Catherine Michvech World Culture Period 9 March 16, 2014 Catherine the Great Catherine the Great was the oldest daughter of an impoverished Prussian Prince. Surprisingly, Catherine’s name was not actually Catherine. She was born in 1729 into her family as Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst. Sophie had a younger brother Wilhem Christain who her mother spent all of her time with and gave little interest to Sophie. When her younger brother died at the age of twelve, Sophie thought the only way to get away from her controlling mother was to get married. In 1744, at only age fifteen, Sophie was invited to Russia by Czarina Elizabeth who was the daughter of Peter the Great. Czarina Elizabeth chose her nephew Peter as heir and Peter was searching for a wife-to-be. Sophie made an instant impact on the life of Czarina Elizabeth. Sophie and Peter were married on August 21, 1745 while Sophie was sixteen years old. Sophie was a new convert to Orthodox Christianity now holding the name Ekaterina, or Catherine. Throughout Catherine’s young life, she received her education by being educated by tutors. Cath...
In 1981, Isabel de Madariaga wrote the landmark book, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great. This book was the first comprehensive study of Catherine the Great’s reign. It was a very long, thoroughly researched, very dense book about later eighteenth-century in Russia and was meant for scholars. The book I read and am reviewing, Catherine the Great: a Short History, also by de Madariaga, is more than a shortened version of her earlier work; it is a manageable, factual examination of only about 200 pages with maps, illustrations and timelines, and genealogical tables.
In the Beginning, Pharaoh Thutmose I and his wife Ahmose were ruler of Egypt was common in royal households. They were the third ruler of the 18th dynasty Thutmose I was a warrior king who launched successful campaigns into Nubia and Syria, expanding the territory under Egyptian rule. They had two girls, Hatshepsut, along with her sister Nefrubity, Thutmose II were their half-brother in that family. After Thutmose I death, her father, the throne was placed for Hatshepsut, when she was about 12 years old. Thutmose II took over as Pharaoh. passed to Thutmose II who married Hatshepsut (age 15) as they do in royal houses in Egypt at that time. It seemed like incest now days when brother marries sister.
(weternize) Catherine the great proceeded to finish what Peter the Great started; she made sure that by the end of her reign Russia was westernized. The enlightenment period had a huge impact in her decision making, by limiting the use of torture
Catherine II, or more commonly known as Catherine the Great, reigned over Russia with the ideas of Enlightenment. These ideas are best seen in her attempt at a new law code, the Nakaz. From reading the Nakaz, someone can see that Catherine saw the Enlightenment ideas of natural law, freedom, and liberty as the most important. The new law code was created not only to enforce the enlightenment ideas, but also to have a more concise law code for the people of Russia. Catherine argued that a trend towards Enlightenment of government would help connect Russia with the West. The creation of the Nakaz served as a way for Catherine to try and incorporate an enlightened view into her ruling.
The informational articles “Empress Theodora” by The World Almanac and “Elizabeth I” by Milton Meltzer it talks about two rulers who brought their kingdoms to their highest points. Both Empress Theodora and Elizabeth I impacted their respective kingdoms by making many changes during their reigns that improved conditions for their citizens.
Eugenie Conntesse de Teba was born on May 5th 1826 in a small village in Spain called Granada. Eugenie was the daughter of a Spanish noble, who fought on the French side in Napoleons Peninsular war in Spain. Eugenie married Emperor Napoleon the III in January of 1853 and become the last Empress of the French. Empress Eugenie was a gorgeous woman who was number one in French society in 1870.
Frederick II, the Great was the King of Prussia from 1740-1786, he was the successor of his father Frederick William I (Kishlansky, Geary and O'Brien). Catherine the Great was married to Peter III and the Empress of Russia during the years of 1762-1796 (Kishlansky, Geary and O'Brien). Even though they were both leaders that made lasting changes for their countries they had different methods of ruling, making different contributions along with mistakes. The following paragraphs will give more detail about the accomplishments and failures of both leaders.
Victoria Adelaide Mary Louise, Princess Royal was their first child and born on November 21, 1840. She married Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia. Frederick became emperor of Germany, but died three months after. Their eldest son became Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany. Their daughter, Sophie married a Greek prince and later became Queen of Greece. Victoria had eight children in total. She died on August 5, 1901, months after her mother died.
Catherine de Medici’s culpability for the turbulent events in France in 1559-72 remains a topic of some debate. Highly personal protestant pamphleteers associated Catherine with sinister comparisons to the contemporary evil Machiavelli which eventually developed into the ‘Black Legend’. Jean.H. Mariégol consolidates this interpretation, overwhelmingly assuming Catherine’s wickedness; the Queen Mother was deemed to be acting for ‘personal aggrandizement’ without an interest in the monarchy. Neale provides a corrective arguing a ‘dominant maternalism’ drove Catherine’s policies. Sutherland critiques Neale, suggesting he is guilty of using misconceived qualifying phrases from the ‘Black Legend’ stemming from the contemporary pamphlets, instead Sutherland and Heller attempt to disentangle Catherine from the context of the xenophobic Protestant pamphleteers that shaped much of Catherine’s historical analysis thus far, revealing the ‘politique’ whose moderate policies were a force for stability. Knecht is most convincing in his assertion that whilst the ‘Black Legend’ is a misrepresentation of her character and policies, Sutherland goes too far in whitewashing Catherine. Ironically, Catherine as a ‘politique’ aimed for complex policies and yet her role in French politics was over-simplified by contemporaries and arguably even by modern historians contributing to overly polarised interpretations. Instead we should bear in mind the violent pressures Catherine faced in the context of the collapse of monarchical authority and follow the more nuanced interpretation of her role.
In 1558, John Knox declared, “To promote a Woman to bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire above any Realm, Nation, or City, is against all Nature…” (document 1). Knox’s statement was no different than most English men’s opinions during the 1500s. The majority of the population was opposed to having a women hold any type of political power, as they believed it was a job for solely a man to possess. Leading up to the time period of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, females had a specific purpose in life: to serve their husbands and provide them with children. All women lacked freedom and liberty, Elizabeth Tudor sought to change this matter. When Queen Elizabeth was coronated in 1559, men were superior in all economic and social aspects; however,
Catherine was born Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst on April 21, 1729 in Stettin, then Germany, now Poland. Her father, Prince Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, was a high-ranking officer in the Prussian Army and a minor prince among the principalities in Germany. He married the much younger Princess Johanna of Holstein-Gottorp. Years before, Johanna's brother Karl August of Holstein-Gottorp had gone to Russia to marry the Princess Elizabeth Petrovna. However the Prince died of small pox, leaving Elizabeth heart-broken. Elizabeth's sister, Anna gave birth to a son named Peter Ulrich, however tragedy once again struck as Anna's died of tuberculosis three months after giving birth to Peter.
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a frail son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
She criticized Peter for moving the capital to St Petersburg as opposed to moving it elsewhere and Peter’s failure to change the Sobornoye Ulozheniye of 1649 (Rasmussen, 1974, p. 56). However, Catherine was also unsuccessful in changing the Russian legal code as the Legislative Commission was a failure because it had not accomplished its task and she realized that this showed she herself had shortcomings much like Peter did (Rasmussen, 1974, p. 59). Nevertheless, Catherine had a vast amount of respect toward Peter and she used his image to her advantage as a political device. She used his image to overthrow Peter III and gain power over the throne. She realized that this was a necessity because “her claim to power was shaky and she worked to buttress it by projecting the image of a reforming tsar [. ]”
The age of exploration and discovery in Europe was a time of various absolute rulers. An absolute monarch is a ruler who has unlimited power and controls every aspect of life. Many rulers were great examples of absolute monarchs, but none of them even compared to the absolute monarch Peter the Great of Russia. Peter I, more commonly known as Peter the Great, was born June 9, 1672. At ten years of age, Peter took over the throne, but other people helped him make decisions. He was obliged to rule with his mentally challenged half-brother, Ivan (Beck, 609). It wasn’t until after Ivan died that he gained complete control and was the sole ruler of Russia. During his own reign, he was able to change the way Russia operated. He was aware that his country was behind the rest of his world in many things, such as culture and technology. He was determined to change Russia for the better. With his determination and love for Russia, he was able to conquer his ideas and was able to do what he wanted with his nation. His ruling is known as the period of transformation because, thanks to him, he was able to lead Russia in the right direction and modernize it. Peter the Great was an absolute monarch; he changed Russia’s culture, created new cities, and reformed the church.
The future Queen of France was born on All Souls' Day, 2nd November, 1755, in Vienna as the youngest daughter of Maria Theresa and the Emperor Franz Stephan. She was baptized under the names Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna. A glorious future seemed to await the little Archduchess. Not only would she grow up in the bosom of a large and affectionate family, but from the very beginning her mother intended to marry her youngest daughter to the glittering Crown of France. The traditional marriage politics of the Habsburgs would secure her beloved daughter a brilliant position and help guarantee the peace and stability of Europe at the same time.