Sofia in Russian history. Grand Duchess of Moscow Sofia Paleolog and her role in history

1. Sofia Paleolog was the daughter of the Despot of the Morea (now the Peloponnese) Thomas Palaiologos and niece of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire Constantine XI.

2. Sophia was named at birth Zoey. It was born two years after the Ottomans captured Constantinople in 1453, and the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist. Morea was captured five years later. Zoe's family was forced to flee, finding refuge in Rome. To obtain the support of the Pope Thomas, Palaiologos converted to Catholicism with his family. With the change of faith, Zoya became Sophia.

3. The immediate guardian of Sophia Paleolog was appointed cardinal Vissarion of Nicaea, supporter of the union, that is, the unification of Catholics and Orthodox under the authority of the Pope. Sophia's fate was supposed to be decided by an advantageous 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. The fate of Sophia 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 Paleolog becomes the wife of Ivan III, the Russian lands could be brought under the influence of the Pope.

Sofia Paleolog. Reconstruction from the skull of S. Nikitin. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

5. On June 1, 1472, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologos were betrothed in absentia. Russian Deputy Grand Duke Ambassador Ivan Fryazin. The wife of the ruler of Florence was present as guests Lorenzo the Magnificent Clarice Orsini and Queen Katarina of Bosnia.

6. During the marriage negotiations, representatives of the Pope were silent about the transition of Sophia Palaiologos to Catholicism. But a surprise awaited them too - immediately after crossing the Russian border, Sophia announced to Bessarion of Nicaea who accompanied her that she was returning to Orthodoxy and would not perform Catholic rites. In fact, this was the end of the attempt to carry out the union project in Russia.

7. The wedding of Ivan III and Sophia Paleolog 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, the boy, named Vasily, later became the Grand Duke of Moscow Basil III.

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

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 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 sudden death of the first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna, on April 22, 1467, made the Grand Duke of Moscow think about a new marriage. The widowed grand duke opted for the Fechian princess Sophia Palaiologos, who lived in Rome and was known as a Catholic. Some historians believe that the idea of the "Roman-Byzantine" marriage union was born in Rome, others prefer Moscow, others - Vilna or Krakow.

Sophia (in Rome she was called Zoe) Palaiologos was the daughter of the Morean despot Thomas Palaiologos and was the niece of Emperors Constantine XI and John VIII. Despina Zoya spent her childhood in Morea and on the island of Corfu. She came to Rome with her brothers Andrei and Manuel after the death of her father in May 1465. The paleologists came under the auspices of Cardinal Bessarion, who retained sympathy for the Greeks. The Patriarch of Constantinople and Cardinal Vissarion tried to renew the union with Russia with the help of marriage.

Arriving in Moscow from Italy on February 11, 1469, Yuri Grek brought Ivan III a certain “leaf”. In this message, the author of which, apparently, was Pope Paul II himself, and the co-author was Cardinal Bessarion, the Grand Duke was informed about the stay in Rome of a noble bride devoted to Orthodoxy, Sophia Palaiologos. Dad promised Ivan his support in case he wants to woo her.

In Moscow, they did not like to rush into important matters, and they pondered over the new news from Rome for four months. Finally, all reflections, doubts and preparations were left behind. January 16, 1472 Moscow ambassadors set off on a long journey.

In Rome, the Muscovites were honorably received by the new Pope Gikctom IV. As a gift from Ivan III, the ambassadors presented the pontiff with sixty selected sable skins. From now on, the case quickly went to completion. A week later, Sixtus IV in St. Peter's Cathedral performs a solemn ceremony of Sophia's absentee betrothal to the Moscow sovereign.

At the end of June 1472, the bride, accompanied by Moscow ambassadors, the papal legate and a large retinue, went to Moscow. At parting, the Pope gave her a long audience and his blessing. He ordered to arrange magnificent crowded meetings everywhere for Sofya and her retinue.

Sophia Paleolog arrived in Moscow on November 12, 1472, and her wedding with Ivan III took place right there. What is the reason for the rush? It turns out that the next day the memory of St. John Chrysostom, the heavenly patron of the Moscow sovereign, was celebrated. From now on, the family happiness of Prince Ivan was given under the patronage of the great saint.

Sophia became a full-fledged Grand Duchess of Moscow.

The very fact that Sophia agreed to go to seek her fortune from Rome to distant Moscow suggests that she was a brave, energetic and adventurous woman. In Moscow, she was expected not only by the honors rendered to the Grand Duchess, but also by the hostility of the local clergy and the heir to the throne. At every step she had to defend her rights.

Ivan, for all his love of luxury, was thrifty to the point of stinginess. He saved literally everything. Growing up in a completely different environment, Sophia Paleolog, on the contrary, strove to shine and show generosity. This was required by her ambition of a Byzantine princess, the niece of the last emperor. In addition, generosity made it possible to make friends among the Moscow nobility.

But the best way to assert yourself was, of course, childbearing. The Grand Duke wanted to have sons. Sophia herself wanted this. However, to the delight of ill-wishers, she gave birth to three daughters in a row - Elena (1474), Theodosia (1475) and again Elena (1476). Sophia prayed to God and all the saints for the gift of a son.

Finally, her request was granted. On the night of March 25-26, 1479, a boy was born, named after his grandfather Vasily. (For his mother, he always remained Gabriel - in honor of the Archangel Gabriel.) Happy parents connected the birth of their son with last year's pilgrimage and fervent prayer at the tomb of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity Monastery. Sophia said that when approaching the monastery, the great old man himself appeared to her, holding a boy in his arms.

Following Vasily, she had two more sons (Yuri and Dmitry), then two daughters (Elena and Feodosia), then three more sons (Semyon, Andrei and Boris) and the last, in 1492, a daughter, Evdokia.

But now the question inevitably arose about the future fate of Vasily and his brothers. The heir to the throne remained the son of Ivan III and Maria Borisovna, Ivan Molodoy, whose son Dmitry was born on October 10, 1483, in marriage with Elena Voloshanka. In the event of the death of the Sovereign, he would not hesitate in one way or another to get rid of Sophia and her family. The best they could hope for was exile or exile. At the thought of this, the Greek woman was seized with rage and impotent despair.

In the winter of 1490, Sophia's brother, Andrei Paleologus, came to Moscow from Rome. Together with him, the Moscow ambassadors who traveled to Italy returned. They brought to the Kremlin a lot of all kinds of craftsmen. One of them, a visiting doctor Leon, volunteered to heal Prince Ivan the Young of a leg disease. But when he put jars to the prince and gave his potions (from which he could hardly die), a certain malefactor added poison to these potions. On March 7, 1490, 32-year-old Ivan the Young died.

This whole story gave rise to many rumors in Moscow and throughout Rus'. Hostile relations between Ivan the Young and Sophia Paleolog were well known. The Greek woman did not enjoy the love of Muscovites. It is quite clear that rumor attributed to her the murder of Ivan the Young. In The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Prince Kurbsky directly accused Ivan III of poisoning his own son, Ivan the Young. Yes, such a turn of events opened the way to the throne for the children of Sophia. Sovereign himself found himself in an extremely difficult position. Probably, in this intrigue, Ivan III, who ordered his son to use the services of a vain doctor, turned out to be only a blind tool in the hands of a cunning Greek woman.

After the death of Ivan the Young, the question of the heir to the throne escalated. There were two candidates: the son of Ivan the Young - Dmitry and the eldest son of Ivan III and Sophia

Paleolog - Vasily. The claims of Dmitry the grandson were reinforced by the fact that his father was the officially proclaimed Grand Duke - co-ruler of Ivan III and heir to the throne.

The sovereign was faced with a painful choice: to send either his wife and son to prison, or his daughter-in-law and grandson ... The murder of an opponent has always been the usual price of supreme power.

In the autumn of 1497, Ivan III leaned over to the side of Dmitry. He ordered to prepare for the grandson a solemn "marriage to the kingdom." Upon learning of this, supporters of Sophia and Prince Vasily formed a conspiracy that included the murder of Dmitry, as well as Vasily's flight to Beloozero (from where the road to Novgorod opened in front of him), the seizure of the grand ducal treasury stored in Vologda and Beloozero. However, already in December, Ivan arrested all the conspirators, including Vasily.

The investigation revealed the involvement in the conspiracy of Sophia Paleolog. It is possible that she was the organizer of the enterprise. Sophia got the poison and waited for the right opportunity to poison Dmitry.

On Sunday, February 4, 1498, 14-year-old Dmitry was solemnly declared heir to the throne in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Sophia Paleolog and her son Vasily were absent from this coronation. It seemed that their case was finally lost. The courtiers rushed to please Elena Stefanovna and her crowned son. However, the crowd of flatterers soon retreated in bewilderment. Sovereign did not give Dmitry real power, giving him control over only some northern counties.

Ivan III continued to painfully seek a way out of the dynastic impasse. Now his original plan did not seem successful. The Sovereign felt sorry for his young sons Vasily, Yuri, Dmitry Zhilka, Semyon, Andrey ... Yes, and with Princess Sophia he lived together for a quarter of a century ... Ivan III understood that sooner or later Sophia's sons would revolt. There were only two ways to prevent the performance: either destroy the second family, or bequeath the throne to Vasily and destroy the family of Ivan the Young.

Sovereign this time chose the second path. On March 21, 1499, he "granted ... the son of his prince Vasil Ivanovich, named him the sovereign of the Grand Duke, gave him Great Novgorod and Pskov to the Grand Duchy." As a result, three great princes appeared in Rus' at once: father, son and grandson!

On Thursday, February 13, 1500, a magnificent wedding was played in Moscow. Ivan III gave his 14-year-old daughter Theodosius in marriage to Prince Vasily Danilovich Kholmsky, the son of the famous commander and leader of the Tver "fellowship" in Moscow. This marriage contributed to the rapprochement between the children of Sophia Paleolog and the top of the Moscow nobility. Unfortunately, exactly one year later Theodosius died.

The denouement of the family drama came only two years later. “The same spring (1502) the prince of great April And on Monday 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 remembered in litanies and litias, nor to be called the Grand Duke, and put them on the bailiffs." Three days later, Ivan III "granted his son Vasily, blessed and planted autocrat on the Grand Duchy of Volodimer and Moscow and All Rus', with the blessing of Simon, Metropolitan of All Rus'."

Exactly one year after these events, on April 7, 1503, Sophia Paleolog died. The body of the Grand Duchess was buried in the cathedral of the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. She was buried next to the grave of the Tsar's first wife, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver.

Soon the health of Ivan III himself deteriorated. On Thursday, September 21, 1503, he, together with the heir to the throne, Vasily and his younger sons, went on a pilgrimage to the northern monasteries. However, the saints were no longer inclined to help the penitent sovereign. Upon returning from the pilgrimage, Ivan was stricken with paralysis: "... took away his arm and leg and eye." Ivan III died on October 27, 1505.

Most historians agree that the grandmother, Grand Duchess of Moscow Sophia (Zoya) Paleolog played a huge role in the formation of the Moscow kingdom. Many consider her the author of the concept "Moscow - the third Rome". And together with Zoya Palaiolognea, a double-headed eagle appeared. At first, it was the family coat of arms of her dynasty, and then migrated to the coat of arms of all the tsars and Russian emperors.

Childhood and youth

Zoya Palaiologos was born (presumably) in 1455 in Mistra. The daughter of the Despot of Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, was born in a tragic and critical time - the time of the fall of the Byzantine Empire.

After the capture of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II and the death of Emperor Constantine, Thomas Palaiologos fled to Corfu with his wife Catherine of Achaia and their children. From there he moved to Rome, where he was forced to convert to Catholicism. Thomas died in May 1465. His death happened shortly after the death of his wife in the same year. Children, Zoya and her brothers - 5-year-old Manuel and 7-year-old Andrei, moved to Rome after the death of their parents.

The education of orphans was taken up by the Greek scientist, Uniate Vissarion of Nicaea, who served as a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV (it was he who became the customer of the famous Sistine Chapel). In Rome, the Greek princess Zoe Palaiologos and her brothers were brought up in the Catholic faith. The cardinal took care of the maintenance of the children and their education.

It is known that Bessarion of Nicaea, with the permission of the pope, paid for the modest court of the young Palaiologos, which included servants, a doctor, two professors of Latin and Greek, translators and priests. Sophia Paleolog received a fairly solid education for those times.

Grand Duchess of Moscow

When Sophia came of age, the Venetian Signoria took care of her marriage. To take a noble girl as a wife was first offered to the King of Cyprus, Jacques II de Lusignan. But he refused this marriage, fearing a conflict with the Ottoman Empire. A year later, in 1467, Cardinal Vissarion, at the request of Pope Paul II, offered the hand of a noble Byzantine beauty to the prince and Italian nobleman Caracciolo. A solemn betrothal took place, but for unknown reasons, the marriage was canceled.

There is a version that Sophia secretly communicated with the Athonite elders and adhered to the Orthodox faith. She herself made efforts not to marry a non-Christian, frustrating all marriages offered to her.

In the turning point for the life of Sophia Paleolog in 1467, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Maria Borisovna, died. In this marriage, the only son was born. Pope Paul II, counting on the spread of Catholicism to Moscow, offered the widowed sovereign of all Rus' to marry his ward.

After 3 years of negotiations, Ivan III, having asked for advice from his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, decided to marry. It is noteworthy that the papal negotiators prudently kept silent about the transition of Sophia Paleolog to Catholicism. Moreover, they reported that the proposed wife of Paleologne is an Orthodox Christian. They didn't even know it was true.

In June 1472, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologos were betrothed in absentia. After that, the convoy of the bride left Rome for Moscow. The bride was accompanied by the same Cardinal Wisssarion.

Bologna chroniclers described Sophia as a rather attractive person. She looked 24 years old, she had snow-white skin and incredibly beautiful and expressive eyes. Her height was no higher than 160 cm. The future wife of the Russian sovereign had a dense physique.

There is a version that in the dowry of Sophia Paleolog, in addition to clothes and jewelry, there were many valuable books that later formed the basis of the mysteriously disappeared library of Ivan the Terrible. Among them were treatises and unknown poems.

Meeting of Princess Sophia Paleolog on Lake Peipsi

At the end of a long route that ran through Germany and Poland, the Roman escorts of Sophia Palaiologos realized that their desire, through the marriage of Ivan III to Palaiologos, to spread (or at least bring closer) Catholicism to Orthodoxy was defeated. Zoya, who had barely left Rome, showed her firm intention to return to the faith of her ancestors - Christianity. The wedding took place in Moscow on November 12, 1472. The ceremony took place in the Assumption Cathedral.

The main achievement of Sophia Paleolog, which turned into a huge boon for Russia, is considered to be her influence on her husband's decision to refuse to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. Thanks to his wife, Ivan the Third finally dared to throw off the centuries-old Tatar-Mongol yoke, although the local princes and the elite offered to continue paying dues in order to avoid bloodshed.

Personal life

Apparently, the personal life of Sophia Paleolog with Grand Duke Ivan III was successful. In this marriage, considerable offspring were born - 5 sons and 4 daughters. But it is difficult to call the existence of the new Grand Duchess Sophia in Moscow cloudless. The boyars saw the enormous influence that the wife had on her husband. Many people didn't like it.

Basil III, son of Sophia Paleolog

Rumor has it that the princess had a bad relationship with the heir, born in the previous marriage of Ivan III, Ivan the Young. Moreover, there is a version that Sophia was involved in the poisoning of Ivan Molodoy and the further removal of his wife Elena Voloshanka and son Dmitry from power.

Be that as it may, Sophia Paleolog had a huge impact on the entire subsequent history of Rus', on its culture and architecture. She was the mother of the heir to the throne and grandmother of Ivan the Terrible. According to some reports, the grandson had a considerable resemblance to his wise Byzantine grandmother.

Death

Sophia Paleolog, Grand Duchess of Moscow, died on April 7, 1503. Husband, Ivan III, survived his wife only 2 years.

Destruction of the grave of Sophia Paleolog in 1929

Sophia was buried next to the previous wife of Ivan III in the sarcophagus of the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral. The cathedral was destroyed in 1929. But the remains of the women of the royal house survived - they were transferred to the underground chamber of the Archangel Cathedral.