The life of Princess Ksenia Borisovna Godunova quite accurately reflects the whole essence of the Time of Troubles. Her fate is very similar to a fairy tale, unfortunately, which did not have a happy ending ... Only at the very beginning there was hope for a handsome prince, but she also crashed. Only at the end of her life, Ksenia was able to hope for happiness, but she did not wait for this either. An article full of tragic events will tell.
Origin
Godunova Ksenia Borisovna was born in 1582. Her father, Boris Godunov, was at that time a horse at the court of Ivan the Terrible. Despite the fact that his duties included monitoring the king’s horses, at that time this position was very prestigious, as it allowed him to be close to the ruler. It was the equestrian during the departure of the king who was his deputy and solved all the problems that arose. This can explain another high position of Boris - the governor of the Astrakhan and Kazan kingdoms. Ksenia’s mother, Maria, was the daughter of one of the most famous and cruel guardsmen, the favorite of Ivan the Terrible, Malyuta Skuratov.
Descriptions by contemporaries of the appearance of Xenia
Prince Katyrev-Rostovsky in The Tale describes Ksenia as an unearthly beauty and clever girl. The author notes that the princess was distinguished by an extraordinary mind, interested everyone who listened to her with harmonious speeches. She was attracted by the snow-white skin, blush on her cheeks, large black shiny eyes, thick eyebrows. Katyrev-Rostovsky says that the girl had a stately figure. Godunova Ksenia Borisovna was neither short nor tall, her blue-black hair was thick, somewhat lower than her shoulders.
During the life of his father, Boris Godunov
The historian Sergei Platonov believed that Boris was preparing his children for the succession to the throne. In 1598, Boris Godunov elected Zemsky Sobor to rule, as he was the de facto ruler under Fedor Ioannovich, whose brother-in-law was Boris. With the accession to the throne, he ordered to pray not only for the king, but also for his wife and children, as for the heirs to the throne.
What did Ksenia Godunova do?
The life of the princess corresponded to the court customs. The main occupations were reading, needlework, teaching, talking with his father, trips to monasteries on a pilgrimage. For his children, Boris invited the best overseas teachers. Also, a caring father at an early age instilled in Fedor and Ksenia a love of reading, so books for spiritual content were printed especially for them.
Failed weddings
Many rulers used marriages to carry out diplomatic tasks. Boris Godunov also wanted to do. By tradition, the daughters of the Russian tsar could not marry the Russians, since they were lower in status than the princesses, so they always looked for grooms abroad. The first contender for the hand of Ksenia Borisovna was Gustav Vasa, the Swedish prince. However, he did not like Boris, as he was an alchemist and led a rampant lifestyle. The king sent him to an honorable exile in Uglich.
Then the duke Johann, son of the Danish king, came to Godunova to marry. Both father and daughter liked him at first sight. Johann was distinguished by dazzling beauty and an outstanding mind. However, evil rock began to haunt the princess from his youth. When the duke was already beginning to master Russian customs, the matter was rapidly going to the wedding, the Danish prince suddenly fell ill and died. Russian princess Ksenia Godunova was very sad about him.
It was not possible to tie Godunov himself through family ties with representatives of the noble Habsburg dynasty and the Duke of Schleswig. The Georgian prince Khosroy never reached Russia due to internal problems in the Dagestan lands.
After the death of Tsar Boris, the overthrow of Fedor II
Thus, in 1605, when the Godunov dynasty ceased, the princess still remained unmarried. Boris’s reign had a difficult time, complicated by drought and famine, and besides, the people couldn’t accept the king, elected by the Zemsky Sobor, and not inherited the throne according to customs. The dislike of Boris was overshadowed by the rule of his son, Fedor, who became the shortest stay of a male person on the Russian throne. On June 1, the rebels, supporters of the impostor False Dmitry I, broke into the Kremlin and literally dragged the young king from the throne. Mother, Maria Godunova, kneeling, asked to spare her son. Fyodor, Maria and Ksenia were taken to their house in the Kremlin and assigned to their guard.
Godunov’s relatives were also arrested and their property was robbed. On June 10, princes Golitsyn and Mosalsky, accompanied by three archers, appeared in the house of the royal family. Fedor and Ksenia meekly sat next to their mother. Brother and sister were immediately ordered to breed in different rooms. At the same time, Queen Mary was strangled. Fyodor, who by nature possessed remarkable strength, fought with the four killers for a long time, until he was defeated. Ksenia was less fortunate than her mother and brother - False Dmitriy had heard about the charms of the princess and ordered Mosalsky to bring her. It was announced that Fedor and Maria had committed suicide.
During the reign of False Dmitry
Young Ksenia Godunova did not know what a terrible time begins for her. The newly made tsar makes Godunov his concubine. And although chronicles and other written sources that have come down to us describe what is happening rather sparingly, Ivan Timofeev’s The Temporary Book says that False Dmitry took Ksenia by force. P.P. Karatygin, a popular author of some historical narrations at the end of the 19th century, which do not cause much trust, gives a strict assessment of the princess. He claims that a girl may be subjected to violence once in a lifetime, but not for a long time to endure the harassment of a hated man who killed her mother and brother. Karatygin is surprised how Ksenia Godunova, whose photos were taken from the artistic images and descriptions of her contemporaries who knew her, could not kill the impostor.
Inaction of the girl, he rigidly regards as cowardice and meanness. He also considers Xenia's suicide as an option in order to get rid of shame (nevertheless, this alignment of events can be discarded almost immediately, since Ksenia Borisovna was a deeply religious person, and according to Christian laws, depriving oneself of life not according to God was considered one of the worst sins will). Another explanation for this act, according to Karatygin, is the change of anger at mercy. Karatygin suspects that Ksenia Godunova - the daughter of Boris Godunov - began to feel attachment to False Dmitry after a while, and then she passionately fell in love with him. Current historians are also trying to find practical meaning in the actions of Godunova. From their point of view, she, counting on her charm and attractiveness, tried to marry False Dmitry and thus not just a princess, but a queen. Historians cite the fact that her father, Boris Godunov, and her grandfather, Malyuta Skuratov, were sophisticated and sneaky politicians, always able to achieve what they wanted with cunning. The princess herself also studied European chronicles, which suggests that she could be a skilled intriguer.
But the Russian people did not think that Ksenia Godunova and Grigory Otrepyev (False Dmitry) are a couple. Godunova’s contemporaries couldn’t have this in their thoughts. The inhabitants of Moscow of the XVII century perfectly understood that the beautiful young prisoner-princess could not resist the voluptuousness of False Dmitry. She was considered a victim, the Muscovites sympathized with Ksenia until the end of her days and respectfully called the princess, despite the long-standing collapse of the dynasty. The people were very angry about this at False Dmitry, which was reflected in Katyrev-Rostovsky's Tale. The author calls rasstrigu “a predatory and insatiable wolf”, accuses him of depriving a noble maiden of innocence and wonders why Xenia had such a bitter fate. The clerk Ivan Timofeev, who also lived in the 17th century, is convinced that Godunova is innocent and innocent, since before the False Dmitry Tsarevna was not in any other relationship.
In tonsure
Soon Ksenia was disgusted with False Dmitry. The impostor’s interest was also influenced by his upcoming Polish wedding, Marina Mnishek, as her relatives tried to tame the unbridledness of False Dmitry so that there would be no embarrassment. At that time, getting rid of a woman was quite simple. Many kings did just that — they tonsured them as nuns. Ksenia Godunova did not escape this fate, interesting facts from the life of which are described in the article. In tonsure, she took the name Olga and was sent to the Resurrection Monastery in the Vologda region. A year later, the hated tsarist king was overthrown. Zemsky Sobor elects Vasily Shuisky to the kingdom. The new ruler managed to transfer the remains of his father, mother and brother Godunova to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Olga was invited to rebury the ashes of relatives. The procession was made quite magnificent and solemn: about 20 people carried each coffin. Ksenia Borisovna followed them on a sleigh. Eyewitnesses claimed that she wept bitterly and appealed to God's judgment on False Dmitry. Then nun Olga settled near the Trinity Monastery. But evil rock was on its heels. In 1608-1610, the cloister experienced a siege of the troops of the Commonwealth. Ksenia at that time did not leave these places and endured all the hardships, helping sisters (nuns) and those in need.
When the blockade broke, Ksenia left the Trinity for the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. However, there the princess did not manage to escape from her bitter fate and the horrors of the troubled times. Ivan Zarutsky, leader of the Cossack rebellion, burst into the monastery with his army. During her stay there, Ksenia has already managed to make friends with the nun Martha, who had a similar fate. Previously, the nun Martha was the Livonian queen, but now, like Olga, she spent her days in the monastery. The royal nuns Cossacks "robbed the donag." The Muscovites of that time were terribly dissatisfied with such a nasty act of the Cossacks, who earlier did not even dare to look at Olga and Martha.
The time of troubles is over, Ksenia Godunova goes to the Suzdal Pokrovsky monastery. In 1622, at the age of 40, nun Olga died. Before her death, she ordered that all of her modest property pass into the possession of the Trinity Monastery. The ancestral tomb of Godunov is located in the left porch of the Assumption Cathedral, where the unfortunate princess found her last refuge.
In recent years, historical studies have found facts confirming that in the monastery Princess Ksenia Godunova, whose brief biography is described in the article, gave birth to a son from False Dmitry. He was immediately excommunicated. Nothing is known about the future fate of the boy.
Xenia's work
One of the princess's hobbies was sewing. In the Trinity-Sergius Lavra , two sewing patterns of the XVI-XVII centuries are stored, which are considered to be the work of Ksenia Borisovna during the matchmaking. One of them is the patron saint for the head of the tomb of the famous monk, the founder of several large monasteries (including the Trinity-Sergius Lavra), who later became a saint, Sergius of Radonezh. It depicts the Holy Trinity in the “Rublevsky” edition, which was often used at that time. According to the monastery inventory, the patron saint was made by Ksenia Godunova, interesting facts from the life of which are described above. It was presented to the Lavra by her father in 1601. Silks of grayish color with a satin seam are the faces and hands of angels, clothes with silver and gold threads with threads of colored silk, creating a kind of ornament. Borders of images are surrounded by pearls. You can also see various images framing the cover. There are both biblical characters (John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, Rev. Xenia), and historical figures (Sergius of Radonezh, princes Boris and Gleb). Another needlework attributed to the princess is the inditia of “The queen is at your right hand.” The work was done by a combination of fifteen patterns and seams. Indium was created in 1602. Curved twigs with pomegranate fruits are depicted on a background of dug velvet. Pearls are sewn along the contours of the figures. The clothes of Jesus and the Mother of God and their crowns are adorned with precious stones. At the feet of Jesus Christ, Sergius and Nikon of Radonezh are depicted.
Crying Princess
Two versions of the folk song “The Crying of the Princess,” relating to the Time of Troubles, are known. They were recorded after the end of the Time of Troubles in 1618-1620, for the priest, who arrived in Russia as part of the British embassy, ​​Richard James, who lived in the winter in Kholmogory, because he did not have time on the last ship, on which he could sail to foggy Albion. They learned about songs only from James's notebooks and published in St. Petersburg in 1907. Ksenia Borisovna's authorship is in great doubt, and, most likely, she is only a lyrical heroine. In the songs, Ksenia mourns over her father and grieves over family misfortunes. Judging by the content, the work was written after the death of the impostor Grigory Otrepiev. The songs mention the "insult" inflicted by Godunova False Dmitry. Nevertheless, the people “spared” the heroine, speaking of the connection between Ksenia Borisovna and the harassment with only hints, thereby preserving the image of the heroine clean and immaculate. Although the fate of the princess was very deplorable, in the works she is described as a young dreamy girl, including one who wants to find a good husband. The text “Crying Princess” is put on the music of the composer Alexei Rybnikov, which became the soundtrack for the film “1612”.
Opening of the tomb of Godunov
In 1945, the ancestral tomb of Godunov was opened. Many people know the anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov, who recreated many portraits of historical figures (for example, Sophia Paleolog or Elena Glinsky) based on skeletal remains, but, unfortunately, he was not able to carry out the same operation with representatives of the Godunov dynasty. It turned out that the burial was already touched before by some robbers. The bones and the contents of the coffins were mixed, the skulls were not preserved. In the exposition of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, you can see a pointed, tiny shoe that belonged to the princess and was found during excavations.
Ksenia Godunova in art
Surprisingly, for the first time the image of the princess appears not in Russian literature, but in German. Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller never finished the drama Demetrius. In it, Ksenia first appears as a symbol of historical hopes. According to the plot, the clever and pure princess was supposed to put an end to the feuds in Russia. The work is interesting not from the point of view of historical truth (here the drama is far from it), but from the perspective of the plot. As planned by the author, Ksenia has deep feelings for Mikhail Romanov, who later became king. His love for her is strong, pure and mutual, but the hero does not suspect that Godunov also sighs for him. The drama ends with the coming to power of False Dmitry Mikhail Fedorovich imprisoned. There he sees that the soul of Xenia appears to him and asks him to wait for the fulfillment of his destiny and not take a serious sin on his soul. Indeed, the difficult, full of suffering biography of Ksenia Godunova could not leave indifferent creative people, not only writers, but also artists. Widely known are paintings of the 19th century “Agents of Dmitry the Pretender kill the son of Boris Godunov” K. Makovsky, “Princess Ksenia Godunova at the portrait of the deceased bridegroom of the prince” V. Surikov and “Ksenia Godunov” S. Gribkov.