#sophia dorothea of wurttemberg

[adini-nikolaevna]

The future Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, née Duchess Sophia Dorothea of Wurttemberg, by Rokotov.

[the-last-tsar]

Tsarina Maria Feodorovna (Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg).

(source: Instagram)

[goodqueenaly]

Were there any queens/princess/ladies particularly known for their great height? I know Mary Queen of Scots was about 6ft along with her mother and some of her Stuart female descendants were around that height too, but I don't know much about other royal families.

Huh, good question. Obviously these are just a few examples.

Mary Queen of Scots, whom you mentioned, is the most obvious example of a tall royal woman. At her wedding to the Dauphin of France in 1558, Mary, who was not quite fifteen at the time, was noted to stand shoulder to shoulder with her uncles, the brothers of her mother Mary of Guise. It was certainly from Mary of Guise that her Scottish daughter inherited her famous height: the French-born second wife of James V of Scotland was nearly six feet tall herself, and had indeed attracted no less than Henry VIII as a suitor because of her robust physical appearance (though, when Henry said that he was “big in person and in want of a big wife”, Mary shrewdly replied that “I may be a big person, but my neck is small”). Mary Queen of Scots eventually stood around five feet eleven inches - tall for a woman even by modern standards - and it was said that when she fled to England in 1568, she was recognized by strangers by her height alone.

Mary II - the great-great granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots - inherited her predecessor’s height as well as her name. The elder daughter of James II and VII (he who began the claims of the Jacobite pretenders), Mary stood at around five foot eleven as well. Her height made for a dramatic contrast between herself and her husband, the eventual William III, who was just five foot six - average height for a man of his day, but unfortunately noticeably shorter than his wife. (This difference was masked in the display of their wax effigies after their death, with William’s placed on a small stool so that he would stand equal to his wife.)

Another tall royal was Duchess Cecile of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a German princess who married Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia in 1905. When her brother, Grand Duke Frederick Francis IV, married Princess Alexandra of Hanover in 1904, Crown Prince Wilhelm attended on behalf of his father, Wilhelm II. Though the Crown Prince was no slouch in the heigh department. and was certainly taller than his father, Cecile stood at nearly six feet tall, and was just about equal in height with the Crown Prince. (They were the parents of that Prince Wilhelm who had been forbidden from marrying Dorothea von Salvati, though he did anyway.)

More distant in the past was Margaret of York, the youngest daughter of Richard, Duke of York and sister to Edward IV and Richard III of England. (This was the same Margaret, incidentally, who had backed the false pretender Lambert Simnel.) The Duchess of Burgundy stood at around six feet tall - perhaps unsurprising, genetically speaking, since her brother Edward was famed for being around 6'4", and indeed at her wedding a contemporary remarked that she resembled her brother in height. (Unfortunately, her husband, Charles, was below average height.)

Not European royals, but royals nonetheless, there were also several Hawaiian royal women noted for above-average height. Queen Kamāmalu, the daughter of Kamehameha I and wife of Kamehameha II, stood over six feet tall, and caused quite a sensation from her height when she and her spouse traveled to Great Britain for a state visit in 1824; her British escort wrote to a friend of his that “Her Majesty is a whacker [slang for a very tall individual] nearly six feet high”, while the Times reported that she was “certainly a fine full grown lady”. Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani, another member of the Kamehameha dynasty, stood over six feet tall as well (if you ever visit the Big Island of Hawaii, you can visit Hulihe’e Palace; Princess Ruth inherited the palace after the untimely death of her son, and although she preferred living in a large hut on the palace grounds, there are a number of artifacts there that give a real sense of the princess’ size.)

There are also a number of royal women I know who were reported as “tall”, though I cannot find specific measurements of height.Sophia Dorothea of Wurttemberg, for example, who married the future Emperor Paul of Russia, was noted for her great height: Catherine the Great, said that she was “tall, shapely, intelligent, quick-witted, and not at all shy”, while a contemporary noted that she was “tall, fair, [and] inclined to embonpoint [a typical eighteenth century description for “healthy” stoutness on a woman]“, and indeed it may be that the famously tall Russian grand dukes took their height from her. Both of Peter the Great’s surviving daughters, Anna and Elizabeth, were described as tall (again unsurprising, given that Peter himself was over six and a half feet tall), and Elizabeth in particular grew fond of metamorfozy balls, in which the members of each sex dressed in the other’s clothing, knowing how well male military attire suited her tall frame.

[bremont]

U.K. Judge Upholds Julian Assange’s Arrest Warrant By CEYLAN YEGINSUFEB. 6, 2018

[the-last-tsar]

 Tsarinas Consorts of the Romanov House.

Maria Vladimirovna - Maria was born in 1601 and was the first wife of Tsar Michael I. She was selected for marriage to Michael by his mother, Xenia Shestova, after several years of difficulty of finding a partner for the Tsar.  The wedding took place on 19 September 1624. Not long after the wedding, the Tsarina took ill. She died on 17 January 1625, four months after the wedding. There were rumors at the time that she had been poisoned by fractions at court determined to prevent any potential pro-Rurikid influence, or by the enemies of her father’s family.

Eudoxia Lukyanovna - Eudoxia was born in 1608 and was the second wife of Tsar Michael I. She was among those daughters of the nobility summoned to appear in the Bride-show at court, when the tsar was to select his new tsaritsa, after his first spouse had died. He eventually chose Eudoxia because of her beauty, polite behavior and mild disposition. She was described as a modest and virtuous girl, dominated by her proud relatives, who sometimes brought her to tears but still did not complain. The wedding was conducted on 5 February 1626. After the wedding, she was given several lands, and a substantial fortune of her own. Eudoxia and Michael became parents of 10 children, including the future Tsar Alexei I.

Maria Ilyinichna - Maria was born in 1624 and was the first wife of Tsar Alexei I. The tsar was to choose his bride from a bride-show of hundreds of daughters of the nobility, Maria was selected as the tsar's second choice after his first choice to marry Euphemia Fedorovna Vsevolozhskaya was annuled. Maria was reportedly a beauty. The wedding was conducted in 16 January 1648 in Moscow and the union is described as a happy one. The couple had 13 children, including  Tsar Feodor III of Russia, Tsar Ivan V of Russia, and the Princess Regent Sophia Alekseyevna.

Natalya Kirillovna - Natalya was born in 1651 and was the second wife of Tsar Alexei I. In March 1669, Tsar Alexis’ first wife, Tsarina Maria, died during the birth of what would have been their fourteenth child. The Tsar supported by the Russian public, although not by the family of Maria, decided to remarry in the hope of producing more potential heirs. The tsar arranged an inspection of women he considered eligible in early 1670, Natalya was added to this inspection following an encounter with the tsar at the home of her adoptive father, Artamon Matveyev. Alexis was impressed by Natalya's beauty, and selected her to be his bride without needing to go ahead with a planned second inspection. The couple married on 1 February 1671. Alexis and Natalya had a happy marriage, spending much of their time together in various palaces and villas around Moscow. The couple became parents of the future Tsar Peter the Great.

Agafiya Semyonovna - Agafiya was born in 1663 and was the first wife of Tsar Feodor III. In 1680, Tsar Feodor, saw her during a religious procession: when she fainted after the sight of a witch in a religious theater play he rushed forward to support her, and fell in love with her. Aware that her uncle did not wish her to marry, a traditional summon was proclaimed to all unmarried noble women to gather for Feodor to choose from, and he chose her. On 18 July 1680, she married Feodor. Agafya has been described as merciful and loyal to her husband and the public's welfare.  She could speak and write Polish, French and Latin and was well informed about the Western European life style. She could also play harpsichord. She was described as beautiful as "an angel of heaven", with an easy going character. She was the first to advocate beard-shaving and the adoption of Western clothes at the Russian court. She herself was the first Tsarina to expose her hair and to wear a Western (Polish) dress. Agafya died as a consequence of the childbirth, and six days later, the nine-days-old Tsarevich Ilya also died. She was reportedly deeply mourned by Feodor.

Marfa Matveyevna - Marfa was born in 1664 and was the second wife of Tsar Feodor III. She was the daughter of Matvey Vasilyevich Apraksin and Domna Bogdanovna Lovchikova. She and Feodor were married on 14 February 1682, and he died only a few months later in April.

Praskovya Fyodorovna - Praskovya was born in 1664 and was the only wife of Tsar Ivan V. The marriage of Ivan V was arranged by his sister, the regent Sophia. Ivan V himself reportedly showed no inclination toward marriage and according to the Swedish diplomat Hildebrandt Horn, Praskovia was not willing to marry Ivan, but was forced to consent. The wedding took place on 9 January 1684, with the Patriarch John officiating as the ceremony. Praskovia Saltykova was at the time of her marriage described as a healthy Russian beauty, tall, with a full figure and long thick hair, as a person, she was described as religious, superstitious and not very well educated. Praskovya and Ivan had five daughters including Empress Anna of Russia.

Eudoxia Feodorovna - Eudoxia was born on 1669 and was the first wife of Tsar Peter I (the Great). She was chosen as a bride for the Tsar by his mother Natalya. She was crowned Tsarina in 1689. The Tsar could not stand her conservative relatives and soon abandoned her for a Dutch beauty, Anna Mons. Eudoxia's letters to Peter were full of complaints and exhortations of unrequited love. She was the paternal grandmother of Peter II of Russia.

Catherine Alexeyevna - Catherine was born on 1684 and was the second wife of Tsar Peter I (the Great). She was originally named Marta Helena Skowrońska, In 1705,she converted to Orthodoxy and took the new name of Catherine Alexeyevna. Afterwards she became part of the household of Prince Alexander Menshikov, who was the best friend of Peter the Great of Russia. Anecdotal sources suggest that she was purchased by him. In 1704, she was well established in the Tsar's household as his mistress, and gave birth to a son, Peter. Though no record exists, Catherine and Peter are described as having married secretly in St. Petersburg in 1707. Peter married her again (this time officially) at Saint Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg in 1712; she took the style of her husband and became Tsarina. They had 12 children. Peter died on 1725 without name a successor and Catherine was chosen as Empress Regnant.

Catherine Alekseyevna - Catherine was born in Prussia as Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst on 1729 and was the only wife of Tsar Peter III. The choice of Sophie as wife of her second cousin, the prospective Tsar Peter, resulted from some amount of diplomatic management in which Count Lestocq, Peter's aunt (and the ruling Russian Empress) Elizabeth and Frederick II of Prussia took part. Lestocq and Frederick wanted to strengthen the friendship between Prussia and Russia to weaken Austria's influence and ruin the Russian chancellor Bestuzhev, on whom Empress Elizabeth relied, and who acted as a known partisan of Russo-Austrian co-operation. The diplomatic intrigue failed, largely due to the intervention of Sophie's mother, Johanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. Historical accounts portray Johanna as a cold, abusive woman who loved gossip and court intrigues. Despite Johanna's interference, Empress Elizabeth took a strong liking to Catherine, who, on arrival in Russia in 1744 spared no effort to ingratiate herself not only with Empress Elizabeth, but with her husband and with the Russian people as well. The long-planned dynastic marriage finally occurred on 21 August 1745 in Saint Petersburg. Sophie had turned 16; The newlyweds settled in the palace of Oranienbaum, which remained the residence of the "young court" for many years to come. In 1762 Peter died and Catherine took the throne as Catherine II. Peter and Catherine were parents of Tsar Paul I.

Maria Feodorovna - Maria was born in Prussia as Duchess Sophie Dorothea on 1759 and was the second wife of Tsar Paul I. In 1776, when Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia), became a widower, Sophie Dorothea was chosen by Frederick II of Prussia, her maternal great uncle, and by Empress Catherine II of Russia, as the ideal candidate to be Paul’s second wife. They met in a state dinner in Berlin and their engagement was quickly arranged.Sophie Dorothea arrived in St Petersburg that September, converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, and took the name Maria Feodorovna. She married Paul on 26 September 1776. In spite of her husband's difficult character, Maria Feodorovna made a success of her marriage. Paul and Maria lived at Gatchina. They were devoted to each other and had ten children including: Tsar Alexander I, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, Grand Duchess Maria of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Queen Catherine of Wurttemberg and Queen Anna of the Netherlands.

Elizabeth Alexeievna - Elizabeth was born on 1779 in Germany as Princess Louise Maria Auguste of Baden and was the only wife of Tsar Alexander I. Catherine the Great was looking for a bride for her eldest grandson, the future Alexander I, and set her eyes on the Princesses of Baden, so Catherine invited Princess Louise and her younger sister Frederica, who later became Queen of Sweden, to Russia. In the autumn of 1792, the two sisters arrived in St. Petersburg. The Empress was delighted by Louise, finding her a model of beauty, charm, and honesty. Louise herself was attracted to Alexander, who was handsome. At first, Alexander was shy with his future bride — very young and inexperienced, however, the young couple soon grew fond of each other. The Princess learned Russian and converted to the Orthodox Church. The wedding took place on 28 September 1793. "It was a marriage between Psyche and Cupid", Catherine wrote to the Prince of Ligne. Elizabeth was only fourteen, her husband a year older.

Alexandra Feodorovna - Alexandra was born in Berlim as Princess  Friederike Luise Charlotte Wilhelmine of Prussia on 1798 and was the only wife of Tsar Nicholas I. In 1814, Nicholas Pavlovich, future Tsar of Russia, and his brother Michael Pavlovich, visited Berlin. Arrangements were made for Nicholas to marry Charlotte, then fifteen years old, to strengthen the alliance between Russia and Prussia. On a second visit the following year, Nicholas fell in love with the then-seventeen-year-old Princess Charlotte. The feeling was mutual, "I like him and am sure of being happy with him." She wrote to her brother. On June 1817 Charlotte came to Russia with her brother William. After arriving in St. Petersburg she converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and took the Russian name "Alexandra Feodorovna". On her nineteenth birthday, on July 1817, she and Nicholas were married in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace. The couple had 7 children including Tsar Alexander II.

Maria Alexandrovna - Maria was born as Princess Maximiliane Wilhelmine Auguste Sophie Marie of Hesse and by Rhine on 1824 and was the first wife of Tsar Alexander II. In 1839, the Tsarevich Alexander, traveled to western Europe to complete his education and to search for a wife. He  stopped for one day in Darmstadt during the evening, invited to the Opera house by the Grand Duke of Hesse, Alexander was introduced to Princess Marie. Alexander was smitten by her. In June of 1939, he returned to Darmstadt to seal his engagement with Princess Marie. The Princess was received into the Russian Orthodox Church on December 1840 and became Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna. The wedding took place on 28 April, 1841. The couple had 8 children including Tsar Alexander III.

Maria Feodorovna - Maria was born on 1847 at Denmark as Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar and was the only wife of Tsar Alexander III. In 1864, Tsarevich Nicholas went to Denmark where he was betrothed to Dagmar. On April 1865 he died from meningitis. His last wish was that Dagmar would marry his younger brother, the future Alexander III. Dagmar was distraught after her young fiancé's death. The disaster had brought her very close to "Nicholas’" parents, and she received a letter from Alexander II in which the Emperor attempted to console her. In June 1866, while on a visit to Copenhagen, the Tsarevich Alexander asked Dagmar for her hand. They had been in her room looking over photographs together. She converted to Orthodoxy and became Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna. The wedding took place on November 1866 in the Imperial Chapel of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. The couple had 6 children including Tsar Nicholas II.

Alexandra Feodorovna - Alexandra was born on 1872 in Darmstadt as Princess Alix Viktoria Helene Luise Beatrix of Hesse and by Rhine and was the only wife of Tsar Nicholas II. Nicholas and Alix had first met in 1884 at the wedding of Nicholas's Uncle Sergei and Alix's sister Elisabeth in St. Petersburg. When Alix returned to Russia on a several week visit in 1889, the two young people fell in love. Initially Nicholas's father, Tsar Alexander III, refused the prospect of their marriage. Alexander and his wife were both vehemently anti-German, and did not want the match with Princess Alix. While in good health, Alexander III ignored his son's demands, but began to relent when his health began to fail. In 1894 Nicholas proposed to Alix. She initially rejected him on the grounds of her refusal to convert to Orthodoxy. However, after pressure from the Kaiser, who had told her that it was her duty to marry Nicholas she accepted his second proposal. Alexandra and Nicholas were wed in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace of St Petersburg on 26 November 1894. The marriage that began that night remained exceptionally close until the pair was assassinated in 1918. The marriage was outwardly serene and proper, but based on intensely passionate physical love.