Catherine I of Russia
Originally she was given the birthname of Martha Skavronskaya and was the daughter of Samuil, a Lithuanian peasant. She was married at the age of 17 to a Swedish dragoon, having been working at the time as a servant to minister Gluck of Marienberg. Russian forces captured the city, she was captured and forced to work in the laundry of the regiment which captured her.
Later, she was sent to, and became the mistress of, Prince Aleksandr D. Menshikov, who turned out to be highly thought of by Peter the Great. In 1703, while visiting Menshikov, Peter met Martha, and shortly thereafter he took her as his mistress. In 1705, she converted to Orthodoxy and changed her name to Ekaterina Alexeevna. She was declared Tsaritsa in 1711 and was married to Peter in February of 1712 and bore him nine children, all of whom died in childhood except for Anna and Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I, empress of Russia from 1741-1762).
In 1724, Peter named her Czarina and joint ruler. Peter died in 1725 without naming a successor, causing the guards regiments to raise her as the ruler of Russia, giving her the title of Empress. The real power however, was with Menshikov and the Supreme Privy Council. She was the first royal owner of the Sarskoje Selo estate, later renamed as Tzarsoje Selo.