Alexei of Russia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexei of Russia,
portrait by Christoph Bernhard Francke

Alexei Petrovich ( Russian Алексей Петрович ; * February 18 jul. / 28. February  1690 greg. In Moscow ; † June 26 jul. / 7. July  1718 greg. In Saint Petersburg ) was the eldest son of Peter I and its first wife Evdokija Lopukhina . He remained the Tsarevich ( Crown Prince ) of Russia until his death .

Life

Alexei and his father Tsar Peter I had political differences throughout their lives. While Peter was turned towards Europe and the Enlightenment, his son was under the influence of his mother, parts of the old boyar caste and representatives of the Orthodox Church who refused to open Russia to Europe.

In order to introduce Alexei to Western European culture, but also to connect the Romanov family more closely with the German aristocracy, Tsar Peter began marrying his son with a corresponding princess from 1707. Soon Charlotte Christine , the daughter of Duke Ludwig Rudolf von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , was shortlisted. After she had been brought up by her parents to the Saxon elector and Polish titular queen Christiane Eberhardine , she and her foster mother visited the Bohemian spa town of Schlackenwerth in 1710 , where she and Alexei, who had arrived, got to know each other. A second meeting took place in Torgau . Since the two liked each other, the Elector and King August II took on the task of negotiating the wedding modalities with Tsar Peter on behalf of the bride's parents. The marriage of the young couple took place on October 25, 1710 in the residence of Christiane Eberhardine, Hartenfels Castle in Torgau. In addition to the bride's family, Tsar Peter also took part with a large retinue.

While the young wife got on very well with her father-in-law, her irascible and alcohol addicted husband Alexei soon began to hit her; so the marriage was very unhappy. After the birth of her second child in 1715, the 21-year-old princess died.

Excluded from the line of succession as an opponent of Peter's reforms , Alexei fled first to Vienna in 1717 , then to Naples . Persuaded by his father's envoys to return to Russia, he was charged with conspiracy against his father. Since he did not want to voluntarily renounce the succession to the throne , Alexei was tortured in prison. He died in the Peter and Paul Fortress, probably as a result of being struck by a knack . Four servants and Prince Avraam Fyodorowitsch Lopuchin were executed.

August Graf von Platen captured his fate - not entirely true to history - in the ballad Alexius (1832), and August Strindberg presented it in a novella.

progeny

  • Natalja (* July 12, 1714 - November 22, 1728), Grand Duchess of Russia
  • Peter II (October 23, 1715 - January 29, 1730), Tsar of Russia

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Joachim Böttcher: Christiane Eberhardine Princess of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Electress of Saxony and Queen of Poland, wife of Augustus the Strong . Dresdner Buchverlag, Dresden 2011, ISBN 978-3-941757-25-7 , pp. 235-239 .
  2. ↑ NN: Alexei . In: Meyers Kleines Konversations-Lexikon . tape 1 . Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig a. Vienna 1893, p. 44 .
  3. ↑ Strindberg, The Great . Übers. Willi Reich

Web links

  • Biography , Presidentskaja biblioteka (Russian)
Commons : Alexei Petrovich  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Alexei of Russia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alexei Petrovich; Алексей Петрович
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian Tsarevich (Crown Prince); Son of Tsar Peter I.
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1690
PLACE OF BIRTH Moscow
DATE OF DEATH July 7, 1718
Place of death Peter and Paul Fortress , St. Petersburg