Queen Evdokia Lukyanovna, born Streshneva(1608 - August 18 (28), 1645) - second wife of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich from February 5 (15), 1626, mother of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
Biography
She came from a small-scale Streshnev family. Daughter of the Meshchovo nobleman Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev and Anna Konstantinovna, presumably the daughter of Prince Konstantin Romanovich Volkonsky. (According to other sources, Anna Konstantinovna was the daughter of Konstantin Grigorievich Yushkov, which is indirectly confirmed by the fact that his grandson, a boyar, uncle of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, Boris Gavrilovich Yushkov was considered a close relative royal family.) Had a brother Stepan, who subsequently played a fatal role in the condemnation of Patriarch Nikon, drawing up questions about the most controversial aspects of his activities.
She was allegedly born in 1608 and lost her mother shortly after birth, while her father, according to some indications, left his native estates to participate in Pozharsky’s militia, giving the child to richer relatives on his mother’s side.
From the same city of Meshchovsk came the last Russian tsarina, the wife of her grandson Peter the Great - Evdokia Lopukhina, whose marriage with the young tsar was facilitated in addition to his maternal relatives Naryshkin, also a distant relative of Evdokia Streshneva - Tikhon Streshnev, and Lopukhina’s baptismal name is “Praskovya” ”, was changed at the wedding to “Evdokia”.
Wedding
Evdokia Lukyanovna was chosen by the widowed Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich at a bridal show held in 1626. She was not one of the selected beauties, but arrived with one of them, the daughter of the okolnichy Grigory Volkonsky, as a confidante (“friend for interview”). Mikhail did not like any of the girls who made it to the “finals of the competition,” but at the request of his parents, he examined everyone again, and he liked Evdokia “for her beauty, courtesy and gentle disposition.” The Tsar's parents were disappointed with this choice, but Mikhail remained adamant. “The Emperor referred not only to the feeling that arose in him, but also to his Christian duty to help a girl, noble not by blood, but by essence, leave the house of her relatives who oppressed her.”
During this explanation, it was also mentioned that Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva lived under the yoke of the cruel waywardness of her proud relatives; that she is offended by everyone and that rarely does a day go by without her shedding tears; but that she is a modest and virtuous girl; that no one only heard any complaints from her, or even saw a dissatisfied look from her.
This news about the girl Streshneva filled Tsarevo’s heart, already embraced with love, with painful compassion. An involuntary sigh escaped from the Sovereign’s chest, and without noticing it, he said: “Unhappy... But you must be happy.”
The Tsar’s mother was dissatisfied with this choice, and with some indignation she said to her son: “Sovereign! By such an election you insult the Boyars and Princes, famous for their merits and their ancestors; Their daughters, if you don’t like them, are at least no less virtuous than Streshnev... And who is Streshnev?... An unknown person!”
The royal messengers went to the remote Meshchovsky district (Kaluga province) to bring his father, Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev, to the court, who blessed his daughter for marriage. According to legend, the news of the choice of the tsar found him working in the field, to which the historian of Mikhail’s reign reasonably notes: “They say that the messengers found Streshnev cultivating arable land for sowing rye; but this is hardly fair, because in February (when they arrived at his place) it was still impossible to plow.”
It is curious that Evdokia ended up in the royal chambers and was named queen only 3 days before the wedding, apparently because of the fear of Mikhail’s parents that a misfortune would happen to her due to intrigues, similar to what happened to the previous royal brides - Maria Khlopova and Princess Maria Dolgoruky, who became queen, but died a few months later, having fallen ill immediately after the wedding (this was associated with the machinations of those who did not want the Romanov dynasty to be established on the throne through a strong line of succession to the throne).
She came from a small-scale Streshnev family. Daughter of the Meshchovo nobleman Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev and Anna Konstantinovna, presumably the daughter of Prince Konstantin Romanovich Volkonsky.
According to other sources, Anna Konstantinovna was the daughter of Konstantin Grigorievich Yushkov, which is indirectly confirmed by the fact that his grandson, the boyar, uncle of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich, Boris Gavrilovich Yushkov was considered a close relative of the royal family.
She had a brother, Stepan, who later played a fatal role in the condemnation of Patriarch Nikon, drawing up questions about the most controversial aspects of his activities.
unknown, Public DomainShe was presumably born in 1608 and lost her mother shortly after birth, while her father, according to some indications, left his native estates to participate in Pozharsky’s militia, giving the child to richer relatives on his mother’s side.
...that she was orphaned while still in diapers, having lost her mother soon after her birth; that her father, going to military service in troubled times, gave her to be raised by a distant relative of his, a noble noblewoman, with whose daughter she came to the court.
From the same city of Meshchovsk came the last Russian tsarina, the wife of her grandson Peter the Great - Evdokia Lopukhina, whose marriage with the young tsar was facilitated in addition to his maternal relatives Naryshkin, also a distant relative of Evdokia Streshneva - Tikhon Streshnev, and Lopukhina’s baptismal name is “Praskovya” ”, was changed at the wedding to “Evdokia”.
Wedding
Evdokia Lukyanovna was chosen by the widowed Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich at a bridal show held in 1626. She was not one of the selected beauties, but arrived with one of them, the daughter of the okolnichy Grigory Volkonsky, as a confidante (“friend for interview”). Mikhail did not like any of the girls who made it to the “finals of the competition,” but at the request of his parents, he examined everyone again, and he liked Evdokia “for her beauty, courtesy and gentle disposition.”
unknown, Public Domain The Tsar's parents were disappointed with this choice, but Mikhail remained adamant. “The Emperor referred not only to the feeling that arose in him, but also to his Christian duty to help a girl, noble not by blood, but by essence, leave the house of her relatives who oppressed her.”
During this explanation, it was also mentioned that Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva lived under the yoke of the cruel waywardness of her proud relatives; that she is offended by everyone and that rarely does a day go by without her shedding tears; but that she is a modest and virtuous girl; that no one only heard any complaints from her, or even saw a dissatisfied look from her.
This news about the girl Streshneva filled Tsarevo’s heart, already embraced with love, with painful compassion. An involuntary sigh escaped from the Sovereign’s chest, and without noticing it, he said: “Unhappy... But you must be happy.”
The Tsar’s mother was dissatisfied with this choice, and with some indignation she said to her son: “Sovereign! By such an election you insult the Boyars and Princes, famous for their merits and their ancestors; Their daughters, if you don’t like them, are at least no less virtuous than Streshnev... And who is Streshnev?... An unknown person!”
The royal messengers went to the remote Meshchovsky district (Kaluga province) to bring his father, Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev, to the court, who blessed his daughter for marriage. According to legend, the news of the choice of the king found him at work in the field, to which the historian of Michael’s reign reasonably notes:
They say that the messengers found Streshnev cultivating arable land for sowing rye; but this is hardly fair, because in February (when they arrived at his place) it was still impossible to plow.
unknown, Public Domain It is curious that Evdokia ended up in the royal chambers and was named queen only 3 days before the wedding, apparently because of the fear of Mikhail’s parents that a misfortune would happen to her due to intrigues, similar to what happened to the previous royal brides - Maria Khlopova and Princess Maria Dolgoruky, who became queen, but died a few months later, having fallen ill immediately after the wedding (this was associated with the machinations of those who did not want the Romanov dynasty to be established on the throne through a strong line of succession to the throne).
The wedding of Mikhail Fedorovich and Evdokia Lukyanovna took place on February 5 (15), 1626 in Moscow. The entire course of the wedding celebration was outlined in a front (illustrated) manuscript entitled “Description in person of the celebration that took place in 1626 on February 5 at the marriage of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich with the Empress Evdokia Lukyanovna from the Streshnev family.”
Nun Martha blessed the bride and handed her a box in which lay “a golden monisto with a panagia - the image of the Savior Almighty was carved on the azure yakhont and two yakhonts along the edges and two emeralds, and on back side Panagia image of the Great Martyr Dmitry." The king's father, Patriarch Filaret, married the young couple. Mikhail Fedorovich's parents wanted to change the name of Evdokia to the name of the first Russian Tsarina Anastasia, but the bride refused.
The king's wedding took place on February 5, and all persons were, by special royal order, without seats. The experience of the first marriage taught me this caution. The main manager was the boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov, and the princes Dmitry Cherkassky and D. M. Pozharsky were friends with the sovereign, and Boris Mikhailovich Shein and Roman Petrovich Pozharsky with the empress. The sovereign rode to the church on an argamak, and the empress in a sleigh. The next day, the boyars, Duma people, guests, and the living room, and the cloth merchant, and the Black Hundred arrived to Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich with gifts. The king ordered them to be admitted to him, but did not accept the gifts. In the latter case, Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich acted contrary to previous customs and probably had special reasons for this.
The queen's father, Lukyan Streshnev, soon became the richest landowner, owning estates in seven districts; in terms of the number of lands, he took ninth place among the richest people in the state. Some of his estates have survived to this day. For example, the village of Orekhovo, which was included in Moscow in 1960, or the estate at the beginning of Bozhedomsky Lane in Moscow (now the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art). Lukyan Stepanovich also owned a vast courtyard in the Moscow Kremlin, which occupied half of Zhitnitskaya and Troitskaya streets.” Thanks to the improvement in their situation, the queen’s cousins were able to buy and begin to rebuild the Uzkoye estate.
Another legend about Father Evdokia says that Lukyan Stepanovich had a special curtain in one of his rooms. Every day, left alone with himself, the royal father-in-law pulled her away. Behind the curtain, his old clothes were neatly hung, and the tools with which Streshnev worked in the field lay. And then the former poor nobleman said to himself: “Lukyan! Remember what you were and what you are now. Remember that you received all this from God. Don't forget His mercy. Remember His commandments. Share everything you have with the poor: they are your brothers. Do not oppress anyone, you yourself were poor. Remember firmly that all earthly greatness is vanity, and that God can turn you into nothing with one word.
Married life
As historians point out, the life of the young queen under the wing of her imperious mother-in-law was not easy: “Her position at court was difficult. Apparently, the young queen became completely dependent on her mother-in-law, nun Martha, whose firm hand can be felt in all palace life.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had one and the same confessor, and their affairs were conducted by one clerk. On trips to monasteries and on all outings, the king's mother accompanied her daughter-in-law. The grandmother also chose teachers for her grandchildren. But even after the death of the mother-in-law, no influence of the tsarina is felt in the affairs of Mikhail Fedorovich.”
unknown, Public Domain Evdokia's main concerns were related to childbirth. The first two children turned out to be girls, and the second died at 9 months old. I. E. Zabelin writes:
“This circumstance that only daughters are born greatly saddened and worried the royal spouses. There was no small sorrow and misfortune for the king; and to the even more faithful queen about “sonlessness,” about the birthlessness of the heir to the kingdom, a misfortune that usually developed the tsar’s coldness towards the unhappy queen. The couple began to pray fervently... Once, in a conversation with the famous monk Alexander Bulatnikov in the Solovetsky Palace, who later was the cellarer of the Trinity Monastery, Tsar Michael turned to him with the words: Do you know who your reverend elder is who would pray for our sadness? Alexander replied: There is, sir, such a man, and I am sure that he can ask you from God for the fruit of sonship: this is the Monk Eleazar, the ascetic of Anzersky. Alexander told in detail his holy life, and the king immediately sent Alexander with love, so that the monk would arrive in Moscow as soon as possible. The holy elder arrived at the royal chambers and, in a conversation with the grieving spouses, consoled them with trustworthy words: “Don’t be sad,” he said. For God is able to give you fruit according to your faith, and it will come to pass like this day. I trust in the Lord that a son will be conceived and born to you, and that there will be an heir to the kingdom after you. Hearing this, the couple were filled with inexpressible joy and begged the monk to stay until the time. With God cooperating with the words of the saint, it was not long before the king’s son Alexei Mikhailovich was conceived and born, who, having subsequently reigned, revered the saint. the elder, like another God-given father, showered him generous gifts and ordered to build a stone church in his monastery.”
After the unsuccessful birth of Tsarevich Vasily, who soon died, Evdokia did not give birth for six years (1639-1645), until the death of the king, and, according to contemporaries, from that time “I was sad before the former, and between the spouses in their state health and in love it was no longer the same.”
The king and queen prayed and showed great faith in the Venerable Alexander the Wonderworker of Svir, whose relics were found during the same years (1641), and in 1643 the king arranged for them a rich silver shrine, and the queen “she arranged the art of sewing with her own hands, with her noble children (daughters), colored ones, the image of St. shines on the shroud. The Life-Giving Trinity and the venerable Father Alexander, and decorated it with gold and silver and beads (pearls) with precious stones, and ordered to place them on the many-wonderful relics of the venerable one...”. But they were not given any more children.
Queen Evdokia, Public Domain Evdokia became the founder of many charitable institutions, helped the poor and the church. She made a great contribution to the restoration of the Meshchovsky St. George Monastery in her homeland, in the necropolis of which the Streshnev family tomb is located (there is information that she was blessed there before leaving for Moscow for a bride's viewing with the desire to win the heart of the Tsar, which does not contradict information that she was not among the applicants). She also visited Moscow, especially the blessed schema-nun Martha, the holy fool for Christ’s sake, who lived here, and asked her prayers for a safe outcome during childbirth. The example of the pious queen was followed by her subjects. The custom, sanctified by the prayers of the holy fool Martha, was established to serve a memorial service for the repose of her soul during pregnancy at the tomb of the blessed one in the Ivanovo Monastery, thereby asking for her prayerful help.
Evdokia died on August 18, 1645, 5 weeks after the death of her husband, who died on July 13. The queen was buried in a tomb for women of the royal family in the Moscow Kremlin near the southern wall. Since 1930, the sarcophagus with the remains of the queen has been kept in the basement, since the Ascension Monastery was blown up in 1929. The inscription on its lid says:
Leta August 7153 on the 18th day... at the sixth hour the blessed queen reposed and Grand Duchess Evdokeya Lukyanovna was buried on the 19th day of August.
Evdokia Streshneva - where are you from?
Many regional publications now and then mention erroneous information that the ancestor of the Romanov dynasty, Russian Tsarina Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva, was from near Mozhaisk.
This information can be found everywhere, starting with the official website of the city of Mozhaisk, including school diaries and the directory of the Mozhaisk municipal district published in 2011. However
The palm in this matter belongs not to Mozhaisk, but to Kaluga land. Let us remind you that
that the royal husband of Evdokia Streshneva was Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the first king of the Romanov dynasty, whose father was Patriarch Filaret, and whose mother was Elder Martha. The second wife of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov came from a very poor family and arrived in Moscow for the viewing of the royal brides as a servant of one of the contenders. But the first in the dynasty and reputed to be weak-willed, the king, against the will of his mother, chose the “thin-born” Evdokia.
Kaluga local historians with the support of historians and employees of the International Institute of Genealogical Research (Program " Russian dynasties"), engaged in research into the history of the Streshnev family, it was established that Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva comes from the small town of Meshchovsk, Kaluga region. Moreover, her parents are buried in the Meshchovo St. George Monastery in the monastery cemetery. It was she who was the main trustee of the St. George Monastery.
Meshchovsk was first mentioned as a town of the “Seversk Land” in 1238. At 228 km of the M3 federal highway there is a turn to the ancient town of Meshchovsk, where about 5 thousand people currently live.
Having suffered a lot from the hard times of the war, Meshchovsk was famous for the Russian tsars who revered it (and now the rapidly reviving St. George Monastery) and for its strong, homely merchants,
decorating the city with five temples. The main attraction of Meshchovsk - the new Annunciation Cathedral with a free-standing 70-meter bell tower and chimes. Today Meshchovsk is known as a typical Russian town with low-rise residential buildings typical of small provincial towns of the second half of the last century.
Another interesting fact is that Meshchovsk gave Russia another queen. The first wife of Peter I and the last Russian Tsarina Praskovya (the more “befitting” name for a reigning person, Evdokia, was given to her at the coronation) Illarionovna Lopukhina, the daughter of the Tsar’s steward, was born in the family estate, the ancient village of Serebryano, which is 4 versts from Meshchovsk. Thus, Kaluga land is the birthplace of two Russian queens. Here
They sacredly honor the memory of their famous countrymen. So, on June 12, 2008, at the Meshchovo St. George Monastery, a ceremony was held to lay the foundation stone for the monument to Evdokia Streshneva. At the base of the monument was laid a stone from the holy Mount Tabor and a commemorative medal depicting the monument to the 1000th anniversary of Russia. The monument to Streshneva was supposed to be built using public donations and installed on the territory of the monastery in anticipation of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, which will be celebrated in 2013. However, already on May 28, 2011, the monument to Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva was inaugurated. This event was timed to coincide with the completion of the two-day work of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference “At the Origins of Russian Statehood. The role of women in the history of the Romanov dynasty." The monument is cast from a copper alloy and depicts the queen with her young heir Alexei.
The inscription on a copper scroll at the foot of the monument reads: “St. George’s Monastery was moved to Meshchovsk in 1626 from the river. Ressed by the diligence and care of Evdokia Lukyanovna Streshneva, the wife of the first Russian Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. Mentioned in the chronicle as the ancestral abode of the Streshnevs. The parents of Queen Evdokia are buried on its territory.”
By order of the administration of the municipal formation “Meshchovsky District of the Kaluga Region”, the book “The Tale of the Streshnev Family” was published in 2004. It tells about Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev, the father of Evdokia Streshneva. The book is based on materials from the funds of the State scientific library with the authorship of the famous researcher Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin) and with the active participation of the St. George Meshchovsky Monastery. The main significance of the publication is moral and educational. The preface of the book says: “... having learned about the fate of Queen Evdokia, the girls will understand that what adorns female nature is not feigned, but sincere meekness, the virtue of the Christian soul, which has the ability to transform even the external, physical nature of a person. This is what the young Tsar Mikhail saw, struck by the beauty of Evdokia. The historical account says that this beauty was a perfect angel.”
(The article uses materials from Wikipedia, the Orthodox news agency “Russian Line”, the publication of the International Institute of Genealogical Research “Program “Russian Dynasties”, the Russian historical illustrated magazine “Rodina”.)
Tatiana PEROVA
In the photo: Evdokia
Streshneva __
