Paul I of Russia

Paul I
Portrait by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1800
Emperor of Russia
Reign	17 (6) November 1796 – 23 (11) March 1801
Coronation	5 (16) April 1797
Predecessor	Catherine II
Successor	Alexander I
Duke of Holstein-Gottorp
Reign	9 July 1763 – 23 (11) March 1801
Born	1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	24 March 1801(1801-03-24) (aged 46) St Michael's Castle, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Burial	Peter and Paul Cathedral
Spouses	Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt ​ ​ (m. 1773; died 1776)​ Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg ​ ​ (m. 1776)​
Issue detail	Alexander I of Russia Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich Alexandra Pavlovna, Palatina of Hungary Elena Pavlovna, Hereditary Princess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Catherine Pavlovna, Queen of Württemberg Grand Duchess Olga Pavlovna Anna Pavlovna, Queen of the Netherlands Nicholas I of Russia Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich
Names Pável Petróvich Románov Russian: Па́вел Петро́вич Рома́нов
House	Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov
Father	Peter III of Russia[a]
Mother	Catherine II of Russia
Religion	Russian Orthodox
Signature

Paul I (Russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич, romanized: Pavel I Petrovich; 1 October [O.S. 20 September] 1754 – 23 March [O.S. 11 March] 1801) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination in 1801.

Paul remained overshadowed by his mother, Catherine the Great, for most of his life. He adopted the laws of succession to the Russian throne—rules that lasted until the end of the Romanov dynasty and of the Russian Empire. He also imposed the first limitations on serfdom with the Manifesto of three-day corvee, sought to curtail the privileges of the nobility, pursued various military reforms which were highly unpopular among officers and was known for his unpredictable behavior, all of which contributed to the conspiracy that would take his life.

In 1799 he brought Russia into the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France alongside Britain and Austria; the Russian forces achieved several victories at first but withdrew after facing setbacks. Paul then realigned Russia with France and led the creation of the Second League of Armed Neutrality to oppose Britain after Napoleon's rise to power. Toward the end of his reign, he added Kartli and Kakheti in Eastern Georgia to the Russian Empire. He was planning a joint invasion of British India with the French before being killed in a fight with his own officers who were trying to force his abdication. He was succeeded by his son Alexander I.

He was de facto Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1799 to 1801 and ordered the construction of a number of priories of the Order of Malta.^[1]

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