Being Catherine the Great’s lover came with huge rewards

Both during and after their relationship ended, Catherine was renowned for being devoted to her partners. She always ended their relationships on amicable terms, bestowing them with titles, lands, palaces, and even people—giving one ex-lover more than 1,000 serfs, or indentured servants.

Stanislaw Poniatowski, one of her early lovers and the father of one of her children, may have benefited from her favor more than anyone else. Poniatowski, a member of the Polish aristocracy, met Catherine (who was not yet the monarch) while serving in the British embassy in St. Petersburg. They remained close even after a scandal that was partially sparked by their connection forced him to leave the Russian court.

Long after their relationship had ended and a year after she had assumed power, Catherine was successful in endorsing Poniatowski's bid to rule Poland by providing him with military and financial backing. But after ascending to the throne, the new king, whom Catherine and other people had feared would be little more than a puppet for Russian interests, started a series of reforms aimed at enhancing his nation's independence. The once-solid relationship between the two ex-lovers quickly deteriorated after Catherine forced Poniatowski to resign and Russia took the initiative in trying to dismantle and dissolve the newly constituted Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.