The shortest (15 days) of the 6 official marriages of Ivan the Terrible was the third - with Martha Vasilyevna Sobakina (born 1552 - death November 13, 1571) - the Third Russian Tsarina. In 1570, Ivan the Terrible decided to find a replacement for the mysterious death of Maria Temryukovna. At the end of the Novgorod pogrom, the tsar ordered to gather brides for the bride. From all over the country, about 2,000 noble girls were taken to the palace.
Tsar's bride
The foreigners Taube and Kruse, who were in the Russian service, described these brides in the following way: “When they all gathered from all over and over, he examined them as follows, for which he used almost a whole year. He ordered each person or girl to be brought into the house, where she had to dress in the most elegant way. Then he entered the room with two or three confidants, also dressed in the most careful manner, bowed to them, talked to them a little, examined them and said goodbye to them. This is how he dealt with everyone; those who did not like him, he used for shameful fleshly voluptuousness, gave them something and gave them in marriage to his executioners, or even drove away in a ruthless way.
Of all, 24 remained, and, holding their good time one after another, he chose 12 of them, and when we were with him on June 26, 1571 in the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda, he chose for himself and his son those whom he wanted, so way: they had to take off all jewelry and dresses and let themselves be examined naked without any difficulty and resistance. At the same time, his doctor was present, and he had to examine their urine in a glass and determine and speak about their nature, properties and health. After which he chose one for himself, the daughter of an ordinary merchant named Grigory Sobakin, and the son of Pskov origin from the Saburov family, and both were taken as wives, and on St. Michael's wedding took place."
Winner
So, artful Martha Sobakina won this kind of beauty contest and became the third wife of the king. In addition to the personal qualities of the applicant, perhaps the fact that she, as his distant relative, was protected by Malyuta Skuratov, who had gained great strength at the court, influenced her.
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What is known about Martha Sobakina
According to legend, repeated by Karamzin and Solovyov, Martha was the daughter of a Novgorod merchant. In fact, her father was the oprichnik Kolomna boyar son Vasily (Bogdan) Bolshoi Stepanovich Sobakin, whose family, perhaps, comes from German immigrants to Novgorod.
Little information about the Sobakins has survived to this day. The ancestor of the Sobakin family is considered Danila Grigorievich Sobaka, who moved from Tver to the service of the Moscow Grand Duke John IV. It can be assumed that the Sobakins were somehow connected with Novgorod and were related to trade, which could give rise to a rumor about the merchant origin of the royal bride, although only noblewomen were allowed to the bride.
After the engagement, Martha fell ill and began to "dry up." But the sovereign nevertheless decided to play a wedding, relying on the will of God. 1571, October 28 - Ivan and Martha were married in the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Sloboda, because Moscow was burned to the ground by Devlet-Giray. Malyuta was the groom's first boyfriend, the second boyfriend was his son-in-law and the future Russian tsar, the young oprichnik Boris Godunov.
Death
At the end of the feast, Martha became ill, she was taken away by the arms. On November 13, she died, remaining a virgin, which gave the king a reason to declare this marriage invalid. At a specially convened council, church hierarchs allowed Ivan the Terrible to “repeat the attempt” by imposing a light penance on him - to make a hundred bows every day before the icons for one year.
Investigation
The death of the young beauty, who had just undergone a thorough medical examination, could not but raise suspicions that she was poisoned. Malyuta Skuratov took up the investigation. Suspicion fell on the Gryaznov brothers, who feared the further rise of Malyuta, who became a royal relative. A friend of the versions, Martha's mother gave her daughter a certain potion to speed up the conception of a child from a prematurely aged and immersed sovereign.
In any case, it is obvious that Marfa Vasilievna became a victim of court intrigues. As a result of the search, 20 people were executed, including Grigory Gryaznoy. His brother Vasily Gryaznoy was sent into exile on the southern border. The bride's relatives, who managed to take high places at the court, also fell out of favor. The tsar announced that the Sobakins "wanted me and the children to sorcery, but God hid me from them."
1) Marfa Vasilievna in the film "Ivan Vasilievich changes his profession." 2) Nikitin. Sculptural reconstruction based on the skull of Martha Sobakina
All this tragedy played out against the backdrop of witchcraft hysteria that swept through Europe. In the city squares, thousands of women were burned, who were suspected of witchcraft. Mass psychosis reached Russia, completely upsetting the imagination of the schizophrenic king. In a certain sense, Ivan IV could understand that all three queens - Anastasia, Maria and Martha - died young with obvious signs of poisoning.
The queen was buried next to the previous wife of Grozny - Maria Temryukovna (in the Ascension Cathedral of the Kremlin Ascension Monastery; after the temple was demolished in 1930, the remains were transferred to the Archangel Cathedral).
A study of the queen's remains, which was carried out in the 1990s, did not reveal poisonous metals or other substances; although using a herbal poison, chemical analysis would be powerless.
2003 - renowned forensic expert S. A. Nikitin restored the portrait of Marfa Vasilievna in the form of a sculptural bust made in bronze. She was actually very beautiful.
The fate of Marfa Vasilievna inspired the composer N. I. Rimsky-Korsakov (by the way, a native of the Novgorod province) for the creation of the opera The Tsar's Bride. And although her libretto has little in common with the historical truth, the opera is still in the repertoire of the best theaters in the world.
V. Smirnov