The Czars At Night... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Byzantium

Christian Orthodoxy became the religion of the Kievan-Rus after Wladimir, Grand Prince of Kiev, converted in the late 10th Century CE. After Kiev was burned to the ground by invading Mongol hordes regional power gradually shifted to Moscow.

Ivan III had thrown off the yoke of his Mongol overlords and wanted to elevate his dominion into something along the lines of a 'Holy Russian Empire'. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 Ivan III saw a chance to further solidify his imperial ambitions by marrying Zoe Palaiologina (Russian name Sophia), a niece of the last Byzantine Emperor. After the marriage he claimed the Byzantine double eagle as his personal emblem and started using the title Czar.

The title Czar is derived from the Latin word 'Caesar', corresponding more or less to the title 'Emperor' and successor of the Roman Emperors. Ivan wanted Moscow to be seen as 'The Third Rome', successor of the Roman Empire (first Rome) and the Byzantine Empire (second Rome). It has to be said, though, that throughout history several other nations have claimed the title 'Third Rome'.

One of the clearest early Muscovite statements of the claim to be the true successor to Byzantium can be found in a letter from a monk named Philotheus ... to Basil III (1505-1533): 'The first and second Rome have fallen, but the third will stand till the end of history, for it is the last Rome. Moscow has no successor; a fourth Rome is inconceivable.'

Answer: Anastasia

Ivan IV was the first Russian ruler who adopted the title Czar at his coronation in 1547 when he had reached adulthood. His father Vasili had died when Ivan was only three years old and for most of his childhood Ivan had witnessed the political intrigue and murders of the boyars (nobles) who vied with one another for power. After he became the sole ruler he vowed to break boyar power.

At first his rule was moderate. He loved his wife Anastasia, who was a member of a boyar family, dearly. It was during the first, happy years of his reign that the magnificent St. Basil's Cathedral was built and Kazan and Astrakhan were conquered, thereby securing Russia's access to the Caspian Sea.

However, in 1560 Anastasia fell ill and died. Ivan suspected she had been poisoned by boyars. His old hatred towards the boyars resurfaced and Ivan's cruelty spiralled out of control with random torture and executions. He founded a personal guard (which was also in effect, a kind of secret police), the Oprishniki, whom he unleashed on the population in a campaign of terror.

During one of his fits of rage he clubbed his eldest son and heir to death, which was to have dire consequences for his succession. After Ivan's death in 1584 Russia gradually descended into anarchy.

Answer: Romanov

The death of Czarevich Ivan at the hand of his own father meant that the chronically ill and mentally retarded younger son of Ivan the Terrible became his successor. Feodor would be the last of the Rurik dynasty and ruled only in name. The real power lay with his brother-in-law Boris Godunov who succeeded him 1598. But Godunov couldn't establish a stable dynasty either. After his death several pretenders to the throne emerged and plunged Russia into civil war. Some of these pretenders claimed to be Dmitri, youngest son of Ivan the Terrible. In reality Dmitri had been murdered during the reign of Feodor. When a Polish army occupied Moscow one of these False Dmitris was even put on the throne. To make matters worse Russia was also invaded by Sweden, there was widespread famine and Tatar raiders devastated the southern borderlands. This period of upheaval is known as the 'Time of Troubles' (1598-1613).

When the situation was critical what was left of the Russian nation finally pulled together. After Moscow was reconquered a Grand Assembly elected Michael Romanov as the new Czar. He was the grandson of Nikita Romanov, who was the brother of Anastasia Romanovna, first wife of Ivan the Terrible. Michael Romanov managed to unite all classes of Russian society around his newly established dynasty. By 1617 the Swedes were expelled from Russia and in 1619 the Peace of Deulino ended the wars with Poland.

Answer: Both

Alexis was the son and successor of Michael, the first Romanov Czar. He first married Maria Miloslavskaya by whom he had 13 children, so the succession looked guaranteed. After she died he married Natalya Naryshkin, by whom he had three children. By the time Alexis died in 1676 there were only two surviving sons from his first marriage: Feodor, who became the next Czar, and the disabled Ivan. Feodor III only reigned for six years, then died childless.

Ivan was next in line but it was Peter who was chosen to become Czar, with his mother as regent. This attempt to put Peter on the throne resulted in the Streltsy (elite army corps) uprising in which many members of the Naryshkin clan were murdered. The uprising was led by Sophia, a daughter from Alexis' first marriage. Eventually both Ivan and Peter were crowned Czar but it was Sophia who pulled the strings behind the scenes. Quite literally, as a hole was made in the throne through which Sophia could whisper her orders to the young Czars. When he was 17, Peter seized power and had Sophia imprisoned in a convent. Co-Czar Ivan was allowed to remain on the throne until his death in 1696.

Peter the Great became one of the most important Czars whose reforms modernized Russia and put the country on the way of becoming a great power. He was also successful in the Great Nordic War and ordered the construction of a new capital, Saint Petersburg.

Answer: She was of lowly birth

Peter was first married to Eudoxia Lopukhina. The marriage was arranged by Peter's mother and ended in divorce in 1698. Peter met Catherine when she was working in the household of Prince Alexander Menshikov, one of his close friends. It is unclear if she was Menshikov's lover but Peter did take her as his mistress. They married in secret in 1707, and then officially in 1712. She bore him twelve children but only two daughters survived into adulthood.

Catherine's birth name was Marta Skavronska. After she had become Peter's mistress she changed her name to Catherine and converted to Orthodoxy. Not much is known about her ancestry. Her father was Polish or Lithuanian. He is said to have been a soldier, a gravedigger or even runaway serf. Marta worked as a housemaid and a laundress for the army. There are lewd, unproven claims she was presented to Menshikov in her underwear, and even that she was purchased (!) by Peter.

During his life Peter had always supported people on merit rather than their family or title. When he died there was fear among Peter's supporters that the old nobility would try to regain power. A coup led by Menshikov was organised to put Catherine on the throne. She ruled from 1725 to 1727 although real power lay with Menshikov.

Answer: Alexey Razumovsky

Elizabeth Petrovna was a daughter of Peter the Great and his second wife Catherine. She ruled Russia from 1741 to 1762, after having taken the throne in a coup from the infant Czar Ivan VI (great-grandson of Ivan V, co-ruler with Peter the Great).

Razumovsky was a member of a Cossack family who was introduced to the Russian court as a singer in the choir of the Russian Palace chapel. From 1732 on he was the lover of Elizabeth Petrovna and played an important role in the coup that had brought her to power. The rumour that he had secretly married Elizabeth earned him the nickname 'The Czar of the Night'. He remained a figure of prominence at court until Elizabeth's death in 1762.

The three wrong answers are all fictional characters from Leo Tolstoy's novel "Anna Karenina".

Answer: Peter III

Peter III was chosen to be the successor of Elizabeth Petrovna. He was the son of her elder sister Anna and Charles-Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp. He was only a boy we he was sent to Russia and adored everything German. His marriage was also arranged by Empress Elizabeth. His chosen bride was Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, also raised in Prussia. Unlike her husband, Sophie, who was renamed Catherine after her conversion to Orthodoxy, adapted well to her new home country and managed to make herself popular with the Russian elite. At first the marriage seemed to go well but Catherine soon became disenchanted with Peter's childish behaviour. He seemed to show more interest in his collection of tin soldiers than in her.

When Elizabeth Petrovna died in 1762 Peter became the new Czar. Not long after he had ascended the throne he managed to alienate himself from all layers of Russian society. Most unpopular was his decision to sign a peace treaty with Frederick the Great, just when Prussia seemed on the brink of defeat in the Seven Years' War. There were rumours Peter wanted to divorce Catherine and put her in a convent. Catherine's new lover Grigory Orlov, a handsome energetic officer, led a bloodless coup to depose Peter and have Catherine crowned in his place. Peter was arrested and later found dead, probably murdered. The unlikely official cause of death was ... hemorrhoids.

Catherine the Great ruled Russia as an enlightened despot from 1762 till 1796, a period considered Russia's golden age. Under her rule Russia became larger than ever and one of Europe's great powers. She was also a great patron of the arts. Today Catherine's huge art collection can be admired in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Answer: Alexander Pushkin

Sergei Saltykov was Catherine's first lover, when she was still married to Peter III. It is rumoured that Saltykov was the real father of Catherine's son and successor Paul, although he looked like Peter and not at all like Saltykov.

Grigory Potemkin was an army officer, diplomat and politician who became the favourite of Catherine in 1774. Potemkin was the love of Catherine's life. Even after their physical relationship had ended they remained close. Potemkin even provided Catherine with new, ever younger lovers. They may have been married in secret.

Alexander Lanskoy was one of those lovers introduced by Potemkin. He was 22 when their relationship started, she was 51. Catherine was genuinely heartbroken when Lanskoy died, aged only 26.

Famous Russian author Alexander Pushkin was born in 1799, three years after Catherine had died.

Answer: Denmark

King Christian IX of Denmark had six children. In 1863 his eldest daughter Alexandra married Albert, the future Edward VII of the United Kingdom. In 1866 his second daughter Dagmar married the future Czar of Russia, Alexander III. After she had converted to the Orthodox faith she adopted the name Maria Feodorovna.

In 1864 the Second Schleswig War was fought between Denmark and Prussia, and Denmark was defeated. In the ensuing treaty of Vienna Denmark had to cede the Duchies Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. The annexations of these duchies was the first step towards the unification of Germany, completed in 1871. This provoked strong anti-German sentiments in both sisters.

In the later years of the 19th Century the British and Russian royals were invited to Denmark, together with representatives of various lesser provinces which had been conquered by Germany. During these laid-back summer holidays the holidaymakers must have indulged in some quite anti-German gossip. It was during these holidays that both cousins, the future king George V and future Czar Alexander II first met and became friends. The German Kaiser Wilhelm II, also a cousin (he was the son of Queen Victoria's eldest daughter), was never invited.

Answer: Alexandra

Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt was the daughter of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the second daughter of Queen Victoria. Her father was Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse. The marriage of Alix, who took the name Alexandra after converting to the Orthodox faith, and Nicholas was a love match. After her husband was crowned Nicholas II she became a tower of strength for the insecure Czar. Nicholas II may have been a terrible Czar but he was a good family man, and he and Alexandra had a happy marriage.

Alexandra brought hemophilia into the Russian royal family. Queen Victoria herself was a carrier of the disease. Her fourth son, Prince Leopold, had hemophilia and died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 30. Alexandra's brother Friedrich had died of the disease, aged only two. Disaster struck for the Russian royal family when the fifth child and only son of Nicholas and Alexandra was also diagnosed with hemophilia.

Rasputin became a figure of prominence at the royal court because of Alexei's disease, as he was apparently the only one who could stop his bleedings. When Nicholas was away leading the Russian army in WWI Rasputin became so influential over Alexandra that people started speculating they had an affair. We will probably never know the details of Alexandra's relationship with Rasputin but because of her devotion to Nicholas it is unlikely the relationship was adulterous.

Eventually Rasputin was murdered by Russian noblemen who grew suspicious of his growing influence on Alexandra. Alexandra and Nicholas, together with their five children, were shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918 by Bolshevik revolutionaries.

The three wrong answers are the names of Alexandra's three eldest daughters.