Boyarina Morozova: was she a saint or a madwoman? Boyarina Morozova: biography and interesting facts The estate of the boyarina Morozova

A. M. Panchenko | Boyarina Morozova - symbol and personality

Boyarina Morozova - symbol and personality

The memory of the nation strives to give each major historical character an integral, complete appearance. Proteism is alien to the memory of the nation. She seems to “sculpt” her heroes. Sometimes we can talk about such a “statue” only conditionally: it exists as a kind of “national feeling”, consisting of various facts, assessments, emotions, it exists as an axiom of culture, which does not need proof and, most often, is not fixed in the form of a clear formula. But in some cases, the “statue” of a historical figure is directly cast into a verbal or plastic form. This happened to the noblewoman Fedosya Prokopievna Morozova, who remained in the memory of Russia as V.I. Surikov wrote her.

Analyzing the controversy and rumors about this painting (it was the main event of the fifteenth traveling exhibition), N.P. Konchalovskaya, Surikov’s granddaughter, cites, among others, a review by V.M. Garshin: “Surikov’s painting surprisingly vividly represents this wonderful woman. Anyone who knows her sad story, I am sure, will forever be captivated by the artist and will not be able to imagine Fedosya Prokopyevna otherwise than how she is depicted in his painting.” It is difficult for contemporaries to be impartial, and their predictions do not often come true. But Garshin turned out to be a good prophet. Over the nearly hundred years that separate us from the fifteenth exhibition of the Itinerants, Surikov’s Morozova has become the “eternal companion” of every Russian person. “Otherwise” it is truly impossible to imagine this 17th-century woman, ready to endure torture and death for the sake of a cause of the rightness of which she is convinced. But why exactly did Surikov’s Morozova become an iconographic canon and historical type?

First of all, because the artist was faithful to historical truth. To verify this, it is enough to compare the composition of Surikov’s painting with one of the scenes of the Long Edition of the Tale of the Boyarina Morozova, which is published and studied by A. I. Mazunin in this book. What we see in the picture happened on November 17 or 18, 1671 (7180th according to the old account “from the creation of the world”). The noblewoman had already been in custody for three days “in the human mansions in the basement” of her Moscow house. Now they “put a cap on her neck,” put her on a log and took her to prison. When the sleigh reached the Chudov Monastery, Morozova raised her right hand and, “clearly depicting the addition of a finger (Old Believer two-fingered - A.P.), raising herself high, often enclosing herself with a cross, and also often clinking her cap.” It was this scene of the Tale that the painter chose. He changed one detail: the iron “neck”, the collar worn by the noblewoman, was attached with a chain to the “chair” - a heavy stump of a tree, which is not in the picture. Morozova was not only “laden with heavy irons”, but also “tormented by the inconvenience of the chair,” and this block of wood lay next to her on the firewood. People of the 19th century knew shackles of a different design (they were described in detail in “The House of the Dead” by Dostoevsky). The artist, apparently, decided here not to deviate from the customs of his time: a canvas is not a book, you cannot attach a real comment to it.

However, loyalty to the ancient Russian source does not fully explain the fate of “Boyaryna Morozova”, her role not only in Russian painting, but also in Russian culture in general. In his beautiful paintings about other outstanding people, Surikov also did not sin against the truth, but the characters in these paintings are “representable” in other guises, “otherwise.” Of course, we willingly or unwillingly compare the heroes of “Suvorov’s Crossing of the Alps” and “Menshikov in Berezovo” with their lifetime portraits. But after all, “parsun” was not written from Ermak Timofeevich and Stenka Razin, so there is no possibility for comparison, and yet neither Surikov’s Ermak nor Surikov’s Razin became canonical “statues”.

The fact is that long before Surikov, in the national consciousness, the noblewoman Morozova turned into a symbol - a symbol of that popular movement, which is known under the not entirely accurate name of schism. In essence, this movement has two symbols: Archpriest Avvakum and noblewoman Morozova, a spiritual father and a spiritual daughter, two fighters and two victims. But there were many thousands of warriors and sufferers at the beginning of the schism. Why Avvakum remained in historical memory is understandable. Avvakum is a genius. He had a completely exceptional gift of speech - and, therefore, the gift of persuasion. But why did Russia choose Morozova?

In Surikov’s painting, the noblewoman addresses the Moscow crowd, the common people - a wanderer with a staff, an old beggar woman, a holy fool, and they do not hide their sympathy for the noble prisoner. And so it was: we know that the lower classes rose up for the old faith, for whom the authorities’ encroachment on a time-honored ritual meant an encroachment on the entire way of life, meant violence and oppression. We know that wanderers, beggars, and holy fools found bread and shelter in the noblewoman’s house. We know that people of her class blamed Morozova for her adherence to the “simple people”: “You received into the house... holy fools and others like that... adhering to their teachings.” But there was one more person to whom on that November day Morozova extended two fingers, for whom she rattled her chains. This man is Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. The Miracle Monastery was located in the Kremlin. The noblewoman was taken near the sovereign's palace. “I think it’s holy, as if the king is looking at the crossing,” writes the author of the Tale, and most likely writes from the words of Morozova herself, to whom he was very close and with whom he had the opportunity to talk in prison (very interesting considerations about the author’s personality are given in research by A.I. Mazunin). It is not known whether the tsar looked at the noblewoman from the palace passages under which the sleigh rode, or did not look. But there is not the slightest doubt that thoughts about her actually haunted Alexei Mikhailovich. For the tsar, she was a stumbling block: after all, it was not about an ordinary disobedient woman, but about Morozova. To understand how loud it sounded in the 17th century. this name, it is necessary to take a genealogical excursion into distant times.

When in 1240 Prince Alexander Yaroslavich defeated the Swedes on the Neva, then in this battle “six brave men, like yours... strong,” who were described in the Life of Alexander Nevsky, especially distinguished themselves. One of them, Gavrilo Aleksich, chasing enemies, in the heat of battle rode along a gangway onto a Swedish ship, and “overthrew him from the board with his horse into the Neva. By the grace of God, I came out from here unharmed, and again I came upon them, and fought with the commander himself in the midst of their regiment.” Another knight, Misha (aka Mikhail Prushanin), “on foot with his retinue, rushed onto the ships and destroyed three ships.” Of the six “braves,” we chose these two senior warriors (or boyars, which is the same thing), since in the 17th century. The fates of their later descendants were again intertwined and came into contact with the fate of the noblewoman Morozova.

Under the grandson of Alexander Nevsky, Ivan Danilovich Kalita, the first prince of the Moscow appanage, who received the label for the great reign, the descendants of these knights moved to Moscow and gave rise to the largest boyar families. From Gavrila Aleksich, who, according to genealogies, was the great-grandson of Ratsha, came the Chelyadnins, Fedorovs, Buturlins, and Pushkins. From Misha Prushanin - Morozovs, Saltykovs, Sheins. In terms of fame and position, only two or three boyar families could compete with these families - such as the family of Alexander Zern (Velyaminov-Zernov, Saburov and Godunov) and the family of Andrei Kobyla, whose fifth son, Fyodor Koshka, became the ancestor of the Romanovs and Sheremetevs.

When in the 15th century the end of inheritance came, a stream of Rurikovichs poured into Moscow, henceforth the capital city of all Rus', to serve Ivan III. But several of the most prominent lines of the untitled boyars resisted the influx of princes and did not lose “honor and place.” In the eyes of the people of the oprichnina era, Ivan the Terrible was opposed not so much by his peer and former friend, and then the rebel and fugitive Kurbsky, who came from the Yaroslavl appanage princes, as by the son of Gavrila Aleksich in the ninth generation, the richest boyar Ivan Petrovich Fedorov, who was old enough to be the tsar’s father. And it is no coincidence that in 1567, the “crowned wrath”, suspecting this man, respected by all for justice, who had the highest rank of equerry and headed the government of the zemshchina, of a conspiracy, framed the reprisal against him as a scene of rivalry. Ivan the Terrible ordered Fedorov to be dressed in royal robes, given a scepter and placed on the throne. Then the king, “by God’s will,” bowed at his feet and gave all honors according to palace custom, and with his own hands stabbed the mummered king to death.

There is nothing strange in the fact that Ivan the Terrible, who was proud of the antiquity of his family and who traced it through Rurik to Emperor Augustus himself, saw a rival in a man without a princely title. Our ancestors had their own concepts of nobility, which were very different from our concepts. To be a descendant of Rurik or Gediminas did not mean very much in itself. “In Muscovite Rus', a person’s place on the ladder of service ranks... was determined not only by origin, but also by the combination of a person’s serviceability and services, taking into account his birth, i.e., the service level of his “parents”, relatives in general, and first of all his direct ancestors - father, grandfather, etc. along the direct and nearest lateral lines.” The ancestors of I.P. Fedorov “were so “great” and well known to everyone that in various acts they were called by name and patronymic and did not use any family nickname.” Most princes could not even think about being equal to them, for title and nobility in the eyes of ancient Russian society were not at all the same thing.

Let us show this using the example of Prince D. M. Pozharsky, who came from the younger line of Starodub princes. Recognized by all Russian people, “from the tsar to the huntsman,” as the savior of the fatherland, this national hero experienced many humiliations. He continually lost local disputes because his father and grandfather “lost honor” while serving as city clerks and provincial governors. Prince D. M. Pozharsky, although of Rurik blood, was of good birth. For us, this combination looks like an oxymoron, but in the old days, noble princes were distinguished from noble-born princes. Once Pozharsky did not want to serve as a “place below” Boris Saltykov, a distant relative of the Morozovs. He struck with his brow the dishonor of Tsar Mikhail, and the descendant of Rurik, the savior of Russia, was “given over” to the descendant of Misha Prushanin.

These ancient Russian concepts of nobility explain why it cannot be considered a historical incongruity that after the Time of Troubles the escheated throne went to the untitled but “great” “Cat Family”, that Monomakh’s hat ended up on the head of Mikhail Romanov. If fate had been more favorable to the Fedorovs or the Morozovs, they too could have become the founders of a new dynasty.

Morozovs in the XV-XVI centuries. retained an exceptionally high position. In the one and a half century period from Ivan III to the Time of Troubles, up to thirty Duma members, boyars and okolnichys emerged from this family. Although the disgraces and executions of Grozny did not spare the Morozovs either (in the 60s, boyar Vladimir Vasilyevich “dropped out”, in the 70s, his cousin, the famous governor boyar Mikhail Yakovlevich, people of the generation of I.P. Fedorov); although at the time of the accession of the Romanovs there were only a few representatives of this family left, which was destined to be suppressed in the 17th century, it was precisely the reign of the first two Romanovs that was the time of greatest success for the Morozovs.

Two of them, brothers Boris and Gleb Ivanovich, in their youth were sleeping companions of their peer Mikhail Fedorovich, i.e., “home, room, closest people.” Apparently, they received this appointment due to their relationship and affinity with the Romanovs. Suffice it to say that one of their relatives was the great-grandfather of Tsar Mikhail’s mother, and the other two relatives, the Saltykovs, were his cousins. Boris Ivanovich Morozov was granted a boyar status in 1634, in connection with his appointment as uncle to Tsarevich Alexei Mikhailovich. When Alexei married into the state in 1645, his mentor became a temporary worker, a “strong man.” As they put it then, the king “looked out of his mouth.”

In June 1648, a rebellion broke out in Moscow, “the mob rose up against the boyars” - and above all against Boris Morozov. But this did not particularly harm him: the king, with tears, “begged” the world for his breadwinner. The uncle held his pupil tightly in his hands and, using all his dexterity and influence, chose for him a bride from among the noble Miloslavskys, Maria Ilyinichna. At the wedding, Boris Morozov played the first role - he was “in his father’s place” with the sovereign. Ten days later they celebrated another wedding: Boris Morozov, a widower and already an elderly man, married the Tsarina’s sister Anna for a second marriage and became the Tsar’s brother-in-law. He made the best of his absolutely exceptional situation. In 1638, Boris Morozov owned more than three hundred peasant households. This is a good condition, but common for a boyar of that time. Fifteen years later, he had 7,254 households, twenty times more! This is unheard of wealth. Only the Tsar's uncle Nikita Ivanovich Romanov and one of the Cherkasy princes, Yakov Kudenetovich, had the same number of households. All other boyars, titled and untitled, were inferior to Boris Morozov many times over. The career of Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, a completely ordinary person, is, as it were, a reflection of the career of his older brother. They started out the same way - with the king's sleeping bags and the princes' uncles. But Tsarevich Ivan Mikhailovich, to whom Gleb Morozov, who was made a boyar on this occasion, was assigned, died as a minor. From that time on, the progress of Gleb Morozov slowed down and depended entirely on the success of his brother. Like the latter, he also married for the second time and also to a noble woman - the 17-year-old beauty Fedosya Prokopyevna Sokovnina. The Sokovnins, Likhvin and Karachev boyar children, fell into the midst of the Moscow nobility due to their close relationship with the Miloslavskys. Fedosya Prokopyevna was most likely married to Gleb Morozov “from the palace.” She became the “visiting noblewoman” of the tsarina (this was a great honor), who always treated her like a family and, while she was alive, always stood up for her before the tsar.

Boris Morozov died in 1662 childless. His estates were inherited by his younger brother, who himself was a very wealthy man (2110 households according to the list of 1653). Almost simultaneously with Boris, Gleb Ivanovich died, and the only owner of this enormous fortune, second perhaps only to that of the “eminent people” the Stroganovs, turned out to be the youth Ivan Glebovich, and in fact his mother Fedosya Prokopyevna Morozova.

She was surrounded not only by wealth, but also by luxury. Her Moscow house was luxurious. Avvakum recalled that she rode out in a carriage with “musiya and silver,” which was carried by “many argamaks, 6 or 12, with rattling chains,” and which was accompanied by “100 or 200, and sometimes three hundred” servants. Luxury also penetrated into the estates near Moscow, which was new and unusual then. The fact is that, according to ancient tradition, boyar estates had a purely economic purpose. The first to break this tradition was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who established several luxurious estates near Moscow. Among them, Izmailovo and Kolomenskoye, the “eighth wonder of the world,” stood out. His uncle did not lag behind the tsar, who set up his village of Pavlovskoye in the Zvenigorod district with great pomp, which became “a kind of dacha”, where the boyar “went for entertainment... inviting guests... sometimes the tsar himself.” Gleb Morozov followed their example. In the mansion of his village of Zyuzin near Moscow, the floors were “written chessboard”, the garden occupied two acres, and peacocks and peahens walked in the yard. In this case, the Tsar and the Morozov brothers imitated Europe, and above all the Polish “potentates”. It was in the 17th century, during the Baroque era, that manor life began to flourish in Poland. During his campaigns in the mid-50s, the tsar had the opportunity to see the luxurious residences of magnates. By the way, Gleb Morozov, who was a member of the sovereign’s staff, also took part in these campaigns.

Taking into account all this - the antiquity and “honor” of the Morozov family, their family ties with the Tsar and Tsarina, their position in the Duma and at court, their wealth and luxury of private life, we will better understand Archpriest Avvakum, who saw something completely exceptional in the fact that noblewoman Morozova renounced “earthly glory”: “It’s not surprising that 20 years and one summer torment me: I am called to myself, let me shake off the burden of sin. And behold, this man is poor, inferior and foolish, from a selfless man, I have no clothes and gold and silver, I have a priestly family, the rank of archpriest, I am filled with sorrows and sorrows before the Lord God. But it’s wonderful to think about your honesty: your family, - Boris Ivanovich Morozov was an uncle to this king, and a nurturer, and a breadwinner, he was sick for him and grieved more than his soul, having no peace day and night.” Avvakum in this case expressed the popular opinion. The people recognized Morozova as their intercessor precisely because she voluntarily “shook off the dust” of wealth and luxury, voluntarily became equal to the “simpletons.”

We will better understand the behavior of the Moscow nobility. Having not succeeded in trying to reason with the lost sheep, seeing that even appeals to her maternal feelings were in vain, the nobility nevertheless for a long time resisted the bishops who carried on the noblewoman’s cause with such zeal. Particularly zealous were the ignorant Joachim, then the Archimandrite of Miracles, and Metropolitan Pavel of Sarsk and Podonsk - both extremely cruel people. But even the gentle patriarch Pitirim changed his character when he realized how much Morozov hated his “Nikonian faith.” “Roaring like a bear” (according to the author of the Tale), the patriarch ordered the noblewoman to be dragged “like a dog, with a cap by the neck,” so that Morozova on the stairs “considered all degrees to be her head.” And at this time Pitirim shouted: “Blow the martyr in the morning!” (i.e. at the stake, because back then it was customary to burn people “in the log house”). However, again “the bolyars were not up to the task,” and the bishops had to give in.

Of course, the nobility defended not so much the person, not Fedosya Morozova as such, but class privileges. The nobility was afraid of the precedent. And only after making sure that this matter was safe for her in terms of class, that it was “not an example or a model,” the nobility renounced the noblewoman Morozova. They now began to look at the lost sheep as a black sheep - according to the proverb, “in the family there is a black sheep, and on the threshing floor there is damage.”

Only Morozova's brothers, Fyodor and Alexei Sokovnin, remained faithful to her, just as Princess Evdokia Urusova, her younger sister, who suffered and died with her, was faithful to her. Tsar Alexei hastened to remove both brothers from Moscow, appointing them governors in small towns. It was a link that could not be called honorable. Apparently, the tsar knew or suspected that the Sokovnins had not only a blood connection with their sisters, but also a spiritual one, that they all stood for “ancient piety.” Apparently, the king feared them - and not without reason, as later events showed.

On March 4, 1697, the okolnichy Alexei Prokopyevich Sokovnin, a “hidden schismatic,” ended his days on the chopping block. He was beheaded on Red Square because, together with Streltsy Colonel Ivan Tsykler, he was at the head of a conspiracy for the life of Peter I. Among the executed conspirators was the steward Fyodor Matveevich Pushkin, married to the daughter of Alexei Sokovnin. The Pushkins, as the weakest branch of Gavrila Aleksich’s family in terms of “honor and place,” began to rise at the end of the 16th century, after the death of more noble relatives in oprichnina. The 17th century was a period of greatest success for the Pushkins, but it ended in their disaster - unexpected and undeserved, because the execution of one conspirator turned into actual disgrace for the entire numerous family. If the Morozovs in the 17th century. died out in the literal sense of the word, then fate was preparing political death for Pushkin: from now on and forever they were expelled from the ruling stratum.

But let’s return to the confrontation between noblewoman Morozova and Tsar Alexei. Even after the break with Nikon, the Tsar remained faithful to church reform, since it allowed him to keep the church under control. The Tsar was very concerned about the resistance of the Old Believers, and therefore he had long been dissatisfied with Morozova. He, of course, knew that at home she prayed in the old way; Apparently, he knew (through his sister-in-law Anna Ilyinichna) that the noblewoman wore a hair shirt, he also knew about her correspondence with Avvakum, imprisoned in Pustozersk, and that her Moscow chambers were a refuge and stronghold of the Old Believers. However, the tsar did not take decisive steps for a long time and limited himself to half-measures: he took away part of the estates from Morozova, and then returned them, tried to influence her through relatives, etc. The sadness of Tsarina Maria Ilyinichna played a great role in these hesitations, but the matter should not be reduced only to her intercession. After all, after her death (1669), the tsar spared Morozova for another two and a half years. Apparently, he was content with Morozova’s “small hypocrisy.” From the Tale it is clear that she “for the sake of decency ... went to the temple,” that is, she attended Nikonian worship. Everything changed dramatically after her secret tonsure.

If the noblewoman Fedosya could bend her soul “for the sake of decency,” then the nun Theodora, who took monastic vows, was not fit for “a little hypocrisy.” Morozova “began to shirk” the worldly and religious duties associated with the rank of “mountaine” (palace) noblewoman. On January 22, 1671, she did not appear at the Tsar’s wedding with Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, citing illness: “My legs are very sad, and I can neither walk nor stand.” The king did not believe the excuse and took the refusal as a grave insult. From that moment on, Morozova became his personal enemy. The bishops cleverly played on this. During the dispute about faith, they posed the question directly (there was a catch in the directness): “In brevity, we ask you, according to the service book according to which the sovereign tsar and the blessed queen and the princes and princesses receive communion, have you received communion?” And Morozova had no choice but to answer directly: “I will not take communion.”

The author of the Tale puts into the mouth of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich significant words regarding his feud with Morozova: “It’s hard for her to brother with me - the only one who can overcome everything from us.” It is unlikely that these words were ever uttered: in fact, the autocrat of all Rus' could not, even for a moment, admit that he would be “overcome” by the noblewoman, who was rigid in disobedience. But fiction has, in its way, no less historical value than an immutably established fact. In this case, fiction is the voice of the people. The people perceived the fight between the Tsar and Morozova as a spiritual duel (and in the battle of the spirit, the rivals are always equal) and, of course, were entirely on the side of the “combatant.” There is every reason to believe that the king understood this perfectly well. His order to starve Morozova to death in the Borovsk pit, in the “unlighted darkness”, in the “earthly suffocation” strikes not only with cruelty, but also with cold calculation. The point is not even that death is red in the world. The fact is that a public execution gives a person the aura of martyrdom (if, of course, the people are on the side of the executed). This is what the king feared most of all, he was afraid that “the last misfortune would be worse than the first.” Therefore, he doomed Morozova and her sister to a “quiet”, long death. Therefore, their bodies - in matting, without a funeral service - were buried inside the walls of the Borovsk prison: they feared that the Old Believers would dig them up “with great honor, like the relics of holy martyrs.” Morozova was kept in custody while she was alive. She was left in custody even after her death, which put an end to her suffering on the night of November 1–2, 1675.

In creating a symbol, history is content with a few large strokes. Private life is indifferent to national memory. The life of a mortal man, his earthly passions - all these are little things, they are carried away by the river of oblivion. There is a reason for such selectivity, because history remembers, first of all, heroes, but there is also a danger, because the true appearance of a person is involuntarily distorted.

The spirit of fanaticism emanates from Surikov’s Morozova. But it is wrong to consider her a fanatic. Old Russian man, unlike the man of the Enlightenment culture, lived and thought within the framework of religious consciousness. He was “fed” by faith as his daily bread. In Ancient Rus' there were any number of heretics and apostates, but there were no atheists, which means fanaticism looked different. Boyarina Morozova is a strong character, but not fanatical, without a shadow of gloominess, and it is not for nothing that Avvakum wrote about her as a “cheerful and loving wife” (amiable). She was not at all alien to human passions and weaknesses.

We learn about them first of all from Avvakum, who, as a spiritual father, instructed, scolded, and sometimes cursed Morozova. Of course, Habakkuk’s scolding behavior should not always be taken at face value. Often it was a “therapeutic”, healing technique. When Morozova was in prison torn over her dead son, Avvakum wrote her an angry letter from Pustozersk, even calling her “thin dirt,” and ended with this: “Don’t worry about Ivan, I won’t scold her.” But in some cases, the spiritual father’s reproaches seem quite reasonable.

After the death of her old husband, Morozova remained a young, thirty-year-old widow. She “tormented” her body with a hair shirt, but the hair shirt did not always help. “Stupid, crazy, ugly,” Avvakum wrote to her, “gouge out those little eyes of yours with the shuttle that Mastridia did.” Avvakum had in mind the example of the Venerable Mastridia, whose life the noblewoman knew from the Prologue (under November 24). The heroine of this life gouged out her eyes to get rid of the temptation of love.

Avvakum also accused Morozova of stinginess: “And now... you write: you’ve become impoverished, father; there is nothing to share with you. And I couldn’t even laugh at your disagreement... Alms flow from you like a small drop from the depths of the sea, and then with a reservation.” From his point of view, Habakkuk was right. When we read that the noblewoman sent eight rubles to Pustozersk, “two rubles for the priest alone, and he shared six rubles with the brothers of Christ,” then we involuntarily remember the gold and jewelry that she hid from the authorities. In this case, one cannot but agree with Avvakum. However, this was not just stinginess, but also the homeliness of a zealous housewife. Morozova, by her position, was a “seasoned widow,” that is, a widow who manages the estates until her son comes of age. That’s why she cared about “how... the house is built, how to gain more fame, how... villages and villages are harmonious.” The “seasoned widow” kept for her son the wealth accumulated by his father and uncle. She hoped that the son, no matter how the mother’s fate turned out, would live in “earthly glory” befitting his famous family.

Morozova loved her Ivan very much. Feeling that the king’s patience was coming to an end, that trouble was at hand, she hurried to marry her son and consulted with her spiritual father about the bride: “Where should I get one - from a good breed, or from an ordinary one. Those who are of a better breed than girls are worse, and those girls are better than those who are of a worse breed.” This quote gives a clear idea of ​​Morozova. Her letters are women's letters. We will not find discussions about faith in them, but we will find complaints about those who dare to “deceive” the noblewoman, we will find requests not to listen to those who bully her in front of the archpriest: “No matter what you write, it’s all wrong.” The one who dictated, and sometimes wrote these “letters” with her own hand, was not a gloomy fanatic, but a housewife and mother, busy with her son and household chores.

Therefore, her “small hypocrisy” is understandable, and the hesitations that are reflected in the Tale are understandable. Where torture is discussed, the author writes that Morozova “victoriously” denounced “their crafty retreat” from the rack. Here the influence of the hagiographic canon is obvious, according to which a sufferer for faith always endures torture not only courageously, but also “joyfully.” But much stronger and more humanly authentic is the end of this episode, when the noblewoman began to cry and said to one of those overseeing the torture: “Is Christianity dead to torture a person?”

And she died not as a hagiographic heroine, but as a person. “Servant of Christ! - the noblewoman, tortured by hunger, cried out to the archer guarding her. - 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’m very tired of hunger and I’m hungry for food, have mercy on me, give me a little kolachik,” And when he refused (“No, lady, I’m afraid”), she asked him from the pit for at least a piece of bread, at least “a few crackers,” although an apple or a cucumber - and all in vain.

Human weakness does not detract from the feat. On the contrary, she emphasizes his greatness: in order to accomplish a feat, you must first of all be human.

The story of Boyarina Morozova is the main source of information about this wonderful woman. The publication and research of A.I. Mazunin, who carefully studied the manuscript tradition, allows us to read this text in a new way. But the Tale is valuable not only for its historical material. This is a work of high artistic quality. This monument of ancient Russian literature will certainly be appreciated by the modern reader.

Quote according to the book: Konchalovskaya Natalya. The gift is priceless. M., 1965. P. 151.
The Tale of Boyarina Morozova / Prep. texts and research by A.I. Mazunin. L., “Science”, 1979.
For the genealogy of the Morozovs and other boyar families, see the book: Veselovsky S. B. Research on the history of the class of service landowners. M., 1969.
Life of Alexander Nevsky cit. from the book: Izbornik. Collection of works of literature of Ancient Rus'. M., 1970.
Veselovsky S. B. Research on the history of the class of service landowners. P. 103.
Right there. P. 55.
“In the literal sense of the word, this meant extraditing the accused as a complete servitor. In local affairs, “surrender by head”... had a symbolic and everyday meaning... The accused local with a submissive look, with his head uncovered, walked to the courtyard of his new master. The latter, probably in the presence of his children, household members and the entire household, gave the local a more or less severe reprimand, made him feel the full extent of his power and then mercifully forgave him. Depending on the mutual relations of the colliding individuals and surnames, the matter could end either in a similar scene or in complete reconciliation. The man acquitted by the court invited the local man given to him by his “head” to his house, and the recent enemies, over a glass of wine, conscientiously tried to eliminate moments of personal resentment” ( Veselovsky S. B. Research on the history of the class of service landowners. P. 104).
Zabelin I. E. Home life of Russian queens in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ed. 3rd. M., 1901. P. 101.
Cm.: Vodarsky Ya. E. The ruling group of secular feudal lords in Russia in the 17th century. - In the book: Nobility and serfdom in Russia in the 16th-18th centuries. Sat. in memory of A. A. Novoselsky. M., 1975. P. 93.
Right there. For comparison, we point out that, according to the calculations of Ya. E. Vodarsky, at that time the Duma people had on average households: the boyars had 1567, the okolnichy 526, the Duma nobles 357 (ibid., p. 74).
Materials for the history of the schism for the first time of its existence, published... ed. N. Subbotina. T. V, part 2. M., 1879. P. 182-183.
Petrikeev D.I. Large serf farm of the 17th century. L., 1967. P. 46.
Cm.: Tikhonov Yu. A. Moscow region estates of the Russian aristocracy in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. - In the book: Nobility and serfdom in Russia in the 16th-18th centuries. pp. 139-140.
The Life of Archpriest Avvakum, written by himself, and his other works. M., 1960. P. 216.
Right there. P. 296.
Right there. P. 213.
Right there. P. 208. It is interesting to compare this phrase with one incident from Avvakum’s youth, which he spoke about in his Life: “When I was still in trouble, a girl came to confess to me, burdened with many sins, guilty of fornication... Guilty... I But the three-repentant doctor himself fell ill, burning inside with the fire of prodigal fire, and I felt bitter in that hour: I lit three lights and stuck them to the forehead, and laid my right hand on the flame, and held it until the evil in me died out, having fermented” (ibid. P. 60). Here Habakkuk acted directly “according to the Prologue”: in the Prologue under December 27 there is a similar story about a monk and a harlot.
Barskov Ya. L. Monuments of the first years of Russian Old Believers. St. Petersburg, 1912. P. 34.
Right there. P. 37. Of course, eight rubles was a lot of money at that time. But Avvakum and his Pustozersky “prisoners” had to spend more than any resident of Moscow. Here is an example: in order to send a letter to Morozova, Avvakum had to give the archer a whole half.
Barskov Ya. L. Monuments of the first years of Russian Old Believers. P. 34.
Right there. pp. 41-42.
Right there. pp. 38-39.
Material: http://panchenko.pushkinskijdom.ru/Default.aspx?tabid=2330

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 with 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

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

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 real 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.

Among them, the martyrs of the Russian Old Believers, one of the first places was taken by the noblewoman Feodosia Prokopyevna Morozova with her sister Princess Evdokia Urusova.

This is what Archpriest Avvakum tells about the fate of these spiritual daughters of his in one of his most striking works - “The Life of Boyarina Morozova.”

The jealousy of the noble noblewoman Theodosia Morozova for the schism created a great temptation in high Moscow society, and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich repeatedly sent to her (including her uncle Mikhail Alekseevich Rtishchev) with admonitions. As punishment, he ordered half of the estates to be taken away from her. But Tsarina Marya Ilyinichna stood up for her. While she was alive (until 1669) and for some time after her death, noblewoman Morozova continued to freely profess the Old Believers. She was surrounded by fugitive nuns and holy fools; and some mother Melania, with the help of a certain father Dosifei, secretly tonsured her to the rank of monk. But in 1671 the king married again. Feodosia Morozova did not take part in the marriage rituals, which was usual for noblewomen, citing her sore legs. The king was angry. Sending messages to her from the king with convictions and threats resumed. Boyarina Morozova said that she wanted to die in her father’s Orthodox faith and loudly denounced Nikon’s delusions of the highest clergy.

Boyarina Morozova visits Avvakum in prison

In the winter of 1672, Prince Urusov, after one visit to the royal palace, informed his wife Evdokia that great troubles lay ahead for her sister. (He apparently did not know that his wife was also a schismatic.) “Go, say goodbye to her,” said the prince, “I think that today there will be a parcel for her.” Evdokia warned her sister Theodosia about the impending disaster and, deciding to share her fate, did not return home. They were mutually blessed and prepared to stand up for the right faith. At night, indeed, the Miracle archimandrite Joachim and clerk Ivanov came to take away the stubborn noblewoman Morozova. They found Princess Urusova with her and asked how she was baptized; She folded two fingers in response. The puzzled archimandrite hurried to the king. Having learned that Princess Urusova, although she had hidden it until now, was also maintaining a schism, the Tsar ordered both to be taken.

Feodosia Morozova refused to go herself: she was carried away in a chair. The noblewoman's young son, Ivan, barely had time to say goodbye to his mother. Both sisters were shackled and taken into custody. This was the time of interpatriarchy after the death of Joasaph. The locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Pavel Krutitsky, tried to persuade Morozova and Urusova. But the sisters called all the highest Russian clergy heretical. The next morning they were separated: Theodosia was chained to a chair and taken on a sleigh past the Chudov Monastery under the royal passages. Believing that the tsar was looking at her from these passages, noblewoman Morozova raised her right hand high with two fingers. She was placed in the courtyard of the Pechersk Monastery under strong guard. And Evdokia was imprisoned in the Alekseevsky Monastery, where she was forced or carried to church services. Many boyars' wives came to the monastery to watch Urusova being dragged to the church on a stretcher. A follower of noblewoman Morozova, Marya Danilovna, was also captured.

Feodosia Morozova's son, Ivan, fell ill from grief. The king sent his doctors to him, but he died. All the estates and horse herds of Morozova were distributed to the boyars; and expensive things are sold out. Feodosia Prokopyevna with humility suffered the news of her son's death and complete ruin. Her two brothers, Fyodor and Alexei, were sent to voivodeships in distant cities.

Boyarina Morozova. Painting by V. I. Surikov, 1887

When Pitirim was elevated to the patriarchate, he began to ask the king to forgive the sisters. “You,” the king answered, “do not know all the cruelty of Morozova. Nobody gave me as much trouble as she did. Call her and ask her yourself. Then you will recognize all her tenacity.”

That same evening, the shackled noblewoman Morozova was brought to Chudov, where the patriarch was waiting for her.

- How long will you remain in madness and outrage the king with resistance? - exclaimed Pitirim. - Feeling sorry for you, I say: join the Catholic Church, confess and receive communion.

“I have no one to confess and receive communion from,” answered Feodosia Morozova.

– There are many priests in Moscow.

– There are many priests, but there is no true one.

- I myself will confess you, and then I will serve (mass) and give you communion.

“Are you going to be at odds with them,” answered the noblewoman Morozova. - When you adhered to the Christian custom of the Russian land handed down from the fathers; then he was kind to us. Now he wanted to do the will of the earthly king, but despised the heavenly one and placed the horned hood of the Pope on his head. For this reason we turn away from you.

The Patriarch considered the noblewoman to be damaged in her mind and wanted to forcibly anoint her. Morozova herself did not stand; The archers held her bent by the arms. But when the patriarch approached, she suddenly straightened up and prepared to fight. The Patriarch, having dipped his knitting needle in oil, already extended his hand. But Feodosia Prokopyevna pushed her away and screamed: “Don’t destroy me, a sinner! You want to destroy all my unfinished work! I don’t want your shrine!”

The Patriarch became very angry and (according to Avvakum) ordered Morozova to be thrown to the floor and dragged over there with a chain by the collar, so that with her head she counted all the steps of the stairs. They brought Princess Urusova to the patriarch. He also tried to anoint her with oil; but she acted even more resourcefully. Evdokia suddenly threw off the veil from her head and appeared bare-haired. “What are you doing, shameless ones? - she cried. “Don’t you know that I’m a wife!” - which led the spiritual ones into great confusion.

Hearing the patriarch’s story about his failure, the king remarked: “Didn’t I tell you what her cruelty is? I’ve been putting up with her for so many years now.” The next night, Feodosia Morozova, her sister and Marya Danilovna, were brought to the Yamskaya courtyard and subjected to fiery torture in the presence of princes Ivan Vorotynsky and Yakov Odoevsky, persuading them to reconcile. But the sufferers endured all the torment. The king did not know how to break the stubbornness of two noble women, which could serve as a great temptation for others. At the Pechersk courtyard, many secretly penetrated to the noblewoman Morozova, consoled her and brought her food supplies, and the tsar ordered her to be transported to the country Novodevichy Convent, kept there under a strong command and dragged by force to church services. But noble wives flocked here in such numbers that the entire monastery courtyard was filled with carriages. The Tsar ordered Morozova to be transported back to the city. His older sister, Irina, began to blame him:

“Why are you pushing the poor widow around from place to place? Not good, brother! It wouldn’t hurt to remember the service of Boris Morozov and his brother Gleb.”

Alexey Mikhailovich flared up. “Okay, sister,” he exclaimed, “if you worry about her, then her place will be immediately ready!”

Feodosia Morozova was transported to the Borovsky prison and put in a pit along with Urusova and Marya Danilovna. No one was allowed to see the prisoners; they were given the most meager food. Old printed books and old icons were taken away from them and only the most necessary clothes were left. But nothing broke their resolve. The imprisonment became more and more severe, and less and less food fell into the pit. The end of their suffering has come; Evdokia died first, followed by Theodosia and Maria (October and November 1672). Avvakum touchingly describes the last moments of the noblewoman Morozova and her request to one of the watchmen to secretly take and wash her extremely dirty shirt on the river in order to put on a clean one before her death. The compassionate watchman fulfilled this request. The body of Feodosia Prokopyevna was wrapped in matting and buried next to Evdokia.

Based on materials from the book by D. I. Ilovaisky “History of Russia. In 5 volumes. Volume 5. Father of Peter the Great. Alexey Mikhailovich and his immediate successors"

MOROZOVA FEODOSIA PROKOPEVNA

(b. 1632 – d. 1675)

Russian noblewoman-Old Believer, who became a symbol of the schismatic movement.

“The beauty of your face shone like the holy widow Judith of old in Israel, who defeated Nechadnezzar’s prince Olefernes... The words of your mouth, like precious stone, are amazing before God and people. The fingers of your hands are thin-boned and active... Your eyes are lightning-fast, they keep away from the vanity of the world, only looking at the poor and wretched.” This is the umpteenth time that V. I. Surikov has read the ancient text. It was a psychologically subtle literary portrait of the noblewoman Morozova, created by Archpriest Avvakum. The picture about the times of church schism is completely ready. The only thing missing is the face of a martyr for the faith. The artist felt that her face should have such power so as not to get lost in the crowd of onlookers - sympathetic, indifferent, hating. Surikov found the fury of the spirit and renunciation of everything earthly in the profile of the young monastic reader. Thus, the unknown image of the noblewoman acquired a specific appearance. The tenacity of faith, the cruel lot of martyrdom, turned the face of a young woman into the burning face of an old fanatic. Her eyes blaze like coals, her hand either overshadows or curses the crowd with a two-fingered cross, and she herself is like a “black crow in the snow.” Thus, thanks to painting, noblewoman Morozova, whose memory among the people has crossed the centuries, received a monument worthy of her devotion to faith.

Feodosia came from a noble Sokovnikov family. She lived in comfort and prosperity. She was pretty, so she didn’t stay too long with girls. At the age of 17, she was given in marriage to a rich, childless widower, Gleb Ivanovich Morozov, whose family was not inferior in nobility to the royal family. His brother, Boris Morozov, was the tsar's tutor, brother-in-law and closest adviser, and Gleb also occupied a prominent place at court. And the young noblewoman Feodosia Prokopyevna herself was friends with Tsarina Marya Ilyinichna from the Miloslavsky family.

Young Theodosia was not asked whether her 50-year-old husband loved her. She was obedient to her daughter and wife. Less than a year has passed since my son Ivan was born. Life flowed smoothly. What worries could a noblewoman have, in whose mansion 300 servants are bustling around? Mothers and nannies are busy with their children. Wealth flows into the house, thanks to the husband's worries. Chests are filled with expensive clothes and jewelry. And if the noblewoman wants to leave the house, they will harness six or even twelve horses into a carriage decorated with silver and mosaics, and a hundred will run after them, and at the grand exit, three hundred servants and slaves. Live without thinking about anything.

At the age of 30, Feodosia Prokopyevna remained a widow. Boris Morozov took informal custody of her and her young nephew. He was a sedate man, married for the second time to the Tsar’s sister Anna, and childless. The boyar loved to have conversations with his daughter-in-law, who was smart and well-read for women of that time. It was an anxious time, they were waiting for the end of the world and the Last Judgment. Boris Morozov called Theodosius “a spiritual friend, a soulful joy,” and after long conversations he admitted: “I enjoyed more than honey and a hundred of your spiritually beneficial words.” It is unknown what topics they touched on, but, apparently, the noblewoman had courage of judgment and depth of thought.

Boris Morozov died childless, leaving all his property to his widow and only nephew. Morozova now became equal to the tsar not only in nobility, but also in wealth. With such wealth, what business did the boyar have with the religious disputes between Patriarch Nikon and the dominant church subject to him with the schismatic archpriest Avvakum, the champion of the “true” faith? Before 1664, there is no clear evidence of Morozova’s adherence to the Old Believers. There is only an assumption that a lonely woman was not indifferent to the stately, handsome, independent Nikon. And she went against the “Nikonian” church because of the patriarch’s offensive disregard for her feelings. And then the passionate accusatory speeches of Archpriest Avvakum burst into Morozova’s restless soul.

Back in the 1640s. both church ministers belonged to a circle of zealots of piety and tried to increase the authority of the official church, raise the literacy of the clergy, correct errors that had crept into the liturgical books due to the fault of copyists, and make church services understandable to parishioners. Only Nikon, having gained the royal favor, became the patriarch and authoritatively and single-handedly destroyed ancient customs and rituals. But with his acquisitiveness he aroused the hatred of the courtiers and discontent among the people, for whom the old faith was kinder than the “Latin” one. Thus began in Rus' a movement known as schism, or Old Believers.

Avvakum became the leader of the schismatics, accusing heretics who had succumbed to Nikon. They say that church books are copied in the Greek manner, instead of the usual “Jesus” it is written “Jesus”, “Hallelujah” must be sung in the old way twice, as well as being baptized with two fingers, and not with a “pinch”.

Morozova often met an angry Old Believer in the house of her cousin F. M. Rtishchev. I listened to his speeches in which, citing the example of Christ, he called for the creation of communities where everyone - from boyars to beggars - would be equal. He wrote to Morozova: “Are you deceiving us like a noblewoman? May God spread the sky to us the same way, and the moon and the sun shine equally for everyone, and so the earth, and the waters, and everything that vegetates at the behest of the mistress serve you no more, and no less for me.” Avvakum's sermons were so convincing that the noblewoman succumbed to them, and then her sister, Princess E. P. Urusova. They became ardent, enthusiastic adherents of his teachings.

Avvakum settled in Morozova’s house and preached here. The noblewoman, as a woman, could not resolve any church disputes, but she opened her heart to piety and charity. She opened the doors of her rich house and granary not only to schismatics. Clothes, alms and food were provided to all the persecuted and rejected, the wretched and holy fools. She ransomed those sentenced to public execution for non-payment of debts, and helped the suffering in almshouses and dungeons.

Morozova’s actions and speeches caused condemnation in her circle. They established surveillance over her and reported to the tsar that the noblewoman “vilifies the holy church with obscene words, and does not submit, and the holy mysteries according to the newly corrected service books which the priests serve - she does not receive communion from them, and utters terrible blasphemies...”. For some time, the tsar's threat to take away her best estates forced Morozova to weaken her zeal. But Habakkuk’s “strong” admonitions, and then excommunication by decision of the council of 1666–1667. All schismatics from the church and the exile of like-minded people to Pustoozersk forced the noblewoman to again take the path of true piety. Now she consciously made a choice between wealth and nobility, soul and faith.

Habakkuk sent letters from exile with exhortations and teachings. The texts were full of affectionate words: “my light”, “my dear friend”, “my sweet-voiced gusset”, “dove”, “interlocutor for angels”. But having learned that the noblewoman had gotten together and sinned with the holy fool Fyodor, he became angry as with his wife: “I know what happened between you and Fyodor. I did it as I wanted. Yes, the Most Holy Mother of God broke that evil union and separated you cursed ones... she tore apart your filthy love. Stupid, crazy, ugly! Gouge out your eyes. Make a hat so that you can cover your entire face..."

Morozova thought no more about the vanity of the world, and in 1670, under the name of Theodora, she secretly took monastic vows as a nun. She firmly decided to stand for the faith, retired from the household affairs in her numerous estates and stopped appearing in the palace. Meanwhile, the persecution of schismatics intensified: they were hanged, their tongues were cut, their hands were chopped off. The Tsar tolerated Morozova’s disobedience for a long time. Maybe in memory of his deceased wife, whose best friend she was, maybe he hoped that the woman’s whim would pass. The “fiery rage” of Alexei Mikhailovich fell upon the noblewoman for open disobedience to the royal will. In January 1671, Feodosia Prokopyevna flatly refused to attend the wedding of the Tsar with the young beauty Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the future mother of Peter I. But Morozova, among the first noblewomen, was supposed to “speak to the Tsar’s title,” call him faithful, kiss his hand and, along with everyone else, accept the bishop's blessing according to the new custom. The Emperor, nicknamed the Quietest, did not forgive open rebellion. He sent the boyars several times with orders to submit to his will, but Morozova did not back down. Since then, for thousands of Old Believers, it has become a symbol of the schismatic movement.

On the night of November 16, 1671, Archimandrite Joachim of the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin and Deacon Larion declared the rebellious royal decree: “It’s time for you to be on top! Get down! Get up, get out of here!” This “go” meant deprivation of all rights and freedom. Together with his sister, Princess E.P. Urusova, and the wife of the Streltsy colonel, M.G. Danilova, noblewoman Morozova was taken under guard to the Chudov Monastery. Here they shackled her legs, arms, and neck in “horse irons”, and then on an ordinary sleigh, like a commoner, they took her across all of Moscow for the amusement of onlookers to the distant Pechersky Monastery. But first, the boyar had to endure mortal torment and humiliation, just like her like-minded women. She hung on a rack with her arms twisted, froze naked in the snow, and was beaten with whips. She endured everything and did not retreat.

The clergy demanded a fire for Morozova, but the boyars opposed. They asked for mercy for Feodosia Prokopyevna in memory of the faithful service of Gleb and Boris Morozov. And the king showed his “mercy”. He replaced the public execution, which could elevate the martyr and give her an aura of holiness, with an earthen prison in Borovsk. The security, bribed by fellow believers, did not show much cruelty. The prisoners received letters, clothes, food. In this pit, Morozova learned about the sudden death of her only son and that the tsar had distributed all her property and estates to the obedient boyars. But it was not about wealth that the prisoner wept and fought against the earthen walls. She grieved that she could not say goodbye to her son, that someone else’s hands had closed his eyes, that they had given communion to the dying man and buried him according to a new rite.

Soon the tsar was informed of a relaxation in the maintenance of Old Believers. He ordered the security to be changed and tightened. In a deep five-foot pit, in darkness and sewage, suffocating from the stench, three women were dying of starvation. Princess Urusova was the first to die. On the night of November 1–2, 1675, noblewoman Morozova died. Her only request to the jailers was to wash her shirt, so that, according to Russian custom, she would meet death in clean linen. A month later, Maria Danilova died.

The ancient Morozov family no longer existed. The siblings of the disgraced noblewoman were also punished - they were executed in exile. The steadfastness of Theodosia Prokopievna shocked her contemporaries not only with martyrdom, but also with the fact that such behavior for a woman from the court nobility was out of the ordinary: to exchange nobility and wealth for faith! And she was not executed as an atheist. Believers in the merciful Christ executed an Orthodox Christian woman only because she defended the right to pray to God in her own way!

Chapter 12 (XXVII) Gratian elevates Theodosius to the rank of Eastern Emperor. - Origin and character of Theodosius. - Death of Gratian. - St. Ambrose. - The first internecine war with Maxim. - Character, management and repentance of Theodosius. - Death of Valentinian II. - Second

11. Oddities of the Egyptian obelisk of Thutmes-Theodosius in Istanbul This obelisk is installed at the Istanbul Hippodrome near Greater Sophia. It is believed that it was made by order of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Thutmes, but then transported by the Byzantine emperor

Chapter XXVI Morals of pastoral peoples. - Movement of the Huns from China to Europe. - Escape is ready. - They are crossing the Danube. - War with the Goths. - Defeat and death of Valens. - Gratian elevates Theodosius to the rank of Eastern Emperor. - The character and successes of Theodosius. - Conclusion of peace and

Chapter XXVII Death of Gratian. - Destruction of Arianism. -St. Ambrose. - The first internecine war with Maxim. - Character, management and repentance of Theodosius. - Death of Valentinian II. - Second internecine war with Eugene. - Death of Theodosius. 378-395 AD Fame acquired