madeleine92posts: Catherine The Great and Stanisław Poniatowski’s love affair Stanisław August

madeleine92posts:Catherine The Great and Stanisław Poniatowski’s love affairStanisław August Poniatowski was born on January 17th 1732 in Wołczyn as a sixth child of Stanisław Poniatowski and Constance Czartoryska. The first years of his life were marked by his mother’s supervision. His father rarely was present at home, given he was constantly occupied with diplomatic missions and immensely engaged in politics. Deaths of his two older brothers and the personality of his mother constituted some problems in his upbringing. Constance made him believe he was destined to be a great man, at the same time, isolating him from his agemates. Difficult political situation had made Constance and her children to stay at the fortress in Gdańsk for six years. It enabled Stanisław to learn German and meet many formidable people, both of Polish and German nationality. He separated himself from his mother at 16 years of age. In 1748 Stanisław went on his first trip abroad. On his way to Breda and Brussels, he visited Prague, Frankfurt, Aachen and Maastricht. During this trip, Stanisław learned about military devices and met many important personalities thanks to his father’s credentials. He also occupied himself with admiring multiple pieces of art, such as paintings of Dutch masters. When he returned home, his parents decided, Stanisław’s uncle, Michael Czartoryski, Lithuanian vice-chancellor, would take care of him. Michael was entrusted with educating his nephew, teaching him about complicated matters of politics and administration. He turned out to be a bad teacher, given Stanisław ended up, not being too fond of politics, disliking all the obligations connected to exercising power. Stanisław became a deputy  in 1750. He functioned as a deputy of Zakorczym. In 1752, he was one of the candidates for the post of deputy of Łomża. In 1753 he became a starost of Przemysk and in 1755 he received the post of Lithuanian pantler. Like it has been mentioned, Stanisław was not good at politics. Traveling was his true passion. In 1750s the pantler visited Saxony, Austria, France, England and the Neatherlands. Paris and London impressed him in particular. It is said that during his stay in Berlin - where he had gone to in order to treat his stomach problems, in 1750, Stanisław met Charles Williams - a controversial and exentric English diplomat. They made good friends and Stanisław became William’s secretary, whom he greatly admired. It was Williams who introduced an inexperienced Stanisław into intricacies of social life at the greatest salons of Europe, such as Vienna and London, to list just a few. In the mid 1755, Stanisław arrived into Petersburg, accompanying Williams. Unofficially he was there to represent his family’s business and gain the Empress Elizabeth’s support for the plans of reform in Poland. This is where he met Yekaterina Alekseyevna, wife of the heir to the throne, Prince Peter and future Empress Catherine II, whom, reportedly, he fell madly in love with. The love affair between those two and its consequences, precisely the fact Stanisław ascended the Polish throne thanks to this romance, are not a secret. As for the affair itself, it seems it was not Stanisław’s idea at any point. After their arrival and meeting with Catherine, sir Charles Williams came to the conclusion that friendship with 26 year old duchess - and future empress - might have been a good way to gain the influence at the court in Petersburg. Authorities from London suggested that he should engage himself into an affair with Catherine and hence win the most loyal ally of British crown at the Russian court. Williams did not mind when it came to morality, however, poor health was a serious obstacle on his way to seduce the Duchess. Somehow ashamed, he explained to the chief of British diplomacy: A man at my age may be a very dear friend but a lousy lover, given my scepter is not working anymore. Charles was an impotent. Luckily he had young Stanisław by his side. This one did not complain about his condition, even though it would be his first time with a woman. Even though Poniatowski lived in an era known as the age of licentiousness, he was a virgin until he was 23 years old. In his diaries he boasted: strict upbringing did not let me have any dissolute relations, later on (…) a bunch of various coincidences (…) seemed to perserve all of me for the one who had my fate in her hands. There was nothing more to do but pimping naive Stanisław out to Catherine. One of Catherine’s courtiers, Lew Naryszkin, had a hand in it as well. Lew deliberately deviced a situation in which Stanisław could not retreat if he did not want to embarrass the Grand Duchess. Unaware that everything had been contrived, he was led to the doors of her private apartments. The door was half-opened. Catherine was waiting for him inside. And this way not paticularly handsome but immensely fascinated with the Duchess Stanisław lost his virginity and became a favourite of the future Empress. What happened next? Sir Charles indeed found an ally in Catherine and Stanisław fell in love with her, however the love was unrequited. Soon afterwards the Duchess abandoned him for the next lover and as a consolation prize, she made him the last King of Poland, which partially resulted in three partitions of the country between Russia, Prussia and Austria: 1772 - Russia, Prussia, Austria, 1793 - Russia, Prussia, 1795 - Russia, Prussia and Austria.Their contemporaries suspected that Stanisław might have been the biological father of tsarevitch Paul, Catherine II’s successor on the Russian throne. However the comparison of Paul’s birthdate and the dates of Stanisław’s stay in Russia, makes such theory unacceptable. But the union between Catherine and Stanisław possibly produced a daughter, Anna Petrovna, born on December 9th 1757, at the Winter Palace, between 10 and 11 o'clock, who died two years later, on March 8th 1759.Sources: “Królowie i książeta polscy” (eng. Kings and princes of Poland) by Mariusz Trąba and Lech Bielski, (x) -- source link

More pics about