Sofya princess: biography and years of reign. Princess Sophia and Peter I. Palace intrigues and the struggle for the throne

Sofya Alekseevna (17 (27) September 1657 - 3 (14) July 1704) - princess, one of the six daughters of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya. in 1682-1689 regent under younger brothers Peter and Ivana.

Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna was one of the most extraordinary women in Russian history, possessed not only various talents, but also a strong and decisive character, a daring and sharp mind that prompted this woman to seize power and for some time become the autocratic ruler of a huge state.

Palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in Kolomenskoye.

When a daughter was born to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya in 1657, she was named Sophia and sent, as expected, to the female half of the palace, where women were supposed to raise the child. Sophia lost her mother early.

Ryabtsev Yu. S. Queen Maria of Miloslavskaya.

Nothing foreshadowed a great future for the girl. Moreover, at that time the fate of future princesses was predetermined. Getting married was for them an impossible task. Russian suitors were not worthy of them, and foreigners professed other faiths. WITH early years they were taught the simple sciences of housekeeping, handicrafts and reading church books, prohibiting them from showing feelings, emotions and disobedience of character, and upon reaching mature age The royal daughters were sent to a monastery, where they spent their lives in seclusion and reading prayers.

Portrait of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629-1676)

However, such a life outraged the growing girl more and more, and more and more often the courtiers and numerous nannies noticed the unyielding and impudent character of the young princess. When the tsar was informed about the difficult temperament of seven-year-old Sophia, he was not only not angry, but also ordered the serious education of his daughter, hiring her the best mentors and teachers. So, by the age of ten, the girl had mastered literacy, reading, science, history and foreign languages.

Portrait of Princess Sophia, Hermitage.

Rumors about the unusual princess spread outside the palace, and the Tsar-father was proud of his daughter and even, despite everything, began to take her on his trips around the country. Those close to her bowed before the mind and wisdom of the young girl, unprecedented legends circulated about her erudition and insight, and the men, it seemed, did not even attach importance to the fact that Sophia did not at all have regular facial features and a stately figure. On the contrary, she was a little plump, with sharp, angular movements and a strong, far from feminine physique. At the same time, in men royal daughter aroused sincere interest and sympathy, but her heart was silent.

Makovsky K.E. Portrait of Princess Sophia.

Through foreigners - commanders of the Butyrsky regiment, who were related to Western European nobility, Sophia, with the help of her Miloslavsky relatives, hoped to find herself a sovereign spouse in one of the small principalities of Germany. However, Alexey Mikhailovich rejected all offers. He believed that such a marriage would make Russia politically dependent. Sophia had only one thing left: to become a queen in her own country.


Sofya Alekseevna Romanova 1682-1696, porcelain.

In 1676, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich died. The Russian throne was taken by his heir, the sickly and weak Fedor, the tsar’s son from his first wife Maria Miloslavskaya. Sophia approached her brother, spent all her time near him, protecting and caring for him, and in the meantime started strong friendship with close boyars and military leaders, winning them over to his side. So, after a few months, Naryshkin and the Tsar’s nine-year-old heir, Peter, were practically removed from Naryshkin’s court, while Sophia continued to gain popularity and sympathy from those around her and strengthen her position near the Tsar’s throne. It was then that she met the famous boyar Vasily Golitsyn.

The treasurer of the royal great seal and state great embassy affairs, close boyar and governor of Novgorod, Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn with an award medal. In the portrait of V.V. Golitsyn is depicted with the text of “eternal peace” between Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, signed with his active participation, and with the “sovereign gold” on his chest - a military award received for commanding the 1687 campaign against the Crimean Khanate.

He was much older than the young princess, distinguished by special wisdom, rich life experience, versatile talents and managed, without wanting to, to conquer young Sophia. Golitsyn was highly educated, fluent in Polish, Greek, German and Latin languages, understood music, was fond of art and was keenly interested in European culture. A descendant of the famous Lithuanian prince Gediminas, the aristocratic and well-mannered prince was also good-looking and had a piercing, slightly cunning look, which gave his face even more originality.

Having always disliked men and often despised them for their weakness and lack of will, Princess Sophia suddenly unexpectedly fell in love with the refined and gallant prince. However, although he felt sympathy for the young girl, he could not reciprocate her feelings. Vasily Vasilyevich had a wife and six children, besides, he loved his wife and was considered an impeccable family man.

Chambers of the book Vasily Golitsyn Photo of the 1920s.

Nevertheless, he offered Sophia sincere friendship and support. Golitsyn and the princess spent all the time together: he invited her to his house, where visiting foreigners from Europe often visited, who talked about foreign traditions and customs that impressed Sofia Alekseevna. Vasily Vasilyevich revealed to the girl his dreams of reorganizing the state, carrying out the most unexpected reforms and changing the laws that existed in the country. The princess, who listened in fascination to her lover’s speeches, admired him more and more.

A. I. Korzukhin. The mutiny of the Streltsy in 1682. The Streltsy dragged Ivan Naryshkin out of the palace. While Peter I consoles his mother, Princess Sophia watches with satisfaction.

At the end of April 1682, when the young Tsar died, Peter was appointed as the new autocrat under the regency of the Dowager Tsarina Natalya Naryshkina, the widow of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Sofya Romanova was not happy with this turn of events, and she, together with Prince Golitsyn and close boyars, staged an armed rebellion, during which the young Tsar Peter and his mother, Natalya Naryshkina, were overthrown from the throne. This happened on May 15, and a few days later Ivan and Peter became kings, but Sofya Alekseevna was appointed regent for the young brothers. She was destined to rule Russian state seven long years.

During Sophia's reign, military and tax reforms were carried out, industry developed, and trade with foreign countries was encouraged. Golitsyn, who became right hand princesses, brought foreign masters, famous teachers and artists to Russia, and encouraged the introduction of foreign experience in the country.

Grand Empress Princess and Grand Duchess Ruler-Regent of the Russian Kingdom
Sofya Alekseevna.

At the beginning of July 1682, with skillful actions she stopped the mutiny of the Streltsy (Khovanshchina) in Moscow. The rioters, trying to give a religious flavor to their speech, decided to attract the Old Believer apologist priest Nikita from the city of Suzdal, putting him forward for a spiritual dispute with the patriarch. The queen moved the “debate about faith” to the palace, to the Faceted Chamber, thereby isolating Fr. Nikita from the crowd of people. Not having sufficient arguments to support the arguments of the Suzdal priest, Patriarch Joachim interrupted the dispute, declaring his opponent an “empty saint.” The priest will later be executed. And the queen continued the fight against the “schism” now at the legislative level, having adopted the famous “12 Articles” in 1685, on the basis of which thousands of people guilty of Old Belief were executed.

Vasily Perov. Nikita Pustosvyat. Dispute about faith. 1880-81. (“debate about faith” on July 5, 1682 in the Faceted Chamber in the presence of Patriarch Joachim and Princess Sophia)

The relationship between Golitsyn and Sophia became warmer, and a few years later Vasily Vasilyevich already experienced the most tender feelings for the thirty-year-old princess. And although she gained a lot of weight and her facial features became even rougher, Sofya Alekseevna became more and more desirable to the prince. Having once been a wonderful father and faithful husband, Golitsyn moved away from his wife and practically did not see the children, devoting all his time to his “beloved girl Sophia.” And she, blinded by feeling, idolized and adored her already middle-aged favorite.

“Ugric” gold for the Crimean campaigns of Peter I and Ivan V (eagle). Princess Sophia (tails). 1689 At the end of the 17th century. the name “Ugric” was supplanted by a new name for the coin - “chervonets”, which had the same weight.

So, the princess appointed him as a military leader and insisted that he go on the Crimean campaigns in 1687 and 1689. Sophia dreamed that Golitsyn, who was the winner, would have unlimited trust, and she would finally be able to fulfill her dream - to marry her beloved prince. She sent him letters full of delight and the most reverent feelings: “When will I see you in my arms?... My light, father, my hope... Great would be the day for me when you, my soul, return to me.” Boyar Golitsyn answered her with the same passionate and tender messages.

However, Vasily Golitsyn, having neither the talent of a commander nor the knowledge of an experienced warrior, returned from the campaigns defeated. His beloved, in order to somehow justify the favorite in the eyes of those close to him, arranged a magnificent feast in honor of the prince, but his popularity gradually weakened. Even her close circle began to be wary of the actions of Sophia, who was blindly in love with Golitsyn.

Nikishin Vladimir.

Meanwhile, the queen begged her favorite to convince his legal wife to go to a monastery and go with her, with Sophia, to the crown. Golitsyn, who was distinguished by his nobility, could not take such a decisive step for a long time, but the wise and kind soul The prince's wife herself proposed to dissolve their marriage, granting her beloved husband freedom. It is still unknown whether Sophia and Vasily Golitsyn had children together, however, some historians claim that the princess had a child from her beloved favorite, but kept his existence a strict secret. The lovers' romance flared up more and more, but the situation in the palace became tense every day.

Having grown up and having a very contradictory and stubborn character, Peter no longer wanted to listen to his domineering sister in everything. He contradicted her more and more often, reproached her for excessive independence and courage, not inherent in women, and listened more and more to his mother, who told her son the long-standing story of the accession to the throne of the cunning and insidious Sophia. In addition, the state papers stated that the regent would be deprived of the opportunity to govern the state if Peter came of age or got married. May 30, 1689 Peter I turned 17 years old. By this time, at the insistence of his mother, Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, he married Evdokia Lopukhina, and, according to the concepts of that time, he had entered the age of majority, but his sister, Sofya Alekseevna Romanova, still remained on the throne.

Seventeen-year-old Peter became for the ruler the most dangerous enemy, and she, like the first time, decided to resort to the help of the archers. However, this time the princess miscalculated: the archers no longer believed either her or her favorite, giving preference to the young heir. At the end of September, they swore allegiance to Peter, and he ordered his sister to be imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. The people preferred to see the king on the throne rather than the princess: “The empress is full of trouble with the people, it’s time to go to the monastery.”

N. Nevrev. Peter I in foreign attire in front of his mother Tsarina Natalya, Patriarch Andrian and teacher Zotov.

Several cells were decorated and perfectly decorated for her, with windows overlooking the Maiden Field; she had many servants and all the amenities of life necessary for a person accustomed to luxury. She did not need anything, only she was not allowed to leave the monastery fence, not to see or talk to anyone outside; Only on major holidays was she allowed to see her aunts and sisters. So the thirty-two-year-old princess was removed from power and forever separated from her lover. Vasily Golitsyn was deprived of his boyar title, property and ranks and exiled to a distant Arkhangelsk village, where the prince lived until the end of his days.

Princess Sofya Alekseevna in the Novodevichy Convent. Painting by Ilya Repin.

Seven years later, the sickly and weak-minded Tsar Ivan died. The two kingdoms are over. Peter conquered Azov, completing the job that Prince Golitsyn had begun so unsuccessfully, and went to Europe to study. Before his departure abroad, Peter visited his sister in his cell to say goodbye, but found her so arrogant, cold and irreconcilable that he left the Novodevichy Convent in extreme excitement. Despite all Sofia's intrigues, Peter respected her intelligence. He said about her: “It’s a pity that with her great mind she has great anger and deceit.”

The morning of the Streltsy execution. Hood. V. I. Surikov, 1881.

The Sagittarius took advantage of this to start a new rebellion and install Sophia in the kingdom. True, none of them terrible torture did not confirm the princess’s personal participation. More than a thousand archers were executed, 195 of them Peter ordered to be hanged in front of the sister’s windows in the Novodevichy Convent. The bodies of those executed hung there all winter as a warning.

Novodevichy Convent.

After this Streltsy revolt and meeting with her stern brother, the princess was tonsured as a nun under the name of Susanna. She lived in the monastery for fifteen long years and died on July 4, 1704, before reaching the age of forty-seven. She was buried in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.

And it was forgotten almost immediately after the burial. If historians later remembered her, it was only as an “intriguer” who almost ruined Peter’s noble cause. Her lover, favorite and beloved friend survived the former princess and ruler of the Russian State for ten years and died in 1714 in exile, in the village of Pinega, Arkhangelsk Territory and was buried according to his will in the Krasnogorsk monastery.

IN Old Believer monastery Sharpan is the burial place of the schema-nun Praskovya (“the queen’s grave”), surrounded by 12 unmarked graves. Old Believers consider this Praskovya to be Princess Sophia, who allegedly fled from the Novodevichy Convent with 12 archers.

SOFIA ALEKSEEVNA Romanova (1657-1704) - ruler of Russia from May 29, 1682 to September 7, 1689 with the title “Great Empress, Blessed Queen and Grand Duchess», eldest daughter Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from his first marriage to Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, née Miloslavskaya.

Meeting of Alexei Mikhailovich and Maria Miloslavskaya

Alexey Mikhailovich Romanov (Quiet)

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya

Sometimes it happens that strong, original individuals are unlucky with the timing or circumstances of birth. Princess Sophia could have become a great ruler, she could have become famous throughout the world, like Catherine II, but fate played a cruel joke on her - she was too late to be born, and history was already beginning to favor her opponents and was rapidly leading to the power of a great reformer - Peter I. Sophia was doomed.

From childhood, her fate seemed to tease her, lure her with illusions, push her to decisive actions and ultimately cheated. Sophia lost her mother early. Among her eight sisters and four brothers, she turned out to be the smartest, and most importantly, the healthiest. Unfortunately, Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna was fertile, but children, especially boys, were born sickly - and weak in mind, and fearful, and frail. But Father Alexei Mikhailovich noticed without joy how quickly little Sophia was ahead of the future tsar in development. And why didn’t God give intelligence to the heir? To whom should the throne be handed over?

Sofya Alekseevna was born on September 17, 1657 in Moscow. She received a good education at home, knew Latin, spoke fluent Polish, wrote poetry, read a lot, and had beautiful handwriting. Her teachers were Simeon of Polotsk, Karion Istomin, Sylvester Medvedev, who from childhood instilled in her respect for the Byzantine princess Pulcheria (396-453), who achieved power under her sick brother Theodosius II.

Samuil Gavrilovich Petrovsky-Sitnyanovich (Simeon Polotsky)

Trying to appear God-fearing and humble in public, Sophia in reality from her youth strove for complete power. A good education and natural tenacity of mind helped her win the trust of her father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

Sofya Alekseevna Romanova

Having lost her mother at the age of 14 (1671), she painfully experienced her father’s imminent second marriage to Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina and the birth of her half-brother Peter (the future Tsar Peter I).

After the death of her father (1676) she began to become interested state affairs: ruled the country in 1676-1682 brother, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, on whom she had a strong influence. Sickly, fond of poetry and church music, who was four years younger than his 19-year-old sister, Fedor was not independent in his actions.

Fedor Alekseevich Romanov

Therefore, at first, the widowed Tsarina Naryshkina tried to manage the country, but the relatives and sympathizers of Fyodor and Sophia managed to moderate her activity for a while, sending her and her son Peter into “voluntary exile” to the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow.

Sophia perceived the sudden death of Fyodor on April 27, 1682 as a sign and signal for active action. The attempt of Patriarch Joachim to proclaim Sophia's 10-year-old half-brother, Tsarevich Peter, king, and to remove 16-year-old Ivan V Alekseevich, the last male representative of the Romanov family from his marriage to M.I. Miloslavskaya, from the throne, was challenged by Sophia and her like-minded people.

Ivan V Alekseevich

Taking advantage of the uprising of the Streltsy on May 15-17, 1682, who rebelled against burdensome taxes, Sophia managed to achieve the proclamation of two brothers as heirs to the throne - Ivan V and Peter (May 26, 1682) with Ivan’s “primacy”.

This gave Sophia the reason to be “shouted out” by the regent on May 29, 1682 - “so that the government for the sake of youth give both sovereigns to their sister.” The kings were crowned a month later, on June 25, 1682.

Having essentially usurped supreme power, Sophia became the head of the country. The leading role in her government was played by experienced courtiers close to the Miloslavskys - F.L. Shaklovity and especially Prince. V.V. Golitsyn is an intelligent, European-educated and courteous handsome man, at the age of 40, experienced in dealing with women. The status of a married man (he remarried in 1685 to the boyar E.I. Streshneva, the same age as Sophia), did not prevent him from becoming the favorite of the 24-year-old princess.

Vasily Vasilievich Golitsyn

However, in the way of the reforms conceived by this government were adherents of the “old faith” (Old Believers), of whom there were many among the Streltsy who elevated Sophia to the heights of power. They were patronized by Prince Ivan Khovansky, who became the head of the Court Order in June 1682 and had deceptive hopes for a political career.

Ivan Andreevich Khovansky Tararui

The Old Believers wanted to achieve equality in matters of doctrine and insisted on opening a “debate on faith,” to which Sophia, educated and confident in her intellectual superiority, agreed. The debate opened on July 5, 1682 in the Kremlin chambers in the presence of Sophia, Patriarch Joachim and a number of high-ranking clergy.

The main opponent of the official church in the person of Patriarch Joachim and Sophia was the “schismatic teacher” Nikita Pustosvyat, who suffered a shameful defeat.

The regent immediately showed decisiveness: she ordered the execution of Pustosvyat and his supporters (some of them were beaten with whips, the most stubborn were burned). Then she set to work on Khovansky, who, with his lust for power, arrogance and vain hopes for the throne for himself or his son, alienated not only the “Miloslavsky party”, but also the entire aristocratic elite. Since rumors spread among the archers he led about the inadmissibility of women on the Russian throne (“It’s high time to join the monastery!”, “Enough of stirring up the state!”), Sophia, along with her entourage, left Moscow for the village of Vozdvizhenskoye near the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Rumors about Khovansky's intention to exterminate royal family forced her to save the princes: on August 20, 1682, Ivan V and Peter were taken to Kolomenskoye, and then to the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery near Zvenigorod. By agreement with the boyars, Khovansky was summoned along with his son to Vozdvizhenskoye. Having obeyed, he arrived, not knowing that he was already doomed. On September 5 (17), 1682, the execution of Khovansky and his son put an end to the “Khovanshchina.”

However, the situation in the capital stabilized only by November. Sophia and her court returned to Moscow and finally took power into her own hands. She placed Shaklovity at the head of the Streletsky order to eliminate the possibility of riots. Small concessions were made to the Sagittarius regarding everyday life(prohibition to separate husband and wife when paying off a debt, cancellation of debts from widows and orphans, replacement death penalty for "outrageous words" exile and punishment with a whip).

Having strengthened her position, Sophia, with the support of Golitsyn, took up foreign policy issues, regularly attending meetings Boyar Duma. In May 1684, Italian ambassadors arrived in Moscow. After talking with them, Sophia - unexpectedly for many adherents of antiquity and true faith- “granted freedom” of religion to the Jesuits living in Moscow, thereby causing the patriarch’s dissatisfaction. However, a flexible approach to foreign Catholics was required by the interests of foreign policy: Guided by her teacher, the “pro-Westernist” S. Polotsky and with the support of Golitsyn, Sophia ordered the preparation of confirmation of the previously concluded Kardis peace with Sweden, and on August 10, 1684 she concluded a similar peace with Denmark. Counting main task Russia's struggle with Turkey and the Crimean Khanate; in February-April 1686, Sophia sent Golitsyn to defend the country's interests in negotiations with Poland. They ended with the signing on May 6 (16), 1686 " Eternal peace"with her, who assigned Left Bank Ukraine, Kyiv and Smolensk to Russia. This peace, which granted freedom of Orthodox religion in Poland, conditioned all concessions on Russia's entry into the war with Turkey, which threatened the southern Polish lands.

Bound by the obligation to start a war in 1687, the government of Sophia issued a decree on the start of the Crimean campaign. In February 1687, troops under the command of Golitsyn (he was appointed field marshal) went to the Crimea, but the campaign against Turkey’s ally, Crimean Khanate, turned out to be unsuccessful. In June 1687, Russian troops turned back.

The failures of the military campaign were compensated by the successes of the cultural and ideological plan: in September 1687, the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy opened in Moscow - the first higher education educational institution in Russia, which gave Sophia the status of an educated and enlightened ruler. The royal court began to turn into a center of scientific and cultural life Moscow. Construction revived, the Kremlin walls were updated, construction of the Bolshoi began stone bridge near the Kremlin across the Moscow River.

In February 1689, Sophia again gave the order to begin a campaign against the Crimeans, which also turned out to be inglorious.

Despite another failure, Sophia Golitsyn’s favorite was awarded for him “above all merit” - a gilded cup, a caftan with sables, an estate and a monetary gift of 300 rubles in gold.

And yet, the failure of the Crimean campaigns became the beginning of his fall, and with it the entire government of Sophia. The far-sighted Shaklovity advised the regent to immediately take radical measures (first of all, kill Peter), but Sophia did not dare to take them.

Peter, who turned 17 on May 30, 1689, refused to recognize Golitsyn’s campaign as successful. He accused him of “negligence” during the Crimean campaigns and condemned him for submitting reports to Sophia alone, bypassing the co-ruler kings. This fact became the beginning of an open confrontation between Peter and Sophia.

In August 1689, Golitsyn, sensing the approach of an imminent outcome, hid in his estate near Moscow and thereby betrayed Sophia. She tried to gather the forces of the Streltsy army, while Peter, together with the Naryshkins, took refuge under the protection of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Patriarch Joachim, sent by Sophia, went over to his side (who did not forgive her for allowing the Jesuits into the capital), and then the archers handed over Shaklovity to Peter (he was soon executed).

On September 16, he tried to repent and declare his loyalty to Sophia’s half-brother and her ex “ dear friend» Golitsyn, but was not accepted by Peter. The next day, September 7, 1689, Sophia's government fell, her name was excluded from the royal title, and she herself was sent to the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow - however, without being tonsured as a nun. I.E. portrayed her as formidable in anger and ready to resist two centuries later. Repin (Princess Sophia in the Novodevichy Convent, 1879): in the painting he depicts a gray-haired old woman, although she was only 32 years old at that time.

Peter exiled Sophia Golitsyn's favorite with his family to the Arkhangelsk region, where he died in 1714. But even in his absence, the princess was not going to give up. She looked for supporters and found them. However, attempts to organize real resistance to Peter I failed: denunciations and surveillance of her in the monastery ruled out success. In 1691, among the executed supporters of Sophia was the last student of S. Polotsk - Sylvester Medvedev. In March 1697, another Streltsy conspiracy in her favor, led by Ivan Tsykler, failed. In January 1698, taking advantage of the absence of Peter in the capital, who had left for Europe as part of the Great Embassy, ​​Sophia (who was 41 years old at that time) again tried to return to the throne. Taking advantage of the discontent of the archers, who complained about the burdensomeness of Peter's Azov campaigns in 1695-1696, as well as about the conditions of service in the border cities, she called on them to disobey their superiors and promised to free them from all hardships if she was elevated to the throne.

Peter received news of the conspiracy while in Western Europe. Urgently returning to Moscow, he sent an army led by P.I. against the Streltsy. Gordon, who defeated the conspirators near the New Jerusalem Monastery on June 18, 1698.

Patrick Leopold Gordon of Ochluchrys

Russia experienced the last surge of Streltsy unrest in the spring of 1698. Sophia was looking forward to these speeches and, although she did not accept active participation, hoped that the hated Peter would not be able to stay in power, that disappointed and enlightened compatriots would fall at her feet, calling for the throne. However, the last uprising also ended in bloody massacres. But Sophia was not forgotten: in front of her cells, the king ordered 195 people to be hanged, of whom three, hanging in front of her windows themselves, were given testimonies about the letters that the queen wrote, inciting rebellion. And for a long time, five whole months, the queen had the opportunity to admire the decaying human bodies and inhale the pungent cadaverous smell

On October 21, 1698, Sophia was forcibly tonsured a nun under the name of Susanna. She died in captivity on July 3, 1704, having adopted the schema under the name of Sophia before her death. She was buried in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent.

Novodevichy Convent in Moscow

Sofya Alekseevna Romanova in the Novodevichy Convent

Having never been married and having no children, she remained in the memories of her contemporaries as a person of “great intelligence and the most tender insight, a maiden full of more masculine intelligence.” According to Voltaire (1694-1778), she “had a lot of intelligence, composed poetry, wrote and spoke well, and combined many talents with a beautiful appearance, but all of them were overshadowed by her enormous ambition.” No real portraits of Sophia have survived, with the exception of an engraving created by order of Shaklovity. On it Sophia is depicted in royal vestments, with a scepter and orb in her hands.

Assessments of Sophia's personality vary greatly. Peter I and his admirers consider her a retrograde, although state abilities Peter's half-sister were already noted in the historiography of the 18th - early 20th centuries. - G.F. Miller, N.M. Karamzin, N.A. Polev, N.V. Ustryalov and I.E. Zabelin saw in her the embodiment of the Byzantine ideal of an autocrat, S.M. Solovyov considered her a “hero-princess” , who, with the inner freedom of her personality, liberated all Russian women from prison seclusion, who tragically did not find support in society. Other historians (N.A. Aristov, E.F. Shmurlo, some Soviet scientists) were also inclined to this assessment. Foreign researchers consider her “the most decisive and capable woman ever ruled in Russia” (S.V.O. Brian, B. Lincoln, L. Hughes, etc.).

Natalia Pushkareva

In the pre-Petrine era, the fate of girls born in the royal chambers was unenviable. The life of each of them developed according to the same scenario: childhood, youth, monastery. The princesses were not even taught to read and write. The daughter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the sister of Peter I flatly refused to put up with this state of affairs. Princess Sophia. Thanks to her sharp mind and cunning, this woman became the de facto ruler of Rus' for seven whole years.

Until the 18th century, the fate of the princesses was predetermined. According to their status, they were forbidden to marry courtiers, and the idea of ​​marriage with European monarchs was not allowed, since for the daughters of Russian rulers, converting to Catholicism was impossible. That is why no one particularly burdened themselves with teaching the princesses to read and write. Basically, their education was limited to the basics of needlework. After the girls turned 20-25 years old, they were sent to monasteries. The exception was the daughter of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Sophia.

Sofya Alekseevna was one of the 16 children of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The little princess was different from her sisters: she showed curiosity, refused to spend time in endless prayers, and did not listen to her nannies. To the surprise of the courtiers, her father not only did not get angry with his daughter for such disobedience, but, on the contrary, hired her a teacher.

Already at the age of 10, Princess Sophia learned to read and write, mastered several foreign languages, and was interested in history and science. As the princess grew older, rumors about her spread far beyond the country's borders. No images of the princess survived during her lifetime, but according to contemporaries, Sophia could not be called a beauty. The Frenchman Foix de la Neuville described it this way: “She is terribly fat, she has a head the size of a pot, hair on her face, lupus on her legs, and as wide, short and coarse as her figure is, her mind is subtle, sharp and political.”.

After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich, the Russian throne was taken by his son Fyodor Alekseevich. He was very sick, so the princess volunteered to look after her brother. In between caring for the king, Sophia made useful friendships with the boyars and understood court intrigues. It was then that she met Prince Vasily Golitsyn.

Golitsyn had an excellent education, was known as a talented diplomat, and was well brought up. The princess, unwittingly, fell in love with the prince, who was also 14 years older than her. However, Golitsyn was considered an exemplary family man. The princess and the prince developed a trusting relationship.

When Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich died in 1682, the young Peter was elevated to the throne, and his mother Natalya Naryshkina was appointed regent. Princess Sophia did not want to put up with this state of affairs, and with the support of Prince Golitsyn, she staged a Streltsy riot, after which the newly-crowned tsar and his mother were overthrown. Literally a couple of weeks later, two brothers Peter and Ivan were appointed to reign, and Sophia was appointed regent.

The beginning of Sophia's reign was marked by a number of positive reforms. Foreign traders, teachers, and craftsmen were attracted to Russia. The Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was opened. Under the princess, the punishments were slightly softened. Now those accused of theft were not executed, but were limited to cutting off their hands. Women who murdered husbands were not left to die in suffering, buried up to their chests, but their heads were immediately cut off.

Time passed, and Peter matured. Now he no longer obeyed his sister in everything. Mother Natalya Naryshkina constantly whispered to young Peter the story of how his sister managed to become the de facto head of state. In addition, everyone knew that Sophia's regency should end when Peter reached adulthood or after his marriage. At the insistence of her mother, the tsar married at the age of 17, but Sophia did not even think of resigning.

The situation worsened in early August 1689. Several archers arrived to Peter in the village of Preobrazhenskoye and informed him of a possible assassination attempt. The heir disappeared into the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Gradually all the boyars and Streltsy troops went over to his side.

Vasily Golitsyn prudently left for his estate. The only one who supported Sophia was her favorite - the head of the Streltsy order, Fyodor Shalkovity. Later he was beheaded, and Sofya Alekseevna was left completely alone.

Peter I exiled her to the Novodevichy Convent and assigned guards. The woman continued to be honored and even fed from the royal kitchen. In 1698, the archers, dissatisfied with the reforms of Peter, “replaced by the Germans”, who was at that moment abroad, again tried to elevate Sophia to the throne. The matter ended with the king ordering his sister to be forcibly cut into a nun.

Peter I, who took the throne, became famous for his radical reforms. But during the reign

The elder sister of one of the most famous Russian monarchs, Peter the Great, Sophia, having carried out an insidious undertaking, actually gained the royal throne. But as soon as her brother grew up, he remembered this to her and “forced her to respect himself.”

Ugly, but smart

The Russian princesses had, in general, an unenviable fate. They were not taught to read and write, because there was no need - marriage was not a possibility for such girls (they were not supposed to give in marriage to courtiers, and marriages with the offspring of European eminent families were prohibited because they had to convert to Catholicism). As soon as the princess grew up, she was sent to be tonsured in a monastery: according to established tradition, the Russian throne was inherited through the male line.

Sofya Alekseevna managed to break this tradition. Firstly, by the age of 10, the girl learned to read and write and mastered foreign languages, which her father, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, did not oppose. On the contrary, he even encouraged such a desire for education. Sophia was interested in science and knew history quite well.

Judging by the memoirs of contemporaries, Sophia was not a beauty - short and fat, with a disproportionately huge head and a mustache under her nose. But from childhood she was distinguished by a subtle, sharp and “political” mind. When Father Alexei Mikhailovich died and Sophia’s ailing brother, 15-year-old Fyodor, ascended the throne, the sister, looking after her brother, simultaneously began relationships with the boyars, savvy about how and on what court intrigues were built.

7 years as regent

Kingdom Fedora III Alekseevich ended after 5 years. The twenty-year-old monarch died without leaving an heir. A dynastic crisis arose - on the one hand, the Miloslavsky clan was vying for the accession of 16-year-old Ivan (his mother, the late Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna, was Miloslavskaya as a girl), on the other hand, they wanted to put the Naryshkins on the throne of 10-year-old Peter (the widow of Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter’s mother, before marriage she bore this surname). The Naryshkins, supported by Archpriest Joachim, outweighed; it was he who publicly announced that the future ruler of Russia was Peter I.

Not wanting to put up with such a situation, Peter’s sister Sophia, using for her own purposes the dissatisfaction of the archers that was brewing at that moment (those who were supposedly withheld their salaries), stirred up a rebellion. The Tsarina was supported by the Miloslavskys and some prominent boyars, among whom were Vasily Golitsyn and Ivan Khovansky (that Streltsy riot, obviously, is why they began to call Khovanshchina).

As a result, Sophia achieved the position of regent under Ivan and Peter. Her reign, during which the Miloslavskys received unlimited influence at court, lasted 7 years. All this time, Peter and his mother lived in the royal summer residence. When in 1689, at the instigation of his mother, he married Evdokia Lopukhina, Sophia’s guardianship period de jure ended - the heir to the throne received all the rights to take the royal throne.

There was power, but it didn’t amuse me enough

Sophia did not want to give up power under any circumstances. At first the archers were on her side; the closest boyar entourage, who received the reins of power from the hands of the regent, also stood behind Sophia. The situation became tense, as both sides of the protracted confrontation suspected each other of intending to unleash a bloody showdown to resolve the dispute.

At the beginning of August 1689, Peter was informed that an assassination attempt was being prepared on him. Frightened Peter fled with several bodyguards to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. The next morning, the prince’s mother and his wife Evdokia Lopukhina arrived at the monastery. They were accompanied by a funny regiment, quite impressive for those times. military force. There really was a smell of bloody civil strife here. Sophia sent Patriarch Joachim to the monastery for negotiations, but upon arrival at the monastery, against the will of the regent, he took and again declared Peter king.

Soon Peter issued a decree and, already as tsar, called on all Streltsy colonels to appear before him, otherwise he threatened with execution. Sophia, in turn, promised to solve everyone who decides to do this. Some still disobeyed and went to an audience with Peter. Seeing that the matter was not going well, Sophia tried to talk to her brother herself, but she was not allowed to see him. faithful to Peter Sagittarius. Gradually, all the military-political forces went over to the side of the new tsar, except for the head of the Streltsy order, Fyodor Shaklovity, who remained loyal to Sophia and kept the Streltsy in Moscow. But Peter, with the help of faithful people, eliminated him too. Shaklovsky was arrested, interrogated with passion and beheaded after torture.

Elimination and imprisonment

Having lost her power, Sophia, by order of Peter I, retired first to the Holy Spirit Convent, and then to the Novodevichy Convent, further from Moscow, where she was kept in custody. There is a version that Sophia was related to the Streltsy uprising of 1698. However, it is unlikely that she could lead him from the monastery dungeons. The tsar was abroad at the time the mutiny of the archers was brewing. His guards complained about non-payment of salaries, part of the army deserted from the northwestern borders of Russia, where they served and headed to Moscow “for the truth.” Letters appeared, allegedly delivered by Sophia to the archers from the monastery and calling for an uprising.

The revolt was suppressed by government troops, and the tsar, who returned from abroad, brutally dealt with the rebels. He interrogated his entourage and relatives for involvement in the conspiracy. Including Sophia. She denied the accusations.
Sofya Alekseevna did not declare anything more about herself. She died in 1704. There is a legend that the rebellious sister of Peter I escaped from monastic imprisonment with twelve archers. But no one has provided reliable evidence of this beautiful hypothesis.

Birth: September 17 (27) ( 1657-09-27 )
Moscow Death: July 3 (14) ( 1704-07-14 ) (46 years old)
Moscow Genus: Romanovs Father: Alexey Mikhailovich Mother: Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya

Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna was born into the family of Alexei Mikhailovich and his first wife, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya.

Biography

Personal qualities

Sophia was smart, powerful, ambitious, knew Polish, Latin, and even wrote poetry. Voltaire said about her: “The ruler had a lot of intelligence, composed poetry, wrote and spoke well, and combined many talents with a beautiful appearance; they were all overshadowed by her enormous ambition.”. Having no legal opportunity to ascend to the throne, the princess nevertheless overly thirsted for power, which led to frequent conflicts, including with the people who supported her.

Achievements

Notes

Literature

In Russian

• Belyaevsky chronicler // Russia under Princess Sophia and Peter I: Notes of Russian people / Comp. and ed. A. P. Bogdanov. - M.: Sovremennik, 1990. - P. 27 - 44. - 448 p. - ISBN 5-270-00708-8(in translation)
• Kostomarov N. I. The history of Russia in the biographies of its main figures. Ch. 13. Princess Sophia
• Solovyov S. M. History of Russia from ancient times. T. 14, ch. I, II.
• Lavrov A. S. Regency of Princess Sofia Alekseevna. Service society and the struggle for power at the top of the Russian state in 1682-1689. - M.: Archaeographic Center, 1999. - 304 p. - 1,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88253-035-0(in translation)
• Sedov P.V. Decline of the Moscow kingdom. Imperial Courtyard late XVII V. - St. Petersburg, 2006.
• Bogdanov A.P. Engraving as a source on the history of political struggle in Russia during the regency of Sofia Alekseevna (issues of origin) // Materials of the XV All-Union Scientific Student Conference “Student and Scientific and Technical Progress”. Series "History". - Novosibirsk, 1977. - P. 39–48.
• Description of the riot that took place in 1682. From the manuscript // Collection of various notes and writings that serve to provide complete information about the life and deeds of the sovereign Emperor Peter the Great. Published through the labors and support of Fyodor Tumansky. – Part 1. - St. Petersburg: Shnor, 1787. - P. 111 - 229.
• Hughes L. Princess Sophia / Lindsay Hughes / Trans. from English and scientific editing: Ph.D. S. V. Lobachev; Reviewers: Doctor of Historical Sciences, Prof. S. A. Kozlov, Doctor of History, Senior Researcher A. P. Pavlov. - St. Petersburg. : Grand, 2001. - 416 p. - 4,000 copies. - ISBN 5-9204-0003-X(in translation)

In foreign languages

• Hughes, L. Sophia, Regent of Russia 1657-1704. New Haven and London, 1990.
• Boskovska, N. Die russische Frau im 17. Jahrhundert. Köln, 1998.

Links

Categories:

• Personalities in alphabetical order
• Born on September 27
• Born in 1657
• Born in Moscow
• Deaths on July 14
• Died in 1704
• Died in Moscow
• Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery
• Russian princesses from the House of Romanov
• Forced monastic vows
• Regents of Russia
• Nuns of the Russian Orthodox Church

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See what “Sofya Alekseevna” is in other dictionaries:

- (1657 1704), princess, ruler of the Russian state in 1682 89 under two kings, her young brothers Ivan V and Peter I. She came to power with the help of V.V. Golitsyn, the Milo Slavskys, the Shaklovitys and the Streltsy. The government of Sofia Alekseevna concluded... ... Russian history