Editing Catherine the Great (section)

== Arts and culture ==
{{main|Russian Enlightenment}}
[[File:Скульптура Екатерины II в "Русском Музее", г.Санкт-Петербург (2).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Marble statue of Catherine II in the guise of [[Minerva]] (1789–1790), by [[Fedot Shubin]]]]
[[File:Catherine-the-Great-by-Collot.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Portrait of Catherine the Great by [[Marie-Anne Collot]], marble, 1769, [[Hermitage Museum|The State Hermitage Museum]], Saint-Petersburg]]
Catherine was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. The [[Hermitage Museum]], which {{As of|2009 |alt=now}} occupies the whole Winter Palace, began as Catherine's personal collection. The empress was a great lover of art and books, and ordered the construction of the Hermitage in 1770 to house her expanding collection of paintings, sculpture, and books.<ref name=r222>{{harvnb|Rounding|2006|p=222}}</ref> By 1790, the Hermitage was home to 38,000 books, 10,000 gems and 10,000 drawings. Two wings were devoted to her collections of "curiosities".<ref>{{harvnb|Brechka|1969|p=47}}</ref>

She ordered the planting of the first [[English landscape garden]] at Tsarskoye Selo in May 1770.<ref name=r222/> In a letter to Voltaire in 1772, she wrote: "Right now I adore English gardens, curves, gentle slopes, ponds in the form of lakes, archipelagos on dry land, and I have a profound scorn for straight lines, symmetric avenues. I hate fountains that torture water in order to make it take a course contrary to its nature: Statues are relegated to galleries, vestibules etc.; in a word, Anglomania is the master of my plantomania".<ref>{{harvnb|Rounding|2006|pp=222–223}}</ref>

[[File:The throne of Empress Catherine II of Russia.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The throne of Empress Catherine II in the Winter Palace]]

Catherine shared in the general European craze for all things Chinese, and made a point of collecting Chinese art and buying porcelain in the popular ''[[Chinoiserie]]'' style.<ref name=l54>{{harvnb|Lim|2013|p=54}}</ref> Between 1762 and 1766, she had built the "Chinese Palace" at Oranienbaum which reflected the ''chinoiserie'' style of architecture and gardening.<ref name=l54/> The Chinese Palace was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi who specialised in the ''chinoiserie'' style.<ref name=l54/> In 1779, she hired the Scottish architect [[Charles Cameron (architect)|Charles Cameron]] to build the Chinese Village at Tsarskoye Selo.<ref name=l54/> Catherine had at first attempted to hire a Chinese architect to build the Chinese Village, and on finding that was impossible, settled on Cameron, who likewise specialised in the ''chinoiserie'' style.<ref name=l54/>

She made a special effort to bring leading intellectuals and scientists to Russia, and she wrote her own comedies, works of fiction, and memoirs. She worked with Voltaire, [[Denis Diderot|Diderot]], and [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert|d'Alembert]]—all French [[Encyclopédistes|encyclopedists]] who later cemented her reputation in their writings. The leading economists of her day, such as [[Arthur Young (writer)|Arthur Young]] and [[Jacques Necker]], became foreign members of the [[Free Economic Society]], established on her suggestion in Saint Petersburg in 1765. She recruited the scientists [[Leonhard Euler]] and [[Peter Simon Pallas]] from Berlin and [[Anders Johan Lexell]] from Sweden to the Russian capital.<ref>M. B. W. Trent, "Catherine the Great Invites Euler to Return to St. Petersburg." in ''Leonhard Euler and the Bernoullis'' (AK Peters/CRC Press, 2009) pp. 276–283.</ref><ref>Robert Zaretsky, ''Catherine and Diderot: The Empress, the Philosopher, and the Fate of the Enlightenment'' (Harvard University Press, 2019).{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=September 2023}}</ref>

Catherine enlisted Voltaire to her cause, and corresponded with him for 15 years, from her accession to his death in 1778. He lauded her accomplishments, calling her "The Star of the North" and the "[[Semiramis]] of Russia" (in reference to the legendary Queen of [[Babylon]], a subject on which he published a tragedy in 1768). Although she never met him face to face, she mourned him bitterly when he died. She acquired his collection of books from his heirs, and placed them in the [[National Library of Russia]].<ref>Inna Gorbatov, "Voltaire and Russia in the Age of Enlightenment." ''[[Orbis Litterarum]]'' 62.5 (2007): 381–393.</ref>
[[File:Jacobi InaguarationofAcademy.jpg|thumb|The inauguration of the [[Imperial Academy of Arts]] in Saint Petersburg in 1757]]
Catherine read three sorts of books, namely those for pleasure, those for information, and those to provide her with a philosophy.<ref name=b43>{{harvnb|Brechka|1969|p=43}}</ref> In the first category, she read romances and comedies that were popular at the time, many of which were regarded as "inconsequential" by the critics both then and since.<ref name=b43/> She especially liked the work of German comic writers such as [[Moritz August von Thümmel]] and [[Christoph Friedrich Nicolai]].<ref name=b43/> In the second category fell the work of Denis Diderot, Jacques Necker, [[Johann Bernhard Basedow]] and [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon]].<ref name=b44>{{harvnb|Brechka|1969|p=44}}</ref> Catherine expressed some frustration with the economists she read for what she regarded as their impractical theories, writing in the margin of one of Necker's books that if it was possible to solve all of the state's economic problems in one day, she would have done so a long time ago.<ref name=b44/> For information about particular nations that interested her, she read [[Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville]]'s ''Memoirs de Chine'' to learn about the vast and wealthy Chinese empire that bordered her empire; [[François Baron de Tott]]'s ''Memoires de les Turcs et les Tartares'' for information about the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean khanate; the books of Frederick the Great praising himself to learn about Frederick just as much as to learn about Prussia; and pamphlets written by [[Benjamin Franklin]] denouncing the [[The Crown|British Crown]] to understand the reasons behind the American Revolution.<ref name=b44/> In the third category fell the work of Voltaire, Friedrich Melchior, Baron von Grimm, [[Ferdinando Galiani]], [[Nicolas Baudeau]] and Sir [[William Blackstone]].<ref name=b4445>{{harvnb|Brechka|1969|pp=44–45}}</ref> For philosophy, she liked books promoting what has been called "enlightened despotism", which she embraced as her ideal of an autocratic but reformist government that operated according to the rule of law, not the whims of the ruler, hence her interest in Blackstone's legal commentaries.<ref name=b4445/>

Within a few months of her accession in 1762, having heard the French government threatened to stop the publication of the famous French ''[[Encyclopédie]]'' on account of its irreligious spirit, Catherine proposed to Diderot that he should complete his great work in Russia under her protection. Four years later, in 1766, she endeavoured to embody in legislation the principles of Enlightenment she learned from studying the French philosophers. She called together at Moscow a Grand Commission—almost a consultative parliament—composed of 652 members of all classes (officials, nobles, [[Bourgeoisie|burghers]], and peasants) and of various nationalities. The commission had to consider the needs of the Russian Empire and the means of satisfying them. The empress prepared the [[Nakaz|"Instructions for the Guidance of the Assembly"]], pillaging (as she frankly admitted) the philosophers of Western Europe, especially [[Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]] and [[Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria|Cesare Beccaria]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Leckey |first=Colum |title=Patronage and Public Culture in the Russian Free Economic Society, 1765–1796 |journal=Slavic Review |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=355–379 |date=2005 |jstor=3649988 |s2cid=159634090 |doi=10.2307/3649988}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Lentin |first=A. |date=May 1972 |title=Catherine the Great and Denis Diderot |journal=History Today |pages=313–332}}</ref>

[[File:Catherine II by Alexey Antropov (18th c, Tver gallery).jpg|thumb|190px|Portrait of Catherine II]]

As many of the democratic principles frightened her more moderate and experienced advisors, she refrained from immediately putting them into practice. After holding more than 200 sittings, the so-called Commission dissolved without getting beyond the realm of theory.

Catherine began issuing codes to address some of the modernisation trends suggested in her Nakaz. In 1775, the empress decreed a Statute for the Administration of the provinces of the Russian Empire. The statute sought to efficiently govern Russia by increasing population and dividing the country into provinces and districts. By the end of her reign, 50 provinces and nearly 500 districts were created, government officials numbering more than double this were appointed, and spending on local government increased sixfold. In 1785, Catherine conferred on the nobility the [[Charter to the Gentry|Charter to the Nobility]], increasing the power of the landed oligarchs. Nobles in each district elected a Marshal of the Nobility, who spoke on their behalf to the monarch on issues of concern to them, mainly economic ones. In the same year, Catherine issued the Charter of the Towns, which distributed all people into six groups as a way to limit the power of nobles and create a middle estate. Catherine also issued the Code of Commercial Navigation and Salt Trade Code of 1781, the Police Ordinance of 1782, and the Statute of National Education of 1786. In 1777, the empress described to Voltaire her legal innovations within a backward Russia as progressing "little by little".<ref>Isabel De Madariaga, "Catherine the Great." in by H. M. Scott, ed., ''Enlightened Absolutism'' (Palgrave, London, 1990) pp. 289–311. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

[[File:Bolshoy Teatr.jpg|thumb|The Bolshoi Theatre in the early 19th century]]

During Catherine's reign, Russians imported and studied the classical and European influences that inspired the [[Russian Enlightenment]]. Gavrila Derzhavin, [[Denis Fonvizin]] and [[Ippolit Bogdanovich]] laid the groundwork for the great writers of the 19th century, especially for [[Alexander Pushkin]]. Catherine became a great patron of [[Russian opera]]. [[Alexander Radishchev]] published his ''[[Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow]]'' in 1790, shortly after the start of the French Revolution. He warned of uprisings in Russia because of the deplorable social conditions of the serfs. Catherine decided it promoted the dangerous poison of the French Revolution. She had the book burned and the author exiled to Siberia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Thaler |first=Roderick P. |date=1957 |title=Catherine II's Reaction to Radishchev |journal=Slavic and East-European Studies |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=154–160 |jstor=41055626}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Marcum |first=James W. |date=1974 |title=Catherine II and the French Revolution: A Reappraisal |journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=187–201 |doi=10.1080/00085006.1974.11091360 |jstor=40866712}}</ref>

Catherine also received [[Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun]] at her Tsarskoye Selo residence in St Petersburg, by whom she was painted shortly before her death. Madame Vigée Le Brun vividly describes the empress in her memoirs:<ref name="Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun' 1989">''The Memoirs of Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun'' Translated by Siân Evans. (London: Camden Press. 1989.)</ref>

{{blockquote|the sight of this famous woman so impressed me that I found it impossible to think of anything: I could only stare at her. Firstly I was very surprised at her small stature; I had imagined her to be very tall, as great as her fame. She was also very fat, but her face was still beautiful, and she wore her white hair up, framing it perfectly. Her genius seemed to rest on her forehead, which was both high and wide. Her eyes were soft and sensitive, her nose quite Greek, her colour high and her features expressive. She addressed me immediately in a voice full of sweetness, if a little throaty: "I am delighted to welcome you here, Madame, your reputation runs before you. I am very fond of the arts, especially painting. I am no connoisseur, but I am a great art lover."}}

Madame Vigée Le Brun also describes the empress at a gala:<ref name="Elisabeth Vigée-Le Brun' 1989"/>

{{blockquote|The double doors opened and the Empress appeared. I have said that she was quite small, and yet on the days when she made her public appearances, with her head held high, her eagle-like stare and a countenance accustomed to command, all this gave her such an air of majesty that to me she might have been Queen of the World; she wore the sashes of three orders, and her costume was both simple and regal; it consisted of a muslin tunic embroidered with gold fastened by a diamond belt, and the full sleeves were folded back in the Asiatic style. Over this tunic she wore a red velvet dolman with very short sleeves. The bonnet which held her white hair was not decorated with ribbons, but with the most beautiful diamonds.}}Russia's second ballet school, [[Moscow State Academy of Choreography]], commonly known as The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, was founded during Catherine's reign on 23 December 1773.<ref>{{Cite web |title=История |url=https://balletacademy.ru/mgah/about/history/ |access-date=5 February 2024 |website=balletacademy.ru |archive-date=1 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240201043026/https://balletacademy.ru/mgah/about/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It entered into a contract with the Italian teacher-choreographer Filippo Becari, who must was "the most capable of dancing" children to learn "to dance with all possible precision and to show themselves publicly in all pantomime ballets".<ref>Entry dated 23 December 1773 [On the invitation of Filippo Becari] // CIAM. F. 127. Op. 1. Unit hr. 12. L. 72-72 vol.</ref>

=== Education ===
[[File:Ekaterina II and Lomonosov.jpg|thumb|180px|Catherine visits Russian scientist [[Mikhail Lomonosov]] ]]
Catherine held western European philosophies and culture close to her heart, and she wanted to surround herself with like-minded people within Russia.<ref>{{harvnb|Max|2006|pp=19–24}}</ref> She believed a 'new kind of person' could be created by inculcating Russian children with European education. Catherine believed education could change the hearts and minds of the Russian people and turn them away from backwardness. This meant developing individuals both intellectually and morally, providing them knowledge and skills, and fostering a sense of civic responsibility. Her goal was to modernise education across Russia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Roucek |first=Joseph S. |date=1958 |title=Education in Czarist Russia |journal=History of Education Journal |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=37–45 |jstor=3692580}}</ref>

[[File:E. Vorontsova-Dashkova by Dm. Levitsky (1784, Hillwood).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|[[Yekaterina Vorontsova-Dashkova]], the closest female friend of Empress Catherine and a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment]]

Catherine appointed [[Ivan Betskoy]] as her advisor on educational matters.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|pp=369–95}}</ref> Through him, she collected information from Russia and other countries about educational institutions. She also established a commission composed of T.N. Teplov, T. von Klingstedt, F.G. Dilthey and the historian G. Muller. She consulted British pedagogical pioneers, particularly the Rev. [[Daniel Dumaresq]] and Dr John Brown.{{sfn|Hans|1961}} In 1764, she sent for Dumaresq to come to Russia and then appointed him to the educational commission. The commission studied the reform projects previously installed by I.I. Shuvalov under Elizabeth and under Peter III. They submitted recommendations for the establishment of a general system of education for all Russian orthodox subjects from the age of 5 to 18, excluding serfs.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=374}}</ref> However, no action was taken on any recommendations put forth by the commission due to the calling of the Legislative Commission. In July 1765, Dumaresq wrote to Dr. John Brown about the commission's problems and received a long reply containing very general and sweeping suggestions for education and social reforms in Russia. Dr. Brown argued, in a democratic country, education ought to be under the state's control and based on an education code. He also placed great emphasis on the "proper and effectual education of the female sex"; two years prior, Catherine had commissioned Ivan Betskoy to draw up the General Programme for the Education of Young People of Both Sexes.{{sfn|Hans|1961|p=233}} This work emphasised the fostering of the creation of a 'new kind of people' raised in isolation from the damaging influence of a backward Russian environment.<ref>{{harvnb|Dixon|2009|p=130}}</ref> The Establishment of the Moscow Foundling Home (Moscow Orphanage) was the first attempt at achieving that goal. It was charged with admitting destitute and extramarital children to educate them in any way the state deemed fit. Because the Moscow Foundling Home was not established as a state-funded institution, it represented an opportunity to experiment with new educational theories. However, the Moscow Foundling Home was unsuccessful, mainly due to extremely high mortality rates, which prevented many of the children from living long enough to develop into the enlightened subjects the state desired.<ref>Catherine Evtuhov, ''A History of Russia: Peoples, Legends, Events, Forces'' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004).{{ISBN?}}{{Page needed|date=September 2023}}</ref>

[[File:Moscow Orphanage asv2018-01.jpg|thumb|The [[Moscow Orphanage]]]]
[[File:Galaktionov Smolny institute 1823.jpg|thumb|The [[Smolny Institute]], the first Russian [[Institute for Noble Maidens]] and the first European state higher education institution for women]]
Not long after the Moscow Foundling Home, at the instigation of her factotum, Ivan Betskoy, she wrote a manual for the education of young children, drawing from the ideas of [[John Locke]], and founded the famous [[Smolny Institute]] in 1764, first of its kind in Russia. At first, the institute only admitted young girls of the noble elite, but eventually it began to admit girls of the petit-bourgeoisie as well.<ref>{{harvnb|Max|2006|p=20}}</ref> The girls who attended the Smolny Institute, Smolyanki, were often accused of being ignorant of anything that went on in the world outside the walls of the Smolny buildings, within which they acquired a proficiency in French, music, and dancing, along with a complete awe of the monarch. Central to the institute's philosophy of pedagogy was strict enforcement of discipline. Running and games were forbidden, and the building was kept particularly cold because too much warmth was believed to be harmful to the developing body, as was excessive play.<ref>{{harvnb|Max|2006|p=21}}</ref>

From 1768 to 1774, no progress was made in setting up a national school system.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=379}}</ref> However, Catherine continued to investigate the pedagogical principles and practice of other countries and made many other educational reforms, including an overhaul of the Cadet Corps in 1766. The Corps then began to take children from a very young age and educate them until the age of 21, with a broadened curriculum that included the sciences, philosophy, ethics, history, and international law. These reforms in the Cadet Corps influenced the curricula of the Naval Cadet Corps and the Engineering and Artillery Schools. Following the war and the defeat of Pugachev, Catherine laid the obligation to establish schools at the ''guberniya''—a provincial subdivision of the Russian empire ruled by a governor—on the Boards of Social Welfare set up with the participation of elected representatives from the three free estates.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=380}}</ref>

By 1782, Catherine arranged another advisory commission to review the information she had gathered on the educational systems of many different countries.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=383}}</ref> One system that particularly stood out was produced by a mathematician, [[Franz Aepinus]]. He was strongly in favour of the adoption of the Austrian three-tier model of trivial, real, and normal schools at the village, town, and provincial capital levels.

In addition to the advisory commission, Catherine established a Commission of National Schools under [[Pyotr Zavadovsky]]. This commission was charged with organising a national school network, as well as providing teacher training and textbooks. On 5 August 1786, the Russian Statute of National Education was created.<ref name="Madariaga, Foundation, 385">{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=385}}</ref> The statute established a two-tier network of high schools and primary schools in ''guberniya'' capitals that were free of charge, open to all of the free classes (not serfs), and co-educational. It also stipulated in detail the subjects to be taught at every age and the method of teaching. In addition to the textbooks translated by the commission, teachers were provided with the "Guide to Teachers". This work, divided into four parts, dealt with teaching methods, subject matter, teacher conduct, and school administration.<ref name="Madariaga, Foundation, 385" />

Despite these efforts, later historians of the 19th century were generally critical. Some claimed Catherine failed to supply enough money to support her educational program.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=391}}</ref> Two years after the implementation of Catherine's program, a member of the National Commission inspected the institutions established. Throughout Russia, the inspectors encountered a patchy response. While the nobility provided appreciable amounts of money for these institutions, they preferred to send their own children to private, prestigious institutions. Also, the townspeople tended to turn against the junior schools and their teaching methods. Yet by the end of Catherine's reign, an estimated 62,000 pupils were being educated in some 549 state institutions. While a significant improvement, it was only a minuscule number, compared to the size of the Russian population.<ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1979|p=394}}</ref>

=== Religious affairs ===
[[File:Katharina II., die Große.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Catherine II in the Russian national costume]]

Catherine's apparent embrace of all things Russian (including Orthodoxy) may have prompted her personal indifference to religion. She nationalised all of the church lands to help pay for her wars, largely emptied the monasteries, and forced most of the remaining clergymen to survive as farmers or from fees for baptisms and other services. Very few members of the nobility entered the church, which became even less important than it had been. She did not allow dissenters to build chapels, and she suppressed religious dissent after the onset of the French Revolution.<ref name="madariaga111">{{harvnb|Madariaga|1981|pp=111–122}}</ref>

However, in accord with her anti-Ottoman policy, Catherine promoted the protection and fostering of Christians under Turkish rule. She placed strictures on Catholics (''[[Ukase|ukaz]]'' of 23 February 1769), mainly Polish, and attempted to assert and extend state control over them in the wake of the partitions of Poland.<ref name=newadvent>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13253a.htm|title=The Religion of Russia|access-date=24 March 2007|archive-date=6 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206202239/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13253a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, although Catholic parishes were allowed to retain their property and worship, Papal oversight of parishes was restricted to only theology. In its stead, Catherine appointed a Catholic bishop (later raising the position to archbishop) of Mohylev to administer all Catholic churches in her territory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kollmann |first1=Nancy Shields |authorlink=Nancy Shields Kollmann |title=The Russian Empire 1450-1801 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199280513 |page=404}}</ref> Nevertheless, Catherine's Russia provided an asylum and a base for regrouping to the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]] following the [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|suppression of the Jesuits]] in most of Europe in 1773.<ref name=newadvent />

==== Islam ====
{{See also|Islam in Russia}}
[[File:Башкирские казаки в Европе.jpg|thumb|[[Bashkirs|Bashkir]] riders from the Ural steppes]]
Catherine took many different approaches to Islam during her reign. She avoided force and tried persuasion (and money) to integrate Muslim areas into her empire.{{sfn|Fisher|1968}} Between 1762 and 1773, Muslims were prohibited from owning any Orthodox serfs. They were pressured into Orthodoxy through monetary incentives. Catherine promised more serfs of all religions, as well as amnesty for convicts, if Muslims chose to convert to Orthodoxy. However, the Legislative Commission of 1767 offered several seats to people professing the Islamic faith. This commission promised to protect their religious rights, but did not do so. Many Orthodox peasants felt threatened by the sudden change, and burned mosques as a sign of their displeasure.

Catherine chose to assimilate Islam into the state rather than eliminate it when public outcry became too disruptive. After the "Toleration of All Faiths" Edict of 1773, Muslims were permitted to build [[mosque]]s and practise all of their traditions, the most obvious of these being the pilgrimage to [[Mecca]], which previously had been denied. Catherine created the [[Orenburg Muslim Spiritual Assembly]] to help regulate Muslim-populated regions as well as regulate the instruction and ideals of mullahs. The positions on the Assembly were appointed and paid for by Catherine and her government as a way of regulating religious affairs.{{sfn|Fisher|1968|pp=546–548}}
[[File:Russian Empire 1792 Map.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Russian Empire in 1792]]
In 1785, Catherine approved the subsidising of new mosques and new town settlements for Muslims. This was another attempt to organise and passively control the outer fringes of her country. By building new settlements with mosques placed in them, Catherine attempted to ground many of the nomadic people who wandered through southern Russia. In 1786, she assimilated the Islamic schools into the Russian public school system under government regulation. The plan was another attempt to force nomadic people to settle. This allowed the Russian government to control more people, especially those who previously had not fallen under the jurisdiction of Russian law.{{sfnm|Madariaga|1981|1pp=508–511|Fisher|1968|2p=549}}

==== Judaism ====
{{See also|History of the Jews in Russia}}
Russia often treated Judaism as a separate entity, where Jews were maintained with a separate legal and bureaucratic system. Although the government knew that Judaism existed, Catherine and her advisers had no real definition of what a Jew is because the term meant many things during her reign.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|p=505}}</ref> Judaism was a small, if not non-existent, religion in Russia until 1772. When Catherine agreed to the [[First Partition of Poland]], the large new Jewish element was treated as a separate people, defined by their religion. Catherine separated the Jews from Orthodox society, restricting them to the [[Pale of Settlement]]. She levied additional taxes on the followers of Judaism; if a family converted to the Orthodox faith, that additional tax was lifted.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|pp=506–507}}</ref> Jewish members of society were required to pay double the tax of their Orthodox neighbours. Converted Jews could gain permission to enter the merchant class and farm as free peasants under Russian rule.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|p=507}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Madariaga|1981|pp=504–508}}</ref>

In an attempt to assimilate the Jews into Russia's economy, Catherine included them under the rights and laws of the Charter of the Towns of 1782.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|p=511}}</ref> Orthodox Russians disliked the inclusion of Judaism, mainly for economic reasons. Catherine tried to keep the Jews away from certain economic spheres, even under the guise of equality; in 1790, she banned Jewish citizens from Moscow's middle class.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|p=512}}</ref>

In 1785, Catherine declared Jews to be officially foreigners, with foreigners' rights.<ref>{{harvnb|Klier|1976|p=515}}</ref> This re-established the separate identity that Judaism maintained in Russia throughout the Jewish [[Haskalah]]. Catherine's decree also denied Jews the rights of an Orthodox or naturalised citizen of Russia. Taxes doubled again for those of Jewish descent in 1794, and Catherine officially declared that Jews bore no relation to Russians.

==== Russian Orthodoxy ====
{{See also|Christianity in Russia}}
[[File:Kingsobor.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|St. Catherine Cathedral in [[Kingisepp]], an example of Late Baroque architecture]]
In many ways, the Orthodox Church fared no better than its foreign counterparts during the reign of Catherine. Under her leadership, she completed what Peter III had started. The church's lands were expropriated, and the budget of both monasteries and bishoprics were controlled by the [[Collegium of Accounting]].{{sfn|Raeff|1972a|p=293}} Endowments from the government replaced income from privately held lands. The endowments were often much less than the original intended amount.<ref name="Hosking 231">{{harvnb|Hosking|1997|p=231}}</ref> She closed 569 of 954 monasteries, of which only 161 received government money. Only 400,000 roubles of church wealth were paid back.<ref>Richard Pipes, ''Russia under the old regime'', p. 242.</ref> While other religions (such as Islam) received invitations to the Legislative Commission, the Orthodox clergy did not receive a single seat.<ref name="Hosking 231" /> Their place in government was restricted severely during the years of Catherine's reign.<ref name="madariaga111" />

In 1762, to help mend the rift between the Orthodox church and a sect that called themselves the [[Old Believers]], Catherine passed an act that allowed Old Believers to practice their faith openly without interference.{{sfn|Raeff|1972a|p=294}} While claiming religious tolerance, she intended to recall the Old Believers into the official church. They refused to comply, and in 1764, she deported over 20,000 Old Believers to Siberia on the grounds of their faith.{{sfn|Raeff|1972a|p=294}} In later years, Catherine amended her thoughts. Old Believers were allowed to hold elected municipal positions after the Urban Charter of 1785, and she promised religious freedom to those who wished to settle in Russia.<ref>{{harvnb|Hosking|1997|p=237}}</ref>{{sfn|Raeff|1972a|p=296}}

Religious education was reviewed strictly. At first, she attempted to revise clerical studies, proposing a reform of religious schools. This reform never progressed beyond the planning stages. By 1786, Catherine excluded all religion and clerical studies programs from lay education.{{sfn|Raeff|1972a|p=298}} By separating the public interests from those of the church, Catherine began a secularisation of the day-to-day workings of Russia. She transformed the clergy from a group that wielded great power over the Russian government and its people to a segregated community forced to depend on the state for compensation.<ref name="Hosking 231" />