Tsarevna Catherine Alekseyevna (russian: Екатерина Алексеевна; 27 November 1658 - 1 May 1718) was the fifth daughter of Tsar

Alexis of Russia Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

and

Maria Miloslavskaya Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (, 1 April 1624 – 18 August 1669) was a Russian tsaritsa as the first spouse of tsar Alexis of Russia. She was the mother of tsar Feodor III of Russia, tsar Ivan V of Russia, and the princess regent Sophia Alekse ...

, sister of Tsar

Feodor III of Russia Fyodor III Alekséyevich (in Russian: ''Фёдор III Алексеевич'') or Feodor III Alekséyevich (9 June 1661 – 7 May 1682) was the Tsar of Russia between 1676 and 1682. While disabled and paralyzed from birth, he managed to pass refo ...

and Tsar

Ivan V of Russia Ivan V Alekseyevich (russian: Иван V Алексеевич; – ) was Tsar of Russia between 1682 and 1696, jointly ruling with his younger half-brother Peter I. Ivan was the youngest son of Alexis I of Russia by his first wife, Maria M ...

and half-sister of Tsar

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

. Catherine was named after

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...

. In accordance with the Muscovite custom for imperial princesses, she lived in seclusion and never married. During the

Moscow uprising of 1682 The Moscow uprising of 1682, also known as the Streltsy uprising of 1682 (russian: Стрелецкий бунт), was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments that resulted in supreme power devolving on Sophia Alekseyevna (the daughter of th ...

, however,

Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (Tararui) Prince Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky (russian: Ива́н Андре́евич Хова́нский) was a Russian boyar who led the Streltsy during the Moscow Uprising of 1682, alternatively known as the Khovanshchina. His life was dramatized by Mod ...

is alleged to have planned to marry Catherine to his son Andrey Ivanovich Khovanskii in order to place him on the throne. Catherine Alekseyevna seems to have been supportive of Westernized reforms of Russia; while Russian princesses were expected to live in seclusion and screen completely from being seen by men, she was evidently seen in public in 1683, as a witness from that year reported how she did not wear the traditional clothes, but dressed in Polish costume and did not wear her hair in traditional braids. In 1698, Catherine was interrogated for potential involvement in the Streltsy Uprising on the tsar

, but released after it had been established that she had nothing to do with it. According to contemporaries, she was the only one of the half-sisters of tsar

never to have angered him, because she never involved herself in politics. She participated in the Orthodox baptism of

Catherine I of Russia Catherine I ( rus, Екатери́на I Алексе́евна Миха́йлова, Yekaterína I Alekséyevna Mikháylova; born , ; – ) was the second wife and empress consort of Peter the Great, and Empress Regnant of Russia from 1725 un ...

. In 1716, however, she was briefly suspected by the tsar of being involved in a conspiracy because of her nightly walks with her steward Bogdanov, who was exiled to Siberia.

References

*Борис Антонов. Русские цари. Издательство «П-2», Санкт-Петербург, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine Alekseyevna 1658 births 1718 deaths Russian tsarevnas House of Romanov Royalty from Moscow 17th-century Russian people 18th-century people from the Russian Empire 17th-century Russian women 18th-century women from the Russian Empire Children of Alexis of Russia