Sophia Palaiologina

Zoe's father was Thomas Palaiologos, Despot of Morea and younger brother of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos. Her mother was Catherine, the only legitimate daughter and heiress of Centurione II Zaccaria, the last independent Prince of Achaea and Baron of Arcadia.

The marriage between Thomas Palaiologos and Catherine Zaccaria produced four children: Helena, later wife of Lazar Branković, Despot of Serbia; Zoe; Andreas; and Manuel.

The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 was a turning point in Zoe's fate. Seven years later, in 1460, the Ottoman army attacked Morea and quickly breached the Hexamilion wall across the Isthmus of Corinth, which was too long to be effectively manned and defended by Thomas' forces. Thomas and his family escaped to Corfu, and, then to Rome, where (already recognized as the legitimate heir to the Byzantine Empire by the Pope) he made a ceremonial entrance as Byzantine Emperor on 7 March 1461. Catherine, who remained in Corfu with her children, died there on 16 August 1462.

Zoe and her brothers remained in Petriti, a fishing port on the southeast coast of Corfu, near the Byzantine Gardiki Castle, until 1465, when their dying father recalled them to Rome. Thomas Palaiologos died on 12 May 1465.[1]

Adopted by the Papacy after her father's death together with her brothers, her name Zoe was changed to Sophia. Born into the Orthodox religion, it's possible that she was raised as a Catholic in Rome.[2] She spent the next years in the court of Pope Sixtus IV.

The care of the Imperial children was assigned to a famous scientist, Greek Cardinal Basilios Bessarion. Surviving letters of the Cardinal show the Pope followed the evolution and welfare of Sophia and her brothers: they received the amount of 3,600 crowns (in payments of 200 crowns per month for their clothes, horses and servants, and an additional 100 crowns for the maintenance of a modest household, which included a doctor, a Latin teacher, a Greek teacher, a translator, and one or two priests).

After the death of Thomas Palaeologus, his eldest son Andreas became the de jure Byzantine Emperor but sold his rights to several European monarchs and finally died in poverty. During the reign of Bayezid II, Manuel returned to Constantinople (now Istanbul) and remained at the mercy of the Sultan; according to some sources, he converted to Islam, raised a family and served in the Turkish Navy.

In 1466 the Venetian Republic invited King James II of Cyprus to ask for the hand of Sophia in marriage, but he refused. Around 1467, Pope Paul II offered Sophia's hand to a Prince Caracciolo. They were solemnly betrothed, but the marriage never took place.

Maria of Tver, the first wife of Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow, died in 1467. This marriage only produced a son, Ivan the Young, born in 1458.

The marriage between Sophia and Ivan III was proposed by Pope Paul II in 1469, probably with the hope of strengthening the influence of the Catholic Church in Russia, or the unification of the Orthodox and Catholic as was stipulated in the Council of Florence. Ivan III's motives for pursuing this union were probably connected with the status and rights of the Greek princess over Constantinople. The idea of this marriage perhaps was born in the mind of Cardinal Bessarion.

The negotiations lasted for three years. Russian chronicles related the events as follows:

Ivan Fryazin showed to Ivan III the portrait of Sophia Palaiologina, by Viktor Muizhel.

• On 11 February 1469, a delegation led by Cardinal Bessarion arrived in Moscow with the formal proposal of marriage between Sophia and the Grand Prince. Ivan III consulted his mother, Maria of Borovsk, the Metropolitan Philip and his boyars, and received a positive response.
• In 1469 Ivan Fryazin (Gian-Battista della Volpe) was sent to the Roman court to engage in the proper negotiations for the match. According to the chronicles, he was sent back to Moscow with a portrait of the princess that "caused an extreme surprise in the court". (This portrait was not preserved, which is very unfortunate, because it was probably painted by one of the painters at the papal court at that time: Pietro Perugino, Melozzo da Forlì or Pedro Berruguete). The Pope received the Russian Ambassador with great honors.
• On 16 January 1472, Fryazin was sent again to Rome, this time to bring home his master's bride. He arrived there on 23 May, after a journey of more than four months.
• On 1 June 1472, at St. Peter's Basilica, the marriage took place. Grand Prince Ivan III was not present: Fryazin was his proxy. Among the guests at the ceremony were Clarice Orsini (wife of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence) and Queen Catherine of Bosnia.[3] As a dowry, Sophia received 6,000 ducats.
• On 24 June 1472, Sophia and Fryazin, left Rome with a grand entourage. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Bessarion, who was probably able to act as an agent at the Moscow court. Legend says that Sophia's dowry included books that became the basis of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible. Their itinerary took them to the north of Italy through Germany to the port of Lübeck, where they arrived on September 1. The voyage across the Baltic Sea took 11 days. The ship landed in Reval (now Tallinn) in October 1472, and she continued the trip through Dorpat (now Tartu), Pskov, and Novgorod. (She was officially acclaimed in Pskov, and impressed onlookers by the way she thanked the public herself for the celebrations.) [2] On 12 November 1472, Sophia finally arrived in Moscow.

Even before traveling to Russian lands, it became apparent that the Vatican's plans to make Sophia represent Catholicism had failed: Immediately after her wedding, she returned to the faith of her ancestors. Papal Legate Anthony was not permitted to enter Moscow carrying in front of him the Latin cross.[4] (The Korsun cross is on view in the collections of the Moscow Kremlin Museums . )

The formal wedding between Ivan III and Sophia took place at the Dormition Cathedral in Moscow on 12 November 1472. Some sources say that the ceremony was performed by Metropolitan Philip, others state that Hosea, Abbot of Kolomna, was the officiant.[5][6]

Special mansions and gardens were built for Sophia in Moscow, but they were burned in the great Moscow fire of 1493, and much of the treasure of the Grand Princess was lost. In 1472, she was affected by the formal tributary gesture by which her spouse greeted the Mongolian representatives, and is believed to have convinced him to abandon the tributary relationship to the Mongols, which was completed in 1480.[2]

Sophia was apparently not obliged to follow the traditional custom of isolation that was expected of other Russian noblewomen at the time. It was noted that she was not confined to the women's quarters, but greeted foreign representatives from Europe as the queens of Western Europe did.[2]

Before the invasion of Akhmad in 1480, Sophia, her children, household and treasury were sent away, first to Dmitrov and then on to Belozersk. For fear Akhmad would finally take Moscow, she was advised to flee farther north, to the sea. These precautions led Vissarion, Bishop of Rostov, to warn the Grand Duke that his excessive attachment to his wife and children would be his destruction.[7]

The family returned to Moscow only in the winter. The Venetian ambassador Ambrogio Contarini writes that in 1476 he had an audience with the Grand Duchess, who received him politely and kindly, and respectfully asked about the Doge.

There is a legend associated with the birth of Sophia's eldest son, the future Vasily III: During one of her pious trips to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, the Grand Princess had a vision of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, who "presented her the long-waited son between his arms."

Destruction of Sophia Palaiologina grave in 1929.

The triumph of her son was the last important event in Sophia's life. She died on 7 April 1503, two years before her husband (who died on 27 October 1505).

She was buried in a massive white stone sarcophagus in the crypt of the Ascension Convent in the Kremlin, next to the grave of Maria of Tver, the first wife of Ivan III. The word "Sophia" is etched on the lid of the sarcophagus.

The Ascension Convent was destroyed in 1929, and the remains of Sophia and of other royal women were transferred to the underground chamber in the southern extension of the Cathedral of the Archangel.

• Elena (18 April 1474 – 9 May 1476).
• Feodosia (May 1475 – young).
• Elena (19 May 1476 – 20 January 1513), married Alexander Jagiellon, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania.
• Vasili (26 March 1479 – 3 December 1533), became Grand Prince of Moscow.
• Yuri (23 March 1480 – 3 August 1536), Prince of Dmitrov, died of starvation in prison.
• Dmitri (6 October 1481 – 14 February 1521), Prince of Uglich.
• Eudokia (February 1483 – 8 February 1513), married Khudakul, Kazan Tsar of the Tartars (baptized as Peter).
• Elena (8 April 1484 – young).
• Feodosia (29 May 1485 – 19 February 1501), married Vasili, Prince of Kholm.
• Simeon (21 March 1487 – 26 June 1518), Prince of Kaluga, fled to Lithuania after being accused of treason.
• Andrei (5 August 1490 – 11 December 1537), Prince of Staritza, killed in prison.

Sophia Palaiologina was the subject of the 2016 Russian television series Sophia, in which she was portrayed by Mariya Andreyeva.[14]

• Софья (Зоя) Палеолог at Xpoнoc: Всемирная история в интернете