Sophia's real name is paleologist. Sophia Paleologue: biography of the Grand Duchess of Moscow

29.09.2019

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Most historians agree that the grandmother, Grand Duchess Sophia (Zoya) Paleologus of Moscow played a huge role in the formation of the Muscovite kingdom. Many consider her the author of the concept “Moscow is the third Rome”. And together with Zoya Paleologina, 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

Zoe Paleologue was born (presumably) in 1455 in Mystras. The daughter of the despot of Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, was born at a tragic and turning point - the time of the fall Byzantine Empire.

After the capture of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II and the death of Emperor Constantine, Thomas Palaiologos, along with his wife Catherine of Achaia and their children, fled to Corfu. From there he moved to Rome, where he was forced to convert to Catholicism. In May 1465, Thomas died. His death occurred shortly after the death of his wife in the same year. The 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 undertaken by the Greek scientist, Uniate Vissarion of Nicaea, who served as a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV (he was the one who commissioned the famous Sistine Chapel). In Rome, the Greek princess Zoe Palaiologos and her brothers were raised in Catholic faith. The cardinal took care of the maintenance of the children and their education.

It is known that Vissarion of Nicea, 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. Sofia Paleolog received a fairly solid education for those times.

Grand Duchess of Moscow

When Sophia came of age, the Venetian Signoria became concerned about her marriage. The king of Cyprus, Jacques II de Lusignan, was first offered to take the noble girl as his wife. 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 engagement took place, but for unknown reasons the marriage was canceled.

There is a version that Sophia secretly communicated with Athonite elders and stuck to Orthodox faith. She herself made an effort to avoid marrying a non-Christian, upsetting all the marriages offered to her.

In the turning point for the life of Sophia Paleologus in 1467, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Maria Borisovna, died. This marriage produced an only son. Pope Paul II, counting on the spread of Catholicism to Moscow, invited the widowed sovereign of All Rus' to take his ward as his wife.

After 3 years of negotiations, Ivan III, having asked for advice from his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, decided to get married. It is noteworthy that the negotiators from the pope prudently kept silent about Sophia Paleologue’s conversion to Catholicism. Moreover, they reported that the proposed wife of Paleologina is an Orthodox Christian. They didn't even realize that it was so.

In June 1472, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, the betrothal of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus took place in absentia. After this, the bride's convoy left Rome for Moscow. The same Cardinal Vissarion accompanied the bride.

Bolognese chroniclers described Sophia as a rather attractive person. She looked 24 years old, 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 Sophia Paleolog’s dowry, in addition to clothes and jewelry, there were many valuable books, which 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 at Lake Peipsi

At the end of a long route that ran through Germany and Poland, the Roman escorts of Sophia Palaeologus realized that their desire to spread (or at least bring closer) Catholicism to Orthodoxy through the marriage of Ivan III to Palaeologus had been defeated. Zoya, as soon as she left Rome, demonstrated 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 benefit 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 local princes and elites offered to continue paying the quitrent to avoid bloodshed.

Personal life

Apparently, Sophia Paleologue’s personal life with Grand Duke Ivan III was successful. This marriage produced a significant number of offspring - 5 sons and 4 daughters. But it’s 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.

Vasily III, son of Sophia Paleologus

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 the Young and the further removal from power of his wife Elena Voloshanka and son Dmitry.

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

Death

Sophia Paleologue, Grand Duchess of Moscow, died on April 7, 1503. The husband, Ivan III, survived his wife by 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 were preserved - they were transferred to the underground chamber of the Archangel Cathedral.

Sophia Paleologus-Byzantine princess.

Sofia Paleolog-Byzantine princess.

Sofia Fominichna Palaeologus, aka Zoya Palaeologina (c. 1455 - April 7, 1503), Grand Duchess of Moscow, second wife of Ivan III, mother of Vasily III, grandmother of Ivan IV the Terrible. She came from the imperial Palaiologan dynasty.

Family

Her father, Thomas Palaiologos, was a brother last emperor Byzantium Constantine XI and the Despot of Morea (Peloponnese Peninsula).

Thomas Palaiologos, father of Sophia (fresco by Pinturicchio, Piccolomini Library)

Emperor John VIII, Sophia's uncle (fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli, Chapel of the Magi)

Emperor Constantine XI, Sophia's uncle

Her grandfather maternal line was Centurion II Zaccaria, the last Frankish prince of Achaia. Centurione came from a Genoese merchant family. His father was appointed to rule Achaia by the Neapolitan king Charles III of Anjou. Centurione inherited power from his father and ruled the principality until 1430, when the Despot of the Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, launched a large-scale attack on his domain. This forced the prince to retreat to his ancestral castle in Messenia, where he died in 1432, two years after the peace treaty in which Thomas married his daughter Catherine. After his death, the territory of the principality became part of the despotate.

Zoe's elder sister Elena Paleologina of Morea (1431 - November 7, 1473) was the wife of the Serbian despot Lazar Branković from 1446, and after the capture of Serbia by Muslims in 1459, she fled to the Greek island of Lefkada, where she became a nun. Thomas also had two surviving sons, Andrei Paleologus (1453–1502) and Manuel Paleologus (1455–1512).

Italy

The decisive factor in Zoya’s fate 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 Manuil, moved to Rome 5 years after their father. There she received the name Sofia. The paleologists settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV (the customer of the Sistine Chapel). To get support, Last year During his life, Thomas converted to Catholicism.

Sixtus IV, Titian

After the death of Thomas on May 12, 1465 (his wife Catherine died a little earlier in the same year), the famous Greek scientist, Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, 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 allocate 3600 ecus per year for their maintenance (200 ecus per month: for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus they should have saved for a rainy day, and spent 100 ecus on the maintenance of a modest courtyard , which included a doctor, professor Latin language, professor of Greek, 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, returned to Istanbul during the reign of Bayezid II 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 proposed Sophia as a bride to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan, but he refused. According to Fr. Pirlinga, 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. They were solemnly engaged, but the marriage did not take place.

Wedding

Ivan III was widowed in 1467 - his first wife Maria Borisovna, Princess Tverskaya died, leaving him with 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 increasing influence catholic church in Rus' or, perhaps, the rapprochement of the Catholic and Orthodox churches - to restore the Florentine union of churches. Ivan III's motives were probably related to status, and the recently widowed monarch agreed to marry the Greek princess. The idea of marriage may have originated in the head of Cardinal Vissarion.

Negotiations lasted 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 Sophia, the daughter of the Amorite despot Thomas, an “Orthodox Christian” was offered to the Grand Duke as a bride (her conversion to Catholicism was kept silent). Ivan III consulted with his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, and made a positive decision.

Banner "Sermon of John the Baptist" from Oratorio San Giovanni, Urbino. Italian experts believe that Vissarion and Sofia Paleologus (3rd and 4th characters from the left) are depicted in the crowd of listeners. Gallery of the Province of Marche, Urbino.

In 1469, Ivan Fryazin (Gian Batista della Volpe) was sent to the Roman court to woo Sophia for the Grand Duke. 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 survived, which is very unfortunate, since it was probably 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 hands Ivan III portrait his bride Sophia Paleolog"

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 present as guests. The father, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.

Clarici Medici

On June 24, 1472, a large convoy of Sofia Paleologus, together with Fryazin, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea, who was supposed to realize the emerging opportunities for the Holy See. Legend has it that Sofia'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 Constantine, Dmitry (ambassador of her brothers), St. Cassian the Greek. And also the papal legate, the Genoese Anthony Bonumbre, Bishop of Accia (his chronicles are mistakenly called a cardinal). The nephew of diplomat Ivan Fryazin, architect Anton Fryazin, also arrived with her.

Fedor Bronnikov. “Meeting of Princess Sofia Palaeologus by Pskov mayors and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi”

The travel route was as follows: north from Italy through Germany, they arrived at the port of Lubeck on September 1. (We had to go around Poland, through which travelers usually followed the land route to Rus' - at that moment she was in a state of conflict with Ivan III). The sea journey through 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 Velikiy Novgorod. On November 12, 1472, Sofia entered Moscow.

Sofia Paleologue enters Moscow. Miniature of the Facial Chronicle Code

Even during the bride’s journey through Russian lands, it became obvious that the Vatican’s plans 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 the 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 Vremennik - Kolomna archpriest Hosea). According to some indications, Metropolitan Philip was against a marriage union with a Uniate woman. The official grand ducal chronicle states that it was the metropolitan who crowned the grand duke, but the unofficial set (consisting of the Chronicles of Sophia II and Lvov) denies the participation of the metropolitan in this ceremony: “The archpriest of Kolomna Osei, who was the local archpriest, did not command his confessor to marry...”

The wedding of Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus in 1472. Engraving from the 19th century.

Dowry

The Moscow Kremlin Museums contain several items associated with her name. Among them are several precious reliquaries originating from the Annunciation Cathedral, whose frames were probably created in Moscow. Judging by the inscriptions, it can be assumed that she brought the relics contained in them from Rome.

Korsun Cross

"Savior Not Made by Hands." Board - 15th century (?), painting - 19th century (?), frame - last quarter (17th century). Tsata and fraction with the image of Basil the Great - 1853. MMK. According to a legend recorded in mid. 19th century, the image was brought to Moscow from Rome by Sophia Paleologus.

Pectoral reliquary 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 centuries

Icon "Our Lady Hodegetria", 15th century

Married life

Sofia's family life, apparently, was successful, as evidenced by her numerous offspring.

Special mansions and a courtyard were built for her in Moscow, but they soon burned down in 1493, and during the fire the Grand Duchess’s treasury was also destroyed. Tatishchev conveys evidence that, thanks to the intervention of Sofia, it was dropped by Ivan III Tatar yoke: when at the council of the Grand Duke the demand for tribute by Khan Akhmat was discussed, 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 persuaded her husband to end the tributary relationship.

Painting by N. S. Shustov “Ivan III overthrows the Tatar yoke, tearing up the image of the khan and ordering the death of the ambassadors”

Before the invasion of Akhmat in 1480, for the sake of safety, with her children, court, noblewomen and princely treasury, Sofia was sent first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero; if Akhmat crossed the Oka and took Moscow, she was told to flee further north to the sea. This gave Vissarion, the ruler of Rostov, a reason to warn the Grand Duke against constant thoughts and excessive attachment to his wife and children in his message. One of the chronicles notes that Ivan panicked: “he was horrified and wanted to run away from the shore, and sent his Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her 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 Sofia, who received him politely and kindly and convincingly asked him to bow to the most serene republic on her behalf.

There is a legend associated with the birth of Sophia's son Vasily III, heir to the throne: as if during one of the pilgrimage campaigns to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in Klementyevo, Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue had a vision St. Sergius Radonezh, who “thrown into the depths of her youth as a young man”

“Vision of St. Sergius of Radonezh to the Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologus of Moscow." Lithography. Workshop of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. 1866

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 the Young, and the second, the new Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue. In 1476, the Venetian A. Contarini noted that the heir “is in disgrace with his father, since he behaves badly with his despina” (Sophia), but already from 1477 Ivan Ivanovich was mentioned as his father’s co-ruler.

Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich on a walk

Avilov Mikhail Ivanovich

In subsequent years, the grand ducal family grew 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 the Young, also married. His wife was the daughter of the ruler of Moldova, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka, who immediately ended up with her mother-in-law "at knifepoint". On October 10, 1483, their son Dmitry was born. After the annexation of Tver in 1485, Ivan the Young was appointed Prince of Tver by his father; in one of the sources of this period, Ivan III and Ivan the Young are called “autocrats of the Russian land.” Thus, throughout the 1480s, Ivan Ivanovich’s position as the legal heir was quite strong.

Wedding of Ivan and Elena

The position of the supporters of Sophia Paleologus was less favorable. Thus, in particular, the Grand Duchess failed to obtain government positions for her relatives; her brother Andrei left Moscow with nothing, and her niece Maria, the wife of Prince Vasily Vereisky (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 “fat” 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 fathom on Elena Voloshanka, upon discovering the loss of the jewelry, became angry and ordered a search to begin. Vasily Vereisky did not wait for measures against himself and, capturing his wife, fled to Lithuania. One of the results of this story was the transfer of the Vereisko-Belozersky principality to Ivan III according to the will of the appanage prince Mikhail Vereisky, Vasily’s father. Only in 1493 did Sofia obtain Vasily’s favor from the Grand Duke: the disgrace was lifted.

“The great prince granted his grandson a great reign”

However, by 1490 new circumstances came into play. The son of the Grand Duke, heir to the throne Ivan Ivanovich fell ill "salk in the feet"(gout). Sophia ordered a doctor from Venice - "Mistro Leona", who arrogantly promised Ivan III to cure the heir to the throne; however, all the doctor’s efforts 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, now as undeniable 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 battle came to its logical conclusion. According to the chronicle, Ivan III “put disgrace on his grandson, Grand Duke Dmitry, and on his mother, Grand Duchess Elena, and from that day on he did not order them to be remembered in litanies and litias, or named Grand Duke, and put them behind 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 captivity. Thus, the struggle within the grand ducal family ended in the victory of Prince Vasily; he turned into a co-ruler of his father and the legal heir of a huge power. The fall of Dmitry the grandson and his mother also predetermined the fate of the Moscow-Novgorod reform movement in 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 themselves, it was sad: on January 18, 1505, Elena Stefanovna died in captivity, and in 1509, “in need, in prison,” Dmitry himself died. “Some believe that he died from hunger and cold, others that he suffocated from smoke.”- Herberstein reported on his death

"The Veil of Elena Voloshanka." Workshop of Elena Stefanovna Voloshanka (?) depicting the ceremony of 1498. 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. The word “Sophia” was scratched on the lid of the sarcophagus 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.

Death and burial of the Grand Duchess

Personality

Attitude of contemporaries

The Byzantine princess was not popular; she was considered smart, but proud, cunning and treacherous. The hostility towards her was even reflected in the chronicles: for example, regarding her return from Beloozero, the chronicler notes: “Grand Duchess Sophia... ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, but no one chased her away; and through which countries she walked, especially the Tatars - from the boyar slaves, from the Christian bloodsuckers. Reward them, O Lord, according to their deeds and the wickedness of their undertakings.”

The disgraced Duma man of Vasily III, Bersen Beklemishev, in a conversation with Maxim the Greek, spoke about it like this: “Our Russian land lived in silence and in peace. Just as the mother of the Grand Duke Sophia came here with your Greeks, so our land was confused and great unrest came to us, just like you did in Constantinople under your kings.” Maxim objected: “Sir, Grand Duchess Sophia was from a great family on both sides: on her father’s side - the royal family, and on her mother’s - the Grand Duke of the Italian side.” Bersen replied: “Whatever it may be; Yes, it has come to our discord.” This disorder, according to Bersen, was reflected in the fact that from that time “the great prince changed the old customs,” “now our Sovereign, having locked himself in the third place at his bedside, does all sorts of things.”

Prince Andrei Kurbsky is especially strict towards Sofia. He is convinced that “The devil instilled evil morals into the good Russian princes’ family, especially through their evil wives and sorcerers, just as among the Israeli kings, especially those whom they stole from foreigners”; accuses Sophia of poisoning John the Young, the death of Elena, the imprisonment of Dmitry, Prince Andrei Uglitsky and other persons, contemptuously calls her Greek, Greek "sorceress".

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 "Tsarina Tsaregorodskaya" Apparently, she highly valued her former title if she remembers it even after 26 years of age.

Shroud from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra

Appearance

When in 1472 Clarice Orsini and the court poet of her husband Luigi Pulci witnessed a wedding in absentia that took place in the Vatican, the poisonous wit of Pulci, in order to amuse Lorenzo the Magnificent, who remained in Florence, sent him a report about this event and the appearance of the bride:

“We entered a room where a painted doll was sitting in a chair on a high platform. She had two huge Turkish pearls on her chest, a double chin, thick cheeks, her whole face was shiny with fat, her eyes were open like bowls, and around her eyes there were such ridges of fat and meat, like high dams on the Po. The legs are also far from thin, and so are all the other parts of the body - I have never seen such a funny and disgusting person as this fairground 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 under a spell, saw a beauty in this monster in female form, and the translator’s speeches clearly gave her pleasure. One of our companions even admired the painted lips of this doll and thought that it spits amazingly gracefully. All day long, until the evening, she chatted in Greek, but we were not given food or drink in either Greek, Latin, or Italian. However, she somehow managed to explain to Donna Clarice that she was wearing a tight and bad dress, although the dress was made of rich silk and cut from at least six pieces of material, so that they could cover the dome of Santa Maria Rotunda. Since then, every night I dream of mountains of oil, grease, lard, rags and other similar disgusting things.”

According to the Bolognese chroniclers, who described the passage of her procession through the city, she was short in stature, had very beautiful eyes and amazingly white skin. They looked like she was 24 years old.

In December 1994, research into the remains of the princess began in Moscow. They are well preserved (almost complete skeleton with the exception of some small bones). Criminologist Sergei Nikitin, who restored her appearance using Gerasimov’s method, points out: “After comparing the skull, spine, sacrum, pelvic bones and lower extremities, taking into account the approximate thickness of the missing soft tissues and interosseous cartilage, it was possible to find out that Sophia was of short stature, about 160 cm, plump, with strong-willed facial features. Based on the degree of healing of the sutures of the skull and wear of the teeth, the biological age of the Grand Duchess was determined to be 50-60 years, which corresponds to historical data. First, her sculptural portrait was sculpted from special soft plasticine, and then a plaster cast was made and tinted to resemble Carrara marble.”

Great-great-granddaughter, Princess Maria Staritskaya. According to scientists, her face shows great resemblance with Sofia

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Palaeolog

Sofia Fominichna Paleolog, aka Zoya Paleologina (Greek Ζωή Σοφία Παλαιολογίνα). Born approx. 1455 - died April 7, 1503. Grand Duchess of Moscow, second wife of Ivan III, mother of Vasily III, grandmother of Ivan the Terrible. She came from the Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Palaiologos.

Sofia (Zoe) Paleologus was born around 1455.

Father - Thomas Palaiologos, brother of the last emperor of Byzantium Constantine XI, despot of the Morea (Peloponnese peninsula).

Her maternal grandfather was Centurion II Zaccaria, the last Frankish prince of Achaia. Centurione came from a Genoese merchant family. His father was appointed to rule Achaia by the Neapolitan king Charles III of Anjou. Centurione inherited power from his father and ruled the principality until 1430, when the Despot of the Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, launched a large-scale attack on his domain. This forced the prince to retreat to his ancestral castle in Messenia, where he died in 1432, two years after the peace treaty in which Thomas married his daughter Catherine. After his death, the territory of the principality became part of the despotate.

The elder sister of Sophia (Zoe) - Elena Paleologina of Morea (1431 - November 7, 1473), from 1446 was the wife of the Serbian despot Lazar Branković, and after the capture of Serbia by Muslims in 1459, she fled to the Greek island of Lefkada, where she became a nun.

She also had two surviving brothers - Andrei Paleolog (1453-1502) and Manuel Paleolog (1455-1512).

The decisive factor in the fate of Sophia (Zoe) 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.

She 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 Sofia. The paleologists settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV (the customer of the Sistine Chapel). To gain support, Thomas converted to Catholicism in the last year of his life.

After the death of Thomas on May 12, 1465 (his wife Catherine died a little earlier in the same year), the famous Greek scientist, Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, 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 allocate 3600 ecus per year for their maintenance (200 ecus per month: for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus they should have saved for a rainy day, and spent 100 ecus on the maintenance of a modest courtyard , which included a doctor, a professor of Latin, a professor of Greek, a translator and 1-2 priests).

In 1466, the Venetian lordship proposed Sophia as a bride to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan, but he refused. According to Fr. Pirlinga, the shine of her name and the glory of her ancestors were a poor bulwark against the Ottoman ships cruising in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. 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 of Sofia Paleolog and Ivan III

The role of Sofia Paleologue was played by the actress.

“My heroine is a kind, strong princess. A person always tries to cope with adversity, so the series is more about strength than about women’s weaknesses. It’s about how a person copes with his passions, how he humbles himself, endures, and how love wins. It seems to me that this is a film about hope for happiness,” Maria Andreeva said about her heroine.

Also, the image of Sophia Paleologus is widely present in fiction.

"Byzantine"- novel by Nikolai Spassky. The action takes place in 15th-century Italy amid the aftermath of the fall of Constantinople. Main character intrigues to marry Zoya Paleologue to the Russian Tsar.

“Sofia Palaeologus - from Byzantium to Russia”- novel by Georgios Leonardos.

"Basurman"- a novel by Ivan Lazhechnikov about the doctor Sofia.

Nikolai Aksakov dedicated a story to the Venetian doctor Leon Zhidovin, which spoke about the friendship of the Jewish doctor with the humanist Pico della Mirandola, and about the journey from Italy together with the brother of Queen Sophia Andrei Paleologus, Russian envoys Semyon Tolbuzin, Manuel and Dmitry Ralev, and Italian masters, - architects, jewelers, gunners. - invited to serve by the Moscow sovereign.

Sofia 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 trail of omissions, gossip, slander... And in parallel with them - delight, gratitude, admiration. The personality of Sophia Paleologus has long been haunting archaeologists, historians, doctors, scientists, researchers, and just people who have somehow tangentially encountered stories about her. So who is she? Genius? Villain? Witch? Saint? Benefactor of the Russian land or fiend of hell? Based on the information we know about her biography, let's try to figure it out.

Start over. Sophia, or in infancy Zoya, was born into the family of Thomas Palaiologos, the despot of the Morea. He was younger brother the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who died during the fall of Constantinople in the mid-15th century.

It is after this phrase that sometimes chaos begins in people’s thinking. Well, if the father is a despot, then who should the daughter be? And a hail of accusations begins. Meanwhile, if we show a little curiosity and look into the dictionary, which does not always interpret words in monosyllables, then we can read something different about the word “despot”.

It turns out that the highest-ranking Byzantine nobles were called despots. And despotates are 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 Andrey. 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 Paleologus family was forced to flee their family nest. They first 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 Paleologus also went to the Lord. The education of orphans was undertaken by the Greek scientist, Uniate Vissarion of Nicea, who served as a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV (yes, he was the one who ordered the construction of the chapel, which now bears his name - the Sistine Chapel).

And naturally, Zoya and her brothers were raised Catholic. But at the same time, the children received a good education. They knew Latin and Greek, mathematics and astronomy, and spoke several languages fluently.

The Pope showed such virtue not only out of compassion for orphans. His thoughts were much more pragmatic. In order to restore the Florentine union of churches and join the Moscow state to the union, he decided to marry Sophia Paleologus to the Russian prince Ivan III, who had recently been a widower.

The widowed prince liked the Pope's desire to unite the ancient Moscow family with the famous Paleologus 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 understood perfectly well that not only his personal fate was at stake, but also the fate of the state whose ruler he would become. His father, Grand Duke Vasily II of Moscow, nicknamed the Dark One because of his blindness, appointed his 16-year-old son as his co-ruler. And at the time of the alleged matchmaking, Vasily II had already died.

The mother sent her son to Metropolitan Philip. He spoke out sharply against the upcoming 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, by doing so, Moscow became the heir of Byzantium - the “third Rome”, which incredibly strengthened the authority of the Grand Duke not only in his own country, but also in relations with neighboring states.

After some thought, 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 main minter of coins at the court of Grand Duke Ivan III, but also the tax farmer of this very profitable business. But that’s not what we’re talking about now.

The wedding agreement was concluded, and Sofia, along with several accompanying persons, left Rome for Russia.

She crossed all of Europe. In all the cities where she stopped, she was given a magnificent reception and showered with souvenirs. The last stop before arriving in Moscow was the city of Novgorod. And then an unpleasant event happened.

In Sofia's train there was a large Catholic cross. The news of this reached Moscow and incredibly upset Metropolitan Philip, who had not given his blessing to this marriage anyway. Bishop Philip gave an ultimatum: if the cross is brought to Moscow, he will leave the city. Things were getting serious. The envoy of Ivan III acted simply in Russian: 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 Palaeologus. Everything was decided quickly and without unnecessary fuss.

Directly on the day of her arrival in Belokamennaya, namely November 12, 1472, as the chronicles of that time testify, her wedding took place with Ivan III. It took place in a temporary wooden church, erected near the Assumption Cathedral under construction, so as not to stop the services. Metropolitan Philip, still beside himself with rage, refused to perform the wedding ceremony. And this sacrament was performed by Kolomna Archpriest Josiah, who was specially urgently invited to Moscow. Sofia Paleolog became the wife of Ivan III. But, to the great misfortune and disappointment of the Pope, everything turned out completely differently than he expected.

According to legend, she brought with her a “bone throne” as a gift to her husband: its wooden frame was entirely covered with plates of ivory and walrus ivory with scenes on biblical themes carved on them. Sophia also brought with her several Orthodox icons.

Sofia, whose goal was to persuade Rus' to Catholicism, became Orthodox. The angry ambassadors of the union left Moscow with nothing. A number of historians are inclined to believe that Sophia secretly communicated with the Athonite elders, learning the basics of the Orthodox faith, which she liked more and more. There is evidence that several people of other faiths approached her, whom she refused solely because of differences in religious views.

“The double-headed eagle, the dynastic sign of the Paleologus family, becomes a visible sign of the continuity of Rus' from Byzantium”

Be that as it may, Paleologue became the Grand Russian Duchess Sophia Fominichnaya. And she didn’t just become one formally. She brought with her a great baggage to Rus' - 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 becomes the double-headed eagle - the dynastic sign of the Paleologus family. And this sign becomes state emblem Rus'. A little later, a horseman was added to it, striking a serpent with a sword - Saint 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 over the prince, did not like this.

And Sofia became not only her husband’s assistant in state affairs, but also the mother of a huge family. She gave birth to 12 children, 9 of whom lived long lives. First, Elena was born, who died in early infancy. Fedosia followed her, followed by Elena again. And finally - happiness! Heir! On the night of March 25-26, 1479, a boy was born, named Vasily in honor of his grandfather. Sofia Paleologus 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 couple Yuri, Dmitry, Evdokia (who also died as an infant), Ivan (who died as a child), Simeon, Andrei, again Evdokia and Boris.

Immediately after the birth of the heir, Sofia Paleologus ensured that he was declared Grand Duke. With this action, she practically ousted Ivan III’s eldest son from a previous marriage, Ivan (Young), from the line for the throne, and after him, his son, that is, Ivan III’s grandson, Dmitry.

Naturally, this led to all sorts of rumors. But they didn't seem to care at all Grand Duchess. She was worried about something completely different.

Sofia Paleolog insisted that her husband surround himself with pomp, wealth and establish etiquette at court. These were the traditions of the empire, and they had to be observed. From Western Europe Moscow was flooded with doctors, artists, architects... They were given the order 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, hiding places 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 volumes saved from the fire of the famous Library of Alexandria were kept. Remember, on the Feast of the Presentation we talked about Simeon the God-Receiver? 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 State Court and the Archangel Cathedral appeared in Moscow. Moscow became more and more beautiful every day, as if preparing to become royal.

But this was not the only thing our heroine cared about. Sofia Paleologus, having 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 wild when they learned about the prince’s decision, and bloodshed would begin. But Ivan III was firm, enlisting the support of his wife.

Well. For now, we can say that Sofia Paleologus was a kind genius both for her husband and for Mother Rus'. But we forgot about one person who didn’t think so at all. This man's name is Ivan. Ivan the Young, as he was called at court. And he was the son from the first marriage of Grand Duke Ivan III.

After Sophia's son Paleologus was declared heir to the throne, the Russian nobility at court split. Two groups formed: one supported Ivan the Young, the other supported Sophia.

From the very moment of his appearance at court, Ivan the Young did not have a good relationship with Sophia, and she did not try to improve it, being busy with other state and personal affairs. Ivan Young 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 married the daughter of the ruler of Moldavia, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka. And at the time of the birth of his half-brother, he himself was the father of Dmitry’s son.

Ivan the Young, Dmitry... Vasily’s chances of taking the throne were very slim. And this did not suit Sofia Paleolog. It didn't suit me at all. Two women - Sofia and Elena - became sworn enemies and simply burned with the desire to get rid of not only each other, but also the offspring of their rival. And Sofia Paleologus makes a mistake. But about this in order.

The Grand Duchess maintained very warm and friendly relations with her brother Andrei. His daughter Maria married Prince Vasily Vereisky in Moscow, who was the nephew of Ivan III. And one day, without asking her husband, Sofia 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 hostility towards his wife, decided to appease her and give her this family jewel. This is where the great failure occurred! The prince was beside himself with anger! He demanded that Vasily Vereisky immediately return the heirloom to him. But he refused. They say it's a gift, sorry! Moreover, its cost was very, very impressive.

Ivan III was simply furious and ordered Prince Vasily Vereisky and his wife to be thrown into prison! 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, passions in the grand ducal family had subsided. At least the appearance of a cold world remained. Suddenly a new misfortune struck: Ivan Molodoy fell ill with aching legs and was practically paralyzed. The best doctors from Europe were quickly prescribed to him. But they could not help him. Soon Ivan Molodoy died.

The doctors, as usual, were executed... But among the boyars, the rumor began to emerge more and more clearly that Sofia Paleologus had a hand in the death of the heir. They say she poisoned her competitor Vasily. Rumor reached Ivan III that some dashing women came to Sofia with a potion. He flew into a rage, did not even 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 Sofia Paleolog did not stop there.

After all, Ivan the Young left an heir, known as Dmitry Ivanovich Grandson. 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 Paleologue if you think that she has resigned herself. Quite the opposite.

At that time, the Judaizing heresy began to spread in Rus'. She was brought to Rus' by some Kiev Jewish scientist named Skhariya. He began to reinterpret Christianity in the Jewish manner, denied the Holy Trinity, put the Old Testament above the New, rejected the veneration of icons and relics of saints... In general, speaking modern language, gathered sectarians like him who had broken away from holy Orthodoxy. Elena Voloshanka and Prince Dmitry somehow joined this sect.

This was a great trump card in the hands of Sofia Paleolog. Immediately, Ivan III was reported about sectarianism. And Elena and Dmitry fell into disgrace. Sofia and Vasily again took their previous position. From that time on, the sovereign began, according to the chroniclers, “not to care about his grandson,” and declared his son Vasily the Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov. Sofia achieved that it was ordered to keep Dmitry and Elena in custody, not to remember them at litanies in the church and not to call Dmitry the Grand Duke.

Sophia Paleologue, who actually won for her son royal throne, did not live to see this day. She died in 1503. Elena Voloshanka also died in prison.

Thanks to the method of plastic reconstruction based on the skull, at the end of 1994 the sculptural portrait of Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue was restored. She was short - about 160 cm, plump, 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. It lists Vasily as heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, the time has come for Vasily to get married. An attempt to marry him to the daughter of the Danish king failed; then, on the advice of one courtier, a Greek, Ivan Vasilyevich followed the example of the Byzantine emperors. It was ordered to bring the most beautiful maidens, daughters of boyars and boyar children to the court for the viewing. One and a half thousand of them were collected. Vasily chose Solomonia, the daughter of the nobleman Saburov.

After the death of his wife, Ivan Vasilyevich lost heart and became seriously ill. Apparently, Grand Duchess Sophia gave him the necessary energy to build a new power, her intelligence 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 his sins. He was paralyzed. On October 27, 1505, he departed to the Lord, outliving his beloved wife by only two years.

Vasily III, having ascended the throne, first of all tightened the conditions of detention for his nephew, Dmitry Vnuk. He was shackled and placed in a small, stuffy cell. In 1509 he died.

Vasily and Solomonia 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 rolled across the entire Russian land, lightning flashed and the earth shook...

Ivan the Terrible was born, as modern scientists say, in appearance very similar to his grandmother, Sofia Palaeologus. Ivan the Terrible is a maniac, sadist, libertine, despot, alcoholic, the first Russian Tsar and the last in the Rurik dynasty. Ivan the Terrible, who took the schema on his deathbed and was buried in a cassock and doll. But that's a completely different story.

And Sophia Paleologus was buried in a massive white-stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin. Next to her lay the body of Ivan III’s first wife, Maria Borisovna. This cathedral was destroyed in 1929 by the new government. But the remains of the women of the royal house have been preserved. They now rest in the underground chamber of the Archangel Cathedral.

This 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 a new Muscovy - is up to you, the reader, to decide. In any case, her name is inscribed in the annals of history, and we still see part of her family coat of arms - a double-headed eagle - on Russian heraldry today.

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 Sofia Palaeolog by Pskov mayors and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi. Bronnikov F.A.

On November 12, 1472, Ivan III married for the second time. This time his chosen one is the Greek princess Sophia, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos.

White stone

Three years after the wedding, Ivan III will begin the arrangement of his residence with the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, which was erected on the site of the dismantled Kalita Church. Whether this will be connected with the new status - the Grand Duke of Moscow will by that time position himself as “the sovereign of all Rus'” - or whether the idea will be “suggested” by his wife Sophia, dissatisfied with the “wretched situation”, it is difficult to say for sure. By 1479, the construction of the new temple will be completed, and its properties will subsequently be transferred to the whole of Moscow, which is still called “white stone”. Large-scale construction will continue. The Annunciation Cathedral will be built on the foundation of the old palace church of the Annunciation. To store the treasury of the Moscow princes, a stone chamber will be built, which will later be called the “Treasury Yard”. Instead of the old wooden mansion, a new stone chamber will be built to receive ambassadors, called the “Embankment”. The Faceted Chamber will be built for official receptions. A large number of churches will be rebuilt and built. As a result, Moscow will completely change its appearance, and the Kremlin will turn from a wooden fortress into a “Western European castle.”

Picture: Meeting of Princess Sofia Palaeologus by Pskov mayors and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi. Bronnikov

New title

With the appearance of Sophia, a number of researchers associate a new ceremony and a new diplomatic language - complex and strict, prim and strained. Marriage to a noble heiress of the Byzantine emperors will allow Tsar John to position himself as the political and church successor of Byzantium, and the final overthrow of the Horde yoke will make possible translation the status of a Moscow prince is out of reach high level national ruler of the entire Russian land. From government acts “Ivan, Sovereign and Grand Duke” leaves and “John, by the grace of God, sovereign of all Rus'” appears. The significance of the new title is complemented by a long list of the boundaries of the Moscow state: “Sovereign of All Rus' and Grand Duke of Vladimir, and Moscow, and Novgorod, and Pskov, and Tver, and Perm, and Yugorsk, and Bulgarian, and others.”

Divine origin

In his new position, the source of which was partly the marriage with Sophia, Ivan III finds the previous source of power insufficient - succession from his father and grandfather. The idea of the divine origin of power was not alien to the ancestors of the sovereign, however, none of them expressed it so firmly and convincingly. To the proposal of the German Emperor Frederick III to reward Tsar Ivan with a royal title, the latter will answer: “... by the grace of God we are sovereigns on our land from the beginning, from our first ancestors, and we have been appointed by God,” indicating that in the worldly recognition of his power the Moscow prince does not need.

Double headed eagle

To visually illustrate the succession of the fallen house of the Byzantine emperors, a visual expression will be found: from the end of the 15th century, the Byzantine coat of arms - a double-headed eagle - will appear on the royal seal. There are a large number of other versions where the two-headed bird “flew” from, but it is impossible to deny that the symbol appeared during the marriage of Ivan III and the Byzantine heiress.

Still from the film “Sofia”

The best minds

After Sophia’s arrival in Moscow, a fairly impressive group of immigrants from Italy and Greece will form at the Russian court. Subsequently, many foreigners will occupy influential government positions, and will more than once carry out the most important diplomatic government assignments. Ambassadors visited Italy with enviable regularity, but often the list of assigned tasks did not include resolving political issues. They returned with another rich “catch”: architects, jewelers, coiners and gunsmiths, whose activities were directed in one direction - to contribute to the prosperity of Moscow. Visiting miners will find silver and copper ore in the Pechora region, and coins will begin to be minted from Russian silver in Moscow. Among the visitors there will be a large number of professional doctors.

Through the eyes of foreigners

During the reign of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus, the first detailed notes by foreigners about Rus' appeared. To some, Muscovy appeared as a wild land in which rude morals reigned. For example, for the death of a patient, a doctor could be beheaded, stabbed, drowned, and when one of the best Italian architects, Aristotle Fioravanti, fearing for his life, asked to return to his homeland, he was deprived of his property and imprisoned. Muscovy was seen differently by travelers, those who did not stay long in the bear region. The Venetian merchant Josaphat Barbaro was amazed at the welfare of Russian cities, “abundant with bread, meat, honey and other useful things" The Italian Ambrogio Cantarini noted the beauty of Russians, both men and women. Another Italian traveler Alberto Campenze, in a report for Pope Clement VII, writes about the excellent border service set up by the Muscovites, the ban on selling alcohol, except holidays, but most of all he is captivated by the morality of Russians. “They consider it a terrible, vile crime to deceive each other,” writes Campenze. – Adultery, violence and public debauchery are also very rare. Unnatural vices are completely unknown, and perjury and blasphemy are completely unheard of.”

Exhibition of props from the film “Sofia”

New orders

External paraphernalia played significant role in the rise of the king in the eyes of the people. Sofya Fominichna knew about this from the example of the Byzantine emperors. A magnificent palace ceremony, luxurious royal robes, rich decoration of the courtyard - all this was not present in Moscow. Ivan III, already a powerful sovereign, lived not much more widely and richly than the boyars. Simplicity was heard in the speeches of his closest subjects - some of them, like the Grand Duke, came from Rurik. The husband heard a lot about the court life of the Byzantine autocrats from his wife and from the people who came with her. He probably wanted to become “real” here too. Gradually, new customs began to appear: Ivan Vasilyevich “began to behave majestically”, before the ambassadors he was titled “Tsar”, he received foreign guests with special pomp and solemnity, and as a sign of special mercy he ordered to kiss the Tsar’s hand. A little later, court ranks will appear - bed keeper, nursery keeper, stable keeper, and the sovereign will begin to reward the boyars for their merits.

After a while, Sophia Paleologue will be called an intriguer, she will be accused of the death of Ivan the Young’s stepson and the “unrest” in the state will be justified by her witchcraft. However, this marriage of convenience would last 30 years and would become perhaps one of the most significant marital unions in history.