7 - Peter’s Heirs and Feofan Prokopovich 1719–1725

Summary

Peter’s solution to succession was the 1722 law that established the right of the monarch to choose his own successor. Bishop Feofan Prokopovich defended the law in a tract mistakenly called “absolutist” by modern historians. Feofan actually defended Peter’s law by using the notion of state sovereignty formulated by Hugo Grotius. Peter did not formally designate an heir, but he had his wife Ekaterina crowned Empress in 1724. Peter’s grandson Petr Alekseevich, his daughters, and his nieces were all part of the ruling family and were all celebrated at court. Peter married some of the women to European princes. On his death Ekaterina ascended the throne.