Emperor Ivan Antonovich of Brunswick and their family. Here is such a generalissimo Link to the Arkhangelsk province

12.05.2022

Anton Ulrich - the second son of Duke Ferdinand-Albrecht of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (until 1735 Brunswick-Bevernsky), brother of the famous Prussian commander Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick; genus. August 28, 1714. When Empress Anna Ioannovna was looking for a groom for her niece, Princess Anna (see Anna Leopoldovna) of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, under the influence of the Austrian court, she chose Anton. The latter arrived in Russia at the beginning of June 1733, still a boy. Here he was brought up with Anna in the hope that a strong attachment would be established between young people, which over time would turn into a more necessary feeling. These hopes were not justified. Anna, at first sight, disliked her betrothed, a young man of short stature, effeminate, stammering, but modest, with a soft and supple character.

For four years, the prince was only formally in the army, but in March 1737 he went on his first military campaign. Anton Ulrich was seconded to Field Marshal Munnich, who regularly reported to the Empress about his ward. Minich wrote that the prince diligently studied the art of war, courageously endured the hardships of a camp life, “regardless of any cold and great heat, dust, ashes and long marches, always being on horseback, as an old soldier should be, but he was never in a carriage. And his courage is evidenced by the assault that took place under Ochakov, and he acted as an old and honored general should. During the Ochakov assault, the prince was always next to the field marshal, the horses under both were killed, the adjutant and the prince's page were wounded, the other page was killed. The prince's caftan was shot through. Munnich introduced the prince to the rank of major general. In general, effeminate is visible. :)

In the next 1738, Anton Ulrich takes part in the new campaign of Munnich - beyond the Dniester. This time, the prince commanded a combined detachment of three regiments. He is entrusted with separate tactical tasks. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Anton Ulrich was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called and became commander of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment.

During the campaigns, the prince matured, got stronger. He took his military career very seriously, he read a lot of ancient and modern authors on the art of war. Anton-Ulrich, unlike his future wife, tried to become worthy of his new homeland. Of course, Anna Leopoldovna, who had only a patronymic from a non-Russian, who grew up in her mother's towers among dwarfs, jesters and holy fools, the groom seemed boring and somehow ... not a peasant, or something. And that's true: he sits, reads, but where is the celebration of life?

Meanwhile, the health of the Empress began to fail, and the decision to marry the prince and Anna Leopoldovna was made. In July 1739, the wedding and marriage took place. The wife of the British ambassador, who was present at the ceremony, wrote to a friend: “... the prince was wearing a white satin suit embroidered with gold, his own very long blond hair was curled and loose over his shoulders, and I involuntarily thought that he looked like a victim”. In the evening, a ball was given in the palace, illumination flashed on the streets, colored with
“Three great fountains were filled with fire, and from them white and red wine for the people.”

Sadly, as a result, everyone was the victim: the prince, the princess, the little emperor Ivan VI, their son and all their other children.

After the death of the empress, the baby Ivan was proclaimed emperor, and the real power was in the hands of Biron, who, in general, was not a fool at all, but was in no way suitable for the ruler of Russia. Anton-Ulrich was granted the title of Generalissimo as a consolation, and Biron considered that this was more than enough for the emperor's parents. Iron Minich quickly and effectively resolved this dilemma. As V.A. Klyuchevsky, “having had lunch and kindly spent the evening of November 8, 1740, with the regent, Minikh, at night, with courtyard guard officers and soldiers of the Preobrazhensky regiment, of which he was commander, arrested Biron in bed, and the soldiers, after beating him in order and putting a handkerchief in his mouth, wrapped him in a blanket and taken to the guardhouse, and from there, in a soldier's overcoat thrown over night clothes, they were taken to the Winter Palace, from where they were then sent with the family to Shlisselburg.

Ruler Anna Leopoldovna

While Anna, unkempt, in a negligee, sat in her boudoir, husked sunflower seeds, eating cakes, and chatted with her favorite Julia Mengden about how stupid and terrible the prince was, Anton Ulrich took his duties quite seriously. From the first days, he delved into the affairs of the Military Collegium, attended the reports of ministers to the ruler, and often attended meetings of the Senate. According to him, the Senate and the ruler issued a number of decrees, for example, on the regulation of navigation in the border zone in the Baltic.

The situation became more complicated when Sweden, pushed by France, declared war on Russia. In the Swedish manifesto, among other reasons for the war, it was indicated (oh, the eternal touching concern of Europeans for something like Russian!) The desire of the Swedes to liberate Russia from foreign rule. This implied the transfer of power to the “truly Russian” daughter of Peter Elizabeth, who had previously been in the political shadow. I wonder why it was the Swedes who so confidently sought to put Elizabeth on the throne? One can hear the sound of the wheels of a sealed wagon.

Anton Ulrich was not at that time weak-willed and passive, as some historians write about him. He saw the danger from Elizabeth and made attempts to save the situation. He discussed the situation with the British envoy, organized surveillance of Munnich, who was looking for contacts with Elizabeth. The prince demanded from Anna Leopoldovna the arrest of Elizabeth, whose negotiations with French and Swedish diplomats were obvious. But the ruler, who received such warnings from all sides, remained indifferent to them, not imagining the consequences of the catastrophe for the whole family. The catastrophe broke out on the night of November 25, 1741.

Elizaveta Petrovna arrests Anna Leopoldovna, the Empress...

I will not describe the tearful lies of Elizabeth and the beautiful picture of "a royal maiden with a protected baby in her arms", politics is politics, nothing personal. The baby was sent to prison, where he spent his entire short life alone and abandoned, until he was killed by the jailers.

Tvorozhnikov "Lieutenant Vasily Mirovich at the corpse of John Antonovich on July 5, 1764 in the Shlisselburg fortress"

The rest of the family, deprived of titles and property, lived out their lives in a small house turned into a prison in Kholmogory (they simply did not reach Solovki).

Here Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to two more sons and died of puerperal fever on March 8, 1746. Anton Ulrich turned out to be a caring and loving father who managed to raise his children in prison as kind and honest people. Despite the strict ban on teaching children to read and write, the father taught them to read and write. Children showed intelligence and dignity in communication with the guards, and with the governor, and with the empress (with the latter - in letters).

The imprisonment of the A. family in Kholmogory was full of hardships; often she needed the bare necessities. A staff officer with a team was assigned to supervise them; several men and women from a simple rank served them. Any communication with outsiders was strictly forbidden to them; only the Arkhangelsk governor had an order to visit them from time to time to inquire about their condition.

When Empress Catherine II ascended the throne, Prince Anton wrote her a letter asking for her release. This empress offered him freedom, but only to him. Anton Ulrich, as she expected, refused to leave the children in prison, and did not make such requests again.
The prince's health gradually weakened, he began to go blind. He died on May 4, 1776. The prince was buried secretly near the wall of the church adjoining the bishop's house. The exact place of his burial is unknown. Archival documents testify that on the night of the 5th to the 6th, his body was carried out in a coffin, upholstered in black cloth with a silver braid, and quietly buried in the nearest cemetery inside the fence of the house, where he was kept in the presence of only guard soldiers, who it was strictly forbidden to talk about the place of burial.

A commemorative cross erected at the site of the alleged burial of Anton-Ulrich

Four years later, Catherine II allowed the four children of Anton Ulrich to be sent to Denmark to his sister, Dowager Queen Juliana Maria.

10 Sept. 1780, after a stormy voyage, they arrived at Bergen, from there on a Danish warship on 6 October. - to Flanstrand and by land 15 Oct. — in Gorsen's. Here, over time, the Russian ministers were fired and returned to Russia, leaving only the priest and churchmen and a small staff of Danish courtiers. From the greed of the latter, the princes and princesses suffered a lot. Princess Elizabeth passed away on 20 Oct. 1782, 39 y. from birth. Five years later (October 22, 1787), the younger Prince Alexei died, and on Jan. 30. 1798 - Peter. With the death of her brothers and sister, orphaned by a 55-year-old old woman, Princess Catherine dragged out her life extremely sadly and even yearned for her imprisonment in Kholmogory. She died in 1807, leaving by will all her property to the heir to the Danish throne, Frederick.

Ivan VI Antonovich (1740-1764) - Russian emperor, who ruled in 1740-1741. He ascended the throne at the age of 2 months after the death of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The late empress had no children, but she really did not want state power to be in the hands of the descendants of Peter I.

Of the closest relatives, the mother empress had only her niece Anna Leopoldovna (1718-1746) - the daughter of Catherine Ioannovna (1691-1733), the elder sister of Anna Ioannovna. So all the hopes of the Romanov family were placed on her, who did not have a single direct heir in the male line.

In 1731, the empress ordered her subjects to swear allegiance to the unborn child who would be born to Anna Leopoldovna. And in 1733, a groom was found for a grown girl. Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick (1714-1776) became them.

He arrived in St. Petersburg, but neither the Empress, nor her court, nor the bride liked it. For several years he served in the Russian army, and in 1739 he was nevertheless married to a noticeably matured bride. In the first half of August 1740, a boy was born to a young couple. They named him Ivan. Thus was the beginning of the Braunschweig family.

Anna Leopoldovna, mother of Ivan VI Antonovich
(Unknown artist)

Accession to the throne of Ivan VI Antonovich

He was in complete isolation and did not even see the faces of his guards. In 1764, Lieutenant Vasily Yakovlevich Mirovich, who was on the staff of the Shlisselburg Fortress, gathered like-minded people around him and tried to free the legitimate emperor.

But the guards first stabbed Ivan with sabers, and only then surrendered to the rebels. As for Mirovich, he was then arrested, tried as a state criminal and beheaded. The body of the murdered emperor was secretly buried on the territory of the Shlisselburg fortress.

Anton Ulrich of Brunswick (artist A. Roslin)

Brunswick family

Even before the exile, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth in 1741 to the girl Ekaterina (1741-1807). Already living in Kholmogory, the woman gave birth to Elizabeth (1743-1782), Peter (1745-1798) and Alexei (1746-1787). After the last childbirth, she died of childbed fever.

Her husband Anton Ulrich of Brunswick shared all the hardships of exile with his wife and children. When Catherine II came to the Russian throne in 1762, she suggested that the prince leave Russia, but without children. He refused to leave them alone in prison. This man died in 1776 in Kholmogory at the age of 61.

The children lived in captivity for almost 40 years. When during the reign of Catherine II an official came to them and asked about their desires, the captives said: "We heard that flowers grow in the fields outside the walls of the prison. We would like to see them at least once."

In 1780, the children of Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna were sent abroad to Denmark. There they subsequently died. The Brunswick family ceased to exist after their death.

As for those who committed atrocities against absolutely innocent people, God's punishment passed them. Retribution took place only after more than 100 years, when Emperor Nicholas II and his family were brutally murdered. The punishment came, but it was not the villains themselves who went to the block, but their descendants. God's judgment is always late, because Heaven has its own concept of time.

Alexey Starikov

One of the most tragic figures in Russian history was the young emperor Ivan Antonovich of Brunswick, who formally occupied the throne from October 17, 1740 to November 25, 1741. He was born on August 12, 1740 in the family of Anna Leopoldovna, the native niece of Empress Anna Ioannovna, and Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick and died on July 5, 1764 in the Shliselburg fortress, where he was in custody. John Antonovich became emperor under a ban. He and his family were sacrificed to what is commonly called the well-being of the state, as well as the tranquility of those persons who were in power throughout the life of the unfortunate emperor.
Peter the Great made continuous attempts to bring Russia into the big European politics, not limited only by economic and military means, he began to strengthen the threads of the political interests of the state by ties of dynastic marriages connecting the Romanovs with the houses of foreign rulers from Western Europe. The result of this policy was the marriage of the daughter of his older brother, Ekaterina Ivanovna, and the Duke of Mecklenburg, Karl Leopold, concluded in 1716. The fruit of this marriage was the birth of a girl on December 7/18, 1718 in Rostock, who was baptized according to Lutheran custom and named Elizabeth Catherine Christina. The marriage was unsuccessful, and in the summer of 1722, Ekaterina Ivanovna, at the invitation of her mother Praskovya Fedorovna, came to Russia and never returned to her husband.
In 1730, the childless Anna Ioannovna, the aunt of Elizabeth Catherine Christina, occupied the imperial throne. From now on, they began to look at the little princess as a possible heir to the empress. The princess remained so far in the Lutheran religion and did not officially change her name, but they began to call her Anna. Anna Ioannovna herself did not initially express any definite intentions at the expense of her niece, but in 1731 she confirmed the right of the monarch declared by Peter I to appoint the heir to the throne at his own will.

I. G. VEDEKIND. Portrait of Anna Leopoldovna

Later, the project of Vice-Chancellor Andrei Ivanovich Osterman and Ober-Stalmeister Karl Gustav Levenwolde arose, according to which Anna should have been married off to one of the foreign princes, and her child, at the choice of the empress and regardless of the birthright, would inherit the throne. So Levenwolde was sent to Germany to find an acceptable candidate for the groom. He completed the mission and chose two candidates - Prince Karl of Brandenburg-Bayreuth and Prince Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Bevernsky. Anna Ioannovna decided to opt for the second choice and invite Anton Ulrich to be appointed colonel of the cuirassier regiment, having determined his financial allowance.

I. G. VEDEKIND. Portrait of Anton-Ulrich (?)

Anton Ulrich was born on August 28, 1714 in the family of the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern Ferdinand Albrecht II and his wife Antoinette Amalia. He was the second son, the family's funds were small, so a trip to Russia and the opportunity to marry the Empress's niece were perceived as a smile of Fortune. The official reason for the trip was the admission to the Russian military service. The prince arrived in St. Petersburg on February 3/14, 1733. For residence, Anton Ulrich was prepared located near the royal palace of Chernyshev. The Empress, Duchess of Mecklenburg Ekaterina Ivanovna and even Elizabeth Ekaterina Khristina herself received him quite favorably. The prince studied the Russian language and other sciences he needed, one of his teachers is the poet Trediakovsky. Soon he converted to Orthodoxy. But the matter of marriage for various reasons did not go well. And the prospective bride herself did not have tender feelings for Anton Ulrich and in 1735 was carried away by the Saxon envoy Count Moritz Linar. In order to avoid a major scandal, the empress expelled from Russia the tutor of the princess, Madame d'Adercas, who patronized this hobby. Linar was also recalled from Petersburg.
In 1737, the prince went on his first military campaign against the Turks as a simple volunteer under the command of Field Marshal Munnich. In his report on the capture of Ochakov, Minich wrote that Anton Ulrich showed extraordinary courage and was in the very center of the battle. After that, the prince gained a reputation as a fearless warrior. In 1738, the Empress granted him the highest order of the empire - the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, he was also promoted to prime major of the Semenovsky Guards Regiment. In the same year, the prince went on a new campaign, and the famous Karl Hieronymus von Munchausen rode in his retinue. The prince again participated in the battles, and in the battle near the Biloch River, his regiments covered the right flank of the Russian artillery, which did not have time to take up a combat position.
However, Princess Anna remained cold to Anton Ulrich, and the matter of marriage did not go well. The impetus for the denouement was given by an attempt by Empress Biron's favorite to marry Anna to his eldest son Peter, who, moreover, was younger than her.

Insulted by the refusal of the princess, Biron convinced Anna Ioannovna to finally resolve the matter with the marriage of Anton Ulrich. Preparations for the wedding have begun. On July 2, 1739, the engagement took place in the Great Hall of the Winter Palace. The next day, a wedding ceremony took place in the Kazan Church. The festivities continued for a week, all days and evenings of which were filled with banquets, fireworks, illuminations, balls, masquerades.
Anna Leopoldovna was not immediately able to get pregnant, which caused discontent of the Empress, kindled by Biron. For some time, everyone's attention switched to the Holstein Prince Karl Peter, the grandson of Peter I, the son of his daughter Anna. However, on August 12, 1740, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to such a long-awaited son, named after his great-grandfather Ivan.
At the same time, more and more rumors appeared about the discord between the young spouses, as well as about the serious illness of the empress. Anna Ioannovna immediately published a manifesto in which she named John Antonovich as the heir to the throne, and, in the event of his death, any other, senior by kindred, prince born in the family of Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich. This manifesto played a tragic role in the fate of other children in the Brunswick family, making them rivals of those who occupied the throne. Almost at the bedside of the dying empress, a struggle broke out over the regency under the infant emperor. Anton Ulrich was also named among the possible candidates, but the empress decided the case in favor of her favorite Biron.
The regent gave Anton Ulrich and Anna Leopoldovna a salary of 200,000 rubles a year, but the prince of Brunswick himself wanted to be the ruler with his son. Biron heard rumors about a conspiracy, the leader of which could be the father of John Antonovich. A conversation took place between Biron and the prince and princess, during which the regent threatened to expel the entire family from Russia, and Anna Leopoldovna was forced to beg forgiveness for herself and her husband. The matter did not come to expulsion, but all those close to the prince were arrested, Anton Ulrich himself was summoned to explain before a convened meeting of senators, cabinet ministers and generals, and Ushakov led the interrogation, where the prince confessed in an attempt to remove Biron, and was also forced to refuse all military officials.

Portrait of Anton-Ulrich (?) by an unknown artist

However, Biron was removed, and this was done by Field Marshal Count Buchard-Christopher Munnich, his longtime opponent. The coup took place on the night of November 7-8, 1740, the regent and his entire family were sent into exile in Pelym. Anna Leopoldovna was proclaimed ruler under the young emperor, and Anton Ulrich received the rank of Generalissimo of the Russian army. All persons who contributed and sympathized with the coup were generously rewarded.
The reign of Anna Leopoldovna cannot be called successful. Quarrels and strife broke out between the rival courtiers from the very first days. There was practically no concern for the little emperor, although all decrees were issued on his behalf. Minich was not satisfied and sought to concentrate all power in his hands.
There was no agreement between the spouses, especially since soon Linar again arrived at the court, and Anna Leopoldovna was going to marry him to her beloved maid of honor Juliana Mengden in order to forever bind him to the Russian court. On April 14, 1741, Minich was resigned, and the affairs of the empire passed to Osterman, since the ruler herself was not interested in them. Her close and permanent entourage was dear to her, but absolutely useless in matters of government, people: Juliana Mengden, Minister of the Vienna Court Botta d'Adorno, Chief Chamberlain Ernst Munnich, son of Field Marshal, Linar. After a few months of ruling, Anna Leopoldovna practically stepped aside from state affairs, limiting herself to imposing a resolution on the documents submitted to her.

Portrait of Juliana Mengden with Ivan Antonovich in her arms Unknown artist

Anton Ulrich was more active. He attended meetings of the military board, made proposals for discussion in the Senate, personally selected soldiers and officers. For the first time, regimental hospitals were created in the guards regiments. He inspected the construction of new barracks, increased his political experience by daily long conversations with Osterman. But he did not have real power, primarily because there was no warm relationship between him and his wife, the ruler.
Thus, Anna Leopoldovna was unable to foresee the dangers from the side of Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna, who, with the help of the French envoy Chétardie, managed to plot, leading it herself. On the night of November 24-25, 1741, the reign of the infant Emperor John III, as he was called at that time, counting from Ivan the Terrible, was overthrown.
The further fate of the Braunschweig family is tragic. At first, it was decided to expel the young emperor, his parents and little sister Catherine from Russia. The carriages with the Braunschweig family set off on the road, but a new order from the empress followed, according to which they should be kept in custody in Riga. At the end of 1742, the royal prisoners were transferred to Ranenburg, where they were kept until 1744, when, by order of Elizabeth, John Antonovich was separated from his parents. However, both the former emperor and his family were kept in Kholmogory at different ends of the vast bishop's house. From now on, Emperor John began to be called Gregory.
Anna Leopoldovna died in Kholmogory in 1746, never knowing anything about the fate of her eldest son. She left four more children in the care of her husband: Catherine, Elizabeth, Alexei and Peter. The body of the former ruler of Russia was transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

L. Caravacc. Portrait of Anna Leopoldovna

After the death of his mother, John Antonovich stayed in Kholmogory for another 6 years, after which he was transferred to Shlisselburg. Here, on the night of July 4-5, 1764, he was killed by his guards in order to prevent the so-called Mirovich plot from being carried out. The body of the unfortunate prisoner was lost ...
The remaining members of the Braunschweig family continued to be kept in Kholmogory, deprived of the opportunity to communicate with the outside world. Some time after the Shlisselburg disaster, Empress Catherine intended to release Prince Anton Ulrich and send him to Germany, considering him not dangerous, but he refused freedom for the sake of his children. In 1776 he went blind and died, and his children remained imprisoned until 1780, when Catherine decided to grant them freedom. This news frightened rather than delighted the prisoners, who had spent their entire lives within the walls of the Bishop's house. However, on the ship "Polar Star" they were delivered to the city of Bergen, from where they were transported on the Danish ship "Mars" to the city of Gorzens, in Jutland, in Danish possessions. Here they lived quietly and calmly. Elizabeth died in 1782, Alexei died in 1787, Peter died in 1798, and Catherine died in 1807.

None of them left offspring. They were buried in the Lutheran church in Gorzens, their tombs have survived to this day, unlike the graves of their father and elder crowned brother.

According to materials:
1. Librovich S.F. Emperor under ban: Twenty-four years of Russian history. M. 2001
2. Levin L. Russian Generalissimo Duke Anton Ulrich (history of the "Brunswick family in Russia"). SPb., 2000

Duke of Brunswick-Bevern-Lüneburg - father of the Russian Emperor Ivan VI Antonovich, Generalissimo of the Russian troops November 11, 1740-1741

The second son of Duke Ferdinand Albrecht of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (until 1735 Brunswick-Bevernsky) and Antoinette Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, brother of the famous Prussian commander Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick and Juliana Maria, the second wife of the Danish king Frederick V (in 1772-1784 the actual ruler of the country).

MARRIAGE WITH ANNA LEOPOLDOVNA

When Empress Anna Ioannovna was looking for a groom for her niece, Princess Anna of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, then under the influence of the Austrian court, she chose Anton. The latter arrived in Russia in early June 1733 as a boy. Here he was brought up with Anna in the hope that a strong attachment would be established between young people, which over time would turn into a more necessary feeling. These hopes were not justified. Anna, at the first sight, disliked her betrothed, a young man of short stature, effeminate, a stutterer, very limited, but modest, with a soft and supple character. Nevertheless, this marriage took place on July 14, 1739; On August 23, 1740, their first child, Ivan, was born. Soon the empress fell mortally ill and, at the insistence of Biron and Chancellor Bestuzhev, declared Ivan Antonovich heir to the throne, and Biron as regent.

REGENCY OF BIRON

Prince Anton Ulrich was very unhappy with this will; he wanted to change the decree on the regency, but lacked the courage and ability to take advantage of a favorable moment. He turned to Osterman and Keyserling for advice, but they restrained him, although they did not blame him. At the same time, but apart from any participation of Prince Anton Ulrich, there was a ferment in the guard directed against Biron. The plot was discovered, the leaders of the movement - cabinet secretary Yakovlev, officer Pustoshkin and their comrades - were punished with a whip, and Prince Anton Ulrich, who also turned out to be compromised, was invited to an emergency meeting of cabinet ministers, senators and generals. Here, on October 23, on the very day when the decree was given on the annual issuance of 200,000 rubles to the parents of the young emperor, he was strictly inspired that at the slightest attempt to overthrow the established system, he would be treated like any other subject of the emperor. Following that, he was forced to sign a request for dismissal from his posts: Lieutenant Colonel Semyonovsky and Colonel of the Cuirassier Braunschweig regiments, and he was completely removed from the affairs of government.

REGENCY OF ANNA LEOPOLDOVNA

Biron treated the emperor's parents with disdain, openly insulted them and even threatened to take the young emperor away from his mother and then send Anton Ulrich and his wife out of Russia. The rumor about this made Anna Leopoldovna decide on a desperate step. She turned to Field Marshal Munnich for help, and the latter on November 8 put a quick end to Biron's reign. All this, apparently, took place without any participation and knowledge of Prince Anton Ulrich. The regency passed to Anna Leopoldovna, while Anton Ulrich was proclaimed Generalissimo of the Russian troops on November 11.

LINK TO THE ARKHANGELSK PROVINCE

But the reign of Anna Leopoldovna did not last long. The palace coup, carried out on the night of December 5-6, 1741, elevated Elizabeth Petrovna to the throne. The latter at first limited itself to the decision to expel the Brunswick family from Russia; Anton's family was already on the way abroad, but was unexpectedly arrested, imprisoned in the Riga fortress, from there transferred to Dinamunde and Ranenburg, and finally, on November 9, 1744, imprisoned in Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk province. In addition to the first-born Ivan, who was killed in 1764 in the Shlisselburg fortress, Anna had four more children: two daughters, Catherine and Elizabeth, and two sons, Peter and Alexei. The first of them was born even before exile on July 26, 1741, the second in Dynamünde, and Princes Peter and Alexei were born already in Kholmogory. The birth of the last of them cost Anna her life (February 28, 1746). The imprisonment of Anton Ulrich's family in Kholmogory was full of hardships; often she needed the bare necessities. A staff officer with a team was assigned to supervise them; several men and women from a simple rank served them. Any communication with outsiders was strictly forbidden to them; only the Arkhangelsk governor had an order to visit them from time to time to inquire about their condition. Brought up with the commoners, the children of Anton Ulrich knew no other language than Russian. For the maintenance of the Braunschweig family, for the salaries of the people assigned to them, and for the repair of the house they occupied, no definite amount was assigned; but released from the Arkhangelsk treasury from 10 to 15 thousand rubles annually.

DEATH

Following the accession to the throne of Catherine II, Anton Ulrich was asked to leave Russia, leaving only children in Kholmogory; but he preferred bondage with children to lonely freedom. Having lost his sight, he died on May 4, 1774. The place of his burial is unknown. Archival documents testify that on the night of the 5th to the 6th, his body was carried out in a coffin, upholstered in black cloth with a silver braid, and quietly buried in the nearest cemetery inside the fence of the house, where he was kept in the presence of only guard soldiers, who it was strictly forbidden to talk about the place of burial. In 2007, information appeared in the media about the discovery of remains in Kholmogory, which, presumably, could belong to Anton Ulrich.

BRUNCHWEIG FAMILY IN DENMARK

Finally, in 1780, at the request of the Danish Queen Juliana Maria, sister of Anton Ulrich, Catherine II decided to alleviate the plight of his children by deporting them to Danish possessions, where they were assigned a town

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, when she ascended the throne, ordered the court to forget forever what happened in Russia from October 1740 to November 1741. It was during this period that the reign of the smallest ruler, the one-year-old Ivan VI, fit in. Of course, he did not rule by himself: the lover of the previous empress, Biron, and then the biological mother of the boy, Anna Leopoldovna, was the regent. Meanwhile, the threat of going to a monastery and never becoming a ruler grew stronger and stronger over the daughter of Peter the Great.

Child on the throne

Empress Anna Ioannovna felt in 1740 that she did not have long to live. She categorically did not want to transfer the throne to the children of Peter I. One of the reasons for this was that in this case the fate of her beloved Ernst Biron was in jeopardy.

Anna Ioannovna made a will, according to which, after her death, the throne will pass to the son of her niece, Anna Leopoldovna. Everything would be fine, only the latter, together with her husband, Anton Ulrich, had no sons. The miracle happened just a couple of weeks before the death of Anna Ioannovna. The long-awaited boy was finally born, he was given the throne. A retinue settled on the Russian throne, which was poorly familiar with the orders that reigned in this country.

Empress Anna Ioannovna and Ernst Biron. Collage © L!FE. Photo © Wikimedia Commons

Overthrow of Biron and coup

It is difficult to talk about any reforms during this period. The fact is that the rulers could not figure it out among themselves - so to whom this throne would belong. Biron, who was appointed regent for the baby, openly said that he would take the child away from the biological parents, and at best send them to their homeland, to Germany.

Of course, this option did not suit them. Less than a month after the beginning of his reign, Anna Leopoldovna turned to Field Marshal Burchard Münnich with a request to eliminate the problem. Considering that Biron was treated very poorly in Russia by both the military and industrialists, the coup was not a big problem. They didn't kill him. So the lover of Anna Ioannovna ended up in exile in Pelym, from where he was returned only in 1762. Meanwhile, Anna Leopoldovna became regent, and her husband and father of John VI became the generalissimo of the Russian troops.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and Anna Leopoldovna with their son John VI. Collage © L!FE. Photo © Wikimedia Commons

On November 25, 1741, a coup d'etat took place, as a result of which Empress Elizabeth Petrovna took the throne. Anna Leopoldovna begged for two things: so that the soldiers would not commit violence against them and leave them alive, and also asked, regardless of the place where they were sent now, to leave a maid of honor nearby.

Poor child, you are innocent, but your parents are guilty, ”Elizabeth allegedly said, taking the little ruler in her arms and promising to leave the family alive.

Anton Ulrich, right in the sheet, was carried out of the palace by the military and pushed into the carriage. It was more of a political moment - well, how to give orders if the whole guard will laugh at your appearance.

The rest were ordered to quickly pack up, giving everything about everything no more than an hour. In a hurry, they dropped the emperor's four-month-old sister Catherine to the floor. The child was miraculously uninjured.

The coup for the whole court, and for the whole country, was justified as follows: due to external and internal unrest, the Life Guards asked Petrova's daughter to take the throne. Elizabeth hastily destroyed everything connected with the little emperor - they burned documents signed on his behalf, handed over the money for melting down, and completely destroyed the sworn signature lists publicly.

"Maybe they'll let go"

Anna Leopoldovna and Anton Ulrich. Collage © L!FE. Photo © Wikimedia Commons

Initially, Elizaveta Petrovna planned to let the now former imperial family go home. They were even sent to Riga, planning to quickly take them to Mitava under the escort of General-in-Chief Vasily Saltykov, and then release them.

Only the options for how they would be taken differed: either under the cover of night, passing through all possible cities at the maximum possible speed and stopping in the fields, or they would arrange everything so that the renunciation was "of their own free will." In the latter case, the family had to stop in almost every village and say goodbye for a long time. And Elizabeth, meanwhile, could have time to decide on the future fate of the family.

Ivashkin's disservice

As early as 1742, a conspiracy of Ensign of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Pyotr Ivashkin was uncovered in St. Petersburg. He wanted to kill Elizaveta Petrovna, and put back on the throne the then one-year-old boy.

Ivashkin even gathered 500 like-minded people and developed a detailed plan: who would delay the guards of the Winter Palace, how they would remove Elizabeth and who would kill her.

The real emperor is John Antonovich, and Elizabeth was made an heiress for a cup of wine, he said. The further fate of the conspirator is sad.

Another conspiracy took place in July 1743. The Lopukhins, who were relatives of the first wife of Peter I, also discussed in correspondence that Elizabeth rules illegally. Yes, and she does not behave like an empress - balls, assemblies, dresses instead of politics. The case was revealed when the drunken Ivan Lopukhin began to talk about it in public.

Elizabeth decided that such conspiracies would be constant and there were risks that one day Ivan Antonovich would still be put on the throne. And abroad, the Ulrich family may well count on support, so it was decided not to let them into Mitava.

Fortress

In December 1742, the family was imprisoned in the Dunamünde fortress, which is on the territory of modern Riga. Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, they began to decide how and where to plant the family somewhere in the Russian wilderness, so that it would not be possible to steal them and transport them abroad.

In 1744, they were sent to Ryazan, and the parents and their youngest daughter got there in one carriage, and the deposed emperor in another. So six months passed. In August 1744, the boy was separated from his parents and sent to the Solovetsky Monastery. From now on, it was forbidden to call him Ivan - only George. For his stay, the bishop's house was equipped as a prison.

It was forbidden to talk with the once emperor, which the guards immediately violated. The boy who was in solitary confinement learned, for example, to read. One day, one of the guards even blabbed out who the child really was.

In the early 1750s, the child contracted both smallpox and measles. There was practically no doubt about his death, the commandant asked for permission to invite a doctor in order to alleviate the boy's suffering. But a refusal followed, signed by the Empress.

Last resort

The child miraculously survived and recovered. Although historians do not exclude that the guards decided not to risk their health and called a doctor.

In 1756, a new conspiracy was opened: the Tobolsk merchant Ivan Zubarev wanted to kidnap the boy, and also convey to his father the information that Prussian warships under the guise of merchants would come to Kholmogory and beat off the family.

The idea belonged to the cousin of the former Generalissimo Ferdinand of Brunswick. When the plot was uncovered, the former ruler, who by that time was 15 years old, was transferred to Shlisselburg.

The teenager was settled in a separate house, under guard. Who exactly is being held, or even the name, was not disclosed to the commandant of the fortress, Ivan Berednikov.

And this is where hell began. Since 1757, the captain of the Preobrazhensky Regiment Ovtsyn began to look after the boy. In his reports, he wrote that the teenager was beaten with sticks and put on a chain for the slightest disobedience.

So seven years passed. Catherine II, as soon as she ascended the throne, issued a decree: at the slightest attempt to free the young man, kill him. This was done on July 16 (modern style), 1764.

Kholmogory

Meanwhile, the family of Ivan Antonovich was transferred to the distant Arkhangelsk province, to Kholmogory. His mother, Anna Leopoldovna, according to the official version, died at the age of 27 (1746) from a fever during her fifth childbirth.

Here they left Anton Ulrich, his two daughters and two sons, as well as several servants. For example, the maid of honor of the Empress Bina Mengden, a couple of nurses for children, stayed here. Their house was on the banks of the Dvina. The family was behind a high fence. In the courtyard of the former ruling family there was a pond, a garden, a bathhouse and even a carriage house.

The interior, however, according to historians, was horrifying. Two rooms for prisoners filled with antique furniture. The men lived in one, the women in the other. They were under the strict supervision of the guards at all times. As historian Yevgeny Anisimov writes, the guard of the family did not change for 12 years. Of course, they quarreled, reconciled, fell in love and were at enmity.

No one was surprised at the sight of half-naked drunken guards. When Bina started an affair with a doctor who came to sick children, and then gave birth to a boy from him, she was moved to a separate room, expelling everyone from there.

Anton Ulrich himself alternately lived with maids, as historians point out. The latter eventually gave birth to children - in general, such a large "Swedish" family.

The former generalissimo of the Russian troops tirelessly wrote to Elizaveta Petrovna. He did not ask for release, knowing full well, apparently, that so far this is impossible. In the messages, he called himself "kneeling nonentity", "unfortunate worm" and other epithets, thanked for the "gifts" in the form of wine and coffee. Once he asked permission to teach children to read and write. All letters remained unanswered.

Liberation of princes and princesses

The first letter from the highest persons was sent in 1762 by Catherine. Later, she even suggested that Anton Ulrich leave Kholmogory and go home. But the offer extended only to him, and not to all children. The latter threatened Catherine's power: according to the will of Anna Ioannovna, any of the boys could claim the throne in order of seniority. Like any normal father, Anton Ulrich refused. The ex-generalissimo died in 1774. And Catherine II decided to free the royal family only in 1780, sending them to Denmark, at the request of Anton Ulrich's cousin, Julia Margarita.

They were transported on the frigate "Polar Star". As stated, the prisoners did not look happy: they sobbed excitedly, asking if they could still stay in Russia, and kissed the guards goodbye.

The aunt who petitioned for their release never even visited her relatives. Of course, she sent them subsidies, but it is perhaps difficult to call it mountains of gold.

Once free, the prisoners, each of whom by that time was about 40 years old, died with a difference of several years. So, only the younger sister of Ivan VI, Catherine, survived until the 19th century. In 1803, she sent a letter to the Russian Emperor Alexander I, where she tearfully begged to be given the opportunity to return to Russia. I even agreed to Kholmogory. She explained this by the fact that even the language spoken in Denmark is not fully understood, not to mention the rules. Yes, and she was not used to living differently - well, still, 40 years in prison. But the letter remained unanswered, and the petitioner herself died in 1807.