Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia from 1729 to 1796 was known for many things, including: Being the longest female ruler in Russia, exempting nobles from mandatory military service, introducing the first government-financed higher education center for women, expanding the Russian empire, and instilling many different reforms. After her death, she was remembered for something a bit more trivial: dying while having sex with a horse. This is a definite myth, seeing as she actually died of an illness, safe in her own bed. But at the time that was the circulating rumor about the empress who led Russia through its enlightenment period.
So if this myth is false, how on earth did it come to be?
The answer is not surprising as it involves one of the most hated Queens of all time. Mary Antoinette was said to start outrageous myths about anyone she didn't care for; and apparently the myth started in France so Antoinette starting this rumor would not be far fetched.
With Catherine's eager sexual appetite, it was no question that there would be rumors started about her sex life, but the that they were wilder then the standards of her time made her subject to rumors on a more heinous scale.
In more recent years,
another myth about her death surfaced: that she died on the toilet. The story goes that Catherine's dead bloated body was so heavy that it cracked the toilet she was sitting on. The myth stems from the fact that before her actual death, she was said to be found collapsed in a "closet". People have taken the liberty to interpret closet as "water closet", another term for the toilet.
Even if this myth has some truth to it, it is not a fact; for Catherine was pronounced dead as she lay in her bed surrounded by family and caretakers.
It is common for ruthless rumors to be spread about leaders, especially by their enemies, but in Catherines case, it doesn't seem fair that such a seemingly wonderful ruler has such a humiliating legacy.
Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia from 1729 to 1796 was known for many things, including: Being the longest female ruler in Russia, exempting nobles from mandatory military service, introducing the first government-financed higher education center for women, expanding the Russian empire, and instilling many different reforms. After her death, she was remembered for something a bit more trivial: dying while having sex with a horse. This is a definite myth, seeing as she actually died of an illness, safe in her own bed. But at the time that was the circulating rumor about the empress who led Russia through its enlightenment period.
So if this myth is false, how on earth did it come to be?
The answer is not surprising as it involves one of the most hated Queens of all time. Mary Antoinette was said to start outrageous myths about anyone she didn't care for; and apparently the myth started in France so Antoinette starting this rumor would not be far fetched.
With Catherine's eager sexual appetite, it was no question that there would be rumors started about her sex life, but the that they were wilder then the standards of her time made her subject to rumors on a more heinous scale.
In more recent years, another myth about her death surfaced: that she died on the toilet. The story goes that Catherine's dead bloated body was so heavy that it cracked the toilet she was sitting on. The myth stems from the fact that before her actual death, she was said to be found collapsed in a "closet". People have taken the liberty to interpret closet as "water closet", another term for the toilet.
Even if this myth has some truth to it, it is not a fact; for Catherine was pronounced dead as she lay in her bed surrounded by family and caretakers.
It is common for ruthless rumors to be spread about leaders, especially by their enemies, but in Catherines case, it doesn't seem fair that such a seemingly wonderful ruler has such a humiliating legacy.
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