Of Lithuanian peasant stock, Martha Skravonskaya became a servant in the home of Pastor Gluck and married a Swedish soldier. When the Swedes had to evacuate Marienburg, Martha became a prisoner-of-war of Marshal Sheremetev who sold her to Prince Menshikov. In the house of Prince Menshikov she met Peter the Great who became her lover. After the birth of a daughter, she was received in the Orthodox Church and baptised as Catherine Alexeievna. In 1711, she married Peter the Great after he had divorced his first wife. Inseparable, she was even with the Emperor during his military campaigns and acted as a buffer between Peter and his advisers in his frequent rages.

In 1722 Catherine was proclaimed successor to Peter the Great, by-passing Peter's son. However, after her coronation, she flirted with Wilhelm Mons whose sister Anna was one of Peter the Great's lovers. This caused a scandal and Mons was not only beheaded but his head, preserved in spirits, was then placed in Catherine's apartment. A few months later Peter the Great died and---with the support of Prince Menshikov, Count Tolstoy and the guards---she was accepted as ruling Empress. She established a supreme privy council, concentrating the executive power in the hands of only a few people. Andrei Ostermann directed the foreign policy. However, when she involved Russia in the question of Schleswig-Holstein, Catherine was opposed by George I of Great Britain and an English squadron was sent to Reval. When Catherine protested the ships were withdrawn. She was illiterate, shrewd, sensible and good-tempered, but above all she was extravagant.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas