This woman was credited with many important government deeds. What made Sophia Paleolog so different? Interesting facts about her, as well as biographical information, are collected in this article.
Cardinal's proposal
The ambassador of Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow in February 1469. He handed over a letter to the Grand Duke with a proposal to marry Sophia, daughter of Theodore I, Despot of Morea. By the way, this letter also said that Sofia Paleologus (real name is Zoya, they decided to replace it with an Orthodox one for diplomatic reasons) had already refused two crowned suitors who had wooed her. These were the Duke of Milan and the French king. The fact is that Sophia did not want to marry a Catholic.
Sofia Paleolog (of course, you can’t find a photo of her, but portraits are presented in the article), according to the ideas of that distant time, was no longer young. However, she was still quite attractive. She had expressive, amazingly beautiful eyes, as well as matte, delicate skin, which in Rus' was considered a sign of excellent health. In addition, the bride was distinguished by her stature and sharp mind.
Who is Sofia Fominichna Paleolog?
Sofya Fominichna is the niece of Konstantin XI Paleologus, the latter. Since 1472, she has been the wife of Ivan III Vasilyevich. Her father was Thomas Palaiologos, who fled to Rome with his family after the Turks captured Constantinople. Sophia Paleologue lived after the death of her father in the care of the great Pope. For a number of reasons, he wished to marry her to Ivan III, who was widowed in 1467. He agreed.
Sofia Paleolog gave birth to a son in 1479, who later became Vasily III Ivanovich. In addition, she achieved the declaration of Vasily as the Grand Duke, whose place was to be taken by Dmitry, the grandson of Ivan III, crowned king. Ivan III used his marriage to Sophia to strengthen Rus' in the international arena.
Icon "Blessed Heaven" and the image of Michael III
Sofia Palaeologus, Grand Duchess of Moscow, brought several Orthodox icons. It is believed that among them was a rare image of the Mother of God. She was in the Kremlin Archangel Cathedral. However, according to another legend, the relic was transported from Constantinople to Smolensk, and when the latter was captured by Lithuania, this icon was used to bless the marriage of Princess Sofya Vitovtovna when she married Vasily I, Prince of Moscow. The image that is in the cathedral today is a copy of an ancient icon, commissioned at the end of the 17th century (pictured below). Muscovites traditionally brought lamp oil and water to this icon. It was believed that they were filled with healing properties, because the image had healing powers. This icon is one of the most revered in our country today.
In the Archangel Cathedral, after the wedding of Ivan III, an image of Michael III, the Byzantine emperor who was the founder of the Palaeologus dynasty, also appeared. Thus, it was argued that Moscow is the successor of the Byzantine Empire, and the sovereigns of Rus' are the heirs of the Byzantine emperors.
The birth of the long-awaited heir
After Sofia Palaeologus, the second wife of Ivan III, married him in the Assumption Cathedral and became his wife, she began to think about how to gain influence and become a real queen. Paleologue understood that for this she had to present the prince with a gift that only she could give: to give birth to him a son who would become the heir to the throne. To Sophia’s chagrin, the first-born was a daughter who died almost immediately after birth. A year later, a girl was born again, but she also died suddenly. Sofia Palaeologus cried, prayed to God to give her an heir, distributed handfuls of alms to the poor, and donated to churches. After some time, the Mother of God heard her prayers - Sofia Paleolog became pregnant again.
Her biography was finally marked by a long-awaited event. It took place on March 25, 1479 at 8 pm, as stated in one of the Moscow chronicles. A son was born. He was named Vasily of Paria. The boy was baptized by Vasiyan, the Rostov archbishop, in the Sergius Monastery.
What did Sophia bring with her?
Sophia managed to instill in her what was dear to her, and what was valued and understood in Moscow. She brought with her the customs and traditions of the Byzantine court, pride in her own origins, as well as annoyance at the fact that she had to marry a tributary of the Mongol-Tatars. It is unlikely that Sophia liked the simplicity of the situation in Moscow, as well as the unceremoniousness of the relations that reigned at the court at that time. Ivan III himself was forced to listen to reproachful speeches from the obstinate boyars. However, in the capital, even without it, many had a desire to change the old order, which did not correspond to the position of the Moscow sovereign. And the wife of Ivan III with the Greeks she brought, who saw both Roman and Byzantine life, could give the Russians valuable instructions on what models and how they should implement the changes everyone desired.
Sofia's influence
The prince's wife cannot be denied influence on the behind-the-scenes life of the court and its decorative environment. She skillfully built personal relationships and was excellent at court intrigue. However, Paleologue could only respond to political ones with suggestions that echoed the vague and secret thoughts of Ivan III. The idea was especially clear that by her marriage the princess was making the Moscow rulers successors to the emperors of Byzantium, with the interests of the Orthodox East clinging to the latter. Therefore, Sophia Paleologus in the capital of the Russian state was valued mainly as a Byzantine princess, and not as a Grand Duchess of Moscow. She herself understood this. How did she use the right to receive foreign embassies in Moscow? Therefore, her marriage to Ivan was a kind of political demonstration. It was announced to the whole world that the heiress of the Byzantine house, which had fallen shortly before, transferred its sovereign rights to Moscow, which became the new Constantinople. Here she shares these rights with her husband.
Reconstruction of the Kremlin, overthrow of the Tatar yoke
Ivan, sensing his new position in the international arena, found the previous environment of the Kremlin ugly and cramped. Masters were sent from Italy, following the princess. They built the Assumption Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral) on the site of the wooden mansion, as well as a new stone palace. In the Kremlin at this time, a strict and complex ceremony began to take place at the court, imparting arrogance and stiffness to Moscow life. Just as in his palace, Ivan III began to act in external relations with a more solemn gait. Especially when the Tatar yoke fell off the shoulders without a fight, as if by itself. And it weighed heavily over all of northeastern Russia for almost two centuries (from 1238 to 1480). A new language, more solemn, appeared at this time in government papers, especially diplomatic ones. A rich terminology is emerging.
Sophia's role in overthrowing the Tatar yoke
Paleologus was not liked in Moscow for the influence she exerted on the Grand Duke, as well as for the changes in the life of Moscow - “great unrest” (in the words of boyar Bersen-Beklemishev). Sophia interfered not only in domestic but also in foreign policy affairs. She demanded that Ivan III refuse to pay tribute to the Horde khan and finally free himself from his power. The skilful advice of the Paleologist, as evidenced by V.O. Klyuchevsky, always responded to her husband’s intentions. Therefore he refused to pay tribute. Ivan III trampled on the Khan's charter in Zamoskovreche, in the Horde courtyard. Later, the Transfiguration Church was built on this site. However, even then the people “talked” about Paleologus. Before Ivan III came out to the great one in 1480, he sent his wife and children to Beloozero. For this, the subjects attributed to the sovereign the intention to give up power if he took Moscow and fled with his wife.
"Duma" and changes in treatment of subordinates
Ivan III, freed from the yoke, finally felt like a sovereign sovereign. Through the efforts of Sophia, palace etiquette began to resemble Byzantine. The prince gave his wife a “gift”: Ivan III allowed Palaeologus to assemble his own “duma” from the members of his retinue and organize “diplomatic receptions” in his half. The princess received foreign ambassadors and politely talked to them. This was an unprecedented innovation for Rus'. The treatment at the sovereign's court also changed.
Sophia Paleologus brought her spouse sovereign rights, as well as the right to the Byzantine throne, as noted by F.I. Uspensky, a historian who studied this period. The boyars had to reckon with this. Ivan III used to love arguments and objections, but under Sophia he radically changed the way he treated his courtiers. Ivan began to act unapproachable, easily fell into anger, often brought disgrace, and demanded special respect for himself. Rumor also attributed all these misfortunes to the influence of Sophia Paleologus.
Fight for the throne
She was also accused of violating the succession to the throne. In 1497, enemies told the prince that Sophia Palaeologus planned to poison his grandson in order to place her own son on the throne, that she was secretly visited by sorcerers preparing a poisonous potion, and that Vasily himself was participating in this conspiracy. Ivan III took the side of his grandson in this matter. He ordered the sorcerers to be drowned in the Moscow River, arrested Vasily, and removed his wife from him, demonstratively executing several members of the “Duma” Paleologus. In 1498, Ivan III crowned Dmitry in the Assumption Cathedral as heir to the throne.
However, Sophia had the ability for court intrigue in her blood. She accused Elena Voloshanka of adherence to heresy and was able to bring about her downfall. The Grand Duke put his grandson and daughter-in-law into disgrace and named Vasily the legal heir to the throne in 1500.
Sofia Paleolog: role in history
The marriage of Sophia Paleolog and Ivan III certainly strengthened the Moscow state. He contributed to its transformation into the Third Rome. Sofia Paleolog lived for more than 30 years in Russia, giving birth to 12 children to her husband. However, she never managed to fully understand the foreign country, its laws and traditions. Even in official chronicles there are entries condemning her behavior in some situations that are difficult for the country.
Sofia attracted architects and other cultural figures, as well as doctors, to the Russian capital. The creations of Italian architects made Moscow not inferior in majesty and beauty to the capitals of Europe. This contributed to strengthening the prestige of the Moscow sovereign and emphasized the continuity of the Russian capital to the Second Rome.
Death of Sofia
Sophia died in Moscow on August 7, 1503. She was buried in the Ascension Convent of the Moscow Kremlin. In December 1994, in connection with the transfer of the remains of the royal and princely wives to the Archangel Cathedral, S. A. Nikitin, using the preserved skull of Sophia, restored her sculptural portrait (pictured above). Now we can at least approximately imagine what Sophia Paleolog looked like. Interesting facts and biographical information about her are numerous. We tried to select the most important things when compiling this article.
At the end of June 1472, the Byzantine princess Sophia Paleologus solemnly set off from Rome to Moscow: she was going to a wedding with Grand Duke Ivan III. This woman was destined to play an important role in the historical destinies of Russia.
Byzantine princess
On May 29, 1453, the legendary Constantinople, besieged by the Turkish army, fell. The last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, died in battle defending Constantinople.
His younger brother Thomas Palaiologos, ruler of the small appanage state of Morea on the Peloponnese peninsula, fled with his family to Corfu and then to Rome. After all, Byzantium, hoping to receive military assistance from Europe in the fight against the Turks, signed the Union of Florence in 1439 on the unification of the Churches, and now its rulers could seek asylum from the papal throne. Thomas Palaiologos was able to remove the greatest shrines of the Christian world, including the head of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In gratitude for this, he received a house in Rome and a good boarding house from the papal throne.
In 1465, Thomas died, leaving three children - sons Andrei and Manuel and the youngest daughter Zoya. The exact date of her birth is unknown. It is believed that she was born in 1443 or 1449 in her father's possessions in the Peloponnese, where she received her early education. 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. However, everything turned out quite the opposite.
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 recently widowed Moscow sovereign Ivan III, knowing about his desire to become the heir to the Byzantine basileus. This marriage served two political purposes. Firstly, they hoped that the Grand Duke of Muscovy would now accept the Union of Florence and submit to Rome. And secondly, he will become a powerful ally and recapture the former possessions of Byzantium, taking part of them as a dowry. So, by the irony of history, this fateful marriage for Russia was inspired by the Vatican. All that remained was to obtain Moscow's consent.
In February 1469, the ambassador of Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow with a letter to the Grand Duke, in which he was invited to legally marry the daughter of the Despot of Morea. The letter mentioned, among other things, that Sophia (the name Zoya was diplomatically replaced with the Orthodox Sophia) had already refused two crowned suitors who had wooed her - the French king and the Duke of Milan, not wanting to marry a Catholic ruler.
According to the ideas of that time, Sophia was considered a middle-aged woman, but she was very attractive, with amazingly beautiful, expressive eyes and soft matte skin, which in Rus' was considered a sign of excellent health. And most importantly, she was distinguished by a sharp mind and an article worthy of a Byzantine princess.
The Moscow sovereign accepted the offer. He sent his ambassador, the Italian Gian Battista della Volpe (he was nicknamed Ivan Fryazin in Moscow), to Rome to make a match. The messenger returned a few months later, in November, bringing with him a portrait of the bride. This portrait, which seemed to mark the beginning of the era of Sophia Paleologus in Moscow, is considered the first secular image in Rus'. At least, they were so amazed by it that the chronicler called the portrait an “icon,” without finding another word: “And bring the princess on the icon.”
However, the matchmaking dragged on because Moscow Metropolitan Philip for a long time objected to the sovereign’s marriage to a Uniate woman, who was also a pupil of the papal throne, fearing the spread of Catholic influence in Rus'. Only in January 1472, having received the consent of the hierarch, Ivan III sent an embassy to Rome for the bride. Already on June 1, at the insistence of Cardinal Vissarion, a symbolic betrothal took place in Rome - the engagement of Princess Sophia and the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan, who was represented by the Russian ambassador Ivan Fryazin. That same June, Sophia set off on her journey with an honorary retinue and the papal legate Anthony, who soon had to see firsthand the futility of the hopes Rome placed on this marriage. According to Catholic tradition, a Latin cross was carried at the front of the procession, which caused great confusion and excitement among the residents of Russia. Having learned about this, Metropolitan Philip threatened the Grand Duke: “If you allow the cross in blessed Moscow to be carried before the Latin bishop, then he will enter the only gate, and I, your father, will go out of the city differently.” Ivan III immediately sent the boyar to meet the procession with the order to remove the cross from the sleigh, and the legate had to obey with great displeasure. The princess herself behaved as befits the future ruler of Rus'. Having entered the Pskov land, the first thing she did was visit an Orthodox church, where she venerated the icons. The legate had to obey here too: follow her to the church, and there venerate the holy icons and venerate the image of the Mother of God by order of despina (from the Greek despot- “ruler”). And then Sophia promised the admiring Pskovites her protection before the Grand Duke.
Ivan III did not intend to fight for the “inheritance” with the Turks, much less accept the Union of Florence. And Sophia had no intention of Catholicizing Rus'. On the contrary, she showed herself to be an active Orthodox Christian. Some historians believe that she did not care what faith she professed. Others suggest that Sophia, apparently raised in childhood by the Athonite elders, opponents of the Union of Florence, was deeply Orthodox at heart. She skillfully hid her faith from the powerful Roman “patrons”, who did not help her homeland, betraying it to the Gentiles for ruin and death. One way or another, this marriage only strengthened Muscovy, contributing to its conversion to the great Third Rome.
Kremlin despina
Early in the morning of November 12, 1472, Sophia Paleologus arrived in Moscow, where everything was ready for the wedding celebration dedicated to the name day of the Grand Duke - the day of remembrance of St. John Chrysostom. 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”: when he was angry, women fainted from his terrible gaze. 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.
The wedding in a wooden church made a strong impression on Sophia Paleolog. The Byzantine princess, raised in Europe, differed in many ways from Russian women. Sophia brought with her her ideas about the court and the power of government, and many of the Moscow orders did not suit her heart. She did not like that her sovereign husband remained a tributary of the Tatar khan, that the boyar entourage behaved too freely with their sovereign. That the Russian capital, built entirely of wood, stands with patched fortress walls and dilapidated stone churches. That even the sovereign's mansions in the Kremlin are made of wood and that Russian women look at the world from a small window. Sophia Paleolog not only made changes at court. Some Moscow monuments owe their appearance to her.
She brought a generous dowry to Rus'. After the wedding, Ivan III adopted the Byzantine double-headed eagle as a coat of arms - 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. Actually, Sophia’s dowry was the legendary “Liberia” - a library allegedly brought on 70 carts (better known as the “library of Ivan the Terrible”). It included Greek parchments, Latin chronographs, ancient Eastern manuscripts, among which were unknown to us poems by Homer, works by Aristotle and Plato, and even surviving books from the famous Library of Alexandria. Seeing wooden Moscow, burned after the fire of 1470, Sophia was afraid for the fate of the treasure and for the first time hid the books in the basement of the stone Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya - the home church of the Moscow Grand Duchesses, built by order of St. Eudokia, the widow of Dmitry Donskoy. And, according to Moscow custom, she put her own treasury for preservation in the underground of the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist - the very first church in Moscow, which stood until 1847.
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. This throne is known to us as the throne of Ivan the Terrible: the king is depicted on it by the sculptor M. Antokolsky. In 1896, the throne was installed in the Assumption Cathedral for the coronation of Nicholas II. But the sovereign ordered it to be staged for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (according to other sources, for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna), and he himself wished to be crowned on the throne of the first Romanov. And now the throne of Ivan the Terrible is the oldest in the Kremlin collection.
Sophia also brought with her several Orthodox icons, including, as is believed, a rare icon of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven”. The icon was in the local rank of the iconostasis of the Kremlin Archangel Cathedral. True, according to another legend, this icon was brought to ancient Smolensk from Constantinople, and when the city was captured by Lithuania, this image was used to bless the Lithuanian princess Sofya Vitovtovna for marriage with the Great Moscow Prince Vasily I. The icon that is now in the cathedral is a list from that ancient image, executed by order of Fyodor Alekseevich at the end of the 17th century. According to tradition, Muscovites brought water and lamp oil to the image of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven,” which were filled with healing properties, since this icon had a special, miraculous healing power. And even after the wedding of Ivan III, an image of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, the founder of the Palaeologus dynasty, with which the Moscow rulers became related, appeared in the Archangel Cathedral. Thus, the continuity of Moscow to the Byzantine Empire was established, and the Moscow sovereigns appeared as the heirs of the Byzantine emperors.
After the wedding, Ivan III himself felt the need to rebuild the Kremlin into a powerful and impregnable citadel. It all started with the disaster of 1474, when the Assumption Cathedral, built by Pskov craftsmen, collapsed. Rumors immediately spread among the people that the trouble had happened because of the “Greek woman,” who had previously been in “Latinism.” While the reasons for the collapse were being clarified, Sophia advised her husband to invite Italian architects, who were then the best craftsmen in Europe. Their creations could make Moscow equal in beauty and majesty to European capitals and support the prestige of the Moscow sovereign, as well as emphasize the continuity of Moscow not only with the Second, but also with the First Rome. Scientists have noticed that the Italians traveled to the unknown Muscovy without fear, because despina could give them protection and help. Sometimes there is an assertion that it was Sophia who suggested to her husband the idea of inviting Aristotle Fioravanti, whom she might have heard of in Italy or even known him personally, because he was famous in his homeland as the “new Archimedes.” Whether this is true or not, only the Russian ambassador Semyon Tolbuzin, sent by Ivan III to Italy, invited Fioravanti to Moscow, and he happily agreed.
A special, secret order awaited him in Moscow. Fioravanti drew up a master plan for the new Kremlin being built by his compatriots. There is an assumption that the impregnable fortress was built to protect Liberia. In the Assumption Cathedral, the architect made a deep underground crypt, where they placed a priceless library. This cache was accidentally discovered by Grand Duke Vasily III many years after the death of his parents. At his invitation, Maxim the Greek came to Moscow in 1518 to translate these books, and allegedly managed to tell Ivan the Terrible, son of Vasily III, about them before his death. Where this library ended up during the time of Ivan the Terrible is still unknown. They looked for her in the Kremlin, and in Kolomenskoye, and in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, and at the site of the Oprichnina Palace on Mokhovaya. And now there is an assumption that Liberia rests under the bottom of the Moscow River, in dungeons dug from the chambers of Malyuta Skuratov.
The construction of some Kremlin churches is also associated with the name of Sophia Paleologus. The first of them was the cathedral in the name of St. Nicholas of Gostunsky, built near the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Previously, there was a Horde courtyard where the khan's governors lived, and such a neighborhood depressed the Kremlin despina. According to legend, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker himself appeared to Sophia in a dream and ordered the construction of an Orthodox church in that place. Sophia showed herself to be a subtle diplomat: she sent an embassy with rich gifts to the khan’s wife and, telling about the wonderful vision that had appeared to her, asked to give her land in exchange for another - outside the Kremlin. Consent was received, and in 1477 the wooden St. Nicholas Cathedral appeared, which was later replaced by a stone one and stood until 1817. (Remember that the deacon of this church was the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov). However, historian Ivan Zabelin believed that, on the orders of Sophia Paleologus, another church was built in the Kremlin, consecrated in the name of Saints Cosmas and Damian, which did not survive to this day.
Traditions call Sophia Palaeologus the founder of the Spassky Cathedral, which, however, was rebuilt during the construction of the Terem Palace in the 17th century and was then called Verkhospassky - because of its location. Another legend says that Sophia Paleologus brought the temple image of the Savior Not Made by Hands of this cathedral to Moscow. In the 19th century, the artist Sorokin painted an image of the Lord from it for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This image has miraculously survived to this day and is now located in the lower (stylobate) Transfiguration Church as its main shrine. It is known that Sophia Paleolog really brought the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which her father blessed. The frame of this image was kept in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, and on the analogue lay the icon of the All-Merciful Savior, also brought by Sophia.
Another story is connected with the Church of the Savior on Bor, which was then the cathedral church of the Kremlin Spassky Monastery, and the despina, thanks to which the Novospassky Monastery appeared in Moscow. After the wedding, the Grand Duke still lived in wooden mansions, which constantly burned in the frequent Moscow fires. One day, Sophia herself had to escape the fire, and she finally asked her husband to build a stone palace. The Emperor decided to please his wife and fulfilled her request. So the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, together with the monastery, was cramped by new palace buildings. And in 1490, Ivan III moved the monastery to the bank of the Moscow River, five miles from the Kremlin. Since then, the monastery began to be called Novospassky, and the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor remained an ordinary parish church. Due to the construction of the palace, the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya, which was also damaged by the fire, was not restored for a long time. Only when the palace was finally ready (and this happened only under Vasily III) did it have a second floor, and in 1514 the architect Aleviz Fryazin raised the Church of the Nativity to a new level, which is why it is still visible from Mokhovaya Street.
In the 19th century, during excavations in the Kremlin, a bowl with ancient coins minted under the Roman Emperor Tiberius was discovered. According to scientists, these coins were brought by someone from the numerous retinue of Sophia Paleologus, which included natives of both Rome and Constantinople. Many of them took government positions, becoming treasurers, ambassadors, and translators. In Despina's retinue, A. Chicheri, the ancestor of Pushkin's grandmother, Olga Vasilievna Chicherina, and the famous Soviet diplomat, arrived in Rus'. Later, Sophia invited doctors from Italy for the family of the Grand Duke. The practice of healing was then very dangerous for foreigners, especially when it came to treating the first person of the state. The complete recovery of the highest patient was required, but in the event of the patient’s death, the life of the doctor himself was taken away.
Thus, the doctor Leon, discharged by Sophia from Venice, pledged his head that he would cure the heir, Prince Ivan Ivanovich the Young, who suffered from gout, the eldest son of Ivan III from his first wife. However, the heir died, and the doctor was executed in Zamoskvorechye on Bolvanovka. The people blamed Sophia for the death of the young prince: she could especially benefit from the death of the heir, for she dreamed of the throne for her son Vasily, born in 1479.
Sophia was not loved in Moscow for her influence on the Grand Duke and for the changes in Moscow life - “great unrest,” as boyar Bersen-Beklemishev put it. She also intervened in foreign policy affairs, insisting that Ivan III stop paying tribute to the Horde khan and free himself from his power. And as if one day she said to her husband: “I refused my hand to rich, strong princes and kings, for the sake of faith I married you, and now you want to make me and my children tributaries; Don’t you have enough troops?” As noted by V.O. Klyuchevsky, Sophia’s skillful advice always answered the secret intentions of her husband. Ivan III really refused to pay tribute and trampled on the Khan’s charter right in the Horde courtyard in Zamoskvorechye, where the Transfiguration Church was later built. But even then the people “talked” against Sophia. Before leaving for the great stand on the Ugra in 1480, Ivan III sent his wife and small children to Beloozero, for which he was credited with secret intentions to give up power and flee with his wife if Khan Akhmat took Moscow.
Freed from the khan's yoke, Ivan III felt himself a sovereign sovereign. Through the efforts of Sophia, palace etiquette began to resemble Byzantine etiquette. The Grand Duke gave his wife a “gift”: he allowed her to have her own “Duma” of members of her retinue and arrange “diplomatic receptions” in her half. She received foreign ambassadors and struck up polite conversation with them. For Rus' this was an unheard of innovation. The treatment at the sovereign's court also changed. The Byzantine princess brought sovereign rights to her husband and, according to historian F.I. Uspensky, the right to the throne of Byzantium, which the boyars had to reckon with. Previously, Ivan III loved “meeting against himself,” that is, objections and disputes, but under Sophia he changed his treatment of the courtiers, began to behave inaccessibly, demanded special respect and easily fell into anger, every now and then inflicting disgrace. These misfortunes were also attributed to the harmful influence of Sophia Paleologus.
Meanwhile, their family life was not cloudless. In 1483, Sophia's brother Andrei married his daughter to Prince Vasily Vereisky, the great-grandson of Dmitry Donskoy. Sophia presented her niece with a valuable gift from the sovereign's treasury for her wedding - a piece of jewelry that previously belonged to the first wife of Ivan III, Maria Borisovna, naturally believing herself to have every right to make this gift. When the Grand Duke missed the decoration to present his daughter-in-law Elena Voloshanka, who gave him his grandson Dmitry, such a storm broke out that Vereisky had to flee to Lithuania.
And soon storm clouds loomed over Sophia’s head: strife began over the heir to the throne. Ivan III left his grandson Dmitry, born in 1483, from his eldest son. Sophia gave birth to his son Vasily. Which of them should have gotten the throne? This uncertainty became the reason for the struggle between two court parties - supporters of Dmitry and his mother Elena Voloshanka and supporters of Vasily and Sophia Paleologus.
“The Greek” was immediately accused of violating the legal succession to the throne. In 1497, enemies told the Grand Duke that Sophia wanted to poison his grandson in order to place her own son on the throne, that she was secretly visited by sorcerers preparing a poisonous potion, and that Vasily himself was participating in this conspiracy. Ivan III took the side of his grandson, arrested Vasily, ordered the witches to be drowned in the Moscow River, and removed his wife from himself, demonstratively executing several members of her “duma.” Already in 1498, he crowned Dmitry as heir to the throne in the Assumption Cathedral. Scientists believe that it was then that the famous “Tale of the Princes of Vladimir” was born - a literary monument of the late 15th - early 16th centuries, which tells the story of Monomakh’s hat, which the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Monomakh allegedly sent with regalia to his grandson, the Kyiv prince Vladimir Monomakh. In this way, it was proven that the Russian princes became related to the Byzantine rulers back in the days of Kievan Rus and that a descendant of the elder branch, that is, Dmitry, has a legal right to the throne.
However, the ability to weave court intrigue was in Sophia’s blood. She managed to achieve the fall of Elena Voloshanka, accusing her of adherence to heresy. Then the Grand Duke put his daughter-in-law and grandson into disgrace and in 1500 named Vasily the legal heir to the throne. Who knows what path Russian history would have taken if not for Sophia! But Sophia did not have long to enjoy the victory. She died in April 1503 and was buried with honor in the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. Ivan III died two years later, and in 1505 Vasily III ascended the throne.
Nowadays, scientists have been able to reconstruct her sculptural portrait from the skull of Sophia Paleologus. Before us appears a woman of outstanding intelligence and strong will, which confirms the numerous legends built around her name.
SOFIA FOMINICHNA PALEOLOGIST(nee Zoya) (1443/1449–1503) - second wife of V. book Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich, daughter of the ruler (despot) of the Morea (Peloponnese) Thomas Palaiologos, 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.
After 1453, Thomas of Morea moved with his family to Rome. There, Sophia received a good upbringing for that time at the court of the enlightened Pope Sixtus IV (known for his patronage of Michelangelo, to whom he ordered the painting of a chapel named after him at the papal chambers). The idea of a marriage between the grown-up Zoya and the widowed ruler of the Muscovite kingdom, Ivan III, who in 1467 buried his first wife Maria Borisovna, the daughter of the Prince of Tver, also belonged to the papal curia. The main goal of the marriage was to involve Rus' in a pan-European crusade against Turkey. Zoya was unsuccessfully wooed by the French and Milanese dukes, who wanted to become related to the noble Palaiologan family, but the curia’s headquarters were already focused on Moscow.
The papal legate sent to Russia in 1467, proposing marriage, was received with honors. 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.
The ambassador of Ivan III, Ivan Fryazin, sent along with the legate to Rome to “see the bride,” said that Zoya was short, plump, with beautiful big eyes and unusually white skin (clean skin as a sign of health was highly valued in Muscovy). Fryazin brought with him from Rome a portrait of the bride in the form of a parsuna (an image of a real person as a saint; the chronicler reports that Zoya was “painted on an icon”). Many contemporaries also spoke about the young woman’s sharp mind.
In March 1472, the second embassy to the pope ended with Zoya’s arrival in Moscow. Together with her, her dowry came to Russia, which included (in addition to many material values and jewelry) a huge “library” - Greek “parchments”, Latin chronographs, Hebrew manuscripts, which were later included, apparently, in the library of Ivan the Terrible. Many dowry 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 Russian prince's conversion to Catholicism. Anthony’s cross was taken away upon entering Moscow by order of Metropolitan Philip, who did not approve of this marriage.
On November 12, 1472, having converted to Orthodoxy under the name of Sophia, Zoya was married to Ivan III. 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.”
On April 18, 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. 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). Baron Herberstein, who came to Moscow twice as the ambassador of the German Emperor under Vasily II, having heard enough of the boyars' talk, wrote about Sophia in his notes that she was an unusually cunning woman who had great influence on the prince.
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”). In 1478, Rus' actually stopped paying tribute to the Horde; There were two years left before the complete overthrow of the yoke.
On March 25, 1479, Sophia gave birth to a son, the future Prince Vasily III Ivanovich.
In 1480, again on the “advice” of his wife, Ivan III went with the militia to the Ugra River (near Kaluga), where the army of the Tatar Khan Akhmat was stationed. The “stand on the Ugra” did not end with the battle. The onset of frost and lack of food forced the khan and his army to leave. These events put an end to the Horde yoke. The main obstacle to strengthening the grand-ducal power collapsed and, relying on his dynastic connection with “Orthodox Rome” (Constantinople) through his wife Sophia, Ivan III proclaimed himself the successor to the sovereign rights of the Byzantine emperors. The Moscow coat of arms with St. George the Victorious was combined with a double-headed eagle - the ancient coat of arms of Byzantium. This emphasized that Moscow is the heir of the Byzantine Empire, Ivan III is “the king of all Orthodoxy,” and the Russian Church is the successor of the Greek Church. Under the influence of Sophia, the ceremony of the Grand Duke's court acquired unprecedented pomp, similar to the Byzantine-Roman one.
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”).
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. Sophia's influence on her husband increased. Boyar Bersen reproachfully said then, according to the chronicler: “Our sovereign, having locked himself in, is doing all sorts of things by the bed.” According to the great Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, Sophia “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.”
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 princely and royal wives to the basement chamber of the Archangel Cathedral, her sculptural portrait was restored from Sophia’s well-preserved skull by M.M. Gerasimov’s student S.A. Nikitin.
Lev Pushkarev, Natalya Pushkareva
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.
"Your fate is sealed,
-That's what they say when in heaven
Known choice and soul
Inevitability accepts
Like the lot she created."
Marina Gussar
Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue
“The main effect of this marriage... was that Russia became more famous in Europe, which honored the tribe of the ancient Byzantine emperors in Sofia and, so to speak, followed it with its eyes to the borders of our fatherland... Moreover, many Greeks who came to us with princess, they became useful in Russia with their knowledge of arts and languages, especially Latin, which was then necessary for external affairs of state; enriched Moscow church libraries with books saved from Turkish barbarism and contributed to the splendor of our court by imparting to it the magnificent rites of Byzantium, so that from now on the capital of Ioann could truly be called the new Constantinople, like ancient Kyiv.”
N. Karamzin
“Great Constantinople (Constantinopolis), this acropolis of the universe, the royal capital of the Romans, which by God’s permission was under the rule of the Latins,” fell on May 29, 1453.
Capture of Constantinople by Turkish troops
The great Christian city was dying, slowly, terribly and irrevocably turning into the great Muslim Istanbul.
The struggle was merciless and bloody, the resistance of the besieged was incredibly stubborn, the assault began in the morning, the Turks failed to take the city gates, and only in the evening, breaking through the wall with a gunpowder explosion, the besiegers burst into the city, where they immediately encountered unprecedented resistance - the defenders of the most ancient Christian stronghold stood to the death - of course! - how could one chicken out or retreat when among them, like a simple warrior, the wounded and bloodied great emperor fought until his last breath Constantine XI Palaiologos, and then he did not yet know that just a few seconds later, in the dazzling last moment of his life, rapidly collapsing into darkness, he would forever go down in history as the last Byzantine emperor. Padaya whispered: “Tell Thomas - let him save his head! Where the head is - there is Byzantium, there is our Rome!” Then he wheezed, blood gushed from his throat, and he lost consciousness.
Constantine XI, Sophia's uncle. 19th century drawing
The body of Emperor Constantine was recognized by small golden double-headed eagles on purple morocco boots.
The faithful servant understood perfectly what the words of the late emperor meant: his younger brother - Thomas Paleologus, the ruler, or, as they said here, the despot of Morea, must make every effort to preserve and protect from the Turks the greatest Christian shrine that he kept - the most revered relics of the intercessor and patron of the Byzantine, Greek church by the entire Orthodox world - the head Apostle Andrew.
Saint Andrew the First-Called. St. Andrew's flag is firmly established in the Russian navy, and its meaning is also well-established: it was accepted “for the sake of the fact that Russia received holy baptism from this apostle”
Yes, that same Andrew the First-Called, the brother of St. Peter, an equally great martyr and faithful disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ himself...
Thomas took the dying request of his brother, who heroically fell in battle, very close to his heart and thought for a long time about what he should do to fulfill it properly...
The great shrine, which was kept in Patros It was necessary not only to save it from being captured by the Turks, it had to be preserved in time, moved somewhere, hidden somewhere... Otherwise, how should we understand the words of Constantine “Where the head is, there is Byzantium, there is our Rome!”? The head of the apostle is now here, with Thomas, Rome is in Italy, the Byzantine Empire - alas! - fell along with the fall of Constantinople... What did the brother mean... What does “our Rome” mean? Soon, with all the inexorability of the cruel truth, it became clear that Morea would not withstand the onslaught of the Turks. The last fragments of Byzantium, the second great Roman Empire, crumbled to dust. Peninsula, southern part of Greece, in ancient times the Peloponnese; received the name Moray in the 13th century, from the Slavic “sea”. In the 15th century in the Peloponnese there were several despotates who were formally dependent on Byzantium, but in fact obeyed only their rulers - despots, two of whom, Thomas and Michael, were the younger brothers of Emperor Constantine.
Thomas Paleologus. 11 - Despot of Morea
And suddenly Thomas had an epiphany - he suddenly understood what his brother meant - Constantine undoubtedly believed in a new revival of the empire, he believed that it would certainly arise where our main Greek shrine would be located! But where? How? In the meantime, the safety of his wife and children had to be taken care of - the Turks were approaching. In 1460, Morea was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, Thomas and his family left Morea. Despot Thomas Palaiologos had four children. The eldest daughter Elena had just left her father's house, having married the Serbian king, the boys Andreas and Manuel remained with her parents, as well as the youngest child, daughter Zoya, who was 3 years old at the time of the fall of Constantinople.
In 1460, despot Thomas Palaiologos with his family and the greatest shrines of the Christian world, including the head of the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called, sailed to the once Greek island Kerkyra, which since 1386 belonged to Venetian Republic and therefore was called in Italian - Corfu. The city-state of Venice, a maritime republic that was experiencing a period of greatest growth, remained the most prosperous and rich city in the entire Apennine Peninsula until the 16th century.
Thomas Palaiologos began to establish relations with Venice, a longtime rival of the Byzantines, almost simultaneously with the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. Thanks to the Venetians, Corfu remained the only part of Greece that did not fall under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. From there the exile is transported to Ancona, a port under the control of the Republic of St. Mark. There is no doubt that in 1463 Thomas Palaiologos, together with the Papal-Venetian flotilla, was going to go on a campaign against the Ottomans. His family at that time was under the guardianship of the Venetians in Corfu, they also transported Zoya and her brothers to Rome, having heard about their father’s illness, but, obviously, even after that the Venetian Senate did not interrupt ties with high-born refugees.
Long before the siege of the Byzantine capital, the wise Konstantin secretly, under the guise of ordinary merchant cargo, he sent Thomas a collection of the most valuable books from the Constantinople library, accumulated over centuries. In the far corner of the large harbor of the island of Corfu there was already one ship of Thomas Palaiologos, sent here a few months earlier. In the holds of this ship were treasures of human wisdom that almost no one knew anything about.
There were a large number of volumes of rare publications in Greek, Latin and Jewish languages, ranging from unique and very ancient copies of the gospels, the main works of most ancient historians, philosophers and writers, works on mathematics, astronomy, the arts, and ending with secretly kept manuscripts of predictions of prophets and astrologers , as well as books that reveal the secrets of long-forgotten magic. Constantine once told him that the remains of the library burned by Herostratus, papyri of Egyptian priests, and sacred texts taken by Alexander the Great from Persia are kept there.
One day, Thomas brought ten-year-old Zoya to this ship, showed her the holds and said:
- “This is your dowry, Zoya. The knowledge of great people of the past is hidden here, and their books contain the key to the future. Some of them I will later give you to read. The rest will wait for you to come of age and marry.”
So they settled on the island Corfu, where they lived for almost five years.
However, Zoya hardly saw her father during these years.
Having hired the best mentors for the children, he left them in the care of their mother, his beloved wife Catherine, and, taking with him the sacred relic, he went to Rome in 1460 in order to solemnly present it to Pope Paul II, hoping in return to receive confirmation of his rights to the Constantinople throne and military support in the fight for his return - by this time Thomas Palaiologos remained the only legal heir fallen Emperor Constantine.
Dying Byzantium, hoping to receive military assistance from Europe in the fight against the Turks, signed a 1439 year Union of Florence for the unification of Churches, and now its rulers could seek refuge with the papal throne.
On March 7, 1461, in Rome, the Morean despot was greeted with worthy honors, the head Apostle Andrew during a magnificent and majestic service with a huge crowd of people placed in the cathedral St. Peter's, and Foma was assigned a very high salary for those times - 6,500 ducats per year. The Pope awarded him the Order of the Golden Rose. Thomas remained to live in Italy.
However, over time, he began to gradually understand that his hopes were unlikely to ever be realized and that, most likely, he would remain a respected but useless exile.
His only consolation was his friendship with the cardinal Vissarion, which began and strengthened in the process of his efforts to receive support from Rome.
Vissarion of Nicaea
This unusually talented man was known as the leader of the Byzantine Latinophiles. Literary gift, erudition, ambition and ability to flatter the powers that be, and, of course, commitment to the union contributed to his successful career. He studied in Constantinople, then took monastic vows in one of the monasteries of the Peloponnese, and in the capital of the Morea, Mystras, he asceticised at the philosophical school of Gemistos Pletho. In 1437, at the age of 35, he was elected Metropolitan of Nicaea. However, Nicaea had long been conquered by the Turks, and this magnificent title was needed to give additional weight to the supporters of the union at the meetings of the upcoming council. For the same reasons, another Latinophile, Isidore, was ordained metropolitan of Moscow by the Patriarch of Constantinople without the consent of the Russians.
Catholic Cardinal Bessarion of Nicea, a Greek and a favorite of the pope, advocated the unification of Christian churches in the face of the Turkish threat. Coming every few months to Corfu, Thomas would talk for a long time with the children, sitting in his black throne-chair, inlaid with gold and ivory, with a large double-headed Byzantine eagle above the head.
He prepared the young men Andreas and Manuel for the humiliating future of princes without a kingdom, poor petitioners, seekers of rich brides - he tried to teach them how to maintain dignity in this situation and arrange their lives tolerably, not forgetting belonging to their ancient, proud and once powerful family . But he also knew that without wealth and lands they had no chance of reviving the former glory of the Great Empire. And therefore he pinned his hopes on Zoya.
His beloved daughter Zoya grew up as a very smart girl, but from the age of four she knew how to read and write in Greek and Latin, was very capable of languages, and now, by the age of thirteen, she already knew ancient and modern history perfectly well, mastered the basics mathematics and astronomy, recited entire chapters from Homer from memory, and most importantly, she loved to study, a spark of thirst for knowledge of the secrets of the world that was opening up before her sparkled in her eyes, moreover, she already seemed to guess that her life in this world would be not at all simple, but this did not frighten her, did not stop her, on the contrary, she strove to learn as much as possible, as if she were preparing with passion and ecstasy for a long, dangerous, but unusually exciting game.
The twinkle in Zoya’s eyes instilled great hope in her father’s heart, and he began to gradually and gradually prepare his daughter for the great mission that he was going to entrust to her.
When Zoya was fifteen years old, a hurricane of misfortunes hit the girl. At the beginning of 1465, Catherine Zaccaria's mother suddenly died. Her death shocked everyone - children, relatives, servants, but she simply struck down Foma. He lost interest in everything, was sad, lost weight, seemed to be decreasing in size, and it soon became clear that he was fading away.
However, suddenly the day came when it seemed to everyone that Thomas seemed to come to life: he came to the children, asked Zoya to accompany him to the port, and there they climbed onto the deck of the very ship where Zoya’s dowry was kept, and sailed with their daughter and sons to Rome .
Rome. The eternal City
However, they did not live together in Rome for long; soon, on May 12, 1465, Thomas died at the age of 56. The sense of self-worth and beauty that Thomas managed to preserve into old age made a great impression on the Italians. He also pleased them by officially converting to Catholicism.
Took over the education of the royal orphans Vatican, entrusting them to the cardinal Vissarion of Nicea. A Greek from Trebizond, he was equally at home in both Greek and Latin cultural circles. He managed to combine the views of Plato and Aristotle, the Greek and Roman forms of Christianity.
However, when Zoya Palelog found herself in Vissarion’s care, his star had already set. Paul II, who donned the papal tiara in 1464, and his successor Sixtus IV did not like Vissarion, who supported the idea of limiting papal power. The cardinal went into the shadows, and once he even had to retire to the monastery of Grota Feratta.
Nevertheless, 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. “You will have everything if you imitate the Latins; otherwise you will get nothing.”
Zoya (Sofia) Paleolog
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: “Truly she... is 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.” The Italian princess Clarissa Orsini, who came from a noble Roman family closely associated with the papal throne, the wife of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who visited Zoe in Rome in 1472, found her beautiful, and this news has been preserved for centuries.
Pope Paul II allocated 3,600 ecus per year for the maintenance of orphans (200 ecus per month for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus it was necessary to save for a rainy day, and spend 100 ecus on the maintenance of a modest courtyard). The court included a doctor, a professor of Latin, a professor of Greek, a translator and 1-2 priests.
It was then that Cardinal Vissarion very carefully and delicately hinted to the Byzantine princess about the possibility of marriage with one of the richest young men in Italy, Federico Gonzago, the eldest son of Louis Gonzago, ruler of the richest Italian city of Mantua.
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
However, as soon as the cardinal began to take these actions, it suddenly turned out that the father of the possible groom had heard from nowhere about the extreme poverty of the bride and lost all interest in her as his son’s prospective bride.
A year later, the cardinal hinted at Prince Carracciolo, who also belonged to one of the richest families in Italy, but as soon as the matter began to move forward, some pitfalls were again revealed.
Cardinal Vissarion was a wise and experienced man - he knew very well that nothing happens on its own.
Having conducted a secret investigation, the cardinal definitely found out that with the help of complex and subtle intrigues, deftly woven by Zoya herself using her maids and chambermaids, in both cases she tried to upset the matter, but in such a way that the refusal in no case came from her, poor orphan, who should not neglect such suitors.
After thinking a little, the cardinal decided that it was a matter of religion and that Zoya must want a husband who belonged to the Orthodox Church.
To check this, he soon offered his pupil an Orthodox Greek - James Lusignian, the illegitimate son of the Cypriot king John II, who, having forcibly taken the crown from his sister, usurped his father's throne. And then the cardinal became convinced that he was right.
Zoya really liked this proposal, she carefully examined it from all sides, hesitated for some time, it even came to an engagement, but at the last minute Zoya changed her mind and refused the groom, but then the cardinal knew exactly why and began to understand something. Zoya correctly calculated that the throne under Jacob was shaking, that he did not have a confident future, and then in general - well, what kind of kingdom is this, after all - some kind of pitiful Cyprus island! Zoya made it clear to her teacher that she was a Byzantine princess, and not a simple prince’s daughter, and the cardinal temporarily stopped his attempts. And it was then that good old Pope Paul II unexpectedly fulfilled his promise to the orphan princess so dear to his heart. Not only did he find her a worthy groom, he also solved a number of political problems.
Destiny's sought-after gift awaits cutting
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 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.
Firstly, through a Catholic wife it would be possible to positively 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, had grown up on the steps of his throne.
Secondly, it would be a huge political victory to gain Moscow's support against the Turks.
And finally, Thirdly, in itself, strengthening ties with distant Russian principalities is of great importance for all European politics.
So, by the irony of history, this fateful marriage for Russia was inspired by the Vatican. All that remained was to obtain Moscow's consent.
In February 1469 In the same year, the ambassador of Cardinal Vissarion arrived in Moscow with a letter to the Grand Duke, in which he was invited to legally marry the daughter of the Despot of Morea.
According to the ideas of that time, Sophia was considered a middle-aged woman, but she was very attractive, with amazingly beautiful, expressive eyes and soft matte skin, which in Rus' was considered a sign of excellent health. And most importantly, she was distinguished by a sharp mind and an article worthy of a Byzantine princess.
The Moscow sovereign accepted the offer. He sent his ambassador, the Italian Gian Battista della Volpe (he was nicknamed Ivan Fryazin in Moscow), to Rome to make a match. This nobleman from Vicenza, a city ruled by Venice since 1404, originally lived in the Golden Horde, in 1459 he entered the service of Moscow as a coin master and became known as Ivan Fryazin. He ended up in both the Horde and Moscow, probably at the behest of his Venetian patrons.
The ambassador returned a few months later, in November, bringing with him a portrait of the bride. This portrait, which seemed to mark the beginning of the era of Sophia Paleologus in Moscow, is considered the first secular image in Rus'. At least, they were so amazed by it that the chronicler called the portrait an “icon,” without finding another word: “And bring the princess on the icon.” By the way, the word “icon” originally meant “drawing”, “image”, “image” in Greek.
V. Muizhel. “Ambassador Ivan Frezin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleolog”
However, the matchmaking dragged on because Moscow Metropolitan Philip for a long time objected to the sovereign’s marriage to a Uniate woman, who was also a pupil of the papal throne, fearing the spread of Catholic influence in Rus'. Only in January 1472, having received the consent of the hierarch, Ivan III sent an embassy to Rome for the bride, since a compromise was found: in Moscow, secular and church authorities agreed that before the wedding Zoya would be baptized according to the Orthodox rite.
Pope Sixtus IV
On May 21, a ceremonial reception of Russian ambassadors took place at Pope Sixtus IV, which was attended by representatives of Venice, Milan, Florence, and the Duke of Ferrara.
Reception at Sixtus IV. Melozzo da Forli
Already on June 1, at the insistence of Cardinal Vissarion, a symbolic betrothal took place in Rome - the engagement of Princess Sophia and the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan, who was represented by the Russian ambassador Ivan Fryazin.
Pope Sixtus IV treated the orphan with paternal concern: he gave Zoe as a dowry, in addition to gifts, about 6,000 ducats and sent letters in advance to the cities in which, in the name of respect due to the apostolic see, he asked to accept Zoe with goodwill and kindness. Vissarion was also concerned about the same thing; he wrote to the Sienese in case the bride passed through their city: “We earnestly ask you to mark her arrival with some kind of celebration and take care of a dignified reception.” Not surprisingly, Zoe's journey was something of a triumph.
On June 24, having said goodbye to the pope in the Vatican gardens, Zoya headed to the far north. On the way to Moscow, the bride of the “white emperor,” as the Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza called Ivan III in his message, was accompanied by a retinue of Greeks, Italians and Russians, including Yuri Trachaniot, Prince Constantine, Dmitry - the ambassador of the Zoe brothers, and the Genoese Anton Bonumbre , Bishop of Accia (our chronicles mistakenly call him a cardinal), papal legate, whose mission should act in favor of the subordination of the Russian Church.
Many cities in Italy and Germany (according to surviving news: Sienna, Bologna, Vicenza (Volpe’s hometown), Nuremberg, Lubeck) met and saw off her with royal honor, and held festivities in honor of the princess.
Almost the Kremlin wall in Vicenza. Italy
So, in Bologna, Zoya was received in his palace by one of the main local lords. The princess repeatedly showed herself to the crowd and aroused general surprise with her beauty and richness of attire. The relics of St. were visited with extraordinary pomp. Dominica, she was accompanied by the most distinguished young people. Bolognese chroniclers talk about Zoya with delight.
Saint Domenic. Founder of the Dominican Order
On the 4th month of the journey, Zoya finally set foot on Russian soil. On October 1st she left Kolyvani(Tallinn), was soon in Dorpat, where the messengers of the Grand Duke came to meet their future empress, and then went to Pskov.
N.K. Roerich. Old Pskov. 1904
On October 1, a messenger galloped to Pskov and announced at the assembly: “The princess crossed the sea, the daughter of Thomas, the Tsar of Constantinople, is going to Moscow, her name is Sophia, she will be your empress, and the wife of Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich. And you would meet her and accept her honestly.” The messenger galloped further, to Novgorod, to Moscow, and the Pskovites, as the chronicle reports “... the mayors and boyars went to meet the princess in Izborsk, lived here for a whole week, when a messenger arrived from Dorpat (Tartu) with an order to go meet her on the German coast.”
The Pskovites began to feed the honey and collect food, and sent six large decorated ships, posadniks and boyars in advance to “honorably” meet the princess. On October 11, near the mouth of the Embakh, the mayors and boyars met the princess and beat her with cups and golden horns filled with honey and wine. On the 13th, the princess arrived in Pskov and stayed for exactly 5 days. The Pskov authorities and nobles presented her and her retinue with gifts and gave her 50 rubles. The affectionate reception touched the princess, and she promised the Pskovites her intercession before her future husband. The legate Accia, who accompanied her, had to obey: follow her to the church, and there venerate the holy icons and venerate the image of the Mother of God on the orders of the despina.
F. A. Bronnikov. Meeting the princess. 1883
Probably, the Pope would never have believed it if he had known that the future Grand Duchess of Moscow, as soon as she found herself on Russian soil, while still on her way to the wedding in Moscow, insidiously betrayed all his quiet hopes, immediately forgetting all her Catholic upbringing . Sophia, who apparently met in childhood with the Athonite elders, opponents of the Union of Florence, was deeply Orthodox at heart. She skillfully hid her faith from the powerful Roman “patrons”, who did not help her homeland, betraying it to the Gentiles for ruin and death.
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.
But even before that, while on board the ship carrying Princess Sophia for eleven days from Lübeck to Revel, from where the cortege would head further to Moscow by land, she remembered her father.
Sophia sat thoughtfully on the deck, looking somewhere into the distance beyond the horizon, not paying attention to the persons accompanying her - Italians and Russians - standing respectfully at a distance, and it seemed to her as if she saw a light radiance that came from somewhere above, permeating everything the body is carried away into the heavenly heights, there, far, far away, where all souls are carried away and where the soul of her father is now...
Sophia peered into the distant invisible land and thought only about one thing - whether she did the right thing; Did you make a mistake in your choice? Will she be able to serve the birth of the Third Rome where her tight sails are now carrying her? And then it seemed to her that an invisible light warmed her, gave her strength and confidence that everything would succeed - and how could it be otherwise - after all, from now on, where she, Sophia, is, there is now Byzantium, there is the Third Rome, in her new homeland - Muscovy.
Kremlin despina
Early in the morning of November 12, 1472, Sophia Paleologus arrived in Moscow, where her first meeting with Ivan and the throne city took place. Everything was ready for the wedding celebration, timed to coincide with the name day of the Grand Duke - the day of remembrance of St. John Chrysostom. The betrothal took place in the house of the Grand Duke's mother. 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.”
Ivan III Vasilievich
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.
The wedding of Ivan III with Sophia Paleologus in 1472. Engraving from the 19th century.
The wedding in a wooden church made a strong impression on Sophia Paleolog. One can imagine how shocked she was by the old Kremlin cathedrals dating back to the Kalitin era (the first half of the 14th century) and the dilapidated white stone walls and towers of the fortress built under Dmitry Donskoy. After Rome, with its St. Peter's Cathedral and the cities of continental Europe with their magnificent stone structures of different eras and styles, it was probably difficult for the Greek princess Sophia to reconcile with the fact that her wedding ceremony took place in a temporary wooden church that stood on the site of the dismantled Assumption Cathedral XIV century.
She brought a generous dowry to Rus'. After the wedding, Ivan III adopted the Byzantine double-headed eagle as a coat of arms - 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. Actually, 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. Seeing wooden Moscow, burned after the fire of 1470, Sophia was afraid for the fate of the treasure and for the first time hid the books in the basement of the stone Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya - the home church of the Moscow Grand Duchesses, built by order of St. Eudoxia, the widow of Dmitry Donskoy. And, according to Moscow custom, she put her own treasury for preservation in the underground of the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist - the very first church in Moscow, which stood until 1847.
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, and an image of a unicorn was placed on the back of the throne. This throne is known to us as the throne of Ivan the Terrible: the king is depicted on it by the sculptor M. Antokolsky. (In 1896 the throne was installed in Assumption Cathedral for the coronation of Nicholas II. But the sovereign ordered it to be staged for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (according to other sources, for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna), and he himself wished to be crowned on the throne of the first Romanov). And now the throne of Ivan the Terrible is the oldest in the Kremlin collection.
Throne of Ivan the Terrible
Sophia also brought with her several Orthodox icons.
Our Lady "Hodegetria". The gold earrings with eagles attached to the Virgin Mary's necklace were undoubtedly "attached" by the Grand Duchess
Our Lady on the throne. Cameo on lapis lazuli
And even after the wedding of Ivan III, an image of the Byzantine Emperor Michael III, the founder of the Palaeologus dynasty, with which the Moscow rulers became related, appeared in the Archangel Cathedral. Thus, the continuity of Moscow to the Byzantine Empire was established, and the Moscow sovereigns appeared as the heirs of the Byzantine emperors.
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. The Grand Duke sent embassies to Italy five times. But their task was not to establish connections in the field of politics or trade. They all returned to Moscow with large groups of specialists, among whom were architects, doctors, jewelers, coiners and gunsmiths. Twice Sophia's brother Andreas came to the Russian capital with Russian embassies (Russian sources called him Andrey). It so happened that the Grand Duchess for some time maintained contact with one of the members of her family, which had broken up due to difficult historical events.
It should be recalled that the traditions of the Russian Middle Ages, which strictly limited the role of women to household chores, extended to the family of the Grand Duke and representatives of noble families. That is why so little information has been preserved about the lives of the great Russian princesses. Against this background, the life story of Sophia Paleolog is reflected in written sources in much more detail. However, it is worth noting that Grand Duke Ivan III treated his wife, who received a European upbringing, with great love and understanding and even allowed her to give audiences to foreign ambassadors. In the memoirs of foreigners about Rus' in the second half of the 15th century, records of such meetings with the Grand Duchess were preserved. In 1476, the Venetian envoy Contarini was introduced to the Moscow empress. This is how he recalled it, describing his trip to Persia: “The Emperor also wished me to visit Despina. I did this with due bows and appropriate words; then a long conversation followed. Despina addressed me with such kind and courteous speeches as could be said; she urgently asked that her greetings be conveyed to the Serene Signoria; and I said goodbye to her.” Sophia, according to some researchers, even had her own thought, the composition of which was determined by the Greek and Italian aristocrats who came with her and settled in Rus', in particular, the prominent diplomats of the late 15th century Trachaniotes. In 1490, Sophia Paleologus met in her part of the Kremlin palace with the Tsar's ambassador Delator. Special mansions were built for the Grand Duchess in Moscow. Under Sophia, the grand ducal court was distinguished by its splendor. The kingship ceremony owes its appearance to the dynastic marriage of Ivan III with Sophia. Near 1490 In 1999, for the first time, an image of a crowned double-headed eagle appeared on the front portal of the Chamber of Facets.
Detail of the throne of Ivan the Terrible
The Byzantine concept of the sacredness of imperial power influenced Ivan III’s introduction of “theology” (“by God’s grace”) in the title and in the preamble of state charters.
Construction of the Kremlin
The “Great Greek” brought with her her ideas about the court and the power of government, and many of the Moscow orders did not suit her heart. She didn’t like that her sovereign husband remained a tributary of the Tatar Khan, that the boyars’ entourage behaved too freely with their sovereign, so the boyars were hostile to Sophia. That the Russian capital, built entirely of wood, stands with patched fortress walls and dilapidated stone churches. That even the sovereign's mansions in the Kremlin are made of wood and that Russian women look at the world from a small window. Sophia Paleolog not only made changes at court.
Some Moscow monuments owe their appearance to her. There is no doubt that the stories of Sophia and the representatives of the Greek and Italian nobility who came with her about the beautiful examples of church and civil architecture of Italian cities, about their impregnable fortifications, about the use of everything advanced in military affairs and other branches of science and technology to strengthen the position of the country, influenced the decision of Ivan III to “open a window to Europe”, to attract foreign craftsmen to rebuild the Kremlin, especially after the disaster of 1474, when the Assumption Cathedral, built by Pskov craftsmen, collapsed. Rumors immediately spread among the people that the trouble had happened because of the “Greek woman,” who had previously been in “Latinism.” However, the great husband of the Greeks wanted to see Moscow equal in beauty and majesty to the European capitals and to maintain his own prestige, as well as to emphasize the continuity of Moscow not only to the Second, but also to the First Rome. Such Italian masters as Aristotle Fiorovanti, Pietro Antonio Solari, Marco Fryazin, Anton Fryazin, Aleviz Fryazin, Aleviz Novy took part in the reconstruction of the residence of the Moscow sovereign. Italian craftsmen in Moscow were called by the common name “Fryazin” (from the word “fryag”, that is, “franc”). And the current towns of Fryazino and Fryazevo near Moscow are a kind of “Little Italy”: it was there at the end of the 15th century that Ivan III gave out estates to numerous Italian “fryags” who came to his service.
Much of what is now preserved in the Kremlin was built precisely under Grand Duchess Sophia. Several centuries passed, but she saw exactly the same as now the Assumption Cathedral and the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the Faceted Chamber (named after its decoration in the Italian style - with edges), built under her. And the Kremlin itself - the fortress that guarded the ancient center of the capital of Rus' - grew and was created before her eyes.
Faceted Chamber. 1487-1491
Interior view in the Chamber of Facets
Scientists have noticed that the Italians traveled to the unknown Muscovy without fear, because despina could give them protection and help. Whether this is true or not, only the Russian ambassador Semyon Tolbuzin, sent by Ivan III to Italy, invited Fioravanti to Moscow, because he was famous in his homeland as “new Archimedes,” and he happily agreed.
A special, secret order awaited him in Moscow, after which at the beginning of July 1475 Fioravanti set off on a journey.
Having examined the buildings of Vladimir, Bogolyubov and Suzdal, he went further north: on behalf of the Duke of Milan, he needed to get him white gyrfalcons, which were very highly valued in Europe. Fioravanti reached the shore of the White Sea, visiting along the way Rostov, Yaroslavl, Vologda and Veliky Ustyug. In total, he walked and drove about three thousand kilometers (!) and reached the mysterious city of “Xalauoco” (as Fioravanti called it in one of his letters to Milan), which is nothing more than a distorted name Solovkov. Thus, Aristotle Fioravanti turned out to be the first European who, more than a hundred years before the Englishman Jenkinson, walked the path from Moscow to Solovki.
Arriving in Moscow, Fioravanti drew up a master plan for the new Kremlin, being built by his compatriots. Construction of the walls of the new cathedral began already in 1475. On August 15, 1479, the solemn consecration of the cathedral took place. The following year, Rus' was freed from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. This era was partly reflected in the architecture of the Assumption Cathedral, which became the symbol of the Third Rome.
Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin
Its five powerful chapters, symbolizing Christ surrounded by the four evangelist apostles, are notable for their helmet-like shape. The poppy, that is, the top of the temple dome, symbolizes the flame - a burning candle and fiery heavenly forces. During the period of the Tatar yoke, the crown becomes like a military helmet. This is only a slightly different image of fire, since Russian warriors considered the heavenly army as their patrons - angelic forces led by Archangel Michael. The warrior’s helmet, on which the image of the Archangel Michael was often placed, and the poppy helmet of the Russian temple merged into a single image. Externally, the Assumption Cathedral is very close to the cathedral of the same name in Vladimir, which was taken as a model. The luxurious painting was mostly completed during the architect's lifetime. In 1482, the great architect, as the chief of artillery, took part in Ivan III’s campaign against Novgorod, and during this campaign he built a very strong pontoon bridge across the Volkhov. After this campaign, the master wanted to return to Italy, but Ivan III did not let him go, but, on the contrary, arrested him and put him in prison after trying to leave secretly. But he could not afford to keep Fioravanti in prison for a long time, since in 1485 a campaign against Tver was planned, where “Aristotle with guns” was necessary. After this campaign, the name of Aristotle Fioravanti no longer appears in the chronicles; there is no evidence of his return to his homeland. He probably died soon after.
There is a version that in the Assumption Cathedral the architect made a deep underground crypt, where they placed a priceless library. This cache was accidentally discovered by Grand Duke Vasily III many years after the death of his parents. At his invitation, Maxim the Greek came to Moscow in 1518 to translate these books, and allegedly managed to tell Ivan the Terrible, son of Vasily III, about them before his death. Where this library ended up during the time of Ivan the Terrible is still unknown. They looked for her in the Kremlin, and in Kolomenskoye, and in Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda, and at the site of the Oprichnina Palace on Mokhovaya. And now there is an assumption that Liberia rests under the bottom of the Moscow River, in dungeons dug from the chambers of Malyuta Skuratov.
The construction of some Kremlin churches is also associated with the name of Sophia Paleologus. The first of them was the cathedral in the name of St. Nikolai Gostunsky, built near the bell tower of Ivan the Great. Previously, there was a Horde courtyard where the khan's governors lived, and such a neighborhood depressed the Kremlin despina. According to legend, the saint himself appeared to Sophia in a dream Nicholas the Wonderworker and ordered to build in that place Orthodox church. Sophia showed herself to be a subtle diplomat: she sent an embassy with rich gifts to the khan’s wife and, telling about the wonderful vision that had appeared to her, asked to give her land in exchange for another - outside the Kremlin. Consent was received, and in 1477 a wooden St. Nicholas Cathedral, later replaced by a stone one and stood until 1817. (Remember that the deacon of this church was the pioneer printer Ivan Fedorov). However, historian Ivan Zabelin believed that, on the orders of Sophia Paleologus, another church was built in the Kremlin, consecrated in the name of Saints Cosmas and Damian, which did not survive to this day.
A. Vasnetsov. In the Moscow Kremlin. Watercolor
Legends call Sophia Paleologus the founder Spassky Cathedral, which, however, was rebuilt during the construction of the Terem Palace in the 17th century and began to be called Verkhospassky at the same time - because of its location. Another legend says that Sophia Paleologus brought the temple image of the Savior Not Made by Hands of this cathedral to Moscow. In the 19th century, the artist Sorokin painted an image of the Lord from it for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This image has miraculously survived to this day and is now located in the lower (stylobate) Transfiguration Church as its main shrine. It is known that this is the image Savior Not Made by Hands, which her father blessed her with. In the Kremlin Cathedral Spasa na Bor the frame of this image was kept, and on the analogue lay the icon of the All-Merciful Savior, also brought by Sophia. Then all the royal and imperial brides were blessed with this icon. The miraculous icon “Praise of the Mother of God” remained in the temple. Let us remember that the Savior Not Made by Hands is considered the very first icon revealed during the earthly life of the Lord, and the most accurate image of the Savior. It was placed on princely banners, under which Russian soldiers went to battle: the image of the Savior signified the vision of Christ in the sky and foreshadowed victory.
Another story is connected with the Church of the Savior on Bor, which was then the cathedral church of the Kremlin Spassky monastery, with the despina, thanks to which the Novospassky Monastery.
Novospassky Monastery in Moscow
After the wedding, the Grand Duke still lived in wooden mansions, which constantly burned in the frequent Moscow fires. One day, Sophia herself had to escape the fire, and she finally asked her husband to build a stone palace. The Emperor decided to please his wife and fulfilled her request. So the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, together with the monastery, was cramped by new palace buildings. And in 1490, Ivan III moved the monastery to the bank of the Moscow River, five miles from the Kremlin. Since then the monastery began to be called Novospassky, and the Cathedral of the Savior on Bor remained an ordinary parish church. Due to the construction of the palace, the Kremlin Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on Senya, which was also damaged by the fire, was not restored for a long time. Only when the palace was finally ready (and this happened only under Vasily III) did it have a second floor, and in 1514 the architect Aleviz Fryazin raised the Church of the Nativity to a new level, which is why it is still visible from Mokhovaya Street. Under Sophia, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe and the State Courtyard were built, the Annunciation Cathedral was rebuilt, and the Arkhangelsk Cathedral was completed. The dilapidated walls of the Kremlin were strengthened and eight Kremlin towers were erected, the fortress was surrounded by a system of dams and a huge moat on Red Square. The defensive structures built by Italian architects withstood the siege of time and enemies. The Kremlin ensemble was completed under the descendants of Ivan and Sofia.
N.K. Roerich. The city is being built
In the 19th century, during excavations in the Kremlin, a bowl with ancient coins minted under the Roman Emperor Tiberius was discovered. According to scientists, these coins were brought by someone from the numerous retinue of Sophia Paleologus, which included natives of both Rome and Constantinople. Many of them took government positions, becoming treasurers, ambassadors, and translators.
Under Sophia, diplomatic ties began to be established with European countries, where the Greeks and Italians who had initially arrived with her were appointed envoys. The candidates were most likely selected not without the participation of the princess. And the first Russian diplomats were strictly punished in their service letters not to drink alcohol while abroad, not to fight among themselves and thereby not disgrace their country. The first ambassador to Venice was followed by appointments to a number of European courts. In addition to diplomatic missions, they also carried out other missions. Clerk Fyodor Kuritsyn, ambassador to the Hungarian court, is credited with the authorship of “The Tale of Dracula,” which was very popular in Rus'.
In Despina's retinue, A. Chicheri, the ancestor of Pushkin's grandmother, Olga Vasilievna Chicherina, and the famous Soviet diplomat, arrived in Rus'.
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. In the seventies and nineties of the fifteenth century, master money makers, jewelers, doctors, architects, minters, gunsmiths, and various other skilled people, whose knowledge and experience helped the country become a powerful and advanced power, came to Moscow from Italy and then from other countries.
Thus, through the efforts of Ivan III and Sophia, the Paleologus Renaissance flourished on Russian soil.
(To be continued)
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