Eudoxia Lopukhina
Tsaritsa consort of Russia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tsaritsa consort of Russia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tsarina Eudoxia Fyodorovna Lopukhina[alt 1] (9 August 1669 – 7 September 1731)[alt 2] was the first wife of Peter I the Great, and the last ethnic Russian and non-foreign wife of a Russian monarch.[1] She was the mother of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich and the paternal grandmother of Peter II of Russia.
 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (July 2012) Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2012) |
| Eudoxia Lopukhina | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | |||||
| Tsaritsa consort of Russia | |||||
| Tenure | 1689–1698 | ||||
| Coronation | 1689 | ||||
| Born | 9 August [O.S. 30 July] 1669 Moscow, Russia | ||||
| Died | 7 September [O.S. 27 August] 1731 (aged 62) Moscow, Russia | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue | Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia Grand Duke Alexander Petrovič Grand Duke Peter Petrovič | ||||
| |||||
| House | Lopukhin | ||||
| Father | Feodor Abramovich Lopukhin | ||||
| Mother | Ustinia Bogdanovna Rtishcheva | ||||
Eudoxia was born to Feodor Abramovich Lopukhin and Ustinia Bogdanovna Rtishcheva, making her a member of the Lopukhin family and a noble.
She was chosen as a bride for the Tsar by his mother Natalia Naryshkina primarily on account of Eudoxia's mother's relation to the famous boyar Fyodor Rtishchev. She was crowned Tsarina in 1689[1] and gave birth to Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of Russia the following year. She had two more sons by Peter, Alexander in 1691 and Paul in 1693, but both died during infancy. The Tsar could not stand her conservative relatives and soon abandoned her for a Dutch beauty, Anna Mons. Eudoxia's letters to Peter were full of complaints and expressions of unrequited love.
In 1696, during his prolonged journey to Western Europe, Peter asked his Naryshkin relatives to persuade Eudoxia to enter a monastery. This could not be effected until 1698, when she was finally banished to the Intercession Convent of Suzdal.[2]
The local hegumen, however, allowed her to live there much as a lay woman would. She even found herself a lover, an officer named Stepan Glebov. Nine years later, when Peter the Great learned about their affair, he sentenced Glebov to execution by impalement.[3] According to the legend, the Emperor also ordered the soldiers to force Eudoxia to watch her lover's death.[3]
Gradually, Eudoxia and her son became the centre of opposition to Peter's reforms, primarily from the church officials. In his sermons, Demetrius of Rostov referred to Eudoxia as "our great sovereign" and prophesied her impending return to the throne. This conservative party was shattered by Peter in 1718. During the prosecution of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, all the bishops who supported her were executed, and Eudoxia was transferred to a convent in Ladoga.
After Peter's death and the rise of his second Empress consort Catherine I on the throne, Eudoxia was secretly moved to Shlisselburg Fortress near St. Petersburg, where she was under strict custody as a state prisoner in a dungeon.[citation needed]
In 1727, her grandson Peter II ascended the Russian throne and immediately recalled her to Moscow. She returned to the former capital with a great pomp and was allowed to keep her own court at the Novodevichy Convent until her death in 1731.
After the death of Peter II, who had died before her in 1730, she was among the nominated candidates for the new monarch, but she declined, in favor of her niece-in-law Empress Anna, so Anna continued to honor her.
By Peter I, she had three sons:
