Maria Dolgorukaya

Not to be confused with Maria Dolgorukova.
Maria Dolgorukaya
Tenure 1580 (?)
Died c. 1580
Spouse Ivan IV of Russia (?)
House Dolgorukov

Maria Dolgorukaya (died 1573/1580 ?) was a legendary wife of Ivan IV ("the Terrible") of Russia, possibly 5th or 7th. The marriage (not authorized by the Church) could be celebrated in 1573 or 1580. As the dark legend said, she did not bear the tsar any child and was found out to have a lover (or after the 1st night tsar found out she wasn't a virgin). Ivan had her drowned.

There is no evidence of her existence in the medieval sources. The first mention we can found in the 19th-century Russian literature.[1] Nikolay Kostomarov in 1866 wrote that the notice about her was found by Afanasiy Byichkov in some manuscript in Imperial Public Library.

Of all the 8 wives of Ivan the Terrible, only Maria Dolgorukaya and Vasilisa Melentyeva (who is also considered as 19th-century fake[2]) don't have graves or any mentions in official court documents.

References

  1. ↑ Н. И. Костомаров, «Смутное время Московского государства в начале XVII столетия 1604—1613» // Вестник Европы, 1866
  2. ↑ Сперанский М. Н. Русские подделки рукописей в начале XIX в. — ПИ, 1956, т. V, с. 100
Russian royalty
Vacant
Title last held by
Vasilisa Melentyeva		 Tsaritsa of All Russia
1580 		Vacant
Title next held by
Maria Nagaya
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