Born Sophie Auguste Fredericke on the 2 nd May 1729, Catherine later changed her name to Ekatarina, which is commonly Anglicised as Catherine, upon her conversion from German Lutheranism to Russian Orthodox Christianity. Can a single person truly rule in the interests of all or is such an idea innately contradictory?ĭespite eventually becoming empress of Russia, Catherine was born in Anhalt-Zerbst, a principality of the Austrian Holy Roman Empire. Her reign, and the reign of other enlightened absolutists prior to her, thus raises an intriguing question. Despite this, Catherine still enacted several egalitarian policies and made frequent claims to be acting in the name of the ‘common good’ an Enlightenment idea purported by Rousseau, Montesquieu and several offers. The Russian tsars were bound by no constitution and though they did have advisors, Russia had no formal State Council until Alexander I created one in 1810 meaning that there were few checks in place to restrain her absolute power. Catherine can be seen as an archetypal example of an enlightened absolutist, due to the nature of the empire she ruled. A system of rule, wherein the monarch retains absolute autocratic power over their subjects, whilst at the same time applying the principles of the Enlightenment to the task of governance.

Catherine is one of the final examples of, so called, ‘enlightened absolutism’ or ‘enlightened despotism’. The Second ‘Revolutionary Figure’ we shall be assessing in this series is Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia from 1762-1796.

Catherine the great by simon dixon