In 1911, Emperor Nicholas II gave permission to dismantle the archive of the Secret Order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov. In addition to the usual papers and denunciations for such organizations, a large volume of documents was discovered concerning the church schism, and in particular the case of the disgraced riding noblewoman Feodosia Morozova. Read about the research results in the newspaper “Our Time”.
Among the heap of half-rotted papers, one was found, which was immediately reported to the authorities. The reaction followed immediately: the analysis of documents was suspended until the highest order, the archive was classified. The letter that so alarmed the ruling dynasty concerned the personal life of Alexei Mikhailovich, who went down in Russian history under the name Quiet.
It's not allowed, lady.
“Rumors that Theodosia had spoiled her son not from her husband appeared in Moscow the day after his birth.”
On the night of November 1–2, 1675, it snowed. The walls of the three-meter-deep pit were covered in frost. The women sitting in the pit had not spoken for several days; they did not even have the strength to pray. After Evdokia’s death in September, they were fed worse and less often every day, and when they asked for bread they answered: if they are righteous, then God will give it to them!
One of the captives stirred, and the second, unable to turn her head, squinted her eyes in her direction.
I will die today, Masha...
The one called Masha did not answer anything, she just looked away.
And it’s true, you and I are not living, but suffering...
The woman began to cry. In the emaciated and broken old woman, few would recognize the stately beauty Feodosia Morozova.
She was forty-three years old. Suddenly Morozova perked up and, gaining strength from somewhere, stood up and shouted somewhere upward, where the guards should have been:
Hey, up there! Have mercy! Give me a roll!
Masha hissed something condemningly, but from above they answered:
It’s not allowed, lady, I’m afraid.
Then give me some bread! – Morozova did not let up, and in this demand her final determination was heard.
Not allowed.
“Good, child...” the old woman sank and somehow suddenly went limp. “Blessed be our God, so merciful.” Then go to the river and wash my shirt... I was going to die, but I need to die clean...
Morozova said her last words so quietly that even Danilova, who was nearby, could not understand them. But the guard heard, and soon a wooden pole with an iron hook at the end came down, to which Morozova attached her tough shirt, which had not been changed for several months.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was left without parents early on, and when he ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, the person closest to him was his teacher, his father’s friend, boyar Boris Morozov. Boris Ivanovich's brother Gleb was the uncle of Alexei Mikhailovich's younger brother Ivan and the tsar's commander in Novgorod, Kazan, and accompanied the tsar on military campaigns. Both brothers were quite close to the Russian throne and did not intend to leave it.
True, when the king’s brother died, Gleb’s influence declined, but even here Boris found a way to return to his previous position. Not only did he choose a bride for Alexei Mikhailovich from among the “artistic” ones, so that they would not compete, but he himself married the queen’s sister, Anna Miloslavskaya. Gleb was advised to marry the daughter of the boyar Prokopiy Sokovnin, who was close to Alexei Mikhailovich, Feodosiya. Although the Sokovnins did not have a distinguished pedigree, Procopius took part in embassy affairs and for some time was even the governor of Kaluga.
The wedding of Gleb Morozov and Feodosia Sokovnina took place in 1649. It was not particularly pompous, since the groom had already been married once, had recently become a widower, and not enough time had passed for the first marriage to be forgotten. But in order to demonstrate the seventeen-year-old beauty being introduced into the boyar’s house, the festivities lasted more than a week. One day, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich also visited the Morozovs.
Golden carriage
Are you getting ready? – Danilova wheezed from her corner.
Yes, Mashenka, I’m getting ready.
What are you happy about?
The friend coughed, and Morozova thought she laughed. She bent over to the icy earthen floor and tried to say the usual prayer that rolled off her tongue so easily. But one after another, scenes of a past and, it seemed, long-forgotten life appeared in my head.
The boyar groom arrived on a gilded carriage drawn by a dozen thoroughbred horses, accompanied by more than a hundred servants. This alone made an impression - at best, the Sokovnins harnessed two horses, and in the entire house there were no more than a dozen servants. The groom's fur coat, trimmed with sable skins and lined with ermine, completely made Feodosia believe that the marriage promises to turn into an endless fairy tale.
The wedding was celebrated in Zyuzin, the Morozov estate near Moscow. Contemporaries admired the luxury of the palace - the high vaults of the halls, built in compliance with Russian traditions, were fancifully supplemented only by inlaid parquet, which was becoming fashionable in Europe. Peacocks walked proudly through the winter garden, and a separate room was reserved for the owner’s hunting trophies.
On the third day, the young king and queen arrived in Zyuzino. Seeing him, Theodosia felt a previously unknown feeling. The blue-eyed youth with flaxen hair in a brightly embroidered caftan struck her with his beauty, and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna seemed like a gray bird, shriveled from the frost, who, through someone’s misunderstanding, found herself in the Garden of Eden.
Alexey Mikhailovich also noticed the young noblewoman, she was brought closer to the court, and a year later the Morozovs had a son, Ivan. Rumors that Feodosia had spoiled her son not from her husband appeared in Moscow the day after his birth. The fact is that among the gossips it has long been said that the Morozov brothers, in the pursuit of wealth, lost their masculine strength - both the eldest Boris and the younger Gleb married a second time, but neither one nor the other had children before Ivan. When the boy grew up a little, his resemblance to the second Romanov ceased to be a secret.
In 1662, first the childless Boris Ivanovich Morozov, and a little later Gleb Ivanovich, died almost simultaneously. Twelve-year-old Ivan turned out to be the heir to all Morozov’s wealth, but before his son came of age, his mother, Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova, was declared the administrator of the estates. Her influence at court, which had previously been considerable, increased many times over.
Only the queen continued to believe in the pure relationship of her husband and best friend. In addition, Alexei Mikhailovich’s frequent visits to the Morozovs were easily explained by his royal concern for the fatherless Ivan and interest in Feodosia as an interlocutor. Boris Ivanovich Morozov publicly admired the intelligence and education of his daughter-in-law and considered it shameless to discuss state affairs with her. What can we say about the young tsar, who was suddenly left without his best advisers, while revolt after revolt took place in Rus'?
Three fingers
Although Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed the Quietest, his reign was one of the most turbulent in Rus'. The enslavement of peasants began under Ivan the Terrible, and the Code of 1649 finally approved it. Of course, riots began: the peasants refused to obey the landowners, went to the north, where the tsarist commanders could not reach them, the most freedom-loving people united in gangs and raided the landowners' estates.Alexey Mikhailovich well understood that in order to pacify the people, the new patriarch must be a strong man, capable of reforming the amorphous church, which had not yet provided adequate assistance to the authorities. It was then that he remembered the Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon.
The sick lust for power of the new patriarch manifested itself quite quickly. Yes, he did not hide his desire to build an Orthodox Church following the example of the Catholic Church, where the power of the pope was indisputable, including for monarchs. At first, such changes suited Alexei Mikhailovich quite well - he needed the support of a strong church.
The first step of the new patriarch was to bring together the traditional Russian and Greek rites. However, the change in liturgical books and church practices that began under Nikon was perceived by most parishioners as an insult to tradition. From time immemorial, in Rus' they crossed themselves with two fingers - Nikon introduced three fingers, Russians during worship were accustomed to following the movement of the sun - Nikon tried to introduce the Greek custom of walking opposite, in Rus' they revered an eight-pointed cross - Nikon insisted on a four-pointed one.
In 1654, Nikon convened a church council, at which it was decided to correct church books according to Greek and ancient Slavic models. Several people, including Archpriest Avvakum, who later became famous, did not sign the decision, and two years later at a new council they were cursed and sent into exile.
The common people accepted all these innovations unequivocally: the tsar needed a new church to finally consolidate serfdom. The courtiers hated Nikon for the influence that he acquired over the young king. And only Feodosia Morozova dared to show her hostility to the patriarch.
At the instigation of Nikon, the tsar sent all the forces of the state to suppress the Old Believers. The schismatics fled from cities and villages, and after them, teams of riflemen were immediately sent, who burned the Old Believer monasteries with the children and old people in them.
But as soon as Nikon left Moscow at the head of the army, Morozova’s influence on the tsar intensified. Even Archpriest Avvakum, with whom Theodosia began correspondence, asked her to humble her female flesh and pay more attention to raising her son.
Having returned one day from the “crusade” to Moscow, Nikon, having learned that Alexei Mikhailovich was again in Zyuzin with the Morozovs, decided to teach the tsar a lesson: he announced that he was resigning as patriarch, and retired to the Resurrection Monastery, which he founded. Nikon was sure that Alexey Mikhailovich would immediately come to him to persuade him to stay. However, this did not happen, and in 1658 the patriarchal throne became vacant. But only in November 1666 a church council met, which found Nikon guilty of insulting the king and falling into Latin dogma. However, the reforms went so far that a return to the old rite was no longer possible.
Royal wedding
When Nikon was sent into exile, noblewoman Morozova was one of the most well-born and wealthy women in Russia. She was happy. She had a beloved son and a loved one, her main enemy was defeated, she was only thirty-three years old, and it seemed that life had nothing but joys in store for her ahead.But in March 1669, Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya, who had endured her husband’s affection for her best friend, died, and soon the tsar’s marriage to the young and pretty Natalya Naryshkina was announced. Alexey Mikhailovich Morozova made it clear that from now on their relationship could not remain the same.
On January 22, 1671, the royal wedding took place. The “mountain” (palace) noblewoman Morozova also had to take part in the complex wedding ritual. She didn’t show up, and Alexey Mikhailovich didn’t want to forgive her for this. True, as the chroniclers report, he said to the boyars around him: “It’s hard for her to fight me - one of us will certainly win.”
To deal with his former mistress, the king decided to recall her friendship with Avvakum and her rejection of the new ritual, that is, what had amused him until now. To some extent, he even encouraged his friend’s opposition, believing that her rivalry with Nikon was useful for the state.
On November 16, 1671, Archimandrite Joachim of the Chudov Monastery was instructed to arrest Morozova. She was taken to the courtyard of the Pskov Pechersky Monastery on Arbat - it was bought by the Secret Order and was used as a place of detention.
However, the king had not yet given up hope for a good relationship with his long-term girlfriend. Trying to convert her to the new faith, the new patriarch had a long conversation with Morozova, the Tsar assigned teachers to his son Ivan, and Morozova was informed about this. However, after Vanechka’s unexpected death, nothing could convince Feodosia of the king’s good attitude.
Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova died on the night of November 1–2, 1675. The half-dead Danilova tied a rope around her friend’s body and pulled it up. But just before the hole it caught on something, Morozova’s hand twitched, and it seemed to Danilova that she had illuminated her with a cross.
From that day on, Masha refused to eat, fell into oblivion every now and then, and exactly a month later, on December 1, she died.
On the same day, a messenger rode to Moscow with the news of Morozova’s death. But when Alexei Mikhailovich was informed about this, it seemed to those around him that he did not even immediately remember who they were talking about.
Prince Urusov, whose wife, Morozova’s sister Evdokia, had been tortured earlier, crossed himself and loudly, so that the future chronicler heard it, said:
Angel! A true angel! Absolutely does not remember evil!
True, the chronicler notes that it was not clear what kind of evil the prince had in mind - the one that was inflicted on Alexei Mikhailovich, or the one that he himself inflicted.
In 1911, the emperor gave permission to dismantle the archive of the Secret Order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In addition to the usual papers and denunciations for such organizations, a large volume of documents was discovered concerning the church schism, and in particular the case of the disgraced Feodosia Morozova. Her correspondence with Archpriest Avvakum, investigation reports, census of property alienated to the state after the noblewoman’s exile to Borovsk. Among the heap of half-rotted papers, one was found, which was immediately reported to the authorities. The reaction followed immediately: the analysis of documents was suspended until the highest order, the archive was classified. The letter that so alarmed the ruling dynasty concerned the personal life of Alexei Mikhailovich, who went down in Russian history under the name Quiet.
It's not allowed, lady.
On the night of November 1–2, 1675, it snowed. The walls of the three-meter-deep pit were covered in frost. The women sitting in the pit had not spoken for several days; they did not even have the strength to pray. After Evdokia’s death in September, they were fed worse and less often every day, and when they asked for bread they answered: if they are righteous, then God will give it to them!
One of the captives stirred, and the second, unable to turn her head, squinted her eyes in her direction.
I'll die today, Masha...
The one called Masha did not answer anything, she just looked away.
And it’s true, you and I are not living, but suffering...
The woman began to cry. In the emaciated and broken old woman, few would recognize the stately beauty Feodosia Morozova.
She was forty-three years old.
She outlived everyone... Glebushka died, Dunyasha died, and now Vanechka is gone...
Best of the day
Morozova's son died before his aunt, but his mother was informed about this only now, when she was exhausted.
Suddenly Morozova perked up and, gaining strength from somewhere, stood up and shouted somewhere upward, where the guards should have been:
Hey, up there! Have mercy! Give me a roll!
Masha hissed something condemningly, but from above they answered:
It’s not allowed, lady, I’m afraid.
Then give me some bread! - Morozova did not let up, and in this demand her final determination was heard.
Not allowed.
“Good, child...” the old woman sank and somehow suddenly went limp. - Blessed be our God, so merciful. Then go to the river and wash my shirt... I was going to die, but I need to die clean...
Morozova said her last words so quietly that even Danilova, who was nearby, could not understand them. But the guard heard, and soon a wooden pole with an iron hook at the end came down, to which Morozova attached her tough shirt, which had not been changed for several months.
Artful Bride
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was left without parents early on, and when he ascended the throne at the age of sixteen, the person closest to him was his teacher, his father’s friend, boyar Boris Morozov. Boris Ivanovich's brother Gleb was the uncle of Alexei Mikhailovich's younger brother Ivan and the tsar's commander in Novgorod, Kazan, and accompanied the tsar on military campaigns. Both brothers were quite close to the Russian throne and did not intend to leave it. In addition, the Morozov family was more noble than the Romanovs, and who knows how far their ambitions extended.
True, when the king’s brother died, Gleb’s influence declined, but even here Boris found a way to return to his previous position. Not only did he choose a high-born bride for Alexei Mikhailovich so that they would not compete, but he himself married the queen’s sister, Anna Miloslavskaya. Gleb was advised to marry the daughter of the boyar Prokopiy Sokovnin, who was close to Alexei Mikhailovich, Feodosiya. Although the Sokovnins did not have a distinguished pedigree, Procopius took part in embassy affairs and for some time was even the governor of Kaluga.
The wedding of Gleb Morozov and Feodosia Sokovnina took place in 1649. It was not particularly pompous, since the groom had already been married once, had recently become a widower, and not enough time had passed for the first marriage to be forgotten. But in order to demonstrate the seventeen-year-old beauty being introduced into the boyar’s house, the festivities lasted more than a week. One day Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich also visited the Morozovs...
Golden carriage
Surprisingly, having put on the wet shirt brought by the guard, Feodosia Prokopyevna felt happy. Soon her torment would end, and she felt time oozing away, bringing her meeting with the Lord closer. Morozova crossed herself.
Are you getting ready? - Danilova wheezed from her corner.
Yes, Mashenka, I’m getting ready.
What are you happy about?
The friend coughed, and Morozova thought she laughed. She bent over to the icy earthen floor and tried to say the usual prayer that rolled off her tongue so easily. But one after another, scenes of a past and, it seemed, long-forgotten life appeared in my head.
Parents wooed Feodosia, as usual, without asking. The time has come, and a better party than Morozov could not even be imagined. In addition, having advantageously married off the eldest daughter, one could count on good prospects for the younger children - daughter Evdokia and sons Fyodor and Alexei. Feodosia herself did not know love before marriage, but at first sight she appreciated generosity in her groom.
The boyar arrived on a gilded carriage drawn by a dozen thoroughbred horses, accompanied by more than a hundred servants. This alone made an impression - at best, the Sokovnins harnessed two horses, and in the entire house there were no more than a dozen servants. The groom's fur coat, trimmed with sable skins and lined with ermine, completely made Feodosia believe that the marriage promises to turn into an endless fairy tale.
Only Aunt Matryona, who had taken root with the Sokovnins even before Theodosia was born, after the wedding was agreed upon, walked gloomily and every now and then fell to her knees in front of the images.
Carried away by the pre-wedding bustle, the parents did not pay attention to Matrenina’s quirks, but Fedenka, as the youngest daughter was affectionately called in the family, became worried:
What's wrong with you, auntie? Can you smell trouble?
Matryona frowned and looked away. The girl hugged her and repeated:
Speak up, don't worry! I feel so good today that I’ll help you and I’ll have some leftovers for myself.
The hanger-on crossed herself and whispered:
It’s not me, the old one, who needs help, I’m worried about you, Fedenka! The white angel will turn out to be a demon, the black man will strengthen his faith!
The girl didn’t understand anything, but nodded in agreement.
Don't go, girl, get married! You will lose your son, your faith will be tested, you will be left all alone, and they will bury you in the icy ground!
What are you saying, Matryonushka?!
Fedenka was seriously frightened and began to cross herself, but the old woman did not let up:
I’m telling the truth, but you don’t believe me! Not every gingerbread is sweet on the inside!
Suddenly, the hanger-on stopped short and ran out of the room, and Theodosia, wiping away her tears, noticed her mother entering.
What's happened?
The eldest Sokovnina was a strict woman and did not tolerate girlish weaknesses.
Yes, I rejoice, mother!
And if you’re happy, then go get ready! The wedding has already been scheduled.
Morozova soon forgot about the prediction of the hanger-on Theodosius and remembered about it only when it began to come true.
Royal offspring
The wedding was celebrated in Zyuzin, the Morozov estate near Moscow. Contemporaries admired the luxury of the palace - the high vaults of the halls, built in compliance with Russian traditions, were fancifully supplemented only by inlaid parquet, which was becoming fashionable in Europe. Peacocks walked proudly through the winter garden, and a separate room was reserved for the owner’s hunting trophies.
On the third day, the young king and queen arrived in Zyuzino.
Seeing him, Theodosia felt a previously unknown feeling. The blue-eyed youth with flaxen hair in a brightly embroidered caftan struck her with his beauty, and Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna seemed like a gray bird, shriveled from the frost, who, through someone’s misunderstanding, found herself in the Garden of Eden.
Alexey Mikhailovich also noticed the young noblewoman, she was brought closer to the court, and a year later the Morozovs had a son, Ivan.
Rumors that Feodosia had spoiled her son not from her husband appeared in Moscow the day after his birth. The fact is that among the gossips it has long been said that the Morozov brothers, in the pursuit of wealth, lost their masculine strength - both the eldest Boris and the younger Gleb married a second time, but neither one nor the other had children before Ivan. When the boy grew up a little, his resemblance to the second Romanov ceased to be a secret.
In 1662, first the childless Boris Ivanovich Morozov, and a little later Gleb Ivanovich, died almost simultaneously. Twelve-year-old Ivan turned out to be the heir to all Morozov's wealth, but before his son came of age, his mother, Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova, was declared the administrator of the estates. Her influence at court, which had previously been considerable, increased many times over. And gossip and rumors about the ongoing relationship with the tsar were now reinforced by the fact that without his consent, the largest capital in Russia could not be concentrated in one hand. As a rule, in order to avoid this (too much wealth was a danger to power), the fortune of a childless brother was rejected in favor of the state.
Only the queen continued to believe in the pure relationship of her husband and best friend. In addition, Alexei Mikhailovich’s frequent visits to the Morozovs were easily explained by his royal concern for the fatherless Ivan and interest in Feodosia as an interlocutor. Boris Ivanovich Morozov publicly admired the intelligence and education of his daughter-in-law and considered it shameless to discuss state affairs with her. What can we say about the young tsar, who was suddenly left without his best advisers, while revolt after revolt took place in Rus'?
Three fingers
Although Alexei Mikhailovich was nicknamed the Quietest, his reign was one of the most turbulent in Rus'. The enslavement of peasants began under Ivan the Terrible, and the Code of 1649 finally approved it. Of course, riots began: the peasants refused to obey the landowners, went to the north, where the tsarist commanders could not reach them, the most freedom-loving people united in gangs and raided the landowners' estates. Never before had so many arson events occurred in the country, and the atrocities of the rebels were reminiscent of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. At the same time, both at the court, which brutally suppressed the uprising, and among the fugitive peasants, they were confident that they were doing a godly deed. And about the death of Patriarch Joseph, respected in Rus', they said: either “he was poisoned by the landowners because he stood up for the peasants,” or “the patriarch could not stand the disrespect of his masters by the common people.”
Alexey Mikhailovich well understood that in order to pacify the people, the new patriarch must be a strong man, capable of reforming the amorphous church, which had not yet provided adequate assistance to the authorities. It was then that he remembered the Novgorod Metropolitan Nikon.
Nikon (before monasticism - Nikita Minov) came from peasants of the Nizhny Novgorod province. Having become a priest, he came to Moscow and, while serving in one of the Moscow churches, caught the eye of the young Tsar. He liked him - young, handsome, his eyes sparkling. Nikon emanated energy that had not been seen at court for a long time, and Alexei Mikhailovich, despite the timid resistance of the old patriarch, appointed the young priest as Metropolitan of Novgorod.
When a messenger rushed to Novgorod with a royal request to take the place of the deceased patriarch, Nikon did not give consent, but went to Moscow. He understood well that the appointment of a relatively young man as patriarch would be perceived ambiguously by the people and the royal entourage. Only when Alexei Mikhailovich, in front of a large crowd of people in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, begging to accept the patriarchate, bowed at the feet of the metropolitan, Nikon (again publicly), having demanded from the tsar a promise not to interfere in church affairs, gave consent.
The sick lust for power of the new patriarch manifested itself quite quickly. Yes, he did not hide his desire to build an Orthodox Church following the example of the Catholic Church, where the power of the pope was indisputable, including for monarchs. At first, such changes suited Alexei Mikhailovich quite well - he needed the support of a strong church.
The first step of the new patriarch was to bring together the traditional Russian and Greek rites. However, the change in liturgical books and church practices that began under Nikon was perceived by most parishioners as an insult to tradition. From time immemorial, in Rus' they made the sign of themselves with two fingers - Nikon introduced three fingers, Russians during worship were accustomed to following the movement of the sun - Nikon tried to introduce the Greek custom of walking opposite, in Rus' they revered an eight-pointed cross - Nikon insisted on a four-pointed one...
In 1654, Nikon convened a church council, at which it was decided to correct church books according to Greek and ancient Slavic models. Several people, including Archpriest Avvakum, who later became famous, did not sign the decision, and two years later at a new council they were cursed and sent into exile.
The common people accepted all these innovations unequivocally: the tsar needed a new church to finally consolidate serfdom. The courtiers hated Nikon for the influence that he acquired over the young king. And only Feodosia Morozova dared to show her hostility to the patriarch.
Hungry Pride
Freezing in a wet shirt, Theodosia still tried to concentrate on prayer, but her memories did not allow her to do so.
Her cracked lips tried to form something like a smile: she did not immediately understand that the new patriarch was a black man, but she disliked Nikon from the first meeting. The one when Alyoshenka bowed at his feet. Nikon, dressed all in black (among other things, he tried to instill asceticism in the churchmen), did not give his consent immediately; he silently looked around the boyars surrounding the tsar with a victorious gaze and fixed it on her. What was he waiting for? Did you want Morozova to bow obediently and lower her eyes? But she felt offended by the tsar’s humiliation, and Theodosia measured the arrogant priest from head to toe. From then on, their struggle began, the struggle of two strong, power-hungry people. From the outside it seemed that they were fighting for the purity of the church, but Morozova knew that they were fighting for the love of the Tsar.
Black man
At the instigation of Nikon, the tsar sent all the forces of the state to suppress the Old Believers. The schismatics fled from cities and villages, and after them, teams of riflemen were immediately sent, who burned the Old Believer monasteries with the children and old people in them.
But as soon as Nikon left Moscow at the head of the army, Morozova’s influence on the tsar intensified. Even Archpriest Avvakum, with whom Theodosia began correspondence, asked her to humble her female flesh and pay more attention to raising her son.
Having returned one day from the “crusade” to Moscow, Nikon, having learned that Alexei Mikhailovich was again in Zyuzin with the Morozovs, decided to teach the tsar a lesson: he announced that he was resigning as patriarch, and retired to the Resurrection Monastery, which he founded. Nikon was sure that Alexey Mikhailovich would immediately come to him to persuade him to stay. However, this did not happen, and in 1658 the patriarchal throne became vacant. But only in November 1666 a church council met, which found Nikon guilty of insulting the king and falling into Latin dogma. He was defrocked and exiled to the Belozersky Ferapontov Monastery. However, Nikon's reforms went so far that a return to the old rite was no longer possible.
But Morozova, who defeated the “black man,” did not yet understand that the church schism would also be her fate.
Royal wedding
When Nikon was sent into exile, noblewoman Morozova was one of the most well-born and wealthy women in Russia. She was happy. She had a beloved son and a loved one, the main enemy who tried to separate her from the “white angel” Alyoshenka was defeated, she was only thirty-three years old, and it seemed that life had only joys in store ahead.
But in March 1669, Tsarina Maria Miloslavskaya, who had endured her husband’s affection for her best friend, died, and soon the tsar’s marriage to the young and pretty Natalya Naryshkina was announced. Alexey Mikhailovich Morozova made it clear that from now on their relationship could not remain the same.
On January 22, 1671, the royal wedding took place. The “mountain” (palace) noblewoman Morozova also had to take part in the complex wedding ritual. She didn’t show up, and Alexey Mikhailovich didn’t want to forgive her for this. True, as the chroniclers report, he said to the boyars around him: “It’s hard for her to fight me - one of us will certainly win.”
To deal with his former mistress, the king decided to recall her friendship with Avvakum and her rejection of the new ritual, that is, what had amused him until now. To some extent, he even encouraged his friend’s opposition, believing that her rivalry with Nikon was useful for the state.
On November 16, 1671, Archimandrite Joachim of the Chudov Monastery was instructed to arrest Morozova. She was taken to the courtyard of the Pskov Pechersky Monastery on Arbat - it was bought by the Secret Order and was used as a place of detention.
However, the king had not yet given up hope for a good relationship with his long-term girlfriend. Trying to convert her to the new faith, the new patriarch had a long conversation with Morozova, the Tsar assigned teachers to his son Ivan, and Morozova was informed about this. However, after Vanechka’s unexpected death, nothing could convince Feodosia of the king’s good attitude.
The prediction of Matryona’s hanger-on kept pounding in my head: “The white angel will turn out to be a demon, the black man will strengthen the faith.” Now she knew not only the “black man”, but the “white angel”, who turned out to be Satan.
Real angel
The half-dead Danilova tied a rope around her friend’s body and pulled it up. But just before the hole it caught on something, Morozova’s hand twitched, and it seemed to Danilova that she had illuminated her with a cross.
From that day on, Masha refused to eat, fell into oblivion every now and then, and exactly a month later, on December 1, she died.
On the same day, a messenger rode to Moscow with the news of Morozova’s death. But when Alexei Mikhailovich was informed about this, it seemed to those around him that he did not even immediately remember who they were talking about.
Prince Urusov, whose wife, Morozova’s sister Evdokia Prokopyevna, had been tortured earlier, crossed himself and said loudly, so that the future chronicler could hear it:
Angel! A true angel! Absolutely does not remember evil!
True, the chronicler notes that it was not clear what evil the prince had in mind - the one that was inflicted on Alexei Mikhailovich, or the one that he himself inflicted.
In the photo: painting by V. I. Surikov “Boyaryna Morozova”.
Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, a noble boyar close to the court of Mikhail Fedorovich, and then Alexei Mikhailovich. He is known, however, not for his court career and not for the fact that he was known as one of the richest people in the Russian kingdom, but for the fact that after the death of his first wife he married the 17-year-old beauty Feodosia Sokovnina, who went down in Russian history under the name noblewoman Morozova.
There were many women who bore the Morozov surname in the centuries-old history of the family. But historically it was assigned to Theodosia Prokofievna, the famous schismatic, spiritual daughter of Archpriest Avvakum, noblewoman Morozova, who became the heroine of the famous painting by artist Vasily Surikov.
Boyarina Morozova in family life
The family life of Gleb Ivanovich Morozov with his first wife Avdotya Alekseevna could be called happy - they lived in perfect harmony for thirty years - if not for one sad circumstance: they had no children. That's why, when young noblewoman Morozova gave birth to a son, Gleb Ivanovich was incredibly happy. His beloved brother Boris, who had accumulated a considerable fortune, also had no children; Gleb Ivanovich himself was by no means a poor man, so the newborn Ivan Morozov became the richest heir from infancy.
Real luxury reigned in the Morozov family. And not only in their Moscow house, but also in estates near Moscow, which was perceived by contemporaries with surprise and distrust. In those days, boyar estates had only economic purposes; it was not customary to decorate and improve them.
For the first time, he broke the ancient tradition: having visited Europe and seen luxurious country estates, primarily Polish, he built his Izmailovo estates near Moscow and, the latter was called the eighth wonder of the world by foreign guests.
Advisor to Alexei Mikhailovich, who was his “uncle” and mentor in childhood, also arranged his own with pomp, where he invited the tsar himself. Gleb Morozov, who also participated in foreign campaigns as part of the royal retinue and had seen enough of the estates of Polish magnates, followed his brother’s example. In the village of Zyuzino, according to surviving evidence, peacocks and peahens walked around the manor's courtyard, and the noblewoman Morozova rode out in a silver carriage drawn by six thoroughbred horses, accompanied by hundreds of servants.
Widow
Boyarina Morozova and Archpriest Avvakum
Boyarina Morozova shared her worries and sorrows with her longtime friend, mentor and spiritual father - Archpriest Avvakum, a famous representative of the Old Believers, who did not accept the church reform, for which he was subsequently exiled and executed. Boyarina Morozova completely shared his views and also suffered and accepted martyrdom for her faith.
He was deliberately strict with his spiritual daughter, although in the depths of his soul he loved her, happily stayed in her large hospitable house and called her “a cheerful and amiable wife.” Feodosia Prokopyevna remained a young widow - she was only thirty years old, and nothing human was alien to her. She wore a hair shirt to get rid of temptations, but this did not always help, and the archpriest wrote to her in response to complaints: “Stupid, crazy, ugly, gouge out your eyes with a shuttle!” He also reproached his spiritual daughter for stinginess, having learned that she had donated eight rubles to the church - a considerable amount in those days, when everything was calculated in pennies and half-rubles, but Avvakum knew about the gold and jewelry hidden by the noblewoman from the authorities: “Alms flow from you like a small drop from the depths of the sea, and then with a reservation”, he writes angrily.
Thanks to the correspondence preserved in ancient literary monuments, we can more clearly imagine the character of the noblewoman Morozova - she was not at all a religious fanatic, as legend often portrays her, but an ordinary woman and mother, taking care of her son and the household, with her weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages.
Opal
The virtues of Theodosia Prokopyevna include, first of all, strength of spirit - despite the habit of living in luxury, she voluntarily renounced all earthly goods, “shaked off the dust” of wealth and became equal to ordinary people, secretly becoming a nun under the name of Theodora.
Less than a year after taking monastic vows, Archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery, and later Patriarch of Moscow Joachim, appeared in Morozova’s house by order of the tsar. He interrogated Feodosia and her sister Evdokia Urusova and initially left them under house arrest, but two days later the noblewoman Morozova was transported under guard to. It was this moment that was captured in Surikov’s immortal painting - but the artist depicted his heroine as proud, stern and irreconcilable, and yet she was characterized by suffering and doubts.
Already in prison, Morozova learned about the death of her beloved son and was so sad for him that Archpriest Avvakum again made her a suggestion in a letter: “Don’t worry about Ivan, I won’t scold him”. They tried to make a saint out of the sufferer for the faith, and the chronicler, to please the hagiographic canon, says that from the rack the disgraced noblewoman “victoriously denounced” her tormentors. However, the moment when the noblewoman began to cry and said to one of the executioners: “Is this Christianity if you torture a person?”
The martyrdom of noblewoman Morozova
After being tortured on the rack, the unfortunate noblewoman was tormented by hunger, and she cried out to her guard: “Have mercy, servant of Christ! Have mercy on me, give me a little roll!” Then she asked for at least “a little crackers”, at least an apple or a cucumber - but all in vain.
The Tsar did not want to arrange a public execution of the boyar Morozova and Evdokia Urusova, because he was afraid that the people would be on their side, and doomed the women to a slow, painful death from hunger. Even after death, they were kept in custody - for fear that the Old Believers would dig up their bodies “with great honor, like the might of holy martyrs”.
The sisters were buried secretly, without a funeral service, wrapped in matting, inside the Borovsky prison. Boyarina Morozova died on the night of November 1–2, 1675. After her death, all the untold wealth and estates of the Morozovs went to the state.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 14.11.2018 20:37
In the photo: Painting by Vasily Perov “Torture of the noblewoman Morozova”.
The fate of Feodosia Prokofyevna Sokovnina takes a sharp turn for the first time in 1649, when she, a 17-year-old girl, becomes the wife of the Tsar's bedchamber Gleb Ivanovich Morozov.
In 1653, the reforms of Patriarch Nikon began. Their essence (except for changes in church books and the order of worship) boiled down to the following innovations: the sign of the cross was prescribed to be made with three fingers, not two, the procession around the church should be carried out not in the direction of the sun, but against the sun, in some cases, bows to the ground were replaced by waist bows, the cross Not only the eight- and six-pointed one was revered, but also the four-pointed one, and the exclamation “Hallelujah” was required to be sung three times, not two.
Innovations split Russian society of that time - from the nobility to the townspeople and peasants - into two camps. The government of Alexei Mikhailovich consistently supported church reforms, and at first the repressions were directed only against the leaders of the schism. A decade later, when Patriarch Nikon, after a conflict with the tsar, was deprived of his chair and removed from business, Archpriest Avvakum, one of the leaders of the schismatics, was returned to Moscow for some time and tried to win him over to the side of the official church. Avvakum refused to accept the reforms, but during this time many new eminent supporters joined the ranks of the Old Believers.
The most famous spiritual daughters of the archpriest were the sisters Feodosia Morozova and Evdokia Urusova. And at this moment the fate of the noblewoman takes a sharp turn for the second time. Morozova’s house becomes the center of the Old Believers: schismatics persecuted by the tsar come and live here secretly, a huge number of letters are sent from here in support of the “faith of the fathers,” some of which are written by the noblewoman herself.
Morozova's role as one of the leaders of schismatics and her stubborn unwillingness to submit to the reforms carried out by the tsar make her position precarious. In 1665, the tsar made an attempt, without resorting to extreme measures, to intimidate the noblewoman Theodosia, and significant land holdings remaining after the death of her husband were confiscated from her. But after the queen’s intercession, most of Morozova’s estates were returned.
In January 1671, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich married a second time - to the young Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. Feodosia Morozova, due to her position as one of the most noble women at court, was obliged to attend the wedding. However, she deliberately avoided participating in the wedding, which was the last straw for the king.
In November 1671, noblewoman Morozova and her sister Princess Urusova were arrested. They rejected all attempts to force the sisters to accept the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon and cross themselves according to the new rules with three fingers. While in captivity, Morozova learned of the death of her only son.
The tsar's henchmen proposed to burn the schismatics, but the boyars did not agree to the execution of noble prisoners. Then they began to torture them. Women were lifted on the rack and then thrown naked on the ice. The woman, exhausted by torture, reproached the executioners with tears in her eyes: “Is Christianity dead to death?”
Without breaking their commitment to the old faith, the tsar’s henchmen imprisoned Morozova in the Novodevichy Convent. All the nobility of Moscow flocked there to see with their own eyes the “strong patience” of the noblewoman. The Tsar decides to remove the Sokovnin sisters away from the capital, exiling them to Borovsk.
But even there they did not resign themselves: they continued to correspond with like-minded people, and they were often visited by famous Old Believers. In the end, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich decided to put an end to this protracted confrontation. Morozova and her sister were thrown into a pit and began to starve.
Princess Urusova held out in these unbearable conditions for two and a half months. Dying, she asked her sister to read the funeral service, and she herself served with her. “And so they both served, and the martyr above the martyr in the dark dungeon sang the canon, and the prisoner above the prisoner shed tears.”.
Urusova died first. Boyarina Morozova died after her on November 2, 1675. And she was secretly, without a funeral service, buried next to her sister. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, fearing the indignation of the Old Believers, did not allow the death of the rebellious noblewoman to be announced for three weeks. The location of the graves of the martyrs was kept secret.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 16.02.2019 13:32
MOROZOVA FEODOSIYA PROKOPEVNA - an activist of the early Russian ancient history.
Daughter of about-nothing P.F. So-kov-ni-na, clan-st-ven-ni-ka of Maria Il-i-nich-na Mi-lo-Slav-skaya (from the clan of Mil-lo-Slav-skikh), per- howl of King Aleksey Mi-hai-lo-vi-cha.
In 1649, she married the boyar Gle-ba Iva-no-vi-cha Mo-ro-zo-va (from the Old Moscow boyar family of Mo-ro-zo-vy). Ov-do-vev (1661/1662), F.P. Morozova, together with her son, has a huge fortune. From that time on, I was pre-da-va-la under-vi-gam of goodness, but-si-la vla-sya-ni-tsu.
Spiritual nickname F.P. Morozov, the pro-pop Av-va-kum, who once lived in her house (1664), called her to even greater as-ke- tiz-mu and active support for a number of things. After sending Av-va-ku-ma to exile to Me-zen F.P. Morozova became the next-to-va-tel-but you-stand against the reforms of the pat-ri-ar-ha of Niko-na.
According to the rule of King Aleksey Mi-hai-lo-vi-cha, ar-chimandrite Chu-do-va of the monastery Io-a-kim (future pat-ri-arch) before -under-torture of F.P.’s lies. Morozova.
After tai-no-go po-stri-ga (with the name Feo-do-ra), finally at the end of 1670 hegu-men Do-si-fe-em , F.P. Morozova began to withdraw from church services and secular ceremonies (from attending a wedding in January 1671 - be the king of Aleksey Mi-hai-lo-vi-cha with Na-tal-ya Ki-ril-lov-na Na-rysh-ki-na). The Tsar’s new warnings with a threat to the Ka-Za-Za-Niya do not cause any action.
November 16(26), 1671 F.P. Morozov and her sister Princess E.P. Uru-so-wu for-co-va-li and for-key-chi-chi-li-zhu; at the pre-pro-se in the Chu-do-voy monastery, the sisters declared that they would not partake of the li-tour in the new about-rya-du.
At the beginning of 1672 F.P. Morozov, Uru-so-vu and their one-mouse-len-ni-tsu M. Da-ni-lo-vu were subjected to severe torture during -rykh exhorted them pat-ri-arch Pi-ti-rim. Despite the step-by-step of Tsar Irina Mi-khai-lov-ny, Tsar Aleksey Mi-khai-lo-vich from-ruled F .P. Morozov and her associates in the Bo-rovsky island.
In January 1675, the prisoners managed to meet close people, among whom was the author of the life of F.P. Morozova, her older brother F.P. So-kov-nin. For this, the prisoners were given books, icons, clothes and food, and received -the number of archer-hundreds of them once-sorry-was in the soldiers and was subjected to permanent exile.
In June 1675, all prisoners were transferred to a deep earthen prison; oh-ran-no-kam, under fear of death, it was forbidden to give them pi-shu. On August 10 (20), 1675, a royal decree was issued, decreeing F.P. Morozov of all land holdings.
Soon the prisoners died of hunger and exhaustion.
At the pre-la-gai-mo-place of the end of the prisoners in Bo-rovsk there is an old-ritual chapel. Old-routines celebrate the memory of the holy pre-excellent and sage Feodora (F P. Morozova) September 24th.
Is-to-ria F.P. Mo-ro-zo-voy inhale-no-vi-la hu-dozh-ni-ka V.I. Su-ri-ko-va for the creation of a po-lot-on “Battle-ry-nya Mo-ro-zo-va” (1887, Tretyakov Gallery).
When the writer Garshin first saw Surikov’s great painting 100 years ago, he said that now people would be unable to “imagine Feodosia Prokopyevna otherwise than how she is depicted in the painting.” And so it happened. Today we imagine noblewoman Morozova as an emaciated old woman with fanatically burning eyes.
What was she like? To understand this, let us remember how the other characters in this painting look at Morozova. Some sympathize, they see her as a martyr for the faith, others laugh at a crazy fanatic. This is how this extraordinary woman remained in history: either a saint or a madwoman.
Maiden Sokovnina
Feodosia Prokopievna, the future noblewoman of Morozov, was born in 1632, in the family of the okolnichy Sokovnin, a relative of the first wife of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Due to this relationship, Theodosia was well acquainted and friendly with Queen Maria Ilyinichna. When Feodosia turned 17, she was married to boyar Gleb Ivanovich Morozov. Gleb Ivanovich was the younger brother of the all-powerful Boris Ivanovich Morozov, the royal educator, whom Alexei Mikhailovich revered as his own father. The husband was 30 years older than Feodosia.
"The Arriving Boyaryn"
Immediately after the wedding, Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova received the title of the Tsarina’s “visiting noblewoman,” that is, a person who has the right to come to the Tsarina for dinner and on holidays as a relative. This was a considerable honor, which was awarded only to the wives of the most noble persons and those closest to the sovereign. Not only the relationship of the young Morozova with Marya Ilyinichna, but also the nobility and wealth of her husband played a role here. Gleb Morozov owned 2110 peasant households. On his estate near Moscow, Zyuzino, a magnificent garden was laid out in which peacocks walked. When Theodosia left the courtyard, her gilded carriage was pulled by 12 horses, followed by up to 300 servants. According to legend, the couple got along well, despite the large age difference. They had a son, Ivan, who was destined to inherit the huge fortune of his father and childless uncle, the royal educator Boris Morozov. Feodosia Prokopyevna lived in luxury and honor, which were comparable to those of the Tsar.
Spiritual daughter of Archpriest Avvakum
In 1662, at the age of 30, Feodosia Prokopyevna became a widow. A young, beautiful woman could get married again; her huge fortune made her a very enviable bride. The customs of that time did not prohibit a second marriage for a widow. However, Feodosia Prokopyevna took a different path, also very common for pre-Petrine Russia. She chose the fate of an honest widow - a woman who completely devoted herself to caring for her child and deeds of piety. Widows did not always go to the monastery, but they established life in their home according to the monastic model, filling it with nuns, wanderers, holy fools, with services and prayer vigils in the home church. Apparently, at this time she became close to the leader of the Russian Old Believers, Archpriest Avvakum. When the church reforms began that led to the Schism, Theodosia, while maintaining devotion to the old rite with all her soul, was outwardly hypocritical at first. She attended services at the Nikonians, was baptized with three fingers, however, in her home she maintained the old ritual. When Avvakum returned from Siberian exile, he settled with his spiritual daughter. His influence was the reason why Morozova’s house turned into a real center of opposition to church reform. Everyone dissatisfied with Nikon’s innovations flocked here.
In his numerous letters, Archpriest Avvakum recalled how they spent faith in the rich house of the Morozovs: he read spiritual books, and the noblewoman listened and spun threads or sewed shirts for the poor. Under her rich clothes she wore a hair shirt, and at home she dressed in old, patched dresses. However, it was not easy for a woman who was only 30 years old at that time to maintain an honest widowhood. Archpriest Avvakum even once advised his spiritual daughter to gouge out her eyes so that they would not tempt her with carnal pleasures. In general, from Avvakum’s letters a portrait of the widow Morozova is formed, which is not at all similar to the image that we see in the famous painting. Avvakum wrote about a zealous housewife who cares about leaving her father’s estates to her son in perfect order, about a “cheerful and amiable wife,” although sometimes stingy.
Martyr
Alexei Mikhailovich, who sent the rebellious archpriest Avvakum to distant Pustozersk, for the time being turned a blind eye to the activities of the noblewoman Morozova. Largely, probably, thanks to the intercession of the queen and the fact that Morozova continues to “be a hypocrite” in public. However, in 1669 Maria Ilyinichna died. A year later, Feodosia Prokopyevna took secret monastic vows with the name Theodora. Everything changes dramatically. What was excusable for the widow Theodosia Morosa, the “visiting boyar” of the queen, was unacceptable and impossible for the nun Theodora. Morozova stops pretense, stops appearing at court and intensifies her protest activities. The last straw was Morozova’s refusal to appear at the sovereign’s wedding when he married Natalya Naryshkina. On the night of November 16, 1671, nun Theodora was taken into custody. Her sister, Princess Evdokia Urusova, was arrested along with her. Thus began the way of the cross of noblewoman Morozova and her faithful companion and sister Evdokia Urusova. They were tortured on the rack “with shaking”, interrogated for many hours, they were insulted and intimidated. Sometimes the imprisonment, thanks to the efforts of noble relatives, became relatively mild, sometimes it became more severe, but the sisters were adamant. They refused to take communion from the “Nikonians” and were baptized with two fingers. The end of the sisters' lives was terrible. In June 1675, they were placed in a deep earthen prison and the guards were forbidden, on pain of death, to give them water and food. First, Princess Urusova died. The nun Theodora held out until November. She died not at all like an obsessed fanatic, but like a weak woman. Tradition has preserved her touching conversation with the archer guarding her.
- Servant of Christ! - she cried - Do you have a father and mother alive or have they passed away? And if they are alive, let us pray for them and for you; Even if we die, we will remember them. Have mercy, servant of Christ! I am very exhausted from hunger and I am hungry for food, have mercy on me, give me a kolachik.
- No, madam, I'm afraid! - answered the archer.
Then the unfortunate woman asked for bread or crackers, or at least a cucumber or an apple. In vain. The intimidated guard did not dare to throw even a crust of bread into the pit. But he agreed to go to the river and wash the captive’s shirt, so as not to appear before the Lord in dirty clothes.
The Old Orthodox Church honors the saints nun Theodora (boyaryne Morozova) and her sister Princess Evdokia in the city of Borovsk, who suffered for their orthodoxy.
