How Catherine the Great's Husband Died

Hulu's new miniseries The Great is a witty, devilishly irreverent slice of historical fiction dreamed up by Tony McNamara, the brains behind The Favourite. As such, it's no surprise that the show takes some extreme liberties with the true story of Catherine the Great, Russia's longest-running female ruler—and it makes no bones about doing so, billing itself as "an occasionally true story."

Starring Elle Fanning in the title role, the show follows the rise of Catherine as she arrives in Russia as a teenager, naively excited for her arranged wedding night with Peter III (Nicholas Hoult), the heir to the Russian throne ... and goes on to overthrow her husband, mastermind a plot to have him killed, and ascend the throne after his assassination. So exactly how true is this stranger-than-fiction series of events? Spoiler: a lot more true than you might suspect. Here's a primer on the real story of Peter III's assassination.

Catherine and Peter's marriage was fraught from the start.

Catherine, who was born Sophie Frederica Auguste, came to Russia with her ambitious mother who had the express intention of finding her a good marriage. The teenage Catherine impressed then-Empress Elizabeth Petrovna so much that Elizabeth arranged for her to be married to her nephew and heir, Peter III. There was only one downside to this match; Catherine and Peter reportedly hated each other, and Biography.com has a truly savage summary of the situation:

It took eight years for the couple to have a child, which at the time was highly unusual, and their eldest son Paul was rumored to be illegitimate. Catherine herself later confirmed this, claiming that she and Peter had never actually consummated their marriage, and both were known to have numerous extramarital affairs.

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Catherine became suspicious of Peter's intentions once he took the throne.

Peter III ascended as the Tsar of Russia in January of 1762–but by then, Catherine had already learned a lot about leadership on her own time, and she was not impressed by her husband's capabilities. “When she was grand duchess, in a marriage that wasn’t working, and having nothing to do at court except please the empress and stay out of trouble, she spent a lot of time reading,” The Great historical adviser Virginia Rounding told Time. “She trained herself, learning and beginning to form the idea that she could do better than her husband.”

Partially as a result of her new education, Catherine began to question much of Peter's decision-making, and she wasn't alone. Her memoirs would later depict him as "an idiot and a drunkard, prone to brutal practical jokes and interested only in playing soldier." He was a deeply unpopular ruler, and after less than half a year a substantial faction had already begun conspiring to overthrow him. Catherine, reportedly fearing for her personal safety, was one of the driving forces behind the insurgence, along with her lover Grigory Orlov.

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Peter was forced to abdicate just six months after he took the throne.

Peter was officially overthrown on June 28, 1762 when Catherine and Orlov mounted a coup, leading 14,000 soldiers on horseback to the Winter Palace and forcing Peter to sign abdication paperwork. He was immediately jailed.

The circumstances of Peter's death remain mysterious.

What is known is that Peter died shortly after being overthrown and jailed, around July 17, 1762. It's widely believed that he was assassinated behind bars, and that Alexei Orlov, Grigory's brother, was the killer. What remains most unclear is whether Catherine herself was aware of any assassination plot–or indeed whether she ordered it–there's even some evidence that Peter committed suicide. But across Europe, Catherine was generally blamed nonetheless.

"The circumstances and cause of death, and the intentions and degree of responsibility of those involved can never be known," wrote Robert K. Massie in his seminal biography, Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman.

Emma Dibdin is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles who writes about culture, mental health, and true crime. She loves owls, hates cilantro, and can find the queer subtext in literally anything.

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