Sofia Paleologue: Truth and Film Fiction about the Grand Duchess. Reconstruction of the Kremlin, overthrow of the Tatar yoke

At the end of the 15th century, in the Russian lands united around Moscow, the concept began to emerge, according to which the Russian state was the legal successor of the Byzantine Empire. A few decades later, the thesis "Moscow - the Third Rome" will become a symbol of state ideology The Russian state.

A large role in the formation of a new ideology and in the changes that were taking place at that time within Russia was destined to play a woman, whose name was heard by almost everyone who had ever come into contact with Russian history. Sofia Paleologue, wife of Grand Duke Ivan III, contributed to the development of Russian architecture, medicine, culture and many other areas of life.

There is another view of her, according to which she was the “Russian Catherine de Medici,” whose intrigues allowed the development of Russia along a completely different path and brought confusion into the life of the state.

The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. Sofia Paleologue did not choose Russia - Russia chose her, a girl from last dynasty Byzantine emperors, as a consort for the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Byzantine orphan at the papal court

Thomas Palaeologus, father of Sophia. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

Zoya Paleologina, daughter despot (this is the title of the position) Morea Thomas Palaeologus, was born in a tragic time. In 1453 the Byzantine Empire, heiress Ancient rome, after a thousand years of existence collapsed under the blows of the Ottomans. The fall of Constantinople, in which he died, became the symbol of the death of the empire Emperor Constantine XI, brother of Thomas Palaeologus and uncle of Zoe.

The Moray despotate, a province of Byzantium ruled by Thomas Palaeologus, held out until 1460. These years Zoya lived with her father and brothers in Mystra, the capital of the Morea, a city located next to Ancient Sparta... After sultan Mehmed II captured Morea, Thomas Palaeologus went to the island of Corfu, and then to Rome, where he died.

Children from the royal family of the lost empire lived at the court of the Pope. Shortly before the death of Thomas Palaeologus, in order to receive support, he converted to Catholicism. His children also became Catholics. After being baptized according to the Roman rite, Zoya was named Sophia.

Bessarion of Nicea. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

A 10-year-old girl, taken into the care of the papal court, did not have the opportunity to decide anything on her own. She was appointed as her mentor Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, one of the authors of the union, which was supposed to unite Catholics and Orthodox under the common authority of the Pope.

Sophia's fate was going to be arranged by marriage. In 1466 she was offered as a bride to a Cypriot King Jacques II de Lusignan but he refused. In 1467 she was offered as a wife Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. The prince agreed, after which a solemn betrothal took place.

The bride on the "icon"

But Sophia was not destined to become the wife of the Italian. In Rome it became known that the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was widowed. The Russian prince was young, at the time of the death of his first wife he was only 27 years old, and it was expected that he would soon be looking for a new wife.

Cardinal Bissarion of Nicaea saw this as a chance to promote his idea of ​​Uniatism in the Russian lands. From his submission in 1469 Pope Paul II sent a letter to Ivan III, in which he proposed 14-year-old Sophia Palaeologus as a bride. The letter referred to her as an "Orthodox Christian" without mentioning her conversion to Catholicism.

Ivan III was not devoid of ambition, which his wife would often play later on. Upon learning that the niece of the Byzantine emperor was proposed as a bride, he agreed.

Victor Muizhel. "Ambassador Ivan Fryazin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleologue." Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The negotiations, however, had just begun - it was necessary to discuss all the details. The Russian ambassador, sent to Rome, returned with a gift that shocked both the groom and his entourage. In the annals, this fact was reflected in the words “bring the princess on the icon”.

The fact is that in Russia at that time secular painting did not exist at all, and the portrait of Sophia, sent to Ivan III, was perceived in Moscow as an "icon".

Sophia Paleologue. Reconstruction on the skull of S. Nikitin. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

However, having figured out what's what, the Moscow prince external appearance the bride was pleased. V historical literature there are various descriptions of Sophia Palaeologus - from beauty to ugly. In the 1990s, studies were carried out on the remains of Ivan III's wife, during which her appearance... Sophia was a short woman (about 160 cm), prone to overweight, with strong-willed facial features that can be called, if not beautiful, then rather pretty. Be that as it may, Ivan III liked it.

The failure of Bessarion of Nicea

The formalities were settled by the spring of 1472, when a new Russian embassy arrived in Rome, this time for the bride herself.

On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The deputy of the Grand Duke was a Russian Ambassador Ivan Fryazin... The guests were wife of the ruler of Florence Lorenzo the Magnificent Clarice Orsini and Queen of Bosnia Katarina... The Pope, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.

Sophia Paleologue enters Moscow. Miniature of the Obverse Chronicle Code. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

On June 24, 1472, the large train of Sophia Paleologos, together with the Russian ambassador, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by a Roman retinue led by Cardinal Bissarion of Nicea.

I had to get to Moscow via Germany by Baltic Sea, and then through the Baltics, Pskov and Novgorod. Such a difficult route was caused by the fact that during this period Russia once again began political issues with Poland.

From time immemorial, the Byzantines were famous for their cunning and cunning. The fact that Sophia Palaeologus had inherited these qualities in full measure, Vissarion of Nicaea learned soon after the bride's wagon train crossed the border of Russia. The 17-year-old girl announced that from now on she would no longer perform Catholic rituals, but returned to the faith of her ancestors, that is, to Orthodoxy. All of the cardinal's ambitious plans collapsed. Attempts by Catholics to gain a foothold in Moscow and increase their influence failed.

On November 12, 1472, Sophia entered Moscow. There were also many here who were wary of her, seeing her as a “Roman agent”. According to some reports, Metropolitan Philip, dissatisfied with the bride, refused to hold the wedding ceremony, which is why the ceremony was held Kolomna Archpriest Hosea.

But, be that as it may, Sophia Palaeologus became the wife of Ivan III.

Fyodor Bronnikov. “Meeting of Princess Sophia Paleologus by the Pskov mayor and boyars at the mouth of the Embach on Lake Peipsi”. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

How Sophia saved Russia from the yoke

Their marriage lasted 30 years, she gave birth to her husband 12 children, of which five sons and four daughters survived to adulthood. Judging by the historical documents, the Grand Duke was attached to his wife and children, for which he even received reproaches from high-ranking ministers of the church, who believed that this was detrimental to state interests.

Sophia never forgot about her origin and behaved as, in her opinion, the emperor's niece was supposed to behave. Under her influence, the receptions at the Grand Duke, especially the receptions of ambassadors, were furnished with a complex and colorful ceremony, similar to the Byzantine one. Thanks to her, the Byzantine double-headed eagle migrated to Russian heraldry. Thanks to her influence, Grand Duke Ivan III started call yourself "the Russian tsar". Under the son and grandson of Sophia Palaeologus, this naming of the Russian ruler will become official.

Judging by the actions and deeds of Sophia, she, having lost her native Byzantium, seriously set about building it in another Orthodox country. She was helped by the ambition of her husband, whom she successfully played.

When the Horde khan Akhmat was preparing an invasion of the Russian lands and in Moscow they discussed the issue of the amount of tribute, with the help of which one could buy off the misfortune, Sophia intervened in the matter. Bursting into tears, she began to reproach her husband that the country was still forced to pay tribute and that it was time to end this shameful situation. Ivan III was not a warlike man, but his wife's reproaches touched him to the core. He decided to gather an army and march towards Akhmat.

At the same time, the Grand Duke sent his wife and children first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero, fearing a military failure.

But failure did not happen - on the Ugra River, where the troops of Akhmat and Ivan III met, there was no battle. After what is known as "standing on the Ugra", Akhmat retired without a fight, and the dependence on the Horde ended completely.

Reconstruction of the 15th century

Sophia instilled in her husband that the sovereign of such a great power as he could not live in the capital with wooden temples and chambers. Under the influence of his wife, Ivan III began the restructuring of the Kremlin. For the construction of the Assumption Cathedral from Italy was invited architect Aristotle Fioravanti... White stone was actively used at the construction site, which is why the expression "white-stone Moscow", which has survived for centuries, appeared.

Inviting foreign specialists to different areas became widespread under Sophia Palaeologus. The Italians and Greeks, who occupied the posts of ambassadors under Ivan III, will begin to actively invite their fellow countrymen to Russia: architects, jewelers, coin makers and gunsmiths. Among the visitors there were a large number of professional doctors.

Sophia arrived in Moscow with a large dowry, part of which was occupied by the library, which included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were poems Homer, compositions Aristotle and Plato and even books from the Library of Alexandria.

These books formed the basis of the legendary missing library of Ivan the Terrible, which enthusiasts are trying to search to this day. Skeptics, however, believe that such a library did not really exist.

Speaking about the hostile and wary attitude of the Russians towards Sophia, it must be said that they were embarrassed by her independent behavior, active interference in state affairs. Such behavior was uncharacteristic for Sophia's predecessors as Grand Duchesses, and just for Russian women.

Battle of the heirs

By the time of the second marriage of Ivan III, he already had a son from his first wife - Ivan Young, who was declared heir to the throne. But with the birth of children, Sophia's tensions began to build up. The Russian nobility split into two groups, one of which supported Ivan Molodoy, and the second - Sophia.

The relationship between the stepmother and the stepson did not work out, so much so that Ivan III himself had to admonish his son to behave decently.

Ivan Molodoy was only three years younger than Sophia and did not feel respect for her, apparently, considering new marriage father's betrayal in relation to the deceased mother.

In 1479, Sophia, who had previously given birth only to girls, gave birth to a son, named Vasily... As a true representative of the Byzantine imperial family, she was ready to provide her son with the throne at any cost.

By this time, Ivan Molodoy was already mentioned in Russian documents as a co-ruler of his father. And in 1483 the heir married daughter of the ruler of Moldova Stephen the Great Elena Voloshanka.

Sophia and Elena's relationship immediately became hostile. When in 1483 Elena gave birth to a son Dmitry, Vasily's prospects of inheriting the throne of his father became completely illusory.

Women's rivalry at the court of Ivan III was fierce. Both Elena and Sophia were eager to get rid of not only a competitor, but also her offspring.

In 1484, Ivan III decided to present his daughter-in-law with a pearl dowry left over from his first wife. But then it turned out that Sophia had already given it to her relative. The Grand Duke, enraged by his wife's arbitrariness, forced her to return the gift, and the relative herself, together with her husband, had to flee the Russian lands for fear of punishment.

Death and burial of the Grand Duchess Sophia Palaeologus. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org

The loser loses everything

In 1490, the heir to the throne, Ivan Molodoy, fell ill with "aching legs." Especially for his treatment from Venice was called doctor Lebi Zhidovin, but he could not help, and on March 7, 1490, the heir died. The doctor was executed by order of Ivan III, and rumors circulated in Moscow that Ivan Molodoy died as a result of poisoning, which was the work of Sophia Paleologue.

There is, however, no evidence of this. After the death of Ivan the Young, his son, known in Russian historiography as Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk.

Officially, Dmitry Vnuk was not proclaimed heir, and therefore Sophia Paleologue continued to try to achieve the throne for Vasily.

In 1497, a conspiracy of supporters of Vasily and Sophia was discovered. The enraged Ivan III sent his participants to the chopping block, but did not touch his wife and son. However, they ended up in disgrace, in fact under house arrest. On February 4, 1498, Dmitry Vnuk was officially proclaimed heir to the throne.

The fight, however, was not over. Soon, Sophia's party managed to achieve revenge - this time the supporters of Dmitry and Elena Voloshanka were handed over to the executioners. The denouement came on April 11, 1502. He found new charges of conspiracy against Dmitry Vnuk and his mother Ivan III convincing, sending them under house arrest. A few days later, Vasily was proclaimed co-regent of his father and heir to the throne, and Dmitry Vnuk and his mother were imprisoned.

The birth of an empire

Sophia Paleologue, who actually elevated her son to the Russian throne, herself did not live up to this moment. She died on April 7, 1503 and was buried in a massive white-stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin next to the grave Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III.

The Grand Duke, widowed a second time, outlived his beloved Sophia for two years, passing away in October 1505. Elena Voloshanka died in prison.

Vasily III, ascending the throne, first of all toughened the conditions of detention for a competitor - Dmitry Vnuk was chained in iron shackles and placed in a small cell. In 1509, the 25-year-old noble prisoner died.

In 1514, in an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I Vasily III for the first time in the history of Rus was named the Emperor of the Rus. This letter is then used by Peter I as proof of their coronation rights as emperor.

The efforts of Sophia Palaeologus, a proud Byzantine woman who took on building a new empire to replace the lost one, were not in vain.

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10 facts about the Russian queen Sophia Palaeologus / World history

How Byzantine princess deceived the Pope, and what she changed in the life of Russia. More about Third Rome

"Sofia". Shot from the series

2. At birth, Sofia was named Zoe... She was born two years after the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, and the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist. Five years later, Morea was captured. Zoe's family was forced to flee, taking refuge in Rome. To receive the support of Pope Thomas, Palaiologos converted to Catholicism with his family. With a change of faith, Zoya became Sophia.

3. The immediate guardian of Sofia Palaeologus was appointed Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, a supporter of union, that is, the union of Catholics and Orthodox Christians under the rule of the Pope. The fate of Sofia was supposed to be decided by a profitable marriage. In 1466 she was offered as a bride to a Cypriot King Jacques II de Lusignan but he refused. In 1467 she was offered as a wife Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. The prince agreed, after which a solemn betrothal took place.

4. Sophia's fate changed dramatically after it became known that Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III widowed and looking for a new wife. Vissarion of Nicaea decided that if Sophia Palaeologus became the wife of Ivan III, the Russian lands could be subordinated to the influence of the Pope.

Sofia Paleologue. Reconstruction on the skull of S. Nikitin

6. The Pope's representatives were silent about the conversion of Sophia Palaeologus to Catholicism during the negotiations on the conclusion of marriage. But they were also in for a surprise - immediately after crossing the Russian border, Sofia announced to Vissarion of Nicaea, who accompanied her, that she was returning to Orthodoxy and would not perform Catholic rituals. In fact, this was the end of the attempt to carry out the project of the union in Russia.

7. The wedding of Ivan III and Sophia Palaeologus in Russia took place on November 12, 1472. Their marriage lasted 30 years, Sofia gave birth to her husband 12 children, but the first four were girls. Born in March 1479, a boy named Vasily later became the Grand Duke of Moscow Basil III.

8. At the end of the 15th century, a fierce struggle for the rights to the succession to the throne unfolded in Moscow. The official heir was considered the son of Ivan III from his first marriage Ivan Young, who even had the status of a co-ruler. However, with the birth of his son Vasily, Sofia Paleologue joined the struggle for his right to the throne. The Moscow elite split into two warring parties. Both fell into disgrace, but in the end the victory remained with the supporters of Sofia Paleologus and her son.

9. Under Sophia Palaeologus, the practice of inviting foreign specialists to Russia became widespread: architects, jewelers, coin makers, gunsmiths, doctors. For the construction of the Assumption Cathedral from Italy was invited architect Aristotle Fioravanti... Other buildings on the territory of the Kremlin were also rebuilt. White stone was actively used at the construction site, which is why the expression "white-stone Moscow", which has survived for centuries, appeared.

10. A silk shroud is kept in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, hand-sewn Sofia in 1498; her name is embroidered on the shroud, and she calls herself not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but the "princess of Tsarevgorodskaya". With her submission, the Russian rulers began, first unofficially, and then at the official level, calling themselves tsars. In 1514, in an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I Sophia's son Vasily III for the first time in the history of Rus was named the Emperor of the Rus. This letter is then used by Peter I as proof of their coronation rights as emperor.

The wedding of Ivan III to Sophia Palaeologus in 1472. Engraving of the 19th century.

The niece of the last ruler of Byzantium, having survived the collapse of one empire, decided to revive it in a new place. Mother of the "Third Rome"

At the end of the 15th century, in the Russian lands united around Moscow, the concept began to emerge, according to which the Russian state was the legal successor of the Byzantine Empire. Several decades later, the thesis "Moscow is the Third Rome" will become a symbol of the state ideology of the Russian state.

A large role in the formation of a new ideology and in the changes that were taking place at that time within Russia was destined to play a woman, whose name was heard by almost everyone who had ever come into contact with Russian history. Sophia Paleologue, wife of Grand Duke Ivan III, contributed to the development of Russian architecture, medicine, culture and many other spheres of life.

There is another view of her, according to which she was the “Russian Catherine de Medici,” whose intrigues allowed the development of Russia along a completely different path and brought confusion into the life of the state.

The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between. Sophia Palaeologus did not choose Russia - Russia chose her, a girl from the last dynasty of Byzantine emperors, as a wife for the Grand Duke of Moscow.

Thomas Palaeologus, Sophia's father

Zoya Paleologina, the daughter of a despot (this is the name of the position) of Morea Thomas Palaeologus, was born in a tragic time. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire, the heiress of Ancient Rome, after a thousand years of existence, collapsed under the blows of the Ottomans. The fall of Constantinople, in which Emperor Constantine XI, the brother of Thomas Palaeologus and uncle Zoe, died.

The Moray despotate, a province of Byzantium ruled by Thomas Palaeologus, held out until 1460. These years Zoya lived with her father and brothers in Mystra, the capital of Morea, a city located next to Ancient Sparta. After sultan Mehmed II captured Morea, Thomas Palaeologus went to the island of Corfu, and then to Rome, where he died.

Children from the royal family of the lost empire lived at the court of the Pope. Shortly before the death of Thomas Palaeologus, in order to receive support, he converted to Catholicism. His children also became Catholics. After being baptized according to the Roman rite, Zoya was named Sophia.

Bessarion of Nicea

Sophia's fate was going to be arranged by marriage. In 1466, she was offered as a bride to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan, but he refused. In 1467 she was offered as a wife to Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. The prince agreed, after which a solemn betrothal took place.

The bride on the "icon"

But Sophia was not destined to become the wife of the Italian. In Rome it became known that the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was widowed. The Russian prince was young, at the time of the death of his first wife he was only 27 years old, and it was expected that he would soon be looking for a new wife.

Cardinal Bissarion of Nicaea saw this as a chance to promote his idea of ​​Uniatism in the Russian lands. From his submission in 1469 Pope Paul II sent a letter to Ivan III, in which he proposed 14-year-old Sophia Palaeologus as a bride. The letter referred to her as an "Orthodox Christian" without mentioning her conversion to Catholicism.

Ivan III was not devoid of ambition, which his wife would often play later on. Upon learning that the niece of the Byzantine emperor was proposed as a bride, he agreed.

Victor Muizhel. "Ambassador Ivan Fryazin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleologue"

The fact is that in Russia at that time secular painting did not exist at all, and the portrait of Sophia, sent to Ivan III, was perceived in Moscow as an "icon".

Sophia Paleologue. Reconstruction on the skull of S. Nikitin

The failure of Bessarion of Nicea

The formalities were settled by the spring of 1472, when a new Russian embassy arrived in Rome, this time for the bride herself.

On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The deputy of the Grand Duke was the Russian ambassador Ivan Fryazin. The wife of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Clarice Orsini, and Queen Katarina of Bosnia were also guests. The Pope, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.

Sophia Paleologue enters Moscow. Miniature of the Observational Codex

They had to get to Moscow via Germany via the Baltic Sea, and then via the Baltic states, Pskov and Novgorod. Such a difficult route was caused by the fact that during this period Russia once again began to have political problems with Poland.

From time immemorial, the Byzantines were famous for their cunning and cunning. The fact that Sophia Palaeologus had inherited these qualities in full measure, Vissarion of Nicaea learned soon after the bride's wagon train crossed the border of Russia. The 17-year-old girl announced that from now on she would no longer perform Catholic rituals, but returned to the faith of her ancestors, that is, to Orthodoxy. All of the cardinal's ambitious plans collapsed. Attempts by Catholics to gain a foothold in Moscow and increase their influence failed.

On November 12, 1472, Sophia entered Moscow. There were also many here who were wary of her, seeing her as a “Roman agent”. According to some reports, Metropolitan Philip, dissatisfied with the bride, refused to hold the wedding ceremony, which is why the ceremony was conducted by Kolomensky Archpriest Hosea.

But, be that as it may, Sophia Palaeologus became the wife of Ivan III.

Fyodor Bronnikov. "Meeting of Princess Sophia Paleologus by the Pskov mayor and boyars at the mouth of the Embach on Lake Peipsi"

Their marriage lasted 30 years, she gave birth to her husband 12 children, of which five sons and four daughters survived to adulthood. Judging by the historical documents, the Grand Duke was attached to his wife and children, for which he even received reproaches from high-ranking ministers of the church, who believed that this was detrimental to state interests.

Sophia never forgot about her origin and behaved as, in her opinion, the emperor's niece was supposed to behave. Under her influence, the receptions at the Grand Duke, especially the receptions of ambassadors, were furnished with a complex and colorful ceremony, similar to the Byzantine one. Thanks to her, the Byzantine double-headed eagle migrated to Russian heraldry. Thanks to her influence, Grand Duke Ivan III began to call himself the "Russian Tsar". Under the son and grandson of Sophia Palaeologus, this naming of the Russian ruler will become official.

Judging by the actions and deeds of Sophia, she, having lost her native Byzantium, seriously set about building it in another Orthodox country. She was helped by the ambition of her husband, whom she successfully played.

When the Horde khan Akhmat was preparing an invasion of the Russian lands and in Moscow they discussed the issue of the amount of tribute, with the help of which one could buy off the misfortune, Sophia intervened in the matter. Bursting into tears, she began to reproach her husband that the country was still forced to pay tribute and that it was time to end this shameful situation. Ivan III was not a warlike man, but his wife's reproaches touched him to the core. He decided to gather an army and march towards Akhmat.

At the same time, the Grand Duke sent his wife and children first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero, fearing a military failure.

But failure did not happen - on the Ugra River, where the troops of Akhmat and Ivan III met, there was no battle. After what is known as "standing on the Ugra", Akhmat retired without a fight, and the dependence on the Horde ended completely.

Reconstruction of the 15th century

Sophia instilled in her husband that the sovereign of such a great power as he could not live in the capital with wooden temples and chambers. Under the influence of his wife, Ivan III began the restructuring of the Kremlin. The architect Aristotle Fioravanti was invited from Italy to build the Assumption Cathedral. White stone was actively used at the construction site, which is why the expression "white-stone Moscow", which has survived for centuries, appeared.

The invitation of foreign specialists in various fields has become a widespread phenomenon under Sophia Palaeologus. The Italians and Greeks, who occupied the posts of ambassadors under Ivan III, will begin to actively invite their fellow countrymen to Russia: architects, jewelers, coin makers and gunsmiths. There were a large number of professional doctors among the visitors.

Sophia arrived in Moscow with a large dowry, part of which was occupied by the library, which included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were the poems of Homer, the works of Aristotle and Plato, and even books from the Library of Alexandria.

These books formed the basis of the legendary missing library of Ivan the Terrible, which enthusiasts are trying to search to this day. Skeptics, however, believe that such a library did not really exist.

Speaking about the hostile and wary attitude of the Russians towards Sophia, it must be said that they were embarrassed by her independent behavior, active interference in state affairs. Such behavior was uncharacteristic for Sophia's predecessors as Grand Duchesses, and just for Russian women.

Battle of the heirs

By the time of the second marriage of Ivan III, he already had a son from his first wife - Ivan Molodoy, who was declared the heir to the throne. But with the birth of children, Sophia's tensions began to build up. The Russian nobility split into two groups, one of which supported Ivan Molodoy, and the second - Sophia.

The relationship between the stepmother and the stepson did not work out, so much so that Ivan III himself had to admonish his son to behave decently.

Ivan Molodoy was only three years younger than Sophia and did not feel respect for her, apparently considering his father's new marriage a betrayal of his deceased mother.

In 1479, Sophia, who had previously given birth only to girls, gave birth to a son named Vasily. As a true representative of the Byzantine imperial family, she was ready to provide her son with the throne at any cost.

By this time, Ivan Molodoy was already mentioned in Russian documents as a co-ruler of his father. And in 1483 the heir married daughter of the ruler of Moldova Stephen the Great Elena Voloshanka.

Sophia and Elena's relationship immediately became hostile. When in 1483 Elena gave birth to a son Dmitry, Vasily's prospects of inheriting the throne of his father became completely illusory.

Women's rivalry at the court of Ivan III was fierce. Both Elena and Sophia were eager to get rid of not only a competitor, but also her offspring.

In 1484, Ivan III decided to present his daughter-in-law with a pearl dowry left over from his first wife. But then it turned out that Sophia had already given it to her relative. The Grand Duke, enraged by his wife's arbitrariness, forced her to return the gift, and the relative herself, together with her husband, had to flee the Russian lands for fear of punishment.

Death and burial of Grand Duchess Sophia Palaeologus

In 1490, the heir to the throne, Ivan Molodoy, fell ill with "aching legs." Especially for his treatment from Venice was called doctor Lebi Zhidovin, but he could not help, and on March 7, 1490, the heir died. The doctor was executed by order of Ivan III, and rumors circulated in Moscow that Ivan Molodoy died as a result of poisoning, which was the work of Sophia Paleologue.

There is, however, no evidence of this. After the death of Ivan the Young, his son, known in Russian historiography as Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk.

Officially, Dmitry Vnuk was not proclaimed heir, and therefore Sophia Paleologue continued to try to achieve the throne for Vasily.

In 1497, a conspiracy of supporters of Vasily and Sophia was discovered. The enraged Ivan III sent his participants to the chopping block, but did not touch his wife and son. However, they ended up in disgrace, in fact under house arrest. On February 4, 1498, Dmitry Vnuk was officially proclaimed heir to the throne.

The fight, however, was not over. Soon, Sophia's party managed to achieve revenge - this time the supporters of Dmitry and Elena Voloshanka were handed over to the executioners. The denouement came on April 11, 1502. He found new charges of conspiracy against Dmitry Vnuk and his mother Ivan III convincing, sending them under house arrest. A few days later, Vasily was proclaimed co-regent of his father and heir to the throne, and Dmitry Vnuk and his mother were imprisoned.

The birth of an empire

Sophia Paleologue, who actually elevated her son to the Russian throne, herself did not live up to this moment. She died on April 7, 1503 and was buried in a massive white-stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin next to the grave Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III.

The Grand Duke, widowed a second time, outlived his beloved Sophia for two years, passing away in October 1505. Elena Voloshanka died in prison.

Vasily III, ascending the throne, first of all toughened the conditions of detention for a competitor - Dmitry Vnuk was chained in iron shackles and placed in a small cell. In 1509, the 25-year-old noble prisoner died.

In 1514, in a treaty with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Vasily III for the first time in the history of Russia was named the Emperor of the Rus. This letter is then used by Peter I as proof of his coronation rights as emperor.

The efforts of Sophia Palaeologus, a proud Byzantine woman who took on building a new empire to replace the lost one, were not in vain.

Sophia (Zoya) Palaeologus- a woman from the clan of the Byzantine emperors, the Paleologues, played an outstanding role in the formation of the ideology of the Muscovy. Sophia's educational level was simply incredibly high by Moscow standards at the time. On her husband, Ivan III, Sophia had a very big influence, which aroused the discontent of the boyars and churchmen. The double-headed eagle, the family coat of arms of the Palaeologus dynasty, was adopted by the Grand Duke Ivan III as an integral part of the dowry. Since then, the double-headed eagle has become the personal coat of arms of Russian tsars and emperors (not the state coat of arms!). Many historians believe that Sophia was the author of the future state concept of Muscovy: "Moscow is the third Rome."

Sofia, reconstruction based on the skull.

The decisive factor in the fate of Zoe was the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine died in 1453 during the capture of Constantinople, 7 years later, in 1460 Morea (the medieval name of the Peloponnese peninsula, the possession of Sophia's father) was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, Thomas went to the island of Corfu, then to Rome, where he soon died. Zoya with her brothers, 7-year-old Andrey and 5-year-old Manuel, moved to Rome 5 years after their father. There she received the name "Sophia". Paleologians settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV (the customer of the Sistine Chapel). Thomas converted to Catholicism in the last year of his life to gain support.
After the death of Thomas on May 12, 1465 (his wife Catherine died in the same year a little earlier), the famous Greek scientist, Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, a supporter of union, took over the care of his children. His letter has survived, in which he gave instructions to the teacher of orphans. It follows from this letter that the Pope will continue to pay 3,600 crowns a year for their maintenance (200 crowns a month - for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus it should have been postponed for a rainy day, and 100 crowns spent on maintaining a modest courtyard) ). The court included a doctor, a professor of Latin, a professor of Greek, a translator, and 1-2 priests.

Bessarion of Nicea.

A few words should be said about the deplorable fate of the Sofia brothers. After the death of Thomas, the crown of the Palaeologus was de jure inherited by his son Andrew, who sold it to various European monarchs and died in poverty. During the reign of Bayezid II, the second son, Manuel, 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 lord proposed her candidacy to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan as a bride, but he refused. According to Fr. Pearlinga, the splendor of her name and the glory of her ancestors were a poor bulwark against the Ottoman ships cruising in the waters Mediterranean Sea... Around 1467, Pope Paul II, through Cardinal Vissarion, offered her hand to Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. She was solemnly betrothed, but the marriage did not take place.
Ivan III was widowed in 1467 - his first wife Maria Borisovna, Princess Tverskaya died, leaving him his only son, heir, Ivan the Young.
The marriage of Sophia to Ivan III was proposed in 1469 by Pope Paul II, presumably in the hope of increasing the influence of the Catholic Church on Moscow or, perhaps, bringing the Catholic and Orthodox churches closer together - to restore the Florentine union of churches. Ivan III's motives were likely related to status, and the newly widowed monarch agreed to marry a Greek princess. The idea of ​​marriage may have originated in the head of Cardinal Vissarion.
The negotiations lasted for three years. The Russian chronicle tells: On February 11, 1469, the Greek Yuri arrived in Moscow from Cardinal Vissarion to the Grand Duke with a sheet in which the Grand Duke was offered the bride Sophia, the daughter of the Amorite despot Thomas, an "Orthodox Christian" (she was silent about her conversion to Catholicism). Ivan III consulted with his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, and made a positive decision.
In 1469, Ivan Fryazin (Gian Batista della Volpe) was sent to the Roman court to woo the Grand Duke Sophia. The Sophia Chronicle testifies that a portrait of the bride was sent back to Russia with Ivan Fryazin, and such a secular painting turned out to be an extreme surprise in Moscow - "... and bring the princess on the icon." (This portrait has not survived, which is very regrettable, since it must have been painted by a painter in the papal service of the generation of Perugino, Melozzo da Forli and Pedro Berruguete). The Pope received the Ambassador with great honor. He asked the Grand Duke to send boyars for the bride. Fryazin went to Rome for the second time on January 16, 1472, and arrived there on May 23.

Victor Muizhel. "Ambassador Ivan Frezin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleologue."

On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The deputy of the Grand Duke was Ivan Fryazin. The wife of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Clarice Orsini, and Queen Katarina of Bosnia were also guests. The Pope, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.
When in 1472 Clarice Orsini and the court poet of her husband Luigi Pulci witnessed an absentee marriage held in the Vatican, Pulci's poisonous wit, in order to amuse Lorenzo the Magnificent, who remained in Florence, sent him an account of this event and the appearance of the bride:
“We entered a room where a painted doll was sitting in an armchair on a high platform. She had two huge Turkish pearls on her chest, a double chin, thick cheeks, her whole face glistening 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 Po. Legs are also far from thin, so are all other parts of the body - I have never seen such a funny and disgusting person like this fairground joker. All day she chatted incessantly through an interpreter - this time it was her brother, the same thick-legged club. Your wife, as if bewitched, saw a beauty in this monster in female guise, and the translator's speeches clearly gave her pleasure. One of our companions even admired the painted lips of this doll and found that it was amazingly graceful spitting. All day, until the evening, she chatted in Greek, but we were not given anything 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 bad dress, although the dress was of rich silk and cut from at least six pieces of fabric, so that they could cover the dome of Santa Maria Rotonda. Since then, every night I have dreamed of mountains of oil, fat, lard, rags and other similar nasty things. "
According to the opinion of the Bologna chroniclers, who described the passage of her procession through the city, she was short, had very beautiful eyes and an amazing whiteness of skin. They looked like they gave her 24 years.
On June 24, 1472, the large convoy of Sophia Paleologue, together with Fryazin, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, who was to realize the opening opportunities for the Holy See. Legend has it that Sofia's dowry included books that will form the basis of the collection of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible.
Sophia's retinue: Yuri Trakhaniot, Dmitry Trakhaniot, Prince Constantine, Dmitry (ambassador of her brothers), St. Cassian the Greek. And also - the Genoese papal legate Anthony Bonumbre, Bishop of Acchia (his chronicles are mistakenly called a cardinal). The nephew of the diplomat Ivan Fryazin, the architect Anton Fryazin, arrived with her.

Banner "Sermon John the Baptist" from Oratorio San Giovanni, Urbino. Italian experts believe that Vissarion and Sophia Palaeologus are depicted in the crowd of listeners (3rd and 4th characters from the left). Gallery of the Provincial Marche, Urbino.
The route of travel was as follows: to the north from Italy through Germany, they arrived at the port of Lubeck on September 1. (They had to go around Poland, through which travelers usually followed to Muscovy by land - at that moment she was with Ivan III in a state of conflict). The sea voyage across the Baltic took 11 days. The ship docked in Kolyvan (present-day Tallinn), from where the motorcade in October 1472 proceeded through Yuriev (present-day Tartu), Pskov and Novgorod. On November 12, 1472, Sofia entered Moscow.
Even during the journey of the bride, it became obvious that the Vatican's plans to make her a conductor of Catholicism failed, since Sofia immediately demonstrated a return to the faith of her ancestors. The papal legate Anthony was deprived of the opportunity to enter Moscow, carrying a Latin cross in front of him.
The wedding in Russia took place on November 12 (21), 1472 at the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. They were married by Metropolitan Philip (according to the Sofia Calendar - the Kolomna Archpriest Hosea).
Sophia's family life, apparently, was successful, as evidenced by the numerous offspring.
For her in Moscow, special mansions and a courtyard were built, but they soon, in 1493, burned down, and during the fire, the treasury of the Grand Duchess also perished.
Tatishchev gives evidence that, as if, thanks to the intervention of Sophia, Ivan III decided to resist Khan Akhmat (Ivan III was already at that time an ally and tributary of the Crimean Khan). When Khan Akhmat's demand for tribute was discussed at the council of the Grand Duke, and many said that it was better to pacify the wicked with gifts than shed blood, it was as if Sophia burst into tears and reproached her husband not to pay tribute to the Great Horde.
Before the invasion of Akhmat in 1480, for the sake of safety, with children, a courtyard, boyars and the princely treasury, Sofia was sent first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero; if Akhmat crossed the Oka and took Moscow, she was told to run further north to the sea. This gave rise to Vissarion, Vladyka 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: "the terror is on the way, and flee from the shore, and his Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her, the ambassador to Beloozero."
The family returned to Moscow only in winter.
Over time, the Grand Duke's second marriage became one of the sources of tension at court. Soon enough, two groups of court nobility emerged, one of which supported the heir to the throne - Ivan Ivanovich Molodoy (son from his first marriage), and the second - the new Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue. In 1476, the Venetian A. Contarini noted that the heir "was out of favor with his father, because he behaves badly with the despina" (Sophia), but since 1477 Ivan Ivanovich has been mentioned as a co-ruler of his father.
In subsequent years, the grand ducal family increased significantly: Sophia gave birth to the grand duke a total of nine children - 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 ruler of Moldova, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka, who immediately found herself with her mother-in-law at knives. On October 10, 1483, their son Dmitry was born. After the capture of Tver in 1485, Ivan the Young was appointed by the father of the Tver prince; in one of the sources of this period, Ivan III and Ivan Young are referred to as "autocrats". Thus, throughout the 1480s, Ivan Ivanovich's position as the legal heir was quite strong.
The position of the supporters of Sophia Palaeologus was much less favorable. However, by 1490, new circumstances had come into play. The son of the Grand Duke, the heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich fell ill with "kamchuga in the legs" (gout). Sophia ordered a doctor from Venice - "Mistro Leon", who arrogantly 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 throughout 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 Molodoy as unverifiable due to a lack of sources.
On February 4, 1498, the coronation of Prince Dmitry took place in the Assumption Cathedral in an atmosphere of great splendor. Sophia and her son Vasily were not invited. However, on April 11, 1502, the dynastic battle came to its logical conclusion. According to the chronicle, Ivan III "put disgrace on the grandson of his Grand Duke Dmitry and on his mother on the Grand Duchess Elena, and from that day he did not order them to be commemorated in litanies and litias, nor to be named as the Grand Duke, and put them behind the bailiffs." A few days later Vasily Ivanovich was granted the great reign; Soon Dmitry the grandson and his mother Elena Voloshanka were transferred from house arrest to confinement. Thus, the struggle within the grand-ducal family ended with the victory of the prince Vasily; he became a co-ruler of his father and the rightful heir to the Grand Duchy. The fall of Dmitry the grandson and his mother also predetermined the fate of the Moscow-Novgorod reformation movement in Orthodox Church: church cathedral 1503 finally defeated it; many prominent and progressive leaders 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 of hunger and cold, others that he suffocated from the smoke," Herberstein reported about his death. But the most terrible country lay ahead - the reign of the grandson of Sofia Paleologue - Ivan the Terrible.
The Byzantine princess was not popular, she was considered smart, but proud, cunning and insidious. Dislike for her was expressed even in the annals: for example, regarding her return from Beloozero, the chronicler notes: “The Grand Duchess Sophia ... ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, and no one drove her; and in which countries I went, the more the Tatars - from boyar serfs, from Christian bloodsuckers. Repay them, O Lord, according to their deed and according to the craftiness of their undertakings. "

The disgraced Duma man of Vasily III, Bersen Beklemishev, in a conversation with Maxim the Greek, spoke of her like this: “Our land lived in silence and peace. As the mother of the Grand Duke Sophia came here with your Greeks, so our land got mixed up and great disorders came to us, just like in your Tsar-grad under your kings. " Maxim objected: “Lord, the Grand Duchess Sophia on both sides was a great family: on her father - royal family, but on his mother - the Grand Duke of the Italic side. " Bersen answered: “Whatever it is; but it came to our disorder. " This disorder, according to Bersen, was reflected in the fact that since that time "the great prince has changed the old customs", "now our Sovereign, shut himself up at the bedside, does all sorts of things."
Prince Andrei Kurbsky is especially strict with Sophia. He is convinced that "In the good-natured Russian princes, the devil allied evil manners, especially with their wicked wives and sorcerers, as well as in Israelite tsars, more than whom they had taken from foreigners"; accuses Sophia of the poisoning of John the Young, of the death of Elena, of the imprisonment of Dmitry, Prince Andrei Uglitsky and other persons, contemptuously calls her a Greek woman, a Greek "sorceress."
In the Trinity-Sergius Monastery there is a silk veil sewn by Sofia's hands in 1498; her name is embroidered on the shroud, and she calls herself not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but “the princess of the Tsarevgorodskaya”. Apparently, she highly valued her former title, if she remembers it even after a 26-year marriage.

Shroud from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra embroidered by Sophia Palaeologus.

There are various versions regarding the role of Sophia Palaeologus in the history of the Russian state:
From Western Europe artists and architects were called to decorate the palace and the capital. New temples and new palaces were erected. The Italian Alberti (Aristotle) ​​Fioraventi built the Cathedrals of the Assumption and the Annunciation. Moscow was adorned with the Faceted Chamber, the Kremlin towers, the Teremny Palace, and finally the Archangel Cathedral was built.
For the sake of the marriage of her son Vasily III, she introduced the Byzantine custom - a review of brides.
Considered the founder of the Moscow-Third Rome concept
Sophia died on April 7, 1503, two years before her husband's death (he died on October 27, 1505).
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, "Sophia" is scratched with a sharp instrument.
This cathedral was destroyed in 1929, and the remains of Sophia, like other women of the reigning house, were transferred to the underground chamber of the southern extension of the Archangel Cathedral.

Transfer of the remains of the Grand Duchesses and Queens before the destruction of the Ascension Monastery, 1929.

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