Catherine II was one the greatest Tsarina (woman ruler of Russia). She, like Peter The Great, would modernize the nation. In 1762, she murdered her husband Peter III, who succeeded Elizabeth. She centralized the power and continued the policy of Autocracy. She did however abolish torture and the death penalty. But serfs were forbidden to leave their lands. She did grant religious tolerance. She became known as an "enlightened despot". She corresponded with Voltaire and invited Diderot to come to her court. She encouraged the arts and the sciences as well.