Nicholas 1 of russia biography of christopher

In the 1820s, the Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich (the future Emperor Nicholas I) experienced a dramatic change of fate.

Nicholas 1 of russia biography of christopher

Theoretically, as the third son of the Emperor Paul, Nicholas did not have the slightest chance of ascending to the Russian throne and he therefore embarked on a military career, according to a strong Romanov tradition for younger sons.

But his oldest brother, Alexander I and his wife, Elizabeth Alexeyevna, remained childless, and the second brother, Constantine, the future Viceroy of Poland, married a woman of non-royal blood and was forced to renounce all rights to the Russian crown.

For the time being, it was decided to keep Constantine's renunciation a secret, which unexpectedly had serious consequences.

In 1825, Alexander I died suddenly in Taganrog in the south of Rus