Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg)
Born Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, she was a daughter of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and his wife, Friederike Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. She belonged to a junior branch of the House of Württemberg and grew up in Montbéliard receiving an excellent education for her time and station. In 1776, when Grand Duke Paul (the future Paul I of Russia), became a widower, Sophie Dorothea was chosen by Frederick II of Prussia, her maternal great uncle, and by Empress Catherine II of Russia, as the ideal candidate to be Paul’s second wife. They met in a state dinner in Berlin and their engagement was quickly arranged.
Duke George of Oldenburg
On 3 August 1809, George married Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna of Russia, the fourth daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg and favorite sister of the Emperor Alexander I of Russia. The events behind their marriage began when Napoleon Bonaparte, hoping to secure a Russian alliance as well as a male heir, hinted his desire to marry Catherine after finalizing his divorce with Empress Joséphine. This so horrified the Russian imperial family that Catherine's mother immediately arranged her marriage to her cousin, Duke George. The day the marriage occurred, Duke George received the style "Imperial Highness" and was appointed the governor-general of the three central provinces of Tver, Yaroslavl and Novgorod.