Catherine the Great's Marriage Really Was That Bad in Real Life

If The Favourite was your jam, you're absolutely going to want to check out the new miniseries created by its writer, Tony McNamara. Hulu's The Great takes a similarly irreverent and tongue-in-cheek approach in telling the story of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning), the 18th century Empress of Russia who plotted a coup d'etat against her husband, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). The show–which is very openly billed as "an occasionally true story"–plots Catherine's rollercoaster ride of a journey from meek newlywed to empowered ruler.

While the show's deliberately anachronistic and stylized take is outrageous fun, it's even more entertaining when you know the basics of the real story. So before you delve into your binge, here are seven facts about the real Catherine the Great to get you up to speed.