Maria Miloslavskaya

Maria Miloslavskaya
Tsaritsa consort of All Russia
Tenure	16 January 1648–18 August 1669
Born	c. 1625 Moscow
Died	18 August 1669 (aged 43–44) Moscow
Burial	Ascension Convent, Kolomenskoye Archangel Cathedral, Kremlin (1929)
Spouse	Alexis Mikhailovich
Issue among others...	Tsarevna Sofia Alexeevna Fyodor III Ivan V
Full name Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya
House	Romanov (by marriage)
Father	Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky
Mother	Ekaterina Feodorovna Narbekova
Religion	Eastern Orthodox

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (Russian: Мария Ильинична Милославская, 1625–1669) was the first wife of tsar Alexis of Russia and mother of the tsars Feodor III of Russia and Ivan V of Russia, and regent princess Sophia Alekseyevna.

Biography

Maria Ilyinichna was a younger daughter of the noble Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky. In 1648 tsar Alexis I of Russia reached the age required for marriage. The tsar was to choose his bride among hundreds of noble girls. The selection was managed by the tsar's tutor Boris Morozov, who arranged the tsar's marriage to Maria, himself marrying her sister Anna. Another of the tsarina's sister, Irina, married Prince Dmitry Dolgorukov.

The weddings brought much power to Morozov and especially Ilya Miloslavsky, who was made boyar and was one of the most powerful courtiers between the wedding in 1648 and his own death in 1668. The marriage was described as happy. Maria was described as beautiful, but there was also a rumour that Maria was a witch with a goat foot who could master sorcery.^[1] Maria died several months after her father. When she died, it was first believed that her widower would never remarry.

Family

Tsar Alexei chooses his bride by Grigory Sedov (the winner of the Tsardom-wide contest organized by Boris Morozov was his relative Maria Miloslavskaya)

Maria had thirteen children but only two sons survived infancy: the future tsar Feodor III of Russia and the future Ivan V of Russia, who co-ruled with his half-brother Peter I of Russia. Maria's granddaughter became Empress Anna of Russia. Maria also had six surviving daughters. The third daughter, Sophia Alekseyevna became regent of Russia during the minority of Peter I. Her last descendant Catherine Antonovna of Brunswick died in 1807, ending her line.

Maria's sisters died childless. A distant cousin, Solomonida Mikhailovna Miloslavskaya, however, married Andrey Vasiliyevich Tolstoy, becoming the ancestor of the later Tolstoys. In the 20th century, the senior of her descendants was authorized by Nicholas II to add the name of the long-extinct Miloslavskys to his surname. His posterity has been known as the Tolstoy-Miloslavskys.

Issue

• Tsarevich Dmitri Alexeevich (1648–1649)
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeevna (1650–1712)
• Tsarevna Marfa Alexeevna (1652–1707)
• Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich (1654–1670)
• Tsarevna Anna Alexeevna (1655–1659)
• Tsarevna Sofia Alexeevna (1657–1704)
• Tsarevna Ekaterina Alexeevna (1658–1718)
• Tsarevna Maria Alexeevna (1660–1723)
• Fyodor III (1661–1682)
• Tsarevna Feodosia Alexeevna (1662–1713)
• Tsarevich Simeon (1665–1669)
• Ivan V (1666–1696)
• Tsarevna Yevdokia Alexeevna (1669–1669)

References

1. • Henri Troyat (in Swedish edition): Peter den store (Peter the Great) 1981

• Henri Troyat (in Swedish edition): Peter den store (Peter the Great) 1981.