Catherine the Great and the Plague Riot of 1771

Catherine the Great and the Russian Enlightenment in the Provinces

Catherine the Great is often celebrated for her correspondence with Voltaire and Diderot, but what did the Russian Enlightenment look like outside the glittering salons of St. Petersburg? This episode explores how Catherine's reign fostered education, science, and culture in the provinces, through institutions like the Smolny Institute for noble girls, the Russian Academy, and the expansion of public schools. We discuss her founding of the Volnoye Ekonomicheskoye Obshchestvo (Free Economic Society) to promote agricultural improvement, her support for medical colleges and hospitals across the empire, and her policy of encouraging foreign settlers—Germans, Greeks, Serbs—to bring expertise to underpopulated regions like Novorossiya. We also touch on the limits: serfdom remained untouched, and provincial nobles often resisted reform. Lucas and Luna consider whether Catherine's enlightened policies were genuine or pragmatic, and how they reshaped Russian society from the Baltic to the Black Sea. #CatherineTheGreat #RussianEnlightenment #SmolnyInstitute #FreeEconomicSociety #Novorossiya #Voltaire #Diderot #RussianAcademy #EducationReform #ProvincialRussia #18thCentury #EnlightenedAbsolutism #AgriculturalReform #ForeignSettlers #Serfdom #History #FexingoHistory #RussiaEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Instruction of Catherine the Great: Enlightened Absolutism

In 1767, Catherine the Great convened a Legislative Commission to draft a new legal code for Russia. Her guiding document, the 'Instruction' or 'Nakaz', drew heavily from Montesquieu and Beccaria, advocating for equality before the law, due process, and limits on serfdom. But when translated and distributed across Europe, it sparked both admiration and controversy. This episode explores how Catherine used Enlightenment ideas to legitimize her reign, the Commission's ultimate failure to produce a new code, and the lasting impact of the Nakaz as a symbol of enlightened absolutism. #CatherineTheGreat #Nakaz #LegislativeCommission #EnlightenedAbsolutism #Montesquieu #Beccaria #RussianHistory #18thCentury #ImperialRussia #Serfdom #LegalReform #Voltaire #Diderot #StPetersburg #Moscow #Enlightenment #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great's Secret Wedding to Potemkin

Was Catherine the Great secretly married to Grigory Potemkin? In 1774, the Empress and her favorite exchanged passionate letters, and evidence suggests a private wedding at the Church of St. Sampson the Hospitable in St. Petersburg. This episode examines the letters housed in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Documents, the testimony of contemporaries like Princess Ekaterina Dashkova, and the political implications of a morganatic marriage. We explore the 'gift of the Tauride' — the palace Potemkin received, the couple's daughter Elizaveta Grigorievna Tyomkina (note the dropped syllable in her surname, a clue to her illegitimacy), and how the marriage, if real, was kept secret to preserve Catherine's independence. Lucas and Luna discuss the historical debate, the 1784 wedding ring exchange, and what the union meant for Russia's expansion into Novorossiya. #CatherineTheGreat #Potemkin #SecretWedding #RoyalMarriage #Romanovs #RussianHistory #18thCentury #StPetersburg #Novorossiya #Letters #ElizavetaTyomkina #MarganaticMarriage #Empress #Favorites #History #FexingoHistory #Europe #EasternEurope Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great and Grigory Potemkin: Love, Letters, Empire

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the extraordinary partnership between Empress Catherine II and Prince Grigory Potemkin — a relationship that was equal parts passionate romance and political alliance. Drawing on their recently unearthed and translated correspondence, we trace how Potemkin evolved from a coup conspirator to Catherine's most trusted minister, governor of New Russia, and possibly her secret husband. We examine their letters — flirtatious, demanding, tender — that reveal not only a love story but an administrative brain trust that conquered Crimea, built the Black Sea Fleet, and reshaped the Russian Empire. Specifics include Potemkin's role in the 1762 coup, his appointment as governor-general of Novorossiya, the annexation of Crimea in 1783, the creation of Sevastopol and Kherson, his patronage of Suvorov and Ushakov, and the legend of the Potemkin villages. We also discuss the 1774 marriage rumor, their daughter's existence, and how their collaboration defined Catherine's Golden Age. #CatherineTheGreat #GrigoryPotemkin #RussianHistory #Novorossiya #Crimea #BlackSeaFleet #Sevastopol #Kherson #PotemkinVillages #1762Coup #18thCentury #EnlightenedDespotism #RussianEmpire #History #FexingoHistory #Podcast #EasternEurope #LoveLetters Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Catherine the Great's Secret Correspondence with Voltaire

For nearly 15 years, Catherine the Great carried on a secret correspondence with the French philosopher Voltaire. While she publicly posed as an enlightened despot, her letters reveal a cunning political strategist using Voltaire's pen as a propaganda weapon for Russia. This episode dives into their exchange — how Catherine flattered Voltaire, fed him carefully curated news about Russian victories, suppressed reports of the Pugachev Rebellion, and even convinced him to praise the partition of Poland. We explore Voltaire's genuine admiration for her, his willful blindness to serfdom, and how Catherine manipulated the Enlightenment's greatest voice to burnish her image abroad. Their letters, spanning 1763 to 1778, offer a masterclass in intellectual diplomacy. Also covered: Catherine's purchase of Voltaire's library after his death, and the 5,000-volume collection now housed in the National Library of Russia. #CatherineTheGreat #Voltaire #Enlightenment #RussianHistory #Propaganda #FexingoHistory #SecretCorrespondence #Ferney #18thCentury #Despotism #Philosophes #Diderot #Pugachev #PartitionOfPoland #Serfdom #Diplomacy #IntellectualHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]