Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/731

 P E T P E T Eudoxia Lopukhin, but had divorced her in 1696; she Lore him a son, Alexis. In 1 7 1 1 he took as his second wife Martha Skavronska, whom he caused to be baptized in the Greek Church under the name of Catherine. In this year took place Peter s unsuccessful campaign in Turkey, which ended with the loss of Azoff. The well-known story of his being rescued by Catherine when on the point of being obliged to surrender to the enemy has been shown to be of very doubtful authority. In 1713 Peter had made himself master of a considerable strip of the Swedish coast. In 1716 he went on another European tour in the company of his wife ; on this occasion he visited, among other places, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Paris. During his absence his son Alexis, who had been a constant source of trouble to him, became more rebellious and estranged from his father. He was openly leagued with the reactionary party in Russia, who looked forward to his assistance in reversing the policy of Peter, as soon as he should succeed to the throne. Peter on his return in 1718 forced his son to renounce all claim to the sovereignty. Alexis was after wards tried for high treason and sentenced to death ; soon it was given out that he had died suddenly. The fate of this wretched young man has only been ascertained in modern times ; it seems tolerably clear that he sank under repeated inflictions of torture. His death is a dark stain upon the character of Peter. On 10th September 1721 the peace of Nystad was concluded, by which Sweden ceded Livonia, Esthonia, Ingria, Carelia, Viborg, and the adjacent islands to Russia. In 1724 Peter went to inspect the works on Lake Ladoga, and further weakened his constitution, which had long been in an unhealthy state on account of the continual excitement and arduous labours of his life. The czar died on 28th January 1725. The character of Peter exhibits a strange congeries of opposed qualities. According to some he &quot;knouted&quot; Russia into civilization ; others see in him the true &quot; father of his country &quot; and the founder of Russian greatness. In spite of his errors, no one will deny that he was a man of great genius; his was the &quot; fiery soul that, working out its way,&quot; exhausted prematurely a vigorous physical organization. Although frequently cruel, on many occasions he showed humanity and tenderness, and even in his most violent fits of temper was amenable to advice, as he evinced in enduring the rebukes of Prince James Dolgoruki. All Russia seems but the monument of this strange colossal man. He added six provinces to her dominions, gave her an outlet upon two seas, a regular army trained in European tactics in lieu of the disorderly militia previously existing, a fleet, and a naval academy, and, besides these, galleries of paint ing and sculpture and libraries. The title of &quot; Great &quot; cannot justly be refused to such a man. PETER II., ALBXEIEVICH (1715-1730), son of Alexis and grandson of Peter the Great, was born at St Peters burg in 1715, and ascended the throne in 1727. He was under the guardianship of Menshikoff, to whose daughter Mary he was betrothed. The faction of the Menshikoffs was overthrown, however, by the Dolgorukis, to a daughter of whose house the czar was now to be married. All these political plans were rudely broken by the death of Peter in January 1730. During his short reign this youth showed reactionary tendencies, and it seemed as if the capital of Russia was again to be transferred to Moscow. The young czar was buried in the cathedral of the Archangel in that city. PETER III., FEODOROVICH (1728-1762), was son of Anna, daughter of Peter the Great, who had married the duke of Holstein. He was born at Kiel in 1728, his real names being Karl Peter Ulrich ; he went to Russia in 1742 on being named heir to the throne. In 1745 he married Sophia Augusta, princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, who, on entering the Greek Church, took the name of Catherine. They lived very unhappily together. In January 1762 the czarina Elizabeth died and Peter succeeded her. He soon became unpopular on account of his fondness for the Prussians and the introduction of German regulations in the army. His wife took advantage of his unpopularity and caused herself to be crowned empress, July 1762. Peter showed great want of energy, and only attempted to stem the insurrection when it was too late. He was removed to Ropsha in the government of St Petersburg, and, after having been forced to sign a renunciation of all rights to the throne, was strangled by Orloff and others. He was first buried in the Alexandro-Nevski monastery, but his remains Avere removed in 1796 by Paul to the Petropavlovski church. PETERBOROUGH, a city and municipal and parlia mentary borough, chiefly in Northamptonshire, but partly in Huntingdonshire, is situated on the river Nene, 76 miles north of London by the Great Northern Railway. The town is also a station on the London and North-Western, the Great Eastern, and the Midland systems. It is built chiefly along the river on the north side, the streets being straight and wide, and containing many good houses. The first bridge over the Nene at Peterborough was erected in 1140, the present bridge in 1872. The cathedral of St Peter is the third church that has occupied the site ; the first, founded by Peada, king of the Mercians, in 656, was entirely destroyed by the Danes in 870, and the second, founded by King Edgar in 971, was accidentally burnt in 1116. The present building, founded in the following year, was, inclusive of the west front, 120 years in build ing, being consecrated on 4th October 1237. It is one of the three Norman cathedrals in England, and, though scarcely entitled to a place among cathedrals of the first rank, possesses special features rendering it second almost to none in point of architectural interest. It embraces in all eight periods of construction, and in no other building can the transition be better studied through the various grades of Norman to Early English, while the later addition is an admirable example of Perpendicular. The edifice proceeded as usual from east to west, and, while an increase in elegance and elaboration is observable in the later parts, the character of the earlier buildings has been so carefully kept in mind that no sense of incongruity is produced. A series of uniform Decorated windows were added through out the church in the 1 4th century, and the effect has been rather to enhance than detract from the unity of design. The choir, Early Norman, was founded on 1 2th March 1117 (or 7th March 1118) by John de Sez, and dedicated in 1140 or 1143 ; the aisles of both transepts and the whole of the south transept were built by Martin of Bee, 1140-55; the remaining portions of the transepts and the central toAver, of three stories, were completed by William de Waterville, 1155-75; the nave, Late Norman, was com pleted by Abbot Benedict, 1177-93, who added a beautiful painted roof of wood ; the western transepts, Transition Norman, were the work of Abbot Andrew, 1193-1200; the western front, with its magnificent triple arch, the unique feature of the building, and one of the finest specimens of Early English extant, must have been built between 1200 and 1250 ; but there exists no record of its construc tion. The lady chapel, built parallel with the choir by William Parys, prior, was consecrated in 1290; the bell- tower was erected by Abbot Richard between 1260 and 1274; the south-west spire, the pinnacles of the flanking tower of the west portal, and the enlargement of the windows of the nave and aisles were the work of Henry de Morcot in the beginning of the 14th century; the new building or eastern chapel in the Perpendicular style, be gun in 1438, was not completed till 1528. In 1541 the