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
The Will of Peter the Great The Will of Peter the Great The Will of Peter the Great is a political forgery which purported to be the testament of Peter I of Russia, which was allegedly a plan of the subjugation of Europe. For many years it influenced political attitudes in Great Britain and France towards the Russian Empire. Forged at the break of 19th century, it resurfaced during the Crimean War, during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, during the World War I and in the immediate post-World War II times. In 1812 wrote, under Napoleon's command, a memoir "Des Progres de la puissance russe depuis