Solomonia Saburova: debunking the bloody myth. Solomonia Saburova and the second marriage of Vasily III
Sophia of Suzdal (c. 1490-1542), Grand Duchess, Rev.
Commemorated on August 1 on the day of the discovery of the relics, December 16 and in the Cathedral of Vladimir Saints.
In the world, Sverchkova-Saburova Solomonia Yuryevna, daughter of the boyar Yuri Konstantinovich Sverchkov-Saburov, is from an old but “seedy” Moscow boyar family. She lost her mother early and was raised by her aunt, Evdokia Ivanovna (father’s sister). She was distinguished by her kindness and piety.
Solomonia's sister, Maria, was the wife of Prince Vasily Semenovich Starodubsky, and brother Bogdan would become the father of Princess Evdokia Saburova, whose fate would be in many ways similar to that of her aunt.
Saint Sophia (Solomonia) of Suzdal
Beginning of the sixteenth century. Ivan the Third buried his Byzantine princess Sophia. Elena Voloshanka also died. Her son Dimitri is in prison. The son of Sophia and Ivan the Third, Vasily-Gabriel, reached the age of the throne. His father decides to marry him. Brides “from across the river” do not bring happiness with them. You need to take yours. How Dimitri Donskoy had the Suzdal princess Evdokia. The further time goes, the brighter her appearance. She heals the weak and blind, and suggests the right path to those walking through life. Do people understand her signs? The Ascension Monastery is not completed, but nuns from noble families, widowed boyars live in it, and there are also simple women who dedicated themselves to serving God.
The central place in the monastery tomb is the tomb of Princess Evdokia Dimitrievna. Everything is as it should be: candles, lamps, gold embroidery of shrouds. Pilgrims come to her, the Venerable Euphrosyne, with prayers from everywhere. Often the blind regain their sight at her tomb.
Many legends circulated about the miracles granted by Princess Evdokia to various people, but few have survived. They said that Ivan the Third, Sovereign of All Rus', having decided to marry his son Vasily Gabriel, went to seek advice from his great-great-grandmother. And as if during prayer, the candle he placed in the lamp bent on its own, forming the letter C, and burned out until the end while he was praying. He decided to stop taking foreign women as wives. He needs one of his own, maybe even from a simpler background, and then the marriage of his son will become a prototype of the wedding of the king with the people. Ivan the Third liked this idea.
Basil III in a French engraving by Andre Thevet
Brides came to Moscow for the bride's party. Together with his son Vasily-Gabriel, the Sovereign of All Rus', Ivan the Third, walked around the ranks of beauties. How to choose if everyone is good? But it happened. Later, both father and son recalled their general condition:
I had not yet raised my eyes to the girl standing in front of me among the others, but it was as if something had struck my heart. He looked up - she was there! You wouldn’t even dream of such beauty: Solomonia Saburova, the daughter of a not very noble nobleman, a distant descendant of the Horde member Cheta-Murza. Solomonia! That's why the candle is bent in the letter C in the clue!
By the fact of her humble origins, this girl led the future Tsar of All Rus', Vasily the Third, on the path of freedom from the boyars - his wife’s arrogant relatives. Having taken a girl from a simple class, the future sovereign, it seemed, chose her from the thick of the people. Solomonia was not only beautiful, but also smart. Entering the chambers that had previously belonged to the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus, she tried to be respectful to the memory of the royal mother. I became attached to everything in the Kremlin that was connected with the name of Grand Duchess Evdokia. The very name “Evdokia” evoked sacred awe in Solomonia. She appeared to the young woman in dreams and always in the black robe of the nun Euphrosyne, although Solomonia at court was told a lot about the bright outfits of the beautiful Evdokia Dimitrievna.
Kirillov Ivan.Choice of the bride.
In 1505, she was chosen as the heir to the throne, the future Grand Duke Vasily III Ioannovich. She was chosen from 1,500 maidens presented to the court for this purpose from all over the country, following the model of the bride parade for the Byzantine emperors. The wedding took place on September 4 of the same year, after the betrothal of the newlyweds by Metropolitan Simon in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
They lived, according to the chronicles, in complete harmony. But the twenty-year marriage was not happy, since Solomonia turned out to be barren. In order to have an heir, the Grand Duke decided to divorce her. Metropolitan Varlaam, Prince-monk Vassian (Patrikeev), and Rev. Maxim the Greek stood up against, and were exiled, and the Metropolitan was defrocked for the first time in Russian history. The next metropolitan, Daniel, approved the divorce, and the boyars joined him. But there were also those who opposed it, like Prince S. Kurbsky. All the Eastern Patriarchs condemned the act of the Grand Duke, and Patriarch Mark of Jerusalem, according to legend, predicted the birth from his second marriage of a baby who would amaze the world with his cruelty - Tsar Ivan the Terrible.
“If you marry a second time, you will have an evil child: your kingdom will be filled with horror and sadness, blood will flow like a river, the heads of nobles will fall, the cities will burn. »
MINEEVA P.V. Solomonia Saburova. Humility. 2007
In November 1525, the divorce was announced and on November 25, Vasily ordered Solomonia to be tonsured into monasticism. She was tonsured under the name of Sofia on Christmas Day convent. Some chronicles say that the divorce and tonsure took place at the request of Solomonia herself, but German ambassador S. Herberstein, on the contrary, writes that Solomonia tore off the monastic doll and trampled it with her feet, for which the boyar Shigonya-Podzhogin hit her with a whip.
Many boyars and churchmen sympathized with Solomonia, and the boyar Bersen-Beklemishev even tried to come to her defense, but Vasily furiously exclaimed: “Go away, you scum, I don’t need you!”
Prince Andrei Kurbsky subsequently wrote about forced tonsure. Another version says that the tonsure was performed by the abbot of the St. Nicholas Monastery, David. As Solomonia resisted with all her might, the boyar who was present struck her, crying out: “Do you dare resist the will of the sovereign?” And then Solomonia put on a monastic robe, as if saying: “God will take revenge on my persecutor!”
Less than two months later, Vasily Ioannovich married Elena Glinskaya. In the meantime, nun Sophia was taken to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery, which she had patronized since 1518. Subsequently, the monastery became a place of imprisonment for involuntary royal wives.
Sofia Suzdalskaya
According to some information, including Herberstein's story, a few months later there were rumors that the accusation of infertility was unfair, that Solomonia gave birth to a son in the monastery - Tsarevich George. The spreaders of rumors were punished, clerks were hastily sent to Suzdal to clarify the matter, but Solomonia refused to show them the child, declaring that they “are not worthy for their eyes to see the prince, and when he puts on his greatness, he will take revenge for the mother’s insult.”
Then boyars and clergy were sent, but no documents were preserved about the results of this investigation. It is only known that Solomonia announced the death of her son, and the grand ducal ambassadors were shown the tomb.
Archaeologist and historian Count S.D. Sheremetyev believed that Solomonia hid her son with reliable people. This version is confirmed in 1934 by a small unnamed tomb in the basement of the Intercession Cathedral of the Suzdal Intercession Monastery, located between the tombs of a certain “Elder Alexandra” (+ 1525) and the venerable “Elder Sophia”. In the tomb, only a rag doll was found, dressed in baby vests embroidered with pearls. Restored, this shirt is in the historical exhibition of the Suzdal museum, next to it is the lid from that tomb. The name of George was popularly associated with the legendary robber Kudeyar, about whom Nekrasov’s “Song of the Twelve Thieves” was composed, who, according to one legend, was a bandit in the forests between Suzdal and Shuya. Ivan the Terrible was very interested in this story (after all, the son of Solomonia would have turned out to be his older brother and a more legitimate heir). The king demanded all the archives related to the Solomonia case.
Venerable Sophia of Suzdal
Living in the Suzdal monastery, the Grand Duchess did not immediately reconcile herself with her new position and grieved for a long time. But submitting to the will of God, Sophia found consolation and peace in fervent prayer. With her deeds, she expelled worldly thoughts from her heart and completely devoted herself to God. After the death of Vasily III in 1533, power passed to his widow, Elena Glinskaya, for whom Sofia could become a most dangerous rival. Therefore, the saint was exiled to Kargopol, where she was kept in prison until Glinskaya’s death in 1538. Then she returned to Suzdal, where she reposed in God on December 18, 1542. The degree book says about this: “Having lived gratefully and pleasingly to God, he departed.” St. Sophia was buried according to her will, in the basement of the Intercession Cathedral of the Suzdal Intercession Monastery.
Venerable Sophia of Suzdal. 17th century icon. Pokrovsky Monastery
The rumor about the nun's holiness quickly spread throughout Rus' and the saint was already recognized as a saint by her contemporaries. Prince Andrei Kurbsky, in a letter to Ivan the Terrible, calls the blessed princess “venerable martyr.” Ivan the Terrible himself allegedly placed a shroud woven by his wife Anastasia on her tomb. Both his sons and their wives, and Mikhail Fedorovich, the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, and many others came to the relics of St. Sophia. Tsarina Irina Feodorovna sent to Suzdal “a velvet cover with the image of the Savior and saints to the Grand Duchess Solomonida, and to the monastery Sofia.”
Appearance of Our Lady Sergius and holidays. Veil. 1525 Contribution of Grand Duke Vasily III and Grand Duchess Solomonia.
In his description of the city of Suzdal, the sacristan Anania reported miraculous healings at the tomb of St. Sophia. So, in 1598, at her tomb, Princess Anna Nechteva, who had suffered from blindness for six years, regained her sight. In 1609, during the invasion of the Poles, the Monk Sophia saved Suzdal from ruin, appearing in a formidable form to the leader of the military detachment of the Poles, Lisovsky. His arm was paralyzed from fear, and he swore an oath to leave the city and the monastery alone. Many other miracles happened through the prayers of St. Sophia.
Patriarch Joseph wrote to Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal about singing dirges and prayers over Sophia, and in 1650 he allowed her to be venerated as a saint. In handwritten calendars she is referred to as “The Holy Righteous Princess Sophia, a nun, who was a virgin in the Intercession Monastery, a wonderworker.” The saint began to write on the icons:
“Aki Evdokia”: schema-green, mantle-gaff, in both hands there is a scroll, underside is a sankir, and in some cases the mantle at the collar is quilted, tied at the hem with a knot, under the mantle he can see the hand, the right prayer, and in the left there is a scroll.
The icon of the saint, painted back in the 17th century, has survived to this day and is miraculous.
Sofia Samburova modern icon
In the middle of the 18th century, the question of her canonization arose. Later, in the 19th century, Archbishop Serapion of Suzdal and Tarusa compiled a service for the saint. Finally, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, her name was included in the Orthodox church calendar 1916. Since 1984, by a special decree of Patriarch Pimen, the Russian Orthodox Church began to venerate St. Sophia among the host of locally revered saints of the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
The saint’s grave was very revered, but her relics were not disturbed until the 1990s, when, on August 14, 1995, the saint’s relics were solemnly discovered. They were dug up and transferred from the monastery tomb to the Intercession Cathedral. The relics in the opened tomb turned out to be incorruptible, but after the opening they immediately decayed, i.e. crumbled. Now they are stored in a closed container and are not displayed.
Suzdal
Solomonia Yurievna Saburova, tonsured Sofia(c. - December 18) - first wife of Vasily III, Grand Duke of Moscow. He was sent to a monastery for childlessness.
Marriage and divorce
After twenty years of marriage, Solomonia never gave birth. Vasily was very concerned about this fact, as he opposed his brothers or their possible sons becoming pretenders to the throne. He forbade his brothers to marry until he had a son.
“You give me, unworthy, such a question as I have never seen anywhere in the Holy Scriptures, except for the question of Herodias about the head of John the Baptist,”- Monk Vassian answered Vasily III in 1525 to his question about the possibility of divorce from his wife.
tonsure
According to other sources from the circles of Metropolitan Daniel, Solomonia herself, “seeing barrenness from her womb,” asked to be allowed to take monastic vows. Grand Duke allegedly resisted this for a long time, but after Solomonia turned to Daniel, he was forced to agree.
After 17 years of monasticism, Sister Sophia died and was buried in the Suzdal Intercession Monastery.
Canonization
| Sofia Suzdalskaya | |
 17th century icon. Intercession Cathedral, Suzdal |
|
| Name in the world |
Solomonia Yurievna Saburova |
|---|---|
| Birth |
OK. |
| Death |
December 18(1542-12-18
)
|
| Monastic name | |
| Revered | |
| In the face |
Reverend |
| Main shrine |
relics in the Suzdal Intercession Convent |
| Memorial Day |
December 29, August 14 |
| Patroness | |
| Category on Wikimedia Commons | |
The rumor about the nun's holiness quickly spread throughout Rus'. Prince Andrei Kurbsky in his letter to Ivan the Terrible calls her a venerable martyr. Under Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, the son of the Terrible, she was already revered as a saint. Miraculous healings occurred at Sophia’s tomb, and in 1609, during the invasion of the Poles, she saved Suzdal from ruin, appearing in a menacing form to the leader of the Polish military detachment, Lisovsky. His arm was paralyzed from fear, and he swore an oath to leave the city and the monastery alone. In 1650, Patriarch Joseph allowed the Archbishop of Suzdal to venerate her as a saint. In the middle of the 18th century. the question of canonization arose. Her icon, painted back in the 17th century, has survived to this day and is considered miraculous. Finally, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, her name was included in the Orthodox Church calendar for the year.
Since 1984, by a special decree of Patriarch Pimen, the Russian Orthodox Church has venerated St. Sophia among the host of locally revered saints of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. In handwritten calendars it is referred to as “The Holy Righteous Princess Sophia, a nun, who was a virgin in the Intercession Monastery, a wonderworker”
The imperious Prince Vasily 3 ruled the Moscow state from 1505 to 1533 and was the son of Ivan 3 Vasilyevich and Sophia Paleologus. Historians call the Grand Duke also a collector of Russian lands, but unlike his father, he did not have his talents. What Vasily III did not complete was completed. Under his rule, several territories were annexed - among them the Ryazan and Novgorod-Seversk principalities.
The people did not believe in the fairy tale about the voluntary imprisonment of the princess. Popularity Solomonia Saburova she was huge among the people, during her lifetime she was considered a martyr and when she died, she was worshiped as a saint. In 1934, they decided to liquidate the burial place under the Intercession Cathedral.
The turn came to the forgotten, nameless children's grave. Under the slab they found a dugout wooden block coated with lime. In the deck lay a rag doll, dressed in decayed, expensive clothes embroidered with pearls. There is only one explanation: someone, apparently, was obliged to make sure that a non-fictional child was buried.
The famous robber Kudeyar was considered the son of the queen, who was born secretly in a nunnery. Elena Glinskaya did not have children for a long time. A rumor spread throughout Rus' that it was not the Solomonids’ fault that their child was not born.
Only 4 years later, Glinskaya gave birth to Vasily 3 and two heirs: Ivan and Yuri. One of them, Ivan Vasilyevich became the future Tsar Ivan 4 the Terrible. He was neither in character nor in appearance like the king. Three years later, Vasily dies, leaving Ivan on the throne surrounded by boyars who did not like him and hated his mother.
Today tourists, when visiting the famous monastery, are often interested in Solomonia Saburova. "Who is the Grand Duchess?" It turns out that we do not know such a queen, a Russian, holy woman.
Good luck everyone! See you again on the pages.
More from the site:
We continue publishing articles from the “Lost Dynasty” series. This is the third article devoted to the history of the royal family of the Godunovs, the boyars Saburovs and other descendants of the founder of the Kostroma Ipatiev Monastery, boyar Zacharias Chet.
It is important to note that five years later, in exactly the same terms, the chronicler will describe the sadness of Vasily III regarding his second childless marriage. Thus, when talking about which of the spouses was the cause of childlessness, we must understand that Rurikovich could also be the “culprit”.
In the “Tale of the tonsure of the Grand Duchess Solomonida” it is said that she wanted monastic tonsure: “In the summer of 7034, the blessed Grand Duchess Solomonida, seeing the barrenness of her womb, like Sarah of old, began to pray to the sovereign Grand Duke, that he would command her to be clothed into a monastic image." A striking detail: Solomonia is constantly compared either with Abraham’s wife Sarah or with the righteous Anna, but both of them, after many years of barren marriage, brought offspring!
The Grand Duke did not agree with the proposal of his dear wife for a long time, not wanting to part with her. But when Solomonia turned to the metropolitan and he supported her, he still agreed. The Grand Duchess wanted the family of Vasily III to continue, and even without an heir, his position was shaky, and this could lead to the suppression of the Rurik dynasty or, at least, to a struggle for power: “The Tsar and Sovereign of All Russia did not want to do his will.” , began to say: “How can I ruin a marriage? If I do this, the second one won’t be able to buy anything”... The Grand Duchess, seeing the sovereign’s adamantness in her prayer, began to pray... the Metropolitan of All Russia, may he beg the sovereign for this and do the will of her being... His Holiness... the Metropolitan of All Russia, prayer Do not despise her tears, praying a lot for this to the sovereign with all the sacred host, may he command her will to be. The Tsar and Sovereign of All Russia, seeing her unshakable faith... commanded her will to be done. The blessed Grand Duchess, having enjoyed the honeycomb of the bees from the royal lips, joyfully departs to the monastery... and she cuts off the hair of her head from her spiritual father, the Nikolsky Abbot David. And her name for the rank of Mnishe was called Sophia.” This happened on November 28th.
Let's take a closer look at what name Solomonia took when she was tonsured, where it happened and who tonsured her.
Saint Sophia is not commemorated either on November 28, when her tonsure took place, or in the coming days. But let us remember that this was the name of the mother (Sofya Paleolog) and grandmother (Sofya Vitovtovna) of her husband, Vasily III. It is logical to assume that Solomonia took the name of the patron saint of one of her husband’s relatives when she was tonsured. This is supported by the fact that the Byzantine custom of viewing brides (during which Solomonia was chosen) was established in Rus' thanks to the Greeks Trachaniots - members of the retinue of Sophia Paleologus - and that the veil “Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius” was embroidered by Solomonia based on a similar veil of Sophia Paleologus 1498 year. Thus, the choice of the name “Sophia” was a gesture designed to emphasize that even after taking monastic vows, Solomonia-Sophia remained devoted to her husband and his cause.
This is supported by the choice of the monastery for tonsure: the Moscow monastery of St. Nicholas the Old was first mentioned in chronicles in 1390 - in connection with the arrival of Metropolitan Cyprian and the monks accompanying him to Moscow from Constantinople. It was in this monastery that the Metropolitan, in preparation for the meeting with the Grand Duke, put on his bishop's vestments and from here went with a procession to the Kremlin. Since ancient times, the monastery has been positioned as “Greek”. It was logical for Solomonia to take the name of her husband’s mother (Greek) in the “Greek” monastery. A little later, Tsar Ivan the Terrible assigned the St. Nicholas Monastery to Athonite monks.
It is even more interesting that the spiritual father and abbot of the monastery of St. Nicholas the Old was the Venerable David of Serpukhov - in the world Prince Daniil Vyazemsky, from the Rurikovichs († September 19, 1529). For more than 40 years he labored in the Borovsky monastery, but in 1515 he left this monastery to found new monastery. The lands for him (20 kilometers from Serpukhov and 80 kilometers from Moscow) were provided by Prince Vasily Semenovich Starodubsky, the husband of Maria, the sister of the Grand Duchess. Having settled here, the Monk David set up cells and erected the first churches - in honor of the Ascension of the Lord with a chapel in honor of the Dormition Holy Mother of God and a refectory in the name of St. Nicholas.
The Monk David was the spiritual child of the Monks Paphnutius of Borovsky and Joseph of Volotsk. Since Paphnutius was a student of St. Nikita of Serpukhov, and he, in turn, was a child of St. Sergius of Radonezh, we can say that the Grand Duchess was the spiritual great-granddaughter of St. Sergius. The dedication becomes immediately clear Venerable Sergius and Paphnutia of the shrouds embroidered by Solomonia. Nothing was done without meaning!
The tonsure took place in the monastery of St. Nicholas the Old, and Sofia began to live in the Moscow monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on the Moat. However, she did not stay here for long - relatives and friends began to visit her often, wanting to express their support for her. All this distracted from the monastic feat, and she asked the Grand Duke for permission to go to the Intercession Monastery in Suzdal, which she knew very well and where she had been more than once before being tonsured: “The blessed Grand Duchess monk Sophia, seeing God, did not want her to remain: many from the nobles and from her relatives, and the princesses, and the noblewomen began to come to her, for the sake of visiting, and shed many tears, looking at her nudes. The God-loving Grand Duchess monk Sophia was overcome with great sorrow for this, and began to say: “If I had desired the glory of this world, I would have reigned together with the Tsar and Sovereign of All Rus', but today I wish to remain silent in private and pray to the All-Bountiful God for the sovereign’s health, and yes If only the Lord God had given me my great sin and received absolution, but for the sake of my great sin God would not have given fruit to the sovereign, and all Orthodoxy has been disgraced by the state through my infertility?” And they began to pray to the sovereign to command her to go to the monastery of the Most Pure Lady Mother of God of the Honorable Protection of the Protection in the God-saved city of Suzhdal. The great prince gave thanks for this to the Lord God, who gave her so much zeal and was amazed at the warmth of her faith, and soon commanded that being... This Christ-loving woman was not like Sarah, but Anna, the wife of Jakim the God-father: Sarah, for the sake of barrenness, commanded to bring Hagar to Abraham, the rob Anna, by fasting and prayer, resolved the infertility, and conceived the Mother of God Mary in her womb and gave birth to the immaterial Light, the Queen.”In the same way - as a voluntary - tonsure is described in the chronicles: “In the summer of 7034, November 28, the Grand Duchess Solomoneya tonsured herself as a monk, for the sake of illness; and the great prince let her go to a nunnery in Suzdal”; “Great Prince Vasilei Ivanovich ordered his Grand Duchess Solomanida to be tonsured a monk and sent her to Suzdal to the monastery of the Intercession of the Most Pure Ones, to a maiden monastery, and she was tonsured in Moscow at the Nativity of the Most Pure Ones behind the cannon huts in the maiden monastery of St. Nicholas by the old abbot David”; “Great Prince Vasilei Ivanovich tonsured Grand Duchess Solomonia, on her advice, because of the burden of illness and childlessness; but he lived with her for 20 years, but there were no children.”
The fact that the decision to take the tonsure was meaningful and voluntary is supported by the following fact: for the tonsure Solomonia chose November 28 - the memory of the Venerable Martyr Stephen the New and the Martyr Irinarch. This date was celebrated in the Saburov family as memorable: in the Fodder Book of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Peshkov-Saburov family is commemorated precisely on November 28: “The Peshkov family. Remember Dimitri (Semenovich, cousin of Solomonia’s father. - CHALK.), Semion, Aquilina, John, Nicephorus (the last three men are Solomonia's second cousins. - CHALK.), Dominica, Demetrius, monk Sergius, monk Andreyan (Angelov, elder, cellarer of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. - CHALK.). Their dachas [for the soul’s remembrance] are a patrimony in the Kolomensky district on the Moscow River, the village of Saburovo.”
It is amazing that the granddaughter of Solomonia's second cousin - the first wife of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich Evdokia Saburov, nun Alexander - passed away on the same day - November 28! This happened at the beginning of the 17th century (in 1614 or 1619).
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As we see, Solomonia’s voluntary tonsure, the Grand Duke’s grief over the dissolution of his marriage with her, and the blessing of the priesthood (including the disciple of St. Joseph of Volotsk, Metropolitan Daniel) for his remarriage to Elena Glinskaya are facts beyond doubt.
However, there were also opponents of this marriage.
The grandson of Yuri Patrikeevich, at whose wedding Fyodor Sabur said the famous “God in Kike,” was the monastic prince Vassian (Patrikeev), a student of St. Nile of Sorsky. This is how his response to the Grand Duke is described in a story of the 16th century: “Vasyan said to the great sovereign Sitsa: “I never ... invented such a forgiveness as you ask from my unworthy lips. This is the question of Herodius of the only head of the Baptist” - that is: the desire to divorce his wife is similar to the act of the daughter of Herodias, who, having pleased the feasters with her dance, asked the king for the severed head of John the Baptist. “The Grand Duke Sovereign... conveys his thought to Elder Vasyan: “I want to separate my Grand Duchess Solomonia from her first marriage for the sake of childlessness... And I want a second marriage, for the sake of childbearing, and so that the seed of our ancestor of Vladimir is not exhausted.” And Vasyan answered the Grand Duke... in words, saying: “The Scripture, sir, writes: God has united, let not man separate... And if you separate your first marriage from yourself, and join the second, you are called an adulterer.”
The same assessment was given by the authors of the chronicles compiled in the Pskov and Novgorod lands, who were often very critical of Moscow: “The Great Prince Vasily Ioanovich tonsured his princess Solomoneya, and took Elena for himself; and all this is for our sin, as the apostle wrote: he lets his wife go, and marries another, commits adultery”; “Sovereign Prince Great Vasilei Ivanovich of All Rus' tonsured Grand Duchess Solomania as a monk and exiled him to Suzdal.”
Except Patrikeev, who has not been found for a long time common language with Vasily III, it is difficult to name other opponents of divorce. IN Soviet era, when they wrote about this divorce, they came up with many imaginary opponents - for example, the Monk Maxim the Greek. But he was not at all against divorce. Soviet historians generally had little understanding of canonical issues and religious disputes. After all, the divorce of spouses due to childlessness and the desire of one of the spouses to become a monk was permitted by the Church. Another thing is that this was the first such example in Russian history.
It is much more interesting to pay attention to the “Inventory of the Tsar’s Archive of the 16th century,” in which “the tale of Yury Maly, and Stefanida Rezanka, and Ivan Yuryev’s son Saburov, and Mashka Korelenka, and others about the illness of the Grand Duchess Solomanida” was recorded. Of the cases mentioned in this inventory, only one has been preserved, which tells about the interrogation of Solomonia’s elder brother Ivan Yuryevich Saburov: “On the summer of November 7034, 23 days, Ivan said: the Grand Duchess told me: “There is a wife named Stefanida, a cutter, and now in Moscow, and you get it and come to me”; and Stefanida’s tongue was tried and... he sent her to the courtyard of the Grand Duchess with his wife and Nastya, and that Stefanida was with the Grand Duchess; and Nastya told me that Stefanida was slandering water and moistening the Grand Duchess with it, and she looked at her on her belly and said that the Grand Duchess would not have children, and after that the tongue came to the Grand Duchess and she told me: “... and she was slandering water to me Stefanida ordered me to wet myself so that the great prince loved me, and Stefanida told me to drink water in the washstand, and ordered me to wet myself with that water”... and the Grand Duchess unwrapped the shirt or cover, or some other dress of the Grand Duke, and from that washstand she wet it dress".
In addition to Stefanida, the Grand Duchess called on a certain Masha: “Yes, Ivan said: the Grand Duchess said to me, sir: “They told me the blueberry that she knows the children (and she herself is without a nose) and you get that blueberry” and then sent the blueberry to get it... and that blueberry said I don’t remember butter, I don’t remember unleavened honey, and she sent her to the Grand Duchess with Nastya, and told her to get rid of it so that the Grand Duke would love her, and share the children, and after that he went to the Grand Duchess came, and the Grand Duchess told me: “Nastya brought me some blueberry, and rubbed it with it.” Ivan had a hand in this memory.” On the back of the document there is a note: “Yes, Ivan said: what do you say to the gentleman, I won’t forget how many wives and men came to me about those matters.”
As can be seen from the case, “Stephanida the Ryazanka” and “Mashka the Karelka” are healers. “Yuri Maloy” is Yuri Dmitrievich Trakhaniot, a native of a Greek family who came to Russia with Sophia Paleolog. He is known as a confidant of the Russian sovereigns - for example, he was entrusted with such sensitive matters as the investigation of the betrayal of Vasily Shemyachich and the escape of Prince Ivan Ryazansky. In addition, he was part of the inner circle of St. Gennady of Novgorod, the creator of the first Russian Bible.
Solomonia's brother Ivan Yuryevich was also a prominent person at the sovereign's court - a kravchiy, whose duties included not only serving the sovereign at the table and sending out dishes from the royal table to nearby boyars, but also ensuring that through food and drink the sovereign and members of the Boyar Duma did not were poisoned - accidentally or on purpose. Kravchim were well-born, especially trusted people. Therefore, we have no reason not to trust the testimony of Ivan Yuryevich.
Those actions that Stefanida and Marya taught the Grand Duchess (giving her husband the spoken water to drink or moistening his clothes with this water) are a sin. In the 16th century, the following penances were imposed for him: according to one source, “it is a sin to wash yourself with milk or honey and give someone to drink mercy for.” Penance - 8 weeks, 100 bows per day"; according to another - “or she anointed herself with oil or honey and, having washed herself, gave someone something to drink or eat, creating magic, penance for a year, and 300 bows per day.” Considering that at that time, for some sins, many years of penance were imposed (thousands of prostrations a day for decades, with excommunication from communion), we can conclude: the Grand Duchess’s sin was not regarded as serious. This is also supported by the fact that testimony was given by Solomonia’s own brother, who, without hiding, also named his wife, Anastasia. Of course, this sin was against the Grand Duke (although at the same time for him), but, as subsequent events show, the matter did not proceed.
It must be borne in mind that accusations of witchcraft and infertility were at that time a very popular weapon of political struggle. As an example, we can cite Prince Kurbsky, brave from afar - the “first dissident”. In “The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow” he wrote about Vasily III exactly the same thing that Solomonia was accused of: “Old in the future, he was looking for evil enchanters from everywhere, so that they would help him to fruition, not wanting the ruler to be his brother after him, because he had brother Yury."
Solomonia became a nun on November 28, and her brother testified just three days earlier. Although Solomonia herself expressed the desire to go to the monastery, there were probably other circumstances. Vasily III tried to provide for an option with her disagreement. An inquiry was launched to find out how the Grand Duchess behaved in marriage. Such an investigation was also necessary in order to be sure that she would not be able to give birth to a child in the future.
If the testimony of Ivan Saburov corresponds to historical truth, then it must be assumed that Solomonia really used conspiracies as a means of conceiving a child.
In modern consciousness, the image of not only holy people, but even ordinary clergymen very easily collapses at the slightest hint of a sin committed by them. “How can the priest behave like this?”, “What kind of saint is he, because he did such and such?” - such questions are heard often. This is precisely a liberal, distorted view of the subject in question. Examples from Israeli, Byzantine, Russian and any other history show that, no matter how banal it may sound, the ministers of the Church of Christ are also people with their sins and weaknesses. Is it any wonder that they sometimes fell? After all, the main thing is not to fall, but to be able to rise.
The student and spiritual child of the Athonite and Optina elders, Konstantin Nikolaevich Leontyev (later the monk Clement) understood this very correctly: “Many of the saints, many of the martyrs, perhaps, were cunning in the moments of their fall; they were people; It is a sin to consider saints sinless. The Apostle Peter cheated out of fear and denied Christ for a moment.” This must be clearly understood before making your judgment on the evidence that Solomonia - the future Venerable Sophia of Suzdal - called upon healers for help.
The case of Yuri Tsarevich
Outside Russia, the unheard-of precedent of a prince’s divorce from his wife was perceived in a purely practical way - as an informational occasion that could be used in the fight against Russia.
In 1526, stunning news came from Suzdal to Moscow: in the monastery the Grand Duchess gave birth to a son, George (Yuri). The Austrian diplomat Sigismund Herberstein wrote that a rumor arose: Solomonia would soon be resolved. “This rumor was confirmed by two respectable women, the wives of the first advisers: the treasury guard Georgy Maly (Yuri Dmitrievich Trakhaniot. - CHALK.) and Yakov Mazur (bed-bed Yakov Ivanovich Mansurov. - CHALK.), - and they assured that they heard from the lips of Solomonia herself. Wanting to find out the matter with certainty, the Grand Duke sent “adviser Fyodor Rak (secretary Tretyak Mikhailovich Rakov) to Suzdal. - CHALK.) and a certain secretary Potat (secretary Grigory Nikitich the Lesser Putyatin. - M.E.-L.), instructing them to carefully investigate the veracity of this rumor... She, they say, answered them that they were not worthy to see the child... Some stubbornly denied that she gave birth. So, the rumor says two things about this incident.”On the one hand, foreigners were very fond of conveying precisely questions of an intimate nature in their writings about Russia - the more dubious and dirty, the better. Here, for example, is what Herberstein wrote (already in an affirmative tone) about the second wife of Vasily III, Elena Glinskaya: “...immediately after the death of the sovereign, his widow began to disgrace the royal bed with a certain [prince] nicknamed Sheepskin.”
On the other hand, we see that Herberstein’s first message mentions real historical figures: Yakov Mansurov, Fyodor Rakov, Grigory Putyatin, Yuri Trakhaniot. Moreover, the latter is mentioned in Russian archival sources as a person who was interviewed in connection with Solomonia’s infertility. All these persons are known as the sovereign's trusted people on especially important matters.
Let's look at another foreign certificate. The famous historian of Russian life I.E. Zabelin owned the manuscript of the translation of “Moscow, or Russian, History” by the German Heydensthal. He quotes her in his “Home Life of Russian Queens”: “When rumors spread at court that the former Queen Solomeya was not idle in the monastery and would soon give birth, Tsar Vasily soon sent boyars and two noble ladies to directly examine Solomea. Solomeya, when she heard their arrival in Suzdal, was terribly afraid and went out into the church at the very altar and, holding the throne with her hand, stood, waiting for those sent to her; and when the boyars and ladies came to her, they asked her to come out of the altar to them. And she didn’t want to go out to them. And when they asked whether she should be non-idle, she answered them that I, with all my proper position and honor, was a queen and... in a short time I began to be non-idle from my husband, Tsar Vasily Ivanovich, and had already given birth to a son, George, who is now I have given him a guardian in a secret place until he grows old; and where he is now, I cannot tell you in any way, although in that I will accept death for myself. The boyars realized that she was untruthful, and the ladies, having examined her, that she had never been idle, returned to Moscow and told Tsar Vasily about everything, as if it was all a lie and a deception.”
Sophia's entry into the altar seems impossible. The great princes had this right, according to the 69th rule of the VI Ecumenical Council: “None of all those belonging to the category of laity? let him not be allowed to enter the sacred altar. But according to some ancient legend, this is by no means forbidden to the power and dignity of the king when he wants to bring gifts to the Creator.” But this does not apply to women. Although Byzantine empresses sometimes entered the altar, they were ordained deaconesses before that.
However, the main motive (the birth of his son George) is confirmed by the fact that all this “Nemchin Heidenstalus himself heard from the lips of one boyar's daughter, who herself was among the girls at the royal review during the election of Sobakina.” The fact is that this review in 1571 was attended by Evdokia Saburova, whom Ivan the Terrible wooed for his son, as well as a close relative of the future Tsar Boris Godunov, Vasily Fedorovich, and his wife Pelageya. They could well be the sources of this information.
Indirect evidence in favor of the birth of George can be provided by a number of facts, which in themselves can be explained differently, but taken together are of significant interest.
Considering Orthodox posts and the tonsure of Solomonia on November 28, 1525, the birth of her child may occur in April 1526, when the memory of several Saint Georges is celebrated at once. This name could have been chosen either in honor of Solomonia’s father, Yuri Konstantinovich Sverchkov-Saburov, or, even more likely, in accordance with the family tradition of the Rurikovichs.
The foundations of veneration in Rus' of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious and the name George (Yuri) were laid in the 11th century by Grand Duke Yaroslav-Yuri the Wise. Many famous Rurikovichs bore this name, including Yuri Dolgoruky. Gradually, the tradition of naming a newborn baby in honor of the patron saint and in honor of an ancestor (or relative) took shape. Moreover, this was often done for two different purposes.
Firstly, the baby was given the name of that relative whose dynastic rights and clan seniority were disputed. For example, Vasily the Dark named his son Yuri the Elder (1437-1441) in honor of his great-uncle Yuri of Zvenigorod, from whom he disputed the rights to the Moscow Grand Reign. And when Yuri Vasilievich died, he named his next son, Yuri the Young (1441-1472), in honor of both Yuri. Also, Ivan III named his son Yuri in honor of his brother, thereby “taking away” the fullness of dynastic rights from him.
Secondly, the Rurik fathers named their new children after the children who died in infancy. So, Ivan the Terrible named his son Dmitry (1552-1553) in honor of his ancestor - Dmitry Donskoy, and when he died, he named in honor of both Dmitrievs - both Donskoy and his early deceased son - his other descendant - Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich (1582-1591 ).
Based on this material, we can confidently say that the son of Vasily III and the nun Sophia, Yuri Vasilyevich, was named after his great-uncle, Yuri Vasilyevich Molodoy. Tsarevich Yuri did not live long, and by 1533 he was no longer alive, which allowed Vasily III to name his second son from Elena Glinskaya that way. Thus, Yuri Vasilyevich the Young (1533-1563) received not only the name of Yuri Vasilyevich the Elder (1526 - ca. 1533), but also his rights to the grand-ducal table.
As you can see, genealogical and onomastic studies give us additional indications of some facts in the biography of Solomonia’s son.
What else do we have?
The great princes (and not only them) had a custom of making a vow - to build a temple or monastery in honor of the birth of a son. Moreover, this was not necessarily done in the year the child was born. So, in 1531, Vasily III built the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist in Stary Vagankovo, which was dedicated to the birth of his son Ivan in 1530.Didn't Vasily III build a temple in honor of the birth of his first-born son Solomonia? Indeed, in the Resurrection Chronicle we find mention of this: in April 1527, a church was erected at the Frolov Gate of the Moscow Kremlin in the name of the Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious. The famous sculpture of St. George (by Ermolin), which since 1464 has been on the Frolovskaya (now Spasskaya) tower of the Kremlin, was placed here.
A few days later - on May 7, 1526 - the Suzdal Intercession Monastery, in which the Venerable Sophia lived, received the village of Pavlovskoye, Suzdal district, as a gift: “Behold, the Great Prince Vasily Ivanovich of all Russia granted the Most Pure Protection of the Holy Theotokos to Abbess Ulyanea and all the sisters who are He granted them, gave them the Most Pure Protection of the Intercession in Suzhdal, his village of Pavlovskoe with villages and repairs to their house ... "
And a few months after that, on September 19, nun Sofia herself was granted the village: “Behold, the Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich of all Russia. I granted Elder Sophia in Suzdal my village of Vysheslavskoye with villages and repairs, with everything that came to that village and villages and repairs from the time of birth to her belly, and after her belly another village of Vysheslavskoye to the house of the most pure Protection of the Holy Virgin. Abbess Ulyana and all the sisters. Or according to her, another abbess will be in that monastery at the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God, for their good.”
Let us note: on May 7, 1508, the grand-ducal family moved to a new courtyard near the Church of the Annunciation in the Kremlin, and on the same day the Monk Nil of Sorsky passed away. And September 19 is the eve of the feast of the holy martyr Eustathius, Grand Duke Mikhail of Chernigov and his boyar Fyodor. It is on this day that the Saburov family is commemorated in the Fodder Book of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. It seems that this gift was specially timed to coincide with the holiday (as you know, the church day begins at 6 pm the previous day).
There is also evidence of the commemoration of Prince Yuri Vasilyevich for his repose. In the Fodder Book of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (list of the Imperial Public Library, located in the collection of the 17th century) there is next entry: “On the 1st day of the month of January, after Prince Yurye Ivanovich, and after Prince Yurye Vasilyevich, and after Prince Ondriya Ivanovich, and after his princess Efrosinia, in the foreign guild Evdokeya, and after their son, after Prince Volodymer Ovdrievich, and after his princess, after Evdokia , and for his son, Prince Vasily, and for his two daughters, for Evdokia and for Marya, food for the profit was written for the sovereign’s salary, which the sovereign gave alms for them.”
The persons mentioned are Andrei Staritsky (1490-1537) and Yuri Ivanovich (1480-1536) - brothers of Vasily the Third; Evfrosiniya Andreevna Staritskaya († in 1569), née Princess Khovanskaya, wife of Andrei Staritsky; their son Vladimir Staritsky (1533-1569), Princess Evdokia Nagaya († 1597) - the first wife of Vladimir Staritsky; their son Vasily Staritsky (1552-1573); as well as the children of Vladimir Staritsky from his second marriage (with Princess Evdokia Odoevskaya) († 1569) - Maria († 1569) and Evdokia (1561-1570). All of these individuals died between 1536 and 1597. Thus, the sovereign mentioned is, of course, Fyodor Ivanovich. But who is “Prince Yuri Vasilyevich”?
Let's look at the entry in another Fodder Book -: “According to Prince Yury Vasilyevich, the memory of April on the 22nd day of the panakhida and mass serve as a cathedral, until the monastery stands.”
A certain “Prince Yuri Vasilyevich” is mentioned again. Vasily III had a son, Yuri, from Elena Glinskaya, the brother of Ivan the Terrible. However, he was born on October 30, 1533, was baptized on November 3 of the same year, and died on November 24, 1563. But the two entries above mention January 1 and April 22 (the eve of the holiday of St. George (Yuri) the Victorious). There is every reason to assume that this is not Ivan the Terrible’s brother according to Elena Glinskaya, but his brother from his father’s first marriage - that is, the son of Solomonia, born in April and died in January.
Sovereign Ivan the Terrible was a very smart and educated person; he knew the history of his family very well and studied archival documents. Let’s remember about “Box 44” - “And there are lists in it - the fairy tale of Yury Maly, and Stefanida Rezanka, and Ivan Yuryev’s son Saburov, and Mashka Korelenka, and others about the illness of the Grand Duchess Solomanida” - and about what has been preserved from it just one thing. So, in 1566, “on the 7th day of August, the sovereign took this box to himself.” Ivan the Terrible took on a lot of archival matters, but his interest in this box is very indicative.
Unexpected confirmation that the son of Sophia existed was received more than 300 years later, during the years when representatives of the Soviet government were actively opening the tombs and shrines of saints.
Monastic tradition clearly recorded the burial place of the nun Sophia’s son. The “Historical and Archaeological Description of the Intercession Convent” states that “on the right side of Solomonia’s tomb there is a half-arshin monument; as they say, a seven-year-old is buried here her son, born in the monastery" (although, according to another version, the young "Princess Anastasia Shuiskaya" - the daughter of Tsar Vasily - was buried here); “There is a legend similar to the truth that Solomonia, already tonsured in Suzdal, gave birth to a son, Yuri, who lived with her and died 7 years old. The stone covering his tomb is shown near Solomonia's tomb."
After 1934, the director of the Suzdal Museum A.D. Varganov lifted an anonymous white stone slab located next to the tomb of St. Sophia in the crypt of the Intercession Cathedral. Underneath it was discovered a small burial log, covered on the inside with a layer of lime. It contained “the remains of a child’s shirt and decayed rags without any traces of bones.”
It is important to note three signs that allow us to date this burial and dismiss the version that there was a burial there of a girl from the Shuisky family: firstly, the slab above the burial with its ornamentation repeated the nearby tombstone of the old woman who died in 1525. Secondly, such decks were typical for the 16th century. And thirdly, the shirt turned out to be a man's shirt.
At the beginning of 1944, Varganov handed over the following to the textile restoration department of the State Historical Museum in Moscow: “1) a small tangle of scraps of dark brown silk fabric, tied together with blackened metal woven braid; 2) chest decorations made of metal cord, sewn in rows onto silk fabric, with a slit in the middle; 3) a piece of metal braid with a smaller end of the same braid sewn to it on the side, torn downwards; 4) a floor decoration made of metal cord sewn in rows onto silk fabric, with two torn ends of the braid at the bottom; 5) a woven belt made of untwisted reddish silk and metal threads, with scraps of tassels at the ends.” Dry earth mixed with sparkles of silver fell from all these objects. Moreover, “the scraps of fabric, metal stripes and belt were covered with dark brown spots, warped and were hard to the touch. The fabric was wrinkled and caked. The metal cords have darkened..."
As a result of long and painstaking work, restorer E.S. Vidonova restored the shirt of a boy about 5 years old, who belonged to the nobility, from worm-colored silk taffeta, with gussets, lining and backing blue, decorated with silver stripes and remnants of pearl embroidery along the collar, sleeves and hem, along with a belt made of Shemakhan silk with spun silver and tassels at the ends. The material and technique were confidently dated to the first half of the 16th century.
Let us pay attention to the dark brown spots, the absence of the boy’s remains in the children’s burial, and the presence of earth and lime inside the log. Apparently, this indicates that the child died as a result of a tragic accident, but even years later he was not left alone: the grave was opened because someone was very interested in the reality of the existence of Solomonia’s son.
What was the cause of death of Tsarevich Yuri Vasilyevich and where his body disappeared remains a mystery. However, if we assume that he lived for 7 years, then he died in 1533. And the grave could be opened soon - during the reign of Elena Glinskaya. The fact is that at the end of this year Vasily III died, and Grand Duchess Elena remained ruler for some time under the young Ivan Vasilyevich. The exile of the monk Sofia immediately followed: she “was in Kargopol for five years and from then she was quickly transferred to the Maiden Monastery in Suzdal to the Intercession of the Most Pure Ones.” Nun Sofia was returned to Suzdal only after the death of Elena herself, that is, already by order of Ivan the Terrible (in 1538).
Kargopol was not chosen by chance: from the beginning of the century this city was under the personal control of Vasily III and was known as a place of exile for high-born people. In addition, in the middle of the century, this area was described by the cousin of the monk Sofia, Ivan Yakovlevich Saburov.
All this suggests that Grand Duchess Solomonia - nun Sophia was perceived by Elena as a possible rival. If we assume that Sophia did not have a child, then her claim to the throne is doubtful. But if we assume that there was a boy, this suggests that he O could have a better right to claim the throne than the children of Helen. Thus, Glinskaya’s repression against the first wife of Vasily III speaks in favor of the existence of Tsarevich Yuri.However, we concluded that Yuri died during the lifetime of Vasily III, who managed to name his second son after him by the same name. What worried Elena Glinskaya, since the boy died? Probably, his funeral was arranged with complete secrecy, or Vasily did not discuss the fate of Prince Yuri with his second wife at all. So she wanted to make sure that the child died.
The sequence of events is clear: death of Yuri (son of Solomonia) - birth and naming of Yuri (son of Elena) - death of Vasily III - regency of Elena - exile of Sofia - opening of Yuri's grave - death of Elena - return to Suzdal of Sofia - reign of the young Ivan the Terrible.
One can only guess what feelings the Monk Sophia must have experienced, who gave birth to a son after being tonsured, witnessed his death, and then discovered her son’s open grave (and the body had disappeared). Of course, all this was a difficult ordeal for the mother.
In my opinion, there is no doubt that Tsarevich Georgy (Yuri) Vasilyevich is a real historical person and that he died as a child. But the Russian people have their own opinion on this matter: Tsarevich Yuri has been called Ataman Kudeyar for almost 500 years.
Ataman Kudeyar
This personality is one of the most popular in Russian folklore: legends about Kudeyar are recorded in a vast territory coinciding with the boundaries of the Wild Field of the 16th century - in Kaluga, Bryansk, Tula, Oryol, Kursk, Belgorod, Ryazan, Tambov, Voronezh, Penza, Saratov , Samara and Ulyanovsk (former Simbirsk province) regions, as well as in Suzdal.
I know of six legends in which the son of Vasily III and Solomonia Saburova - Tsarevich Yuri - is identified with Ataman Kudeyar.
1. Saratov legend about how, going to fight Kazan, Ivan the Terrible entrusted Moscow to Kudeyar Vasilyevich, but he drew up a false decree calling for Kazan and went to the steppes with the sovereign’s treasury.
2. Simbirsk legend that Ivan the Terrible wanted to execute his brother Yuri-Kudeyar and for this purpose called him to Kazan, but Kudeyar learned about these intentions and took up defense in the Krotkovsky town near Sengiley on the Volga.
3. The story of how Ivan the Terrible met with Yuri (who was hiding under the name of “Prince Lukhovsky”) under the walls of besieged Kazan, after which Yuri fled to the north - almost to Solovki.
4. Kursk legend that Yuri-Kudeyar was kidnapped by the Tatars in order to ask the king for a ransom for him, but when this failed, Yuri was sent along with the Tatar army to obtain the Moscow throne for himself. When this also failed, he did not return to Crimea and remained in Rus', where he took up robbery.
5. The Suzdal legend that Kudeyar entered into an alliance with the Tatars, came to Rus' with them, and then, seeing their atrocities, returned to the Russian camp and helped his own people defend Moscow.
6. The story contained in the memoirs of A.Ya. Artynov, famous Rostov local historian 19th century, a peasant of the palace village of Ugodichi near Rostov: “About Sidorka Altina, his direct descendant, my uncle Mikhail Dmitriev Artynov, in his history about the village of Ugodichi, written by him in 1793, says the following: Sidorko Amelfov was a kisser of the Rostov lake and the head of the sovereign fishermen; he often traveled to Moscow with fish rent to the great Sovereign Palace; on one of these trips he was an involuntary listener of the royal secret, for which he paid with his life. His guilt was as follows: while on duty in the large Moscow palace and being a little tipsy (having drunk), he got lost there and went into a deserted part of the palace. Looking for a way out, he finally came to a small chamber adjacent to the royal dwelling, and there he heard a loud conversation between the Terrible Tsar and Malyuta Skuratov about Prince Yuri, the son of Solomanida Saburova. Grozny orders Malyuta to find Prince Yuri and rid him of him. Malyuta promised the tsar to fulfill this exactly and after this conversation he went out the door, in front of which Sidorko was barely standing alive. Malyuta saw him and stopped; then he went back to the king, after which he imprisoned Sidorka and tortured him to death on the rack together with his father Amelfa, who had come to Moscow to visit his son.” The pedigree of the author of this story is known precisely from the time when his ancestors served Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya - in the 30s of the 16th century they were palace peasants.
A sign that there is no “smoke without fire” in this case, too, is the mention in the legends of Yuri-Kudeyar of “Prince Lukhovsky”, also known as “Prince Lykov”: in 1664, among treasure hunters, a certain “letter that was sent” became known from the Crimea, to Putivl in the past years, “from that thief Kudoyarov to his brother Kudoyarov and from a comrade from his Kudoyarov, from a certain Prince Lykov.”
As genealogists show, there really is a direct, historically reliable connection between the Saburov-Godunovs (and therefore Tsarevich Yuri) and the Lykov princes. Fyodor Nikitich Romanov - the future Patriarch Filaret and the father of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich - had five brothers and six sisters. His sister Irina was married to Ivan Ivanovich Godunov, and his sister Anastasia was married to Prince Boris Mikhailovich Lykov-Obolensky, who betrayed Tsar Boris Godunov and supported False Dmitry I - Grishka Otrepiev. That is, Ivan Godunov and Prince Boris Lykov were brothers-in-law.
The daughter of Prince Lykov and Romanova, Maria, married Ivan Shein, whose mother was Maria Mikhailovna Godunova. In this case, Prince Boris Lykov and Maria Godunova were each other's matchmaker and matchmaker. Thus, Prince Boris Lykov had a brother-in-law Ivan Godunov and a matchmaker Maria Godunova. If we assume that Prince Yuri Vasilyevich is a real historical person, then Ivan Godunov is his fifth cousin. For that time and for this family - a fairly close relationship. The great-grandfather of Prince Boris Lykov-Obolensky is the second cousin of Mikhail Yaroslavich Chet-Obolensky. But Mikhail Chet and Solomonia Saburova are also second cousins. Thus, the Lykov princes are relatives of Solomonia Saburova both according to the Saburovs, and according to the Godunovs, and according to the Obolenskys.
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Here again Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the capture of Kazan and a certain Yuri are mentioned. This plot allows us to say that we are talking about the Russian serviceman Kudeyar Bakhmetev mentioned in the sources: we know his arrival in December 1553 as a messenger from the Nogai Murza Kasim to Ivan the Terrible.
Thus, we are talking about a specific representative of the Bakhmetev family, who, of course, was not a relative of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, but was in his service. And he became a “relative” due to the fact that, in addition to the baptismal name Yuri, he also bore the name Kudeyar, which in the popular consciousness was firmly connected with the personality of the son of Vasily III and Solomonia Saburova.
In general, the name Kudeyar is by no means as rare as researchers sometimes try to imagine. In the 17th century alone, I know (besides Bakhteyarova) five more people who bore this name:
1. Kudeyar Chufarov, a landowner from Arzamas, mentioned in 1581.
2. Prince Kudeyar Ivanovich Meshchersky, 1580.
3. Kudeyar Karachaev, son of the Mudyuranovs, - Moscow ambassador, Cossack.
4. Kildeyar (Kudeyar) Ivanovich from the family of Kursk nobles Markov.
5. The son of a boyar from Belev, Kudeyar Tishenkov, who betrayed his homeland and fled to Crimea. In 1571, he convinced the Crimean Khan Devlet Girey to march not on Kozelsk, as was planned, but directly on Moscow. The raid was very devastating, Moscow burned out, and Kudeyar went back with the Tatars to the Crimea. However, after some time, Tishenkov turned to Ivan the Terrible with a request for pardon and permission to return to Moscow. Permission was given. Nothing more is known about him.
Thus, we can confidently say that in the image of Yuri-Kudeyar, the biographies of several completely real, but different people. Initially, the people paid attention to how the grand ducal and royal children, brothers and uncles “disappeared” - people understood perfectly well that some of these deaths were caused by the struggle for the throne. Here the concept of “executions of God” surfaced in the popular consciousness - the idea, in full accordance with biblical values, that invasions of foreigners are God’s punishments for human sins. The Tatar invasions were also such an execution, in one of which Kudeyar Tishenkov took an active part. Paradoxically, the people considered the arrival of Tsarevich Yuri Vasilyevich as punishment for the death and removal from the throne of Tsarevich Yuri Vasilyevich, but in the guise of Tsarevich Kudeyar.
Further - more. After the chain “Tsarevich Yuri - the execution of God - Kudeyar” was established in the popular consciousness, biographical facts from the lives of all famous Kudeyars of the 16th century began to be added to the legends about Yuri-Kudeyar, for example Kudeyar Bakhmetev, and then the name Kudeyar became a household name, and “Kudeyars” “They began to call all robbers in general. The “exploits” of the “Kudeyars” (especially with a Robinhoodian touch) began to be attributed to Yuri-Kudeyar, whose subordinates were Stenka Razin from the 17th century, and Emelka Pugachev from the 18th century. By this time, the son of Solomonia should have been 250 years old.
Thus, we see that there is a historical basis under the legends about Tsarevich Yuri-Kudeyar, but this is a collective image.
It is important to note one more plot that will help us understand the place that the personal tragedy of the son of Solomonia occupies in Russian history. It's about about the fate of the elder and only son Ivan III from his first marriage - Ivan the Young and the latter's son - Dmitry Vnuk. They are Vasily III's brother and nephew, and Tsarevich Yuri Vasilyevich's uncle and cousin.
For a long time there was not even talk about the fact that Vasily Ivanovich would become the heir to the Russian throne. This role was assigned to Ivan Ivanovich the Young, married to Elena Voloshanka, the daughter of the Moldavian ruler Stefan. And even after Ivan the Young died, Ivan III saw neither Vasily as his successor, but Dmitry Vnuk, the son of Ivan the Young. Moreover, Dmitry Vnuk was crowned king according to the model of the Byzantine emperors - during the lifetime of his grandfather. But at the turn of the 16th century, the situation changed dramatically: the crowned successor to the throne, together with his mother, faded into the background, and Vasily Ivanovich began to be called the official heir.
What happened? Often historians try to explain this by the struggle of people and clans. But this is only partly true, since at the heart of it was a struggle of ideas. The fact is that behind Ivan the Young and Dmitry Vnuk there were forces that loved Appanage Rus', in other words - separatists. What’s even worse, through Elena Voloshanka, the heresy of the Judaizers penetrated into the family of Ivan the Young - a colossal threat to Russian Orthodoxy, which consisted of sympathies for Jewish religious ideas. Judaizers did not recognize the Russian Paschal and chronology from the Creation of the world, icons and relics of saints, they focused on the celebration of Saturday, etc. The greatest fighters against this heresy were St. Gennady of Novgorod and St. Joseph of Volotsk.
It so happened that Vasily Ivanovich, together with his mother Sophia Paleolog, became involved in a conspiracy against the family of Ivan the Young, which was uncovered. The ordinary executors of the conspiracy were executed, and Vasily and his mother fell into disgrace and were not even invited to the crowning of Dmitry Vnuk.
But, despite the secondary importance of Vasily’s family line, despite the conspiracy in which he participated, shortly before his death, Ivan III transferred the throne to him. Vasily was never crowned king, and only his son Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible was crowned (in the image of the wedding ceremony of Dmitry Vnuk) in 1547.
At the same time, Dmitry Vnuk himself was kept in captivity, where he ended his life shortly after Vasily’s marriage to Solomonia Saburova. Is it possible to feel sorry for him, who was crowned the Russian kingdom, but died in captivity? Undoubtedly. Is it possible to feel sorry for his father, Ivan the Young, who was a successful statesman and prince of Tver, but died young as a result of a struggle for power? Undoubtedly. Does this mean that Ivan III or his wife Sophia Paleologus or their son Vasily III were villains? Of course not! They were great statesmen, thanks to whom and during whose reign the Russian state ideology took shape, known to us from the works of the Josephites and as the idea of Moscow - the Third Rome. It was thanks to these people that a united Russia, not divided into appanages, with its single national idea, became stronger.
Thus, having briefly examined the fate of Dmitry Tsarevich, we see that there was nothing surprising in the fate of Yuri Tsarevich - the removal from the throne and the subsequent death of the young heir at the end of the 15th - first half of the 16th century were not isolated phenomena. The fate of Yuri-Kudeyar was exactly the same as the fate of his uncle Ivan the Young and the fate of his cousin Dmitry-Vnuk.
The Russian people, simple contemporaries of these events, saw only the external side of these events, and did not have the whole necessary information in order to make judgments at the national level, therefore Russian folklore reflects sympathy specifically for the losing side.
The fate of Ivan the Young became the basis for the appearance of a cycle of Russian fairy tales about Ivan Tsarevich. Let's compare the main episodes from the life of Ivan Tsarevich and the well-known biographical details of Ivan Ivanovich the Young.
Ivan Tsarevich has two villain brothers - Vasily and Dmitry, and Ivan the Young has brothers Vasily and Dmitry.
In a fairy tale: they begin to mysteriously disappear golden apples, and Ivan’s brothers turn a blind eye to this, and Ivan is the only one who was able to catch the kidnapper. In life: Sophia and Vasily were accused of intending to seize the Grand Duke's treasury, located in Beloozero, during the conspiracy.
In the fairy tale: Ivan married the princess Elena the Beautiful/Wise, whom he brought home from distant lands. In life: Ivan married Elena, the daughter of the Moldavian ruler Stefan.
In the fairy tale: Ivan was treacherously killed by his own brothers. In life: Ivan died during the struggle for the throne.
In the fairy tale: The Tsar was angry with Ivan’s brothers and put them in prison. In life: shortly after Ivan’s death, Sophia was sent to prison along with her son Vasily.
In a fairy tale: we meet the Firebird and Gray wolf. In life: on the coins of Tsarevich Ivan, who was the appanage prince of Tver, we meet them.
It is clear that the Russian people romanticized the image of the losing side in fairy tales, or at least did not tell the tale to the end: after all, the “villains” won and turned out to be positive heroes.
We see exactly the same thing in the case of Yuri Tsarevich - Ataman Kudeyar. Let's think: what should Vasily III do when he learned that his wife gave birth to a son in the monastery? Recognize the heir and return his nun wife to Moscow? To avoid bigamy, he had to divorce a second time - from his young wife Elena Glinskaya. Would anyone take seriously a sovereign who, in two years, first divorces his first wife and marries a second, then divorces his second in order to reunite with his first - a nun?! Of course not. Yes, it was not possible.
Maybe Vasily III should have left Sophia in the monastery, but brought his son Yuri closer? How would his second wife, the point of marriage with whom was to give birth to an heir, react to this? To do this means to bring confusion into the grand-ducal family and forever quarrel with everyone who stood behind Elena Glinskaya and the descendants of Zechariah Chet. Thus, a “time bomb” would have been laid: immediately after Vasily’s death, two groups would have formed - pro-Yurievskaya and proglinskaya. No, Vasily already went through this in his youth, and tried in every possible way to avoid a similar situation for his descendants.
Thus, we see that the fate of Yuri Vasilyevich was predetermined - especially after the birth of his son Ivan from his marriage with Elena. Yuri Vasilyevich had to live his whole life under supervision: even if he himself had not taken up the task of “getting the throne,” there would always have been people (both within the country and outside) who would have raised the banner of Yuri for their own political purposes. Is it possible to feel sorry for Yuri? Undoubtedly. Does this mean that Vasily III or Ivan the Terrible were villains? Of course not.
This is how the situation with the birth of Sofia’s son was perceived by only two observers - ordinary Russian people and foreigners, who equally believed that “the villains imprisoned the innocent Yuri.” But the reasons for this opinion were different. If in Russian folklore the legends about Yuri-Kudeyar became, as it were, a continuation of the cycle of fairy tales about Ivan Tsarevich, then foreigners perceived the information about the son of Solomonia in a completely different way. The idea that the grand ducal couple had a son who has more rights to the throne than Ivan the Terrible, who is on it, runs like a red thread through the works of numerous foreign intelligence officers and adventurers.
Many of the authors of the 16th-17th centuries talk about this. For example, Adam Olearius wrote: “the tyrant Ivan Vasilyevich” “forcibly sent his wife Solomonia to the monastery after, having spent 21 years in married life with her, he could not bear children; he then married another, named Elena... The first wife, however, soon gave birth to a baby son in the monastery.”
Yes, yes, that’s right: according to Olearius, Solomonia’s husband was not Vasily Ivanovich, but Ivan Vasilyevich, that is, Ivan the Terrible! Further - more.
Petrey de Erlesund put the following words into Sophia’s mouth: “Neither she nor the Grand Duke will see the baby’s bright face and sweet eyes; but the day will come when in due time he will fearlessly appear before the eyes of his subjects, let them see his bright eyes and will not leave her shame, desecration and humiliation without vengeance... Many of the Russians told for sure that Salome gave birth to a son... and then, having entered During his great reign, he called himself Ivan and committed many inhuman cruelties in Russia and Livonia. But some dispute this and think that Ivan is youngest son Vasily from Elena, daughter of Vasily Glinsky."
As we see, two ideas are being pursued here simultaneously: Yuri Tsarevich will take revenge on the Rurikovichs for tonsuring his mother and removing himself from the throne; and he probably did this, since, having changed his name, he ruled Russia as Ivan the Terrible - “tyrant and murderer.”
It turns out that Yuri was both the son and husband of Solomonia and also Ivan the Terrible! Even if we put aside the genealogical nonsense of the two authors, then in any case their pathos is clear: Russian rulers are tyrants and usurpers who illegally own the throne. What's the next thought? Of course, we need to help Russia and give it a beneficent ruler! As I.E. rightly noted. Zabelin, the rumor about the birth of George in the mouths of foreigners “is a seditious attempt to cause confusion in the sovereign’s family and in the state, the first attempt to install an impostor.” And if in the 16th century it was not possible to steal the name of Tsarevich Yuri for this purpose, then at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries this was completely successful - in the case of Tsarevich Dmitry of Uglich, in whose name several False Dmitrievs ruled at once.
Miracles of St. Sophia
However, politics was politics, and life went on: after becoming a monk, Sophia became famous for her pious life and works. In the monastery, the Grand Duchess continued to embroider and dug a well with her own hands. She lived another 17 years and passed away at the age of approximately 60 - on December 16, 1542, having outlived not only her husband and his second wife, but also her son Yuri.According to monastery legend, Tsar Ivan the Terrible visited the monastery in 1552, before his campaign against Kazan. After her capture, he made a contribution to the monastery, and Tsarina Anastasia Romanova placed a shroud on the tomb of St. Sophia.
In 1563, the second wife of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarina and Grand Duchess Maria Temryukovna and Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich went to pray at the Suzdal Intercession Monastery, and the next year Tsar Ivan himself went “to Suzdal to the Intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God in the maiden monastery for the holiday of the Intercession of the Most Pure One to pray with his great queen Princess Marya, with her son and Tsarevich Ivan.” Let me remind you that seven years later this prince will marry Evdokia Saburova, and eight years later she will also be tonsured a nun (under the name Alexandra) - in the same monastery.
At the end of the 16th century, Tsarina Irina Godunova, a relative of Sofia, made a contribution to the monastery: “Yes, the Empress Tsarina Grand Duchess Irina sent to the Grand Duchess Solomonida, and to the monastery Sofia, the cover is black velvet, and on it there is a cross, silver cloaks are gilded, embossed, and on the cloaks there is carving Deesis and chosen saints, and near the cloaks there is a copy and a cane and the signature of the cross is lowered with pearls, and near the cover of the signature the words are embroidered in gold on Tausin satin, and near the signature the rope is embroidered in gold and lined with crimson taffeta.”
In 1598, half a century after Sophia’s repose, the first miracle known to us occurred at her grave - the wife of Prince Daniil Andreevich of Suzdal, Princess Anna Fedorovna Nogteva, who had been blind for six years, regained her sight. After the death of her husband, she also took monastic vows in this monastery and took the monastic name of Alexander.
In the new century, Russia faced difficult trials. During the Time of Troubles, in 1609, detachments of a loyal supporter of the false Dmitry Prince Alexander Lisovsky, known for his mercilessness in taking cities and monasteries, which he subjected to complete destruction (it would not be superfluous to note that he was a Jesuit), came to Suzdal. But this time a miracle happened: in a dream, a formidable nun appeared to him with burning candles in her hands and began to scorch him with flames. Fear fell on the chieftain, and his hand was taken away. Struck by the wrath of God, Lisovsky did not ruin Suzdal.
Many miracles at the tomb of Sophia are known to us thanks to the keymaster of the Intercession Cathedral, priest Anania Fedorov, who wrote them down and told descendants about the nationwide veneration of the nun Sophia. Miracles multiplied, Suzdal hierarchs began to raise the issue of canonization. In 1750, Patriarch Joseph of Moscow and All Rus' allowed her to be venerated as a saint. But soon Russia was shaken by even more severe trials than the Troubles: church schism, liquidation of the patriarchate, Peter's reforms. As a result, for more than two centuries the name of St. Sophia was under an unspoken ban. But people continued to venerate the saint.
Only in 1916, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, the name of St. Sophia of Suzdal was included in the church calendar, and in 1995 her relics were solemnly discovered.
Saint Sophia is one of those saints whose help we constantly feel: miracles multiply. I will give several examples from 2001-2006, told by residents of Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir region and Tyumen.
“In mid-February 2003, my mother had a stroke, the left side of her face was distorted, her speech was impaired, her eyes could hardly open. I had consecrated oil from the relics of St. Sophia of Suzdal, which I acquired at the Intercession Monastery, and with this oil I offered my mother to anoint her head and face...
In the hospital, she had a dream: she stood in a large temple, surrounded by people in black clothes, their faces were stern. The mother became scared, she wanted to break out of this circle. Suddenly she saw a woman in princely robes, very beautiful, appear in the temple. Easily approaching her mother, she took her hand and said: “Let's go.” In the morning, mom felt much better.”
“In 2002, doctors diagnosed me with uterine cancer; They were supposed to have an operation in the fall... I saw in a dream an ancient icon depicting a saint unknown to me, and at the same time I felt that I had to come to her relics... In August, for the Feast of the Transfiguration, I came to Suzdal... Entering the main cathedral of the Intercession Monastery, I saw on the wall the same icon that I saw in my dream. It was an icon of St. Sophia of Suzdal. For three days I went to the monastery for services and venerated the relics of the holy ascetic. When I went to the hospital in September, it turned out that there was no longer a need for surgery, and six months later I was taken off the register.”
“We didn’t have children for a long time. In 1997, when we were in Suzdal, we visited the Intercession Monastery. Having learned about St. Sophia here, we venerated her relics and asked for the gift of a child. At the same time, we made a firm promise to name the child Sofia if it was a girl... Five years later our daughter Sofia was born.”
"After my son got married for a long time there were no children. He prayed earnestly and took vows on himself: not to eat meat and not to drink alcohol. In 2000, we visited with him the Intercession Convent in Suzdal and venerated the relics of St. Sophia. Three years later, my son had a daughter. My daughter-in-law... announced to me that the girl’s name was Sofia and that... the daughter-in-law’s decision to name her daughter Sofia coincided with our visit to the Intercession Monastery.”
“My daughter Sofia was born in 2003, we baptized her in honor of St. Sofia of Suzdal. At one and a half years old, my daughter was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis... We were treated by a rheumatologist for a long time. In May 2006, my daughter walked very poorly, and we went to Suzdal to the Intercession Monastery to venerate the relics of St. Sophia. After that, everything improved and she soon recovered.”
And perhaps the most amazing evidence:
“My grandmother Alexandra told me: when she was still 15 years old, she once went into the forest to pick berries and got lost. Suddenly a cloud rolled in, the forest became dark, and a strong wind began. The girl got scared and began to pray fervently. Suddenly she saw an icon of the Mother of God walking across the sky in bright light; with its movement, the icon showed her the way. Very soon Shurochka found herself in a bright clearing and here she saw a nun - she was sitting on a stump. Her face was like that of a baby, very beautiful, her eyes were extraordinary, heavenly purity, very large, and her gaze was like that of an old woman, as if she could see right through you, and there was such calmness in her. Shurochka asked the nun to help her get out of the forest. She got up, and they set off... Finally, the nun gave the girl an icon and said: “Shurochka, you will give this icon to your only granddaughter, it will help her and keep her in trouble,” and she quickly began to leave. The girl was very surprised that a nun unknown to her knew her name. In response, she managed to shout: “What is your name, and where can I find you?” And I heard: “Sofia in Suzdal.” My grandmother remembered this wonderful meeting for the rest of her life. This happened around 1917.
When I got married, I didn’t have children for five years. Doctors diagnosed her with infertility. I did not despair, but constantly turned in prayer to the Lord, Our Lady and St. Sophia of Suzdal... In 1988, I was born long-awaited son Ivan."
Thus, for the first time in Russian historiography, with all possible completeness, we have established the facts of the biography of St. Sophia of Suzdal (in the world, Grand Duchess Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova) and her son, Prince Yuri Vasilyevich.
We discovered that this talented and godly woman was a spiritual daughter St. David Serpukhovsky and voluntarily took monastic vows to give her husband the opportunity to continue the glorious grand ducal family. At the same time, she took the name in honor of her husband’s mother, a Greek, and cut her hair in a Greek courtyard in Moscow, thereby making it clear that she strongly supported her husband’s policy aimed at accepting the Byzantine heritage.
We found out that the folk image of Ataman Kudeyar is collective and, in addition to some facts from the biography of Tsarevich Yuri, absorbed facts from the lives of a variety of people. The fate of the real Yuri Tsarevich was short-lived and sad, but not unique - it repeated the fate of Dmitry Vnuk, the son of Ivan the Young. The Russian people comprehended the events of the life of Ivan the Young’s family in the tale of Ivan Tsarevich, and the “disappearance” of Tsarevich Yuri from the historical scene led to the creation of a powerful folk image ataman Kudeyar - as heavenly punishment for the sins of the ruling house of Rurikovich.
Foreign observers perceived the fate of Yuri Vasilyevich completely differently - as a reason to destabilize Russian civilization. It was a timid and unsuccessful rehearsal of the drama that played out at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, when the stolen name of another prince - Dmitry - was “promoted” in the most successful way for the enemies of Russia. That drama is directly associated with the name of Tsar Boris Godunov and other descendants of Zechariah Chet. How fair is this? We will answer this question in one of the following articles.
In conclusion, I ask you to imagine what the history of the brilliant 16th century could have been like if Basil III and St. Sophia had behaved not as we know, but differently?
We know many examples of how European history and in the history of Russia in the 17th-20th centuries, rulers put their interests above the interests of their country. Imagine what would have happened if Solomonia Saburova had not wanted to cut her hair and go to a monastery? What if Vasily III had not let go of his beloved wife and Russia was faced with the need to choose a new ruling dynasty a hundred years earlier than it actually happened? What if Vasily III brought his son closer from Solomonia? Or would she herself begin to fight for power under the banner of her son, as has happened more than once in history? If only, if only, if only...
The role of this grand-ducal couple - Vasily and Solomonia - in Russian history is clearly underestimated. We are still not grateful to them for putting the interests of Russia above their personal and family interests. They are not grateful that St. Sophia ultimately saved Russia from the Time of Troubles.
Born 500 years ago somewhere near Novgorod, Solomonia Saburova did everything to strengthen and decorate the Russian throne, she became one of the most amazing Russian saints, who does not leave us with her patronage to this day.
In 1934, a young researcher of Suzdal and director of the Suzdal Museum A.D. Varganov carried out archaeological excavations in the basement of the Intercession Cathedral of the Intercession Monastery in Suzdal. During the excavations, a small unnamed tomb was discovered, located between the tombs of a certain “Elder Alexandra,” who died in 1525, and “Elder Sophia,” who died in 1542. It is known that Sofia is the first wife of the Grand Moscow Prince and Emperor Vasily III, Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, accused of infertility and tonsured into a monastery in 1525. However, there were rumors that the accusation was unfair, that Solomonia was expecting a child and gave birth to a son in the monastery, who soon died. Varganov was very interested in the unnamed tomb: what if this is the tomb of the son of Solomonia Saburova? He decides to open the burial. Imagine his surprise when he found no traces of burial in the tomb. Instead of a skeleton, there lay a wooden doll, half decayed from time to time, dressed in a silk boy's shirt, like those in the 16th century. worn by children of the royal family. Restored, this shirt is in the historical exhibition of the Suzdal museum, next to it is the lid from that tomb.
So, a false burial from the 16th century? Who needed this? Historians tried to unravel the mystery of this burial throughout the 20th century.
Grand Duke Vasily III was the son of Ivan III and his second wife, the Byzantine princess Sophia Palaeologus. He reigned from 1505 to 1533. Under him, the unification of Russian lands around Moscow was completed. In relations with the Tatar khanates, he already called himself “the king of all Rus'.” The German ambassador Sigismund Herberstein wrote about him: “This is a sovereign like no other monarch in Europe. He alone rules.”
At the age of 26, he decided to get married. It was then that the famous “girlish commotion” occurred, which today has become the plot for an operetta by Yu. Milyutin. The Grand Duke ordered to collect the most beautiful girls, regardless of their nobility. Out of one and a half thousand, 500 were selected and brought to Moscow, of which 300 were chosen, out of three hundred 200, after 100, finally only 10, carefully examined by midwives; From these ten, Vasily chose a bride for himself and then married her. Why not a 16th century beauty contest?
Vasily’s choice fell on Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova, who came from an old but “seedy” Moscow boyar family. They lived, according to the chronicles, in complete harmony. However, years passed, and Solomonia remained childless. Vasily did not want to leave the throne to his brothers. He did not even allow them to marry until he himself had an heir, but time passed, neither doctors, nor priests, nor trips to monasteries and fervent prayers helped - there were no children. Then Vasily decided to divorce Solomonia and exile her to a monastery. He already had another bride in mind, the young beauty Elena Glinskaya.
For Rus' at that time, this case was unprecedented. Firstly, the Orthodox Church allowed one of the spouses to enter a monastery only with their mutual consent. But Solomonia didn’t want to hear about divorce. Secondly, there could be no talk of any new marriage while the first wife was alive.
With a request for permission to divorce, Vasily III turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, the head of all Orthodox churches peace, but received a categorical refusal. Moscow Metropolitan Daniel came to the aid of the Grand Duke, who found the prince an excuse for the divorce, saying: “They cut down a barren fig tree and remove it from the grapes.” A search began for Solomonia’s “barrenness.” During the course of it, it turned out that the Grand Duchess resorted to the help of fortune-tellers and healers, to witchcraft and “conspiracies” - this sharply worsened her situation, since a suspicion arose whether that witchcraft had caused damage to the Grand Duke?! Solomonia's fate was decided. On November 29, 1525, she was tonsured in the Moscow Nativity Monastery.
There is evidence that the tonsure was forced, that Solomonia opposed him. Prince Andrei Kurbsky writes about this. The German ambassador Herberstein writes that Solomonia tore off the monastic doll and trampled it with her feet, for which the boyar Shigonya-Podzhogin hit her with a whip! However, many boyars and churchmen sympathized with Solomonia, and boyar Bersen-Beklemishev even tried to come to her defense, but Vasily furiously exclaimed: “Go away, you scum, I don’t need you!” Since many in Moscow supported Solomonia, Vasily III sent her away from Moscow - to the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. Less than two months later, Vasily III married Elena Glinskaya, who had just turned 16 years old. The prince was already 42 years old, in order to please his young wife and look younger himself, Vasily, deviating from the customs of antiquity, even shaved off his beard!
Several months passed... And suddenly rumors spread throughout Moscow that Solomonia in the monastery gave birth to Vasily III's heir to the throne, Tsarevich George. The Glinskys were furious, and Vasily also did not like these rumors. The rumor mongers were identified and punished, and clerks were hastily sent to Suzdal to clarify this scandalous matter. Solomonia met the clerks with hostility and refused to show them the child, declaring that they “are not worthy for their eyes to see the prince, and when he is clothed in his greatness, he will avenge his mother’s insult.” Then boyars and clergy were sent, but no documents have been preserved about the results of this investigation. It is only known that Solomonia announced the death of her son. The Grand Duke's ambassadors were shown the tomb.
However, did Solomonia have a son? This remains unknown. Some historians are convinced that there was. Archaeologist and historian Count S.D. Sheremetyev believed that Solomonia hid her son with reliable people, because she understood that he would not be left alive. This version is confirmed by Varganov’s discovery of an empty tomb in 1934. Moreover, in his second marriage, Vasily III also did not have children for a long time. Only in 1530 did the Grand Duke have a son, Ivan, the future Ivan the Terrible. Now any talk about the canonicity of the second marriage of Vasily III meant a denial of the legality of the rights of the heir to the throne. For this they cut off their heads, starved them in prison, and exiled them to the north. Soon Elena Glinskaya had a second son, Yuri (who turned out to be deaf and dumb), and only now Vasily III allowed his brothers to marry. By this time there were only two of them left.
Vasily III died in 1533. Power under the young Ivan passed to his mother, who ruled together with her favorite, Prince Ivan Obolensky. It was rumored that he was the father of Elena's children (Ivan suffered from epilepsy, like Prince Obolensky). For Helen, Solomonia and her son, if he existed, were very dangerous. Therefore, Solomonia was exiled to Kargopol, where she was kept in prison until the death of Elena Glinskaya. After the death of Elena Glinskaya, the Shuisky princes came to power, treating the young Ivan IV with disdain. It would seem that this is an opportune opportunity for Tsarevich George to appear on the political arena. However, nothing of the kind happened. And yet there is still a lot of mystery in this story.
If George was not there, then why did Ivan IV, who had already firmly established himself on the throne, demand all the archival documents of the investigation about the “infertility” of Solomonia? And where did these documents then disappear? Some historians believe that Ivan the Terrible spent his entire life looking for Solomonia’s son George. It is known that Ivan IV made devastating campaigns against Tver and Novgorod the Great. On his orders, mass exterminations of men were carried out there. There are suggestions that Ivan the Terrible received reports that Georgy was hiding in these cities and tried to destroy him.
The name of George is popularly associated with the legendary robber Kudeyar, the hero of many songs and legends, the Russian Robin Hood. According to one legend, Kudeyar robbed in the forests between Suzdal and Shuya. Here, in the estates of the Shuisky princes, Kudeyar could hide from the wrath of the Glinskys in his youth. But these are just assumptions, not supported by any documents.
In 1542 Solomonia died. After 8 years, Patriarch Joseph recognized her as a saint. The relics of Elder Sophia were and remain revered by many people. Ivan the Terrible himself allegedly placed a shroud woven by his wife Anastasia on her tomb. They came to the relics of St. Sophia and both of his sons with their wives, and the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, and many others.
Well, what about Georgy? Did he really exist, or is it just fiction? No one knows about this and is unlikely to find out. Nowadays, in the basement of the monastery's Intercession Cathedral, among numerous ancient tombs, services are held - there is a temple here again, as in ancient times. Relics of St. Sophia was moved to the main temple, and the nameless small tomb is no longer disturbed.
Based on materials from the newspaper "Evening Bell"
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