Terrible tsarinas

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Terrible Tsarinas here is mine. You yourselves would not be able to tell them apart.

And I know how to sign his name as well; I often did so as a joke!”

The onlookers were flabbergasted - but not indignant.

Dipping a quill into the inkwell, Ivan signed Peter’s name at the bottom of the page. They all leaned over his shoulder and murmured with wonder.

“That is exactly the hand of the tsar!”13 they exclaimed.

Then the conspirators exchanged half-reassured glances and prayed God that they would be spared the necessity of actually using this forgery.

From time to time, they sent emissaries to the palace for an update on the tsar’s condition. The news was grimmer and grimmer. Peter died at one o’clock in the morning, Monday, January 19, 1730, at the age of 14 years and three months. His reign had lasted just over two and a half years. January 19, 1730, the day of his death, is the date he had set a few weeks before for his marriage with Catherine Dolgoruky.