Peter the Great and Eudoxia
The greatest ruler Russia ever had was indeed ‘great’ in many ways, but he was a pretty lousy husband to his first wife. Their short-lived, youthful union was doomed from the very start and should probably never have been arranged. However, in 17th century Russia, political and dynastical considerations trumped any ideas of love and compatibility – so both the Tsar and his bride had to endure an unhappy nine years. Once the marriage was over, however, her unhappiness would only continue.
Peter the Great was born in 1675 and from the very start of his life, his family was on the lookout for a suitable match. His mother, Natalia Naryshkina, identified a young girl by the name of Eudoxia as ideal marriage material. So, at the age of just 16, Peter was wed, very much against his will. Unlike many royal unions, the groom’s unhappiness didn’t stem from a lack of physical attraction to his bride. Rather, he was actively contemptuous of her personality and, more importantly for this well-read polymath, of her mind.
It’s a wonder the marriage lasted as long as it did. While Peter was a scholar, Eudoxia was anything but. By all accounts, she was poorly-read, ignorant and generally stupid. What’s more, while Peter was diplomatic, his wife was naturally argumentative. Initially, their two personalities clashed. Within a couple of years, however, they were living entirely separate lives. Peter regularly took lovers, often in full sight of his wife. And, though they had three children together – though two would died in infancy – by 1696, Peter had had enough. He wanted out of the unhappy marriage.
Peter asked his advisors to find a way to ‘persuade’ Eudoxia to leave the royal court voluntarily. Eventually, two years later, she agreed and entered a monastery. Peter had the marriage dissolved. Before long, he wed again, this time to Catherine. Though he saw her as an equal and adored her, he was consistently unfaithful throughout their 23 years together, though Catherine accepted his ways. Peter the Great died in 1725. In 1727, Peter III came to the Russian throne. One of his first acts as Tsar was to free his grandmother, Eudoxia from her exile. The former unhappy wife was welcomed back to Moscow with great fanfare and lived in luxury for the remaining four years of her life.