Pavel I is called a tyrant and even a madman, but his character and history are much deeper than the mask that his descendants have unfairly endowed him with. The alienation of his mother, the rejection of the court and endless attempts to figure out who and why actually killed his father, formed a deeply tragic personality. Having become emperor after many years of waiting, Pavel sought to get rid of the permissiveness of the nobility and improve the lives of serfs and ordinary soldiers.
