbridges, secret passages seemed to make Paul's life long. In January 1801, the construction of the new residence was completed. But many plans of Paul I remained unfulfilled. It was in the Mikhailovsky Palace that Pavel Petrovich was killed on the evening of March 11 (23), 1801. Having lost his sense of reality, he became maniacally suspicious, removed loyal people from himself, and himself provoked the disaffected in the guard and high society to a conspiracy. The conspiracy was attended by Argamakov, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Panin, favorite of Ekaterina P.A. Zubov, Governor-General of St. Petersburg von Palen, commanders of the guards regiments: Semenovsky - N.I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A. Talyzin. Thanks to treason, a group of conspirators entered the Mikhailovsky Castle, went up to the emperor’s bedroom, where, according to one version, he was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov’s son-in-law, Platon Zubov’s older brother), who hit him on the temple with a massive golden snuffbox. According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators who piled on the emperor. "Have mercy! Air, air! What have I done wrong to you?" Those were his last words.

The question of whether Alexander Pavlovich knew about the conspiracy against his father remained unclear for a long time. According to the memoirs of Prince A. Czartoryski, the idea of ​​a conspiracy arose almost in the first days of Paul's reign, but the coup became possible only after it became known about the consent of Alexander, who signed a secret manifesto, in which he pledged not to pursue the conspirators after accession to the throne. And most likely, Alexander himself was well aware that without the assassination, a palace coup would be impossible, since Paul I would not voluntarily abdicate. The reign of Paul I lasted only four years, four months and four days. His funeral took place on March 23 (April 4), 1801 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Maria Feodorovna devoted the rest of her life to her family and perpetuating the memory of her husband. In Pavlovsk, almost on the edge of the park, in the middle of the wilderness, above the ravine, the Mausoleum to the benefactor spouse was erected according to the project of Thomas de Thomon. Like an ancient temple, it is majestic and silent, all nature around seems to mourn along with a porphyry-bearing widow sculpted from marble, crying over the ashes of her husband.

Paul was ambivalent. A knight in the spirit of the outgoing century, he could not find his place in the 19th century, where the pragmatism of society and the relative freedom of representatives of the elite of society could no longer coexist. Society, which a hundred years before Paul tolerated any antics of Peter I, did not tolerate Paul I. "Our romantic tsar", as A.S. called Paul I. Pushkin, failed to cope with the country, which was waiting not only for the strengthening of power, but, above all, for various reforms in domestic policy. The reforms that Russia expected from every ruler. However, due to his upbringing, education, religious principles, experience of relationships with his father and, especially, with his mother, it was in vain to expect such reforms from Paul. Pavel was a dreamer who wanted to transform Russia and a reformer who displeased everyone. The unfortunate sovereign, who accepted death during the last palace coup in the history of Russia. The unfortunate son who repeated the fate of his father.

Madam dearest mother!

Take a break, do me a favor, please, for a moment from your important activities in order to accept the congratulations that my heart, submissive and obedient to your will, brings on the birthday of Your Imperial Majesty. May the Almighty God bless your precious days for the whole fatherland until the most distant times of human life, and may Your Majesty never run out of tenderness for me as a mother and ruler, always dear and revered by me, the feelings with which I remain for you, Your Imperial Majesty , the most obedient and most devoted son and subject Paul.

Pavel 1

Pavel Petrovich was born on September 20, 1754 in the city of Petersburg, in the Summer Palace. Later, at the direction of Paul, this palace was demolished, and the Mikhailovsky Castle was erected in that place. At the birth of Paul 1, Paul's father, Prince Pyotr Fedorovich, the Shuvalov brothers and Empress Elizaveta Petrovna were present. After the birth of Pavel, his mother and father, in fact, due to the political struggle, almost did not take part in the upbringing of their child. In his childhood, Pavel was deprived of the love of his relatives, since, by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, he was separated from his parents and surrounded by a large number of nannies and educators. Despite the outward resemblance of Pavel and his father, rumors constantly spread at the court that the child was born from an alliance with one of his favorites, Sergei Saltykov. These rumors were aggravated by the fact that Pavel was born after 10 years of the joint marriage of Catherine and Peter, when many already considered their marriage fruitless.

Childhood and upbringing of Paul 1

One of the first people involved in the education of Paul was the famous diplomat F.D. Bekhteev, obsessed with the observance of various charters, orders, military discipline, bordering on drill. Bakhteev even published a newspaper in which he reported on all the actions of the boy Pavel. In 1760, grandmother Elizaveta Petrovna changed her mentor, creating new prescriptions, which indicated the main parameters for the training of the future emperor; N.I. became his new mentor. Panin. The new educator reached the age of 42, possessed extensive knowledge, introducing additional subjects when teaching Paul. A significant role in the upbringing of Pavel was played by his entourage, among which were the most educated people of that time, among whom it is worth highlighting G. Teplov, Prince A. Kurakin. Among the mentors of Paul was S.A. Poroshin, who kept a diary from 1764 to 1765, which later became a source for studying the personality of Paul 1. To educate Paul, his mother Ekaterina acquired a large Korf library. Paul studied such subjects as: arithmetic, history, geography, the Law of God, fencing, drawing, astronomy, dancing, as well as French, Italian, German, Latin and Russian. In addition to the main training program, Pavel became interested in the study of military affairs. During his studies, Pavel showed good abilities, had a developed imagination, loved books, and at the same time was impatient and restless. He loved French and German, mathematics, military exercises and dances. At that time, Paul received the best education that others could only dream of.

In 1773, Paul married Wilhelmina Hesse of Darmstadt, who later cheated on him with Count Razumovsky, dying 2.5 years later in childbirth. In the same year, Paul 1 found himself a new wife, who became Sophia Dorothea of ​​Württemberg, who later received the name after the adoption of Orthodoxy. Traditionally, at that time, the final stage of education was a trip abroad, on which Pavel and his new wife went in 1782 under the names of the fictitious Count and Countess of the North. During the journey, Paul visited Italy, France, the journey abroad lasted 428 days, during which the future emperor covered 13,115 miles of the way.

Relations between Catherine 2 and Paul 1

Immediately after his birth, Paul was moved away from his mother, and later Catherine saw her son very rarely and only with the permission of her mother, Elizabeth. When Pavel was 8 years old, his mother, with the support of the guards, made a coup, during which, under unclear circumstances, Pavel's father died. Upon the accession of Catherine 2 to the throne, the troops swore an oath not only to her, but also to her son Paul. But Catherine did not intend in the future, when her son came of age, to transfer all power to him using him only as a possible heir to the throne after her death. During the uprising, the name of Pavel was used by the rebels, Pugachev himself said that after the overthrow of the power of Catherine, he did not want to reign and was busy only in favor of Tsarevich Pavel. Despite this upbringing as heir to the throne, the older Paul became, the further he was kept from public affairs. In the future, mother Empress Catherine 2 and son Pavel became strangers to each other. For Catherine, the son Pavel was an unloved child, born to please the politics and interests of the state, which irritated Catherine, who contributed to the spread of rumors that Pavel was not her own child, but was replaced in youth by order of mother Elizabeth. When Paul came of age, Catherine deliberately did not signify the identical approach of this event. In the future, people close to Paul fell into disfavor with the Empress, the aggravation of relations between mother and son occurred in 1783. Then, for the first time, Pavel, invited to discuss state issues, showed the opposite point of view to the empress in solving important state affairs. Later, before the death of Catherine 2, she prepared a manifesto, according to which Paul was awaiting arrest, and his son Alexander was to ascend the throne. But this manifesto of the empress after her death was destroyed by the secretary A.A. Bezborodko, thanks to which, under the new emperor Paul 1, he received the highest rank of chancellor.

Reign of Paul 1

On November 6, 1796, having reached the age of 42, Paul 1 ascended the throne, after which he began to actively destroy the orders established by his mother. On the day of his coronation, Paul adopted a new law, according to which women were deprived of the right to inherit the Russian throne. Subsequently, the reforms carried out by Emperor Paul 1 greatly weakened the positions of the nobility, among which it is worth noting the introduction of corporal punishment for committing crimes, an increase in taxes paid, limited the power of the nobles, and introduced responsibility for the evasion of nobles from military service. The reforms carried out during the reign of Paul 1 improved the situation of the peasants. Among the innovations, it is worth noting that the abolition of corvée on holidays and weekends and no more than three days a week, grain fault was abolished, preferential sales of salt and bread began to be carried out, a ban was introduced on the sale of peasants without land and the division of peasant families when they were sold. The administrative reform carried out by Pavel restored the boards previously simplified by Catherine, the department of water communications was created, the state treasury was created and the post of state treasurer was introduced. But the main part of the reforms carried out by Emperor Paul 1 concerned the army. During the reforms, new military regulations were adopted, the service life of recruits was limited to 25 years. A new form of clothing was introduced, among which it is worth noting the introduction of an overcoat, which later saved thousands of soldiers from the cold of the war of 1812, and for the first time in Europe badges for privates were introduced. The widespread construction of new barracks began, and such new units as engineering, courier, and cartographic units appeared in the army. Great influence was given to the drill of the army, for the slightest fault of the officers, demotion was expected, which made the situation among the officers nervous.

Assassination of Emperor Paul 1

The murder of Pavel took place on the night of March 11-12 in 1801, guards officers consisting of 12 people took part in the conspiracy. Bursting into the emperor's bedroom, during the conflict that arose, Emperor Paul 1 was beaten and strangled. The inspirers of the assassination attempt were N. Panin and P. Palen (they did not directly participate in the murder). The reason for the discontent of the rebels was unpredictable, especially with regard to the nobility and army officers. The official cause of Pavel's death was apoplexy. In the future, almost all the evidence incriminating the conspirators was destroyed.

The results of Paul's reign are perceived ambiguously, on the one hand, this is a petty and absurd regulation of everything, an infringement of the rights of the nobility, which strengthened his reputation as a tyrant and tyrant. On the other hand, Paul's heightened sense of justice is noted, and the rejection of the era of the hypocritical rule of his mother Catherine, as well as innovative ideas and separated positive aspects of the reforms he is carrying out in the empire.

The ninth All-Russian Emperor Pavel I Petrovich (Romanov) was born on September 20 (October 1), 1754 in St. Petersburg. His father was Emperor Peter III (1728-1762), who was born in the German city of Kiel, and received the name Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottorp at birth. By coincidence, Karl Peter simultaneously had the right to two European thrones - Swedish and Russian, since in addition to kinship with the Romanovs, the Holstein dukes were in direct dynastic connection with the Swedish royal house. Since the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna had no children of her own, in 1742 she invited her 14-year-old nephew Karl Peter to Russia, who was baptized into Orthodoxy under the name of Peter Fedorovich.

The mother of Paul I, the future Catherine the Great, was born on April 21, 1729 in Stettin (Szczecin) in the family of a general in the Prussian service and received a good education for that time. When she was 13 years old, Frederick II recommended her to Elizabeth Petrovna as a bride for Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich. And in 1744, the young Prussian princess Sophia-Friederike-Augusta-Anhalt-Zerbst was brought to Russia, where she received the Orthodox name of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

September 20, 1754, nine years after the wedding, Catherine gave birth to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich. This was an important event, because after Peter I the Russian Emperors had no children, confusion and confusion reigned at the death of each ruler. It was under Peter III and Catherine that there was hope for the stability of the state system.

Paul's baptism was performed in a magnificent setting on September 25th. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna expressed her good will to the mother of the newborn by the fact that after the baptism she herself brought her a decree to the cabinet on the issue of 100 thousand rubles to her on a golden platter. After the baptism at the court, solemn holidays began: balls, masquerades, fireworks on the occasion of the birth of Paul lasted about a year. Lomonosov, in an ode written in honor of Pavel Petrovich, wished him to compare with his great great-grandfather.

Paul received an excellent education. He knew foreign languages, had knowledge of mathematics, history, and applied sciences. In 1758, Fyodor Dmitrievich Bekhteev was appointed his tutor, who immediately began to teach the boy to read and write. In June 1760, Nikita Ivanovich Panin was appointed chief chamberlain under Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Semyon Andreevich Poroshin, the former aide-de-camp of Peter III, was the tutor and teacher of mathematics for Pavel, and Archimandrite Platon, hieromonk of the Trinity- Sergius Lavra, later Metropolitan of Moscow.

On September 29, 1773, 19-year-old Paul marries, marrying the daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Princess Augustine-Wilhelmina, who received the name Natalya Alekseevna in Orthodoxy. Three years later, on April 16, 1776, at 5 o'clock in the morning, she died in childbirth, and the child died with her. The medical report, signed by doctors Kruse, Arsh, Bock and others, speaks of the difficult birth of Natalia Alekseevna, who suffered from a curvature of the back, and the "large child" was incorrectly positioned. Empress Catherine, however, not wanting to waste time, begins a new matchmaking. This time, the queen chose the Württemberg princess Sophia-Dorotea-August-Louise. A portrait of the princess is delivered by courier, which Catherine II offers to Pavel, saying that she is "meek, pretty, charming, in a word, a treasure." The heir to the throne falls more and more in love with the image, and already in June he goes to Potsdam to marry the princess.

Seeing the princess for the first time on July 11, 1776 in the palace of Frederick the Great, Paul writes to his mother: “I found my bride the way I could only mentally wish: not ugly, great, slender, answers intelligently and quickly. As for her heart, then she has it very sensitive and gentle ... She loves to be at home and practice reading and music, she is greedy to learn in Russian ... "Acquainted with the princess, the Grand Duke fell passionately in love with her, and after parting, from the road she writes tender letters to her with a declaration of love and devotion.

In August, Sophia Dorothea arrives in Russia and, following the instructions of Catherine II, on September 15 (26), 1776, she accepts Orthodox baptism under the name of Maria Feodorovna. Soon the wedding took place, a few months later she writes: "My dear husband is an angel, I love him to the point of madness." A year later, on December 12, 1777, the young couple had their first son, Alexander. On the occasion of the birth of the heir in St. Petersburg, 201 cannon shots were fired, and the sovereign grandmother Catherine II gave her son 362 acres of land, which laid the foundation for the village of Pavlovskoye, where the palace-residence of Paul I was later built. 1778. The construction of a new palace designed by Charles Cameron was carried out mainly under the supervision of Maria Feodorovna.

With Maria Feodorovna, Pavel found true family happiness. Pavel appears as an exemplary family man who set an example for all subsequent Russian Emperors - his descendants. In September 1781, the Grand Ducal couple, under the name of the Count and Countess of the North, set off on a long journey through Europe, which lasted a whole year. During this trip, Paul did more than just sightseeing and acquiring works of art for his palace under construction. The journey also had great political significance. The Grand Duke got the opportunity to personally get acquainted with European monarchs, paid a visit to Pope Pius VI. In Italy, Paul, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, Emperor Peter the Great, is seriously interested in the achievements of European shipbuilding and gets acquainted with the organization of naval affairs abroad. In Livorno, the Tsesarevich finds time to visit the Russian squadron stationed there.

By this time, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna already had two children after the birth of their son Konstantin on April 27, 1779. And on July 29, 1783, their daughter Alexandra was born, in connection with which Catherine II presented Pavel with the Gatchina manor, bought from Grigory Orlov. Meanwhile, the number of Paul's children is constantly increasing - on December 13, 1784, daughter Elena was born, on February 4, 1786 - Maria, on May 10, 1788 - Catherine. Pavel's mother, Empress Catherine II, rejoicing for her grandchildren, on October 9, 1789, wrote to her daughter-in-law: "Really, madam, you are a craftswoman to bring children into the world."

In total, Pavel Petrovich and Maria Feodorovna had four sons - Alexander, Konstantin, Nikolai and Mikhail, and six daughters - Alexandra, Elena, Maria, Ekaterina, Olga and Anna, of which only 3-year-old Olga died in infancy.

On November 5 (16), 1796, Empress Catherine II suffered a severe stroke. The next day, in the presence of her son, grandchildren and close courtiers, she died without regaining consciousness at the age of 67, of which she spent 34 years on the Russian throne. Already on the night of November 7 (18), 1796, everyone was sworn in to the new emperor - 42-year-old Paul I.

By the time of accession to the throne, Pavel Petrovich was a man with established views and habits, with a ready-made, as it seemed to him, program of action. He immerses himself in theoretical discussions about the urgent need to change the governance of Russia. Away from the court, in Pavlovsk and Gatchina, the Emperor created a unique model of the new Russia, which seemed to him a model for governing the entire country. Paul considered the purpose of the state "the blessedness of each and all." He recognized only the monarchy as a form of government, although he agreed that this form "is associated with the inconvenience of mankind." However, Paul argued that autocratic power is better than others, as it "combines the power of the laws of the power of one."

Of all the occupations, the new Tsar had the greatest passion for military affairs. The advice of the combat general P.I. Panin and the example of Frederick the Great drew him to the military path. In the army inherited by Emperor Paul, embezzlement flourished, the use of the labor of soldiers in the landowners' estates of commanders, and much more. Each commander dressed the soldiers to his liking, sometimes trying to save in his favor the sums of money allocated for uniforms. Pavel introduced a new uniform form, charter, weapons. Soldiers were allowed to complain about the abuses of their commanders. Everything was strictly controlled and, in general, the situation, for example, of the lower ranks became better.

In 1787, the Emperor wrote his "Instruction", in which he outlined his thoughts on the administration of the state. Enumerating all the estates, he stops at the peasantry, which "contains all the other parts by itself and by its labors, and therefore worthy of respect."

In the field of finance, Paul believed that the revenues of the state belonged to the state, and not to the Sovereign personally. He demanded that expenditures be coordinated with the needs of the state. Pavel ordered that part of the silver services of the Winter Palace be melted down into coins, and up to two million rubles in banknotes should be destroyed to reduce the state debt.

Attention was also paid to public education. A decree was issued on the restoration of a university in the Baltic states (it was opened in Derpt already under Alexander I), a Medical and Surgical Academy was opened in St. Petersburg, many schools and colleges. At the same time, in order to prevent the idea of ​​"depraved and criminal" France from entering Russia, the study of Russians abroad was prohibited, censorship was established on imported literature and notes, and it was even forbidden to play cards. It is curious that, for various reasons, the new Tsar paid attention to improving the Russian language. Shortly after accession to the Throne, Paul ordered in all official papers "to be expressed in the purest and simplest style, using all possible accuracy, and grandiloquent expressions that have lost their meaning should always be avoided."

According to A.T. Bolotov, Pavel demanded that everyone honestly fulfill their duties. So, driving through the city, writes Bolotov, the Emperor saw an officer walking without a sword, and behind a batman carrying a sword and a fur coat. Pavel went up to the soldier and asked whose sword he was carrying. He replied: "The officer who goes ahead." "Officer! So, is it difficult for him to carry his sword? So put it on yourself, and give him your bayonet!" So Pavel promoted a soldier to an officer, and demoted the officer to the rank and file. Bolotov notes that this made a huge impression on the soldiers and officers. In particular, the latter, fearing a repetition of this, began to treat the service more responsibly.

In order to control the life of the country, Pavel hung a yellow box at the gates of his palace in St. Petersburg for filing petitions addressed to him. Similar reports were accepted by mail. This was new for Russia. True, this was immediately used for false denunciations, libels and caricatures of the Tsar himself.

On the day of his coronation, Paul I issued a law on succession to the throne, which established a strict order in the succession to the throne in a direct male descending line, and not at the arbitrary desire of the Autocrat, as before. This decree was in effect throughout the 19th century.

Russian society had an ambiguous attitude towards the government events of the Pavlovsk time and personally to Emperor Paul. Sometimes historians said that under Paul, the Gatchina people became the head of state - ignorant and rude people. Among them, A.A. Arakcheev and others like him. The words of F.V. Rostopchin that "the best of them deserves to be wheeled".

It is customary to characterize the Gatchina troops negatively, as rude martinets, learned only to march and walk. But the documents show otherwise. The surviving plans for exercises refute this replicated stereotype. From 1793 to 1796, during the exercises, the Gatchina troops under the command of the Tsarevich worked out: methods of salvo fire and bayonet fighting. The interaction of various branches of the armed forces was practiced when forcing water barriers, conducting an offensive and retreat, and repelling an enemy amphibious assault during its landing on the shore. Troop movements were carried out at night. Great importance was attached to the actions of artillery. For the Gatchina artillery in 1795 - 1796, specially separate exercises were carried out. The experience gained formed the basis of military transformations and reforms. Despite the small number, by 1796 the Gatchina troops were one of the most disciplined and trained units of the Russian army. N.V. came from the Gatchina troops. Repnin, A.A. Bekleshov and other honest and decent people. Among the associates of Paul we see S.M. Vorontsova, N.I. Saltykov, G.R. Derzhavin, under him the brilliant statesman M.M. Speransky.

Relations with the Order of Malta played a special role in the policy of Emperor Paul. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, which appeared in the 11th century, was associated with Palestine for a long time. Under the onslaught of the Turks, the Johnites were forced to leave Palestine, settling first in Cyprus, and then on the island of Rhodes. However, the struggle with the Turks, which lasted for more than one century, forced them to leave this refuge in 1523. After seven years of wandering, the Johnites received Malta as a gift from the Spanish King Charles V. This rocky island became an impregnable fortress of the Order, which became known as Maltese. By the Convention of January 4, 1797, the Order was allowed to have a Grand Priory in Russia.

On June 12, 1798, Malta was taken by the French without a fight. The knights suspected Grand Master Gompesh of treason and defrocked him. In the autumn of the same year, Paul I was elected to this post, willingly accepting the signs of the new rank. Before the Emperor, the image of a knightly union was drawn, in which, in contrast to the ideas of the French Revolution, the principles of the order would flourish - strict Christian piety, unconditional obedience to elders. According to Paul, the Order of Malta, having so long and successfully fought against the enemies of Christianity, must now gather all the "best" forces of Europe and serve as a mighty bulwark against the revolutionary movement. The residence of the Order was moved to St. Petersburg. A fleet was equipped in Kronstadt to expel the French from Malta, but in 1800 the island was occupied by the British, and soon Pavel died. In 1817 it was announced that the Order no longer existed in Russia.

By the end of his life, trusting and straightforward, but at the same time suspicious, Emperor Paul, thanks to the intrigues of von Palen, who became his closest courtier, begins to suspect all people close to him of hostility towards him.

Pavel loved Pavlovsk and Gatchina, where he lived in anticipation of the Throne. Having ascended the throne, he began to build a new residence - Mikhailovsky Castle, designed by the Italian Vincenzo Brenna, who became the chief court architect. Everything in the castle was adapted to protect the emperor. Canals, drawbridges, secret passages seemed to make Paul's life long. In January 1801, the construction of the new residence was completed. But many plans of Paul I remained unfulfilled. It was in the Mikhailovsky Palace that Pavel Petrovich was killed on the evening of March 11 (23), 1801. Having lost his sense of reality, he became maniacally suspicious, removed loyal people from himself, and himself provoked the disaffected in the guard and high society to a conspiracy. The conspiracy was attended by Argamakov, Vice-Chancellor P.P. Panin, favorite of Ekaterina P.A. Zubov, Governor-General of St. Petersburg von Palen, commanders of the guards regiments: Semenovsky - N.I. Depreradovich, Kavalergardsky - F.P. Uvarov, Preobrazhensky - P.A. Talyzin. Thanks to treason, a group of conspirators entered the Mikhailovsky Castle, went up to the Emperor's bedroom, where, according to one version, he was killed by Nikolai Zubov (Suvorov's son-in-law, Platon Zubov's older brother), who hit him on the temple with a massive golden snuffbox. According to another version, Paul was strangled with a scarf or crushed by a group of conspirators who piled on the Emperor. "Have mercy! Air, air! What have I done wrong to you?" Those were his last words.

The reign of Paul I lasted only four years, four months and four days. His funeral took place on March 23 (April 4), 1801 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Maria Feodorovna devoted the rest of her life to her family and perpetuating the memory of her husband. In Pavlovsk, almost on the edge of the park, in the wilderness, over a ravine, the Mausoleum to the benefactor's spouse was erected according to the project of Thomas de Thomon. Like an ancient temple, it is majestic and silent, all nature around seems to mourn along with a porphyry-bearing widow sculpted from marble, crying over the ashes of her husband.

Emperor Paul, a knight in the spirit of the outgoing century, could not find his place in the 19th century, where the pragmatism of society and the relative freedom of representatives of the elite of society could no longer coexist. "Our romantic tsar", as A.S. called Paul I. Pushkin, failed to cope with the country, which was waiting not only for the strengthening of power, but, above all, for various reforms in domestic policy.

Pavel was a dreamer who wanted to transform Russia, and caused the displeasure of everyone. The unfortunate Sovereign, who accepted death during the last palace coup in the history of Russia. The unfortunate son who repeated the fate of his father.

Today, little is known to the general public, a very marvelous, posthumous page in the biography (biography) of the Emperor!

“Since ancient times, almost since the very death of the Most Pious Sovereign Emperor Paul I Petrovich, many people of different classes, positions, ranks and conditions came to the Peter and Paul Cathedral (the Tomb of the Russian Sovereigns and the entire Royal Family) and asked the priests of the cathedral to serve memorial services at the tomb of Emperor Paul I , sometimes at the same time telling about cases of intercession and help - after a prayer for Emperor Paul I - from His side in various difficult life circumstances, - especially in litigation and judicial cases, - with clearly inflicted insults from the strong to the weak. Sometimes letters were sent from different parts of Russia with a request to serve a memorial service at the tomb of Emperor Paul I. And now they are sending. In recent years, the pilgrimage to this tomb has increased - and almost not a single week passes (in 1911, 1912 and 1913) in which no one would ask for a memorial service for Emperor Paul I. And since December 1913, they have become especially put many candles on His tomb. Memorial services are almost daily, and sometimes several. All this prompted the clergy of the cathedral, if possible, to interrogate those praying at the tomb of Emperor Paul I:

l) how long have they been praying,

2) for what reasons,

3) whether they see the good consequences of their prayers - and write down all this information.

(From the book of records kept by the clergy of the Peter and Paul Court Cathedral in Petrograd).

“Little material has yet been collected in the short time since which the clergy of the Peter and Paul Cathedral - on the good initiative of Fr. Alexander Alexandrovich Dernov, then the rector of this cathedral, now the Protopresbyter of the court clergy, began to collect and write down what the pilgrims tell them at the tomb of Emperor Paul I. But even what is written down strikes the believer. On the pages of this notebook there is a long string of names of people, sometimes restless in soul and crying out to the Emperor, sometimes peaceful and offering a prayer of thanksgiving. Russian and foreign surnames flash by, even those of other faiths; noble people and ordinary people. Here is a lady who was baptized in the Catholic way, as the priest who served the memorial service at the request of her companion noted; here is a purebred Frenchwoman; here are two actors, one of them is of the Armenian Gregorian faith; here is a certain Kublik O-y with his daughter: they have been praying at the tomb of Paul I for a long time and have seen many cases of intercession through his prayers ... Then a memorial service was served at the request in a letter from the Kuban region; the same request from the Don region, from Penza. A pilgrim who came from Turkestan testifies that they honor Paul I there and know that prayer at his tomb brings help; a St. Petersburg artisan testifies that he brought from Novgorod the belief that the Emperor helps in spiritual grief; here is a tradeswoman from Kholmogory district, Arkhangelsk province: 15 years ago, on the advice of her relatives, she came to pray at the tomb of Paul I before starting her own business, and now she does this every time she comes to Petrograd; but a lady with an old loud surname testifies that all her relatives have long honored the memory of Paul I and, especially in difficult moments of life, consider it a duty to pray at his grave; here is the story of a resident of Tobolsk, here are the peasant women of the Ryazan province.

All of them came to the grave of the loving Tsar, whose glory shines in all parts of Russia. And a resident of Pskov reports a wonderful rumor to a resident of Moscow.

If the heavens proclaim the glory of God, then the more it strikes the human soul, and the power that the Lord gave to His Anointed after his death leads to God.

The famous lecturer V.P.B. told the parable of the cathedral about how the heart of a cruel person has changed in 2-3 hours. The same person who had just mocked the widow who had come to him to receive the money lent to him by her late husband without a receipt, "on his word," after 3 hours begged her to come to him to receive 10,000 rubles. in full. But the widow only did that, on the advice of her old maid, she went to cry at the tomb of Paul I. And what else was left for her, really?

Here Abbess B. of the monastery of S. province testifies to the clergy of the cathedral that 27-28 years ago Emperor Paul appeared to her in a dream, with two courtiers, and promised to help her in the needs of her wretched monastery, and that really after 2 days was done to the monastery donation of 25,000 rubles.

There are many such records of cases of assistance given by the Emperor Paul; many of them are passed from mouth to mouth. But the total of what has been said above, I think, is enough to shake the heart of an unbeliever and rejoice the heart of a good Christian. (A. Baranovsky, V. Vishnyakov "A wreath on the tomb of Emperor Paul I". Petrograd. Edition of the Peter and Paul Court Cathedral. 1916).

The sarcophagus of the ninth Russian Emperor Paul I, located in the far left corner of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, has been considered miraculous by many generations of Petersburgers. And today there are amazing stories about him. They say that Paul I helps in passing exams, family affairs. Even people with toothache come to the marble slab of the tombstone. To do this, just touch it with a request for help to the late Emperor.