Ivan the Terrible and his wives

😉 Greetings to everyone who wandered into this site! The article “Ivan the Terrible and His Wives – Interesting Facts” contains information about the personal life of the Russian Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed the Terrible. Years of life: 1530 -1584, zodiac sign – Virgo.

According to the church laws of the time when Ivan IV Vasilyevich lived, Orthodox Christians, regardless of gender, were allowed to marry three times. The Church was very jealous of the preservation of the family and condemned such a not godly deed as divorce. This was a rare occurrence. In addition, good reasons were needed for the divorce.

Mostly widowers entered into repeated marriages. It was possible to obtain permission for a third marriage. But if the family life did not work out the third time, someone died or died, the dowager had to remain alone until the end of his days.

No one argued with the law, regardless of origin – neither commoners nor noble nobles.

The wives of Ivan the Terrible

Young Ivan first decided to marry at the age of sixteen. It was in the spirit of that time, and no one was surprised by such a desire. Metropolitan Macarius blessed the young sovereign.

A review of brides was organized, where Anastasia Romanovna Zakharyina-Yurieva was chosen from among the many beauties who had come from all over the country. The girl met all the requirements that could be presented to the queen.

She was distinguished by modesty, intelligence, virtue. Her external data are also known. She was short with regular features and long dark hair.

The Grand Duke fell in love. Anastasia reciprocated him. It turned out to be quite a happy family union. The couple regularly had children. True, only two sons survived – Ivan and Fyodor. The rest of the babies were dying.

Anastasia had a great influence on her husband. This clever woman guided the king to virtue. And if not for her death, it is not known under what nickname the Grand Duke could go down in history.

Peace and tranquility in an instant left the royal court after the sudden death of the queen in 1560. And although no direct evidence of her poisoning was found, the sovereign directly blamed the advisers and priests close to the court. The angry young autocrat became uncontrollably suspicious.

He was angry about business and without business and simply went into fornication.

Second marriage

Only eight days passed after Anastasia’s death, as the Metropolitan and the Boyar Duma became worried about the absence of the queen. The monarch was supposed to be married, and the laws of decency were strictly enforced.

The autocrat was worried about his position. He was ready to marry the sister of the Polish king, but for political reasons he abandoned this venture. Matchmakers were sent to the Caucasus, where they picked up a party – the daughter of a Kabardian prince. The autocrat liked the girl, a marriage was concluded.

Maria Temryukovna, who captivated the sovereign with her beauty, could not win his hearts. The girl herself was wild and cruel. She seemed to push John Vasilyevich to evil deeds.

The autocrat’s passion quickly cooled down, he became absolutely indifferent to Mary. Their only child died before two months. The sovereign knew no shame in adultery. Various sources tell about this.

Although historians have disputes over the date of Mary’s death, it is generally believed that this happened in September 1569. From what the queen died is unknown. And although the sovereign did not feel great grief, all the honors due were given to the deceased.

After the death of his second wife, the king seemed to be trying to surpass himself in all sorts of atrocities and fierce murders.

Third marriage

In order to marry a third time, the king again decided to gather a review of brides. At this review, for two years now the dowager autocrat intended to choose a bride for himself and for his grown-up son, Tsarevich Ivan.

Chronicles testify that two thousand girls were brought from all over the country. The selected girls were compared in intelligence and pleasantness, but beauty was valued above all. And the fact that the chosen bride Marfa Vasilyevna Sobakina was not from a noble family did not stop the monarch at all.

It is not known how the life of the tsar and young Marfa Vasilievna, spoiled by female affection, could have developed. But as soon as the engagement took place, the girl became very ill. She melted before our eyes.

The wedding was scheduled in four months, and Martha was able to live to see it. It is known that this event was celebrated on a special scale. Buffoons and acrobats specially arrived from Veliky Novgorod, brought tame bears.

A week later, the Tsarevich’s wedding was celebrated in the royal mansion. And a week later, the young queen passed away.

On this occasion, a whole investigation was carried out, which concluded: “Marfa Vasilyevna was poisoned.” Someone strongly did not want new heirs.

In the course of the investigation, the relatives of the first two wives and even the mother of the deceased Martha fell under suspicion. Twenty people were executed.

Fourth marriage

The angry ruler knew that his limit on marriages was over, but he managed to convince the clergy that his third wife did not have time to become his wife for real, since due to a serious illness she had no contact with her husband and died a girl.

Grozny convinced the cathedral that the marriage was not consummated. This helped him get permission to marry again. The Grand Duke did not think for a long time and summoned the girl who was the second at the bride, Anna Alekseevna Koltovskaya.

There is evidence that Grozny had serious plans for this marriage. He drew up a spiritual letter, in which he described in detail what would be awarded to a child born in a marriage with his wife Anna, if it is a son and if it is a daughter. Anna herself was given the city of Rostov and villages and villages near Moscow.

Historians do not know what went wrong in this family union, but it lasted only six months. The young woman somehow did not please the sovereign. She was forcibly tonsured into a nun. In monasticism, she was called Daria.

The woman devoted her entire long life to godly deeds. And although after the death of her husband she was pardoned by Fyodor I Ioannovich, she continued to engage in monastic affairs.

Spooky story

After parting with Anna Alekseevna, Grozny could not count on other marriages, but he no longer strove for this.

Many historians and memoirists explain that there are very few records of Grozny’s further personal relationships, since they had no historical significance, and the tsar had a lot of relationships.

But there are characters that are difficult to pass by. For example, the story with Maria Dolgoruka. True, many historians, in general, doubt the existence of Mary, considering everything a terrible legend and fiction.

It all began in November 1573, when the Grand Duke brought the maiden Maria Dolgoruky closer to him, and after that he made a feast in her honor. Poor Masha’s happiness was short-lived, since she turned out to be not a virgin. The ruler took this as an insult and decided to deal with the girl.

Unhappy Masha was tied up, put in a cart, and the horses were set in motion. If the girl survived after such a punishment, then she had no chance of surviving. Dead or alive, she was thrown into a pond.

Next marriages

In 1574, the autocrat, without any blessing, began to live with the girl Anna Grigorievna Vasilchikova. It was the daughter of a petty boyar.

Anna never got pregnant in a year, and this upset the autocrat. Interest in the young woman in marriage has completely disappeared. Then, John Vasilyevich sent the woman to the Pskov monastery. A year later, Anna died, from what is unknown.

Most likely, the reason for Anna Vasilchikova’s distance from herself was the monarch’s new hobby.

Vasilisa Melentieva was a grown woman. Most likely, the sovereign was seduced in her not only by her beauty, but also by some other qualities. Vasilisa was a widow and had children. Her children, son and daughter, the sovereign granted vast lands, which is proof of her high position under the sovereign.

Despite direct evidence of her presence at court, nothing is known about the end of her relationship with the king. There is no information about her tonsure or death, there is no information about her expulsion. One can only assume that thanks to her mind, Vasilisa was able to gently move away from the autocrat without harming herself.

The last wife of Ivan the Terrible

Illegal by ecclesiastical law, the last wife of the sovereign was Maria Feodorovna Nagaya. This is a very bright historical figure, since she was the mother of Dmitry’s son, born of the sovereign. The son lived only eight years. Then Maria Feodorovna was tonsured as a nun.

Her situation improved when she recognized False Dmitry I as her son. In 1605 she was given a luxurious reception in Moscow. But already in 1606, Nagaya decided to give up her words, and no longer recognized her son in False Dmitry I. For more than twenty years, a woman, hiding behind the name of her son, figured in history.

Conclusion

The first Tsar and Grand Duke of All Russia went down in history not only as a reformer and winner of many wars, but also as a cruel and power-hungry ruler.

The life of a loving sovereign was full of personal stories. From a tender first love and a happy marriage to disappointments, numerous marriages and the birth of the last son, which excited Russia for several decades after his death.

Interesting fact: at the same time, the king of England – Henry VIII had a very similar story with his wives. Ivan lived for 53 years, Henry for 55 years. Read “Henry VIII Tudor and His Wives”.

Ivan the Terrible and his wives (video)

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