Catherine I of Russia Catherine I of Russia Catherine I (, born , later known as Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife of Peter the Great and Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death. The life of Catherine I was said by Voltaire to be nearly as extraordinary as that of Peter the Great himself. There are no documents that confirm her origins. Said to have been born on 15 April 1684 (o.s. 5 April), she was originally named Marta Helena Skowrońska. Marta was the daughter of Samuel Skowroński (later spelt "Samuil Skavronsky"), a Roman Catholic peasant from the Polish–Lithuanian
Peter II of Russia During the reign of Catherine I, young Peter was ignored; but by the time she died in 1727, it had become clear to those in power that the only male-line grandson of Peter the Great could not be kept from his inheritance much longer. The majority of the nation and three-quarters of the nobility were on his side, while his uncle, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (Peter's uncle on his mother's side), persistently urged Peter's claims through the imperial ambassador at Saint Petersburg. Through the efforts of Menshikov, Peter was named Catherine's heir apparent, even though Catherine had two