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Princess Anna Leopoldovna: a brief biography and years of government

The fate of this woman is extremely tragic. The granddaughter of the Russian Tsar Ivan V, Anna Leopoldovna only for a short moment turned out to be the ruler of the greatest state in the world - Russia. She passed away when she was only twenty-seven years old, and the last thing her eyes saw was the narrow window of someone else's house that had become a prison for her, and the scarcely visible band of the inhospitable northern sky, due to the clouds. This was the result of the palace coup, as a result of which the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth Petrovna, ascended the throne.

The young heiress of John V

Before you start talking about who Anna Leopoldovna is in Russian history, you should clarify what she had to do with the Romanovs' house. It turns out that the most direct. It is known that from 1682 to 1696 on the Russian throne two sovereigns sat at once - Peter I and his own brother John V, who had five daughters: Mary, Theodosius, Catherine, Praskovia and Anna. The latter will be in 1730 by the empress and will reign for ten years. Another daughter of John V, Catherine, is the mother of the heroine of our story - the future ruler, the regent Anne Leopoldovna, who, thus, was a full representative of the Romanovs who ruled the house. Consequently, her son Ivan had all rights to the throne.

Anna Leopoldovna was born on December 18, 1718 in the small German town of Rostock. Her father was Karl Leopold Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and as a mother, as mentioned above, the daughter of the Russian Tsar John V, Princess Ekaterina Ioannovna. In Russia, the future ruler came when she was four years old, here she adopted Orthodoxy. Her mother was the favorite niece of Empress Anna Ioannovna who ruled in those years, and she showed concern for her upbringing, instructing him to one of the most prominent figures of the Academy of Sciences - Kondraty Ivanovich Genninger. Since 1731, he began to study, but they lasted only four years, since in 1735 there was a romantic story that put an end to his career.

Maiden love and forced marriage

The new emissary of Saxony, Count Moritz Karl Linar, arrived in the capital of the empire. This exquisite European handsome was at that time thirty-three years old, and the young princess Anna Leopoldovna fell in love with him without a memory. Her mentor Kondraty Ivanovich was in the know of affairs and in every way contributed to the development of the novel. Soon there were rumors about a possible wedding. But the trouble is that Anna already had an official groom - Duke Anton Ulrich, whom the Empress herself chose for her, guided by public interests. Learning about the willfulness of a young niece, the Russian autocrat was angry and sent a deceiving envoy out of Russia, and dismissed Kondraty Ivanovich as an intriguer. However, the novel did not end there, but this will be discussed further.

Four years after the events described, the wedding of Anna Leopoldovna took place with her fiancé so unloved by her - Anton Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig-Luneburg. Celebrations dedicated to this event were characterized by extraordinary splendor and passed with a huge crowd of people. During the wedding, the parting word was given by Archbishop Amvrosy (Yushkevich) - a man who was destined to play a crucial role in the religious and political life of the country during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. A year later the young couple had a son, who was called by Ivan at baptism.

End of the reign of Anna Ioannovna

It was 1740 year. In Russian history, he was marked by a number of important events, chief among them was the death of Empress Anna Ioannovna, which came on October 17 (28). In her will, she declared the newborn son of Anna Leopoldovna Ivan the heir to the throne, and appointed his favorite Ernst Johann Biron as regent. Upon reaching the appropriate age, the young heir should become the Russian Autocrat John VI.

It should be noted that, being the daughter of Tsar John V, the deceased Empress passionately hated his brother Peter I and resisted in every way that one of his descendants took possession of the throne. For this reason, she stated in her will that in case of death of the named heir the right to the crown passes to the next child of her beloved niece, Anna Leopoldovna. Regarding the candidacy for the post of regent under the young emperor, she had no doubts. They had to become her longtime favorite - Biron.

But fate was pleased to dispose of differently. Literally from the first days of his reign, he faced a stiff opposition grouped around the parents of a minor heir. Was even plotted the overthrow of this unpopular in the people of the provisional. At the head of the attackers was the husband of Anna Leopoldovna - Anton Ulrich. However, they were bad conspirators, and soon their intentions became known to the head of the secret chancery AI Ushakov. This was a master craftsmanship turned out to be a very perspicacious person, and, foreseeing a possible palace coup, limited himself to only formally "chiding" the conspirators.

The overthrown timepiece

However, Biron's rule was doomed. On the night of November 9, 1740, in the bedroom, where the regent and his wife were peacefully resting, the door opened abruptly. A group of military men, led by Field Marshal Christopher Minich, the sworn enemy of Biron and a supporter of Anna Leopoldovna, entered. The former omnipotent favorite, seeing the newcomers, realized that this was the end, and, not owning himself with fear, climbed under the bed, confident that he would be killed. However, he was mistaken. The Regent was put in a sled and taken to the guardhouse.

Soon the court followed, in which Biron was accused of various crimes. Of course, most of them were invented. The verdict fully corresponded to the spirit of that time - quartering. However, when the poor man was brought to his senses, he heard that he had been granted a pardon, and the execution was replaced by a reference to Pelym, which was three thousand versts from Petersburg. But in the reign of Empress Elizabeth the merciful empress transferred him to Yaroslavl, and eventually Peter III summoned Biron to the capital, returned all the orders and insignia to him. A few years later, Catherine II restored the former regent in the rights to the once owned Kurland duchy.

The coming to power and the appearance of a dangerous favorite

So, the hated temporary was expelled from the palace, and the state government passed into the hands of the mother of the heir to the throne. Anna Leopoldovna became the regent. The Romanovs, leading their race along the line of Tsar John V, temporarily ended up on top of the state power of Russia. At the very beginning of the next 1741, a joyous event happened in the life of a young woman: a newly appointed Saxon ambassador, Karl Linar, arrived in St. Petersburg, her former and not-yet-fallen love. Immediately accepted by Anna Leopoldovna, he immediately became her favorite.

Since the ruler was married, then in their relations they had to observe certain decorum. Settled Linar in a house near the Summer Garden, where Anna lived at the Summer Palace. To provide a sufficient excuse for his presence in the palace, she appointed a lover as a chamberlain. Soon the highest mercy spread to the point that the favorite was awarded two highest Russian orders - Andrew the First-Called and Alexander Nevsky. For what services he received them, the courtiers could only guess.

However, soon Anna Leopoldovna allowed her lover to intervene in serious state affairs and did not take any decisions without consulting him. With her connivance, Linar became a key figure in the struggle of court parties, eager to draw Russia into the war for the Austrian inheritance. In those years, a number of European states tried to declare illegitimate the will of the Austrian Emperor Charles VI, to seize the property of the Habsburg home in Europe. This behavior of the Saxon ambassador aroused discontent among the higher dignitaries, who feared the appearance in his person of the new Biron.

Separation from Linar

In order to somehow disguise the scandalous communication, Anna Leopoldovna (the Empress, after all) had to go to tricks, which, however, no one could be misled. So, for example, in the summer of 1741 she betrothed Linar with her chamber-maid of honor and her closest friend Baroness Juliana Mengden. But, becoming a bridegroom, he, nevertheless, could not officially enter the Russian service, as he remained a subject of Saxony. To obtain the necessary permission, in November of the same year Linar left for Dresden.

Before leaving, he, like a visionary man, warned Anna Leopoldovna about a possible attempt to seize power by supporters of Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth Petrovna. However, he was going to return soon and take everything under his control. Parting, they did not know that they were saying goodbye forever. When, having received the desired permission from the government of Saxony, Linar returned to St. Petersburg in November of the same year, news of the arrest of Anna Leopoldovna and the accession to the throne of Elizabeth Petrovna awaited him in Koenigsberg. Justified his worst fears ...

The daughter of Peter at the head of the Guard

The palace revolution took place on the night of November 25 (December 6) in 1741. At that time the main political force was the guard created by Peter the Great. Capable of erecting and overthrowing the throne, it already felt its power in February 1725. Then the widow of Peter I, Empress Catherine I, came to power on her bayonets. Now, using the fact that Anna Leopoldovna, whose rule caused general discontent, underestimated the strength of the Guards, Elizabeth managed to win over to her side the Preobrazhensky regiment, which was in St. Petersburg .

In that fatal day for the Russian ruler, 31-year-old beauty Elizabeth Petrovna, accompanied by three hundred and eight grenadiers appeared in the Winter Palace. Meeting no resistance, they reached the bedroom, where Anna Leopoldovna and her husband were peacefully resting. To death a frightened regent was announced her deposition and arrest. Witnesses of this scene later told that Elizabeth, having picked up the one who was in the same room and awakened from the sudden noise of the one-year-old heir to the throne, whispered softly: "A miserable child." She knew what she was saying.

The Godfather of yesterday's ruler

So, the Braunschweig family was arrested, including Anna Leopoldovna. Empress Elizabeth was not a cruel person. It is known that at first she planned to send her captives to Europe and so confine herself - at least, it was said in the manifesto, by which she declared herself empress. The unsuccessful queen Anna Leopoldovna and her family were temporarily sent to the Riga Castle, where she spent a year waiting for the promised freedom. But suddenly the plans of the new mistress of the Winter Palace changed. The thing is that a conspiracy was opened in St. Petersburg, the purpose of which was the overthrow of Elizabeth and the liberation of the legitimate heir of Ivan Antonovich.

It became obvious that the Braunschweig family would continue to be a banner for all sorts of conspirators, thus representing a certain danger. The fate of Anna Leopoldovna was solved. In 1742 the prisoners were transferred to the fortress of Dunamunde (not far from Riga), and two years later to the Renenburg fortress, which was in the Ryazan province. But here they did not stay long. A few months later came the highest decree to lead them to Arkhangelsk for further confinement in the Solovetsky Monastery. In the autumn mudslides, in torrential rains, Anna Leopoldovna and her unhappy family were sent to the north.

But that year early frosts and ice hummocks excluded any possibility of crossing to Solovki. The prisoners were placed in Kholmogory, in the house of the local bishop, and vigilantly guarded, excluding any possibility of communication with the outside world. Here they forever said goodbye to their son-heir. Ivan Antonovich was isolated from them and placed in another part of the building, and later the parents had no news about him. For the greater conspiracy of the young ex-emperor was ordered to call a fictitious name Grigory.

Death and belated honors

The last years, full of grief and toil, have undermined the health of a young woman. The former regent and sovereign ruler of Russia died in imprisonment on March 8 (19), 1746. The official cause of death was the maternity fever, or, as they said in the old days, "fire". Being under arrest, but not separated from her husband, Anna gave birth four times to children, information about which was not preserved.

However, the story of Anna Leopoldovna did not end there. Her body was transported to the capital and devoted to the ground in the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra with great solemnity. The funeral took place according to all the rules prescribed by the rules of burial of persons belonging to the reigning house. Since then, Anna Leopoldovna is also mentioned in the official lists of the rulers of the Russian state. The Romanovs were always jealous of honoring the memory of members of their family, even those whose deaths were themselves implicated.

The Iron Mask of Russian History

Especially tragic was the fate of Ivan - the heir to the throne, which was produced by Anna Leopoldovna. His biography developed in such a way that gave rise to historians call it the Russian version of the "Iron Mask." Immediately after the seizure of power, Elizabeth undertook all sorts of actions to ensure that the name of the heir to the throne that she had overthrown was forgotten. From the circulation, coins with his image were seized, documents that mentioned his name were destroyed, and any memories of him were forbidden under pain of cruel punishment.

Elizaveta Petrovna, who seized power through a palace coup, feared the possibility of herself becoming a victim of another conspiracy. For this reason, in 1756, she ordered to deliver a fifteen-year-old prisoner to the Shlisselburg Fortress and keep the unfortunate in solitary confinement. There the young man was deprived even of his new name Gregory and was mentioned only as a "known prisoner". Strictly forbidden his contact with others. This requirement was so strictly observed that during all the years of imprisonment the prisoner did not see a single human face. Not surprisingly, over time, he showed signs of mental disorder.

The highest visit of a prisoner and the imminent death

When the new empress came to replace Elizabeth Petrovna, Catherine II, who also seized power with the support of the Guard, she, in order to give her government greater legitimacy, thought about the possibility of marriage with the lawful heir Ivan, who was in the fortress. To this end, she visited him in the Shlisselburg casemate. However, after seeing the degree of physical and mental degradation that Ivan reached during the years of solitary confinement, she realized that there could be no question of marriage with him. By the way, the empress noted that the prisoner is aware of his royal origin, that he is literate and wants to end his life in the monastery.

The reign of Catherine II was by no means cloudless, and during Ivan's stay in the fortress several attempts were made to coup with the goal of elevating him to the throne. To stop them, the empress ordered immediately to kill the prisoner, if there is a real threat of his release. And in 1764 such a situation developed. Another conspiracy arose in the ranks of the garrison of the fortress Shlisselburg itself. He was led by Second Lieutenant VY Mirovich. However, the internal protection of the casemates fulfilled their duty: Ivan Antonovich was stabbed with bayonets. Death interrupted his short and tragic life on July 5 (16), 1764.

Thus ended these lives of these offspring of the reigning Romanov family - the legitimate heir to the throne of John VI and his mother, Anna Leopoldovna, whose brief biography served as the topic of our conversation. Far from all rulers of Russia were destined to die a natural death. A ruthless, unrestrained struggle for power was sometimes poured into tragedy, like the one we were recalling. The years of Anna Leopoldovna's rule entered the history of Russia as part of a period called the "Epoch Times".

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