Grushetskaya, Agafya Semenovna

Agafia was the daughter of a Smolensk nobleman of Polish descent Semyon Fedorovich Grushetsky , a former Moscow nobleman ^[4] and Chernivtsi voivode ^{[5] [6]} .

Acquaintance of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich with Agafia

18-year-old Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich first saw her in the crowd during the procession ^{[7] [8] [9]} : “ between many people watching, ” when he was walking in the process for the holy icons . It was April 4, 1680, Palm Sunday. ^[10] The girl really liked the tsar ^{[11] [12]} , and he instructed the tsar’s bedman Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov to inquire about her. Languages ​​visited the house of Zaborovsky, met a girl and passed on his impressions to the tsar. It turned out that this was Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya, and she and her mother lived in Kitay-Gorod in the house of a cousin uncle ^[13] , the duma nobleman Semyon Ivanovich Zaborovsky ^[7] , who managed the Monastic Order until 1677. Fyodor ordered to transfer to Zaborovsky, “ so that he would preserve that niece and not to marry without a decree ” ^[14] .

Wishing to secretly look at the girl he liked, on June 10, 1680 the tsar went on a horse ride for a walk on the Vorobyovy Gory , and on the road "accidentally" drove past the Zaborovskys' house in Kitay-Gorod. Following the strict marriage customs of old Moscow, relatives showed Fyodor Alekseevich a girl in the attic window ^[15] .

Bride Review

Not wanting to break the old customs, the king ordered in July 1680 to call all the beautiful girls from the highest circle for the brides to watch and chose from them Grushetskaya ^{[7] [11] [16]} . The expenditure of the palace records preserved the names of those girls who were brought for the show; including the future queen, there were 19 brides ^[17] . Among them, after the bridegroom, returned to their homes - the daughters of Fedor Kurakin, Martha and Anna; daughter of Ivan Khitrovo Vasilis; the daughter of Prince Danil the Great Galin; daughter of the steward of Prince Nikita of Rostov ; two daughters of princes Semyon and Alexei Zvenigorodsky ; daughters of princes Semyon Lvov , Volodimir Volkonsky . All the girls were given a sovereign salary: four zarbava ( brocade ) - the price is 101 rubles .; 40 arsh. otlazov; 70 arsh. volume (dense silk fabric); 180 arsh. kamok ^[16] .

One of the closest relatives of Fyodor Alekseevich, Ivan Ilyich Miloslavsky , when he learned about the choice of the tsar, began to spread rumors about her tsar's bride in order to prevent Agafya from appearing in the first roles in the tsar’s palace, which hindered his plans to exalt the Miloslavskys who were already related to Romanovs , and that went against the aspirations of this court group ^[18] , weakening their influence at court ^[1] . Miloslavsky told the tsar that “ her mother and she are known in some obscenities! " ^{[19] The} young king was upset, but his entourage persuaded to check his uncle's words ^[10] . Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov and Alexei Timofeevich Likhachev (tutor of Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich) went to Semyon Zaborovsky and, embarrassed, asked him about the state of the bride. They began to discuss how to ask the girl about such a delicate matter, but Agafya Semyonovna, having heard their conversation, she went out to the guests herself and said bluntly, “ so that they don’t have any doubts about her honor and she claims them to lose her belly ! " ^[19] As the historian Apollon Grigorievich Kuzmin noted in one of his books, this attempt by Ivan Miloslavsky to slander the tsar’s bride, Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya, was smashed by the insistence of the groom, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich, and the courageous bride who was enviable for that time, who was able to sing yourself ^[20] . Miloslavsky himself only achieved that the wrath of the tsar fell upon him, and only the intercession of Agafya Semyonovna saved him from the tsar’s disgrace . Queen Agafia petitioned His Majesty forgiveness to Miloslavsky ^[21] . The tsar again allowed Miloslavsky to appear at the court, but his influence did not return ^[1] . Historians, including Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev ^[22] , Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov ^[11] , Evgeny Vladimirovich Pchelov ^[9] , Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov ^[1] , agree that the rumors spread by Ivan Miloslavsky were false, and their very dissemination was aimed preventing anyone else from entering the court who could weaken the influence of the Miloslavskys . Agafya Semyonovna was completely acquitted of slander, and the tsar married her ^[23] .

According to Tatishchev, the tsar, “ having fallen in love with Grushetskaya, did not want to marry anyone but her. His mother and dyatka, although he married Grushetskaya with another, was criticized by many frenzies, but, assuring herself of her, he combined ” ^{[10] [24]} . In the power-political relation, the young king followed the traditions that had been established by that time, and the fact that his first wife was a woman of Polish descent seemed an extraordinary event ^[7] .

The marriage of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich with Agafya Grushetskaya was arranged by his closest favorites - Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov and Alexei Timofeevich Likhachev . “ People are new and not arrogant, they only owed their dexterity and insinuatingness to their approach to Fedor, who was very attached to them. In the struggle for dominance with the Miloslavskys , who were behind the sisters and aunts of the tsar, the new favorites needed strong support, and only the young tsarina could provide them, as before, to Naryshkin Matveeva . The Miloslavskies directly attributed Fyodor’s marriage to their intrigue ” ^[4] . After the marriage, the influence of Likhachev and Yazykov increased sharply, and the Miloslavsky faded into the shadows. The prisoner Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov May 8, 1681 was granted the boyar .

Wedding

July 18 ( July 28 ), 1680 , the wedding of Fyodor Alekseevich with Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya ^{[19] [25] took place} . The wedding took place in the Assumption Cathedral under Patriarch Joachim (Patriarch Joachim was also the mentor of the young tsar Fedor Alekseevich and actively participated in state affairs ^[26] ).

The wedding was celebrated without any rank and splendor, very modest ^[9] , even more modest than it was during the marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to Natalya Kirillovna . At the time of the wedding, there were only two foremen from the church ministers and the only conciliar deacon. There were no other church servants. In front of the sovereign, a confessor walked to the Cathedral Church with a cross, and the archpriest Spassky sprinkled ^[27] .

Dutch resident Baron Johann Keller described the royal wedding in his July 20 report:

“ ... last Sunday, His Majesty celebrated the rite of his wedding; none of the princesses about whom I wrote in the postscript of my last letter and who were escorted to the Palace so that his royal majesty could choose a bride among them, and she became a person from a not very rich family and belonged rather to the Polish nation than to the Russian; His Majesty by this wanted to openly prove <...> that he would certainly want to express his will, and not follow the will of the nobles of the Court in this respect: <...> because if he makes a relationship with the famous family, which through this will become too important and too powerful and will strive in this way to oppress the lesser-known, this can lead to dangerous quarrels ” ^[28] .

Simeon Polotsky and his disciple, the new court monk, Sylvester Medvedev, piled odes on this " great and joyful celebration for the whole Russian land ." The country was notified by a laconic district letter ^[29] .

After the wedding itself, the young queen, as usual, had a table for the nobles ^[28] .

After the royal wedding, cousin Uncle Agafia from the side of his mother Semyon Zaborovsky was among the duma nobles , since July 20 - the boyar . The tsar gave Semen Ivanovich Zaborovsky in 1681 the village of Vasilyevskoye ^{[K 1]} . Anna and Fyokla, the sisters of Agafia, were extradited for noble suitors: the first for the Siberian Tsarevich Vasily , the second became Princess Urusova ; both by the grace of the king and the sister-queen received a generous dowry. Grushetsky’s cousins ​​received the boyar rank of “ tenants ”, the junior rank at court. Fyodor Alekseevich granted a cousin to the future tsarina Vasily Fokich Grushetsky in a solicitor on May 2, 1680, even before the wedding ^[30] . July 17, the day before the wedding, Vasily Fokich Grushetsky was granted the stewards , and on July 20 - in the sleeping bags , having stayed in the stewards for only three days. On July 31, the czar made her cousins ​​Kuzma Osipovich, Kondraty, and Mikhail Fokichey his roommates ^{[10] [31]} . Father of the tsarina Semyon Fedorovich was given boyars. Her mother, the boyars of Maria Ivanovna Grushetskaya (nee Zaborovskaya ), was granted the village of Vasilyevskoye ^{[K 2]} with the Hordes, Borisovskaya, Bykovka and Byakontov ^[32] . New tsarist relatives and relatives immediately occupied a privileged position among Moscow officials. The Grushetsky and Zaborovskys, as well as their close and distant relatives, joined the upper clan of the nobility by a large clan ^[31] .

In the records of the Moscow clerk , a record of the wedding of Fedor Alekseevich and Agafya Grushetskaya was preserved:

the queen "was taken from the yard <...> Semen Ivanovich Zaborovsky, and he was related by niece. And that day the city of the Kremlin was locked ” ^{[10] [33]} .

Tsarina Agafya Semyonovna

Immediately after the wedding, the king began to build new wooden choirs for himself and his wife, as well as for his sisters, bigger and smaller princesses. His mansions were erected at a tower near the western wall of the Resurrection Terem Church ; the mansions of Natalya Kirillovna were also transferred here ^[34] .

Agafya Semyonovna exerted a strong influence on her husband ^[35] and played a significant role in court life ^{[36] [37]} . Under her influence, the court life also changed ^[29] . Tsar Fedor Alekseevich was the first Russian to put on a Polish dress , which was followed by all the courtiers, abolished the custom of shaving his head, and began to wear long hair ^[16] . The historian Ivan Ivanovich Golikov wrote:

“The king did not like splendor neither in a dress, nor in a table, nor in clothes. The monarch supported these savings by the decree not to wear Tatar dresses and ordered them to walk in a climate similar to the Polish, or ancient Russian, northern ” ^{[38] [39]} .

In the royal chambers brought many innovations. Many courtiers - and not frivolous youth, but important elderly boyars - began to cut their beards and smoke tobacco openly, and some of them, in addition, began to wear a short-sex German dress. Agafia brought a lot of good to the Russian state , she: “ persuaded her husband to destroy the bastards , ugly women's dresses ... introduce shaving beards and hair cutting, Polish sabers and kuntushi and, more importantly, allow the laying of Polish and Latin schools in Moscow ” ^[4] . The warriors finally got rid of the shameful female bastards that the military men who had fled from the battlefield should have worn. By its influence, several Latin and Polish schools were founded in Moscow. Also, by its influence, it was ordered to remove from the churches the special icons that parishioners put in their churches, each personally for themselves, as their patron gods (only they prayed and put a candle on them, but they didn’t let anyone else) ^[23] .

All these innovations could not but cause the appearance of some rumors, gossip and intrigue in Moscow. Talk began to appear about the Tsar’s intention to accept the “Polish (lakish) faith,” recalling Dmitry the Pretender and Marina Mnishek here . According to the historian Daniil Lukich Mordovtsev , all these intrigues could not be led by Princess Sofya Alekseevna ^[23] .

In addition, she allowed herself to openly appear in front of people and often sat and walked next to the king, which had never happened before. The courage of the young queen could be the result of her more free education than was then accepted in Moscow. She had a decisive character, which allowed, in the opinion of historian Pavel Vladimirovich Sedov, to step over the age-old prohibitions of the Moscow court. The presence of Tsarina Agafya Semenovna next to Tsar Fedor Alekseevich changed the established habitual way of court life of that time ^[40] .

Queen Agafia made a coup in the female court fashion, she herself wore a hat in the Polish fashion, which left her hair open ^[41] . After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, even Tsarevna Ekaterina Alekseevna wore "a hat and dress in Polish style ... threw Moscow caftans, stopped braiding her hair in one braid " ^[42] . Also, Princess Maria Alekseevna dressed “in Polish” ^[42] .

The historian Pavel Sedov believes that even before the wedding, Agafya Semyonovna’s dress style went beyond Moscow customs, which could also have helped to draw the attention of the tsar to her in a crowd of people ^[10] . He characterizes Queen Agafya Semyonovna as the pious queen of Moscow, full of virtues, merciful and intercessing to the tsar even for her ill-wishers ^[40] .

In addition to the forgiveness of Ivan Miloslavsky, the virtuous character of Agafya Semyonovna is also indicated by Bogdan Fedorovich Polibin , who was in the Bachelor’s order (later - the clerk’s judge), a true man who was respected by people, but also whom Miloslavsky did not like, having extreme need , borrowed 300 rubles, laying the village, but could not repay all the debt on time. The clerk of his order advised him to take from the order money, how much was missing, and to pay on time. This was reported to Miloslavsky, who informed the sovereign that Judge Polibin stole 300 rubles from the treasury. The sovereign, believing this, ordered him to be punished and exiled. The tsarina, hearing this, asked Miloslavsky why and how he had done it, to which he replied that he did not ask how the whole thing was. To this, the empress angrily reprimanded him that he condemns a person without trial and, not knowing the true business, informs the emperor. The empress ordered to investigate the whole matter, found out more about Polybina and, having learned everything in detail, sent 300 rubles with Ivan Potemkin. Besides the fact that the queen saved Polibin from trouble, she also generously rewarded him ^{[43] [44]} .

What is still noteworthy - under Agafya Semyonovna the princes received some financial independence. Previously, goods purchased by them or taken on credit by order of the workshop workshop brought goods to the rooms of the princesses. Now the princesses themselves could order to buy this or that thing for themselves, commanding them to pay for the purchase in an order ^[45] .

Sovereign Fyodor Alekseevich, together with Tsarina Agafya Semenovna, placed in the iconostasis of the Cathedral of Sretensky Monastery in 1680 the images of the patron saints of the imperial family. At the same distance from the royal gates were the icons of St. Fyodor Stratelates and the holy martyr Agathia ^[46] . A similar icon was transferred to the Alexander Assumption Monastery ^[47] . In addition, the Murom History and Art Museum houses an icon from the cathedral of the Suzdal Rizpolezhensky monastery (icon painter Kuzma Yakovlev Babukhin, 1681, VSMZ ), which depicts thirteen saints - the patrons of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich and his wife Agafya Semyonovna Grushetsha (as well as the second the wife of Alexei Mikhailovich, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, as well as all the brothers and sisters of Fedor Alekseevich) ^[48] .

Under the tsarina there were court nobles : Grushetskaya Marya Matveevna, Khitraya Anna Petrovna (she is also the court noblewoman and mother Agafya Semyonovna - Grushetskaya Marya Matveevna), Gorchakova Agafya Romanovna, Pleshcheyeva Fedor Ivanovna, Veljaminova Arina Fyodorovna Svetodinov, Svetlana Fyodorov, and Arina Fyodorovna Svetodin Ivanovna, Polteva Anna Ivanovna, Neelova Fedosya Ivanovna (from the treasurer of Tsarevich Fedor, later tonsured in 1688) ^[49] .

Fashion Impact

With the arrival of Agafya Semyonovna at the palace, serious changes took place in the palace wardrobe. The young tsarina, according to contemporaries, persuaded the tsar to abolish the bastard , “ cut hair and shave beards, wear sabers on the side and dress in Polish kuntushi ” ^{[50] [51]} .

Queen Agafia made a coup in the female court fashion. She herself wore a hat in the Polish fashion, leaving her hair open, which went beyond the Moscow customs of that time ^[41] . There are a number of news about the manufacture of hats “ for the Polish cause ” for the tsarina and princesses in the casket books and consumables (which are now kept in the collection of the Armory Chamber ) of the Tsaritsynaya Workshop of the 1680–1682 period. After the young princess began to dress in Polish fashion, the younger princesses began : “ Catherine - wears a hat and dress in Polish style, threw Moscow caftans , stopped braiding her hair in one braid . Maria , more beautiful than Catherine, and this one dressed in Polish ” ^[51] .

The first mention of the "Polish hats" of Queen Agafia dates back to September 19, 1680. On that day, the name-day of Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna was celebrated in the palace, and for Agafya Semyonovna, “a velvet hat was sewn for polish work, a pair of sables were shabby <...>, two tops went velvety, a quarter of the floor of linen ridges. Take to do the Novomeshchansky settlement Pole Semyon Vasilyev son Karesenkov. He was given the right to make another hat of velvet, alas, to the sable <...>, a circle of silver arshin ” ^[51] . And the next day, September 20, the “Polish hats” were also made for the greatest fashionistas in the Tsar’s tower, the young princesses Catherine and Mary, which, according to historian Pavel Sedov, followed from the fact that the new headdress of the tsarina was successful at palace festival ^[51] .

Wealthy Poles of those times wore velvet hats with fur lapels from marten , beaver and sable . They put on a hat under the hat itself (a traditional Polish women's headdress, which is a large cover of light thin fabric covering the head and shoulders). The edges of the Polish town hall were trimmed with embroidery or gold embroidery. The Rantukh reliably covered his hair, and for girls they could be slightly covered. Polish court ladies of the second half of the 17th century already left their hair open ^[52] . However, there is no information on materials for the town hall, from which, according to historian Pavel Sedov, it should be assumed that Agafya Semyonovna did not completely cover her hair, but removed it with lace, which is why such documents were sometimes referred to as “maids” in Moscow documents ^{[51 ]} .

On September 21, 1680, the imperial family went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery , and by this day for the queen “ two hats of the Polska’s maidens were cut , silver trims ^{[K 3]} came out in cuts ”, 6 points , “ a pair of sables ”. Following the young queen, hats of the Polish fashion began to be worn by court nobles ^[51] .

On October 11, 1680, on the order of the tsarina, “a hat was made on yellow earth, a stream and grass of gold were used on it, and grass and silver were silver, the ears were cut in polish, about a half and a half sable ”, “ lined with a worm gear. Cut Pole Semyon Kashpenkov . " The queen presented the sewed hat to her aunt Avdotya Nikitichna Zaborovskaya. On October 12, Semen Kapasheninov, the head-dressing craftsman of the Novomeshchansky Sloboda, was paid 25 kopecks for making four “Polish hats,” including two two-handed ones and two altabas on golden land with sables . Queen Agafia handed out several of the newfangled hats sewn on the same day. She presented one of them to the wife of her butler , the duma nobleman Nikita Ivanovich Akinfov . She gave her sister Fyokla Semyonovna, who married boyar Fyodor Semyonovich Urusov , a treuh , cut from pieces of altabas left over from the “Polish hats” ^[51] .

On October 22, 1680, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God , another 4 newfangled headdresses were tailored for the tsarina: “ A cap for polish work velvet dvoehmork, a burdock of gold on it, velvet came out in cut ” 10 points, “ selected in some places one and a half sables, <...> yes, on the underside a couple of sables "; “ Three hats for polish work, atlabas on silver ground, grass and leaves of gold on it, arshins came out in cut, <...> yes, two pairs of sables <...>, but three pairs of sables” ^[51] .

In the next 4 cold months, references to "Polish hats" are not traced, probably because they were not worn in winter. Only on February 22, 1681 for Tsarina Agafya was “a cap of velvet worms was cut for polish work without holes, six vertices went into cuts, a pair of sables went around, <...> a third of the floors of the white ridges fell onto the tulle, and the polemer Semyon Kashpetnaya cut the pole .” Above the line for this entry is added: “ exemplary ”. The date of February 22 in that year was the second week of Lent , and the cap was most likely made only for display, since its use at that time was inappropriate. More tailor-made and consumable books of that time did not contain data on the manufacture of “Polish hats” for the young tsarina Agafya Semenovna ^[51] . And in anticipation of childbirth, she wore hats already in her wardrobe ^[51] . On May 8, 1681, Tsarina Agafya leaves for Preobrazhenskoye and takes with her (along with the traditional Moscow treuhs) three “ hats of the Polska: a flap of the Vinitsa gold, gold zarfab, velvet al with tails ” ^[53] .

Introduced fashion for "Polish hats" took root in the palace. On April 28, 1681, the “Polish hat” was made of smooth velvet (which went with the velvet’s half-inch) for Princess Maria Alekseevna . December 23 of the same year (after the death of Tsarina Agafia) Semyon Shaposhnikov was paid 20 kopecks for two velvet Polish hats for princesses Martha Alekseevna and Feodosiya Alekseevna ^[53] .

After the death of Tsarina Agafya Semyonovna, the young tsar Fedor Alekseevich February 15, 1682 married the sixteen-year-old Martha Matveevna Apraksina , who also became interested in the new fashion. March 3, 1682 to the Empress Queen in the mansions on the Polish hat released 5 tops of green velvet. On March 20 of the same year, silk flowers were paid for, which Colonel K. I. Arpov’s wife made specially for Koruna Marfa Matveevna. On April 15, a new-bourgeois settlement of the Pole to the Shaposhnik Semyon Kaposheninov was paid 1 ruble for the “Polish hats” for the tsarina (judging by the price, four or five of these hats were made). After the death of Fyodor Alekseevich, the younger princes Ekaterina Alekseevna and Theodosia Alekseevna continued to wear “Polish hats” ^[53] .

Among the headdresses of the queen there were also two kicks (one of the 1st outfit, the other 2 outfits), as well as 3 column hats (a high straight hat in the form of a pillar), among which:

“ The columnar silver is on it grass of gold with sholk, lining flushed hot color; edge of sable plate. Column - zarbaf silver, on it weed of gold from the sholka; the lining is white; without the edge ” ^[54] .

In 1682, two fur coats of the deceased queen were redone for the newlywed queen Marfa Apraksina :

“The fur coats of the deceased queen Agafia Grushetskih were redone with wide sleeves, the first of March 28 - the weed of Vinitsa on silver ground grass and burdock of gold are oxamized occasionally, silk is white in the contours; lining of taffeta chervchat (cut in November 189 in November 14); the second of March 30 - velvet of the Vinitsa gold on it morch worms and double-headed eagles are oxamic with gold and silver; lining of taffeta ala " ^[54] .

Son Ilya Fedorovich

In anticipation of the birth of the tsar’s heir to the chambers of Agafya Semyonovna in Kolomenskoye, fabrics were released for the upholstery of X-chairs, large vessels made even under Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna, which were delivered to the mansions by order. On July 10, as was customary, a place for a woman in childbirth was made: a underside was put to the blanket for a large maternity bed, and the Queen’s three-stage bench was upholstered ^[55] .

On the night of Sunday to Monday, July 11 (21), 1681, the tsarina gave birth to a son named Ilya, the first of the Moscow sovereigns. July 11, the country was solemnly announced the birth of the royal couple's firstborn - Tsarevich Ilya Fedorovich . The Patriarch received the news of the birth of the heir Alexey Timofeevich Likhachev. July 17, Ilya was baptized in the tower of the palace church, Tsarevna Tatyana Mikhailovna was the recipient , the hegumen of the Florishcheva desert Hilarion , introduced to the palace by Ivan Maksimovich Yazykov, was invited to be the godmother of the tsarevich. This is also stated in the queen's book of quilt. The Tsarevich was baptized by Patriarch Joachim ^[55] . The name Ilya Tsarevich received in honor of his great-grandfather Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky ^[56] . Fyodor Alekseevich instructed the heir to the cares of the noblewoman Anna Petrovna Khitrovo , who had been taking care of the tsar himself since childhood ^[14] .

The Death of Queen Agafia

Agafya Semyonovna died three days after the birth of her son, on July 14 (24), “ one in the afternoon in the first quarter, in memory of the Apostle Akila ” ^[57] . Her death was a heavy blow for Fyodor Alekseevich ^[16] : he led the coffin to the Red Porch and to the “ sleigh ”, but was unable to attend the burial in the Ascension Monastery itself , and there was no access to the requiem for the whole magpie ; only on the fortieth day, August 22 (September 1), the king listened to the requiem in the Ascension Monastery ^{[38] [55]} .

The baby outlived his mother only for a week. The newborn prince Ilya died on July 21 (31). The king also escorted him only to the Red Porch and to the sleigh and did not go to the Archangel Cathedral for burial. The historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev wrote that after the death of Agafya Semyonovna, Tsar Fedor Alekseevich:

“ As this sovereign in his marriage with Queen Agathia Semionova in full joy was endowed with extreme love and the image of conjugal love, they revealed true virtue to themselves, which, to the amusement of both their majesties and all the subjects of the sign of fraternity, gave great hope for the desired inheritance. But with the consent of the higher, giving birth to His Majesty the Tsarevich, soon all the sorrows ceased to be great, and soon the newborn Tsarevich followed it. With which His Majesty was so saddened that for several days he did not want to talk to anyone and was brutal. And although his neighbors were diligent in his efforts to amuse him, they could not do anything, and His Majesty soon fell ill from such sadness ” ^[58] .

Six months later after these losses, the tsar chose Marfa Matveevna Apraksin (born in 1664) as his bride, but two months after the wedding, the sovereign suddenly died in Moscow in his 21st year of life, without leaving an heir.

In 1929, the Ascension Monastery, which in the Middle Ages served as the burial place for representatives of the Moscow Grand Duke's family and in which Agafya Semyonovna was buried, was destroyed by the Bolsheviks , and white-stone sarcophagi with the remains of the queens were taken to the underground chamber of the southern extension of the Archangel Cathedral, where they are now living. On her tombstone is written:

“ Queen Agafia, nee Grushetskaya. Her life was 18 years old

In the summer of July 7189, at 2 p.m. in the first quarter, in memory of the holy Apostle Akila, the servant of God, the rightful sovereign tsar and great prince Feodor Alekseevich of all great and small and whitewashed autocrat spouses, noble sovereign tsarina and grand duchess Agafaenga July at 15 days " ^[59] .

The inscription on the lid of the sarcophagus :

“In the summer of July 7189, at 4 p.m. at 2 p.m. in the first quarter, in memory of the holy Apostle Akily, the servant of God, His Beatitude Tsar and Grand Duke Feodor Alekseyevich, all great and small and white Russian autocrats, the missal Empress Tsaritsa and Grand Duchess in this place of July on the 15th day ” ^[59] .

The burial of Queen Agafia Semyonovna Grushetskaya turned out to be unusual for researchers of the late sarcophagi of the necropolis of the former Ascension Cathedral of the Kremlin, which served as the family tomb of the great princes and first kings of Russia (first from the Rurikovich family, and then the Romanovs ). On the skeleton, on the chest under the clothes, lay a golden pectoral cross decorated with colored enamel and inscriptions - such crosses were not found in earlier burials of this tomb. The body of the queen during the burial was wrapped in a silk shroud . Her headdress is perfectly preserved - a hair -lined hairline . However, only insignificant fragments were preserved from the shroud and dress of Agafia Grushetskaya, which, however, did not prevent researchers from reconstructing the shroud ^[60] .

There are very few works written on the biography of Agafya Semyonovna Grushetskaya. Mostly references to her are found in the writings of her husband - Tsar Fedor Alekseevich. The first known historian to describe the biography of Agafia Grushetskaya is Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev (1686-1750), who lived closest to the years of the tsarina’s life. His father, Nikita Alekseevich, from 1678 was listed in the sovereign service as a Moscow “tenant”, which was during the reign of Agafya Semyonovna ^[61] . Information about the court figures of the late 17th century and about Agafya Grushetskaya in particular, Tatishchev was provided by the famous diplomat, brother-in-law of Peter I Boris Kurakin ^[61] , who, among other things, was married to the niece of Tsarina Agafya Grushetskaya - Princess Maria Fedorovna Urusova (daughter of prince Fyodor Semenovich Urusov and Princess Fekla Semenovna Grushetskaya (sister of Tsarina Agafya Grushetskaya)) ^[62] . Tatishchev describes the time from the tsar’s acquaintance with Agafia to her very last days. Entries about it in Tatishchev's work “ Russian History ” are in volumes I and VII.

Modern historians, such as Pavel Vladimirovich Sedov , often in their studies on the biography of Agafia Grushetskaya also rely on archival materials of the Russian State Autonomous Academy of Arts , in particular, Fund 396 ^{[K 4]} , Inventory 2, Case No. 872 and No. 873 ^[63] :

In the novel by Alexander Ivanovich Krasnitsky “The Queen of the Poles ” (published in 1902), the image and character of Agafia are disclosed, her upbringing, her acquaintance with the young tsar Fedor Alekseevich, their wedding and the time of her reign are described.

According to Krasnitsky, Agafya was one of the most beautiful girls of her time, knew how to read and write, spoke fluent Polish , knew Latin books , had a fairly clear understanding of life in the West, and even understood if they spoke French with her; played the harpsichord . Her nanny was Polish. Krasnitsky wrote that at one time they spoke of the blue-eyed beauty Agafya as follows: “The face is a heavenly angel, and the mind is light ” ^[65] .

In the historical novel from the life of Peter I, “The Leader-Lord” of Lev Zhdanov (chapter “The Crowned Sufferer”) describes the choice of Fedor Alekseevich Agafya Grushetskaya during the “bride review”, their wedding, the exaltation of the Grushetsky (Agafya’s relatives), the birth of the heir. In this story, the author’s opinion is worthy of the fact that Agafya’s disease could be the reason for the dissatisfaction with the marriage of the boyars:

“ And the doctors themselves could not and did not dare to get to the causes of this bodily weakness. Of course, it could be temporary, it could depend on the special condition of the young princess ... But who can guarantee that the same dark forces are not involved, which removed a lot of brides and wives of the king from the throne ” ^[66] .

Elena Arsenyeva in the story about the life of Sofya Alekseevna (princess, regent under Peter I) “Sister to her brother” describes the acquaintance of Tsar Fedor Alekseevich with Agafya Semyonovna, the slander of Ivan Miloslavsky, who was disadvantageous to such a marriage, the wedding, the birth of the prince, Agafya’s attempts to introduce at court Polish fashion, which Sofya Alekseevna especially liked in Agafye ^[67] .