Uma déspota (bem) iluminada

"Catherine's apparent whole-hearted adoption of all things Russian (including Orthodoxy) may have prompted her personal indifference to religion. She nationalized 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 before"

 

Catarina II da Rússia - Vigilius Erichsen (1762)