Maria Dolgorukova

Maria Vladimirovna Dolgorukova (Мария Владимировна Долгорукова in Russian) (1601 – 17 January 1625) was a Tsaritsa of Russia as the first spouse of Tsar Michael I of Russia.

Life

Maria Dolgorukova was born to boyar Knyaz Vladimir Timofeyevich Dolgorukov and Princess Maria Vasilievna Barbashina-Shuiskaya. Her family were of Rurikid stock, and related to the ancient grand princes of Russia.

She was selected for marriage to Michael by his mother, Xenia Shestova, after several years of difficulty of finding a partner for the tsar. In 1616, Shestova refused to accept the tsar's choice of Maria Ivanovna Khlopova, and Michael I had eventually been forced to give up his plans to marry her. In 1619, the tsar's father Patriarch Philaret of Moscow suggested he marry the sister of John, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, but eventually, these negotiations was discontinued. In 1623, Xenia Shestova selected Maria Dolgorukova as a marriage partner because of her family connections: her sister had been married to prince Ivan Shuisky the Button, brother of Vasili IV of Russia, the last of the Rurikid dynasty.

The wedding took place on 19 September 1624. Not long after the wedding, tsaritsa Maria took ill. She finally died 17 January 1625, four months after the wedding. There were rumors at the time that she had been poisoned by fractions at court determined to prevent any potential pro-Rurikid influence, or by the enemies of the Dolgorukov family. Chronicles called her death a divine punishment for the fate of the previous fiancee of the tsar, Maria Ivanovna Khlopova.

References

• Государство и общество в России XV-начала XX века. // Ред. А. П. Павлов. Стр. 254.