52 Count J. E. von der Goertz, Mémoire sur la Russie section 3 p 43. In Ségur’s Mémoires (1826) vol 2 p 344, Count Mamonov, who was Catherine’s favourite in the late 1780s, told Ségur that Catherine would be angry if he ‘meddled’ in government business.
53 Damas p 97.
54 Harris p 210, H to Weymouth 7/18 August 1779.
55 Harris p 366, H to Stormont 7/18 May 1781.
56 Saint-Jean ch 2 pp 12–21. B&F vol 1 p 17, Cobenzl to JII 5 May 1780.
57 Harris to Weymouth 11/22 October 1779.
CHAPTER 12 HIS NIECES
1 RGADA 11.1.9496.595, V. A. Engelhardt to GAP 5 July 1775. RGADA 5.85.1.161, L 76, CII to GAP.
2 RA (1877) 1 p 479, Ribeaupierre.
3 AKV 11: 361, S. R. Vorontsov to Count Kochubey ud, 1802.
4 Wiegel, Zapiski p 43.
5 Wiegel, Zapiski p 43/4.
6 Ségur, Mémoires 1826 vol 2 p 225.
7 RGADA 1.1/1.43.118, L 116, CII to GAP ud.
8 RS (1875) March 5190520, CII to GAP ud.
9 Correspondence between GAP and Varvara Engelhardt 1777 and 1779 in Semevsky, Prince G. A. Potemkin-Tavrichesky pp 512–22. Harris p 180, H to Earl of Suffolk 14/25 September 1778. See also N. Y. Bolotina, Ties of Relationship between Prince G. A. Potemkin and the Family of the Princes Golitsyn, at Conference of Golitsyn Studies, edited in Bolshiye vyazemy. Also Varvara Golitsyna in Russkiy Biographicheskiy Slovar (1916) vol 5 and her entries in RP. On Daria Potemkina: RP5.221.
10 Kukiel pp 17–18.
11 Harris p 224, H to Viscount Weymouth 9/20 September 1779. PRO FO Secretary of State: State Papers, Foreign, cyphers SP103/63, Alleyne Fitzherbert Lord St Helens to Charles James Fox 26 April 1783.
12 B&F vol 1 p 139. Cobenzl to JII 19 March 1781.
13 Marquis d’Aragon, Un Paladin au XVIII siècle. Le Prince Charles de Nassau-Siegen p 133, Nassau-Siegen (N-S) to wife February 1787. Vigée Lebrun vol 1 pp 192–4.
14 Prince Yury Dolgoruky’s memoirs quoted in RP 1:1 p 30.
15 RGADA 1.1/1.54.26, L 116.
16 Corberon vol 2 p 371, 24 September 1780; p 377, 27 September 1780; p 384, 2 October 1780. B&F vol 1 p 13, Cobenzl to JII 13 December 1780.
17 Harris pp 181, 185, H to Suffolk 21 September/2 October and 5/16 October 1778.
18 RGADA 11.858.6, 3 June 1785; RGADA 11.858.5, 8 April 1784; RGADA 11.858.4, 29 March 1784; RGADA 11.858.3, 14 March 1784; all Tatiana Engelhardt to GAP, all unpublished. Corberon vol 2 p 363, 17 September 1780. RP 1:1 p 10 and 4:2 p 206.
19 RGADA 11.858.4, Tatiana Engelhardt to GAP 29 March 1784, unpublished.
20 RGADA 11.914, A. D. Lanskoy to GAP.
21 Many of these incest stories were simply the legends of enemies. The Habsburgs however did marry their nieces on several occasions – with papal dispensation. For example, Philip II of Spain’s fourth wife was his niece. See also Derek Beales, Joseph II p 20. The Regent, the Duc d’Orléans, story is unproven but is told in Christine Pevitt, The Man Who Would Be King: The Life of Philippe d’Orléans, Regent of France p 249. The Augustus the Strong story was widely believed; it is unproven, though in the moral quagmire of his court it was quite possible: Nancy Mitford, Frederick the Great p 35 and David Fraser, Frederick the Great, p 22, p 42. The Voltaire correspondence, including the letters to Madame Denis, was edited by Théodore Besterman.
22 RS (1875) 12 pp 681, 682, 683, 684, letters of unknown woman to GAP. (Also: RGADA–11).
CHAPTER 13: DUCHESSES, DIPLOMATS AND CHARLATANS
1 SIRIO 23 (1878): 571, CII to Baron F. M. Grimm August 1792.
2 This account of the Duchess of Kingston is based on the following: Isobel Grundy, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu: Comet of the Enlightenment, pp 1–10, 526. Corberon vol 2 p 179, 22 September 1777. RGVIA 52.33.539, Samuel Bentham to his father. 17 May 1780, St Petersburg. RGADA 39.33.539, 8 April 1780. BM 120.33555, 8 April 1780. Elizabeth Mavor, Virgin Mistress: The Life of the Duchess of Kingston pp 157, 175, 184. Anthony Cross, ‘Duchess of Kingston in Russia’ p 390. Anthony Cross, By the Banks of the Neva pp 363–7. Waliszewski, Autour d’un trône vol 1 p 95. T. H. White, The Age of Scandal pp 147–9. Prince Felix Yusupov, Lost Splendour pp 6–9.
3 Author’s visit to the Hermitage 1998.
4 ‘The Northern Hero: The Life of Major S—le The Celebrated Swindler’, British Library 1493 r35, 1786. James George Semple in The Dictionary of National Biography (1903). Castera vol 2 pp 399, 445. Mavor p 184. Cross, ‘Duchess’ pp 394–5.
5 Waliszewski, Autour d’un trône vol 1 p 114.
6 Corberon vol 2 p 227, 10 May 1779.
7 Rumiantseva pp 197–9, Countess E. M. Rumiantseva to Count P. A. Rumiantsev 2 February 1776.
8 Prince de Ligne quoted in Mansel, Charmeur p 9; Ligne, Letters (Staël) p 71, letter 11, Ligne to Coigny.
9 The father of the Vizier who met James Keith was a bellman in Kirkcaldy named James Miller. Philip Mansel, Constantinople: City of the World’s Desire p 202. MacDonogh, FtG pp 193–4. Fraser, FtG p 248. Harris p 181, H to Earl of Suffolk 21 September/2 October 1778; p 184, H to Suffolk 5/16 October 1778.
10 Isabel de Madariaga, The Travels of General Francisco de Miranda p 9.
11 Harris p 321, H to Viscount Stormont 13/24 December 1780.
12 Rumiantseva pp 197–9, Rumiantseva to Rumiantsev 2 February 1776.
13 Harris pp 136–7, Suffolk to H 9 January 1778; p 140, H to Suffolk 26 January/6 February 1778; p 170, H to William Fraser 16/27 May 1778. Waliszewski, Autour d’un trône vol 1 p 11. Castera vol 2 p 282.
14 SIRIO 19 (1876): 407, Sir Robert Gunning to Suffolk 7/18 March 1774, St Petersburg. SA, Mémoires vol 2 p 233, 1774. A. R. Barsukov, Proekty voennykh reform p 113, quoted in Ransel, Politics p 251.
15 RGADA 5.85.1.141, L 124.
16 Memoirs of the Life of Prince Potemkin pp 48–9.
17 RGADA 5.167.1, Prince Henry of Prussia to Potemkin 25 October 1778, unpublished.
18 Isabel de Madariaga Britain, Russia and the Armed Neutrality p 3.
19 Harris p 210, H to Viscount Weymouth 7/18 August 1779.
20 Harris p 212, H to Weymouth 9/20 September 1779.
21 Harris p 146, H to Suffolk 30 January/10 February 1778.
22 Harris p 212, H to Weymouth 9/20 September 1779.
23 Goertz section 3 p 41, Goertz to FtG, Memorandum.
24 Harris p 210, H to Weymouth 7/18 August 1779, p 214, 9/20 September 1779.
25 RGVIA 271.1.66.1, H to GAP ud. unpublished RGADA 11.923.11, H to GAP unpublished. Harris p 268, H to his father 26 May 1780. RGADA 11.923.2, H to GAP, unpublished.
26 Harris p 216, H to Weymouth 9/20 September 1779.
27 Corberon vol 2 p 313. P. Fauchille, La Diplomatique française et la Ligue des Neutres p 316, quoted in Isabel de Madariaga, ‘The Use of British Secret Service Funds at St Petersburg 1777–1782’p 466; Malmesbury PRO FO Secretary of State: State Papers, Foreign, cyphers 91/103 no 59, 9/20 September 1779; H to Gertrude Harris ud, Papers of Lord Malmesbury, Merton College Oxford, quoted in Madariaga, ‘British Secret Service Funds’ p 467.
28 Memoirs of the Life of Prince Potemkin p 50. Castera vol 2 p 442. RGADA 11.858.6, Tatiana Engelhardt to GAP 3 June 1785, unpublished. Pole Carew CO/R/3/203, unpublished. Harris p 338, H to Stormont 16/27 February 1781.
29 This account of Cagliostro in Petersburg and of eighteenth-century occultism is based on the following sources: SIRIO 23 (1878), CII to Grimm 9 July 1781. RS 12 pp 50–83. V. Zotov, ‘Cagliostro: His Life and visit to Russia’. Dumas pp 65–73. Trowbridge pp 142–7 and on eighteenth-century charlatans and occult healers pp 74–110. RGADA 5.85.1.179, L 8, CII to GAP ud. RGADA 5.85.1.280, L 19, GAP to CII and CII’s reply ud. RGADA 1.1/1.54.18, CII to GAP ud. Corberon vol 1 p 195 and vol 2 pp 395–6. Madariaga, Politics & Culture in Eightee
nth Century Russia: Collected Essays, pp 150–67.
30 RGADA 5.85.1.179, L 8, CII to GAP ud. RGADA 5.85.1.280, L 19, GAP to CII and CII’s reply ud. RGADA 1.1/1.54.18, CII to GAP ud.
31 RGADA 5.85.1.179, L 8, CII to GAP ud. RGADA 5.85.1.280, L 19, GAP to CII and CII’s reply ud. RGADA 1.1/1.54.18, CII to GAP ud.
32 RS 12 pp 50–83. Zotov. SIRIO 23 (1878), CII to Grimm 9 July 1781.
33 Harris pp 239–40, H to Stormont 15/26 February 1780.
34 Harris p 240, H to Stormont 15/26 February 1780.
35 Harris p 225, H to Weymouth 23 October/5 November 1779; pp 225–6, 9/20 September 1779. Harris p 229, H to Weymouth 23 October/5 November 1779.
36 Harris p 252, H to Stormont 31 March/11 April 1780. Also Malmesbury PRO FO Secretary of State: State Papers, Foreign, cyphers SP91/106 no 161, quoted in Madariaga, ‘British Secret Service Funds’ p 466. Memoirs de Torcy vol 2 p 99. Corberon vol 1 p 370, Corberon to Vergennes 24 September 1779. Fauchille p 293.
37 Harris p 255, H to Stormont 7/18 April 1780.
38 Harris p 275, H to Stormont 15/26 June 1780. Potemkin by J. E. Cerenville, La Vie de Prince Potemkine p 73 n 1. Madariaga, ‘British Secret Service Funds’ p 472. Goertz section 3 p 41, Goertz to FtG. Harris p 405, H to Stormont 13/24 March 1781. FO 65/1 no 170, H to Stormont 29 December/9 January 1781.
39 Corberon vol 1 p 370, 23 September 1780.
40 Harris p 256, H to Stormont 15/26 May 1780. PRO FO Secretary of State: State Papers, Foreign, cyphers SP91/104 unnumbered, H to Stormont 15/26 February 1780; SP91/104 no 19, Stormont to H 11 April 1780; SP91/105 no 42, H to Stormont 14 July 1780.
41 SIRIO 19 (1876): 506, Gunning to Suffolk 5/16 October 1775, Moscow. SIRIO 23: 136, CII to Grimm 7 May 1779. Stephen K. Batalden, Catherine II’s Greek Prelate: Eugenios Voulgaris in Russia 1771–1806 pp 33, 39, 43, 41. RGADA 16.689.1. ZOOID 1 (1844) pp 206–11 S. Sofanov, ‘Ostatki Grecheskikh Legionov v Rossii’. PSZ 14.366. CII appointed Voulgaris archbishop of Kherson and Slaviansk 9 September 1775. Voulgaris was succeeded on 6 August 1779 by another of GAP’s Greek clergymen, Archbishop Nikiforos Theotokis. See Gregory L. Bruess, Religion, Identity and Empire pp 85–6. Also GPB 227.1.25 ch 1, CII on Greek Gymnasium 19 November 1774, quoted in Batalden. Harris p 203, H to Weymouth 24 May/4 June 1779. Goertz section 1 p 24.
42 Harris p 203, H to Weymouth 24 May/4 June 1779.
43 Corberon vol 2 p 226.
CHAPTER 14: BYZANTIUM
1 This description of the Ottoman Empire is based on Baron de Tott, Memoirs, especially vol 1; the unpublished reports, anonymous and by N. Pisani, Y. Bulgakov and others from Istanbul, on the Sublime Porte and Ottoman politics in the Potemkin Chancellery Archive in RGVIA 52, for example N. Pisani to Y. Bulgakov RGVIA 52.11.53.11. These are filled with vivid descriptions of the ebb and flow of Ottoman politics and all are unpublished. Also Kinross esp. pp 112, 362–406 and Mansel, Constantinople esp. pp 57–132 which is the best modern account.
2 Anspach, Journey p 199, Lady Craven to Margave of Anspach 11 May 1786, Constantinople. De Tott vol 1 p 137. Kinross pp 137–47 and p 171 De Tott vol 1 p 96. Mansel, Constantinople pp 60–1.
3 RGVIA 52.11.53.31, N. Pisani to Y. Bulgakov 1/12 May 1787.
4 De Tott vol 3 p 101. Mansel, Constantinople p 203.
5 Sir Robert Keith, British Ambassador to Vienna, quoted in M. S. Anderson, The Eastern Question p 22.
6 Gerhard F. Kramer and Roderick E. McGrew, ‘Potemkin, the Porte and the Road to Tsargrad’ pp 267, 210B, Colonel Barozzi to GAP January 1790.
7 Harris p 203, H to Viscount Weymouth 24 May/4 June 1779. Corberon vol 2 p 226.
8 RGADA 5.85.1.1, L 189, GAP to CII.
9 Isabel de Madariaga, Politics and Culture in Eighteenth Century Russia: Collected Essays pp 20, 21. Metropolian Zosimus quoted in D. Stremoukhoff, ‘Moscow the Third Rome: Sources of the Doctrine’, Speculum (1953) 28 p 112 cited, Madariaga, Politics and Culture pp 20/21.
10 RGADA 11.941.4, Prince Alexander Mavrocordato to GAP 10 July 1791, Elisabethgrad. Coxe vol 2 p 461. RA 3 (1879) p 19. Ypselotate kai Eklamprotate Prinkips in T. Georgikon ta D’vivilia en eroika to metro, St Petersburg 1786, and GAP to Voulgaris, both quoted in Batalden pp 71–2. Also ZOOID 9 (1875) 281–2. GAP was cultivating three leading Greek bishops who all served as propagandists for his Byzantine–Russian project. Nikiforos Theotokis wrote Greek paeans to Grand Duke Constantine, hailing him as the future Byzantine emperor. When GAP moved Theotokis to be archbishop of Astrakhan and Stavropol, he was succeeded on 28 November 1786 by Ambrosius. See Bruess pp 85–6, 117, 128, 170.
11 AKV 13: 223–8, Count A. A. Bezborodko to Count P. V. Zavadovsky 17 November 1791, Jassy. O. I. Yeliseeva, ‘The Balkan Question in G. A. Potemkin’s Projects of Foreign Policy’, in The Century of Catherine II: Russia and the Balkans pp 63–8. AVPRI 5.591.1.99–113 the reverse. AVPRI 5.591.1.105–6 the reverse. SIRIO 26: 93, 399, 369–70, A. A. Bezborodko, ‘Picture or Short Note on Russia’s Wars with Tartars, Begun in the Middle of the Tenth Century and Uninterruptedly Lasting for Almost Eight Hundred Years’ ud, 1776. SIRIO 26 (1879): p 385, ‘Memorial Brigadra Alexandra Andreevicha Bezborodka po delem politicheskim’. Batalden pp 96–7. O. I. Veliseeva, GA Potemkin’s Geopolitical Projects, Associates of Catherine the Great pp 26–31. O. P. Markova, ‘O proiskhozhdenii tak nazyvayemogo Grecheskogo Proekta’. Hugh Ragsdale (ed), Imperial Russian Foreign Policy pp 75–103.
12 Ségur, Mémoires vol 2 p 393. Masson p 203. RP 2.1.9. Mikhail Garnovsky to Vasily Popov August 1787, quoted in Waliszewski, Autour d’un trône pp 30–3. Goertz p 45.
13 AKV 13: 84–7, Bezborodko to S. R. Vorontsov 29 July 1785.
14 Harris p 281, H to Sir Joseph Yorke, 14/25 July 1780.
15 B&F vol 1 p 6, Prince Wenzel von Kaunitz to Count Cobenzl 14 April 1780, Vienna.
16 A. A. Bezborodko, Pisma A. A. Bezborodka p 57, Bezborodko to P. A. Rumiantsev-Zadunaisky 4 February 1780. RA (1872) p 992, CII to D. M. Golitsyn, Vienna.
17 RGADA 5.85.1.30, L 137. RGADA 5.85.1.309, L 138. RGADA 5.85.1.204, L 138. RGADA 5.85.1.10, L 139. RGADA 5.85.1.203, L 138. All CII to GAP.
CHAPTER 15: THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR
1 Josef II und Katharina von Russland. Ihr Briefwechsel ed Alfred Ritter von Arneth, letter III, CII to JII 19 May 1780.
2 Maria Theresa und Josef II. Ihre Correspondenz ed Alfred Ritter von Arneth, vol 3 p 246, JII to Maria Theresa 2 June NS 1780, Mogilev. SIRIO 27: 182, CII to GAP 11pm 23 May 1780, Shklov.
3 B&F vol 1 p 1, JII to Count Cobenzl 13 April 1780, Vienna.
4 This profile of Joseph II is based on the following: Mansel, Charmeur p 80. Ligne, Fragments vol 1 310. Ligne, Mélanges vol 20 p 79. Ligne, Letters (Staël) vol 2 p 34, Ligne to CII 12 February 1790. SIRIO 23: 440, CII to Baron F. M. Grimm 19 April 1788. Edward Crankshaw, Maria Theresa pp 254–68. Andrew Wheatcroft, The Habsburgs pp 226, 232, 236. T. C. W. Blanning, Joseph II pp 47–67, 151–5. Beales, pp 31–89, 306–37, 431–8.
5 Maria Theresa – JII (Arneth) vol 3 p 246, JII to Maria Theresa 2 June 1780.
6 Engelhardt 1997 pp 26–30. SIRIO 23: 175–82, CII to Grimm.
7 Engelhardt 1997 pp 27–30.
8 Jerzy Lojek, Stanislas Poniatowski: Pamietniki synowca Stanislawa Augusta przekl, Instytut Wydawniczy PAX 1979 p 58.
9 Lp 709. V. M. Zheludov articles, including ‘Tsarski Kolodets’ [The Tsarina’s well]’, all Rayonnay Gazeta of Dukhovshchina Region of Smolensk Oblast. RGADA 5.85.1.83, L 140, CII to GAP.
10 Maria Theresa – JII (Arneth) vol 3 pp 250 and 260, JII to Maria Theresa 8 and 19 June 1780.
11 Dimsdale p 70, 7 September NS 1781, Tsarskoe Selo.
12 Maria Theresa – JII (Arneth) vol 3 p 270, JII to Maria Theresa 4 July 1780, St Petersburg. SIRIO 23 (1878): 183, CII to Grimm 24 July 1780, Peterhof.
13 Corberon vol 2 p 287, 18 August 1780. H
arris, H to Viscount Stormont 2/13 October 1780.
14 Harris, H to Stormont 2/13 October 1780. Fraser, FtG, p 561.
15 RGADA 52.3.2.1, Prince Henry of Prussia to GAP 2 August 1780, Rheinsburg, unpublished. Harris p 285, H to Stormont 28 August/8 September 1780.
16 Sources for Ligne: see next two notes.
17 The main sources for the portrait of the Prince de Ligne are Mansel, Charmeur as well as Ligne’s own Mélanges, Fragments and Letters, and the unpublished letters from him to GAP in RGADA and RGVIA which are cited later. Francisco de Miranda, Archivo del General Miranda p 294, 26 March 1787, Kiev. Corberon vol 2 pp 274–5, 8 August 1780. Ligne, Letters (Staël) vol 2 p 71 letter 11, Ligne to Coigny 8 August 1780. Mansel, Charmeur pp 21, 29, 65, 93. SIRIO 23 (1878): 185, CII to Grimm 7 September 1780. B & F vol 1 p 53, Cobenzl to JII 17 September NS 1780. Harris p 287, H to Stormont 22 September/3 October 1780.
18 B&F vol 1 p 91, Cobenzl to JII 13 December 1780.
19 RGADA 11.893.9, Ligne to GAP 6 December NS 1780, Vienna, unpublished. B& F vol 1 p 113, Cobenzl to JII 4 February 1781.
20 GARF 728.1.416.42, L 144, CII to GAP ud.
21 Harris p 321, H to Stormont 13/24 December 1780.
22 Harris p 314, H to Stormont 13/24 December 1780; pp 380–1, H to Stormont 14/25 July 1781. SIRIO 23 (1878): 431, CII to Grimm 30 November 1787. Harris p 275, H to Stormont 15/26 June, 6/17 October, 24 November/5 December 13/24 December 1780. Madariaga, Russia pp 385–7. AKV 13: 75–83, A. A. Bezborodko to S. R. Vorontsov July 1785. PRO FO Secretary of State: State Papers, Foreign, cyphers SP106/67, William Fawkener to Lord Grenville 18 June 1791, unpublished. Harris pp 431–2, Charles James Fox to H and H to Fox 19/30 April 1782; pp 342–50, H to Stormont 13/24 March 1781, H to Stormont 30 April/11 May 1781. William Coxe, Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon vol 3 p 448 (the £2 million stores on Minorca), quoted in Madariaga, Britain, Russia and the Armed Neutrality p 297.
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