Catherine the great biography lovers

Catherine the Great remains one of the most fascinating female figures in history: a girl who was simply a political pawn, married off to a man she barely knew in a far-away land. She became the most powerful woman in the world at the time, deposing her husband and ruling over what is widely perceived to be a Golden Age in Russian history.

Whilst it is far from the most interesting thing about her, Catherine’s love life was widely reported on. Following the removal of her husband, she kept lovers in the same way kings and emperors had kept mistresses: for pleasure, and often for political reasons, amassing 22 known lovers in her life.

Catherine the great biography lovers of jesus

But who exactly were these men who gave Catherine quite such a reputation?

1. Her husband, Emperor Peter III of Russia

Catherine married Peter, then the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, aged 16: their marriage was not consummated for another