Proud and proud Irina Fyodorovna (1557 - 1604) - the daughter of the Kostroma landowner, not titled boyar Fyodor Godunov, happily married Fyodor Ivanovich, who was weak in will and health, because marriage gave both the title of tsarina and glory forever and ever.
Her face was beautiful - big eyes, regular features.
Irina Fedorovna became a queen at the age of 27.
How did it happen that not too well-born Irina ended up in the royal chambers, and even became the beloved wife of Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich?
Starting from the middle of the 16th century, uncles Boris and Irina occupied a fairly high position under the Moscow sovereigns. Their uncle Dmitry Ivanovich was granted to the Duma in the rank of bed.
That is why brother and sister, even in childhood, ended up at the royal court, where they were brought up together with the children of Ivan IV. This largely explains the strong ties of Boris and Irina with Tsarevich Fyodor, who inherited the Russian crown from his father in 1584.
In 1580, Irina becomes the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor, and her brother, Boris Godunov, early enough, at the age of 28, receives boyars. The wedding takes place without the traditional royal show of brides, through the efforts of uncles and Boris himself. At the time of the wedding, Irina was 23 years old, as was her husband Fyodor Ioanovich.
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, apparently, loved and appreciated his wife very much. All the attempts of the highest nobility to divorce him from Irina Godunova, who did not give the Russian throne an heir, did not lead to anything. The tsar's only child, the daughter of Theodosius, did not live long, less than two years.
In social and political life, the queen became a very significant figure. Irina Godunova, unlike the preceding tsarinas, played a social and political role, a rare case for the female half of the Russian sovereign's court, whose life was limited only to family circles, going to church and pilgrimage trips. She not only received foreign ambassadors, but also participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma. A number of documents have survived, where the name of Queen Irina unexpectedly appears next to the signature of Tsar Fyodor.
In January 1589, Irina received Jeremiah, Patriarch of Constantinople, in the Golden Tsarina's Chamber,
asked for a blessing, and made a speech, the first time public speaking Russian empresses, known from written sources.
Arseny Elassonsky and all the foreigners who were present at the reception were shocked by the magnificent and rich attire of the tsarina. Arseny delightedly notes that if he had ten languages, then even then he would not be able to tell about all the riches of the queen he had seen: "And we saw all this with our own eyes. The slightest part of this splendor would have been enough to decorate ten sovereigns." ...
Reconstruction from the skull of the exterior of Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich. 
Tsar Fedor died on January 7, 1598.
The official version emanating from the Godunovs was as follows: "As it was stated in the approved charter of the early edition, Fedor" made "his wife Irina on the throne after him, and Boris" ordered "the kingdom and his soul to boot. The final edition of the same charter said that The tsar left his wife "in the states", and appointed patriarch Job and Boris Godunov as his executors. The most reliable sources say that the patriarch vainly reminded Fedor of the need to name a successor. The tsar, as usual, kept silent and referred to the will of God. The future of his wife worried him more, than the future of the throne. ”According to eyewitnesses, Fyodor ordered Irina to" take a monastic image "and end her life in a monastery."
Already on January 15, 1598 "... Irina Fyodorovna of All Russia after her sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia, leaving the Russian kingdom of Moscow, and went from Moscow to the Novodevichy Monastery."
She died 5 years later in 1603 in a monastery, 2 years before her brother's death.
Interesting facts that became known after the opening of the sarcophagus with the relics of the queen.
Some kind of disease that Irina suffered from, possibly hereditary, led to a significant pathology of bone tissue, which affected the musculoskeletal system of this still not old woman. IN last years life she probably found it difficult to walk. The aggravation of the disease may have been facilitated by the difficult living conditions in the monastery - cold stone chambers, asceticism of monastic life. Pelvic pathology affected the ability to carry children.
I. Irina Godunova
The personality of Irina Godunova is, as it were, a mediating connection between the historical women of the era of Grozny and the women of the Time of Troubles.
Having lived almost half of her life in the chambers of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, and the rest of her life in the monastery, Irina to some extent reflected in her personality the prevailing qualities of the time of Grozny: with good, no doubt, spiritual inclinations, with an undeniable mind, which was constantly manifested in a noticeable influence on state affairs, Irina was no stranger to secrecy, promiscuity in the means to achieve the intended goals (qualities, perhaps, inherited from her tutor Grozny) and other shortcomings, the detrimental effect of which on the events that followed her death in the Moscow state she herself seems to have been conscious at the end of her life and mourned.
Irina was the sister of the famous favorite of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich and the future Tsar Boris Fedorovich Godunov. Even as a child, she was intended as a bride for the son of the Terrible, Fyodor Ivanovich, and from the age of seven she was taken into the courtyard, where she was brought up "with the bright eyes of the king."
Probably, Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, taught by the bitter experience of his own life, that with few of his eight wives he managed to be content and happy and that the choice of the tsar's bride might not always be successful with the help of governors and "smotrin", he decided to raise his wife himself for his son, and for this purpose he took Boris Godunov's sister, Irina, into his chambers, as a child, and appointed her in advance as a wife to his successor.
The choice of the tsar, apparently, turned out to be quite successful, because it was impossible to find a better wife for the weak tsar Fyodor Ivanovich: with her, Fyodor Ivanovich was completely calm and happy, as much as a man like Tsar Fyodor could be happy,
When Ivan Vasilyevich died and the weak-willed and feeble-minded Fyodor Ivanovich ascended the throne, Irina's influence on state affairs, despite the fact that her smart brother Boris, like the king's brother-in-law, was autocratically in charge of these affairs, was manifested so undoubtedly that this influence was known with foreign courtyards, and therefore, when necessary, on important state affairs, foreign courtyards turned directly to Irina.
So, in England, Irina knew about this meaning from Jerome Horsey, who lived in Russia for a long time and left curious notes about the Russian society of that time and about the most important political events.
We saw above that the efforts of the English Queen Elizabeth to conclude a profitable trade treaty with Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich turned out to be useless due to the unsuccessful matchmaking of the Terrible for Elizabeth's niece Maria Hastings.
Without giving up the hope of exploiting the wealth of the Russian land in favor of English trade, Queen Elizabeth decided to try her luck again in trade negotiations with the Moscow state, and therefore, having learned about Irina's influence not only on her husband, Tsar Fyodor, but also on her brother Boris, and therefore , and for state affairs, Elizabeth personally sent her the most kind letter, in which she says that she often hears about the wisdom and honor of Queen Irina, that the fame of this wisdom spread throughout many states Elizabeth sent her even her doctor, already known to us, Robert Jacobi, and she sent it for Irina, as an “expert in female diseases,” and Irina’s brother, Boris, was called her “blood loving friend,” as Muscovites then translated the English phrase; actually translated meaning - "dear and kind cousin" (loving cousin).
But, for all her importance in the state, Irina felt unhappy: like Solomonia Saburova, the wife of Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich, Irina was barren, and therefore if she was not afraid of the fate that befell Solomon, because her husband, Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, was not similar to his grandfather, Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich, however, the reputation of a "barren fig tree" could not but cause her mental suffering, especially when the tsar's childlessness greatly worried his subjects.
So, the boyars, perhaps by their own calculations, persuaded Fyodor Ivanovich to divorce Irina. Prince Ivan Petrovich Shuisky and other boyars, Moscow guests and all the merchant people agreed and approved themselves by handwriting to beat the emperor's forehead about divorce. The Metropolitan, whose voice was most respected in the state, took the side of the petitioners. But Boris, perhaps, for his personal reasons, which were a secret for everyone, persuaded Dionysius not to start this business: he pretended to him that it would be better if Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich died childless, because otherwise, the state was overtaken by the horrors of internecine strife between the heirs and their uncle, Dimitri the Tsarevich. Probably, even then Godunov planned to destroy Dimitri in order to sit on the throne himself, and if Fyodor Ivanovich had children, then many or two rivals are more difficult to exterminate than one.
Whatever motives guided Godunov, however, he stopped the petition about the tsar's divorce from his sister, and the main instigators of this case, the Shuisky, were immediately intercepted by the tsar's order and imprisoned. Searches, torture, executions began - in a word, what Godunov looked at and got used to while still under his tutor, Grozny, was repeated.
However, in 1592, a year after the death of Tsarevich Dimitri in Uglich, Irina had a daughter, who was named Theodosia - "the gift of God"; but the next year the child died, and Irina was again left alone with her miserable husband. She was very struck by the death of her daughter, cried inconsolably, and we heard a comforting word, which Patriarch Job wrote to her on this matter.
Job pointed to grieving Irene to a worthy example of the ancient pious Joachim and Anna, who were also barren, but received grace through prayer. “Anna,” wrote Job, “go to her garden and a hundred under a tree, called Daphnia, there is a hedgehog of apple trees, and bringing that prayer to God with tears about her inescapability: the smallest bird praying to her arrives, gray on the tree. But Anna, looking up to the top of the tree, although look at that bird, and behold the nest and the bird on the nest, sittin 'on the nest, but weep for the great Anna and cry out to the Lord, with a voice: O Lord! to whom you have likened me, as I am even the smallest bird of sowing, for I am also worse for this bird. Love me, as if you have not become like the beast of the earth, for the beasts of the earth will give birth to children, but I am one desolation before you, Lord! Alas, you are a slave to me: I have not become like waters, ”etc. - everything that the chronicler said about Tsar Vasily Ivanovich, who wept over Solomon's infertility. - “You see, sovereign, the blessed queen,” continues the patriarch, “the prayer of the righteous, suffering those who endure their sorrows, can be colic, but the rude, sovereign, do not take anything.”
Generally speaking, the life of Tsarina Irina was far from cheerful, no matter how loved her husband was, who was constantly and inseparable with her and shared all his innocent pleasures with her.
This is how historians (S.M. Soloviev) portray this family life Fedor Ivanovich and Irina, as well as the character of the first:
Fyodor was short, squat, swollen. His nose is hawkish, his gait is unsteady. He is heavy and inactive, but he always smiles. He is simple, feeble-minded, but very affectionate, quiet, merciful and extremely pious. He usually gets up at about four o'clock in the morning. When he gets dressed and washed, the spiritual father comes to him with a cross, to which the king applies. Then the cross clerk brings into the room the icon of the saint, celebrated on that day, before which the king prays for about a quarter of an hour. The priest again enters with holy water, sprinkles it on the icons and the king. After this, the king sends to the queen to ask: did she rest well? and after a while he himself goes to greet her in the middle room, located between his and her chambers; from here they go together to church for Matins, which lasts about an hour. Returning from the church, the tsar sits down in a large room, where the boyars, who are in special favor, come to bow. At about nine o'clock the king goes to mass, which lasts two hours; having rested after the service, dines; after dinner he usually sleeps for three hours, sometimes only two, or goes to the bathhouse or to watch a fist fight. After resting, he goes to Vespers, and, returning from there, spends most of his time with the queen before supper. Here he is amused by jesters and carls, male and female, who somersault and sing songs: this is his favorite pastime; another fun is the fight between people and bears. Every week the king goes on pilgrimage to one of the nearby monasteries. If someone hits him with his forehead at the exit, then he, escaping the worldly fuss and dokuka, sends the petitioner to the big boyar Godunov.
But this good husband of Irina is dying. And he dies just as he lived, without betraying himself, because he could not be otherwise; for the decision of both small and large matters, he sent everyone to Irina's brother.
So, dying, he resigned from himself and the decision of an important, the only question that he certainly had to solve, the question of the greatest, the solution of which cost Russia whole roar of blood, because his decision was what we usually call the "Time of Troubles" , the interregnum, the era of impostors, in a word - "hard times", as this time is called by the people who carried it on their shoulders.
- To whom do you order the kingdom, us orphans and the queen? - the patriarch and the boyars asked the dying Fedor.
- In the whole kingdom and in you, God is free: as he pleases, so it will be. And God is free in my queen - how she should live - and we have laid down about this.
According to the testimony of Patriarch Job, who was present at the death of Fyodor, the dying tsar handed the scepter to his wife Irina; according to the certificates of electoral letters or manifestos, which subsequently informed the Russian land about the election of Boris Godunov to the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, “after himself the great sovereign left his faithful great empress Irina Feodorovna in all his great states”.
Be that as it may, but immediately after the death of the Tsar, Moscow hastened to swear allegiance to Tsarina Irina, in order to reject the inevitability of troubles, intrigues of the pretenders to the throne, and bloodshed.
But evidence of a different kind remained: Irina asked her dying husband to transfer the kingdom to her brother, Boris. Here, according to this testimony, a wonderful scene took place at the bedside of the dying king. When Irina began to ask her husband for her brother, the tsar offered the vault of the scepter to the eldest of his cousins, Fyodor Nikitich Romanov. Fyodor Nikitich gave the scepter to his brother Alexander, Alexander to his third brother Ivan, Ivan to Mikhail, Mikhail to someone else, so no one dared to take the scepter, although everyone wanted to take it. The king, tired of passing the rod from hand to hand, lost his patience and said: "so take it whoever wants it!" Then, through the crowd of people surrounding the tsar, Godunov stretched out his hand and grabbed the scepter.
No doubt this is a fairy tale; but it is true to reality, because if Godunov did not grab the rod from the dying tsar, he snatched it out of the hands of his sister, Irina, who willingly gave the scepter to her clever brother.
Indeed, Irina renounced the throne. She expressed her only will - to get a haircut as a nun. In vain did the patriarch, the boyars and the people plead with her not to leave their orphans to the end, to remain in the state, and ordered her brother, Boris Fedorovich, to rule, as was the case with the late sovereign; all these prayers were repeated in vain: on the ninth day after her husband's death, Irina left the palace, moved to the Novodevichy Convent and there she took her hair under the name of Alexandra.
But even removed to the monastery, the nun Irina-Alexandra was considered a queen, and the Russian land was ruled in her name. The patriarch with the consecrated cathedral and the boyars were only executors of her commands, her nominal verbal decrees.
So, on behalf of the Tsarina-nun Alexandra, a decree was sent to Prince Golitsyn in the following terms: “Prince Trubetskoy wrote to the Empress Tsarina-nun Alexandra Feodorovna from Smolensk about Prince Golitsyn that he does not do anything with them, thinking that he is less than him, Trubetskoy, to be out of place. According to the Tsaritsyn's decree, the boyars, Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Mstislavskaya with his comrades told Patriarch Job about this, and according to the Tsaritsyn's decree, Patriarch Job wrote to Golitsyn so that he did all sorts of things with Trubetskoy, and would not do, then Patriarch Job with the whole cathedral and with all the boyars sentenced to send him to Trubetskoy with his head. "
But in this state of affairs could not remain long: it was impossible for Irina to rule all the Russian land from the Novodevichy Convent, from her cell, having on her head a monk's cowl instead of Monomakh's hat, a black robe instead of the royal barmas and a staff instead of a scepter.
A few days after she was removed to the monastery, the clerk Shchelkalov, already known to us by the complaints of the British ambassador Bousa that Shchelkalov was feeding him ham instead of chicken and lamb, appeared to the people who had gathered in the Kremlin and demanded that the people swear allegiance to the boyar thought.
- We do not know either princes or boyars, we only know the queen! - shouted the people.
Shchelkalov replied that the queen was in the monastery.
- Long live Boris Fedorovich! - was the answer of the people. Boris lived at this time with Irina in the Novodevichy Convent. The patriarch with all the clergy, boyars and citizens came to the monastery and asked Irina to bless her brother to the throne, asked Boris himself. Boris refused, saying that he didn’t dare to think about this great deed, that it was the work of the patriarch and the boyars to pursue the state.
- And if my work is useful where, - he concluded his speech: - then I am for the holy churches of God, for one inch of the Moscow state, for, everything, Orthodox Christianity and for nursing babies, I am glad to shed my blood and lay my head.
But, meanwhile, foreigners-contemporaries report that Irina and Boris at that time were not idle in the monastery; they secretly summoned the centurions and Pentecostals of the Strelets, bribed, with affection and promises persuaded them to win over the war men and townspeople to their side.
Irina and Boris were waiting for the Zemsky Sobor, which was to elect the Tsar.
The cathedral was opened on 17 February. In the patriarch's speech, Irina and her brother are in the foreground. It was said that Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich took Irina into his royal chambers for another seven years and raised her in the royal chambers until her marriage with Tsarevich Fyodor Ivanovich, that Boris "also took her with bright royal eyes was unrelenting even from a minor age" and Ivan Vasilievich, dying, “believed” both his son Fyodor and his God-given daughter Irina - all on the same Boris, saying, “what is my daughter, Tsarina Irina, so is you, Boris”; that under Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich everything great and good came from the brother of Tsarina Irina and that from him "the sovereign and empress's name was glorious from sea to sea, from rivers to the end of the universe."
On February 20, the entire Zemsky Sobor again went to the monastery to pray to Irina and her brother not to leave the Orthodox people.
A new refusal followed from Irina and Boris.
On the next day, a public prayer was served and it was publicly supposed to go to the monastery with icons and crosses, and the people, with women and nursing infants, to ask the queen to bless their brother for the kingdom; if Irina and Boris refuse again, then Boris will be excommunicated, and the patriarch and all the bishops will take off their holy vestments, fold panagias, put on simple monastic robes and prohibit services in all churches.
The procession moved towards the monastery. Godunov went to his sister's cell.
In the monastery, the patriarch served Mass, and then everyone in sacred robes, with crosses and images, went to Irina's cell. They were followed by the boyars and all the people of the Duma, and the nobles, officials, guests and all the people stood at the cell and throughout the monastery. The whole mass was on their knees, and everyone was crying and sobbing:
- Pious queen! have mercy on us: have mercy, bless and give us your brother Boris Fyodorovich for the kingdom!
Irina remained indecisive for a long time, finally burst into tears and said:
- For the sake of God, the Most Pure Theotokos and the great wonderworkers, for the erection of miraculous images, for the sake of your feat, a many cry, a sobbing voice and inconsolable groaning, I give you my half-brother - may you be a sovereign king.
With a cry, Godunov spoke to this:
- Is it pleasing to your philanthropy, Vladyka, and to you, my great empress, that you have placed such a great burden on me and betray me to such an exalted royal throne, which I did not even know about? God is your witness, and you, great empress, that I never had that in my thoughts - I always want to be with you and see your holy, all-radiant, equal-angelic face!
Irina answered this:
- Who can stand against the will of God? And you, without any contradictions, obeying the will of God, would be the sovereign of the whole Orthodox Christianity.
So Godunov was elected tsar by the will of the people and with the blessing of his sister, the nun Tsarina Irina-Alexandra.
Other monuments say that all this was done by agreement with Irina, that Godunov, “like a wolf dressed in sheepskin clothes, having searched for so long, has now begun to be denied and, upon a several-time petition, left for the Empress in the Novodevichy Convent, hoping that the common people would choose him. without a contract the boyars will compel ”.
Regarding the national outcry at Irina's cell, they say: “The people were involuntarily driven by the bailiffs, who did not want to go and were ordered to beat: the bailiffs forced people to scream with great shouting and grind down tears. Worthy of a laugh! How can there be tears when the heart has no boldness? Instead of tears, the eyes wetted with saliva and involuntarily howled like wolves. Those who went to ask the queen in the cell, punished the bailiffs when the queen came to the window, they would show them with signs and that at that very moment all the people would fall to their knees and everyone would cry loudly; those who did not want to cry were beaten without mercy. "
We think that there is an exaggeration here too: of course, Boris's enemies spoke about this, of whom he had many between the boyars, who, as it is believed, to spite him and raised the shadow of the murdered prince from the coffin, raising an ignorant rogue in Poland.
And after being elected to the kingdom, Godunov continued to live with his sister in the monastery. Only on April 30, on Myrrh-Bearing Sunday, he decided to solemnly move to live in the Kremlin.
Having entered Moscow, Boris walked around all the cathedrals, leading his children by the hand - son Fedor and daughter Xenia, whose fate was bitter than that of her aunt Irina, as we will see below. Their mother, Boris' wife, Marya Grigorievna, daughter of the terrible Malyuta Skuratov, was hardly mentioned at all until that time.
Irina Godunova, from that moment, seems to leave the historical stage and, apparently, they forget about her behind the monastery walls.
Only in September 1603 did the news come across that the nun Alexandra, the former Tsarina Irina, had died. Rumors circulated that death befell her from anguish: - Irina heard and saw that something bad was happening in Russia, and she herself prophesied, they say, even greater coming disasters, that she was tormented by her conscience for her brother. The Almighty Lord, - say contemporaries, - called her to himself from the vale of crying in order to save her from horror to live up to what the Muscovite state lived after her. Tsar Boris, who was driving behind the coffin of his sister, felt that the crowds of people who accompanied the deceased to the crypt of the Ascension Monastery were an ominous reproach to his secret cause.
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There is no information about the date and place of her birth. She was taken into the royal chambers at the age of seven, and raised there until marriage. Probably, Irina got to the palace in 1571, when her uncle Dmitry Ivanovich was granted to the Duma in the rank of bed. Until the age of majority, Irina was brought up in the royal chambers together with her brother Boris, who was "under his bright royal eyes, always relentlessly for the same, not at a perfect age, and from his wise royal mind to a royal rank and skill."
In 1575, Irina becomes the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor Ioannovich without the traditional royal show of brides, and her brother receives boyars. The marriage with Fedor was accomplished by the will of Tsar Ivan IV and served as a new stage for the rise of Godunov, whose further influence on Fedor was largely based on the latter's love for Irina. The wedding was facilitated by uncle Dmitry Ivanovich, the king's bed-bed.
Irina looked after the sick Ivan IV before his death and made sure that Godunov, despite the brutal attacks from the boyars, did not fall into disfavor in the eyes of the dying man. Karamzin writes that three days before the death of Tsar Ivan IV, she came to console the patient, but "fled with disgust from his lustful shamelessness."
It is curious, however, that Irina Mstislavskaya, according to the will of Ivan the Terrible, was appointed the wife of Tsar Fyodor in the event of Godunova's childlessness; but as a result of Godunov's intrigues, she was kidnapped from her father's house and forcibly tonsured into a nun.
Queen
With the death of Ivan in 1584 and the accession of her husband Fyodor, she became queen. However, she could not give birth to an heir to him - their only daughter Theodosia was born on May 29, 1592 and died in infancy.
Nevertheless, the queen remained a very significant figure in social and political life. “Irina Godunova, in contrast to the preceding tsaritsa, played a social and political role, which was already at odds with the image of a woman who spent most of her time in the mansion.” She not only received foreign ambassadors, but also participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma.
A number of documents have survived, where the name of Queen Irina unexpectedly appears next to the signature of Tsar Fyodor. She corresponded with Queen Elizabeth of England (who called her "the most beloved blood sister") and the Patriarch of Alexandria, made efforts to recognize the Russian orthodox Church, which was not yet a patriarchy at that time. She sent expensive gifts to the Patriarch - and in return, in July 1591, he sent her part of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene ("finger from the hand") and "the royal crown of gold, with a stone and pearls."
In January 1589, Irina in the Golden Tsarina's Chamber received the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah, who arrived in Moscow to establish a patriarchal see in Russia and appoint Job, the first Russian patriarch, to it. A description of this event was left by Bishop Arseny Elassonsky, who accompanied the church hierarch to Russia:
Then the patriarch of Moscow, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, etc. they blessed the queen and made similar welcoming speeches to her. Irina made a response speech. After this "beautiful and harmonious" speech, according to the recall of Bishop Arseny, the queen, retreating a little, stood between her husband, Tsar Fyodor, and her brother Boris. (This is the first case of a public appearance of Russian empresses, known from written sources).
The guests were shocked by the rich attire of the queen. Arseny notes that if he had ten languages, then even then he would not be able to tell about all the wealth of the queen he had seen: “And we saw it all with our own eyes. The slightest part of this splendor would be enough to adorn ten sovereigns. " After an exchange of speeches, the boyar Dmitry Ivanovich Godunov handed over to both patriarchs gifts from the tsapitsa - each a silver goblet and black velvet, two damas, two embraces and two atlases, forty sables and 100 rubles each. Handing over the gifts, he said to the patriarch: “Great lord, holy Jeremiah of Constantinople and universal! Behold the gracious royal salary, but you earnestly pray to the Lord for the great empress the queen and the great princess Irina and for the many years of the great sovereign and for their childbearing. " The patriarch blessed the queen and prayed for the granting of the "royal inheritance of fruit" to her. When the ceremony of presenting gifts to other participants in the reception (including Bishop Arseny) was over, the queen, “sad about her infertility,” again turned to the patriarch and the clergy accompanying him with a request to pray more earnestly for the granting of an heir to her and the kingdom. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and Tsarina Irina escorted the patriarchs to the doors of the Golden Chamber, and received a blessing from them.
At the beginning of 1585, Godunov sent several confidants to Vienna. Negotiations with the Viennese court were surrounded by the strictest secrecy. “Not counting on the fact that Irina Godunova will retain the throne after the death of her husband, Boris secretly invited Vienna to discuss the issue of marriage between her and the Austrian prince and the subsequent elevation of the prince to the Moscow throne. The ruler saw no other way to retain power. But the matchmaking he started ended in an unheard-of scandal. Tsar Fyodor recovered, and the negotiations were publicized. " This greatly crippled Boris's position, but he managed to extricate himself from this situation.
In the same year, the Englishman Jerome Horsey, on behalf of Boris, sent a midwife from England to Russia to help Irina. “As early as August 15, 1585, Boris sent his equerry to Horsey with a note, in which he urgently asked the doctor to come,“ stocking up on everything he needed ”. Through Horsey, Boris turned to the best English doctors for recommendations regarding Queen Irina, pointing out that during her marriage the queen was often pregnant (in his notes Horsey wrote these words in Russian letters in order to preserve the secret), but each time she was unsuccessfully relieved of the burden. Horsey consulted the best doctors in Oxford, Cambridge and London. To Queen Elizabeth, Godunov's agent announced that Queen Irina had been pregnant for five months, and asked to hurry with the execution of her request.
At the end of March 1586 Horsey received letters from Elizabeth to Tsar Fyodor and with the beginning of navigation sailed to Russia. With him was the royal physician Robert Jacobi and the midwife. " The midwife was detained in Vologda. “But the case received premature publicity and caused a lot of trouble for Boris. He had to resort to cunning to prevent the discussion of the delicate issue in the Boyar Duma. (...) The appeal to "infidels" and "heretics" enraged Boris's opponents, who zealously cared about piety and did not admit the thought that the "heretical prehtorian" (midwife) could facilitate the birth of an Orthodox tsarevich. "
Although Irina's position at court was extremely strong, Boris's failures provided his ill-wishers with the opportunity to remove his best assistant. In 1587 a boyar conspiracy arose against Irina.
Led by Dionysius, Metropolitan of Moscow and Prince Shuisky, the conspirators wanted to demand from Tsar Fyodor that he divorced his wife, as he had not yet given birth to an heir. The Zemtsy came to the palace and filed a petition to Fedor "so that he, sovereign, should accept childbirth for the sake of a second marriage, and release his first queen to the monastic rank." “The petition was tantamount to a conciliar verdict: it was signed by the regent Prince Ivan Shuisky and other members of the Boyar Duma, Metropolitan Dionysius, bishops and leaders of the settlement - guests and merchants. The ranks demanded the tonsure of Irina Godunova, and, consequently, the removal of Boris. The performance of the Zemshchina was impressive ”. But Fedor resolutely resisted. On October 13, 1586, Metropolitan Dionysius was defrocked, tonsured a monk and exiled to Khutynsky monastery in Novgorod. His "interlocutor" Archbishop Varlaam Pushkin of Krutitsa was imprisoned in the Novgorod Antoniev Monastery, Vasily Shuisky was exiled to Buygorod.
“Russian writers of the 17th century. tried to spare the name of the pious Irina Godunova. Nevertheless, in their writings, you can also find hints of a pending divorce. The knowledgeable Moscow clerk Ivan Timofeev, in his usual vague expressions, narrates that Boris forcibly tonsured maidens into the monastery - the daughters of the first (!) Boyars after the tsar, fearing the possibility of Fedor's remarriage: “as if some tsar won't be forced to accept the same second marriage from them a wife of barrenness for his sister's sake. " The cautious clerk did not name the “certain” persons who “forced” Fyodor to “second marriage”. Moreover, he kept silent about whether there was a threat of “forcing” the tsar to divorce, or “some” persons brought it into execution. "
In 1590, Irina, while her husband was at war with the Swedes, was in Novgorod.
Widow
Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich died on January 7, 1598, without leaving a will. In the course of the electoral struggle at the Zemsky Sobor, various versions arose about his last will. The official version emanating from the Godunovs was as follows: “As stated in the approved charter of the early edition, Fyodor“ made ”his wife Irina on the throne after him, and Boris“ ordered ”the kingdom and his soul to boot. The final version of the same charter said that the tsar left his wife “in the states”, and appointed Patriarch Job and Boris Godunov as executors. The most reliable sources say that the patriarch vainly reminded Fedor of the need to name his successor. The king, as usual, kept silent and referred to the will of God. The future of his wife worried him more than the future of the throne. According to eyewitnesses, Fyodor ordered Irina to “take the monastic image” and end her life in the monastery. "
After the death of Fyodor, the boyars, fearing the calamities of the interregnum, decided to swear allegiance to Irina. In this way, they were going to prevent Boris Godunov from accessing the throne. “Loyal to Boris, Job sent an order to all the dioceses to kiss the cross to the queen. The lengthy text of the oath published in the churches caused general bewilderment. The subjects were forced to take an oath of allegiance to Patriarch Job and the Orthodox faith, Tsarina Irina, Governor Boris and his children. Under the guise of an oath to the church and the queen, the ruler actually demanded an oath to himself and his heir (...) From time immemorial, Orthodox churches have sung “for many years to kings and metropolitans”. Patriarch Job did not hesitate to break the tradition and introduced a divine service in honor of the widow Fedor. The chroniclers considered such an innovation unheard of. “The first praying (was) for her, Empress,” wrote one of them, “and the former one, for whom the queens and grand princesses did not pray to God, neither in good times, nor in many years." Job tried to establish a view of Irina as the legitimate bearer of autocratic power. But the zealots of piety, and among them the clerk Ivan Timofeev, branded his efforts as "shamelessness" and "attack on the holy church."
However, the independent reign of the queen did not work out from the first days. A week after the death of her husband, she announced her decision to cut her hair. On the day of her abdication, people gathered in the Kremlin. Official sources later wrote that the crowd, overwhelmed with loyal feelings, tearfully asked the widow to stay in the kingdom. In reality, the mood of the people aroused alarm in the authorities. The Dutchman Isaac Massa emphasized that Godunova's abdication was forced: “The common people, always ready for unrest in this country, crowded in large numbers around the Kremlin, making noise and calling the queen.” “In order to avoid great misfortune and indignation,” Irina went to the Red Porch and announced her intention to have her hair cut. The Austrian Mikhail Schil writes that taking the floor after his sister, Boris announced that he was taking over the government, and the princes and boyars would be his assistants. ...
On the 9th day after the death of her husband, on January 15, Irina retired to the Novodevichy Convent and cut her hair there, taking the name of nun Alexandra - and thus clearing the way for her brother: “... , leaving the Russian kingdom of Moscow, and went from Moscow to the Novodevichy monastery. " (Until Boris was elected tsar, the Boyar Duma issued decrees on behalf of "Tsarina Alexandra".)
Before the election of a new tsar, a procession of petitioners from the population went to the Novodevichy Convent, where Boris was, who accompanied Irina; where the “correctly sagged” crowd urged him to accept the crown, he was capricious. Before the elections, “Irina campaigned for her brother among the clergy, boyars, merchants, and common people. There is evidence that the Godunovs often resorted to bribery. So, according to P. Petrey, Irina "remembered well that where the majority is served, the rest will be drawn there too ... With large gifts she secretly persuaded the colonels and captains to persuade the soldiers subordinate to themselves to vote in favor of her brother."
Irina blessed her brother to the kingdom on February 21, 1598. The Zemsky Sobor on February 17 (27), 1598 elected Boris.
She died 5 years later in 1603 in a monastery, 2 years before her brother's death.
Like all queens, she was buried in the Ascension Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1929-1931. burials were ravaged during its destruction, by the forces of employees were transferred to the Archangel Cathedral, and then to the underground chamber next to it. “On the old plans of the Ascension Cathedral and its necropolis, published in late XIX century A. Pshenichnikov, the burial of Queen Irina is marked with number 16 in the south-western corner of the temple. Above her grave there was a monument similar to those that can be seen today in the male burial-vault church, in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin - the necropolis of Russian grand dukes and tsars. Irina Fyodorovna was buried in a white-stone sarcophagus made of a monolith, which has an anthropomorphic shape - a semicircular headband and hangers. There was no epitaph inscription on the lid of the coffin (...) in which, perhaps, the act of humility and humiliation inherent in monasticism manifested itself. "
The remains of the grave goods from the sarcophagus belong to monastic vestments, as well as fragments of a black woolen schema. A wide, equal-pointed cross made of braid was sewn onto the queen's headdress, which is well preserved. In the sarcophagus, fragments of a glass vessel were found, the main part of which was removed from the coffin back in 1929.
The reopening of Irina Godunova's grave was carried out in 2001. It was attended by a large group of researchers. “The state of the queen's skeleton - one of the most important objects of research - turned out to be satisfactory. Its study by anthropologist D. Pezhemsky (Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University) and histologist V. Sychev (Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination of Moscow) showed that some disease that Irina suffered from, possibly hereditary, led to significant pathology of bone tissue, which affected on the musculoskeletal system of this still not old woman. In the last years of her life, she probably found it difficult to walk. The aggravation of the disease, perhaps, was facilitated by the difficult living conditions in the monastery - cold stone chambers, asceticism of monastic life. Pelvic pathology affected the ability to carry children. "
The restoration of its external appearance from the skull was carried out by the Moscow forensic expert S.A. Nikitin. (The monastic headdress is reproduced from the miniatures of the Observational Codex of the 16th century) ..
“It was possible to carry out an X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) of a piece of her brain found in the skull in preparation for the reconstruction of the portrait (researcher - candidate of chemical sciences E. I. Aleksandrovskaya). The analysis established an increased content in the queen's brain (compared to the average, background, observed in our time) of some metals - iron, copper, lead and minerals - mercury, arsenic (...) Of the most harmful substances, the content of lead is especially increased (80 times) , mercury (10 times) and arsenic (4 times). This can be explained, most likely, by the fact that Irina Godunova had to be treated for a long time with ointments - mercury, lead and others. This conclusion is confirmed by X-ray fluorescence analysis of bone tissue from the burial of Queen Irina. "
Relationship with the Church
- The rich contributions made to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery by the tsar's daughter Theodosia, by the tsarina Irina (Alexandra) herself are known. So, in 1593, "on September 26, the Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia granted 500 rubles for his princess and Grand Duchess Theodosya." In 1603, “October 31, the blessed memory of the Empress Tsarina and Grand Duchess Irina, in the foreign shop Alexander, the Tsar and Grand Duke Boris Fedorovich of All Russia sent a contribution of 1000 rubles to the contribution”. The documents and the contribution of Queen Irina herself from 1598 were recorded:<…> Tsar Tsar and Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich of All Russia and after him<…> It was granted by the noble queen, and the Grand Duchess of the monk Alexandra sent 3000 rubles for the fortress and for the church building ”.
- During this period, the double icon "Theodore Stratilates and the Great Martyr Irina" became widespread in Russia. The spread of these icons is due to the fact that these martyrs were the namesake saints of the tsar and tsarina. Throughout Russia, numerous churches were built in honor of Saints Theodore and Irina, as well as side-altars in churches were opened (for details, see The iconography of Theodore Stratilates # Theodore Stratilates and the great martyr Irina).
- The Trinity-Sergius monastery was generously gifted, which was a place of the royal pilgrimage (the so-called "Trinity passage"). After the Assumption Cathedral was built in 1585, by order of the tsar in 1585-1586, active work on the decoration of the temple was launched. In the monastery church of the Assumption, the chapel of Saints Theodore and Irene was established, and icons were painted for it. In the period 1580-1590, at the behest of the royal couple, a large number of Christian monuments associated with the name of Theodore Stratilates were created. Attention is drawn to a selection of works embroidered in the Tsarina's "room" by Irina Godunova. In 1592, an embroidered iconostasis was created, in which a significant in size paired image of saints was made, which is kept in the State Hermitage. In addition, the Hermitage contains a shroud that depicts the Great Martyr Irina, dating from the end of the 16th century. This shroud was intended for the gateway church in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, built in honor of the patron saint, within the walls of which Fyodor's father Ivan the Terrible was born. When the daughter of Theodosius was born at the end of May 1592, the royal couple sent out even more generous gifts. The recipients of these "alms" were not only Russian monasteries and churches, but also the Orthodox monasteries of Palestine. These rewards were sent out in June 1592 in honor of the "resolution of the queen's infertility." The icons painted during this period included, in addition to the saints mentioned, the image of the Monk Martyr Theodosia of Constantinople, which was usually painted in the margins.
Possessions
- Kremlin, Tsaritsin's Golden Chamber. In the 1580s, the chamber was rebuilt into the state reception hall of Tsarina Irina, while it received a rich finish.
- Novodevichy Convent: Irina's Chambers (Chambers of Tsarina Irina Godunova with the Church of St. Ambrose)
- Tsaritsyno is the patrimony of Queen Irina Godunova.
The Russian Tsarina Irina Godunova, who ruled the country independently for a little more than a month, made an invaluable contribution to the development of the state. An influential politician and prominent public figure, she effectively ruled Russia along with her husband.
Origin. Young years
Brother and sister Godunov had the honor to be brought up together with the children of Ivan the Terrible. They got into them thanks to his uncle, who performed the role of bed in the court. The Godunovs came from a little-known Kostroma clan. Their closeness to the sovereign's family made them exceptional.
From an early age, Irina fell in love with the future weak-willed and humble person. Growing up together, they knew everything about each other. The wedding was a matter of time, they were married in 1575, when both were 23 years old. Contrary to custom, Fyodor Ioannovich did not have a show of brides, he chose the only one and was faithful to her to the end.
The sovereign's wife
The newlyweds were not alike. Fedor, naturally quiet and sickly, never intervened in court intrigues, led a calm and measured life. Irina was his opposite: a stately and beautiful young woman, proud and domineering, she accepted active participation and in public affairs, and in secular affairs.
Before Irina Godunova, the queens were rather a shadow of their crowned spouse, were with their family, went on pilgrimage and did charity work. The wife of Fyodor Ioannovich was completely different: she sat and received foreign ambassadors, corresponded with European monarchs, in particular with Elizabeth of England and the wife of the Kakhetian king Alexander II.
Irina has done a lot for the Russian Orthodox Church as well. Closely communicating with the Patriarch of Alexandria, she insisted on the need to make Russia a separate patriarchy. Many monasteries received generous donations from her. According to historical referencesIn the beginning, Queen Irina received Patriarch Jeremiah of Constantinople and asked for his blessing. After that, she made a public speech, which no Russian empress had done before. Often, on the royal decrees of Fyodor Ioannovich, you can see two signatures: the second was left by his faithful - Tsarina Irina.
You can't forbid living beautifully
The dress of the sovereign's wife was distinguished by refinement and luxury. Arseny Elassonsky, archbishop present at Irina Godunova's reception, describes her attire as follows: "The slightest part of this splendor would be enough to decorate a dozen kings." The crown of the empress was decorated with deep purple amethysts and large sapphires. The ceremonial hall, later called the Golden Chamber, was skillfully painted with gold and decorated with frescoes depicting the lives of the great women rulers: Princess Olga, Saint Helena, Queen Dinara. These chambers became the reception rooms of many Russian monarchs.
Children
Irina Godunova did not leave heirs. There were rumors about the tsar's poor health, even foreign doctors were prescribed, but it was all in vain. Their only daughter, Theodosia, born in May 1592, did not even live two years. Queen Irina was pregnant several times, but she could not give the king an heir. It will take centuries until it becomes known that she had a special structure of the pelvis, which excludes the normal bearing of a child.
On his deathbed, Ivan the Terrible bequeathed to his son to marry Irina Mstislavskaya, if his current wife turns out to be childless. He was well aware that without an heir in the country, a time of turmoil and chaos would soon come, destructive for Russia. Tsarina Irina was aware of the precariousness of her position. Her older brother Boris came to the rescue: Mstislavskaya was stolen from her parents' house and, against her will, was tonsured into a nun.
Dowager queen
Fyodor Ioannovich died on January 7, 1598, without leaving behind a single document of succession to the throne. Boris Godunov, in collusion with Patriarch Job, announced to the boyars the desire of the deceased sovereign to put his beloved wife on the Russian throne. Fearing the terrible time of inter-rule, the Duma agreed to swear allegiance to it. So Irina Godunova, the queen of All Russia, ascended the throne. Her reign cannot be called long - she was nominally the head of state from January 16 to February 21, 1598. Already on the 9th day after the death of her husband, the Russian queen Irina decided to have her hair cut as a nun, thereby freeing the throne for her beloved brother.
Fyodor also told her about leaving for a monastery in the event of his death, thus he wanted to protect his wife from conspiracies and sophisticated intrigues of the boyars. Russian Tsarina Irina announced her decision publicly, giving a speech on the Red Porch. The common people begged the empress to stay and rule, but she remained adamant.
Sister of the king
Irina left the royal chambers and retired under the canopy of the Novodevichy Convent. There she took monastic vows, becoming nun Alexandra. Until the blessing of her brother's kingdom, being already a nun, she continued to rule the country: she received petitioners, signed decrees, and handed out assignments. Boris Godunov's accession to the throne was associated with a real political performance. A whole procession of petitioners arrived in the future king. The crowd, bribed by Godunov's supporters, begged him to become the head of state. Boris rejected the crown offered to him several times, but in the end agreed. Irina blessed her brother on February 21, 1598, after which she completely retired. She devoted the rest of her days to worship and charity.
Nun Alexandra
Queen Irina, freed from the burden of government, lived within the walls of the monastery for about 5 years. Harsh ascetic conditions, damp cold cells and meager food did not benefit the not old woman.
According to the research of her sarcophagus, nun Alexandra had sore joints and hereditary pathology of bone tissue. Probably, in recent years, she moved with difficulty. This is also evidenced by the increased content of lead, mercury, arsenic in its remains. Apparently, the former queen often practiced treatment with ointments in order to somehow alleviate the pain.
Holy Queen Irina
Nun Alexandra died on October 29, 1603. After her death, her property went to the church, she herself was buried within the walls of the Ascension Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin, like other queens before her. Later, the remains were transferred to the basement of the Archangel Cathedral, where many great dukes and kings are buried.
For their righteous life, Irina Godunova and Fyodor Ioannovich were likened to Peter and Fevronia of Murom. These saints are considered a Russian symbol of family, piety and mercy.
sister of Boris Godunov and wife of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich
Biography
There is no information about the date and place of her birth. She was taken into the royal chambers at the age of seven, and raised there until marriage. Probably, Irina got to the palace in 1571, when her uncle Dmitry Ivanovich was granted to the Duma in the rank of bed. Until the age of majority, Irina was brought up in the royal chambers together with her brother Boris, who was "under his bright royal eyes, always relentlessly for the same, not at a perfect age, and from his wise royal mind to a royal rank and skill."
In 1575, Irina becomes the wife of Tsarevich Fyodor Ioannovich without the traditional royal show of brides, and her brother receives boyars. The marriage with Fedor was accomplished by the will of Tsar Ivan IV and served as a new stage for the rise of Godunov, whose further influence on Fedor was largely based on the latter's love for Irina. The wedding was facilitated by uncle Dmitry Ivanovich, the king's bed-bed.
Irina looked after the sick Ivan IV before his death and made sure that Godunov, despite the brutal attacks from the boyars, did not fall into disfavor in the eyes of the dying man. Karamzin writes that three days before the death of Tsar Ivan IV, she came to console the patient, but "fled with disgust from his lustful shamelessness."
It is curious, however, that Irina Mstislavskaya, according to the will of Ivan the Terrible, was appointed the wife of Tsar Fyodor in the event of Godunova's childlessness; but as a result of Godunov's intrigues, she was kidnapped from her father's house and forcibly tonsured into a nun.
Queen
With the death of Ivan in 1584 and the accession of her husband Fyodor, she became queen. However, she could not give birth to an heir to him - their only daughter Theodosia was born on May 29, 1592 and died in infancy.
Nevertheless, the queen remained a very significant figure in social and political life. “Irina Godunova, in contrast to the preceding tsaritsa, played a social and political role, which was already at odds with the image of a woman who spent most of her time in the mansion.” She not only received foreign ambassadors, but also participated in meetings of the Boyar Duma.
A number of documents have survived, where the name of Queen Irina unexpectedly appears next to the signature of Tsar Fyodor. She corresponded with Queen Elizabeth of England (who called her "the dearest blood sister") and the Patriarch of Alexandria, and made efforts to recognize the Russian Orthodox Church, which was not yet a patriarchy at that time. She sent expensive gifts to the Patriarch - and in return, in July 1591, he sent her part of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene ("finger from the hand") and "the royal crown of gold, with a stone and pearls."
In January 1589, Irina in the Golden Tsarina's Chamber received the Patriarch of Constantinople Jeremiah, who arrived in Moscow to establish a patriarchal see in Russia and appoint Job, the first Russian patriarch, to it. A description of this event was left by Bishop Arseny Elassonsky, who accompanied the church hierarch to Russia:
Then the patriarch of Moscow, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, etc. they blessed the queen and made similar welcoming speeches to her. Irina made a response speech. After this "beautiful and harmonious" speech, according to the recall of Bishop Arseny, the queen, retreating a little, stood between her husband, Tsar Fyodor, and her brother Boris. (This is the first case of a public appearance of Russian empresses, known from written sources).
The guests were shocked by the rich attire of the queen. Arseny notes that if he had ten languages, then even then he would not be able to tell about all the wealth of the queen he had seen: “And we saw it all with our own eyes. The slightest part of this splendor would be enough to adorn ten sovereigns. " After an exchange of speeches, the boyar Dmitry Ivanovich Godunov handed over to both patriarchs gifts from the tsapitsa - each a silver goblet and black velvet, two damas, two embraces and two atlases, forty sables and 100 rubles each. Handing over the gifts, he said to the patriarch: “Great lord, holy Jeremiah of Constantinople and universal! Behold the gracious royal salary, but you earnestly pray to the Lord for the great empress the queen and the great princess Irina and for the many years of the great sovereign and for their childbearing. " The patriarch blessed the queen and prayed for the granting of the "royal inheritance of fruit" to her. When the ceremony of presenting gifts to other participants in the reception (including Bishop Arseny) was over, the queen, “sad about her infertility,” again turned to the patriarch and the clergy accompanying him with a request to pray more earnestly for the granting of an heir to her and the kingdom. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich and Tsarina Irina escorted the patriarchs to the doors of the Golden Chamber, and received a blessing from them.
