CATHERINE I
1684 - 1727

Catherine I was originally peasant Marta Skowronska who first married Peter the Great and then ruled as empress of Russia herself from 1725 until 1727.


How did Marta manage to attract Peter's attention?
She let herself getting captured by the Russians during the Great Northern War when she was 18 years old. Peter made big eyes when he saw her. And for a similar reason they were blessed with a child sooner than they could get married, which they eventually did in 1712.

Catherine's and Peter's first child was Elizabeth.

The Russian Orthodox church opted for a name change from Peasant Martha to Yekaterina Alekseyevna.