On his death, Peter never appointed an heir. Anna Ioannovna and the ‘Conditions’ (1730)Empress Anna Ioannovna, 1730 Louis CaravaquePeter II did not rule for long, dying of smallpox in January 1730, leaving no will and no indication of his successor. First, grandson of the emperor, Karl Peter, son of Peter the Great’s daughter Anna Petrovna and Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein. Ever since her youth, she was removed from the royal court by Anna Ioannovna, who feared that Elizabeth would take away her throne. He was Holstein prince Charles-Peter, future Emperor Peter III, who, since 1742, had lived in Russia with his wife Sophia Frederica, future Catherine the Great.