"Golden" century of the Romanov dynasty. Between the empire and the family Sukina Lyudmila Borisovna

Family of Alexander I

Family of Alexander I

Spouse. Emperor Alexander Pavlovich, like other representatives of the Romanov dynasty, who were to reign, was not free to choose a life partner. Grandmother Catherine II and the educators appointed by her instilled in him strong moral principles. So that they would not be destroyed by casual ties with some court coquette or a French actress, of which there were many in the circle of his father, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the Empress hurried to marry her grandson early. Fifteen-year-old Alexander was introduced to the German princesses Louise and Frederick of Baden-Durlach. He and Catherine chose the eldest of them, thirteen-year-old Louise. September 28, 1793

she became the wife of Alexander under the name of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alekseevna.

Elizaveta Alekseevna (13.01.1779-4.05.1826) was the daughter of Margrave Karl Ludwig of Baden-Baden and Durlach. Her mother was the sister of the first wife of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, Princess Wilhelmina-Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, Grand Duchess Natalia Alekseevna.

Elizaveta Alekseevna had a charming appearance: slender, graceful, light, with regular and delicate features, large blue eyes, golden, slightly wavy hair. Her spiritual qualities complemented her external beauty. Even the stern "uncle" of Alexander, General Protasov, wrote about her with delight and tenderness: "You can see reason, modesty, decency in all her behavior in her, the kindness of her soul is written before her eyes, as well as honesty." The future ideal emperor was chosen the ideal empress. During their marriage, Catherine II exclaimed: "This couple is beautiful, like a clear day, there is an abyss of charm and intelligence in it." Alexander and Elizabeth really became the most beautiful and elegant royal couple in Europe.

For the young, Catherine II singled out the brightest and most comfortable apartments in the Winter Palace, pampered them with outfits, jewelry, constantly arranged balls and other entertainment for them. Alexander and Elizabeth were in love with each other, and the first days of their life together seemed to them a continuous holiday. However, soon, during one solemn reception, a nuisance happened, which many considered a bad omen: Elizaveta Alekseevna suddenly fell and lost consciousness. Alexander and Catherine considered this a trifle, the result of simple fatigue from a series of violent amusements. However, later it was discovered that Elizabeth was in poor health, due to which she was forced to spend whole days in her room, taking medicine and relaxing. Nevertheless, she found a way to be useful to her young husband. The Grand Duchess spent her leisure time reading serious literature of philosophical and political content, and in the evenings she recounted what she read to her husband, whom his father, who by that time had become emperor, forced to fulfill the numerous duties of commander of the palace guard. During the overthrow and assassination of Paul I, Elizabeth showed enviable courage and determination, in fact forcing the bewildered and demoralized Alexander to assume the fullness of imperial power and neutralize her mother-in-law, Maria Feodorovna, who was rushing to power. But the same firmness and determination of the young empress, the lack of pity and sympathy for the murdered Paul pushed her husband away from her, sowed alienation and coldness in their relationship.

However, the main problems of the young grand-ducal and imperial couple, as always, were associated with the birth of offspring. It turned out that Elizaveta Alekseevna was not capable of producing healthy heirs to the throne. The couple did not have children for a long time. In May 1799, the Grand Duchess gave birth to a daughter, Maria, who lived only about a year. Born in November 1806, the second daughter, Elizabeth, also did not live long. Alexander loved children and wanted to have his own. He was very upset by the death of his babies and even forgot about the duties of the emperor, becoming just an inconsolable father. “A domestic misfortune that happened to me prevented me from seeing you during your last stay in Petersburg. The loss of a beloved child deprived me of any opportunity to do business for three days, ”he wrote to Arakcheev after the funeral of little Elizabeth.

Difficult childbirth finally undermined the health of the Empress. She retired to her chambers, locked herself in her own spiritual life. Representative functions of Elizabeth are inferior to the Dowager Empress Mother Maria Feodorovna, who now accompanies Alexander at official events. Elizaveta Fedorovna herself spends only about 15,000 rubles a year on herself from the solid financial allowance due to the wife of the emperor, and distributes the rest for charitable purposes. After the war of 1812, she organized a women's charitable society to help widows and orphans of combatants.

The way of thinking and actions of Elizaveta Alekseevna inspired respect for many contemporaries. The famous socialite, French writer Germaine de Stael writes about her in an emphatically respectful tone: “At first I was introduced to Empress Elisabeth, and she seemed to me the guardian angel of Russia. Her methods are restrained, but what she says is full of life. She draws her feelings and thoughts from the source of great and noble thoughts. I was touched listening to her; I was struck by something inexpressible in her, which reflected not the greatness of her dignity, but the harmony of her soul. For a long time I did not have to meet a closer fusion of power and virtue.

Alexander did not forbid his wife to lead a semi-monastic lifestyle, but he himself, being a fairly young man, distinguished by his inconstancy and passion of nature, began to seek female attention on the side. The numerous fleeting connections of the emperor did not bother Elizaveta Alekseevna much. Such were the usual relations in imperial families, when one, and often both spouses, allowed themselves small intrigues with court ladies and gentlemen.

But the marriage of Elizabeth and Alexander almost collapsed when the emperor fell in love with the beautiful and windy Maria Antonovna Naryshkina, whom contemporaries called "northern Aspasia." Polish by nationality, she was the wife of a chamberlain of the imperial court, a clever and cunning "king of the scenes" (that is, a master of behind-the-scenes politics. - L. S.) Count Dmitry Pavlovich Naryshkin. Maria Antonovna was not distinguished by intelligence and good morals, but the feminine charm and grace of this high-society courtesan kept Alexander near her. The emperor almost openly demonstrated his connection with her and literally spent all his evenings in the Naryshkins' palace on the Fontanka or at their dacha on Krestovsky Island. Maria Naryshkina gave birth to the emperor's daughter Sophia. There were rumors that the tsar was going to annul his marriage to Elizaveta Alekseevna and marry his mistress.

With such a development of events, Elizaveta Alekseevna had to go to a monastery or return to Germany, to her parents' house. But this novel, dangerous for her, was interrupted due to the fault of the lovebird herself. Naryshkina openly cheated on Alexander I with Prince Gagarin. The emperor was shocked that he was treated like a stupid boy, ruthlessly and rudely trampled on his feelings. He wrote to his confessor, who was a longtime opponent of this connection between the tsar and a vicious woman: “I must immediately tell you a few words about the arrival of Mrs. Naryshkina in St. Petersburg. I hope that you know my present condition too well to feel the slightest anxiety about it. In addition, remaining a man of light, I consider it my duty to completely break with this person after everything that happened on her part.

The break with Naryshkina again brought Alexander closer to his wife. He re-evaluated the fidelity and devotion of Elizaveta Alekseevna and in every possible way sought ways of reconciliation, he again wanted warmth, friendly participation. The empress was not opposed, she did not harbor a grudge for a long time. From January 1822 until the end of Alexander's life, the couple again spent almost all the time together. Elizabeth happily informed her mother of her reunion with her husband: “At this time of year (the letter was written in the middle of winter t. - L. S.) it is very cold in my apartment, especially since it is separated from the emperor’s apartments by even colder rooms, so he forced me, appealing to my feelings, to take part of his apartment, settle in three rooms, decorated with exquisite elegance. It was touching to watch the struggle of our two beautiful souls until I agreed to accept this sacrifice. The next day, from lunch until late at night, I rode in a sleigh with the emperor. Then he wanted me to sit in his office while he went about his business there. The tradition, which existed in youth, of joint conversations on political topics, initiation of the Empress in public affairs. The last years of the marriage of the imperial couple were overshadowed only by the absence of her heirs.

Childless Alexander I, voluntarily or involuntarily, as once his ancestor Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, had to closely look at his brothers and sisters, since it was to one of them that he had to leave the throne.

The Emperor's brother was the first applicant Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich (1779-1832). To him, the second son of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, grandmother Catherine II also predicted a great fate: it was assumed that after the recapture of Constantinople from the Turks, he would take the throne of the restored Byzantium. "Greek Project" Russian Empire was never realized, but with a childless brother, Konstantin became the heir-tsarevich.

Alexander and Konstantin were brought up together and were friendly in their youth. At the end of the XVIII century. the imperial family often commissioned double portraits of these "beautiful princes" from artists. Constantine, like Alexander, did not yearn for the throne, but unlike his older brother, he was able to defend his right to personal happiness and relative independence.

Shortly after Alexander's marriage, during the lifetime of Catherine II's grandmother, Constantine's wedding with a German princess took place. Of the three princesses of Coburg, he himself chose Julia, who became his wife under the Orthodox name of Anna Feodorovna. At first, the young were happy, but this marriage in the Romanovs' house also turned out to be childless.

Gradually Konstantin lost interest in his wife and began to pay attention to other young women. Already being the governor of the Kingdom of Poland and living in Warsaw, he fell in love with the beautiful Polish woman Zhanna Grudzinskaya, Princess Lovich. For her sake, he went on an unprecedented dick royal family step: in 1820 he divorced Grand Duchess Anna Feodorovna. The new marriage of Tsarevich Konstantin was a clear misalliance and deprived him of his rights to the throne (according to the decree of Paul I, corrected by Alexander I, a person who married a person who did not belong to any of the ruling houses of Europe could not become a Russian emperor). With his second wife, Konstantin Pavlovich lived in a happy union for 12 years. He died still a young man during the cholera epidemic that befell Poland in 1832.

After hopes for the throne of Constantinople dissipated, military service became the lot of Constantine. In his environment, he was known as a brave warrior: he participated in the Italian campaign of Suvorov, in the battle of Austerlitz, in 1812-1813. commanded the entire imperial guard. During the war of 1812, Konstantin tried to play a leading role in the military campaign, because of which he quarreled with the first commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Barclay de Tolly, and he had to leave the theater of operations. The Grand Duke was an ambitious man with a difficult character; as is the case with military leaders, he was distinguished by some rudeness and simplicity of character, but his natural intelligence, courage and directness, comradely attitude towards his colleagues made him popular among the troops. Many military officials and ordinary officers wanted to see him after the death of Alexander I on the imperial throne, and the romantic second marriage of the Grand Duke did not seem to them a serious obstacle to this. But the imperial family, represented by Alexander himself and Empress Mother Maria Feodorovna, after Konstantin's divorce, relied on another heir - Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich.

Nikolai Pavlovich (1796-1855) was the third son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna. He was born on June 25, 1796, a few months before the death of his great grandmother, Empress Catherine II. Neither she nor Father Paul I had time to exert any influence on his upbringing. In early childhood, he was in the care of a nanny - Scotswoman Evgenia Vasilievna Layon, then governesses Charlotte Karlovna Lieven and Yulia Fedorovna Adlerberg took care of him. Count Matvey Ivanovich Lamsdorf was engaged in the education of the grown-up Grand Duke.

The male offspring of Paul I was extremely strong and handsome. The boys inherited the appearance of their mother - a tall, attractive, healthy German woman. But even as a baby, Nikolai stood out even among his brothers. Immediately after his birth, Catherine II told her close associates: “I am the grandmother of the third grandson, who, judging by his extraordinary strength, seems to me destined to reign, despite the fact that he has two older brothers.” Forty years later, many will remember these words of hers, which turned out to be prophetic.

Emperor Paul I was strict with his older sons Alexander and Konstantin, brought up by his grandmother, and constantly suspected them of treason, and on the contrary, he spoiled his younger children, especially Nicholas, and loved to mess with them. One of his daughters, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna, already being Queen of the Netherlands, recalled: “My father liked to surround himself with his younger children and forced us, Nikolai, Mikhail and me, to come to his room to play while he was combed, in the only free the moment he had. This was especially the case in the latter part of his life. He was gentle and so kind to us that we loved going to him. He said that he was alienated from his older children, taken from him from birth, but that he wanted to surround himself with younger ones in order to get to know them.

The historian N.K. Schilder, a biographer of Nikolai, included in his book a story that in last hours of his life, on the evening of March 11, 1801, Paul I went into the rooms of his little son to say goodbye to him before going to bed. The kid, who was only five years old, suddenly turned to his father with a question why they call him Pavel the First. The emperor replied that before him there was no sovereign in Russia with that name, and therefore he was the first. “Then they will call me Nicholas the First,” the little Grand Duke reasoned. “If you take the throne,” Paul remarked, then hugged and kissed his son and quickly left his room, deep in thought.

Of course, a four-year-old kid did not understand that he could become an emperor only under an unusual set of circumstances, and could not assume that this would happen to him. While he was a child and teenager, no one thought about such a prospect. After the murder of his father, his mother and older brother, who predicted a military career for him, were engaged in his upbringing and education. In the educational program compiled for him, a significant place was given to the sciences and skills necessary for the future commander of one of the guards regiments - this was the purpose of the grand dukes who did not have the status of crown prince - heir to the throne. A “real colonel” does not need complicated sciences and subtle arts, the main thing is military training and good health. Grand Duke Nicholas was brought up in a Spartan environment, close to the conditions of life of an officer in a military camp. Until the end of his life, he preferred to sleep on a narrow and hard camp bed, which he considered the most comfortable and suitable bed for himself. In addition to military affairs, Nikolai Pavlovich was fond of history. Here on it big influence provided by one of the teachers and educators - the outstanding Russian historian and writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. Emperor Nicholas I retained interest in the past of Russia and love for everything Russian for the rest of his life.

In his youth, Nikolai Pavlovich treated his military duty very responsibly. When the Patriotic War of 1812 began, he was only 16 years old, and his younger brother Mikhail was 15. Many noble youths at this age had already been drafted into the army as junior officers, and many of them died on the Borodino field. The young grand dukes were also eager to fight Napoleon, but were resolutely refused by their mother and elder brother, the emperor. In 1814, Nicholas managed to obtain permission from Alexander I to participate in the foreign campaign of the Russian army. But, to his deep disappointment, by the time he arrived in France, Paris had already been taken. Nicholas never managed to acquire the glory of a brave warrior, and this was one of the reasons for the hidden hostility that he felt for his older brother Constantine, who fought with the French.

During the foreign campaign of the Russian army, seventeen-year-old Nikolai Pavlovich was not lucky in performing heroic deeds, but he was lucky in love. Leaving for the theater of operations, he did not yet know that his elder brother, Emperor Alexander I, after the Battle of Leipzig, which returned power over the German lands to the Prussian royal house, conspired with King Frederick William III to seal the military alliance with family ties. Alexander wanted to marry his brother Nicholas to the eldest daughter of King Frederick and the recently deceased Queen Louise, the sixteen-year-old Princess Friederike-Louise-Charlotte-Wilhelmine.

In January 1814 the royal family returned from Stuttgart, where they had experienced a military storm, to Berlin. Soon, Empress Maria Feodorovna drove into the Prussian capital on the way to Karlsruhe to look at her future daughter-in-law, and was pleased with the acquaintance. After some time, Grand Dukes Nikolai and Mikhail arrived there, on their way to Paris, to the main apartment of the Russian army. They spent only one day in Berlin. This was enough for Nikolai to fall in love with Charlotte, not yet knowing that she was destined for his bride. The Grand Dukes paid a visit to the Prussian princes and princesses (the king had four sons and three daughters), then, together with the older ones, attended a gala dinner in the palace and listened to opera in the theater. Nikolai did not take his eyes off the pretty, slender and graceful Charlotte, and she was completely fascinated by the stately, broad-shouldered young man in a military uniform, who seemed to her unusually courageous and mature.

Having met Alexander in France, Nikolai could not hide his delight from meeting with the German princess, and his elder brother's favorable attitude towards this strengthened his feelings even more. Soon he confessed that he was in love with Charlotte, and her father, the Prussian king. Both sovereigns were very pleased with this turn of affairs: it meant that there would be no obstacles for the conclusion of a dynastic marriage on the part of young people. Before leaving for Austria for the Congress of Vienna, Friedrich Wilhelm ordered the chief chamberlain of the royal court, Countess Fose, to inform Princess Charlotte that her father would like to marry her to the Russian Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich. The princess did not mind, only modestly remarked that she would be sorry to part with her beloved parent. In a letter written immediately after this to her elder brother Prince Wilhelm, she admitted that she was happy with this choice of her father, since she liked Nikolai, whom she had only seen once.

Political differences between Russia and Prussia that arose during Congress of Vienna, did not interfere with the implementation of matrimonial plans. King Friedrich Wilhelm and Emperor Alexander sympathized with each other and were not averse to intermarry. In the autumn of 1815, when the Russian troops returned to their homeland, Alexander, together with Nikolai and two sisters - the Dowager Princess of Oldenburg Ekaterina Pavlovna and the Duchess of Saxe-Weimar Maria Pavlovna - drove to Berlin. Here the Prussian king arranged a solemn meeting for the Russian grenadier regiment, of which he was the honorary chief. On October 23, a big dinner was given in the royal castle on this occasion. It officially announced the engagement of Nicholas and Charlotte.

Convinced that nothing threatened the future family relations of the two dynasties, both parties did not rush into the wedding, waiting for the bride and groom to come of age. Nikolai Pavlovich had to complete his education by traveling around Europe, and Princess Charlotte had to prepare for the adoption of Orthodoxy, for which her spiritual mentor, Archpriest Muzovsky, went to Berlin to see her.

On May 31, 1817, the princess, her brother Prince Wilhelm and their retinue in twelve carriages left Berlin for Russia via Danzig (Gdansk) and Koenigsberg (now Kaliningrad). Grand Duke Nikolai met the bride in Memel. Together they arrived in Gatchina, where Emperor Alexander I was waiting for them, and from there, through Tsarskoe Selo, they went to Pavlovsk, the summer residence of Empress Mother Maria Feodorovna.

The solemn entry of the Prussian princess to St. Petersburg took place on June 19. Charlotte rode in a gilded carriage, accompanied by two empresses - the mother and wife of Alexander I. Guards regiments stood in tapestries along the road. Near the Winter Palace, the bride of the Grand Duke was met by dignitaries and clergy. On June 24, Charlotte converted to Orthodoxy in the large palace church. Those present were surprised at how clearly this little German woman pronounced the text of the Creed in Church Slavonic. On this day, she received a new name and title, becoming Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna.

Her betrothal to Nikolai Pavlovich took place on June 25, the birthday of the Grand Duke, who thus had a double holiday. Alexandra Fyodorovna was dressed in a luxurious Russian-style historical costume tailored especially for the occasion, and her head was decorated with a kokoshnik.

The wedding of the grand-ducal couple took place on July 1 in St. Petersburg. The entire imperial family gathered in the Winter Palace, including Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich, who had specially arrived from Warsaw for the wedding of his younger brother. In the evening of the same day, a festive dinner and a ball were given in the palace, at which, in addition to the courtiers, military and civil ranks of the three highest classes of the Table of Ranks were present. On behalf of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, the Prussian Ambassador Extraordinary Prince Anton Radziwill congratulated the young people.

Emperor Alexander I presented the young Anichkov Palace in St. Petersburg. But the grand ducal couple settled in it closer to winter, and all summer the young court roamed around the suburban royal residences. In Tsarskoye Selo, Strelna, Peterhof, Oranienbaum, holidays, balls and masquerades were arranged for Nikolai and Alexandra. All this time, the Prussian prince Wilhelm was next to her sister.

April 17, 1818 Alexandra Fedorovna gave birth to her first child - Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich(future Emperor Alexander II). The happy grandfather, King Friedrich Wilhelm III, wished to see his grandson personally, and at the same time to communicate with his friend, Emperor Alexander I. Taking with him his eldest sons, the heir of Friedrich Wilhelm and Karl, he went to Moscow, where at that time the entire imperial court was located. At the border, the Prussian royal family was met by Adjutant General Prince V.S. Trubetskoy, and in Orsha by the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Army, Baron I.I. Dibich. Emperor Alexander I himself, with Tsarevich Konstantin and the Grand Dukes Nicholas and Michael, met the Prussians twenty kilometers from the old Russian capital and accompanied them further.

On June 4, under the thunder of a gun salute and the bells, the Prussian king and his sons entered Moscow. In the first three days, distinguished guests were offered a “cultural program”, which is still usually entertained by eminent guests: a tour of the Kremlin, ancient monasteries and other sights, and in the evenings - relaxation in a narrow family circle, unhurried dinners with the emperor and empresses, the crown prince and grand dukes . Then came the turn of the Moscow aristocrats to invite the king to their place. Friedrich was shocked by the luxury of the balls that the Moscow Governor-General gave in his honor. Prince N. B. Yusupov received the guests at his Arkhangelsk estate, and D. N. Sheremetev at Ostankino. These estates near Moscow, their palaces and parks were not much inferior to the royal residences near St. Petersburg and were famous for their serf theaters.

Having become acquainted with the beauties of Moscow and its environs, the Prussian king wished to inspect the ruins left after the fire during the invasion of Napoleon. Accompanying the royal family, the young Count P. D. Kiselev took the guests to the Pashkov tower, from where a view of entire streets, destroyed by fire and not yet restored, opened. To his surprise, old Friedrich Wilhelm, nicknamed the “wooden man” for his firmness and rigidity of character, suddenly knelt down and ordered his sons to do the same. He bowed several times to the burnt Moscow and said with tears in his eyes: “Here is our savior! »

After two weeks in the old capital, the royal family went to St. Petersburg, where they were again awaited by excursions, receptions, balls, hunts and parades, visits to suburban imperial palaces. Friedrich and his sons were very pleased with the trip and were completely delighted with the hospitality of their Russian relatives and the luxury of life of the imperial court and the local aristocracy.

In 1820, Nikolai Pavlovich and Alexandra Fedorovna went to Prussia on a return visit. There was another, rather prosaic reason for this: in the harsh Russian climate, the Grand Duchess began to get sick often, and the doctors advised her to spend the winter in her homeland - in Berlin. While she was staying at her parents' castle, Nikolai Pavlovich traveled to Troppau for a political congress, where the sovereigns of all European countries, including the Russian emperor, gathered. Alexander I himself invited him there, since that time he had already considered Nicholas as his most likely heir.

In the event that Nicholas, like Constantine, for some reason could not inherit the throne, there would still be Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich (1798-1848). Destined for military service from birth, Mikhail had the rank of Feldzeugmeister General. In 1819, he already managed the artillery department, and from 1831 he became the chief commander of all cadet corps, commanded the guards corps during the war with the Turks in 1826-1828. and during the suppression of the Polish uprising in 1830-1831. His marriage to the German princess, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna in Orthodoxy, concluded in 1824, turned out to be quite prosperous. His wife bore him five daughters, and Mikhail lived happily surrounded by his beloved women.

Emperor Alexander I also had six sisters. Four of them survived until the time of his reign and played a prominent role at court. He developed a particularly close relationship with Ekaterina Pavlovna (1788-1819). Her birth nearly cost the life of their mother, Maria Fedorovna, who had previously given birth to children surprisingly easily. The mother and child were miraculously saved by the court obstetrician Dr. Assofeir, whom Catherine II ordered to save the life of her daughter-in-law at all costs. Grateful Pavel and Maria named their daughter in honor of the grandmother-empress. From her she inherited a lively mind, curiosity, a taste for politics.

In 1809, Catherine was married to Prince Georg of Oldenburg, who did not have his own court. Emperor Alexander I did not want his beloved sister to be abroad with her husband's influential relatives, and settled the young couple in Tver. Prince George died in 1812, and Ekaterina Pavlovna, being a widow, lived at the court of her older brother, traveled abroad with him, and took an active part in the Congress of Vienna, which determined the fate of Europe after the wars with Napoleon. In 1816, she remarried the Prince of Württemberg, who later became king. Her sons from her first marriage - the Dukes of Oldenburg and their descendants played a prominent role in the life of the Romanov family, being the closest relatives of the imperial house.

With the exception of Catherine Pavlovna, the emperor had no close friends within his own family. The death of his sister in 1819 made him lonely. With the former comrades who surrounded Alexander in his youth, he was parted in different directions by politics. Alexander I was not happy either in the family, or in the immediate environment, or on the imperial throne. The historian V. O. Klyuchevsky gave a very accurate and figurative description of his personality: “After Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Emperor Alexander [made] the most pleasant impression, aroused sympathy for himself with his personal qualities; it was a luxurious, but only a greenhouse flower, which did not have time or did not know how to acclimatize on Russian soil. It grew and bloomed luxuriously while the weather was good, but as the northern storms blew, as our Russian autumn bad weather came, it wilted and sank.

The royal crown did not bring Alexander any joy. Even before ascending the throne, he dreamed about the fate of a private person and almost all the time of his reign was burdened by power - it was not proportionate to him. The death of his beloved sister Catherine only exacerbated the state of the psychological crisis in which the emperor remained after the end of the war with Napoleon, when the main foreign policy tasks were completed, but the internal ones were not solved in any way.

Dissatisfaction with the conservative policy pursued by Arakcheev on behalf of Alexander grew among his subjects. From 1816, secret societies began to be created. This soon became known to the emperor, but he was in no hurry to take drastic measures to eliminate them. At this time, he was more interested in intra-family affairs and internal problems of his own personality.

Alexander during these years traveled a lot in his empire. Its boundless expanses and the disorder reigning on them, economic trouble and the disorder of life of the majority of the population gave rise in his soul to gloomy despair and a feeling of fatigue and emptiness, the impossibility and his own inability to change anything. Being in Kyiv in September 1817, during a dinner with the governor, he declared: “When someone has the honor to be at the head of a people like ours, he must, in a moment of danger, be the first to meet her. He should remain at his post only as long as his physical strength allows him to do so. After this period, he must leave.<...>As for me, I still feel good, but in 10 or 15 years, when I will be 50 years old ... "So Alexander turned out to be the first of the Russian sovereigns who spoke about a possible" retirement, while still quite young age, although the laws of the empire did not provide for such a “deserved rest”.

One of the main concerns of the last decade of the emperor's life was the solution of the problem of the transfer of the throne. None of the emperors thought about it so early, which, according to the historian A. N. Sakharov, confirms the desire of Alexander I to leave the throne.

In 1819, during a dinner that took place after a military review near Krasnoye Selo, the emperor unexpectedly started a conversation with his brother, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, which surprised him and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. Alexander again spoke about the need for the sovereign to be physically healthy and strong, and complained of a breakdown. Speaking about the prospects of the dynasty, he noted that neither he nor Konstantin had male children, and Nicholas had recently had a son, and in conclusion he told the confused spouses: “So, you should know what the imperial dignity awaits you in the future” .

In the future, Alexander repeatedly resumed conversations with Nicholas on this topic, accustoming his younger brother to the thought of the imperial crown. At the same time, there was not a particularly warm relationship between them. Nikolai always treated his brother-emperor with emphatic reverence, calling him an "angel" in his letters, but the difference in age and character prevented their kindred and friendly rapprochement. What, then, made Alexander prefer Nicholas to the closest of the brothers, a friend of his youth - Constantine?

In 1819, the emperor visited Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich in Warsaw and there, to his displeasure, he was convinced that his brother did not value his status of heir to the throne at all and intended to marry his beloved, the Polish beauty Zhanna Grudzinskaya. Their offspring would have no legal claim to the imperial throne. Perhaps Alexander even experienced a feeling of envy for his brother, who so openly strove for personal happiness, which was dearer to him than the crown.

The emperor tried once again to influence Konstantin, seducing him with power, when he went to see him off to the outskirts of Warsaw. Alexander told his brother: “... I want to dictate (abdicate the throne. – L.S.); I am tired and unable to endure the burden of the government, I warn you so that you think what you will need to do in this case ... When the time comes to dictate, I will let you know, and you write my thoughts to my mother. . However, Konstantin had already made his choice. Love was dearer to him than all the crowns in the world. He adored his Jeanne, he liked cozy Warsaw, and he was not going to return to St. Petersburg to his disgusted wife and take on the burdensome duties of the emperor. Alexander understood everything, and his further behavior is dictated by this disappointing knowledge.

Soon Alexander issued a secret manifesto, which stated: “If any person from the imperial family enters into a marriage alliance with a person who does not have the appropriate dignity, that is, does not belong to any reigning or sovereign house, in this case, the person of the imperial family cannot inform other rights belonging to members of the imperial family, and children born from such a union do not have the right to inherit the throne. No names were mentioned in the manifesto, but everyone who became aware of its text understood that it meant Tsarevich Konstantin, his morganatic wife Jeanne and their children. Nikolai Pavlovich was not declared heir, but the rumor about the manifesto, which quickly spread throughout the empire, made him such in the eyes of the court and secular society. Already in the autumn of 1820, the grand ducal couple was greeted in Berlin as Russian heirs. In Warsaw, where Nicholas and his wife stopped on their way back from Europe, Konstantin met them with great honors, which were not due to the younger relatives of the emperor and the crown prince. All this put the imperial family, and especially Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, in an awkward position. The Romanovs did not know how to properly behave with each other: a dynasty cannot have two heirs at once.

The situation was defused by Tsarevich Konstantin. On January 14, 1822, he gave his brother-emperor a letter in which he officially renounced his rights to the throne, including for reasons of personal disinclination and inability to reign. Alexander, who was waiting for this, nevertheless did not immediately decide to satisfy the request of the crown prince, since there were no such precedents in the history of the dynasty. Only two weeks later, after consultations with the mother empress, he gave his consent to Constantine's voluntary renunciation of the rights of succession to the throne.

Whether Nikolai knew about this intra-family correspondence remains unknown. In 1823, Alexander signed a manifesto appointing him heir. But this document has not been made public either. Its first copy was hidden in the sacristy of the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow, and sealed copies were sent to the State Council, the Senate and the Synod. Officials could open these envelopes only by special order of the emperor or in the event of his death. Apart from Alexander I, only three people in the whole empire knew about the contents of the manifesto: the Moscow Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov), Prince A.N. Golitsyn and A.A. Arakcheev. They all vowed to be silent "until the due time". Court and society, as well as most of the imperial family, remained in the dark about the change of heir.

Alexander I spent the whole of 1824 and the first half of 1825 in doubts about his possible abdication. He was approaching the age that he himself, in a conversation with Nicholas and his wife, defined as the limit for staying on the throne. In December 1824, Alexander turned 47 years old. He constantly starts talking with people close to him about his desire to "throw off the burden of the crown" and live a private life. Later, the wife of Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, will recall how Alexander once told him and her husband: “How happy I will be when I see you passing by me, and I, lost in the crowd, will shout cheers to you.” That is, the emperor no longer thought of himself not only on the throne, but in general in power, in high society. He longed for complete obscurity, which alone could give him a sense of personal freedom. But was such freedom possible for a man destined from birth to wear purple? Or could only death free him from the obligation to wear the imperial mantle? It was she who made possible the real abdication of Alexander I.

In September 1825, the emperor went to Taganrog, a resort town on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov, where a little earlier the court doctors advised the empress to go to recuperate. Her health suffered in cold, damp Petersburg. Witnesses of Alexander's departure later recalled that his behavior looked somewhat strange: leaving for the south for a couple of months, he said goodbye to his native places as if he were leaving them forever. The emperor went to Pavlovsk to his mother and walked there for a long time in the garden, visited the Rose Pavilion, where celebrations were held on the occasion of his return from France after the victory over Napoleon. Before leaving the capital, he stopped at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where he stood at the graves of his daughters. The emperor left Petersburg alone, almost without guards. Near the outpost, he asked the coachman to stop the carriage, and in thought for quite a long time he admired the sleeping city, as if wishing to keep the memories of him in his heart.

Alexander did not stay long in Taganrog. After making sure that the Empress was properly arranged and receiving the necessary treatment and rest, he went on an inspection trip to the Crimea to visit the naval base of Sevastopol and other cities. Oreanda made a particularly pleasant impression on him. Accompanying the emperor, Prince P. M. Volkonsky, he said: “I will soon move to the Crimea and will live as a private person. I served 25 years, and the soldier is retired during this period.

During his autumn trip to the Crimean cities, Alexander caught a cold and developed a fever. The emperor's strength was quickly fading, all the efforts of the doctors to put him on his feet were in vain. The body of Alexander, who was supposed to be only 48 years old in a month, did not seem to want to resist the disease. November 19, 1825 Alexander I died. Prince Peter Volkonsky, who was present at his death, wrote: “The Emperor no longer came out of a coma and breathed his last breath at 10 hours 47 minutes. The Empress herself closed his eyes and, bandaging his jaw with a handkerchief, retired to her room.

It would seem that there was nothing unusual in this death: earlier in Russia, tsars and emperors died before reaching old age, or even quite young. But it is precisely with the death of Alexander I that one of the strangest and most mysterious stories the Romanov family.

The death of the emperor was confirmed by the testimony of eyewitnesses who knew the king well and were part of his inner circle. As soon as the fact of his death was established by doctors, a special document was drawn up, which was signed by the doctors who treated Alexander, Prince Volkonsky and Baron Dibich. The next day, an autopsy was performed on the emperor's body. Judging by the protocol, no serious illnesses were found in Alexander I, with the exception of damage to some cerebral vessels, which is quite normal for a person of his age and lifestyle. The autopsy report was signed by nine doctors and Adjutant General Chernyshev.

As already noted, until the last breath of Alexander, the empress was next to him. Even before the body was sent to St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Alekseevna wrote a letter to her mother: “Our angel is in heaven, and I am on earth. Of all those who mourn him, I am the most unhappy. Oh, if only I could connect with him! I am like in a dream, I can neither imagine nor understand why I exist. Here's a strand of his hair, dear mother. Alas! Why did he suffer so? Now on his face is a peaceful, benevolent expression, which he always had ... Why did I have to see how this angelic creature emits its last breath, which, having already lost the ability to understand something, could still love.

But for some contemporaries, the death of the emperor for some reason seemed suspicious. The emperor's body, embalmed and dressed in a general's uniform with orders, was still lying in Taganrog, and rumors, one more fantastic than the other, had already begun to spread throughout Russia.

Alexander was distinguished by excellent health and was never seriously ill. This is probably why a version soon appeared that he was killed by his close associates. Indeed, in the last years of his life at court, they began to notice the growing suspicion of the emperor. He often retired, closing himself in his chambers, several times refused to take medicine for minor ailments, which were offered to him by court physicians. Alexander knew about the existence of secret societies and conspirators in St. Petersburg, but their conspiracy was directed not so much against him personally, but against the system of power as a whole. The emperor could also be afraid of his younger brother-heir Nikolai Pavlovich, who, if Alexander had not died at the age of 48, would have to wait a long time to ascend the throne. But no reliable facts that would confirm the intrigues of Nicholas against his older brother have been preserved.

The second rumor was related to the fact that the doctors who examined the body of Alexander, who had not received any injuries and did not fall from anywhere before his death, allegedly found extensive hematomas on his back and buttocks. In addition, the death of the emperor in a strange way coincided with the simultaneous death of two people who looked unusually similar to him. The non-commissioned officer of the Semenovsky regiment, Strumensky, died without being punished with gauntlets for participating in the uprising. And on November 3, the imperial courier Maskov, who was following the tsar’s carriage in his carriage, got into a road accident (due to duty, this person was almost always with the sovereign’s person in order to carry out urgent postal communication with the capital). The courier's carriage stumbled upon something, and Maskov, who fell out of it onto the pavement, broke his spine. In the family of his descendants, until the very revolution, a legend was preserved that instead of Alexander, an unfortunate courier was put in a coffin in Taganrog, like two drops of water similar to his master.

If either Maskov or Strumensky ended up in the imperial coffin, then where did the emperor himself go? Witnesses who saw Alexander alive were quickly found. One of the sentries guarding the house in Taganrog, where the tsar and tsarina rested, allegedly noticed on November 18 (that is, the day before the death of the emperor) how the sovereign secretly made his way along the wall, apparently in order to quietly leave the estate. Someone claimed to have seen the king get into the boat and sail into the sea.

The authorities did their best to stop these rumors, but at the same time fueled them with their actions. While the emperor was being taken to Moscow and St. Petersburg, for some reason the coffin with his body was opened several times and confirmed that the deceased was really Alexander. Unrest began among the population. In Tula, through which the funeral cortege passed, factory workers demanded to be shown the late tsar. Troops were sent to Moscow, where the coffin first arrived. The body of the emperor was laid in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin - the ancient royal tomb. Nobody was allowed to see him, they were not allowed to say goodbye. The Kremlin was guarded by an infantry regiment and a cavalry brigade. At night, the Kremlin gates were locked, and loaded artillery pieces were placed near them.

When the coffin was brought to the capital, at night, secretly in Tsarskoye Selo, they collected all royal family. There the lid was lifted for the last time. Empress-mother Maria Fedorovna supposedly recognized her son, but was surprised at how thin and blackened his face was. There was no parting of the people and courtiers with the emperor in St. Petersburg either. The closed coffin was placed in the imperial tomb in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

The death of the Dowager Empress Elizabeth Feodorovna also seemed strange to some contemporaries and descendants. She did not go to the capital to fetch her husband's coffin, but remained in Taganrog, probably at the insistence of the doctors. Elizabeth renounced any claims to power and expressed a desire to hold last days your life in peace and solitude. Having lived the winter at sea, in the spring she nevertheless decided to visit St. Petersburg, but fell ill on the road and died in Belev on May 4, 1826, having outlived her husband by only a few months.

The events associated with the accession to the throne of Nicholas I and the Decembrist uprising that accompanied it, for a while pushed the rumors about Alexander I into the background. However, in the 30-40s. 19th century talk about his fate revived again. This was due to news coming from distant Siberia about a certain old man Fyodor Kuzmich.

According to oral tradition, in 1836, 10 years after the death of Emperor Alexander I, a mysterious rider on a white horse rode up to the house of a merchant who lived in a small village in the Perm province. Despite modest clothes, a beard and gray hair, he was very similar to the former emperor, whose appearance the merchant knew well from portraits that hung in government places in all county and provincial cities: tall, with a noble posture, with regular features and soft, white skin, with blue eyes. The rider called himself Fyodor Kuzmich.