In spite of her fiancé's difficult character, she developed a long, peaceful relationship with Paul and converted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1776, adopting the name Maria Feodorovna.

Clever, purposeful and energetic, Maria Feodorovna founded and managed all the Russian Empire's charitable establishments, re-modelled the palaces of Gatchina and Pavlovsk, and encouraged foreign links directed against Napoleon I of France.

Russian Empress, Catherine II, was delighted with the idea: The Princess of Württemberg shared with her not only a similar education, but also the same original name and place of birth.

When her mother lamented the unfortunate destiny of some Russian sovereigns, a pleased Sophie Dorothea replied that her only concern was to make her way in her new country quickly and successfully.

Soon after arriving at St Petersburg, she converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, took the name "Maria Feodorovna,"[4] and was granted the title Grand Duchess of Russia, with the style Imperial Highness.

"[5] As Grand Duchess, Maria Feodorovna possessed such parsimony that she was prepared to spend the whole day in full dress without fatigue and implacably imposed the same burden on her entourage.

She is precisely what one would have wished: the figure of a nymph, a lily and rose complexion, the loveliest skin in the world, tall and well built; she is grateful; sweetness, kindnesses and innocence are reflected in her face.

"[6] However, the relationship between the two women quickly turned sour: Maria Feodorovna sided with her neglected husband in the family's acrimony and despite her good intentions to ease the difficult situation, meddling only aggravated their differences.

Tired of being excluded in political affairs, Paul and Maria asked Catherine for permission to travel abroad to Western Europe.

In September 1781, under the pseudonyms of "the Count and Countess Severny", the Tsarevich and his wife set off on a journey that lasted fourteen months and took them to Poland, Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.

During their visit to Italy, the couple proved to be much in love since Paul could not stop giving kisses in public to his wife, surprising their travelling companions.

At the end of 1782, the couple returned to Russia and devoted their attention to Pavlovsk Palace, where Maria gave birth to Alexandra Pavlovna, the first of six daughters she would bear during the next twelve years.

She continued to beautify Pavlovsk, dedicated herself to charitable work among its inhabitants, planned theatrical events for her husband, who delighted in that amusement, and participated in musical evenings for family and friends in which she adeptly played the harpsichord.

She was devoted to expanding her modest literary salon, which was frequented by poet Vasily Zhukovsky, fabulist Ivan Krylov, and historian Nikolai Karamzin.

Maria Feodorovna kept voluminous diaries that recorded her life in detail, but her son Nicholas I burned all these volumes after her death according to her last wishes.

After twenty years in the shadows, the death of Catherine II in 1796 allowed Maria Feodorovna to have a prominent role as Empress consort.

During Catherine's lifetime, Maria had no chance of interfering in affairs of state, as Paul himself was excluded, but after her husband's accession to the throne, she took to politics, at first timidly, but increasingly resolutely afterwards.

After Maria gave birth to her tenth and last child in 1798, Paul became infatuated with 19-year-old Anna Lopukhina and lied to his wife that the relationship was of a paternal nature.

On the night of her husband's assassination, Maria Feodorovna thought to imitate the example of her mother-in-law and tried to seize power to become empress regnant on the grounds that she had been crowned with Paul.

For some time afterward, whenever her son came to visit, the Dowager Empress would place a casket between them containing the bloodstained nightshirt that his father was wearing on the day of the murder as a silent reproach.

The strained relationship between mother and son improved though and thanks to the new Tsar, 42-years-old Maria Feodorovna kept the highest female position at court and often took the emperor's arm in public ceremonies, while Empress Elizabeth had to walk behind.

This custom of precedence and superiority of the Dowager Empress over the reigning monarch's wife was introduced by Maria and was unique to the Russian court, though it caused resentment with her eldest daughter-in-law.

She encouraged a thorough inspection of prospective foster parents and limited admissions "from the street", measures which decreased the inflow of new orphans and considerably reduced mortality.

Even after her husband's death, Maria Feodorovna continued to manage all the empire's charitable establishments and control the bank for loans.

[16] After Paul's death in 1801, Gatchina Palace came into the ownership of the new Dowager Empress, who used her experience from her travels around Europe to redo the interiors in the Neoclassical style and make alterations to adapt it "in case of winter stay" in 1809.

[11] Her elegant receptions, where she appeared sumptuously dressed and was surrounded by chamberlains, were in sharp contrast with the simple court life of Alexander I, whose retiring ways and the withdrawn personality of his wife were no match for the Dowager Empress' old splendor in the style of the time of Catherine the Great.

Maria Feodorovna was a considerate, loving mother who managed to maintain genuinely close relationships with all her children despite the fact that Catherine II took over her two eldest sons in their early years.

[24] Maria Feodorovna's correspondence with her parents, Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, and Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt, written between 1776 and 1797, is also preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart.

[25] In addition, Maria Feodorovna's letters to Friedrich Freiherrn von Maucler and his wife Luise Sophie Eleonore LeFort are also preserved in the State Archive of Stuttgart.