Tsaritsa consort of All Russia
Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina
(
Russian
:
Ната?лья Кири?лловна Нары?шкина
; 1 September 1651 ? 4 February 1694) was the
Tsaritsa
of
Russia
from 1671–1676 as the second spouse of
Tsar
Alexis I of Russia
, and regent of Russia as the mother of Tsar
Peter I of Russia
(Peter the Great) in 1682.
Life
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]
Coming from a
Russian noble
family of
Tatar
descent,
[1]
[2]
[3]
daughter of
Kirill Poluektovich Naryshkin
(1623?1691),
[4]
[5]
and wife Anna Leontyevna Leontyeva (d. 1706, daughter of Leonty Dimitriyevich Leontyev and spouse Praskovya Ivanovna Rayevskaya who died in 1641), she was brought up in the house of the great Western-leaning
boyar
Artamon Matveyev
.
[6]
She was given a freer and more Western-influenced upbringing than most Russian women of the time.
Tsaritsa
[
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]
In March 1669, Tsar
Alexis Mikhailovich
's first wife, Tsarina
Maria Miloslavskaya
, died during the birth of what would have been her fourteenth child.
[7]
Despite their number, few of Alexis and Maria's children were healthy. Within six months of her death there were only two surviving sons,
Feodor
and
Ivan
, both of whom were weak or disabled.
[7]
Alexis, supported by the Russian public, although not by the family of Maria, decided to remarry in the hope of producing more potential heirs.
[7]
The tsar arranged
an inspection of women
he considered eligible in early 1670,
[8]
Natalya was added to this inspection following an encounter with the tsar at the home of her adoptive father, Artamon Matveyev.
[9]
Alexis was impressed by Natalya's beauty,
[9]
and selected her to be his bride without needing to go ahead with a planned second inspection.
[8]
Maria's family made an attempt to halt the marriage by alleging that Matveyev had used magic herbs on Alexis to deceive him regarding Natalya's beauty.
[8]
These claims were investigated but eventually dismissed,
[8]
and the couple married on 1 February 1671.
[10]
Alexis and Natalya had a happy marriage, spending much of their time together in various palaces and villas around Moscow.
The couple's first child, the future emperor
Peter the Great
, was born in May 1672,
followed by daughters
Natalya
and Theodora.
[13]
The custom at that time was for the consort of the Tsar to maintain a low-key lifestyle, deferring in all matters to her husband and carrying out work in the household.
Natalya, having been raised in a liberal western-inspired household, resented this and succeeded in gradually attaining more freedoms throughout her time as Tsaritsa, such as being allowed to ride in an open carriage and appearing in church without a veil.
She loved dancing and visited diplomatic events, also she became the first woman to visit a theatre play.
[16]
She became widowed in 1676; a son from the Tsar's previous marriage ascended the throne as
Feodor III
. Feodor and his brother Ivan treated their stepmother with affection, always referring to her as "Mama".
Regent
[
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]
When Feodor died in 1682, her 10-year-old son became tsar. She became regent, with her foster father Artamon Matveyev who was called back from exile, as advisor. However, during
the revolt
of the
Streltsy
on 15 May 1682, two of her brothers and Matveyev were killed and her biological father Kyril Naryshkin was forced to become a monk in a monastery. Feodor's elder sister,
Sofia Alekseyevna
, replaced her as regent.
Regency of Sophia
[
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]
With Sofia as regent for Natalya's son and her half-brother, Peter, who was co-tsar with Ivan, Natalya lived in relative poverty, receiving financial support from the Patriarch or others in the Orthodox Church. Natalya spent her time mainly in Alexis's summer palace in Preobrazhenskoe, about 5 km from Moscow, together with Peter.
Peter's rule
[
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]
In August 1689, Peter overthrew Sofia, and he and his half-brother
Ivan
continued to be co-tsars. Natalya was back as nominal leader in the court. Her brother, Lev Naryshkin, was appointed minister of foreign affairs and a
de facto
prime minister.
When the Patriarch Joachim died in 1690, Peter wanted to appoint Marcellus, Bishop of
Pskov
, who had travelled overseas and spoke several languages, as the new patriarch. However, Natalya led the conservative faction in the court to nominate the conservative Adrian, Bishop of Kazan, to head the Russian Orthodox Church.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Troyat, Henri (1987).
Peter the Great
. Translated from the French by Joan Pinkham (1st American ed.). New York: Dutton.
ISBN
978-0525245476
.
- ^
Allen, W. E. D.
(2014).
The Ukraine
. Cambridge University Press. p. 121.
ISBN
978-1-107-64186-0
.
- ^
Prokofieff, Sergei O.
(1993).
The Spiritual Origins of Eastern Europe and the Future Mysteries of the Holy Grail
. Temple Lodge Publishing. p. 460.
ISBN
9780904693553
.
- ^
"Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina"
.
Encyclopaedica Britannica
. Retrieved
25 August
2018
.
- ^
de la Neuville, Foy (1994).
A Curious and New Account of Muscovy in the Year 1689
. chool of Slavonic and East European Studies (Ssees), University of London. p. 7.
ISBN
9780903425346
.
- ^
Grey, Ian (2015).
Russia: A History
. New Word City. p. 86.
ISBN
9781612309019
.
- ^
a
b
c
Massie, Robert K. (2012).
Peter the Great: The compelling story of the man who created modern Russia, founded St Petersburg and made his country part of Europe
. Head of Zeus. p. 28.
ISBN
9781908800978
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Massie, Robert K. (2013).
The Romanovs - Box Set: Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra: The story of the Romanovs
. Head of Zeus.
ISBN
9781781855669
.
- ^
a
b
Farmer, Lydia Hoyt
(2015).
The Boys' Book of Rulers
. Library of Alexandria. p. 349.
ISBN
9781465605665
.
- ^
Zitser, Ernest A. (2004).
The Transfigured Kingdom: Sacred Parody and Charismatic Authority at the Court of Peter the Great
. Cornell University Press. p. 177.
ISBN
9780801441479
.
- ^
shubin, Daniel H. (2004).
A History of Russian Christianity, Vol. II: The Patriarchal Age, Peter, the Synodal System
. Algora Publishing. p. 159.
ISBN
9780875863467
.
- ^
Manaev, G. (14 June 2019).
"The fascinating, boring lives of Russian tsarinas"
. Russia Beyond the Headlines
. Retrieved
19 February
2020
.
References
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