Natalya Naryshkina was born on August 22 (old style on September 1) in 1651, died January 25 (old style on February 4) in 1694. The tsarina lived a difficult life. This woman shone with a dazzling star in the sky, and every citizen of then-Russia saw her shine without ever even meeting her. The Queen’s name is always well-known, she is always above ordinary people and surrounded by a halo of grandeur and sublimity. Almost every crowned person has to go through not only luxury and wealth, but also through trials, anxieties, betrayal. And that and the other, this woman drank in full. Her eyes had to see a lot, and her heart trembled with delight and terrible anxieties.
So let's touch on the life story of this amazing woman. In the vast majority of cases, only kings and their merits are remembered, but this lady is worthy of the attention and respect of the reader.
Parents
A significant person in the history of Russia is Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. Her genealogy deserves attention, if only because she was a true aristocrat.
The future queen was born in a family of not very rich, but not quite poor nobles of that time. Father's name was Cyril Poluektovich Naryshkin. Mother was named Anna Leontyevna. The maiden name of the mother of Natalia was Leontiev.
Portrait of the queen
Jacob Reitenfels described Natalia Kirillovna as a beautiful woman, outwardly and sincerely. Many artists of that time wanted to capture her appearance, because Natalia Naryshkina was so beautiful. Photos of portraits of that time, which are attached to the article, will help you to get an idea of all the charms of this woman.
She was tall and stately, she had penetrating and deep dark eyes, a pleasant face with sophisticated features. Natalia's lips were attractive, and looking at her mouth, I wanted to hear the pleasant words that were born in her bright head. She had a high forehead, which was considered a trait emphasizing the noble origin and sophistication of the lady.
It was proportional to which side you should not look. Grace herself sang in her graceful body. And when she did open her beautiful lips, a sonorous female voice poured from them, pleasantly caressing her ears. As befitted a noblewoman, she was very educated, educated and sophisticated. And it’s not just one upbringing. There was pressure in this woman, but not hard and harsh. Its stem was rather like a thin birch in young foliage.
Youth
Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina was educated not at home, under the wing of her parents, but with her close relatives. Their house was located in a noisy secular Moscow.
Her main guardian, a guide to adulthood and protection was the boyar Artamon Matveev. At one of the secular evenings, Natalya Kirillovna was lucky enough to meet with Alexei Mikhailovich. He noticed a girl in a crowd of other ladies.
The tsar noticed her and wished to include the beautiful girl in the casting list for the most important role of their life - the role of the first lady of the country, the queen of Russia. No matter how funny it was to call this event a competition, but Natalya Naryshkina came out of it as the winner and the second half of the head of state.
The wedding took place on a cold day on January 22, 1671, melting all ice and snow drifts in the hearts of citizens of the whole country. She was charm itself at nineteen. Although at that time it was the age of full maturity for a woman, the image of a girl who is still very young, charmingly naive and beautiful, pops up before our imagination. As a result of the joint years, the royal couple enriched the world with three children.
The burdens of government
Nothing lasts forever, including the king, no matter how powerful, god-like and omnipotent he may seem. So Alexei Mikhailovich left this mortal world. Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina at that time was sad, thoughtful and inconsolable, like any sincerely loving husband. She experienced anxiety and excitement, emptiness from the loss of the person with whom she walked through life shoulder to shoulder, whose soul became a part of her own soul.
Fight and stand
Now Natalya was not just faithfully waiting and sitting near the tsar's wife, she did not stand behind him, whispering encouraging words in her ear. She herself had to come to the fore and reflect all the blows of fate that her family had to take. She became the womb of her hive. She had not only to take care, but also to protect.
The family felt threatened by the Miloslavskys who wanted to seize power. Natalya Naryshkina at that time lived with her child away from the epicenter of events, where it was quiet, calm and safe so that the boy could know all the joys of adolescence. Their shelter was near Moscow villages, far from the noise and undercover intrigues of the capital.
New losses
How much the mother did not want to hide her son and herself from anxiety and inclement weather, being at the top of the aristocracy, ruling the people, it is difficult to hide from anxieties. In 1682, a riot took place. Natalya Naryshkina survived it with difficulty.
During this unfortunate event, many of her friends and relatives were killed. It took her a long time to smooth out the terrible impressions left by this bloody event in her soul. Thus began the two kingdoms of Peter and Ivan. Not completely unanimous, however.
Russia was divided into two halves. But one was still more. After all, Ivan was called the "senior" king. Natalya Kirillovna’s former power was shaken when Sophia ascended the throne as regent, who cut off the Queen’s all the way to rule. Now it was in Sofia’s hands that the fate of the state was. Courtyard, aristocracy. How can these two words do without their third bosom friend named scandal? Palace wars flared up with ever new strength, burning everything living in its path. The battlefield was Moscow and Preobrazhenskoe.
So the son grew up
The year 1689 was notable for the fact that Natalya Naryshkina, the mother of Peter the Great, blessed her offspring for marriage with the first wife of the tsar-innovator Evdokia Lopukhina. At that time, the queen and her son had to be content with the little ones and dream of renewing their power.
When Peter got stronger and established himself, he was able to overthrow Sophia. Then he was only seventeen years old. The gaze of the young king was turned to great gains, progress and new victories for his state. Therefore, he seriously took up the strengthening of Russian troops.
Also, by order of Peter began a large-scale construction of the fleet. Peter played the role of an innovator and a conqueror, he was drawn to direct his efforts outside, while his mother was watching the “home”. Natalya took on her fragile shoulders not new responsibilities for her in organizing the life of the population. In this difficult and responsible matter, she was not alone, because she was completely supported by relatives.
Board style
Some of her contemporaries describe Natalya Kirillovna as a kind woman, but not possessing leadership qualities. Rather, she was an excellent wife and mother, rather than the head of state. That is why she delegated many of her affairs to her brother Leo, as well as to other close associates. But is this really bad in our eyes Natalya Naryshkina? Her biography says just the opposite. It's just that not everyone is given the chance to be born a leader, that’s all.
She did not have time to follow everything alone. She lacked iron discipline and orderliness. Citizens were sometimes outraged about individual bills.
The attention of this fragile woman was scattered, and she could not help everyone, and even thought more about saving her own family, that there was always solid ground under the feet of her son. Many government officials took advantage of the king’s long absence from the throne and transgressed the law, allowing themselves more than was necessary. They stole from the treasury, took bribes. However, when was this not? Another thing is that the flower of depravity opened its petals more widely, began to dissolve more fragrance and crawled throughout ivy with poison ivy.
What she went down in history
She was not the captain of a ship called Russia, sailing into a brighter future. And why, if her worthy heir did a great job of this? An excellent mother was Natalya Naryshkina. A brief biography of this woman provides an excellent opportunity to make sure. The king listened to his mother, did not reject her advice. She supported and protected him.
In her heart, she wanted him to be close, not absent from such long journeys, although she understood that this would glorify her son for centuries.
But any mother wants her child to be safe and close by far more than to become a significant part of the story. May he live happy years during his life, and not shine in dazzling glory after death, because then nothing will be important. At the age of 43, Natalya Naryshkina died, this happened in 1694.