The Library › Reel IV · All the Empress’s Men
Did Catherine the Great die having sex with a horse?
VERDICTINVENTED
No. She suffered a stroke on the morning of 5 November 1796 (Old Style), was found collapsed on the floor of her washroom, and died in bed the following day, 17 November 1796 in the modern calendar. The horse story has no witness or document behind it. It is a later slander, of the kind her enemies used to paint a woman ruler as unnatural.
The receipts
- How did Catherine the Great really die?, HISTORY (UK)
- 8 Things You Didn’t Know About Catherine the Great, HISTORY (A&E Networks)
The comedy version
The untold story of Catherine the Great, inventor of the job interview.
Play All the Empress’s Men ☞More from this shelf
- Were the “Potemkin villages” really fake?Rumor
- Did Catherine the Great seize the throne in a borrowed military uniform?True
- Did Peter III really court-martial and hang a rat?True
- Did Catherine’s husband play with toy soldiers in bed?True
- Did Catherine the Great have her husband Peter III killed?Disputed
- Did Catherine the Great buy Voltaire’s library?True