In the middle of the 15th century, when Constantinople fell to the Turks, the 17-year-old Byzantine princess Sophia left Rome to transfer the spirit of the old empire to a new, still nascent state.
With her fairy-tale life and journey full of adventures - from the dimly lit passages of the papal church to the snowy Russian steppes, from the secret mission behind her betrothal to the Moscow prince, to the mysterious and still unfound collection of books she brought with her from Constantinople, - we were introduced by journalist and writer Yorgos Leonardos, author of the book “Sophia Paleologus - from Byzantium to Rus',” as well as many other historical novels.
In a conversation with a correspondent of the Athens-Macedonian Agency about the filming of a Russian film about the life of Sophia Palaiologos, Mr. Leonardos emphasized that she was a versatile person, a practical and ambitious woman. The niece of the last Palaeologus 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'.
Giorgos Leonardos describes Sophia's personality this way: “Sophia was the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, and the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos. She was baptized in Mystras, giving her 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 Kerkyra. With the participation of Vissarion of Nicaea, who by that time had already become a Catholic cardinal in Rome, Zoya and her father, brothers and sister moved to Rome. After the premature death of her parents, Vissarion took custody of three children who converted to the Catholic faith. However, Sophia's life changed when Paul II took the papal throne, who wanted her to enter into a political marriage. The princess was wooed to Moscow Prince Ivan III, 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 young girl was enthusiastically received by the Russian people.”
© Sputnik. Valentin Cheredintsev
The author of the book considers a visit to one of the Pskov churches to be a key moment in Sophia’s life: “She was impressed, and although the papal legate was next to her at the time, watching her every step, she returned to Orthodoxy, neglecting the will of the pope. On November 12, 1472, Zoya became the second wife of 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' was paying tribute to the Horde. And 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, since, as the author explains, “she introduced Byzantine order at the Russian court and helped create the Russian state.”
“Since Sophia was the only heir 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 existed 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 Moscow Archbishopric to a patriarchate, making it clear that the first patriarchate was not Constantinople captured by the Turks, but Moscow.”
© Sputnik. Alexey Filippov
According to Yorgos Leonardos, “Sofia was the first to create in Rus', following the model of Constantinople, a secret service, the prototype of the Tsarist secret police and the Soviet KGB. This contribution of hers is still recognized by the Russian authorities today. Thus, the former head of the Federal Security Service of Russia, Alexei Patrushev, on Military Counterintelligence Day on December 19, 2007, said that the country honors Sophia Paleologus, since she defended Rus' from internal and external enemies.”
Moscow also “owes it a change in its appearance, since Sofia brought here Italian and Byzantine architects who built mainly stone buildings, for example, the Kremlin’s Archangel Cathedral, as well as the Kremlin walls that still exist today. Also, following the Byzantine model, secret passages were dug under the territory of the entire Kremlin.”
© Sputnik. Sergey Pyatakov
“The history of the modern - tsarist - state begins in Rus' in 1472. At that time, due to the climate, they did not farm here, but only hunted. Sofia convinced the subjects of Ivan III to cultivate the fields and thus marked the beginning of the formation of agriculture in the country.”
Sofia’s personality was treated with respect even under Soviet rule: according to Leonardos, “when the Ascension Monastery, in which the remains of the queen were kept, was destroyed in the Kremlin, they were not only not disposed of, but by decree of Stalin they were placed in a tomb, which was then transferred to Arkhangelsk Cathedral".
Yorgos Leonardos said that Sofia brought from Constantinople 60 carts with books and rare treasures that were kept in the underground treasuries of the Kremlin and have not been found to this day.
“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 Russian history to be called the Great for his actions carried out 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 that was just beginning to emerge. It was she who built the state in Rus', giving it Byzantine features, and generally 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,” noted Yorgos Leonardos.
Regarding the images of Sophia, Leonardos emphasized that “no portraits of her have survived, 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 located near the entrance to the Historical Museum next to the Kremlin.”
“The legacy of Sofia Paleologus is Russia itself...” summed up Yorgos Leonardos.
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The last flower of Byzantium
10 facts about the Russian Tsarina Sophia Paleolog / World History
How the Byzantine princess deceived the Pope, and what she changed in the life of Russia. More about Third Rome
"Sofia". Still from the series
1. Sofia Paleolog was the daughter of the despot of Morea (now the Peloponnese Peninsula) Thomas Palaiologos and niece of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire Constantine XI.
2. At birth, Sofia was named Zoey. She was born two years after Constantinople was captured by the Ottomans in 1453 and the Byzantine Empire ceased to exist. Five years later, Morea was also captured. Zoe's family was forced to flee, finding refuge in Rome. To receive the support of the Pope, Thomas Palaiologos converted to Catholicism with his family. With a change of faith, Zoya became Sophia.
3. Paleolog was appointed as Sofia’s immediate guardian Cardinal Vissarion of Nicaea, a supporter of union, that is, the unification of Catholics and Orthodox Christians under the authority of the Pope. Sofia's fate was supposed to be decided through a profitable 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 Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. The prince expressed his consent, after which the solemn betrothal took place.
4. Sofia’s fate changed dramatically after it became known that Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III widowed and looking for a new wife. Vissarion of Nicea decided that if Sophia Paleologus became the wife of Ivan III, the Russian lands could be subordinated to the influence of the Pope.
Sofia Paleolog. Reconstruction based on the skull of S. Nikitin
5. On June 1, 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. The Deputy Grand Duke was Russian Ambassador Ivan Fryazin. The wife was present as guests Ruler of Florence Lorenzo the Magnificent Clarice Orsini and Queen Katarina of Bosnia.
6. Representatives of the Pope were silent about Sophia Paleologue’s conversion to Catholicism during marriage negotiations. But they, too, were in for a surprise - immediately after crossing the Russian border, Sofia announced to Vissarion of Nicaea, who was accompanying her, that she was returning to Orthodoxy and would not perform Catholic rites. In fact, this was the end of the attempt to implement the union project in Russia.
7. The wedding of Ivan III and Sofia Paleologus in Russia took place on November 12, 1472. Their marriage lasted 30 years, Sofia gave birth to 12 children to her husband, but the first four were girls. Born in March 1479, the boy, named Vasily, later became the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III.
8. At the end of the 15th century, a fierce struggle for the rights to succession to the throne unfolded in Moscow. The official heir was considered the son of Ivan III from his first marriage Ivan Molodoy, who even had the status of co-ruler. However, with the birth of her son Vasily, Sophia Paleologus became involved in the struggle for his rights to the throne. The Moscow elite split into two warring parties. Both fell into disgrace, but in the end, victory went to the supporters of Sofia Paleologus and her son.
9. Under Sofia Paleolog, the practice of inviting foreign specialists to Russia became widespread: architects, jewelers, coinmakers, gunsmiths, doctors. For the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, he was invited from Italy architect Aristotle Fioravanti. Other buildings on the Kremlin territory 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. In the Trinity-Sergius Monastery there is a silk shroud sewn by the hands of Sophia in 1498; her name is embroidered on the shroud, and she calls herself not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but “the princess of Tsaregorod.” At her suggestion, Russian rulers began, first unofficially and then officially, to call themselves tsars. In 1514, in an agreement with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I Sophia's son Vasily III was named Emperor of the Rus for the first time in the history of Rus'. This certificate is then used Peter I as proof of his rights to be coronated as emperor.
The wedding of Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus in 1472. Engraving from the 19th century.
Sofia Paleolog
How a Byzantine princess built a new empire in Russia
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 major role in the formation of a new ideology and in the changes that were taking place within Russia at that time was destined to be played by a woman whose name was heard by almost everyone who has ever come into contact with Russian history. Sofia Paleolog, the 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 machinations set the development of Russia on a completely different path and brought confusion into the life of the state.
The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle. Sofia Paleologus 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 Paleologus, Sophia's father
Byzantine orphan at the papal court
Zoe Paleologina, daughter of the despot (this is the title of the position) of Morea Thomas Paleologus, was born in a tragic time. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire, the heir of Ancient Rome, collapsed under the blows of the Ottomans after a thousand years of existence. The symbol of the death of the empire was the fall of Constantinople, in which Emperor Constantine XI, the brother of Thomas Palaiologos and Zoe’s uncle, died.
Despotate of Morea, a province of Byzantium ruled by Thomas Palaiologos, lasted until 1460. Zoe lived these years with her father and brothers in Mystras, the capital of Morea, a city located next to Ancient Sparta. After Sultan Mehmed II captured the Morea, Thomas Palaiologos 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 his death, Thomas Palaiologos converted to Catholicism to gain support. His children also became Catholics. After baptism according to the Roman rite, Zoya was named Sophia.
Vissarion of Nicaea
The 10-year-old girl, taken into the care of the papal court, had no opportunity to decide anything on her own. Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea, one of the authors of the union, which was supposed to unite Catholics and Orthodox Christians under the common authority of the Pope, was appointed her mentor.
They planned to arrange Sophia's fate through 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 expressed his consent, after which the solemn betrothal took place.
Bride on the “icon”
But Sophia was not destined to become the wife of an Italian. In Rome it became known that the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III was widowed. The Russian prince was young, only 27 years old at the time of the death of his first wife, and it was expected that he would soon look for a new wife.
Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea saw this as a chance to promote his idea of Uniatism to Russian lands. From his submission in 1469 Pope Paul II sent a letter to Ivan III in which he proposed 14-year-old Sophia Paleologus 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 later often play on. Having learned that the niece of the Byzantine emperor had been proposed as a bride, he agreed.
Victor Muizhel. “Ambassador Ivan Fryazin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleolog”
Negotiations, however, had just begun - all the details needed to be discussed. The Russian ambassador, sent to Rome, returned with a gift that shocked both the groom and his entourage. In the chronicle, this fact was reflected with the words “bring the princess on the icon.”
The fact is that at that time secular painting did not exist in Russia at all, and the portrait of Sophia sent to Ivan III was perceived in Moscow as an “icon”.
Sophia Paleolog. Reconstruction based on the skull of S. Nikitin
However, having figured out what was what, the Moscow prince was pleased with the appearance of the bride. In historical literature there are various descriptions of Sophia Paleolog - from beauty to ugly. In the 1990s, studies were carried out on the remains of the wife of Ivan III, during which her appearance was restored. Sophia was a short woman (about 160 cm), inclined to be overweight, with strong-willed facial features that could be called, if not beautiful, then quite pretty. Be that as it may, Ivan III liked her.
Failure of Vissarion of Nicaea
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 present as guests. The father, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.
Sofia Paleologue enters Moscow. Miniature of the Facial Chronicle Code
On June 24, 1472, Sophia Paleologus's large convoy, together with the Russian ambassador, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by a Roman retinue led by Cardinal Vissarion of Nicaea.
We had to get to Moscow through Germany along the Baltic Sea, and then through the Baltic states, Pskov and Novgorod. Such a difficult route was caused by the fact that Russia once again began having political problems with Poland during this period.
From time immemorial, the Byzantines were famous for their cunning and deceit. Vissarion of Nicaea learned that Sophia Palaeologus inherited these qualities in full soon after the bride’s train crossed the Russian border. The 17-year-old girl announced that from now on she would no longer perform Catholic rites, but would return to the faith of her ancestors, that is, to Orthodoxy. All the cardinal's ambitious plans collapsed. Attempts by Catholics to gain a foothold in Moscow and strengthen their influence failed.
On November 12, 1472, Sophia entered Moscow. Here, too, there were many who treated her with caution, 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 performed by Kolomna Archpriest Hosea.
But, be that as it may, Sophia Paleolog became the wife of Ivan III.
Fedor Bronnikov. “Meeting of Princess Sofia Palaeologus by Pskov mayors and boyars at the mouth of the Embakh on Lake Peipsi”
How Sophia saved Russia from the yoke
Their marriage lasted 30 years, she bore her husband 12 children, of whom five sons and four daughters lived to adulthood. Judging by historical documents, the Grand Duke was attached to his wife and children, for which he even received reproaches from high-ranking church officials 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 should behave. Under her influence, the receptions of 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.” With the son and grandson of Sophia Paleologus, this designation of the Russian ruler will become official.
Judging by the actions and deeds of Sophia, she, having lost her native Byzantium, seriously took up the task of building it in another Orthodox country. She was helped by her husband’s ambition, on which she successfully played.
When the Horde Khan Akhmat was preparing an invasion of Russian lands and in Moscow they were discussing the issue of the amount of tribute with which one could buy off misfortune, Sophia intervened in the matter. Bursting with tears, she began to reproach her husband for the fact 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 quick. 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 military failure.
But there was no failure - there was no battle on the Ugra River, where the troops of Akhmat and Ivan III met. After what is known as the “standing on the Ugra,” Akhmat retreated without a fight, and his dependence on the Horde ended completely.
Perestroika of the 15th century
Sophia inspired her husband that the sovereign of such a great power as he could not live in a capital with wooden churches and chambers. Under the influence of his wife, Ivan III began rebuilding 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.
Inviting foreign specialists in various fields has become a widespread phenomenon under Sophia Paleolog. The Italians and Greeks, who took up the positions of ambassadors under Ivan III, will begin to actively invite their fellow countrymen to Russia: architects, jewelers, coiners 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 a library, which included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, including poems by Homer, works by 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 for to this day. Skeptics, however, believe that such a library did not actually 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 and active interference in state affairs. Such behavior was uncharacteristic for Sophia’s predecessors as grand duchesses, and simply for Russian women.
Battle of the Heirs
By the time of Ivan III’s second marriage, he already had a son from his first wife, Ivan the Young, who was declared heir to the throne. But with the birth of Sophia’s children, tension began to increase. The Russian nobility split into two factions, one of which supported Ivan the Young, and the second - Sophia.
The relationship between stepmother and stepson did not work out, so much so that Ivan III himself had to exhort his son to behave decently.
Ivan Molodoy was only three years younger than Sophia and had no 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 ensure the throne for her son at any cost.
By this time, Ivan the Young was already mentioned in Russian documents as his father’s co-ruler. And in 1483 the heir married daughter of the ruler of Moldavia, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka.
The relationship between Sophia and Elena immediately became hostile. When in 1483 Elena gave birth to a son Dmitry, Vasily’s prospects for inheriting his father’s throne became completely illusory.
Female rivalry at the court of Ivan III was fierce. Both Elena and Sophia were eager to get rid of not only their competitor, but also her offspring.
In 1484, Ivan III decided to give his daughter-in-law 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, angry at his wife’s arbitrariness, forced her to return the gift, and the relative herself, along with her husband, had to flee from the Russian lands for fear of punishment.
Death and burial of Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue
The loser loses everything
In 1490, the heir to the throne, Ivan the Young, fell ill with “ache in his legs.” He was called from Venice especially for his treatment. 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 the Young 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 became the new heir, known in Russian historiography as Dmitry Ivanovich Vnuk.
Dmitry Vnuk was not officially declared the heir, and therefore Sophia Paleologus continued to try to achieve the throne for Vasily.
In 1497, a conspiracy by supporters of Vasily and Sophia was discovered. The angry Ivan III sent its participants to the chopping block, but did not touch his wife and son. However, they found themselves in disgrace, virtually 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. Ivan III considered the new charges of conspiracy against Dmitry Vnuk and his mother convincing, sending them under house arrest. A few days later, Vasily was proclaimed co-ruler of his father and heir to the throne, and Dmitry Vnuk and his mother were placed in prison.
Birth of an Empire
Sophia Paleologus, who actually elevated her son to the Russian throne, did not live to see 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 her grave Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III.
The Grand Duke, widowed for the second time, outlived his beloved Sophia by two years, passing away in October 1505. Elena Voloshanka died in prison.
Vasily III, having ascended the throne, first of all tightened the conditions of detention for his competitor - Dmitry Vnuk was shackled in iron shackles and placed in a small cell. In 1509, a 25-year-old high-born prisoner died.
In 1514, in an agreement with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Vasily III was named Emperor of the Rus for the first time in the history of Rus'. This letter is then used by Peter I as proof of his rights to coronation as emperor.
The efforts of Sophia Palaeologus, a proud Byzantine who set about building a new empire to replace the lost one, were not in vain.
Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue
Ivan III Vasilyevich was the Grand Duke of Moscow from 1462 to 1505. During the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich, a significant part of the Russian lands around Moscow was united and transformed into the center of the all-Russian state. The final liberation of the country from the power of the Horde khans was achieved. Ivan Vasilyevich created a state that became the basis of Russia until modern times.
The first wife of Grand Duke Ivan was Maria Borisovna, the daughter of the Tver prince. On February 15, 1458, a son, Ivan, was born into the family of the Grand Duke. The Grand Duchess, who had a meek character, died on April 22, 1467, before reaching the age of thirty. The Grand Duchess was buried in the Kremlin, in the Ascension Convent. Ivan, who was in Kolomna at that time, did not come to his wife’s funeral.
Two years after her death, the Grand Duke decided to marry again. After a conference with his mother, as well as with the boyars and the metropolitan, he decided to agree to the proposal recently received from the Pope to marry the Byzantine princess Sophia (in Byzantium she was called Zoe). She was the daughter of the Morean despot Thomas Palaiologos and was the niece of the emperors Constantine XI and John VIII.
The decisive factor in Zoya’s fate was the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine XI died in 1453 during the capture of Constantinople. 7 years later, in 1460, Morea was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, Thomas fled with his family to the island of Corfu, then to Rome, where he soon died. To gain support, Thomas converted to Catholicism in the last year of his life. Zoya and her brothers - 7-year-old Andrei and 5-year-old Manuel - moved to Rome 5 years after their father. There she received the name Sophia. The Palaiologos came under the patronage of Cardinal Vissarion, who retained his sympathies for the Greeks.
Zoya has grown over the years into an attractive girl with dark, sparkling eyes and soft white skin. She was distinguished by a subtle mind and prudence in behavior. According to the unanimous assessment of her contemporaries, Zoya was charming, and her intelligence, education and manners were impeccable. Bolognese chroniclers wrote enthusiastically about Zoe in 1472: “She is truly charming and beautiful... She was short, she seemed about 24 years old; the eastern flame sparkled in her eyes, the whiteness of her skin spoke of the nobility of her family.”
In those years, the Vatican was looking for allies to organize a new crusade against the Turks, intending to involve all European sovereigns in it. Then, on the advice of Cardinal Vissarion, the pope decided to marry Zoya to the Moscow sovereign Ivan III, knowing about his desire to become the heir of the Byzantine basileus. The Patriarch of Constantinople and Cardinal Vissarion tried to renew the union with Russia through marriage. It was then that the Grand Duke was informed about the stay in Rome of a noble bride devoted to Orthodoxy, Sophia Paleologus. Dad promised Ivan his support if he wanted to woo her. Ivan III's motives for marrying Sophia, of course, were related to status; the brilliance of her name and the glory of her ancestors played a role. Ivan III, who claimed the royal title, considered himself the successor of the Roman and Byzantine emperors.
On January 16, 1472, Moscow ambassadors set off on a long journey. In Rome, Muscovites were honorably received by the new Pope Sixtus IV. As a gift from Ivan III, the ambassadors presented the pontiff with sixty selected sable skins. The matter quickly came to an end. Pope Sixtus IV treated the bride with paternal concern: he gave Zoe, in addition to gifts, about 6,000 ducats as a dowry. Sixtus IV in St. Peter's Cathedral performed a solemn ceremony of Sophia's betrothal in absentia to the Moscow sovereign, who was represented by the Russian ambassador Ivan Fryazin.
On June 24, 1472, having said goodbye to the pope in the Vatican gardens, Zoe headed to the far north. The future Grand Duchess of Moscow, as soon as she found herself on Russian soil, while still on her way down the aisle to Moscow, insidiously betrayed all the hopes of the pope, immediately forgetting her entire Catholic upbringing. Sophia, who apparently met in childhood with the Athonite elders, opponents of the subordination of the Orthodox to Catholics, was deeply Orthodox at heart. She immediately openly, brightly and demonstratively showed her devotion to Orthodoxy, to the delight of the Russians, venerating all the icons in all the churches, behaving impeccably at the Orthodox service, crossing herself as an Orthodox woman. The Vatican's plans to make the princess a conductor of Catholicism in Rus' failed, as Sophia immediately demonstrated a return to the faith of her ancestors. The papal legate was deprived of the opportunity to enter Moscow, carrying the Latin cross in front of him.
Early in the morning of November 21, 1472, Sophia Paleologus arrived in Moscow. On the same day, in the Kremlin, in a temporary wooden church, erected near the Assumption Cathedral under construction, so as not to stop the services, the sovereign married her. The Byzantine princess saw her husband for the first time. The Grand Duke was young - only 32 years old, handsome, tall and stately. His eyes were especially remarkable, “formidable eyes.” And before, Ivan Vasilyevich was distinguished by a tough character, but now, having become related to the Byzantine monarchs, he turned into a formidable and powerful sovereign. This was largely due to his young wife.
Sophia became the full-fledged Grand Duchess of Moscow. The very fact that she agreed to go from Rome to distant Moscow to seek her fortune suggests that she was a brave, energetic woman.
She brought a generous dowry to Rus'. After the wedding, Ivan III adopted the coat of arms of the Byzantine double-headed eagle - a symbol of royal power, placing it on his seal. The two heads of the eagle face the West and the East, Europe and Asia, symbolizing their unity, as well as the unity (“symphony”) of spiritual and temporal power. Sophia's dowry was the legendary “Liberia” - a library (better known as the “library of Ivan the Terrible”). It included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were unknown to us poems by Homer, works by Aristotle and Plato, and even surviving books from the famous Library of Alexandria.
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.
With the arrival in the capital of Russia of the Greek princess, the heir to the former greatness of the Palaiologans, in 1472, a fairly large group of immigrants from Greece and Italy formed at the Russian court. Over time, many of them occupied significant government positions and more than once carried out important diplomatic assignments for Ivan III. They all returned to Moscow with large groups of specialists, among whom were architects, doctors, jewelers, coiners and gunsmiths.
The great Greek woman brought with her her ideas about the court and the power of government. Sophia Paleolog not only brought about changes at court - some Moscow monuments owe their appearance to her. Much of what is now preserved in the Kremlin was built precisely under Grand Duchess Sophia.
In 1474, the Assumption Cathedral, built by Pskov craftsmen, collapsed. The Italians were involved in its restoration under the leadership of the architect Aristotle Fioravanti. With her, they built the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Faceted Chamber, so named on the occasion of its decoration in the Italian style - with facets. The Kremlin itself - the fortress that guarded the ancient center of the capital of Rus' - grew and was created before her eyes. Twenty years later, foreign travelers began to call the Moscow Kremlin a “castle” in European style, due to the abundance of stone buildings in it.
Thus, through the efforts of Ivan III and Sophia, the Paleologus Renaissance flourished on Russian soil.
However, Sophia's arrival in Moscow did not please some of Ivan's courtiers. By nature, Sophia was a reformer, participation in state affairs was the meaning of life for the Moscow princess, she was a decisive and intelligent person, and the nobility of that time did not like this very much. In Moscow, she was accompanied not only by the honors given 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.
The best way to establish oneself was, of course, childbearing. The Grand Duke wanted to have sons. Sophia herself wanted this. However, to the delight of her ill-wishers, she gave birth to three daughters in a row - Elena (1474), Elena (1475) and Theodosia (1475). Unfortunately, the girls died soon after birth. Then another girl was born, Elena (1476). Sophia prayed to God and all the saints for the gift of a son. There is a legend associated with the birth of Sophia’s son Vasily, the future heir to the throne: as if during one of the pilgrimage campaigns to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, in Klementievo, Grand Duchess Sophia Palaeologus had a vision of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, who “was cast into the bowels of her as a young man floor." On the night of March 25-26, 1479, a boy was born, named Vasily in honor of his grandfather. For his mother, he always remained Gabriel - in honor of the Archangel Gabriel. Following Vasily, she gave birth to 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, daughter Evdokia.
Ivan III loved his wife and took care of his family. Before the invasion of Khan Akhmat in 1480, for the sake of safety, Sophia was sent first to Dmitrov and then to Beloozero with her children, court, noblewomen and princely treasury. Bishop Vissarion warned the Grand Duke against constant thoughts and excessive attachment to his wife and children. One of the chronicles notes that Ivan panicked: “I was in horror and wanted to run away from the shore, and sent my Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her to Beloozero.”
The main significance of this marriage was that the marriage to Sophia Paleologus contributed to the establishment of Russia as the successor to Byzantium and the proclamation of Moscow as the Third Rome, the stronghold of Orthodox Christianity. After his marriage to Sophia, Ivan III for the first time dared to show the European political world the new title of Sovereign of All Rus' and forced them to recognize it. Ivan was called “the sovereign of all Rus'.”
The question inevitably arose about the future fate of the offspring of Ivan III and Sophia. The heir to the throne remained the son of Ivan III and Maria Borisovna, Ivan the Young, whose son Dmitry was born on October 10, 1483 in his marriage to Elena Voloshanka. In the event of his father’s death, he would not hesitate to get rid of Sophia and her family in one way or another. The best they could hope for was exile or exile. At the thought of this, the Greek woman was overcome with rage and impotent despair.
Throughout the 1480s, Ivan Ivanovich's position as the legal heir was quite strong. However, by 1490, the heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich, fell ill with “kamchyuga 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 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. Modern historians regard the hypothesis of the poisoning of Ivan the Young as unverifiable due to a lack of sources.
On February 4, 1498, the coronation of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich took place in the Assumption Cathedral in an atmosphere of great pomp. Sophia and her son Vasily were not invited.
Ivan III continued to painfully search for a way out of the dynastic impasse. How much pain, tears and misunderstanding his wife had to experience, this strong, wise woman who was so eager to help her husband build a new Russia, the Third Rome. But time passes, and the wall of bitterness that his son and daughter-in-law built with such zeal around the Grand Duke collapsed. Ivan Vasilyevich wiped away his wife’s tears and cried with her. Like never before, he felt that the white light was not nice to him without this woman. Now the plan to give the throne to Dmitry did not seem successful to him. Ivan Vasilyevich knew how all-consumingly Sophia loved her son Vasily. Sometimes he was even jealous of this maternal love, realizing that the son reigned entirely in the mother’s heart. The Grand Duke felt sorry for his young sons Vasily, Yuri, Dmitry Zhilka, Semyon, Andrei... And he lived together with Princess Sophia for a quarter of a century. Ivan III understood that sooner or later Sophia’s sons would rebel. 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.
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.” Three days later, Ivan III “blessed his son Vasily, blessed him and made him autocrat of the Grand Duchy of Volodymyr and Moscow and All Rus'.”
On the advice of his wife, Ivan Vasilyevich released Elena from captivity and sent her to her father in Wallachia (good relations with Moldavia were needed), but in 1509 Dmitry died “in need, in prison.”
A year after these events, on April 7, 1503, Sophia Paleologus died. The body of the Grand Duchess was buried in the cathedral of the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. Following her death, Ivan Vasilyevich lost heart and became seriously ill. Apparently, the great Greek 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 overcome by paralysis: “... took away his arm and leg and eye.” On October 27, 1505, he died, “having been in the great reign for 43 and 7 months, and all the years of his life were 65 and 9 months.”
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Sophia Paleolog biography the most important thing
Sofia Paleolog is an outstanding woman in Russian history. Sophia Paleologue is the second wife of Grand Duke Ivan III, as well as the mother of Vasily III and the grandmother of Ivan IV the Terrible. Her exact date of birth is unknown, but scholars suggest that she was born around 1455.
In 1469, the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, who by this time had been a widower for two years, decided to marry again. But I couldn’t decide on the role of the bride. Pope Paul II invited him to marry Sophia. After much deliberation, he was seduced by her title as a Greek princess. The wedding of the crowned individuals took place in 1472. The ceremony took place in the Assumption Cathedral, and Metropolitan Philip married the couple.
Sofia was very happy in her marriage, which produced 9 children - four daughters and five sons. Separate mansions were built in Moscow for the Grand Duchess of Greek origin, which, unfortunately, were destroyed in a fire in 1493.
Sophia Paleolog what did she do? According to the testimony of contemporaries, Sophia Paleologus was an intelligent woman who skillfully guided her husband’s actions. There is an opinion that it was Sophia who pushed Ivan III to the decision not to pay tribute to the Tatars.
With the appearance of Sophia and her children at the Moscow court, real dynastic strife began in the city. Ivan III had a son, Ivan the Young, from his first marriage, who was to inherit the throne. Sophia's son, Vasily, seemed not destined to be the heir to his father's power.
But fate decreed something completely different. Ivan the Young, who already had a family and a son, took possession of the Tver lands, but suddenly fell ill and died. After this, there were rumors for a long time that he was poisoned. The only heir of Ivan III was Sophia's son Vasily Ivanovich.
The attitude towards the wife of Ivan III in the princely circle was different. One nobility revered the Grand Duchess, respected her for her intelligence, the other considered her very proud, not taking into account anyone’s opinion, and the third party was convinced that with the appearance of the Greek princess in Moscow, Prince Ivan III “changed the old customs” because of her "
Sophia Palaeologus died two years before the death of her husband in 1503. Until the end of her life, she considered herself the princess of Tsaregorod, the Greek, and only then the Grand Duchess of Moscow.
SOFIA PALEOLOGIST AND IVAN III
Introduction
Sofia Paleolog before marriage
Dowry of a Byzantine princess
New title
Code of Law of Ivan III
Overthrow the yoke of the Horde
Family and state affairs
Conclusion
Bibliography
Application
Introduction
The personality of Ivan III belongs to an extremely important historical period from Sergius of Radonezh to Ivan IV, which is of particular value. Because During this period of time, the birth of the Moscow state, the core of modern Russia, takes place. The historical figure of Ivan III the Great is more homogeneous than the bright and controversial figure of Ivan IV the Terrible, well known due to numerous disputes and a real war of opinions.
It does not cause controversy and somehow traditionally hides in the shadow of the image and name of the Terrible Tsar. Meanwhile, no one ever doubted that it was he who was the creator of the Moscow state. That it was from his reign that the principles of Russian statehood were formed, and the geographical outlines of the country familiar to everyone appeared. Ivan III was the greatest personality of the Russian Middle Ages, a major politician in Russian history, during whose reign events took place that forever determined the life of a huge nation. But what significance did Sophia Paleologue have in the life of Ivan III and the entire country?
The marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Palaeologus, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XII, had enormous political significance: we can talk not only about raising the prestige of the Russian state, but also about continuity with the Roman Empire. The expression “Moscow is the third Rome” is connected with this.
1. Sophia Paleolog before marriage
Sofya Fominichna Palaeologus (nee Zoya) (1443/1449-1503) - daughter of the ruler (despot) of Morea (Peloponnese) Thomas Palaeologus, niece of the last Byzantine emperor Constantine XI, who died during the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Born between 1443 and 1449 in the Peloponnese . Her father, the ruler of one of the regions of the Empire, died in Italy.
The Vatican took upon itself the education of the royal orphans, entrusting them to Cardinal Bessarion of Nicaea. Greek by birth, former Archbishop of Nicaea, he was a zealous supporter of the signing of the Union of Florence, after which he became a cardinal in Rome. He raised Zoe Paleologue in European Catholic traditions and especially taught her to humbly follow the principles of Catholicism in everything, calling her “the beloved daughter of the Roman Church.” Only in this case, he inspired the pupil, will fate give you everything. “It was very difficult to marry Sophia: she was without a dowry.”
Ivan III Vasilyevich (Appendix No. 5), was the son of Vasily II. From an early age, he helped his blind father as much as he could in government affairs and went on hikes with him. In March 1462, Vasily II became seriously ill and died. Shortly before his death, he made a will. The will stated that the eldest son Ivan received the grand-ducal throne, and most of the state, its main cities. The remaining part of the state was divided among the remaining children of Vasily II.
By that time, Ivan was 22 years old. He continued the policies of his parent, primarily in matters of uniting the lands of Rus' around Moscow and fighting the Horde. A cautious, prudent man, he slowly but surely pursued his course towards the conquest of appanage principalities, the subjugation of various rulers, including his own brothers, to his power, and the return of Russian lands seized by Lithuania.
“Unlike his predecessors, Ivan III did not directly lead the troops on the battlefield, exercised general strategic direction of their actions, and provided the regiments with everything they needed. And this gave very good results. Despite his apparent slowness, when necessary, he showed determination and iron will.”
The fate of Ivan III spanned more than six decades and was filled with stormy and important events that were of exceptional importance for the history of the Fatherland.
Marriage of Ivan III with Sophia Paleolog
In 1467, Ivan III's first wife, Maria Borisovna, died, leaving him with his only son, heir, Ivan the Young. Everyone believed that she had been poisoned (the chronicle says that she died “from a mortal potion, because her body was all swollen,” the poison is believed to have been in a belt given to the Grand Duchess by someone). “After her death (1467), Ivan began to look for another wife, further away and more important.”
In February 1469, the ambassador of Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow with a letter to the Grand Duke, which proposed a legal marriage with the daughter of the Despot of Morea and, by the way, it was mentioned that Sophia (the name Zoya was diplomatically replaced with the Orthodox Sophia) had already refused two crowned suitors who had wooed her - to the French king and Duke of Milan, not wanting to marry a Catholic ruler - “does not want to go into Latin.”
The marriage of Princess Zoe, renamed Sophia in Russian Orthodox fashion, with the recently widowed young Grand Duke of the distant, mysterious, but, according to some reports, incredibly rich and powerful Moscow principality, was extremely desirable for the papal throne for several reasons:
1.Through his Catholic wife it was possible to influence the Grand Duke, and through him the Orthodox Russian Church in implementing the decisions of the Union of Florence - and the Pope had no doubt that Sophia was a devoted Catholic, for she, one might say, grew up on the steps of him throne.
.In itself, strengthening ties with distant Russian principalities is of great importance for all European politics.
And Ivan III, who strengthened the grand-ducal power, hoped that kinship with the Byzantine house would help Muscovy increase its international prestige, which had noticeably weakened over two centuries of the Horde yoke, and help increase the authority of the grand-ducal power within the country.
So, after much thought, Ivan sent the Italian Ivan Fryazin to Rome to “see the princess,” and if he liked her, then to give consent to the marriage for the Grand Duke. Fryazin did just that, especially since the princess happily agreed to marry the Orthodox Ivan III.
Together with Sophia, her dowry came to Russia. Many carts were accompanied by the papal legate Anthony, dressed in a red cardinal's dress and carrying a four-pointed Catholic cross as a sign of hope for the conversion of the Russian prince to Catholicism. Anthony’s cross was taken away upon entering Moscow by order of Metropolitan Philip, who did not approve of this marriage.
November 1472, having converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Sophia, Zoya was married to Ivan III (Appendix No. 4). At the same time, the wife “Catholicized” her husband, and the husband “Orthodoxized” his wife, which was perceived by contemporaries as a victory of the Orthodox faith over “Latinism.” “This marriage allowed Ivan III to feel (and declare this to the world) the successor to the once powerful power of the Byzantine emperors.”
4. Dowry of a Byzantine princess
Sofia brought a generous dowry to Rus'.
After the wedding Ivan III<#"justify">. Sophia Paleologue: Moscow princess or Byzantine princess
Sophia Paleologus, then known in Europe for her rare plumpness, brought a very subtle mind to Moscow and received very important importance here. “The 16th boyars attributed to her all the unpleasant innovations that appeared over time at the Moscow court. An attentive observer of Moscow life, Baron Herberstein, who came to Moscow twice as the ambassador of the German Emperor under Ivan's successor, having listened to enough boyar talk, notes about Sophia in his notes that she was an unusually cunning woman who had great influence on the Grand Duke, who, at her suggestion, did a lot " Even Ivan III’s determination to throw off the Tatar yoke was attributed to her influence. In the boyars' tales and judgments about the princess, it is not easy to separate observation from suspicion or exaggeration guided by ill will. Sophia could only inspire what she valued and what was understood and appreciated in Moscow. She could have brought here the legends and customs of the Byzantine court, pride in her origin, annoyance that she was marrying a Tatar tributary. “In Moscow, she did not like the simplicity of the situation and the unceremoniousness of relations at court, where Ivan III himself had to listen, in the words of his grandson, “many obnoxious and reproachful words” from obstinate boyars. But in Moscow, even without her, not only Ivan III had a desire to change all these old orders, which were so inconsistent with the new position of the Moscow sovereign, and Sophia, with the Greeks she brought, who had seen both Byzantine and Roman styles, could give valuable instructions on how and why samples to introduce the desired changes. She cannot be denied influence on the decorative environment and behind-the-scenes life of the Moscow court, on court intrigues and personal relationships; but she could act on political affairs only through suggestions that echoed the secret or vague thoughts of Ivan himself.”
Her husband consulted with her in making government decisions (in 1474 he bought half of the Rostov principality and concluded a friendly alliance with the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey). The idea that she, the princess, with her Moscow marriage was making the Moscow sovereigns the successors of the Byzantine emperors with all the interests of the Orthodox East that held on to these emperors could be especially understandably perceived. Therefore, Sophia was valued in Moscow and valued herself not so much as the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but as a Byzantine princess. In the Trinity Sergius Monastery there is a silk shroud sewn by the hands of this Grand Duchess, who also embroidered her name on it. This veil was embroidered in 1498. After 26 years of marriage, Sophia, it seems, was already time to forget her maidenhood and her former Byzantine title; however, in the signature on the shroud, she still calls herself “the princess of Tsaregorod,” and not the Grand Duchess of Moscow. And this was not without reason: Sophia, as a princess, enjoyed the right to receive foreign embassies in Moscow.
Thus, the marriage of Ivan and Sophia acquired the significance of a political demonstration, which declared to the whole world that the princess, as the heir of the fallen Byzantine house, transferred his sovereign rights to Moscow as to the new Constantinople, where she shared them with her husband.
Formation of a single state
Already at the end of the reign of Vasily II, Moscow began to restrict the independence of “Mr. Veliky Novgorod” - its foreign relations were placed under the control of the Moscow government. But the Novgorod boyars, led by Marfa Boretskaya, the widow of the mayor Isaac Boretsky, trying to maintain the independence of the republic, focused on Lithuania. Ivan III and the Moscow authorities regarded this as political and religious treason. The march on Novgorod by the Moscow army, the defeat of the Novgorodians on the Sheloni River, at Lake Ilmen (1471) and in the Dvina land led to the inclusion of vast lands of the republic among the Moscow possessions. This act was finally consolidated during the campaign against Novgorod in 1477-1478.
In the same 70s. “Great Perm” (the upper reaches of the Kama, the population of Komi, the campaign of 1472) became part of the Russian state; in the next decade - the lands on the Obi River (1489, Ugra and Vogul princes lived here with their fellow tribesmen), Vyatka (Khlynov, 1489 G.).
The annexation of the Novgorod lands predetermined the fate of the Tver principality. He was now surrounded on all sides by Moscow possessions. In 1485, the troops of Ivan III entered the Tver land, Prince Mikhail Borisovich fled to Lithuania. “The people of Tver kissed the cross for Prince Ivan Ivanovich the Young.” He received Tver from his father as an appanage possession.
In the same year, Ivan III took the official title of "Grand Duke of All Rus'". This is how a unified Russian state was born, and the name “Russia” appears for the first time in the sources of that time.
A quarter of a century later, already under Vasily III, the son of Ivan III, the lands of the Pskov Republic were annexed to Russia (1510). This act was of a formal nature, since in fact Pskov had been under the control of Moscow since the 1460s. Four years later, Smolensk with its lands was included in Russia (1514), and even later - the Ryazan principality (1521), which also actually lost its independence at the end of the previous century. This is how the territory of the united Russian state was formed.
True, there still remained the appanage principalities of the sons of Ivan III, the brothers of Vasily III - Yuri, Semyon and Andrey. But the Grand Duke consistently limited their rights (banning the minting of their own coins, reducing judicial rights, etc.)
New title
Ivan, having married a noble wife, the heiress of the Byzantine emperors, found the previous Kremlin environment boring and ugly. “Following the princess, craftsmen were sent from Italy who built Ivan a new Assumption Cathedral, the Palace of Facets and a new stone courtyard on the site of the previous wooden mansion. At the same time, in the Kremlin, at court, that complex and strict ceremony began to take place, which conveyed such stiffness and tension in Moscow court life. Just as at home, in the Kremlin, among his court servants, Ivan began to act with a more solemn gait in external relations, especially since the Horde yoke fell from his shoulders by itself, without a fight, with Tatar assistance. , which gravitated over northeastern Russia for two and a half centuries (1238-1480).” Since then, in Moscow government, especially diplomatic, papers, a new, more solemn language has appeared, and a magnificent terminology has developed, unfamiliar to the Moscow clerks of the appanage centuries. It is based on two ideas: the idea of the Moscow sovereign, the national ruler of the entire Russian land, and the idea of the political and church successor of the Byzantine emperors. In relations with Western courts, not excluding the Lithuanian one, Ivan III for the first time dared to show the European political world the pretentious title of “Sovereign of All Rus'”, previously used only in domestic use, in acts of internal use, and in the treaty of 1494 he even forced the Lithuanian government to formally recognize this title. After the Tatar yoke fell from Moscow, in relations with unimportant foreign rulers, for example with the Livonian master, Ivan III titled himself Tsar of All Rus'. This term, as is known, is a shortened South Slavic and Russian form of the Latin word Caesar.
“The word Caesar came into Proto-Slavic through the Gothic “kaisar”. In Proto-Slavic it sounded like “cmsarь”, then shortened to “tssar”, and then “king” (analogues of this abbreviation are known in Germanic titles, for example, Swedish kung and English king from kuning).”
“The title of tsar in acts of internal government under Ivan III was sometimes, under Ivan IV, usually combined with the title of autocrat of similar meaning - this is the Slavic translation of the Byzantine imperial title autokrator. Both terms in Ancient Rus' did not mean what they came to mean later; they expressed the concept not of a sovereign with unlimited internal power, but of a ruler who was independent of any external authority and did not pay tribute to anyone. In the political language of that time, both of these terms were opposed to what we mean by the word vassal. Monuments of Russian writing before the Tatar yoke, sometimes Russian princes are called tsars, giving them this title as a sign of respect, not in the sense of a political term. The kings were predominantly Ancient Rus' until the half of the 15th century. called the Byzantine emperors and khans of the Golden Horde, the independent rulers best known to it, and Ivan III could accept this title only by ceasing to be a tributary of the khan.” The overthrow of the yoke removed the political obstacle to this, and the marriage with Sophia provided a historical justification for this: Ivan III could now consider himself the only Orthodox and independent sovereign remaining in the world, as the Byzantine emperors were, and the supreme ruler of Rus', which was under the rule of the Horde khans. “Having adopted these new magnificent titles, Ivan found that now it was no longer suitable for him to be called in government acts simply in Russian Ivan, Sovereign Grand Duke, but began to be written in church book form: “John, by the grace of God, sovereign of all Rus'.” To this title, as its historical justification, is attached a long series of geographical epithets, denoting the new 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”, i.e. lands." Feeling himself a successor to the fallen house of the Byzantine emperors in terms of political power, and Orthodox Christianity, and finally, and by marriage kinship, the Moscow sovereign also found a clear expression of his dynastic connection with them: the Moscow coat of arms with St. George the Victorious was combined with a double-headed eagle - the ancient coat of arms of Byzantium (Appendix 2). This emphasized that Moscow is the heir of the Byzantine Empire, Ivan III is “the king of all Orthodoxy,” and the Russian Church is the successor of the Greek Church.
Code of Law of Ivan III
In 1497, the Sovereign of All Rus', Ivan III, approved the national Code of Law, which replaced the Russian Truth. Sudebnik - the first code of laws of a united Russia - established a unified structure and management in the state. “The highest institution was the Boyar Duma - the council under the Grand Duke; its members managed individual branches of the state economy, served as governors in regiments, and governors in cities. Volostels, made up of free people, exercised power in rural areas - volosts. The first orders appeared - central government bodies, they were headed by boyars or clerks, whom the Grand Duke ordered to manage certain matters.”
In the Code of Laws, the term “estate” was used for the first time to denote a special type of land ownership, issued for the performance of public service. For the first time on a national scale, the Code of Law introduced a rule limiting the exit of peasants; their transfer from one owner to another was now allowed only once a year, during the week before and the week after St. George’s Day (November 26), after the end of field work. In addition, the immigrants were obliged to pay the owner the elderly - money for the “yard” - outbuildings. “The assessment of a peasant household during the transition at the time of the adoption of the Code of Law in the steppe zone was 1 ruble per year, and in the forest zone - half a ruble (50 kopecks). But as an elderly person, sometimes up to 5 or even 10 rubles were charged. Due to the fact that many peasants could not pay their dues, they were forced to remain on the lands of the feudal lords on their terms. The agreement was most often concluded orally, but written agreements have also been preserved.” Thus began the legal enslavement of peasants, which ended in the 17th century.
“The Code of Law puts local government in the person of feeders under the control of the center. Instead of squads, a single military organization is created - the Moscow army, the basis of which is made up of noble landowners. At the request of the Grand Duke, they must appear for service with armed men from their slaves or peasants, depending on the size of the estate. The number of landowners under Ivan III increased greatly due to slaves, servants and others; they were given lands confiscated from Novgorod and other boyars, from princes from unannexed regions.”
The strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke, the growing influence of the nobility, and the emergence of the administrative apparatus were reflected in the Code of Laws of 1497.
9. Overthrow the yoke of the Horde
paleologist byzantine prince nobility
Along with the unification of the lands of Rus', the government of Ivan III also solved another task of national importance - liberation from the Horde yoke.
The 15th century was the time of decline of the Golden Horde. Internal weakening and civil strife led it to disintegrate in the second and third quarter of the century into a number of khanates: Kazan and Astrakhan on the Volga, Nogai Horde, Siberian, Kazan, Uzbek - to the east of it, Great Horde and Crimean - to the west and southwest.
Ivan III in 1478 stopped paying tribute to the Great Horde, the successor to the Golden Horde. “Its ruler Khan Ahmed (Akhmat) in 1480 led an army to Moscow. He approached the Oka River at the confluence of the Ugra River, near Kaluga, expecting help from the Polish king and Grand Duke Casimir IV. The army did not come because of the troubles in Lithuania.”
In 1480, on the “advice” of his wife, Ivan III went with the militia to the Ugra River (Appendix No. 3), where the army of the Tatar Khan Akhmat was stationed. Attempts by the Khan's cavalry to cross the river were repulsed by Russian warriors with fire from cannons, arquebuses, and archery. Also, the onset of frost and lack of food forced the khan and his army to leave. Having lost a large number of soldiers, Akhmed fled from the Ugra to the southeast. He learned that his possessions in the Horde were attacked and destroyed - the Russian army sailed there along the Volga.
The Great Horde soon split into several uluses, Khan Ahmed died.
Rus' has finally thrown off the hated yoke that tormented its people for about two and a half centuries. The increased strength of Rus' allowed its politicians to put on the priority list the return of the ancestral Russian lands, lost foreign invasions and Horde rule.
10. Family and state affairs
April 1474 Sophia gave birth to her first daughter Anna (who died quickly), then another daughter (who also died so quickly that they did not have time to baptize her). Disappointments in family life were compensated by activity in non-domestic affairs.
Sophia actively participated in diplomatic receptions (Venetian envoy Cantarini noted that the reception organized by her was “very stately and affectionate”). According to the legend cited not only by Russian chronicles, but also by the English poet John Milton, in 1477 Sophia was able to outwit the Tatar khan by declaring that she had a sign from above about the construction of a temple to St. Nicholas on the spot in the Kremlin where the house of the khan’s governors stood, who controlled the yasak collections. and the actions of the Kremlin. This story presents Sophia as a decisive person (“she kicked them out of the Kremlin, demolished the house, although she did not build a temple”).
But Sofya Fominichna grieved, she “cried, begged the Mother of God to give her an heir-son, gave out alms to the poor in handfuls, donated kitties to churches - and the Most Pure One heard her prayers: again, for the third time, a new life began in the warm darkness of her nature.
Someone restless, not yet a person, but only a still inseparable part of her body, demandedly poked Sofya Fominichna in the side - sharply, elasticly, palpably. And it seems that this was not at all the case, what happened to her twice already, and of a completely different order: the baby pushed hard, persistently, often.
“It’s a boy,” she believed, “a boy!” The child has not yet been born, and she has already begun a great battle for his future. All the strength of will, all the sophistication of the mind, the entire arsenal of great and small tricks, accumulated for centuries in the dark labyrinths and nooks of the palaces of Constantinople, was used every day by Sophia Fominichna in order to first sow in the soul of her husband the smallest doubts about Ivan the Young, who, although was worthy of the throne, but due to his age he undoubtedly was nothing more than an obedient puppet, in the skillful hands of skilled puppeteers - numerous enemies of the Grand Duke, and above all his brothers - Andrei the Bolshoi and Boris.
And when, according to one of the Moscow chronicles, “in the summer of 6987 (1479 from the Nativity of Christ) March 25 at eight o’clock in the morning a son was born to the Grand Duke, and his name was named Vasily of Pariysky, and he was baptized by the Archbishop of Rostov Vasiyan in the Sergeev Monastery in Verbnaya week."
Ivan III married his first-born Ivan the Young of Tverskoy to the daughter of the Moldavian ruler Stephen the Great, who gave the Young a son, and Ivan III a grandson - Dmitry.
In 1483, Sophia’s authority was shaken: she imprudently gave a precious family necklace (“sazhenye”) that had previously belonged to Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III, to her niece, the wife of Prince Vasily Mikhailovich of Verei. The husband intended an expensive gift for his daughter-in-law Elena Stepanovna Voloshanka, the wife of his son Ivan the Young from his first marriage. In the conflict that arose (Ivan III demanded the return of the necklace to the treasury), but Vasily Mikhailovich chose to escape with the necklace to Lithuania. Taking advantage of this, the Moscow boyar elite, dissatisfied with the success of the prince’s centralization policy, opposed Sophia, considering her the ideological inspirer of Ivan’s innovations, which infringed on the interests of his children from his first marriage.
Sophia began a stubborn struggle to justify the right to the Moscow throne for her son Vasily. When her son was 8 years old, she even made an attempt to organize a conspiracy against her husband (1497), but it was discovered, and Sophia herself was condemned on suspicion of magic and connection with a “witch woman” (1498) and, together with her son Vasily, fell into disgrace .
But fate was merciful to this irrepressible defender of the rights of her family (over the years of her 30-year marriage, Sophia gave birth to 5 sons and 4 daughters). The death of Ivan III's eldest son, Ivan the Young, forced Sophia's husband to change his anger to mercy and return those exiled to Moscow. To celebrate, Sophia ordered a church shroud with her name (“Princess of Tsargorod, Grand Duchess of Moscow Sophia of the Grand Duke of Moscow”).
According to Moscow ideas of that time, Dmitry had the right to the throne, who enjoyed the support of the Boyar Duma. In 1498, when Dmitry was not yet 15 years old, he was crowned with the Grand Duke's Monomakh cap in the Assumption Cathedral.
However, the very next year, Prince Vasily was proclaimed Grand Duke of Novgorod and Pskov. “Researchers are unanimous in their interpretation of these events, seeing them as the result of a fierce struggle between factions at court. After this, Dmitry’s fate was practically predetermined. In 1502, Ivan III took his grandson and his mother into custody, and three days later “he placed him in the Grand Duchy of Vladimir and Moscow and made him autocrat of all Russia.”
Ivan wanted to form some serious dynastic party for the new heir to the throne, but after several failures, on the advice of the Greeks from Sophia’s entourage, it was decided to hold a bride show. Vasily chose Solomonia Saburova. However, the marriage was unsuccessful: there were no children. Having obtained a divorce with great difficulty (and Solomonia, having been accused of witchcraft, was tonsured into a monastery), Vasily married Elena Glinskaya.
Feeling like a mistress in the capital again, Sophia managed to attract doctors, cultural figures and especially architects to Moscow; Active stone construction began in Moscow. The architects Aristotle Fioravanti, Marco Ruffo, Aleviz Fryazin, Antonio and Petro Solari, who came from Sophia’s homeland and at her order, erected the Chamber of Facets in the Kremlin, the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals on the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square; The construction of the Archangel Cathedral was completed.
Conclusion
Sophia died on August 7, 1503 in Moscow two years earlier than Ivan III, having achieved many honors. She was buried in the Moscow Ascension nunnery of the Kremlin.
In December 1994, in connection with the transfer of the remains of the princes and royal wives to the basement chamber of the Archangel Cathedral, according to the well-preserved skull of Sophia, student M.M. Gerasimova S.A. Nikitin restored her sculptural portrait (Appendix No. 1).
With the arrival of Sophia, the Moscow court acquired the features of Byzantine splendor, and this was a clear merit of Sophia and her entourage. The marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus undoubtedly strengthened the Muscovite state, contributing to its conversion to the great Third Rome. Sophia's main influence on the course of Russian history was also determined by the fact that she gave birth to a man who became the father of Ivan the Terrible.
The Russian people could be proud of what was done in those glorious decades of the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The chronicler reflected these feelings of his contemporaries: “Our great Russian land freed itself from the yoke... and began to renew itself, as if it had passed from winter to quiet spring. She again achieved her majesty, piety and tranquility, as under the first prince Vladimir.”
The process of unification of lands and the formation of a single state contributed to the consolidation of Russian lands and the formation of the Great Russian nation. Its territorial base was the lands of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, once inhabited by the Vyatichi and Krivichi, and the Novgorod-Pskov land, where the Novgorod Slavs and Krivichi lived. The growth of economic and political ties, common tasks in the struggle for national independence with the Horde, Lithuania and other opponents, historical traditions coming from the times of pre-Mongol Rus', the desire for unity became the driving factors for their unification within the framework of one nationality - the Great Russian. At the same time, other parts of the former ancient Russian nationality are being separated from it - in the west and southwest, as a result of the Horde invasions and seizures of Lithuanian, Polish, and Hungarian rulers, the formation of the Ukrainian (Little Russian) and Belarusian nationalities is taking place.
Bibliography
1.Dvornichenko A.Yu. The Russian Empire from ancient times to the fall of the autocracy. Tutorial. - M.: Publishing House, 2010. - 944 p.
Evgeny Viktorovich Anisimov “History of Russia from Rurik to Putin. People. Events. Dates"
Klyuchevsky V.O. Essays. In 9 volumes. T. 2. Course of Russian history. Part 2/Afterword and comment. Compiled by V.A. Alexandrov, V.G. Zimina. - M.: Mysl, 1987.- 447 p.
Sakharov A.N., Buganov V.I. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century: Textbook. for 10th grade general education institutions / Ed. A.N. Sakharov. - 5th ed. - M.: Education, 1999. - 303 p.
Sizenko A.G. Great women of great Russia. 2010
Fortunov V.V. Story. Tutorial. Third generation standard. For bachelors. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2014. - 464 p. - (Series “Textbook for Universities”).
Application
Sophia Paleolog. Reconstruction of S.A. Nikitina.
Coat of arms of Russia under Ivan III.
Standing on the Ugra River. 1480
4. The wedding of Ivan III with the Byzantine princess Sophia. Abegyan M.
Ivan III. Engraving. XVI century.
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