Princess Sofia of Moscow Paleolog is known for playing almost the main role in the formation of the Russian Empire. She was the creator of the treatise "Moscow - the Third Rome", and even with her the coat of arms of her own dynasty - the double-headed eagle - became the coat of arms of all Russian sovereigns.
Sophia Paleolog, who was also called Zoya Paleologiny, was born in 1455 in the city of Mystra, Greece.
Princess childhood
The future grandmother of Ivan the Terrible was born into the family of a despot Moreysky named Thomas Paleolog in a not very happy time - in decadent times for Byzantium. When Constantinople fell before Turkey and was taken by Sultan Mehmed II, the girl’s father, Thomas Paleolog, fled to Kofra with his family.
Later in Rome, the family changed their faith to Catholicism, and when Sophia was 10 years old, her father died. Unfortunately for the girl, her mother, Ekaterina Akhayskaya, died a year earlier, which crippled her father.
The children of the Paleologists - Zoya, Manuil and Andrei, 10, 5 and 7 years old - settled in Rome under the tutelage of a scientist from Greece Vissarion Nicaea, who at that time served as a cardinal under the pope. The Byzantine Princess Sophia and her prince brothers were raised in Catholic traditions. With the permission of the pope, Vissarion of Nicaea paid for the staff of Paleologists, doctors, language professors, as well as a whole staff of translators from foreign and clergy. Orphans received a brilliant education.
Marriage
As soon as Sofia grew up, the Venetian subjects began to look for her a noble spouse.
- Her wife was prophesied to the Cypriot king Jacques II de Lusignan. The marriage did not take place to avoid quarrels with the Ottoman Empire.
- A few months later, Cardinal Vissarion invited Prince Caracciolo from Italy to marry the Byzantine princess. The young are engaged. However, Sophia threw all efforts to not get engaged to a Gentile (she continued to adhere to Orthodoxy).
- By coincidence, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan the Third, died in Moscow in 1467. From the marriage there was only one son. And Pope Paul II, in order to instill the Catholic faith in Russia, suggested the widower on the throne of the Princess of All Russia to plant the Greek Catholic princess.
Negotiations with the Russian prince lasted three years. Ivan the Third, having received the approval of his mother, clergy and his boyars, decided to marry. By the way, during the negotiations about the princess’s conversion to Catholicism in Rome, envoys from the pope did not particularly spread. On the contrary, they mischievously informed that the sovereign’s bride is a true Orthodox Christian. Surprisingly, they could not even assume that this was true.
In June 1472, the newlyweds in Rome became engaged in absentia. Then, accompanied by Cardinal Vissarion, the Princess of Moscow departed from Rome to Moscow.
Princess portrait
Bologna chroniclers eloquently described Sophia Paleolog as an attractive girl in appearance. When she got married, she looked about 24 years old.
- Her skin is white as snow.
- The eyes are huge and very expressive, which corresponded to the then canons of beauty.
- The princess is 160 cm tall.
- Build - downed, tight.
In the dowry of the Paleologue there were not only jewels, but also a large number of valuable books, including treatises of Plato, Aristotle, unknown works of Homer. These books became the main attraction of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible, which later disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
In addition, Zoe was very purposeful. She threw as much effort as possible not to switch to another faith, betrothed to a Christian person. At the end of her route from Rome to Moscow, when there was no turning back, she announced to her guide that she would reject Catholicism and accept Orthodoxy. So the desire of the pope to spread through the marriage of Ivan the Third and the Paleologist Catholicism in Russia crashed.
The solemn wedding was held in Moscow on November 12, 1472 in the Assumption Cathedral.
Life in Moscow
The influence of Sophia Paleolog on the married spouse was very great, it also became a great blessing for Russia, because the wife was very educated and incredibly devoted to her new homeland.
So, it was she who prompted her husband to stop paying the tribute to the Golden Horde. Thanks to his wife, the Grand Duke decided to throw away the Tatar-Mongolian burden, which for many centuries has been weighed over Russia. At the same time, his advisers and princes insisted on paying the rent, as usual, so as not to start a new bloodshed. In 1480, Ivan the Third announced the decision to the Tatar Khan Akhmat. Then there was a historical bloodless standing on the Ugra, and the Horde forever left Russia, never again demanding tribute from it.
In general, Sophia Paleologue played a very large role in the subsequent historical events of Russia. Its broad outlook and bold innovative solutions allowed the country to make a significant breakthrough in the development of culture and architecture. Sophia Paleolog opened Moscow to Europeans. Now Greeks, Italians, learned minds and talented masters rushed to Muscovy. For example, Ivan the Third with pleasure took custody of Italian architects (such as Aristotle Fioravanti) who erected many historical architectural masterpieces in Moscow. At the behest of Sophia, a separate courtyard and luxurious mansions were built for her. They were lost in a fire in 1493 (together with the Paleologian treasury).
Zoey's personal relationship with her husband Ivan the Third was also prosperous. They had 12 children. But some died in infancy or from illness. So, in their family, five sons and four daughters survived to adulthood.
But the life of the Byzantine princess in Moscow can hardly be called rosy. The local elite saw the great influence that the spouse had on her husband, and was very unhappy with this.
Sophia’s relations didn’t work out with her adopted son from her deceased first wife, Ivan Molodoy. The princess really wanted her first-born Vasily to become the heir. And there is a historical version that she was involved in the death of the heir, having prescribed him an Italian doctor with poisonous potions, supposedly to treat gout that suddenly started (he was later executed for this).
Sophia had a hand in the removal from the throne of his wife Elena Voloshanka and their son Dmitry. First, Ivan the Third sent Sophia herself into disgrace for inviting witches to create poison for Elena and Dmitry. He forbade his wife to appear in the palace. However, later, Ivan the Third ordered to send already the grandson of Dmitry, already proclaimed heir to the throne, and his mother in prison for court intrigues, successfully and favorably revealed by his wife Sofia. The grandson was officially deprived of grand dignity, and his son Vasily was declared heir to the throne.
So, Princess of Moscow became the mother of the heir to the Russian throne, Vasily III and the grandmother of the famous Tsar Ivan the Terrible. There is evidence that the famous grandson had many similarities in appearance and character with his powerful grandmother from Byzantium.
