Historians are equivocal about his short reign. He was unpopular at court and extremely hostile toward his mother. His coronation signaled a break with the stability of Catherine's reign. Paul I freed those imprisoned by the Privy Council, liberated the Poles, abolished conscription and limited the power of landowners over the serfs. On April 5, 1797, he issued a decree on rights of succession that established procedures for the transfer of power from one monarch to the next. In foreign policy, he performed an abrupt reversal, changing from war with France to union with her. This was probably one of the main reasons for his murder.
Paul I was married twice; secondly in 1776 to Princess Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg (Maria Feodorovna). He had 10 children from the second marriage.
On the night of March 12, 1801, he was suffocated by conspirators. He was buried in the Cathedral of the St. Peter and St. Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.
Biography and image from The Florida International Museum WWW exhibit
"The Treasures of the Czars"
1/2 Kopeck (Denga) (Cu) (1797 - 1801)
Cu XI
1 Kopeck (Cu) (1797 - 1801)
Cu XI
2 Kopecks (Cu) (1797 - 1801)
Cu XI
5 Kopecks (Ag) (1797 - 1801)
Ag XVI
10 Kopecks (Ag) (1797 - 1801)
Ag XVI
25 Kopecks (Polupoltinnik) (Ag) (1797 - 1801)
Ag XV
50 Kopecks (Poltina) (Ag) (1797 - 1801)
Ag XV
1 Rouble (Ag) (1796)
1 Rouble (Ag) (1797 - 1801)
Ag XV
1 Dukat (Au) (1796)
2 Dukets (Au) (1796)
1 Duket (Au) (1797)
5 Roubles (Au) (1798 - 1801)