Ivan III Vasilyevich was widowed in 1467. Two years later, an embassy from Rome came to Moscow. Cardinal Vissarion, a champion of the Florentine unity of churches, in a letter offered Ivan Vasilievich the hand of Sophia, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, the daughter of his brother Thomas, Prince of Morea, who, after the fall of Constantinople, found refuge in Rome with his family. Pope Paul II, through his cardinal, decided to arrange the marriage of Sophia with the Grand Duke in order to establish relations with Moscow and try to assert his authority over the Russian Church.
Such a proposal pleased the proud Ivan; but he, in his cautious disposition, did not immediately agree. He consulted with his mother, and with the metropolitan, and with the closest boyars. Everyone found, like the king himself, this marriage desirable. Ivan Vasilyevich sent Ivan Fryazin, his moneyman (who minted the coin), as an ambassador to Rome. He returned from there with letters from the pope and a portrait of Sophia and was again sent to Rome to represent the groom at the betrothal. The pope thought of restoring the Florentine connection and hoped to find in the Russian sovereign a strong ally against the Turks. Fryazin, although he accepted Orthodoxy in Moscow, did not particularly value it and therefore was ready to promise the pope everything he wanted, if only to quickly settle the matter.
1472, summer - Sophia Palaiologos was already on her way to Moscow. She was accompanied by Cardinal Anthony; besides this, there were many Greeks with her. On the way, solemn meetings were arranged for her. When she drove up to Pskov, posadniks and clergy came out to meet her with crosses and banners. Sophia went to the Trinity Cathedral, where she fervently prayed and kissed the icons. The people liked it; but the Roman cardinal, who was with her, confused the Orthodox.
He was dressed, according to the chronicler, not according to our custom - all in red, he had gloves on his hands, which he never took off and blessed in them. Before him they carried a cast silver crucifix on a long pole (Latin kruzh). He was not baptized and did not venerate images; he kissed only the icon of the Mother of God, and then at the request of the princess. The Orthodox did not like this very much.
From the church, Sophia went to the princely court. There, the posadniks and boyars treated her and those close to her with various dishes, honey and wine; finally brought her gifts. The boyars and merchants gave it as gifts, whoever could. From all of Pskov, they brought her a gift of 50 rubles. It was also solemnly received in Novgorod.
When Sophia was already approaching Moscow, the Grand Duke conferred with his mother, brothers and boyars, what to do: he found out that wherever Sophia entered, the papal cardinal was walking ahead, and before him they carried a Latin kryzh. Some advised not to forbid it, so as not to offend the pope; others said that it had never happened before in Rus' that such honor was given to the Latin faith; Isidore tried to do this, but for that he died.
The Grand Duke sent to ask the Metropolitan how he thought about it, and received the following answer:
“Not only is it not fitting for a papal ambassador to enter the city with a cross, but even to drive up close. If you honor him, then he will go through one gate to the city, and I, your father, will go out of the city through another gate! Not only to see, but also to hear about it is indecent for us. Whoever honors someone else's faith, he swears at his own!
Such intolerance of the Metropolitan to Klatinism already showed in advance that the papal ambassador would not be able to achieve anything. The Grand Duke ordered the boyar to take the cross from him and hide it in a sleigh. At first the legate was reluctant to yield; in particular, Ivan Fryazin resisted, who wanted the papal ambassador to be received in Moscow with the same honor as he, Fryazin, was received in Rome; but the boyar insisted, and the order of the Grand Duke was carried out.
Sophia's arrival in Moscow
1472, November 12 - Sophia entered Moscow. They got married on the same day; and the next day the papal ambassador was received. He brought gifts from the Pope to the Grand Duke.
Within three months there was a Roman embassy in Moscow. Here he was treated, held in great honor; Ivan III generously endowed the cardinal. He tried to talk about the unification of the churches, but, as expected, nothing came of it. Ivan Vasilyevich gave this church matter to the decision of the metropolitan, and he found some scribe Nikita Popovich to compete with the legate. This Nikita, according to the chronicler, argued with the cardinal, so that he did not know what to answer, - he excused himself only by the fact that he did not have the books necessary for the dispute. The pope's attempt to unite the churches ended, and this time, in complete failure.
Dowry of Sophia Paleolog
Sofia brought with her a generous dowry. It was the legendary "liberia" - a library allegedly brought on 70 carts (better known as the "library of Ivan the Terrible"). It included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were the poems of Homer unknown to us, the works of Aristotle and Plato, and even the surviving books from the legendary Library of Alexandria.
According to legend, Sophia brought with her a “bone throne” (now known as the “throne of Ivan the Terrible”) as a gift to her husband: its wooden frame was covered with plates of ivory and walrus ivory with biblical scenes carved on them.
Sophia also brought several Orthodox icons, including, presumably, a rare icon of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven”.
The meaning of the marriage of Ivan and Sophia
The marriage of the Grand Duke with the Greek princess had important consequences. There were cases before that Russian princes married Greek princesses, but these marriages were not as important as the marriage of Ivan and Sophia. Byzantium was now enslaved by the Turks. The Byzantine emperor used to be considered the main protector of all Eastern Christianity; now the Moscow sovereign became such a protector; with the hand of Sophia, he, as it were, inherited the rights of the Palaiologos, even assimilates the coat of arms of the Eastern Roman Empire - the double-headed eagle; on the seals that were hung on the letters, they began to depict a double-headed eagle on one side, and on the other, the former Moscow coat of arms, George the Victorious, slaying the dragon.
The Byzantine order began to have a stronger and stronger effect in Moscow. Although the last Byzantine emperors were not powerful at all, they held themselves very highly in the eyes of everyone around them. Access to them was very difficult; many different court ranks filled the magnificent palace. The splendor of palace customs, luxurious royal clothes, shining with gold and precious stones, the unusually rich decoration of the royal palace - all this in the eyes of the people greatly exalted the person of the sovereign. Everyone bowed before him, as before an earthly deity.
It was not the same in Moscow. The Grand Duke was already a powerful sovereign, but he lived a little wider and richer than the boyars. They treated him respectfully, but simply: some of them were from specific princes and, like the Grand Duke, also had their origin from Rurik. The unpretentious life of the tsar and the simple treatment of the boyars could not please Sophia, who knew about the royal greatness of the Byzantine autocrats and saw the court life of the popes in Rome. From his wife, and especially from the people who came with her, Ivan III could hear a lot about the court life of the Byzantine kings. He, who wanted to be a real autocrat, must have liked many Byzantine court orders very much.
And so, little by little, new customs began to appear in Moscow: Ivan Vasilievich began to behave majestically, in relations with foreigners he was titled "king", he began to receive ambassadors with magnificent solemnity, he established the rite of kissing the royal hand as a sign of special mercy. Then came the court ranks (jaselnichiy, equerry, bedding). The Grand Duke began to favor in the boyars for merit. In addition to the son of the boyar, at this time another lower rank appears - the roundabout.
The boyars, who were previously advisers, duma princes, with whom the sovereign, as usual, conferred on every important matter, as with comrades, now turned into his humble servants. The grace of the sovereign can exalt them, anger can destroy them.
At the end of his reign, Ivan III became a real autocrat. These changes were not to the liking of many boyars, but no one dared to express this: the Grand Duke was very severe and punished severely.
Innovations. Sophia's influence
Since the arrival of Sophia Palaiologos in Moscow, relations have been established with the West, especially with Italy.
An attentive observer of Moscow life, Baron Herberstein, who twice came to Moscow as the ambassador of the German emperor under Ivanov's successor, after hearing a lot of boyar talk, notices about Sophia in his notes that she was an unusually cunning woman, who had a great influence on the Grand Duke, who, at her suggestion, did a lot . Even the determination of Ivan III to throw off the Tatar yoke was attributed to her influence. In boyar tales and judgments about the princess, it is not easy to separate observation from suspicion or exaggeration, guided by hostility.
Moscow of that time was very unattractive. Wooden small buildings, placed at random, crooked, unpaved streets, dirty squares - all this made Moscow look like a large village, or rather, a collection of many rural estates.
After the wedding, Ivan Vasilyevich himself felt the need to rebuild the Kremlin into a powerful and impregnable citadel. It all started with the catastrophe of 1474, when the Assumption Cathedral, built by Pskov craftsmen, collapsed. Rumors immediately spread among the people that the trouble had befallen because of the “Greek”, who had previously been in “Latinism”. While the reasons for the collapse were being clarified, Sophia advised her husband to invite architects from Italy, who were then the best masters in Europe. Their creations could make Moscow equal in beauty and majesty to European capitals and maintain the prestige of the Moscow sovereign, as well as emphasize the continuity of Moscow not only to the Second, but also to the First Rome.
One of the best Italian builders of that time, Aristotle Fioravanti, agreed to go to Moscow for 10 rubles of salary per month (decent money at that time). In 4 years, he built a temple magnificent for that time - the Assumption Cathedral, consecrated in 1479. This building has survived to this day in the Moscow Kremlin.
Then other stone churches began to be built: in 1489 the Annunciation Cathedral was erected, which had the significance of the tsar's house church, and shortly before the death of Ivan III, the Archangel Cathedral was built again instead of the former dilapidated church. The sovereign planned to build a stone chamber for solemn meetings and receptions of foreign ambassadors.
This building, built by Italian architects, known as the Chamber of Facets, has survived to this day. The Kremlin was surrounded again by a stone wall and decorated with beautiful gates and towers. For himself, the Grand Duke ordered to build a new stone palace. Following the Grand Duke, the metropolitan also began to build brick chambers for himself. The three boyars also built stone houses for themselves in the Kremlin. Thus, Moscow began to gradually build up with stone buildings; but these buildings for a long time and after that were not part of the custom.
Birth of children. state affairs
1474, April 18 - Sophia gave birth to the first (quickly deceased) daughter Anna, then another daughter (who also died so quickly that they did not have time to christen her). Disappointments in family life were compensated by activity in state affairs. The Grand Duke consulted with her in making state decisions (in 1474 he bought out half of the Rostov principality, entered into a friendly alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray).
Sophia Paleolog took an active part in diplomatic receptions (the Venetian envoy Cantarini noted that the reception she organized was "very majestic and affectionate"). According to a legend cited not only by Russian chronicles, but also by the English poet John Milton, in 1477 Sophia was able to outwit the Tatar Khan, declaring that she had a sign from above about the construction of a church to St. and the actions of the Kremlin. This legend presents Sophia as a resolute nature (“she put them out of the Kremlin, demolished the house, although the temple was not built”).
1478 - Rus' actually stopped paying tribute to the Horde; 2 years left before the complete overthrow of the yoke.
In 1480, again on the “advice” of his wife, Ivan Vasilievich left with the militia to the Ugra River (near Kaluga), where the army of the Tatar Khan Akhmat was stationed. "Standing on the Ugra" did not end with a battle. The onset of frost and lack of food forced the khan and his army to leave. These events put an end to the Horde yoke.
The main obstacle to strengthening the grand duke's power collapsed and, relying on his dynastic connection with "Orthodox Rome" (Constantinople) through his wife Sophia, the sovereign proclaimed himself the successor to the sovereign rights of the Byzantine emperors. The Moscow coat of arms with George the Victorious was combined with the double-headed eagle - the ancient coat of arms of Byzantium. This emphasized that Moscow is the heir of the Byzantine Empire, Ivan III is “the king of all Orthodoxy”, the Russian Church is the successor of the Greek one. Under the influence of Sophia, the ceremonial of the Grand Duke's court acquired hitherto unseen splendor, similar to the Byzantine-Roman.
Rights to the Moscow throne
Sophia began a stubborn struggle to justify the right to the Moscow throne for her son Vasily. When she was eight years old, she even tried to organize a conspiracy against her husband (1497), but he was uncovered, and Sophia herself was condemned on suspicion of magic and connection with the “sorceress woman” (1498) and, together with Tsarevich Vasily, was subjected to disgrace.
But fate was merciful to her (during the years of her 30-year marriage, Sophia gave birth to 5 sons and 4 daughters). The death of the eldest son of Ivan III, Ivan the Young, forced Sophia's husband to change his anger to mercy and return the exiles to Moscow.
Death of Sophia Paleolog
Sophia died on April 7, 1503. She was buried in the grand ducal tomb of the Ascension Convent in the Kremlin. The buildings of this monastery were dismantled in 1929, and the sarcophagi with the remains of the Grand Duchesses and Empresses were transported to the basement chamber of the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin, where they remain today.
After death
This circumstance, as well as the good preservation of the skeleton of Sophia Paleolog, made it possible for experts to recreate her appearance. The work was carried out at the Moscow Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination. Apparently, there is no need to describe in detail the recovery process. We only note that the portrait was reproduced using all scientific methods.
A study of the remains of Sophia Paleolog showed that she was short - about 160 cm. The skull and each bone were carefully studied, and as a result it was found that the death of the Grand Duchess occurred at the age of 55-60 years. As a result of studies of the remains, it was established that Sophia was a plump woman, with strong-willed facial features and had a mustache that did not spoil her at all.
When the appearance of this woman appeared before the researchers, it became clear once again that nothing happens by chance in nature. We are talking about the amazing similarity of Sophia Paleolog and her grandson, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, whose true appearance is well known to us from the work of the famous Soviet anthropologist M.M. Gerasimov. The scientist, working on the portrait of Ivan Vasilyevich, noted the features of the Mediterranean type in his appearance, linking this precisely with the influence of the blood of his grandmother, Sophia Paleolog.
In the middle of the 15th century, when Constantinople fell under the onslaught of the Turks, the 17-year-old Byzantine princess Sophia left Rome to transfer the spirit of the old empire to a new, still emerging state.
With her fabulous life and adventure-filled journey, from the dimly lit passageways of the papal church to the snowy Russian steppes, from the secret mission behind her betrothal to a Moscow prince, to the mysterious and still undiscovered collection of books she brought with her from Constantinople, - we were introduced by the journalist and writer Yorgos Leonardos, the author of the book "Sophia Palaiologos - from Byzantium to Rus'", as well as many other historical novels.
In a conversation with an Athens-Macedonian Agency correspondent about the filming of a Russian film about the life of Sophia Palaiologos, Mr. Leonardos stressed that she was a versatile person, a practical and ambitious woman. The niece of the last Palaiologos inspired her husband, Prince Ivan III of Moscow, to create a strong state, earning the respect of Stalin almost five centuries after her death.
Russian researchers highly appreciate the contribution that Sophia left in the political and cultural history of medieval Rus'.
Yorgos Leonardos describes Sophia's personality as follows: “Sophia was the niece of the last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI, and the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos. She was baptized in Mistra, giving the Christian name Zoya. In 1460, when the Peloponnese was captured by the Turks, the princess, along with her parents, brothers and sister, went to the island of Corfu. With the participation of Vissarion of Nicaea, who had already become a Catholic cardinal in Rome by that time, Zoya moved to Rome with her father, brothers and sister. After the premature death of her parents, Vissarion took over custody of three children who converted to the Catholic faith. However, Sophia's life changed when Paul II took the papacy, who wanted her to enter into a political marriage. The princess was betrothed to Prince Ivan III of Moscow, hoping that Orthodox Rus' would convert to Catholicism. Sophia, who came from the Byzantine imperial family, was sent by Paul to Moscow as the heiress of Constantinople. Her first stop after Rome was the city of Pskov, where the Russian people enthusiastically accepted the young girl.
© Sputnik/Valentin Cheredintsev
The author of the book considers visiting one of the Pskov churches a key moment in Sophia’s life: “She was impressed, and although the papal legate was next to her, following her every step, she returned to Orthodoxy, defying the will of the pope. On November 12, 1472, Zoya became the second wife of the Moscow prince Ivan III under the Byzantine name Sophia.
From this moment, according to Leonardos, her brilliant path begins: “Under the influence of a deep religious feeling, Sophia convinced Ivan to throw off the burden of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, because at that time Rus' paid tribute to the Horde. Indeed, Ivan liberated his state and united various independent principalities under his rule.
© Sputnik/Balabanov
Sophia's contribution to the development of the state is great, because, as the author explains, "she started the Byzantine order at the Russian court and helped create the Russian state."
“Since Sophia was the only heiress of Byzantium, Ivan believed that he had inherited the right to the imperial throne. He adopted the yellow color of the Palaiologos and the Byzantine emblem - a double-headed eagle, which lasted until the 1917 revolution and was returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and also called Moscow the Third Rome. Since the sons of the Byzantine emperors took the name of Caesar, Ivan took this title for himself, which in Russian began to sound like "tsar". Ivan also elevated the Archbishopric of Moscow to a patriarchy, making it clear that the first patriarchy was not Constantinople captured by the Turks, but Moscow.”
© Sputnik/Alexey Filippov
According to Yorgos Leonardos, “Sofia was the first to create in Rus' on the model of Constantinople a secret service, a prototype of the tsarist secret police and the Soviet KGB. This contribution of hers is recognized by the Russian authorities today. So, the former head of the Federal Security Service of Russia, Alexei Patrushev, on the Day of Military Counterintelligence on December 19, 2007, said that the country honors Sophia Palaiologos, as she defended Rus' from internal and external enemies.
Also, Moscow “owes her a change in its appearance, since Sofia brought here Italian and Byzantine architects who built mainly stone buildings, for example, the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, as well as the Kremlin walls that still exist. Also, according to the Byzantine model, secret passages were dug under the territory of the entire Kremlin.
© Sputnik/Sergey Pyatakov
“Since 1472, the history of the modern – tsarist – state begins in Rus'. At that time, due to the climate, they did not engage in agriculture here, but only hunted. Sophia convinced the subjects of Ivan III to cultivate the fields and thus laid the foundation for the formation of agriculture in the country.
Sophia’s personality was also respected under the Soviet regime: according to Leonardos, “when the Ascension Monastery was destroyed in the Kremlin, in which the remains of the queen were stored, not only were they not disposed of, but by Stalin’s decree they were placed in a tomb, which was then transferred to Arkhangelsk the cathedral".
Yorgos Leonardos said that Sophia brought 60 carts from Constantinople with books and rare treasures that were kept in the underground treasuries of the Kremlin and have not been found so far.
“There are written sources,” says Mr. Leonardos, “indicating the existence of these books, which the West tried to buy from her grandson, Ivan the Terrible, to which he, of course, did not agree. Books continue to be searched to this day.
Sophia Palaiologos died on April 7, 1503 at the age of 48. Her husband, Ivan III, became the first ruler in the history of Russia, who was named the Great for his deeds, committed with the support of Sophia. Their grandson, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, continued to strengthen the state and went down in history as one of the most influential rulers of Russia.
© Sputnik/Vladimir Fedorenko
“Sofia transferred the spirit of Byzantium to the Russian Empire, which had just begun to emerge. It was she who built the state in Rus', giving it Byzantine features, and on the whole enriched the structure of the country and its society. Even today in Russia there are surnames that go back to Byzantine names, as a rule, they end in -ov, ”said Yorgos Leonardos.
As for the images of Sophia, Leonardos emphasized that “her portraits have not been preserved, but even under communism, with the help of special technologies, scientists recreated the appearance of the queen from her remains. This is how the bust appeared, which is placed near the entrance to the Historical Museum next to the Kremlin.”
“The legacy of Sophia Paleolog is Russia itself…” Yorgos Leonardos summed up.
The material was prepared by the editors of the site
In the middle of the 15th century, when Constantinople fell under the onslaught of the Turks, the 17-year-old Byzantine princess Sophia left Rome to transfer the spirit of the old empire to a new, still emerging state.
With her fabulous life and journey full of adventures - from the poorly lit passages of the papal church to the snowy Russian steppes, from the secret mission behind the betrothal to the Moscow prince, to the mysterious and still not found collection of books that she brought with her from Constantinople, - we were introduced by the journalist and writer Yorgos Leonardos, the author of the book "Sophia Palaiologos - from Byzantium to Rus'", as well as many other historical novels.
In a conversation with an Athens-Macedonian Agency correspondent about the filming of a Russian film about the life of Sophia Palaiologos, Mr. Leonardos stressed that she was a versatile person, a practical and ambitious woman. The niece of the last Palaiologos inspired her husband, Prince Ivan III of Moscow, to create a strong state, earning the respect of Stalin almost five centuries after her death.
Russian researchers highly appreciate the contribution that Sophia left in the political and cultural history of medieval Rus'.
Yorgos Leonardos describes Sophia's personality as follows: “Sophia was the niece of the last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI, and the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos. She was baptized in Mistra, giving the Christian name Zoya. In 1460, when the Peloponnese was captured by the Turks, the princess, along with her parents, brothers and sister, went to the island of Corfu. With the participation of Vissarion of Nicaea, who had already become a Catholic cardinal in Rome by that time, Zoya moved to Rome with her father, brothers and sister. After the premature death of her parents, Vissarion took over custody of three children who converted to the Catholic faith. However, Sophia's life changed when Paul II took the papacy, who wanted her to enter into a political marriage. The princess was betrothed to Prince Ivan III of Moscow, hoping that Orthodox Rus' would convert to Catholicism. Sophia, who came from the Byzantine imperial family, was sent by Paul to Moscow as the heiress of Constantinople. Her first stop after Rome was the city of Pskov, where the Russian people enthusiastically accepted the young girl.
© Sputnik. Valentin Cheredintsev
The author of the book considers visiting one of the Pskov churches a key moment in Sophia’s life: “She was impressed, and although the papal legate was next to her, following her every step, she returned to Orthodoxy, defying the will of the pope. On November 12, 1472, Zoya became the second wife of the Moscow prince Ivan III under the Byzantine name Sophia.
From this moment, according to Leonardos, her brilliant path begins: “Under the influence of a deep religious feeling, Sophia convinced Ivan to throw off the burden of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, because at that time Rus' paid tribute to the Horde. Indeed, Ivan liberated his state and united various independent principalities under his rule.
© Sputnik. Balabanov
Sophia's contribution to the development of the state is great, because, as the author explains, "she started the Byzantine order at the Russian court and helped create the Russian state."
“Since Sophia was the only heiress of Byzantium, Ivan believed that he had inherited the right to the imperial throne. He adopted the yellow color of the Palaiologos and the Byzantine coat of arms - the double-headed eagle, which lasted until the revolution of 1917 and was returned after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and also called Moscow the Third Rome. Since the sons of the Byzantine emperors took the name of Caesar, Ivan took this title for himself, which in Russian began to sound like "tsar". Ivan also elevated the Archbishopric of Moscow to a patriarchy, making it clear that the first patriarchy is not Constantinople captured by the Turks, but Moscow.”
© Sputnik. Alexey Filippov
According to Yorgos Leonardos, “Sofia was the first to create in Rus' on the model of Constantinople a secret service, a prototype of the tsarist secret police and the Soviet KGB. This contribution of hers is recognized by the Russian authorities today. So, the former head of the Federal Security Service of Russia, Alexei Patrushev, on the Day of Military Counterintelligence on December 19, 2007, said that the country honors Sophia Palaiologos, as she defended Rus' from internal and external enemies.
Also, Moscow “owes her a change in its appearance, since Sofia brought here Italian and Byzantine architects who built mainly stone buildings, for example, the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, as well as the Kremlin walls that still exist. Also, according to the Byzantine model, secret passages were dug under the territory of the entire Kremlin.
© Sputnik. Sergei Pyatakov
“Since 1472, the history of the modern - tsarist - state begins in Rus'. At that time, due to the climate, they did not engage in agriculture here, but only hunted. Sophia convinced the subjects of Ivan III to cultivate the fields and thus laid the foundation for the formation of agriculture in the country.
Sophia’s personality was also respected under the Soviet regime: according to Leonardos, “when the Ascension Monastery was destroyed in the Kremlin, in which the remains of the queen were stored, not only were they not disposed of, but by Stalin’s decree they were placed in a tomb, which was then transferred to Arkhangelsk the cathedral".
Yorgos Leonardos said that Sophia brought 60 carts from Constantinople with books and rare treasures that were kept in the underground treasuries of the Kremlin and have not been found so far.
“There are written sources,” says Mr. Leonardos, “indicating the existence of these books, which the West tried to buy from her grandson, Ivan the Terrible, to which he, of course, did not agree. Books continue to be searched to this day.
Sophia Palaiologos died on April 7, 1503 at the age of 48. Her husband, Ivan III, became the first ruler in the history of Russia, who was named the Great for his deeds, committed with the support of Sophia. Their grandson, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, continued to strengthen the state and went down in history as one of the most influential rulers of Russia.
© Sputnik. Vladimir Fedorenko
“Sofia transferred the spirit of Byzantium to the Russian Empire, which had just begun to emerge. It was she who built the state in Rus', giving it Byzantine features, and on the whole enriched the structure of the country and its society. Even today in Russia there are surnames that go back to Byzantine names, as a rule, they end in -ov,” said Yorgos Leonardos.
As for the images of Sophia, Leonardos emphasized that “her portraits have not been preserved, but even under communism, with the help of special technologies, scientists recreated the appearance of the queen from her remains. This is how the bust appeared, which is placed near the entrance to the Historical Museum next to the Kremlin.”
“The legacy of Sophia Paleolog is Russia itself…” Yorgos Leonardos summed up.
Sophia Paleolog... How much has been said, written, invented, discovered about her... Not every, far from every person in history is clothed in such a long train of omissions, gossip, slander... And in parallel with them - delights, thanks, admiration. The personality of Sophia Palaiologos has not let archaeologists, historians, doctors, scientists, researchers, and just people who at least somehow tangentially encountered stories about her sleep peacefully for a long time. So who is she? Genius? Villainess? Witch? Holy? Benefactor of the Russian land or a fiend? Based on the information of her biography known to us, we will try to figure it out.
Start over. Sophia, or in infancy Zoya, was born in the family of Thomas Palaiologos, the despot of the Morea. He was the younger brother of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, who died during the fall of Constantinople in the middle of the 15th century.
It is after this phrase that sometimes gibberish begins in people's thinking. Well, if the father is a despot, then who should be a daughter? And the hail of accusations begins. Meanwhile, if we show a little curiosity and look into the dictionary, which interprets words for us not always in monosyllables, then we can read something else about the word "despot".
It turns out that the most senior Byzantine nobles were called despots. And despotates are such divisions in the state, similar to modern provinces or states. So Sofia's father was a nobleman who led one of these pieces of the state - a despotate.
She was not the only child in the family - she had two more brothers: Manuel and Andrei. The family professed Orthodoxy, the mother of the children, Ekaterina Akhaiskaya, was a very church-going woman, which she taught her children.
But the years were very difficult. The Byzantine Empire was on the verge of collapse. And when Constantine XI died and the capital was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, the Palaiologos family was forced to flee from the family nest. First they settled on the island of Corfu, and later moved to Rome.
In Rome, children were orphaned. First, the mother died, and then, six months later, Thomas Palaiologos also went to the Lord. The education of orphans was taken up by the Greek scientist, the Uniate Vissarion of Nicaea, who served as a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV (yes, it was he who ordered the construction of the chapel, which now bears his name - the Sistine).
And of course, Zoya and her brothers were brought up in Catholicism. But at the same time, the children received a good education. They knew Latin and Greek, mathematics and astronomy, and were fluent in several languages.
The Pope of Rome showed such virtue not only out of compassion for the orphans. His thoughts were much more pragmatic. In order to restore the Florentine union of churches and to attach the Moscow state to the union, he decided to marry Sophia Palaiologos to the Russian prince Ivan III, who had recently been a widower.
The widowed prince liked the desire of the Pope to make the ancient Moscow family related to the famous Palaiologos family. But he himself could not decide anything. Ivan III asked his mother for advice on what to do. The offer was tempting, but he was well aware that not only his personal fate was at stake, but also the fate of the state, whose ruler he would become. His father, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II, nicknamed the Dark One because of his blindness, appointed the 16-year-old son as his co-ruler. And at the time of the alleged matchmaking, Vasily II had already passed away.
The mother sent her son to Metropolitan Philip. He spoke out sharply against the planned marriage and did not give his highest blessing to the prince. As for Ivan III himself, he liked the idea of marriage with a Byzantine princess. Indeed, in this way, Moscow became the heir of Byzantium - the “third Rome”, which inexpressibly strengthened the authority of the Grand Duke not only in his own country, but also in relations with neighboring states.
On reflection, he sent his ambassador to Rome, the Italian Jean-Baptiste della Volpe, who in Moscow was called much more simply: Ivan Fryazin. His personality is very interesting. He was not only the chief minter of coins at the court of Grand Duke Ivan III, but also the farmer of this very profitable business. But it's not about him now.
The wedding contract was concluded, and Sophia, along with several accompanying persons, left Rome for Russia.
She crossed all of Europe. In all the cities where she stayed, she was given a magnificent reception and was bombarded with souvenirs. The last stop before arriving in Moscow was the city of Novgorod. And then an unfortunate event happened.
There was a big Catholic cross in Sofia's convoy. The news of this reached Moscow and incredibly upset Metropolitan Philip, who did not give his blessing for this marriage anyway. Vladyka Philip delivered an ultimatum: if the cross is brought into Moscow, it will leave the city. The matter took a serious turn. The envoy of Ivan III acted in Russian simply: having met a convoy at the entrance to Moscow, he took and took away the cross from the representative of the Pope, who accompanied Sophia Palaiologos. Everything was resolved quickly and without much fuss.
Directly on the day of her arrival in Belokamennaya, namely on November 12, 1472, as evidenced by the annals of that time, her wedding with Ivan III took place. It took place in a temporary wooden church, placed near the Assumption Cathedral under construction, so as not to stop worship. Metropolitan Philip, still beside himself with rage, refused to hold the wedding ceremony. And this sacrament was performed by Archpriest Josiah of Kolomna, who was specially urgently invited to Moscow. Sophia Paleolog became the wife of Ivan III. But, to the great misfortune and disappointment of the Pope, things did not turn out the way he expected.
According to legend, she brought with her a “bone throne” as a gift to her husband: its wooden frame was all covered with ivory and walrus ivory plates with biblical themes carved on them. Sophia brought with her several Orthodox icons.
Sophia, whose goal was to incline Rus' to Catholicism, became Orthodox. Angry envoys of the union left Moscow with nothing. A number of historians are inclined to the version that Sophia secretly communicated with the Athonite elders, comprehending the basics of the Orthodox faith, which she liked more and more. There is evidence that several Gentiles wooed her, whom she refused solely because of a discrepancy in religious views.
“A visible sign of the continuity of Rus' from Byzantium is the double-headed eagle - the dynastic sign of the Palaiologos family”
Be that as it may, Paleolog became the Grand Russian Duchess Sophia Fominichnaya. And not just became it formally. She brought with her to Rus' a great baggage - the covenants and traditions of the Byzantine Empire, the so-called "symphony" of state and church power. And these were not just words. A visible sign of the continuity of Rus' from Byzantium is the double-headed eagle - the dynastic sign of the Palaiologos family. And this sign becomes the state emblem of Rus'. A little later, a horseman was added to it, striking a snake with a sword - St. George the Victorious, who used to be the coat of arms of Moscow.
The husband listened to the wise advice of his enlightened wife, although his boyars, who previously had undivided influence on the prince, did not like it.
And Sophia became not only her husband's assistant in state affairs, but also the mother of a huge family. She had 12 children, 9 of whom lived a long life. First, Elena was born, who died in early infancy. Fedosiya followed her, followed by Elena again. And finally - happiness! Heir! On the night of March 25-26, 1479, a boy was born, named after his grandfather Vasily. Sophia Palaiologos had a son, Vasily, the future Vasily III. For his mother, he always remained Gabriel - in honor of the Archangel Gabriel, to whom she tearfully prayed for the gift of an heir.
Fate also gave the spouses Yuri, Dmitry, Evdokia (who also died as a baby), Ivan (died as a child), Simeon, Andrei, again Evdokia and Boris.
Immediately after the birth of the heir, Sophia Paleologus ensured that he was declared the Grand Duke. By this action, she practically ousted the eldest son of Ivan III from a previous marriage - Ivan (Young), and after him - his son, that is, the grandson of Ivan III - Dmitry.
Naturally, this led to all sorts of rumors. But it seemed that they did not care for the Grand Duchess at all. She was worried about something else.
Sophia Palaiologos insisted that her husband surround himself with splendor, wealth and etiquette at court. These were the traditions of the empire, and they had to be observed. From Western Europe, doctors, artists, architects, architects flooded Moscow ... They were ordered to decorate the capital!
Aristotle Fioravanti was invited from Milan, who was charged with the task of building the Kremlin chambers. The choice was not accidental. Signor Aristotle was known as an excellent specialist in underground passages, caches and labyrinths.
And before laying the walls of the Kremlin, he built real catacombs under them, in one of the casemates of which a real treasury was hidden - a library in which manuscripts from antiquity and folios saved during the fire of the famous Alexandria Library were stored. Remember, on the feast of the Presentation, we talked about Simeon the God-Receiver? Just his translation of the book of the prophet Isaiah into Greek was kept in this library.
In addition to the Kremlin chambers, the architect Fioravanti built the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals. Thanks to the skill of other architects, the Faceted Chamber, the Kremlin towers, the Terem Palace, the Treasury Court and the Archangel Cathedral appeared in Moscow. Moscow every day became more and more beautiful, as if preparing to become royal.
But not only this cared for our heroine. Sophia Paleolog, having a great influence on her husband, who saw in her a reliable friend and wise adviser, convinced him to refuse to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. Ivan III finally threw off this long-term yoke. But the boyars were very afraid that the horde would go berserk after learning about the decision of the prince, and bloodshed would begin. But Ivan III was firm, enlisting the support of his wife.
Well. So far, we can say that Sophia Paleolog was a good genius both for her husband and for Mother Rus'. But we forgot about one person who did not think so at all. This man's name is Ivan. Ivan the Young, as he was called at court. And he was a son from the first marriage of Grand Duke Ivan III.
After Sophia's son Palaiologos was declared heir to the throne, the Russian nobility at court split. Two groups formed: one supported Ivan the Young, the other - Sophia.
From the very appearance at court, Ivan the Young did not have a relationship with Sophia, and she did not try to establish them, doing other state and personal affairs. Ivan Molodoy was only three years younger than his stepmother, and like all teenagers, he was jealous of his father for his new lover. Soon, Ivan the Young also married the daughter of the sovereign of Moldavia, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka. And at the time of the birth of his half-brother, he himself was already the father of his son Dmitry.
Ivan Molodoy, Dmitry ... Vasily's chances of taking the throne were very illusory. And this did not suit Sophia Paleolog. It didn't suit me at all. Two women - Sophia and Elena - became sworn enemies and simply burned with the desire to get rid of not only each other, but also the offspring of a competitor. Sophia Paleologus makes a mistake. But about this in order.
The Grand Duchess maintained very warm friendly relations with her brother Andrei. His daughter Maria married in Moscow Prince Vasily Vereisky, who was the nephew of Ivan III. And once Sophia, without asking her husband, gave her niece a jewel that once belonged to the first wife of Ivan III.
And the Grand Duke, seeing his daughter-in-law's dislike for his wife, decided to appease her and give her this family jewel. This is where the big failure happened! The prince was beside himself with anger! He demanded that Vasily Vereisky immediately return the family heirloom to him. But he refused. Say, a gift, sorry! Moreover, its cost was very, very impressive.
Ivan III was simply furious and ordered to plant Prince Vasily Vereisky and his wife in a dungeon! The relatives had to hastily flee to Lithuania, where they escaped the wrath of the sovereign. But the prince was angry with his wife for this act for a long time.
By the end of the 15th century, the passions in the grand ducal family subsided. At least the appearance of a cold world remained. Suddenly a new misfortune struck: Ivan Molodoy fell ill with an ache in his legs, he was practically paralyzed. The best doctors from Europe were hastily sent to him. But they couldn't help him. Soon Ivan Young died.
Doctors, as usual, were executed ... But in the circle of the boyars, the rumor began to emerge more and more clearly that Sophia Paleolog had a hand in the death of the heir. Say, she poisoned her rival Vasily. A rumor reached Ivan III that some dashing women with a potion came to Sophia. He was furious, and did not want to see his wife, and ordered his son Vasily to be kept in custody. The women who came to Sophia were drowned in the river, many were thrown into prison. But Sophia Paleolog did not stop at this.
After all, Ivan the Young left an heir, known as Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk. Grandson of Ivan III. And on February 4, 1498, at the end of the 15th century, he was officially proclaimed heir to the throne.
But you have a bad idea of the personality of Sophia Paleolog if you think that she has reconciled. Quite the opposite.
At that time, the Judaizing heresy began to spread in Rus'. She was brought to Rus' by some Kyiv Jewish scientist named Skhariya. He began to alter Christianity in a Jewish manner, denied the Holy Trinity, put the Old Testament more important than the New, rejected the veneration of icons and relics of saints ... In general, in modern terms, he gathered the same sectarians like him, who broke away from holy Orthodoxy. Elena Voloshanka and Prince Dmitry somehow joined this sect.
It was a great trump card in the hands of Sophia Palaiologos. Immediately, sectarianism was reported to Ivan III. And Elena and Dmitry fell into disgrace. Sophia and Vasily again took their former position. From that time on, the sovereign began, according to the chroniclers, "not to take care of his grandson", and declared his son Vasily the Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov. Sophia achieved what was ordered to keep Dmitry and Elena in custody, not to commemorate them at litanies in the church and not to call Dmitry the Grand Duke.
Sophia Paleolog, who actually won the royal throne for her son, did not live to see this day. She died in 1503. Elena Voloshanka also died in prison.
Thanks to the method of plastic reconstruction from the skull, at the end of 1994, a sculptural portrait of Grand Duchess Sophia Paleolog was restored. She was short - about 160 cm, full, with strong-willed features and had a mustache that did not spoil her at all.
Ivan III, already feeling weak in health, prepared a will. Basil is listed as heir to the throne.
Meanwhile, it was time for Vasily to get married. An attempt to marry him to the daughter of the Danish king failed; then, on the advice of a courtier, a Greek, Ivan Vasilyevich followed the example of the Byzantine emperors. It was ordered to the court to gather the most beautiful girls, daughters of the boyars and boyar children, for the bride. They collected fifteen hundred of them. Vasily chose Solomonia, the daughter of the nobleman Saburov.
Ivan Vasilyevich, after the death of his wife, lost heart, became seriously ill. Apparently, Grand Duchess Sophia gave him the necessary energy to build a new power, her mind helped in state affairs, her sensitivity warned of dangers, her all-conquering love gave him strength and courage. Leaving all his affairs, he went on a trip to the monasteries, but failed to atone for sins. He was stricken with paralysis. On October 27, 1505, he passed away to the Lord, having outlived his beloved wife by only two years.
Vasily III, having ascended the throne, first of all tightened the conditions of detention of his nephew, Dmitry Vnuk. He was shackled and placed in a small stuffy cell. In 1509 he died.
Basil and Solomon had no children. On the advice of those close to him, he married Elena Glinskaya. On August 25, 1530, Elena Glinskaya gave birth to the heir Vasily III, who was named John at baptism. Then there was a rumor that when he was born, a terrible thunder swept across the Russian land, lightning flashed and the earth trembled ...
Ivan the Terrible was born, as modern scientists say, outwardly very similar to his grandmother - Sophia Paleolog. Ivan the Terrible is a maniac, a sadist, a libertine, a despot, an alcoholic, the first Russian tsar and the last in the Rurik dynasty. Ivan the Terrible, who accepted the schema on his deathbed and was buried in a cassock and a doll. But that's a completely different story.
And Sophia Paleolog was buried in a massive white stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin. Next to her rested the body of the first wife of Ivan III - Maria Borisovna. This cathedral was destroyed in 1929 by the new government. But the remains of the women of the royal house survived. They now rest in the underground chamber of the Archangel Cathedral.
Such was the life of Sophia Paleolog. Virtue and villainy, genius and meanness, the decoration of Moscow and the destruction of competitors - everything was in her difficult, but very bright biography.
Who she is - the embodiment of evil and intrigue or the creator of the new Muscovy - you decide, reader. In any case, her name is inscribed in the annals of history, and part of her family coat of arms - the double-headed eagle - we see today on Russian heraldry.
One thing is certain - she made a huge contribution to the history of the Moscow principality. May he rest in peace! The mere fact that she did not allow Moscow to become a Catholic state is priceless for us Orthodox!
The main photo is the meeting of Princess Sophia Paleolog by the Pskov posadniks and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi. Bronnikov F.A.
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Sophia Paleolog - Byzantine princess.Sofia Paleolog-Byzantine princess.
Sofia Fominichna Paleolog, she is also Zoya Paleologin (c. 1455 - April 7, 1503), Grand Duchess of Moscow, second wife of Ivan III, mother of Vasily III, grandmother of Ivan IV the Terrible. Descended from the imperial dynasty of Palaiologos.
A family
Her father, Thomas Palaiologos, was the brother of the last emperor of Byzantium, Constantine XI, and despot of the Morea (Peloponnese).
Thomas Palaiologos, Sophia's father (Fresco by Pinturicchio, Piccolomini Library)
Emperor John VIII, Sophia's uncle (fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli, Magi Chapel)
Emperor Constantine XI, Sophia's uncle
Her maternal grandfather was Centurione II Zaccaria, the last Frankish prince of Achaia. Centurione came from a Genoese merchant family. His father was placed to rule Achaia by the Neapolitan king Charles III of Anjou. Centurione inherited power from his father and ruled in the principality until 1430, when the despot of the Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, launched a large-scale offensive against his possessions. This forced the prince to retreat to his hereditary castle in Messenia, where he died in 1432, two years after the peace treaty, according to which Thomas married his daughter Catherine. After his death, the territory of the principality became part of the despotate.
Zoya's elder sister Elena Paleologina Morejskaya (1431 - November 7, 1473) was the wife of the Serbian despot Lazar Brankovich from 1446, and after the capture of Serbia by Muslims in 1459, she fled to the Greek island of Lefkada, where she took the veil. Thomas also had two surviving sons, Andrei Palaiologos (1453–1502) and Manuel Palaiologos (1455–1512).
Italy
Decisive in the fate of Zoya was the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine died in 1453 during the capture of Constantinople, 7 years later, in 1460, Morea was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, Thomas went to the island of Corfu, then to Rome, where he soon died. Zoya and her brothers, 7-year-old Andrei and 5-year-old Manuel, moved to Rome 5 years after their father. There she received the name Sophia. Palaiologos settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV (customer of the Sistine Chapel). In order to gain support, Thomas converted to Catholicism in the last year of his life.
Sixtus IV, Titian
After the death of Thomas on May 12, 1465 (his wife Catherine died a little earlier in the same year), the well-known Greek scientist, Cardinal Bessarion of Nicaea, a supporter of the union, took care of his children. His letter has been preserved, in which he gave instructions to the teacher of orphans. From this letter it follows that the pope will continue to release 3600 ecu per year for their maintenance (200 ecu per month: for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus it was necessary to save for a rainy day, and spend 100 ecu on the maintenance of a modest yard , which included a doctor, a professor of Latin, a professor of Greek, a translator and 1-2 priests).
Vissarion of Nicaea
After the death of Thomas, the crown of the Palaiologos was de jure inherited by his son Andrei, who sold it to various European monarchs and died in poverty. The second son of Thomas Palaiologos, Manuel, during the reign of Bayezid II returned to Istanbul and surrendered to the mercy of the Sultan. According to some sources, he converted to Islam, started a family and served in the Turkish navy.
In 1466, the Venetian lordship offered the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan the candidacy of Sophia as a bride, but he refused. According to Fr. Pirlinga, the brilliance of her name and the glory of her ancestors were a poor bulwark against the Ottoman ships cruising the waters of the Mediterranean. Around 1467, Pope Paul II, through Cardinal Vissarion, offered her hand to Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. They were solemnly engaged, but the marriage did not take place.
Wedding
Ivan III was widowed in 1467 - his first wife Maria Borisovna, Princess of Tverskaya died, leaving him his only son, heir - Ivan the Young.
Sophia's marriage to Ivan III was proposed in 1469 by Pope Paul II, presumably in the hope of strengthening the influence of the Catholic Church in Rus' or, perhaps, the rapprochement of the Catholic and Orthodox churches - to restore the Florentine connection of churches. Ivan III's motives were probably related to status, and the recently widowed monarch agreed to marry a Greek princess. The idea of marriage may have been born in the mind of Cardinal Vissarion.
The negotiations lasted three years. The Russian chronicle narrates: On February 11, 1469, the Greek Yuri arrived in Moscow from Cardinal Vissarion to the Grand Duke with a sheet in which Sophia, the daughter of the Amorite despot Thomas, an “Orthodox Christian” was offered to the Grand Duke as a bride (she was silent about her conversion to Catholicism). Ivan III consulted with his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, and made a positive decision.
Banner "Sermon of John the Baptist" from the Oratorio San Giovanni, Urbino. Italian experts believe that Vissarion and Sophia Palaiologos (3rd and 4th characters from the left) are depicted in the crowd of listeners. Gallery of the Province of the Marche, Urbino.
In 1469, Ivan Fryazin (Gian Battista della Volpe) was sent to the Roman court to woo Grand Duke Sophia. The Sofia chronicle testifies that a portrait of the bride was sent back to Rus' with Ivan Fryazin, and such secular painting turned out to be an extreme surprise in Moscow - “... and bring the princess written on the icon.(This portrait has not been preserved, which is very regrettable, since it was probably painted by a painter in the papal service, the generation of Perugino, Melozzo da Forli and Pedro Berruguete). The Pope received the ambassador with great honour. He asked the Grand Duke to send the boyars for the bride. Fryazin went to Rome for the second time on January 16, 1472, and arrived there on May 23.
Viktor Muyzhel. "Ambassador Ivan Frezin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleolog"
On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. Ivan Fryazin was the deputy of the Grand Duke. The wife of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Clarice Orsini and the Queen of Bosnia, Katharina, were also guests. The Pope, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6,000 ducats.
Clarici Medici
On June 24, 1472, a large convoy of Sophia Palaiologos, together with Fryazin, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Bessarion of Nicaea, who was supposed to realize the opportunities that were opening up for the Holy See. Legend has it that Sophia's dowry included books that would form the basis of the collection of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible.
Sophia's retinue: Yuri Trakhaniot, Dmitry Trakhaniot, Prince Konstantin, Dmitry (ambassador of her brothers), St. Cassian the Greek. And also - the papal legate Genoese Anthony Bonumbre, Bishop of Accia (his annals are erroneously called a cardinal). The nephew of diplomat Ivan Fryazin, architect Anton Fryazin, also arrived with her.
Fedor Bronnikov. "Meeting of Princess Sophia Paleolog by Pskov posadniks and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi"
The itinerary of the journey was as follows: north from Italy through Germany, they arrived at the port of Lübeck on September 1. (I had to go around Poland, through which travelers usually went to Rus' by land - at that moment she was in a state of conflict with Ivan III). The sea voyage across the Baltic took 11 days. The ship landed in Kolyvan (modern Tallinn), from where the motorcade in October 1472 proceeded through Yuryev (modern Tartu), Pskov and Veliky Novgorod. November 12, 1472 Sophia entered Moscow.
Sofia Paleolog enters Moscow. Miniature of the Front Chronicle
Even during the bride's journey through the Russian lands, it became obvious that the plans of the Vatican to make her a conductor of Catholicism failed, since Sophia immediately demonstrated a return to the faith of her ancestors. The papal legate Anthony Bonumbre was deprived of the opportunity to enter Moscow, carrying a Latin cross in front of him (see Korsun cross).
The wedding in Russia took place on November 12 (22), 1472 in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. They were married by Metropolitan Philip (according to the Sophia Time Book - Archpriest Hosea of Kolomna). According to some indications, Metropolitan Philip was against a marriage union with a Uniate woman. The official chronicle of the Grand Duke claims that it was the Metropolitan who married the Grand Duke, but the unofficial code (as part of the Sophia II and Lvov Annals) denies the participation of the Metropolitan in this ceremony: “The archpriest of Kolomna Osei was crowned, outside the local archpriest and confessor did not command ...”.
The wedding of Ivan III with Sophia Paleolog in 1472. Engraving of the 19th century.
Dowry
The Moscow Kremlin Museums have several items associated with her name. Among them are several precious reliquaries originating from the Annunciation Cathedral, whose setting was probably created already in Moscow. According to the inscriptions, it can be assumed that she brought the relics in them from Rome.
Korsun cross
"Savior Not Made by Hands". Board - 15th century (?), painting - 19th century (?), salary - last quarter (17th century). Tsata and drobnitsa with the image of Basil the Great - 1853. MMK. According to legend, recorded in Ser. 19th century, the image was brought to Moscow from Rome by Sophia Paleolog.
Reliquary pectoral icon. Frame - Moscow, second half of the 15th century; cameo - Byzantium, XII-XIII centuries. (?)
Pectoral icon. Constantinople, X-XI centuries; frame - late XIII - early XIV century
Icon of Our Lady Hodegetria, 15th century
Married life
Sophia's family life, apparently, was successful, as evidenced by numerous offspring.
For her, special mansions and a courtyard were built in Moscow, but they soon burned down in 1493, and the treasury of the Grand Duchess also perished during the fire. Tatishchev conveys evidence that, thanks to the intervention of Sophia, the Tatar yoke was thrown off by Ivan III: when the demand of tribute by Khan Akhmat was discussed at the council of the Grand Duke, and many said that it was better to pacify the wicked with gifts than to shed blood, it was as if Sophia burst into tears and with reproaches she persuaded her husband to end the tributary relationship.
Painting by N. S. Shustov “Ivan III overthrows the Tatar yoke, tearing the image of the Khan and ordering the death of ambassadors”
Before the invasion of Akhmat in 1480, for the sake of safety, with the children, the court, the boyars and the princely treasury, Sofia was sent first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero; in the event that Akhmat crosses the Oka and takes Moscow, then she was told to run further north to the sea. This gave rise to Vissarion, the lord of Rostov, in his message to warn the Grand Duke against constant thoughts and excessive attachment to his wife and children. In one of the chronicles, it is noted that Ivan panicked: “horror found on n, and you want to run away from the shore, and his Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her were sent to Beloozero.”
Ovechkin N.V. Ivan III. 1988. Canvas. Oil
The family returned to Moscow only in winter. The Venetian ambassador Contarini says that in 1476 he introduced himself to the Grand Duchess Sophia, who received him politely and affectionately and convincingly asked her to bow to the brightest republic from her.
There is a legend connected with the birth of Sophia's son Vasily III, heir to the throne: as if during one of the pious trips to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in Klementyevo, Grand Duchess Sophia Paleolog had a vision of St. Sergius of Radonezh, who “throw into the bowels of her youth of the young male sex”
"Vision of St. Sergius of Radonezh to the Grand Duchess of Moscow Sophia Paleolog. Lithography. Workshop of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1866
Over time, the second marriage of the Grand Duke became one of the sources of tension at court. Soon enough, two groups of court nobility formed, one of which supported the heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich the Young, and the second, the new Grand Duchess Sophia Paleolog. In 1476, the Venetian A. Contarini noted that the heir "is in disfavor with his father, because he does not behave well with Despina" (Sofya), but since 1477 Ivan Ivanovich has been mentioned as a co-ruler of his father.
Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich on a walk
Avilov Mikhail Ivanovich
In subsequent years, the grand ducal family increased significantly: Sophia gave birth to a total of nine children to the grand duke - five sons and four daughters.
Meanwhile, in January 1483, the heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich Molodoy, also married. His wife was the daughter of the sovereign of Moldavia, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka, who immediately found herself with her mother-in-law "on knives". On October 10, 1483, their son Dmitry was born. After the annexation of Tver in 1485, Ivan Molodoy was appointed prince of Tver as his father; in one of the sources of this period, Ivan III and Ivan Molodoy are called "autocrats of the Russian land." Thus, during all the 1480s, the position of Ivan Ivanovich as the legitimate heir was quite strong.
Ivan and Elena's wedding
The position of the supporters of Sophia Palaiologos was less favorable. So, in particular, the Grand Duchess failed to get government posts for her relatives; her brother Andrey left Moscow with nothing, and her niece Maria, the wife of Prince Vasily Vereisky (the heir to the Vereisko-Belozersky principality), was forced to flee to Lithuania with her husband, which also affected Sophia's position. According to sources, Sophia, having arranged the marriage of her niece and Prince Vasily Vereisky, in 1483 gave her relative a precious piece of jewelry - a "sazhen" with pearls and stones, which had previously belonged to the first wife of Ivan III, Maria Borisovna. The Grand Duke, who wished to bestow a “sazhen” on Elena Voloshanka, upon discovering the loss of the jewelry, became angry and ordered a search to be launched. Vasily Vereisky did not wait for measures against himself and, having captured his wife, fled to Lithuania. One of the results of this story was the transition of the Vereysko-Belozersky principality to Ivan III according to the will of the appanage prince Mikhail Vereisky, Vasily's father. Only in 1493 Sophia procured Vasily the mercy of the Grand Duke: the disgrace was removed.
"The great prince granted his grandson a great reign"
By 1490, however, new circumstances came into play. The son of the Grand Duke, heir to the throne Ivan Ivanovich fell ill "kamchugo in the legs"(gout). Sophia ordered a doctor from Venice - "Mistro Leona" who presumptuously promised Ivan III to cure the heir to the throne; nevertheless, all the efforts of the doctor were fruitless, and on March 7, 1490, Ivan the Young died. The doctor was executed, and rumors spread around Moscow about the poisoning of the heir; a hundred years later, these rumors, already as indisputable facts, were recorded by Andrei Kurbsky. Modern historians regard the hypothesis of the poisoning of Ivan the Young as unverifiable due to a lack of sources.
Death of Grand Duke Ivan Ivanovich.
On February 4, 1498, the coronation of Prince Dmitry took place in the Assumption Cathedral. Sophia and her son Vasily were not invited. However, on April 11, 1502, the dynastic struggle came to its logical conclusion. According to the chronicle, Ivan III “placed disgrace on the grandson of his Grand Duke Dmitry and on his mother, the Grand Duchess Elena, and from that day on he did not order them to be remembered in litanies and litias, nor called the Grand Duke, and plant them for bailiffs.” A few days later, Vasily Ivanovich was granted a great reign; soon Dmitry the grandson and his mother Elena Voloshanka were transferred from house arrest to imprisonment. Thus, the struggle within the grand-ducal family ended in the victory of Prince Vasily; he became the co-ruler of his father and the rightful heir to a huge power. The fall of Dmitry the grandson and his mother also predetermined the fate of the Moscow-Novgorod reform movement in the Orthodox Church: the Church Council of 1503 finally defeated it; many prominent and progressive figures of this movement were executed. As for the fate of those who lost the dynastic struggle, it was sad: on January 18, 1505, Elena Stefanovna died in captivity, and in 1509 Dmitry himself died “in need, in prison”. “Some believe that he died from hunger and cold, others that he suffocated from smoke”- Herberstein reported about his death
"Veil of Elena Voloshanka". Workshop of Elena Stefanovna Voloshanka (?) depicting the 1498 ceremony. Sophia is probably depicted in the lower left corner in a yellow cloak with a round patch on her shoulder - a tablion, a sign of royal dignity.
Death
She was buried in a massive white stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin next to the grave of Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III. On the lid of the sarcophagus, the word "Sophia" was scratched with a sharp instrument.
This cathedral was destroyed in 1929, and the remains of Sophia, as well as other women of the reigning house, were transferred to the underground chamber of the southern extension of the Archangel Cathedral.
Death and burial of the Grand Duchess
Personality
The attitude of contemporaries
The Byzantine princess was not popular, she was considered smart, but proud, cunning and treacherous. Hostility towards her was expressed even in the annals: for example, regarding her return from Beloozero, the chronicler notes: “Grand Duchess Sophia ... ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, and no one drove; and in which countries she went, the more so Tatars - from boyar serfs, from Christian bloodsuckers. Repay them, O Lord, according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their undertakings.
The disgraced duma man of Vasily III, Bersen Beklemishev, in a conversation with Maxim Grek, spoke of her like this: “Our Russian land lived in silence and in peace. As the mother of the Grand Duke Sophia came here with your Greeks, so our land got mixed up and great disturbances came to us, just like you had in Tsar-grad under your kings. Maxim objected: “Lord, the Grand Duchess Sophia on both sides was of a great family: on her father, the royal family, and on her mother, the Grand Duke of the Italian side.” Bersen replied: “Whatever it may be; Yes, it has come to our disorder. This disorganization, according to Bersen, was reflected in the fact that since that time “the great prince changed the old customs”, “now our Sovereign, having locked himself in thirds by the bed, does all sorts of things.”
Prince Andrei Kurbsky is especially strict with Sophia. He is convinced that “The devil instilled evil morals into the good Russian princes, especially by their evil wives and sorcerers, like in Israel the kings, more than whom they were raped from foreigners”; accuses Sophia of poisoning John the Young, of the death of Elena, of imprisoning Dmitry, Prince Andrei Uglitsky and other persons, contemptuously calls her a Greek woman, Greek "sorceress".
In the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, a silk veil is kept, sewn by the hands of Sophia in 1498; her name is embroidered on the veil, and she calls herself not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but "royal tsar's city". Apparently, she highly valued her former title, if she remembers it even after 26 years
Shroud from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra
Appearance
When in 1472 Clarice Orsini and the court poet of her husband Luigi Pulci witnessed an absentee marriage that took place in the Vatican, the poisonous wit Pulci, in order to amuse Lorenzo the Magnificent, who remained in Florence, sent him a report on this event and the appearance of the bride:
“We entered a room where a painted doll sat in an armchair on a high platform. She had two huge Turkish pearls on her chest, a double chin, thick cheeks, her whole face shone with fat, her eyes were wide open like bowls, and around her eyes there were such ridges of fat and meat, like high dams on the Po. The legs are far from thin either, and so are all other parts of the body - I have never seen such a funny and disgusting person as this fair cracker. All day long she chatted incessantly through an interpreter - this time it was her brother, the same thick-legged cudgel. Your wife, as if bewitched, saw in this monster in a woman's guise a beauty, and the interpreter's speech clearly gave her pleasure. One of our companions even admired the painted lips of this doll and considered that she spits amazingly gracefully. All day, until evening, she chatted in Greek, but we were not allowed to eat or drink in Greek, Latin, or Italian. However, she somehow managed to explain to Donna Clarice that she was wearing a narrow and ugly dress, although this dress was of rich silk and cut from at least six pieces of fabric, so that they could cover the dome of Santa Maria Rotunda. Since then, every night I dream of mountains of butter, fat, lard, rags and other similar muck.
According to the review of the Bolognese chroniclers, who described the passage of her procession through the city, she was short in stature, had very beautiful eyes and amazing whiteness of her skin. In appearance they gave her 24 years.
In December 1994, studies of the remains of the princess began in Moscow. They are well preserved (almost complete skeleton except for some small bones). Criminalist Sergei Nikitin, who restored her appearance using the Gerasimov method, points out: “After comparing the skull, spine, sacrum, pelvic bones and lower limbs, taking into account the approximate thickness of the missing soft tissues and interosseous cartilage, it was possible to find out that Sophia was short, about 160 cm, full, with strong-willed features. According to the degree of overgrowth of the sutures of the skull and wear of the teeth, the biological age of the Grand Duchess was determined at 50-60 years, which corresponds to historical data. At first, her sculptural portrait was molded from special soft plasticine, and then a plaster casting was made and tinted to look like Carrara marble.
Great-great-granddaughter, Princess Maria Staritskaya. According to scientists, her face shows a great resemblance to Sophia
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Paleolog
