Maria Dolgorukaya

Maria Dolgorukaya
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 his 5th or 7th. The marriage (unauthorized by the church) could have been celebrated in 1573 or 1580. Legend says she did not bear the tsar any children and was revealed to have a lover after their first night together, when the Tsar discovered she wasn't a virgin. Ivan subsequently had her drowned.

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

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

References

↑ Н. И. Костомаров, «Смутное время Московского государства в начале XVII столетия 1604—1613» // Вестник Европы, 1866
↑ 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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[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