Krüdener, Barbara Juliane, Freifrau von

Krüdener, Barbara Juliane, Freifrau von

▪ Russian mystic
née Von Vietinghoff
born Nov. 22, 1764, Riga, Livonia (now in Latvia)
died Dec. 25, 1824, Karasubazar, Crimea, Russian Empire

      mystic visionary who renounced a life of pleasure amid the Russian nobility and won as a convert Tsar Alexander I, through whom she influenced the making of the Holy Alliance of 1815.

      She was married to a Russian diplomat in 1782, but her life of amorous pleasure-seeking involved an affair that culminated in separation from her husband. After his death in 1802, she wrote the largely autobiographical novel Valérie, published anonymously in Paris in 1804. The same year she underwent a religious conversion at Riga; subsequently, she maintained a nervous and pietistic mysticism, at the same time manifesting unwavering tendencies toward romantic intimacies. Coming under the influence of apocalyptic visionaries, she held Bible classes and confessions in southwestern Germany and in Switzerland from 1808 to 1818. Despite her numerous and often wealthy admirers and protégés, however, her activities usually ended in banishment.

      Among her successful efforts was her conversion of Alexander I, whom she met in 1815. Despondent since the military campaign of 1812 against France, he was revitalized through the mystical teachings of the Freifrau. She also claimed as her own achievement the Holy Alliance of Russia, Austria, and Prussia. For several months the tsar attended her Bible classes, but his revulsion at the character of some of her associates led to his withdrawal. In 1821 he expelled her from St. Petersburg because she had envisioned him as a new conqueror of Greece and had sought his support for the War of Greek Independence, a prospect Alexander did not welcome.

Additional Reading
Ernest John Knapton, The Lady of the Holy Alliance (1939, reissued 1966).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Juliane von Krüdener — und ihr Sohn Paul, gemalt von Angelika Kauffmann 1786 Beate Barbara Juliane von Krüdener (geb. von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel; * 11. Novemberjul./ 22. November 1764greg. in Riga, Livland; † 1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Krüdener — Krüdener,   Juliane Barbara Freifrau von, geborene von Vietinghoff, baltische Schriftstellerin, * Riga 11. 11. 1764, ✝ Karassubasar (heute Belogorsk, Krim) 25. (13.?) 12. 1824; wurde bekannt durch ihren 1803 in Paris anonym erschienenen Roman… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Holy Alliance — a league formed by the principal sovereigns of Europe in 1815 with the professed object of promoting Christian brotherhood but the practical object of repressing democratic revolutions and institutions. The English and Turkish rulers and Pope… …   Universalium

  • Alexander I — 1. Saint, pope A.D. 106? 115. 2. (Aleksandr Pavlovich) 1777 1825, czar of Russia 1801 25. 3. (Alexander Obrenovich or Aleksandar Obrenovic) 1876 1903, king of Serbia 1889 1903. 4. 1888 1934, king of Yugoslavia 1921 34 (son of Peter I of Serbia).… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”