In the family of the Morean despot Thomas Palaiologos († 1465), brother of Emperor Constantine XI.

Orphaned at an early age, Sophia was raised with her brothers at the court of the Pope.

Advantageous marriage

« Was with her- says the chronicler, - and your lord(Legate Antony) not according to our custom, dressed all in red, wearing gloves, which he never takes off and blesses in them, and they carry in front of him a cast crucifix, mounted high on a pole; does not approach icons and does not cross himself; in the Trinity Cathedral he only venerated the Most Pure One, and then by order of the princess».

Having learned that the Latin cross was being carried ahead of the procession, Metropolitan Philip threatened the Grand Duke: “ If you allow the faithful Moscow to carry the cross before the Latin bishop, then he will enter through the same gate, and I, your father, will go out of the city differently».

According to legend, she brought with her a “bone throne” (now known as the “throne of Ivan the Terrible”) as a gift to her husband: its wooden frame was entirely covered with plates of ivory and walrus bone with scenes on biblical themes carved on them.

Sofia also brought with her several Orthodox icons, including, as is believed, a rare icon of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven”.

Fight for the throne

On April 18 of the year, Sofia 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).

In the year Sofia's first son, Vasily, was born. Over the years of her 30-year marriage, Sophia gave birth to 5 sons and 4 daughters.

in the year the eldest son of Ivan III, Ivan the Young, suffered from aching legs (“kamchug”) and died at the age of 32. He was the last to leave his young son Dimitri (+ 1509) from his marriage to Helen, daughter of Stefan, the ruler of Moldova, and therefore now the question arose of who should inherit the great reign - his son or his grandson. The struggle for the throne began, the court was divided into two sides.

The princes and boyars supported Elena, the widow of Ivan the Young, and her son Dmitry; on the side of Sofia and her son Vasily there were only boyar children and clerks. They began to advise the young Prince Vasily to leave Moscow, seize the treasury in Vologda and Beloozero and destroy Demetrius. But the conspiracy was discovered in December of the year. In addition, enemies told the Grand Duke that Sofia 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 and arrested Vasily.

However, Sofia managed to achieve the fall of Elena Voloshanka, accusing her of adherence to the heresy of the Judaizers. Then the Grand Duke put his daughter-in-law and grandson into disgrace and named Vasily the legal heir to the throne.

Influence on politics and culture

Contemporaries noted that Ivan III, after marrying the niece of the Byzantine emperor, appeared as a formidable sovereign on the Moscow grand-ducal table. The Byzantine princess brought sovereign rights to her husband and, according to the Byzantine 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.

An attentive observer of Moscow life, Baron Herberstein, who came to Moscow twice as an ambassador of the German Emperor during the reign of Vasily III, having heard enough boyar talk, notes about Sophia in his notes that she was an unusually cunning woman who had great influence on the Grand Duke, who, at her suggestion, made much. Finally, the chroniclers confirm this, saying, for example, that according to the suggestions of Sophia, Ivan III finally broke with the Horde. As if she once 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 a princess, Sofia enjoyed the right to receive foreign embassies in Moscow. According to the legend, cited not only by Russian chronicles, but also by the English poet John Milton, in 1999 Sofia 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 determined person (“ kicked them out of the Kremlin, demolished the house, although she did not build a temple"). Ivan III really refused to pay tribute and trampled on the Khan’s charter right at the Horde court in Zamoskvorechye; Rus' actually stopped paying tribute to the Horde.

Sophia managed to attract doctors, cultural figures and especially architects to Moscow. The creations of the latter 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. Arriving architects Aristotle Fioravanti, Marco Ruffo, Aleviz Fryazin, Antonio and Petro Solari erected the Chamber of Facets in the Kremlin, the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals on the Kremlin Cathedral Square; construction completed

Sofia(Zoya) Paleolog- a woman from the family of Byzantine emperors, the Palaiologos, played an outstanding role in the formation of the ideology of the Muscovite kingdom. By Moscow standards of that time, Sophia’s level of education was simply incredibly high. Sophia had a very great influence on her husband, Ivan III, which caused discontent among the boyars and clergy. The double-headed eagle - the family coat of arms of the Palaiologan dynasty was accepted by Grand Duke Ivan III as an integral part of the dowry. The double-headed eagle has since become the personal coat of arms of Russian tsars and emperors (not state emblem!) Many historians believe that Sophia was the author of the future state concept of Muscovy: “Moscow is the third Rome.”

Sofia, reconstruction based on the skull.

The decisive factor in Zoya’s fate was the fall of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine died in 1453 during the capture of Constantinople, 7 years later, in 1460, Morea (the medieval name of the Peloponnese peninsula, the possession of Sophia’s father) was captured by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II, Thomas went to the island of Corfu, then to Rome, where he soon died. Zoya and her brothers, 7-year-old Andrei and 5-year-old Manuil, moved to Rome 5 years after their father. There she received the name “Sofia”. The paleologians settled at the court of Pope Sixtus IV (the customer of the Sistine Chapel). To get support, Last year During his life, Thomas converted to Catholicism.
After the death of Thomas on May 12, 1465 (his wife Catherine died a little earlier in the same year), the famous Greek scholar, Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea, a supporter of the union, took charge of his children. His letter has been preserved, in which he gave instructions to the teacher of orphans. From this letter it follows that the pope will continue to allocate 3,600 ecus per year for their maintenance (200 ecus per month for children, their clothes, horses and servants; plus they should have saved for a rainy day, and spent 100 ecus on the maintenance of a modest courtyard ). The court included a doctor, a professor of Latin, a professor of Greek, a translator and 1-2 priests.

Vissarion of Nicea.

A few words should be said about the deplorable fate of Sophia's brothers. After the death of Thomas, the crown of the Palaiologos was de jure inherited by his son Andrei, who sold it to various European monarchs and died in poverty. During the reign of Bayezid II, the second son, Manuel, returned to Istanbul and threw himself at the mercy of the Sultan. According to some sources, he converted to Islam, started a family and served in the Turkish navy.
In 1466, the Venetian lordship proposed her candidacy as a bride to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan, but he refused. According to Fr. Pirlinga, the splendor of her name and the glory of her ancestors were a poor bulwark against the Ottoman ships cruising the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Around 1467, Pope Paul II, through Cardinal Vissarion, offered her hand to Prince Caracciolo, a noble Italian rich man. She was solemnly engaged, but the marriage did not take place.
Ivan III was widowed in 1467 - his first wife Maria Borisovna, Princess Tverskaya died, leaving him with his only son, heir - Ivan the Young.
Sophia's marriage to Ivan III was proposed in 1469 by Pope Paul II, presumably in the hope of increasing influence catholic church to Moscow or, perhaps, the rapprochement of the Catholic and Orthodox churches - to restore the Florentine union of churches. Ivan III's motives were probably related to status, and the recently widowed monarch agreed to marry the Greek princess. The idea of ​​marriage may have originated in the head of Cardinal Vissarion.
Negotiations lasted three years. The Russian chronicle tells: on February 11, 1469, the Greek Yuri arrived in Moscow from Cardinal Vissarion to the Grand Duke with a sheet in which Sophia, the daughter of the Amorite despot Thomas, an “Orthodox Christian” was offered to the Grand Duke as a bride (her conversion to Catholicism was kept silent). Ivan III consulted with his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, and made a positive decision.
In 1469, Ivan Fryazin (Gian Batista della Volpe) was sent to the Roman court to woo Sophia for the Grand Duke. The Sofia Chronicle testifies that a portrait of the bride was sent back to Rus' with Ivan Fryazin, and such secular painting turned out to be an extreme surprise in Moscow - “... and the princess was written on the icon.” (This portrait has not survived, which is very unfortunate, since it was probably painted by a painter in the papal service of the generation of Perugino, Melozzo da Forli and Pedro Berruguete). The Pope received the ambassador with great honor. He asked the Grand Duke to send boyars for the bride. Fryazin went to Rome for the second time on January 16, 1472, and arrived there on May 23.

Victor Muizhel. “Ambassador Ivan Frezin presents Ivan III with a portrait of his bride Sophia Paleolog.”

On June 1, 1472, an absentee betrothal took place in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The deputy of the Grand Duke was Ivan Fryazin. The wife of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Clarice Orsini, and Queen Katarina of Bosnia were present as guests. The father, in addition to gifts, gave the bride a dowry of 6 thousand ducats.
When in 1472 Clarice Orsini and the court poet of her husband Luigi Pulci witnessed a wedding in absentia that took place in the Vatican, the poisonous wit of Pulci, in order to amuse Lorenzo the Magnificent, who remained in Florence, sent him a report about this event and the appearance of the bride:
“We entered a room where a painted doll was sitting in a chair on a high platform. She had two huge Turkish pearls on her chest, a double chin, thick cheeks, her whole face shone with fat, her eyes were open like bowls, and around her eyes there were such ridges of fat and meat, like high dams on the Po. The legs are also far from thin, and so are all the other parts of the body - I have never seen such a funny and disgusting person as this fairground cracker. All day long she chatted incessantly through an interpreter - this time it was her brother, the same thick-legged cudgel. Your wife, as if under a spell, saw a beauty in this monster in female form, and the translator’s speeches clearly gave her pleasure. One of our companions even admired the painted lips of this doll and thought that it spits amazingly gracefully. All day long, until the evening, she chatted in Greek, but we were not given food or drink in either Greek, Latin, or Italian. However, she somehow managed to explain to Donna Clarice that she was wearing a tight and bad dress, although the dress was made of rich silk and cut from at least six pieces of material, so that they could cover the dome of Santa Maria Rotunda. Since then, every night I dream of mountains of oil, grease, lard, rags and other similar disgusting things.”
According to the Bolognese chroniclers, who described the passage of her procession through the city, she was short in stature, had very beautiful eyes and amazingly white skin. They looked like she was 24 years old.
On June 24, 1472, a large convoy of Sofia Paleologus, together with Fryazin, left Rome. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Vissarion of Nicea, who was supposed to realize the emerging opportunities for the Holy See. Legend has it that Sofia's dowry included books that would form the basis of the collection of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible.
Sophia's retinue: Yuri Trakhaniot, Dmitry Trakhaniot, Prince Constantine, Dmitry (the ambassador of her brothers), St. Cassian the Greek. And also the papal legate, the Genoese Anthony Bonumbre, Bishop of Accia (his chronicles are mistakenly called a cardinal). The nephew of diplomat Ivan Fryazin, architect Anton Fryazin, also arrived with her.

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.
The travel route was as follows: north from Italy through Germany, they arrived at the port of Lubeck on September 1. (They had to go around Poland, through which travelers usually followed to Muscovy by land - at that moment it was in a state of conflict with Ivan III). The sea journey through the Baltic took 11 days. The ship landed in Kolyvan (modern Tallinn), from where the motorcade in October 1472 proceeded through Yuryev (modern Tartu), Pskov and Novgorod. On November 12, 1472, Sofia entered Moscow.
Even during the bride's journey, it became obvious that the Vatican's plans to make her a conductor of Catholicism had failed, since Sophia immediately demonstrated a return to the faith of her ancestors. The papal legate Anthony was deprived of the opportunity to enter Moscow, carrying the Latin cross in front of him.
The wedding in Russia took place on November 12 (21), 1472 in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. They were married by Metropolitan Philip (according to the Sophia Vremennik - Kolomna archpriest Hosea).
Sofia's family life, apparently, was successful, as evidenced by her numerous offspring.
Special mansions and a courtyard were built for her in Moscow, but they soon burned down in 1493, and during the fire the Grand Duchess’s treasury was also destroyed.
Tatishchev reports evidence that allegedly, thanks to the intervention of Sofia, Ivan III decided to confront Khan Akhmat (Ivan III was already an ally and tributary of the Crimean Khan at that time). When Khan Akhmat’s demand for tribute was discussed at the council of the Grand Duke, and many said that it was better to pacify the wicked with gifts than to shed blood, it was as if Sophia burst into tears and with reproaches persuaded her husband not to pay tribute to the Great Horde.
Before the invasion of Akhmat in 1480, for the sake of safety, with her children, court, noblewomen and princely treasury, Sofia was sent first to Dmitrov, and then to Beloozero; if Akhmat crossed the Oka and took Moscow, she was told to flee further north to the sea. This gave Vissarion, the ruler of Rostov, a reason to warn the Grand Duke against constant thoughts and excessive attachment to his wife and children in his message. One of the chronicles notes that Ivan panicked: “he was horrified and wanted to run away from the shore, and sent his Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her to Beloozero.”
The family returned to Moscow only in winter.
Over time, the Grand Duke's second marriage became one of the sources of tension at court. Soon enough, two groups of the court nobility emerged, one of which supported the heir to the throne - Ivan Ivanovich the Young (son from his first marriage), and the second - the new Grand Duchess Sophia Paleologue. In 1476, the Venetian A. Contarini noted that the heir “is in disgrace with his father, since he behaves badly with his despina” (Sophia), but already from 1477 Ivan Ivanovich was mentioned as his father’s co-ruler.
In subsequent years, the grand ducal family grew significantly: Sophia gave birth to the grand duke a total of nine children - five sons and four daughters.
Meanwhile, in January 1483, the heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich the Young, also married. His wife was the daughter of the ruler of Moldova, Stephen the Great, Elena Voloshanka, who immediately found herself at odds with her mother-in-law. On October 10, 1483, their son Dmitry was born. After the capture of Tver in 1485, Ivan the Young was appointed Prince of Tver by his father; in one of the sources of this period, Ivan III and Ivan the Young are called “autocrats”. Thus, throughout the 1480s, Ivan Ivanovich’s position as the legal heir was quite strong.
The position of the supporters of Sophia Paleologus was much less favorable. However, by 1490 new circumstances came into play. The son of the Grand Duke, heir to the throne, Ivan Ivanovich, fell ill with “kamchyuga in the legs” (gout). Sophia ordered a doctor from Venice - “Mistro Leon”, who arrogantly promised Ivan III to cure the heir to the throne; however, all the doctor’s efforts were fruitless, and on March 7, 1490, Ivan the Young died. The doctor was executed, and rumors spread throughout Moscow about the poisoning of the heir; a hundred years later, these rumors, now as undeniable facts, were recorded by Andrei Kurbsky. Modern historians regard the hypothesis of the poisoning of Ivan the Young as unverifiable due to a lack of sources.
On February 4, 1498, the coronation of Prince Dmitry took place in the Assumption Cathedral in an atmosphere of great pomp. Sophia and her son Vasily were not invited. However, on April 11, 1502, the dynastic battle came to its logical conclusion. According to the chronicle, Ivan III “put disgrace on his grandson, Grand Duke Dmitry, and on his mother, Grand Duchess Elena, and from that day on he did not order them to be remembered in litanies and litias, or named Grand Duke, and put them behind bailiffs.” A few days later, Vasily Ivanovich was granted a great reign; Soon Dmitry the grandson and his mother Elena Voloshanka were transferred from house arrest to captivity. Thus, the struggle within the grand ducal family ended with the victory of Prince Vasily; he became his father's co-ruler and legal heir to the Grand Duchy. The fall of Dmitry the grandson and his mother also predetermined the fate of the Moscow-Novgorod reform movement V Orthodox Church: the Church Council of 1503 finally defeated it; many prominent and progressive figures of this movement were executed. As for the fate of those who lost the dynastic struggle themselves, it was sad: on January 18, 1505, Elena Stefanovna died in captivity, and in 1509, “in need, in prison,” Dmitry himself died. “Some believe that he died from hunger and cold, others that he suffocated from smoke,” Herberstein reported about his death. But the worst thing awaited the country ahead - the reign of the grandson of Sophia Paleologus - Ivan the Terrible.
The Byzantine princess was not popular; she was considered smart, but proud, cunning and treacherous. The hostility towards her was even reflected in the chronicles: for example, regarding her return from Beloozero, the chronicler notes: “ Grand Duchess Sophia... ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, but no one chased her; and through which countries she walked, especially the Tatars - from the boyar slaves, from the Christian bloodsuckers. Reward them, O Lord, according to their deeds and the wickedness of their undertakings.”

The disgraced Duma man of Vasily III, Bersen Beklemishev, in a conversation with Maxim the Greek, spoke about it like this: “our land lived in silence and in peace. Just as the mother of the Grand Duke Sophia came here with your Greeks, so our land was confused and great unrest came to us, just like you did in Constantinople under your kings.” Maxim objected: “Sir, Grand Duchess Sophia was from a great family on both sides: on her father - the royal family, and on her mother - the Grand Duke of the Italian side.” Bersen replied: “Whatever it is; Yes, it has come to our discord.” This disorder, according to Bersen, was reflected in the fact that from that time “the great prince changed the old customs,” “now our Sovereign, having locked himself in the third place at his bedside, does all sorts of things.”
Prince Andrei Kurbsky is especially strict towards Sofia. He is convinced that “the devil instilled evil morals into the good family of Russian princes, especially through their evil wives and sorcerers, just as among the kings of Israel, especially those whom they stole from foreigners”; accuses Sophia of poisoning young John, the death of Elena, the imprisonment of Dmitry, Prince Andrei Uglitsky and other persons, contemptuously calls her a Greek, a Greek “sorceress”.
A silk shroud is kept in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, hand sewn Sofia in 1498; her name is embroidered on the shroud, and she calls herself not the Grand Duchess of Moscow, but “the princess of Tsaregorod.” Apparently, she highly valued her former title if she remembers it even after 26 years of marriage.

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

There are different versions regarding the role of Sophia Paleologus in the history of the Russian state:
Artists and architects were called from Western Europe to decorate the palace and capital. New temples and new palaces were erected. The Italian Alberti (Aristotle) ​​Fioraventi built the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals. Moscow was decorated with the Faceted Chamber, the Kremlin towers, the Terem Palace, and finally the Archangel Cathedral was built.
For the sake of the marriage of her son Vasily III, she introduced a Byzantine custom - a viewing of brides.
Considered the ancestor of the Moscow-Third Rome concept
Sophia died on April 7, 1503, two years before the death of her husband (he died on October 27, 1505).
She was buried in a massive white stone sarcophagus in the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral in the Kremlin next to the grave of Maria Borisovna, the first wife of Ivan III. “Sophia” is scratched on the lid of the sarcophagus with a sharp instrument.
This cathedral was destroyed in 1929, and the remains of Sophia, like other women of the reigning house, were transferred to the underground chamber of the southern extension Archangel Cathedral.

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

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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, 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 wooing her - to 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, she first visited 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. Grand Duke he 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 brought with her several Orthodox icons, including, as is believed, a rare icon 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 masters 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 Nativity Church to 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, vouched with 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 Kiev prince Vladimir Monomakh. Thus, it was proven that the Russian princes became related to the Byzantine rulers back in the days Kievan Rus and that the descendant of the eldest 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.

Sophia Paleologus was one of the most significant figures on the Russian throne in terms of her origin, personal qualities, as well as the talented people she attracted to the service of the Moscow rulers. This woman had the talent of a statesman; she knew how to set goals and achieve results.

Family and background

The Byzantine imperial dynasty of the Palaiologos ruled for two centuries: from the expulsion of the Crusaders in 1261 to the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1463.

Sophia's uncle Constantine XI is known as the last emperor of Byzantium. He died during the capture of the city by the Turks. Of the hundreds of thousands of residents, only 5,000 came to the defense; foreign sailors and mercenaries, led by the emperor himself, fought with the invaders. Seeing that the enemies were winning, Constantine exclaimed in despair: “The city has fallen, but I am still alive,” after which, tearing off the signs of imperial dignity, he rushed into battle and was killed.

Sophia's father, Thomas Palaiologos, was the ruler of the Morean Despotate on the Peloponnese Peninsula. According to her mother, Catherine of Akhai, the girl came from the noble Genoese family of Centurion.

The exact date of Sophia’s birth is unknown, but her older sister Elena was born in 1531, and her brothers in 1553 and 1555. Therefore, those researchers who claim that at the time of her marriage to Ivan III in 1572, she was most likely right, according to the concepts of that time, quite a lot of years.

Life in Rome

In 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, and in 1460 they invaded the Peloponnese. Thomas managed to escape with his family to the island of Corfu, and then to Rome. To ensure the favor of the Vatican, Thomas converted to Catholicism.

Thomas and his wife died almost simultaneously in 1465. Sophia and her brothers found themselves under the patronage of Pope Paul II. The training of young Palaiologos was entrusted to the Greek philosopher Vissarion of Nicea, the author of the project for the union of the Orthodox and Catholic churches. Byzantium took this step in 1439, counting on support in the war against the Turks, but European rulers did not provide any assistance.

Thomas's eldest son Andrei was the legal heir of the Palaiologos. Subsequently, he managed to beg from Sixtus IV two million ducats for a military expedition, but spent them on other purposes. After that, he wandered around European courts in the hope of finding allies.

Andrew's brother Manuel returned to Constantinople and ceded his rights to the throne to Sultan Bayezid II in exchange for maintenance.

Marriage with Grand Duke Ivan III Pope Paul II hoped to marry Sophia Paleologue in order to expand his influence with her assistance. But although the pope gave her a dowry of 6 thousand ducats, she had neither lands nor military force. She had a famous name, which only scared away the Greek rulers who did not want to quarrel with Ottoman Empire, and Sophia refused to marry Catholics.

In 1467, the 27-year-old Moscow Grand Duke Ivan III was widowed, and two years later the Greek ambassador offered him a project of marriage with a Byzantine princess. The Grand Duke was presented with a miniature portrait of Sophia, and he agreed to the marriage.

Petrarch wrote about Renaissance Rome: “It is enough to see Rome to lose faith.” This city was a place of concentration of all the vices of humanity, and at the head of moral decay were the pontiffs of the Catholic Church. Sophia received an education in the spirit of Uniatism. All this was well known in Moscow. Despite the fact that the bride, while still on the way, clearly demonstrated her commitment to Orthodoxy, Metropolitan Philip disapproved of this marriage and avoided the wedding of the royal couple. The ceremony was performed by Archpriest Hosiya of Kolomna. The wedding took place immediately on the day the bride arrived - November 12, 1472. Such a rush was explained by the fact that it was a holiday: the day of remembrance of John Chrysostom, the patron saint of the Grand Duke.

Despite the fears of the zealots of Orthodoxy, Sophia never tried to create a basis for religious conflicts. According to legend, she brought with her several Orthodox shrines, including the Byzantine miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Blessed Heaven”.

The role of Sophia in the development of Russian art

Arriving in Rus', Sophia learned about the problem of the lack of experienced enough architects here to build large buildings. Craftsmen were invited from Pskov, but Pskov stands on a limestone foundation, while Moscow stands on fragile clay, sand and peat bogs. In 1674, the almost completed Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin collapsed. Sofia Paleolog knew which Italian specialists were capable of solving this problem. One of the first invitees was Aristotle Fioravanti, a talented engineer and architect from Bologna. In addition to many buildings in Italy, he also designed bridges across the Danube at the court of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus.

Perhaps Fioravanti would not have agreed to come, but shortly before this he was falsely accused of selling counterfeit money, moreover, under Sixtus IV, the Inquisition began to gain momentum, and the architect considered it best to leave for Rus', taking his son with him.

For the construction of the Assumption Cathedral, Fioravanti set up a brick factory and identified as suitable deposits of white stone in Myachkovo, from where building material was taken a hundred years earlier for the first stone Kremlin. The temple is externally similar to the ancient Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, but inside it was not divided into small rooms, but represents one large hall.

In 1478, Fioravanti, as the chief of artillery, participated in Ivan III’s campaign against Novgorod, and built a pontoon bridge across the Volkhov River. Later, Fioravanti took part in campaigns against Kazan and Tver.

Italian architects rebuilt the Kremlin, giving it modern look, built dozens of temples and monasteries. They took into account Russian traditions, harmoniously combining them with their new products. In 1505-1508, under the leadership of the Italian architect Aleviz the New, the Kremlin Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel was rebuilt. The architect designed the zakomaras not as before, smooth, but in the form of shells. Everyone liked this idea so much that it was subsequently used everywhere.

Sophia's participation in the conflict with the Horde

V.N. Tatishchev reports that under the influence of his wife, Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde Khan Akhmat. That Sophia wept bitterly over the dependent position of the Russian state and Ivan, moved, went into conflict with the Horde khan. If this is true, then Sophia acted under the influence of European politicians. Events unfolded like this: in 1472, the Tatar raid was repulsed, but in 1480, Akhmat went to Moscow, concluding an alliance with the king of Lithuania and Poland, Casimir. Ivan III was not at all sure of the outcome of the conflict and sent his wife with the treasury to Beloozero; one of the chronicles even notes that the Grand Duke panicked: “he was horrified and wanted to run away from the shore, and his Grand Duchess Roman and the treasury with her ambassador to Beloozero."

The Republic of Venice was actively looking for an ally to help stop the advance of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II. The mediator in the negotiations was the adventurer and merchant Giovanni Battista della Volpa, who had estates in Moscow, was known here as Ivan Fryazin, and it was he who was the ambassador appointed by the groom and the head of the wedding procession of Sophia Paleologus. According to Russian sources, Sophia kindly received members of the Venetian embassy. From all of the above, it follows that the Venetians played a double game and made an attempt, through the Grand Duchess, to plunge Rus' into a serious conflict with a bad prospect.

However, Moscow diplomacy also did not waste time: Crimean Khanate Gireev was involved in an alliance with the Russians. Akhmat’s campaign ended with the “Standing on the Ugra”, as a result of which the khan retreated without a general battle. Akhmat did not receive the promised help from Casimir due to the attack on his lands by Mengli Giray, an ally of Ivan III, and his own rear was attacked by the Uzbek ruler Muhammad Sheybani.

Difficulties in family relationships

The first two children of Sophia and Ivan were girls; they died in infancy. There is a legend that the young princess had a vision of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the patron saint of the Moscow state, and after this sign from above she gave birth to a son, the future Vasily III. In total, 12 children were born in the marriage, 4 of whom died in infancy.

From his first marriage with a Tver princess, Ivan III had a son, Ivan Mladoy, heir to the throne, but in 1490 he fell ill with gout. The doctor Mister Leon was discharged from Venice, who vouched for his recovery. The treatment was carried out using methods that completely ruined the prince’s health, and at the age of 32, Ivan the Young died in terrible agony. The doctor was publicly executed, and two warring parties formed at court: one supported the young Grand Duchess and her son, the other supported Dmitry, the young son of Ivan the Young.

For several years, Ivan III hesitated over whom to give preference. In 1498, the Grand Duke crowned his grandson Dmitry, a year later he changed his mind and crowned Vasily, Sophia’s son. In 1502, he ordered the imprisonment of Dmitry and his mother, and just a year later Sophia Paleologus died. For Ivan it was a heavy blow. In mourning, the Grand Duke made a number of pilgrimage trips to monasteries, where he diligently devoted himself to prayer. He died three years later at the age of 65.

What was Sophia Paleolog's appearance like?

In 1994, the remains of the princess were recovered and studied. Criminologist Sergei Nikitin restored her appearance. She was short - 160 cm, with a full build. This is confirmed by the Italian chronicle, which sarcastically called Sophia fat. In Rus' there were other canons of beauty, which the princess fully complied with: plumpness, beautiful, expressive eyes and beautiful skin. Age was determined to be 50-60 years.