😉 Greetings to history lovers and regular visitors to this site! In the article "Sophia Paleolog: biography of the Grand Duchess of Moscow" about the life of the second wife of the sovereign of all Rus' Ivan III. At the end of the article is a video with an interesting lecture on this topic.
Biography of Sophia Paleolog
The reign of Ivan III in Rus' is considered the time of the establishment of Russian autocracy, the consolidation of forces around a single Moscow principality, the time of the final overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.
Sovereign of All Rus' Ivan III
Ivan III married for the first time very young. When he was only seven years old, he was betrothed to the daughter of the Prince of Tver, Maria Borisovna. This step was dictated by political motives.
The parents, who until then were at enmity, entered into an alliance against Dmitry Shemyaka, who sought to seize the princely throne. The young couple was married in 1462. But after five years of happy marriage, Mary died, leaving her husband a young son. They said she was poisoned.
Matchmaking
Two years later, Ivan III, due to dynastic interests, began the famous matchmaking for a Byzantine princess. The emperor's brother Thomas Palaiologos lived with his family. His daughter, Sophia, raised by papal legates, was offered by the Romans as a wife to the Moscow prince.
The Pope hoped in this way to spread the influence of the Catholic Church in Rus', to use Ivan III in the fight against Turkey, which had seized Greece. An important argument was Sophia's right to the throne of Constantinople.
For his part, Ivan III wanted to establish his authority by marrying the legitimate heir to the royal throne. Having received an offer from Rome, the sovereign, after consulting with his mother, the metropolitan and the boyars, sent an ambassador to Rome - the coin master Ivan Fryazin, an Italian by birth.
Fryazin returned with a portrait of the princess and with the assurance of Rome's complete favorable disposition. He went for the second time to Italy with the authority to represent the person of the prince at the betrothal.
Wedding
In July 1472, Sophia Paleolog left Rome, accompanied by Cardinal Anthony and a large retinue. In Rus', she was met very solemnly. A messenger rode in front of the retinue, warning about the movement of the Byzantine princess.
The wedding took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin in 1472. Sophia's stay in Rus' coincided with great changes in the life of the country. The Byzantine princess did not justify the hopes of Rome. She did not campaign in support of the Catholic Church.
Far from the vigilant legates, for the first time, perhaps, she felt herself the heiress of the kings. She wanted freedom and power. At the house of the Moscow prince, she began to revive the order of the Byzantine court.
"Wedding of Ivan III with Sophia Paleolog in 1472" 19th century engraving
According to legend, Sophia brought many books with her from Rome. In those days, the book was a luxury item. These books were included in the famous royal library of Ivan the Terrible.
Contemporaries noticed that after marrying the niece of the emperor of Byzantium, Ivan became a formidable sovereign in Rus'. The prince began to independently decide the affairs of the state. Innovations were perceived differently. Many were afraid that the new order would lead Rus' to death, as well as Byzantium.
The decisive steps of the sovereign against the Golden Horde are also attributed to the influence of the Grand Duchess. The chronicle brought to us the angry words of the princess: "How long will I be a khan's slave ?!" Obviously, by this she wanted to influence the vanity of the king. Only under Ivan III did Rus' finally throw off the Tatar yoke.
The family life of the Grand Duchess was successful. This is evidenced by numerous offspring: 12 children (7 daughters and 5 sons). Two daughters died in infancy. — her grandson. The years of the life of Sophia (Zoya) Paleolog: 1455-1503.
Video
In this video, additional and detailed information (lecture) "Sophia Paleolog: biography"
Sofia Paleolog, she is Zoya Paleolog (Ζωή Παλαιολόγου) was born around 1443-1448. Her father, Thomas Palaiologos - Despot of the Morea(medieval name for the Peloponnese), was the younger brother of the last Byzantine emperor ConstantineXI who died in 1453 during the fall of Constantinople.
After the capture of the Morea by Mehmed II in 1460, Zoya, along with her two brothers, survived all the hardships of exile and flight - first to the island of Kerkyra (Corfu), and then to Rome, where she received the name Sophia.
After the death of her father, Sophia lived in the care of the Pope, who chose her as an instrument of his plans: in order to restore the Florentine union of churches and join the Muscovite state to the union, he decided to marry the Byzantine princess to Russian prince Ivan III who was widowed in 1467.
The Pope began negotiations with him through Bessarion of Nicaea, an outstanding Greek church leader and educator, a supporter of the union of Orthodoxy and Catholicism, who in February 1469 sent an envoy to Moscow with an offer to the Grand Duke of the hand of Sophia Palaiologos. Ivan III liked the proposal to intermarry with the Palaiologos dynasty, and the very next month he sent his ambassador, the Italian Ivan Fryazin (Gian Batista della Volpe), to Rome.
According to the wife of Lorenzo Medici, Clarissa Orsini, the young Sophia Paleolog was very pleasant: “Short in stature, the eastern flame sparkled in her eyes, the whiteness of her skin spoke of the nobility of her family.”
Already in June 1472, Sophia Palaiologos left Rome for Russia, and on October 1, a messenger rode to Pskov with an order to prepare for the meeting of the future empress.
Sophia, not stopping anywhere, accompanied by the Roman legate Anthony, hurried to Moscow, where she arrived November 12, 1472. On the same day took place her wedding with Ivan III, while the marriage of a Russian prince with a Greek princess had completely different consequences than the Pope expected. Sophia, instead of persuading Rus' to accept the union, converted to Orthodoxy; the ambassadors of the Pope were forced to leave with nothing.
Moreover, the Grand Russian Duchess brought with her everything covenants and traditions of the Byzantine Empire, famous for the Orthodox faith and a wise state system: the so-called "symphony"(with the consent) of the state and church authorities, transferring the rights of the Byzantine emperors to his Orthodox spouse - the Grand Duke of Moscow and his future (from him) Orthodox descendants.
This marriage had a great influence on strengthening the international prestige of Rus' and the grand ducal power within the country. According to Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the heritage of Byzantium played a huge role, primarily in "gathering of Rus'" Moscow, as well as in the development of the Russian national ideology of the Third Rome.
A visible sign of the continuity of Muscovite Rus' from Byzantium was the adoption of the dynastic sign of the Paleologs - double-headed eagle- as a state emblem, on the chest of which, over time, an image of the ancient coat of arms of Moscow appeared - a horseman striking a serpent, while the horseman depicts as St. George the Victorious, and the Sovereign, striking with his spear all the enemies of the Fatherland and any anti-state evil.
The Grand Ducal couple, Sophia Palaiologos and Ivan III, had a total of 12 children.
Following the two daughters who died immediately after birth, the Grand Duchess gave birth to a son, Vasily Ivanovich, having achieved the announcement of him as Grand Duke instead of the grandson of Ivan III, Dmitry, who was crowned king.
Vasily III, for the first time in the history of Rus', was named king in an agreement dated 1514 with the Roman emperor Maximilian I, inherited from his mother the Greek appearance, captured on one of the icons of the 16th century, which is currently on display at the State Historical Museum.
The Greek blood of Sophia Paleologus also affected Ivan IV the Terrible, who was very similar in his Mediterranean type of face to the royal grandmother (in direct contrast to his mother, Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya).
Sophia Palaiologos helped her husband, following the traditions of the empire, surround himself with splendor and start etiquette at court. In addition, doctors, artists and architects were called from Western Europe to decorate the palace and the capital.
So, in particular, he was invited from Milan and Alberti (Aristotle) Fioravanti, who was to build the Kremlin chambers. The Italian architect was considered one of the best specialists in Europe in underground hiding places and labyrinths: before laying the walls of the Kremlin, he built real catacombs under it, where in one of the underground chests of books that followed the Byzantine princess to Muscovy. According to contemporaries, these chests contained not only handwritten treasures from antiquity, but also the best of what was saved during the fire of the famous Library of Alexandria.
Aristotle Fioravanti built the Assumption and Annunciation Cathedrals. Moscow was decorated with the Palace of Facets, the Kremlin towers, as well as the Terem Palace and the Archangel Cathedral, built on the territory of the Moscow Kremlin. The grand ducal capital was preparing to become royal.
But most importantly, Sofia Fominichna persistently and consistently supported her husband's liberation policy against the Golden Horde.
Do you know that,when a sculptural portrait of Princess Maria Staritskaya, the daughter of the disgraced Prince Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, who was Ivan the Terrible's cousin, was made, the researchers were surprised by her resemblance to Sophia Paleolog, who was the girl's great-grandmother.
The sudden death of the first wife of Ivan III, Princess Maria Borisovna, on April 22, 1467, made the Grand Duke of Moscow think about a new marriage. The widowed grand duke opted for the Fechian princess Sophia Palaiologos, who lived in Rome and was known as a Catholic. Some historians believe that the idea of the "Roman-Byzantine" marriage union was born in Rome, others prefer Moscow, others - Vilna or Krakow.
Sophia (in Rome she was called Zoe) Palaiologos was the daughter of the Morean despot Thomas Palaiologos and was the niece of Emperors Constantine XI and John VIII. Despina Zoya spent her childhood in Morea and on the island of Corfu. She came to Rome with her brothers Andrei and Manuel after the death of her father in May 1465. The paleologists came under the auspices of Cardinal Bessarion, who retained sympathy for the Greeks. The Patriarch of Constantinople and Cardinal Vissarion tried to renew the union with Russia with the help of marriage.
Arriving in Moscow from Italy on February 11, 1469, Yuri Grek brought Ivan III a certain “leaf”. In this message, the author of which, apparently, was Pope Paul II himself, and the co-author was Cardinal Bessarion, the Grand Duke was informed about the stay in Rome of a noble bride devoted to Orthodoxy, Sophia Palaiologos. Dad promised Ivan his support in case he wants to woo her.
In Moscow, they did not like to rush into important matters, and they pondered over the new news from Rome for four months. Finally, all reflections, doubts and preparations were left behind. January 16, 1472 Moscow ambassadors set off on a long journey.
In Rome, the Muscovites were honorably received by the new Pope Gikctom IV. As a gift from Ivan III, the ambassadors presented the pontiff with sixty selected sable skins. From now on, the case quickly went to completion. A week later, Sixtus IV in St. Peter's Cathedral performs a solemn ceremony of Sophia's absentee betrothal to the Moscow sovereign.
At the end of June 1472, the bride, accompanied by Moscow ambassadors, the papal legate and a large retinue, went to Moscow. At parting, the Pope gave her a long audience and his blessing. He ordered to arrange magnificent, crowded meetings everywhere for Sofya and her retinue.
Sophia Paleolog arrived in Moscow on November 12, 1472, and her wedding with Ivan III took place right there. What is the reason for the rush? It turns out that the next day the memory of St. John Chrysostom, the heavenly patron of the Moscow sovereign, was celebrated. From now on, the family happiness of Prince Ivan was given under the patronage of the great saint.
Sophia became a full-fledged Grand Duchess of Moscow.
The very fact that Sophia agreed to go to seek her fortune from Rome to distant Moscow suggests that she was a brave, energetic and adventurous woman. In Moscow, she was expected not only by the honors rendered to the Grand Duchess, but also by the hostility of the local clergy and the heir to the throne. At every step she had to defend her rights.
Ivan, for all his love of luxury, was thrifty to the point of stinginess. He saved literally everything. Growing up in a completely different environment, Sophia Paleolog, on the contrary, strove to shine and show generosity. This was required by her ambition of a Byzantine princess, the niece of the last emperor. In addition, generosity made it possible to make friends among the Moscow nobility.
But the best way to assert yourself was, of course, childbearing. The Grand Duke wanted to have sons. Sophia herself wanted this. However, to the delight of ill-wishers, she gave birth to three daughters in a row - Elena (1474), Theodosia (1475) and again Elena (1476). Sophia prayed to God and all the saints for the gift of a son.
Finally, her request was granted. On the night of March 25-26, 1479, a boy was born, named after his grandfather Vasily. (For his mother, he always remained Gabriel - in honor of the Archangel Gabriel.) Happy parents connected the birth of their son with last year's pilgrimage and fervent prayer at the tomb of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity Monastery. Sophia said that when approaching the monastery, the great old man himself appeared to her, holding a boy in his arms.
Following Vasily, she had two more sons (Yuri and Dmitry), then two daughters (Elena and Feodosia), then three more sons (Semyon, Andrei and Boris) and the last, in 1492, a daughter, Evdokia.
But now the question inevitably arose about the future fate of Vasily and his brothers. The heir to the throne remained the son of Ivan III and Maria Borisovna, Ivan Molodoy, whose son Dmitry was born on October 10, 1483, in marriage with Elena Voloshanka. In the event of the death of the Sovereign, he would not hesitate in one way or another to get rid of Sophia and her family. The best they could hope for was exile or exile. At the thought of this, the Greek woman was seized with rage and impotent despair.
In the winter of 1490, Sophia's brother, Andrei Paleologus, came to Moscow from Rome. Together with him, the Moscow ambassadors who traveled to Italy returned. They brought to the Kremlin a lot of all kinds of craftsmen. One of them, a visiting doctor Leon, volunteered to heal Prince Ivan the Young of a leg disease. But when he put jars to the prince and gave his potions (from which he could hardly die), a certain malefactor added poison to these potions. On March 7, 1490, 32-year-old Ivan the Young died.
This whole story gave rise to many rumors in Moscow and throughout Rus'. Hostile relations between Ivan the Young and Sophia Paleolog were well known. The Greek woman did not enjoy the love of Muscovites. It is quite clear that rumor attributed to her the murder of Ivan the Young. In The History of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Prince Kurbsky directly accused Ivan III of poisoning his own son, Ivan the Young. Yes, such a turn of events opened the way to the throne for the children of Sophia. Sovereign himself found himself in an extremely difficult position. Probably, in this intrigue, Ivan III, who ordered his son to use the services of a vain doctor, turned out to be only a blind tool in the hands of a cunning Greek woman.
After the death of Ivan the Young, the question of the heir to the throne escalated. There were two candidates: the son of Ivan the Young - Dmitry and the eldest son of Ivan III and Sophia
Paleolog - Vasily. The claims of Dmitry the grandson were reinforced by the fact that his father was the officially proclaimed Grand Duke - co-ruler of Ivan III and heir to the throne.
The sovereign was faced with a painful choice: to send either his wife and son to prison, or his daughter-in-law and grandson ... The murder of an opponent has always been the usual price of supreme power.
In the autumn of 1497, Ivan III leaned over to the side of Dmitry. He ordered to prepare for the grandson a solemn "marriage to the kingdom." Upon learning of this, supporters of Sophia and Prince Vasily formed a conspiracy that included the murder of Dmitry, as well as Vasily's flight to Beloozero (from where the road to Novgorod opened in front of him), the seizure of the grand ducal treasury stored in Vologda and Beloozero. However, already in December, Ivan arrested all the conspirators, including Vasily.
The investigation revealed the involvement in the conspiracy of Sophia Paleolog. It is possible that she was the organizer of the enterprise. Sophia got the poison and waited for the right opportunity to poison Dmitry.
On Sunday, February 4, 1498, 14-year-old Dmitry was solemnly declared heir to the throne in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Sophia Paleolog and her son Vasily were absent from this coronation. It seemed that their case was finally lost. The courtiers rushed to please Elena Stefanovna and her crowned son. However, the crowd of flatterers soon retreated in bewilderment. Sovereign did not give Dmitry real power, giving him control over only some northern counties.
Ivan III continued to painfully seek a way out of the dynastic impasse. Now his original plan did not seem successful. The Sovereign felt sorry for his young sons Vasily, Yuri, Dmitry Zhilka, Semyon, Andrey ... Yes, and with Princess Sophia he lived together for a quarter of a century ... Ivan III understood that sooner or later Sophia's sons would revolt. There were only two ways to prevent the performance: either destroy the second family, or bequeath the throne to Vasily and destroy the family of Ivan the Young.
Sovereign this time chose the second path. On March 21, 1499, he "granted ... the son of his prince Vasil Ivanovich, named him the sovereign of the Grand Duke, gave him Great Novgorod and Pskov to the Grand Duchy." As a result, three great princes appeared in Rus' at once: father, son and grandson!
On Thursday, February 13, 1500, a magnificent wedding was played in Moscow. Ivan III gave his 14-year-old daughter Theodosius in marriage to Prince Vasily Danilovich Kholmsky, the son of the famous commander and leader of the Tver "fellowship" in Moscow. This marriage contributed to the rapprochement between the children of Sophia Paleolog and the top of the Moscow nobility. Unfortunately, exactly one year later Theodosius died.
The denouement of the family drama came only two years later. “The same spring (1502) the prince of great April And on Monday put disgrace on the grandson of his Grand Duke Dmitry and on his mother on the Grand Duchess Elena, and from that day he did not order them to be remembered in litanies and litias, nor to be called the Grand Duke, and put them on the bailiffs." Three days later, Ivan III "granted his son Vasily, blessed and planted autocrat on the Grand Duchy of Volodimer and Moscow and All Rus', with the blessing of Simon, Metropolitan of All Rus'."
Exactly one year after these events, on April 7, 1503, Sophia Paleolog died. The body of the Grand Duchess was buried in the cathedral of the Kremlin Ascension Monastery. She was buried next to the grave of the Tsar's first wife, Princess Maria Borisovna of Tver.
Soon the health of Ivan III himself deteriorated. On Thursday, September 21, 1503, he, together with the heir to the throne, Vasily and his younger sons, went on a pilgrimage to the northern monasteries. However, the saints were no longer inclined to help the penitent sovereign. Upon returning from the pilgrimage, Ivan was stricken with paralysis: "... took away his arm and leg and eye." Ivan III died on October 27, 1505.
Sofia Paleolog went from the last Byzantine princess to the Grand Duchess of Moscow. Thanks to her intelligence and cunning, she could influence the policy of Ivan III, won in palace intrigues. Sophia also managed to put her son Vasily III on the throne.
Zoya Palaiologos was born around 1440-1449. She was the daughter of Thomas Palaiologos, brother of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine. The fate of the whole family after the death of the ruler was unenviable. Thomas Palaiologos fled to Corfu and then to Rome. After a while, the children followed him. Paleologists were patronized by Pope Paul II himself. The girl had to convert to Catholicism and change her name from Zoya to Sophia. She received an education appropriate to her status, not bathed in luxury, but not in poverty either.
Sophia became a pawn in the political game of the Pope. At first he wanted to give her as a wife to the king of Cyprus, James II, but he refused. The next contender for the girl's hand was Prince Caracciolo, but he did not live to see the wedding. When the wife of Prince Ivan III died in 1467, Sophia Paleolog was offered to him as his wife. The Pope did not mention that she was a Catholic, thereby wishing to expand the influence of the Vatican in Rus'. Negotiations for marriage continued for three years. Ivan III was seduced by the opportunity to marry such an eminent person.
The betrothal in absentia took place on June 1, 1472, after which Sophia Paleolog went to Muscovy. Everywhere she was given all sorts of honors and organized holidays. At the head of her motorcade was a man who carried a Catholic cross. Upon learning of this, Metropolitan Philip threatened to leave Moscow if the cross was brought into the city. Ivan III ordered to take away the Catholic symbol 15 miles from Moscow. Dad's plans failed, and Sophia returned to her faith again. The wedding took place on November 12, 1472 in the Assumption Cathedral.
At court, the newly-made Byzantine wife of the Grand Duke was disliked. Despite this, Sophia had a huge influence on her husband. The chronicles describe in detail how Palaiologos persuaded Ivan III to free himself from the Mongol yoke.
Following the Byzantine model, Ivan III developed a complex judicial system. At the same time, for the first time, the Grand Duke began to call himself "Tsar and Autocrat of All Rus'." It is believed that the image of the double-headed eagle, which later appeared on the coat of arms of Muscovy, Sophia Paleolog brought with her.
Sofia Paleolog and Ivan III had eleven children (five sons and six daughters). From his first marriage, the tsar had a son, Ivan Molodoy, the first contender for the throne. But he fell ill with gout and died. Another "obstacle" for the children of Sophia on the way to the throne was the son of Ivan the Young Dmitry. But he and his mother fell out of favor with the king and died in captivity. Some historians suggest that Palaiologos was involved in the deaths of the direct heirs, but there is no direct evidence. Ivan III's successor was Sophia's son Vasily III.
The Byzantine princess and princess of Muscovy died on April 7, 1503. She was buried in a stone sarcophagus in the Ascension Monastery.
The marriage of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologus turned out to be successful politically and culturally. were able to leave a mark not only in the history of their country, but also become beloved queens in a foreign land.
The Grand Duchess of Moscow Sophia (Zoya) Palaiologos played a huge role in the development of the Muscovite kingdom. Many consider her the author of the concept "Moscow - the third Rome". And together with Zoya Palaiolognea, a double-headed eagle appeared. At first, it was the family coat of arms of her dynasty, and then migrated to the coat of arms of all the tsars and Russian emperors.
Childhood and youth
Zoya Palaiologos was born (presumably) in 1455 in Mistra. The daughter of the Despot of Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, was born in a tragic and critical time - the time of the fall of the Byzantine Empire.
After the capture of Constantinople by the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II and the death of Emperor Constantine, Thomas Palaiologos fled to Corfu with his wife Catherine of Achaia and their children. From there he moved to Rome, where he was forced to convert to Catholicism. Thomas died in May 1465. His death happened shortly after the death of his wife in the same year. Children, Zoya and her brothers - 5-year-old Manuel and 7-year-old Andrei, moved to Rome after the death of their parents.
The education of orphans was taken up by the Greek scientist, Uniate Vissarion of Nicaea, who served as a cardinal under Pope Sixtus IV (it was he who became the customer of the famous Sistine Chapel). In Rome, the Greek princess Zoe Palaiologos and her brothers were brought up in the Catholic faith. The cardinal took care of the maintenance of the children and their education.
It is known that Bessarion of Nicaea, with the permission of the pope, paid for the modest court of the young Palaiologos, which included servants, a doctor, two professors of Latin and Greek, translators and priests. Sophia Paleolog received a fairly solid education for those times.
Grand Duchess of Moscow
When Sophia came of age, the Venetian Signoria took care of her marriage. To take a noble girl as a wife was first offered to the King of Cyprus, Jacques II de Lusignan. But he refused this marriage, fearing a conflict with the Ottoman Empire. A year later, in 1467, Cardinal Vissarion, at the request of Pope Paul II, offered the hand of a noble Byzantine beauty to the prince and Italian nobleman Caracciolo. A solemn betrothal took place, but for unknown reasons, the marriage was canceled.
There is a version that Sophia secretly communicated with the Athonite elders and adhered to the Orthodox faith. She herself made efforts not to marry a non-Christian, frustrating all marriages offered to her.
In the turning point for the life of Sophia Paleolog in 1467, the wife of the Grand Duke of Moscow, Maria Borisovna, died. In this marriage, the only son was born. Pope Paul II, counting on the spread of Catholicism to Moscow, offered the widowed sovereign of all Rus' to marry his ward.
After 3 years of negotiations, Ivan III, having asked for advice from his mother, Metropolitan Philip and the boyars, decided to marry. It is noteworthy that the papal negotiators prudently kept silent about the transition of Sophia Paleolog to Catholicism. Moreover, they reported that the proposed wife of Paleologne is an Orthodox Christian. They didn't even know it was true.
In June 1472, in the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, Ivan III and Sophia Palaiologos were betrothed in absentia. After that, the convoy of the bride left Rome for Moscow. The bride was accompanied by the same Cardinal Wisssarion.
Bologna chroniclers described Sophia as a rather attractive person. She looked 24 years old, she had snow-white skin and incredibly beautiful and expressive eyes. Her height was no higher than 160 cm. The future wife of the Russian sovereign had a dense physique.
There is a version that in the dowry of Sophia Paleolog, in addition to clothes and jewelry, there were many valuable books that later formed the basis of the mysteriously disappeared library of Ivan the Terrible. Among them were treatises and unknown poems.
Meeting of Princess Sophia Paleolog on Lake Peipsi At the end of a long route that ran through Germany and Poland, the Roman escorts of Sophia Palaiologos realized that their desire, through the marriage of Ivan III to Palaiologos, to spread (or at least bring closer) Catholicism to Orthodoxy was defeated. Zoya, who had barely left Rome, showed her firm intention to return to the faith of her ancestors - Christianity. The wedding took place in Moscow on November 12, 1472. The ceremony took place in the Assumption Cathedral.
The main achievement of Sophia Paleolog, which turned into a huge boon for Russia, is considered to be her influence on her husband's decision to refuse to pay tribute to the Golden Horde. Thanks to his wife, Ivan the Third finally dared to throw off the centuries-old Tatar-Mongol yoke, although the local princes and the elite offered to continue paying dues in order to avoid bloodshed.
Personal life
Apparently, the personal life of Sophia Paleolog with Grand Duke Ivan III was successful. In this marriage, considerable offspring were born - 5 sons and 4 daughters. But it is difficult to call the existence of the new Grand Duchess Sophia in Moscow cloudless. The boyars saw the enormous influence that the wife had on her husband. Many people didn't like it.
Basil III, son of Sophia Paleolog Rumor has it that the princess had a bad relationship with the heir, born in the previous marriage of Ivan III, Ivan the Young. Moreover, there is a version that Sophia was involved in the poisoning of Ivan Molodoy and the further removal of his wife Elena Voloshanka and son Dmitry from power.
Be that as it may, Sophia Paleolog had a huge impact on the entire subsequent history of Rus', on its culture and architecture. She was the mother of the heir to the throne and grandmother of Ivan the Terrible. According to some reports, the grandson had a considerable resemblance to his wise Byzantine grandmother.
Death
Sophia Paleolog, Grand Duchess of Moscow, died on April 7, 1503. Husband, Ivan III, survived his wife only 2 years.
Destruction of the grave of Sophia Paleolog in 1929 Sophia was buried next to the previous wife of Ivan III in the sarcophagus of the tomb of the Ascension Cathedral. The cathedral was destroyed in 1929. But the remains of the women of the royal house survived - they were transferred to the underground chamber of the Archangel Cathedral.