Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
forces, civil administration and imperial court. In this system, inheritance was no
longer an exclusive means to elite status, as resourceful newcomers were rewarded,
too. Living quarters and salary were determined by rank. Each service had its own
colour-coded uniforms, with distinguishing pecking-order plumage. Social manners
followed suit: a lowly titular counsellor in a shabby overcoat could easily get a col-
legiate assessor's nose out of joint by addressing him as 'Your Nobleness' instead of
the appropriate 'Your High Nobleness'. Not surprisingly, the old aristocratic families
still managed to be well represented in the upper echelon.
Despite Peter's meritocratic meddling, St Petersburg was in essence an aristocratic
city and life in the capital was infused by blue bloodlines. Although the tsar could up-
set the balance, for the most part power came by entitlement and property was passed
down. Yes, it was possible for the capable and clever to climb the Table of Ranks, but
they'd better have a noble patron to give them a boost. The aristocratic elite, who
once sneered at Peter's vision of a cosmopolitan capital, eventually came to wallow in
it. They imported tastes and manners from their slightly more sophisticated continent-
al cousins. European fashion and philosophy were conspicuously consumed. So far
did it go that St Petersburg's aristocrats preferred to speak French to each other.
Ancestral connections to kings and queens past became a coveted social commodity.
Myths about family origin were eagerly propagated, with the ruling Romanovs taking
the cup for uncovering their long-lost genetic link to Julius Caesar.
Despite her reputed fondness for anything sexual, including the aforemen-
tioned horses, there is little evidence that Catherine the Great's lovers
even went into double digits. Her long love affair Grigory Potemkim is fas-
cinatingly described in Simon Sebag Montefiore's
Catherine the Great &
Potemkin.
Enlightened Empress - Despotic Dame
In 1745, at the age of 16, Sophie Augusta of Prussia was betrothed to Duke Peter of
Holstein: quite a score for her ambitious mother, as he was a Romanov and heir to the
Imperial Russian throne. Sophie moved to St Petersburg, learned to speak Russian,
delighted the court with her coy charm, and took the name Catherine when she con-
verted to Orthodoxy. A nice start, but who would guess that a French-tutored fräulein
from Stettin would one day reach Peter's lofty status and earn the moniker 'Great'.
