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Alexandra Feodorovna (), born Princess Charlotte of Prussia (13 July 1798 – 1 November 1860), was Empress consort of Russia. She was the wife of Emperor Nicholas I, and mother of Emperor Alexander II. Born as Princess Charlotte of Prussia, she was the eldest surviving daughter of Frederick William III of Prussia, and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Her childhood was marked by the Napoleonic wars and the death of her mother when Princess Charlotte was twelve years old. In 1814, her marriage was arranged for political reason with Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich of Russia, the future Tsar Nicholas I. They fell in love with each other and married in 1817. Upon her marriage, Princess Charlotte converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and took the Russian name Alexandra Feodorovna. Ideally matched with her husband, she had a happy marriage that produced a large family; seven children survived childhood. At the death of her brother in law, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in December 1825, Alexandra’s husband became the new Russian Emperor. Alexandra enjoyed her husband’s confidence in affairs of state, but she had no interest in politics other than her personal attachment to Prussia, her native country. She was the obedient and admiring supporter of her husband's views. Her personality was completely overshadowed by Nicholas I's strong character. As empress consort, Alexandra Feodorovna had no interest in charity work. Her chief interests were in family affairs, dancing, balls and jewels. After 1841 her health deteriorated. She spent long sojourns abroad in search for a respite to her frail constitution. The death of her youngest daughter, Alexandra, in 1844, was a terrible blow. As she became largely an invalid, Nicholas I took mistresses, but Alexandra retained her husband's love. She survived Nicholas I by five years and died in 1860, a much loved matriarch of her family. ==Princess of Prussia== Charlotte, as she was then known, was born on 13 July 1798 at the Charlottenburg Palace. She was the eldest surviving daughter and fourth child of Frederick William III, King of Prussia, and Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and a sister of Frederick William IV of Prussia and of Wilhelm I, German Emperor. Princess Charlotte's childhood was marked by the Napoleonic Wars. Her father, Frederick William III, King of Prussia, was a kind and genuinely religious man but was a weak and indecisive ruler who, following defeats at Jena and Auerstadt in 1806, lost half of his kingdom. Charlotte’s mother, Queen Louise, was famous for her beauty and she was more decisive than her husband. When the Prussians were defeated at the battle of Jena, Louise fled to Königsberg, taking her children with her, including Princess Charlotte, then eight years old. In East Prussia, they were given protection by Tsar Alexander I. Soon, Berlin fell under Napoleon’s control and Princess Charlotte grew up in war-torn Memel, Prussia. In December 1809, Queen Louise finally returned to Berlin with her children, but after a few months, became ill and died at the age of 34, shortly after Charlotte’s twelfth birthday. For the rest of her life, Charlotte treasured her mother’s memory.〔Grunwald, '' Tsar Nicholas I'', p. 138〕 From that point, Princess Charlotte occupied the first female rank in Prussia as the eldest daughter of her widower father. She would remain attached to Prussia and her family all of her life. In the fall of 1814, Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich of Russia, the future Tsar Nicholas I, and his brother Grand Duke Michael, visited Berlin. Arrangements were made between the two Royal families for Nicholas to marry Princess Charlotte in order to strengthen the alliance between Russia and Prussia. Nicholas was only second in line to the throne, as the heir was his brother Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich who, like Tsar Alexander I, was childless. 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, "What we have in common is our inner life; let the world do as it pleases, in our hearts we have a world of our own." Hand-in-hand, they wandered over the Potsdam countryside, and attended the Berlin Court Opera. By the end of his visit, Grand Duke Nicholas and Princess Charlotte were engaged. They were third cousins, as they were both great-great-grandchildren of Frederick William I of Prussia. The wedding did not take place for another two years. On 9 June 1817 Princess Charlotte came to Russia with her brother William.〔Lincoln, '' Nicholas I Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias'', p. 66〕 After arriving in St. Petersburg she converted to Russian Orthodoxy, and took the Russian name Alexandra Feodorovna. On her nineteenth birthday, 13 July 1817, she and Nicholas were married in the Chapel of the Winter Palace. "I felt myself very, very happy when our hands joined," she would later write about her wedding. "With complete confidence and trust, I gave my life into the hands of my Nicholas, and he never once betrayed it."〔Lincoln, '' The Romanovs'', p. 414〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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