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The decision of Vasilii III to divorce this
childless wife Solomonia Saburov stirred the minds of many Muscovites and
threatened to provoke a serious controversy within the Church. At that time
even an autocrat could not easily separate himself from his wife as is the case
today. An influential group of boyars and clergymen, mostly followers of Nil
Sorskii, opposed the Grand Duke's decision in the name of human dignity and as
contrary to the Church dogmas. Among the leaders of the opposition were Vasian
Patrikeev, Bersen Beklemishev and a foreigner, Maxim the Greek. Maxim was a
Greek monk, whom Vasilii invited to Moscow in 1518 to translate certain
religious books and correct some of the earlier translations. Before going to
Mount Athos, Maxim studied and lived in Paris, Venice and Florence, where one
of his teachers was Savanarola, whose he enthusiastically embraced. It was not
surprising that Maxim soon sided with his future good friend Vasian in the
struggle against monastic estates, and the luxurious lives of the monks and,
later, in a rather risky adventure when they joined hands to prevent Vasilii
from divorcing Solomonia. For a long time the Grand Duke faced the choice
between continuing to live with childless Solomonia, whom he loved very much
and whom he had chosen from among 1500 women; and, after a divorce, trying his
lick with some other woman to get an heir. During the twenty years of their
married life, Vasilii and Solomonia tried all sorts of medical and magical
assistance, visited many holy places, built several churches and gave fabulous
gifts to many others in the hope that Solomonia would become pregnant. In 1518
they founded the Convent of the Intercession of the Virgin in Suzdal and built
three churches there. Destiny had it that, after Solomonia was forced to take
the veil, she was sent to this Convent to end her life. When all efforts failed
to show results Vassilii decided to divorce Solomonia. Most of the boyars
acquiesced but he Church resisted, and without its approval Vasilii could
neither divorce his wife nor marry another woman. Things rapidly changed in his
favor when, in 1522, Vasilii forced the Metropolitan of Moscow, Varlaam, to
enter a monastery, becoming the first Metropolitan to be removed by order of
secular authority. Daniil (1522-1539), the former Abbot of the Monastery of
Volokolamsk, and a staunch disciple of Joseph Volotskii, replaced Varlaam.
Though easily malleable, the Metropolitan Daniil was himself thrown out of the
office in 1539 by a small group of boyars who ruled the country in the name of
the minor Ivan IV, as was his successor the Metropolitan Yoasaph, two years
later. But before all this happened Daniil had plenty of time to bring Vasian
and Maxim to trial by a Church council, as a result of which both were found
guilty and sent "To repent and (atone) for their (sins) at the Volokolamsk
Monastery, where they were kept under house arrest. But even there, among his
sworn enemies, Maxim continued to plead that monks should make their living
from contributions only. His continuous opposition to ownership of large
estates by the monasteries later brought him before the council of bishops a
second time. The verdict was "Guilty," and he was transferred to the
Otrock Monastery near the city of Tver, presently Kalinin, where he remained
confined until 1551. During his long solitude Maxim wrote some of his best
works, in all over a hundred essays and translations, which made him one of he
most prominent literary figures of the Russian middle ages. He died an old man
in 1556. In the supposedly barbarous Russia, heretic Maxim fared much better
than his teacher, heretic Savanarola, who in civilized Italy was first hanged
and then burned at the stake by order of Pope Alexander VI.
The opposition was broken, and in 1525 Vasilii and Solomonia were divorced. She
was taken first to the Convent of the Nativity in Moscow and forced to take the
veil there. The chronicle notes that during the solemn ceremony when the nuns
were putting the black veil on Solomonia's head, in tears he whispered:
"God is witnessing this moment and will punish my persecutor." Soon
after, under her new ecclesiastical name of Sophia, Solomonia was transferred
to the Convent of the Intercession of the Virgin at Suzdal, the same one that
when, as the Grand Duchess, she helped to reconstruct a few years earlier. The
following year rumors spread through Moscow that Solomonia (sister Sophia) had
become pregnant and secretly given birth to a boy named George. The news must
have astounded the still childless Grand Duke and the Muscovites, many of whom
considered Solomonia as a very intelligent and determined woman. The episode
was recorded by Baron von Herberstein, Ambassador from Vienna, who was in
Moscow that same year (1560). In his "Commentaries on Moscow
Affairs," he says that Solomonia refused to show the child to all those
who came from Moscow to investigate. Convent or monastery territory was usually
regarded as sacred and, obviously, the Grand Duke hesitated to blaspheme and
use force to learn the truth. At that time Vasilii was already married to Helen
Glinsky, and all we know from the chronicle is that the same year he bestowed
"The village of Vishneslavskoe and some other localities around it on
Mother Sophia," (Solomonia). Solomonia died in 1542, nine years after
Vasilii, and was buried in the convent's Cathedral of the Nativity of the
Virgin. She was beatified in 1650; her grave attracted many pilgrims. After the
revolution the convent was closed, some buildings used for housing, and its
churches left to deteriorate for many years. When in 1934 Soviet archaeologists
started digging in the convent, they found next to Solomonia's tomb the small
grave of a baby child. At the moment it appeared that the mystery of
Solomonia's pregnancy was resolved. However, she had prepared another surprise
for the curious. The grave contained only a baby doll dressed in a silk robe
that undoubtedly dates from the early 16th century. Hardly anybody in the
Convent would have dared to play with dolls, and it could be that the clever
Solomonia decided to declare the baby dead and buried and then sent him out of
the Convent, if she felt his life was in danger. If this assumption is correct,
the question remains then what happened to the baby; or was all this just the
attempt of a bitterly exasperated woman to avenge herself? In either case
Solomonia"s intrigue was perfectly planned and the mystery has remained
unsolved. Popular poems and legends preserved the memory of her son George,
sometimes painting him as a bandit but more often as a sort of Robin Hood, who
even saved the life of his half-brother Ivan several times.
After the divorce Vasilii III did not wait long to remarry. The honor fell on
the young and handsome Helen Glinsky, daughter of Ukrainian Prince Vasilii
Glinsky and Serbian Princes, Anna born Yakshich. The marriage was celebrated
with great display of splendor in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Assumption,
followed by three days' festivities in the Palace of the Facets. The Grand Duke
was deeply in love with his young wife and to please her, some gossips of the
time say, he even shaved off his beard, considered almost as sacrilegious an
act as his divorce. the Glinsky family was of Russo-Lithuanian descent. Her
epicurean uncle, Michael Glinsky, was a Lithuanian prince who had transferred
his allegiance to Moscow. It was he who arranged the marriage between Vassilii
and Helen in the hope that he would be lavishly rewarded. When his failed to
materialize, Mikhail attempted to help Lithuania regain Smolensk, which Moscow
got in 1514 partly though his assistance. He was caught and put in jail, where
he died in 1534.
Helen and Vassilii had their first son Ivan in 1530, followed two years later
by another who, strangely enough, was also baptized George, the same as
Solomonia's would-be son. During a hunting trip Vassili took ill and died in
1533, leaving two infant sons and two surviving brothers, both jealously
looking at the throne of the baby nephew. With young Helen acing as Regent
ancient feuds between princely and boyar families were rekindled. The struggles
continued with increased cruelty after Helen suddenly died in 1538. Von
Herberstein was persuaded that she was poisoned, and indeed many lost their
lives mysteriously. It was under these unhealthy conditions that he young Ivan
IV came to this world and grew up.
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