The deliciously witty drama series ‘The Great’ tells the occasionally true story of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. It’s a wonderful example of why historic dramas should be taken as entertainment, not a history lesson. While playing fast and loose with history it actually sanitizes a lot of the scandal in her life by transforming Peter into a romantic antihero and making Catherine fall in love with him. In reality Catherine didn’t keep Peter around for a ‘will they, won’t they’ Hollywood romance. Her lover promptly strangled him in prison. Catherine the Great knew how to use her charm and sexuality, the only tools available to a woman of her time, both for her own advancement and her own pleasure. And while I love the great, it so far only captures a fraction of her true greatness. So let’s take a peek inside the imperial boudoir and get to know the Empress, her twisted relationship with Peter and her many lovers a little more intimately. And we’ll address that horrid rumor about the horse. Sergei Saltykov Stanislaw Poniatowski Grigory Orlov Alexander Vasilchikov Grigory Potemkin Pyotr Zavadovsky Semyon Zorich Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov Alexander Lanskoy Alexander Yermolov Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov Platon Zubov Plus Peter’s Mistress, Elizaveta Vorontsova Join me every Tuesday when I'm Spilling the Tea on History! Check out my Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/lindsayholiday Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091781568503 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyteatimelindsayholiday/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@historyteatime Please consider supporting me at https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday and help me make more fascinating episodes! Intro Music: Baroque Coffee House by Doug Maxwell Music: Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100303 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ #HistoryTeaTime #LindsayHoliday Please contact [email protected] if you would like to advertise on this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices