Marina Yurievna Mnishek: biography, career and personal life. The meaning of Marina Mnishek in a brief biographical encyclopedia Who married Marina Mnishek

The life of Marina Mniszech, this amazing woman, a true daughter of the adventurous seventeenth century, is like an adventure novel in which there is love, battles, and chases. There's just no happy ending.

Marina was the daughter of the Sandomierz voivode Jerzy Mniszek. She was born in 1588 in her father's family castle. Her origin, beauty and wealth promised her the life of a Polish lady, full of contentment and entertainment, in which there would be a brilliant trip into society, and cheerful feasts and hunts, and household chores in managing her husband’s estate, and, finally, there would be a place for novels , where would a Polish beauty be without them in the seventeenth century! However, fate decreed otherwise.

In 1604, someone appeared on the estate of Jerzy Mniszek, calling himself the happily escaped Tsarevich Dmitry, the son of the Russian Tsar John.

It is unlikely that Marina was very interested in the affairs of neighboring Russia, these were the concerns of the noble lords at the Diet, and the newly-minted “prince” was not particularly good-looking. However, the stranger fell in love with Marina, and she was soon persuaded to respond to his passion by Catholic monks, who hoped in this way to take the first step towards the Catholicization of Russia. The Sandomierz voivode promised his help to “Tsarevich Dmitry” only on the following conditions: his daughter becomes the Russian queen, she receives the cities of Novgorod and Pskov as her patrimony, retains the right to profess Catholicism, and if the “prince” fails, she can marry someone else. Under these conditions, the engagement of young Marina and False Dmitry took place.

However, perhaps the personal charisma of the impostor also played a role. He, apparently, was a very extraordinary person, and for young girls, charisma means, sometimes, more than good looks.

When False Dmitry occupied Moscow, Marina arrived with great pomp, accompanied by a huge retinue. On May 3, 1606, Marina’s wedding and coronation took place. By the way, she was the only woman before Catherine I to be crowned in Russia.

For Marina, a life full of balls and holidays began. It started and lasted... just a week. On May 17, a rebellion broke out, the archers and Muscovites who rebelled against foreigners broke into the palace and carried out a massacre. False Dmitry died, and Marina was saved because she was not recognized.

Marina spent some time in exile in Yaroslavl, and then was sent home. However, along the way she was intercepted by rebels who were marching towards Moscow, hiding behind a new impostor, False Dmitry II, who pretended to be the prince who had escaped for the second time, the son of Ivan the Terrible. Marina was taken to his camp and forced to recognize this man as her husband. She lived in the Tushino camp until 1610, and then escaped, disguised as a hussar. However, she was not able to run far. The country was engulfed in civil war, dangers awaited poor Marina at every step, and she was forced to return under the protection of the Tushinsky thief - as False Dmitry II was called.

When the Tushinsky thief fell, Marina changed patrons, running away with the Cossacks, then with the Polish governors, then to Ryazan, then to Astrakhan, then to Yaik. The matter was complicated by the fact that in 1611 her son was born. They named him Ivan, but more often called him “the crow.” Marina sought not only to save him from danger, but also to proclaim him heir to the Russian throne. She was not successful in this.

Marina's wanderings around Russia and her turbulent life ended in 1614, when she was captured by Moscow archers and taken to Moscow in chains.

There at that time there was already a contender for the kingdom - young Misha Romanov, chosen by the people. And on his way to the throne stood little Ivan, the little crow, the son of Marina Mnishek and some rogue hiding under the name of Dmitry. Marina was a crowned Russian queen, her son was born into a marriage sanctified by the church, so it is quite understandable that a three-year-old baby was indeed a serious obstacle. And it is clear that it was necessary to get rid of him publicly, in front of the entire people, to get rid of him once and for all, so that no new “princes of John” would arise later.

Therefore, the end of the “warren” was terrible. The executioner hanged him publicly, taking the sleeping child from his mother’s arms.

They say that Marina Mnishek cursed the entire Romanov family, promising that not one of the Romanov men would die a natural death. If you look closely at the history of this royal family, you will involuntarily come to mind that the curse of the mother, distraught with grief, really worked. Almost all the Romanovs died either from strange diseases, which were often attributed to the effects of poisons, or were killed. Particularly indicative in this sense is the terrible fate of the last Romanovs.

Marina Mnishek herself died either in captivity (one of the towers of the Kolomna Kremlin is called “Marinka Tower”), or was drowned or strangled. This, in general, doesn’t matter anymore. It is obvious that Marina’s life ended the moment the executioner tore the sleeping baby from her hands.

In Russian history there were many impostors who laid claim to royal power. But only one of them was awarded the official enthronement - False Dmitry I. And his wife is Polish Marina Mnishek became the only queen in Rus' who did not convert to Orthodoxy. Their marriage lasted only 10 days, from May 8 to 17 - exactly as long as the celebrations in their honor lasted - and ended tragically.

According to legend, it was Marina Mnishek who first told False Dmitry about his royal origins. It is not known for certain whether this is so, but the fact remains that her father, Yuri Mnishek, helped in organizing the campaign of False Dmitry. There was an agreement between them that Marina would become his wife only if False Dmitry reigned in Moscow. The girl at that time was 16 years old, she dreamed of power, fame, wealth and hardly had any feelings for her groom, but he was sincerely interested in her.

The Poles did not believe in the high origins of False Dmitry, but supported him for selfish reasons. In the fall of 1604, False Dmitry with an army consisting of Polish mercenaries invaded the Russian state. Boris Godunov's opponents provided active assistance to the impostor. A year later, after the death of Tsar Boris, False Dmitry was solemnly crowned king. All this time, Marina remained in Poland, and six months before her arrival in Russia, an absentee engagement took place, during which the Moscow ambassador played the role of the groom.

In May 1606, Marina Mnishek arrived in Moscow. The bride stayed in the monastery with the nun Martha, the former Queen Mary Naked. It was her miraculously saved son Dmitry that the impostor called himself. On May 8, 1606, the magnificent wedding of False Dmitry I and Marina Mnishek took place. Although everything happened in accordance with ancient Russian customs, many of them were violated, which was later interpreted by the people as bad omens.

The wedding was scheduled for Thursday, although in Rus' it was not customary to get married before the fast day - Friday. Even before the wedding, Marina was crowned queen. The anointing of chrism for the kingdom was presented to those present as her initiation into Orthodoxy. This was supposed to strengthen her position - after all, despite the fact that the solemn ceremonies took place according to Orthodox rites, she still remained a Catholic.

National festivities and feasts continued for 10 days. False Dmitry was warned that the conspirators were preparing an assassination attempt, but he did not listen to anyone. There was growing dissatisfaction among the people about the inappropriate behavior of the Poles during the festivities. The rebellious boyars, led by Prince Vasily Shuisky, who was plotting a coup, decided to take advantage of this discontent. As a result, Tsar False Dmitry I was declared an impostor and killed. His body was displayed on Red Square, and then it was burned, the ashes were loaded into a cannon and fired towards the Polish border.

Marina Mnishek and her father were taken into custody and sent to Yaroslavl, and later deported to Poland. But they never made it home. On the way, they were intercepted by supporters of False Dmitry II, a new impostor who claimed to be the miraculously escaped king. Marina had to confirm this and “return” to her new husband. She had to obey. However, False Dmitry II faced the same fate - in 1610 he was killed.

For several more years, Marina fought for power, but in 1613 Mikhail Romanov was proclaimed tsar. According to legend, the proud Pole spent the rest of her days imprisoned in the Round Tower of the Kolomna Kremlin, which later became known as Marinkina. Among the people for a long time, the name of Marina Mnishek was covered with bad fame. They called her a witch and said that she cursed the entire Romanov family. False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II were not the only adventurers who illegally claimed the throne:

Marina Mnishek

Marina was born around 1588 in the family of a noble Polish nobleman, Yuri Mniszek. Her mother from the Tarlo clan died when the girl was a child.

The father married again and soon began to experience financial difficulties. Therefore, Marina's sister Ursula was married to the elderly but wealthy Prince Konstantin Vishnevetsky. They were looking for the same groom for Marina. At this time, a certain young man appeared in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth who began to call himself the son of Tsar Ivan IV Dmitry. Yuri Mnishek decided that a better groom could not be found for young Marina, and invited the “prince” to his house. The impostor immediately fell in love with the Polish lady and invited her to become his wife. But Yuri said that marriage would be possible only on the condition that the groom receives the “father’s” throne. It can be assumed that in personal conversations with Marina, “Dmitry” revealed his true name to her, but for her the truth was not important. She just wanted to become the queen of Moscow. And in May 1606 she succeeded, but not for long. A few days after the wedding, False Dmitry was overthrown and killed. Marina and her relatives were arrested and sent under escort to Yaroslavl. All the groom's expensive gifts were taken away from her. In 1608, Marina and her father were allowed to return to their homeland. But they preferred to go to the Tushino camp to the second False Dmitry. There, Marina publicly recognized the new impostor as her former husband and began living with him. After his secret flight to Kaluga in December 1609, she tried to play an independent role, but was almost captured by M. V. Skopin-Shuisky. Therefore, she went to Kaluga and again became the wife of an impostor. After his death, she gave birth to a son, Ivan, whom she began to predict for the Moscow throne. Her patron was the former Cossack ataman and Tushino boyar I. M. Zarutsky. When the militia refused to recognize the rights of Marina and her son to the throne, together with Zarutsky she fled to Astrakhan, where she tried to create an independent state. But in 1614, the Astrakhan residents rebelled against them and forced them to flee to the river. Yaik. There Marina and Zarutsky were arrested and sent to Moscow. After the boyar trial, Marina’s son Ivan and Zarutsky were executed, and she was sent to prison, where she soon died.

Duma nobleman Afanasy Vlasyev became the official ambassador to Poland. He left Moscow in September 1606 with a huge retinue and many gifts for both the king and the Mnisheks.

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Marina Mnishek became one of the brightest heroines of the Time of Troubles. The fate of a woman crowned on the Russian throne is full of love, intrigue, and wanderings. The life of a seventeenth-century adventurer is like an adventure novel with a sad outcome.

Childhood and youth

Marina was born in Lyashki Murovanny (now Lviv region), where her father’s family estate was located. The couple - the daughter of the court secretary Jadwiga Tarło and Jerzy Mniszka, who served as the Sandomierz governor - had, in addition to the future Moscow queen, eight more offspring.

The noble family was prosperous, but considerably impoverished in comparison with a hundred years ago, including through the fault of Father Jerzy. A native of the Czech Republic was distinguished by his adventurous character; they said that the man helped the ruler Sigismund Augustus acquire mistresses - he directly supplied young girls to his bedroom. Therefore, the nobles did not like Mniszko, and some did not even consider it necessary to greet and conduct business.

And yet, by the standards of the late 16th century, the family was considered wealthy. Marina’s fate could well have turned out happily - her origin and financial situation opened the way to a successful marriage, life would have been filled with balls and other entertainment for the elite of society.

The girl grew up under the supervision of Catholic nuns and received an extremely harsh upbringing. However, in the future, Marina discovered a talent for manipulating men and the environment in general - either it was inherent in nature, or someone taught her. This bright ability came in handy, because from her youth the girl could not boast of beauty: short stature, thinness and excessive dark hair were not held in high esteem.

False Dmitry and reign

When Marina Mnishek turned 16 years old (1604), a man appeared on his native estate who called himself Russian Tsarevich Dmitry. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gasped - the son was not killed at all in Uglich (he managed to secretly escape abroad) and now rightfully lays claim to the throne of his native country. Rumors quickly reached Moscow.

Seeing the governor’s daughter, he was inflamed with love for her. The girl was far from politics, and she didn’t particularly like her boyfriend - historians testify that the Russian “prince” was short in stature, had too broad shoulders and arms of different lengths, was red-haired, and had a “shoe” on his face. It is not surprising that while apart, the groom never received letters from his beloved.

The monks forced the girl to respond to their advances, pursuing the goal of introducing Catholicism to Rus'. The confessors were supported by the gentry and King Sigismund himself. However, the bride’s father set serious conditions: the daughter must become a queen, she will be given control of Pskov and Novgorod, and the right to profess Catholicism is secured. If Dmitry failed to ascend the throne, Marina became free and could marry another man. The groom agreed, and the engagement took place.

After False Dmitry took power of the Russian state, Marina Mnishek arrived in the Russian capital with a magnificent cortege. At the beginning of May 1606, the girl was married to the new ruler, and the coronation ceremony of the Polish woman also took place. Interestingly, she opened a list of women crowned in Russia.

Residents of the golden-domed village saw arrogance and a passion for shocking in the young lady. Muscovites did not like the girl - neither in appearance nor in character. Marina also did not want to wear local clothes; she often dressed in Polish clothes. Plus, she had an unhealthy love of wealth and luxury - the Tuscan duke-envoy admitted in letters that he had never seen such precious stones adorning the hairstyle of the new queen.

Royal life began, filled with bright balls - what the girl dreamed of. However, the celebration did not last long. A week later, a terrible rebellion broke out with the participation of the archers under the leadership of Vasily Shuisky, armed people, angry at the imposture of foreign guests, staged a pogrom in the royal palace. The husband was stabbed to death, but Marina managed to escape.

Then, together with her father, the girl faced exile in Yaroslavl, after which the Polish impostors were released home in peace. But Mnishek did not end up in her native land - on the way she met an army led by another False Dmitry, nicknamed the Tushinsky thief, who forced the Pole to recognize him as her own husband. Although some researchers are sure that Marina voluntarily agreed to this role, they say, ambitions took over - the girl wanted to get the Russian throne again at any cost.

In 1610, the woman was widowed again. The geography of Marina Mnishek's travels touched Astrakhan and Ryazan, and visited under the patronage of the Poles and Cossacks. The next husband was Ataman Ivan Zarutsky. And in 1611 the girl gave birth to a son, naming him Ivan. History is silent about who the father of the child is, but Marina proclaimed him the son of the heir to the Russian throne.

This scam was again unsuccessful. The Polish woman’s wanderings across the expanses of Rus' ended in 1614 - Marina and her son were captured in the vicinity of the Urals by Moscow archers. The child had to be destroyed, because in the capital they had already chosen a contender for the kingdom -. The competitor only got in the way, because the boy is the offspring of the officially crowned Marina Mnishek. The three-year-old child faced a public execution: Ivan was hanged, taken from the hands of his sleeping mother.

Death

The death of a Polish woman who dreams of the Moscow throne is one of the historical mysteries. According to the documents, Marina Mnishek could not stand the grief after the loss of her son and “died of melancholy.”

Other evidence claims that the woman was drowned or hanged. Another option says that Marina died in captivity in the round tower of the Kolomna Kremlin.

Memory

The round tower in the Kolomna Kremlin bears the name Mnishek, and it is called the Marinka Tower.
1604 - the most famous portrait of Marina Mniszek from Vishnevetsky Castle.

Books

1825 – “Boris Godunov”,
2005 - “Marina Mnishek”, Vyacheslav Kozlyakov
2013 – “Queen of Troubles”, Leonid Borodin
2017 – “The Three Loves of Marina Mnishek. Light in the Dungeon", Elena Raskina
1834 - “The Diaries of Marina Mniszek” is translated into Russian - a manuscript whose authorship belongs to someone close to the Polish woman.

The play "Boris Godunov" was first staged at the Mariinsky Theater in 1870. Mnishek was played by Elena Struyskaya.
The work has been filmed several times. A striking directorial work was the film directed by Boris Nebieridze based on the opera of the same name by Modest Mussorgsky in 1987. She reincarnated as a Russian queen of Polish blood. And in 2011, the motives of Pushkin’s tragedy were transferred to film by Vladimir Mirzoev, creating an interesting interpretation in which the actions unfold in our days. The director invited Marina Mnishek to play the role.

After Mnishek’s death, a legend was born: allegedly, before her death, Marina sent a curse on the Romanov dynasty. According to the woman's prediction, members of the clan will die violent deaths, and ultimately the dynasty will disappear. And it seems that the words of the mother, distraught with grief, came true - at least history is proof of this.
Another legend says that Marina Mnishek left the prison that became the Kolomenskaya Tower whenever she wanted - she turned into a bird and flew out the window. The guards were forbidden to look into the face of the slave; supposedly, just by looking at this woman, it was easy to fall in love and burn with passion.
In the Kolomna Kremlin, a belief has taken root that Marina’s soul remained forever in the building: visitors often feel the gaze of an invisible creature on them. But the lovers turned the legend into a profitable business for themselves - it is believed that if you ask the spirit of the deceased for help, then good luck in love will soon await you. This is especially true for those whose feelings are unrequited.

What is known about Marina Mniszech

Mnishek, Marina Yurievna - one of the most prominent figures of the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century. She was considered a witch and was credited with extraordinary political talent. She lived only 26 years, but during this short life, she experienced coronation, exile, and captivity in a gang of robbers. She was an eyewitness to the deaths of her two husbands. Tsar Dmitry Ivanovich, or, and nicknamed Tushinsky thief.

Mniszech was not loved in her homeland - in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, considered a warlock and a sorceress because she wore an inverted cross. They also hated her in Muscovy because she tried to introduce European etiquette, bringing a fork to Muscovy for the first time, for trying to steal, and for much more. And not only her life, but also her death was shrouded in mystery.

Brief biography of Marina Mnishek

Marina Mniszek (in Polish Marianna Yuryevna, born approximately 1588, died 1614 or 1615) - daughter of the Sandomierz governor Jerzy Mniszek, wife of the first False Dmitry. Her acquaintance with False Dmitry, decorated with romantic stories, took place around 1604, and at the same time the latter, after his famous confession, was engaged to her.

Marina agreed to become the wife of an unknown and formerly ugly serf because of her desire to become a queen and the persuasion of the Catholic clergy, who chose her as their instrument for bringing Catholicism to “Muscovy.” During her engagement, the impostor promised, in addition to money and diamonds, Novgorod and Pskov and the right to practice Catholicism and the opportunity to marry someone else if False Dmitry failed.

1. Coronation portrait 1606
2. False Dmitry I and Marina Mnishek. Engraving

1605, November - Marina Mnishek was engaged to clerk Vlasyev, who portrayed the face of the groom-tsar. 1606, May 3 - she entered Moscow with great pomp, accompanied by her father and a large retinue. After 5 days, the wedding and coronation of Mniszech took place. For one week, a new queen reigned in Moscow. After the death of her husband, a stormy and full of hardships life began for her, and she showed a lot of strength of character and resourcefulness. Not killed during the massacre on May 17 only because she was not recognized and then protected by the boyars, she was sent to her father and here, they say, entered into relations with Mikhail Molchanov.

1606, August - settled all the Mnishkovs in Yaroslavl, where they lived until July 1608. In the truce between Russia and Poland that took place at that time, it was decided to send Marina Mnishek to her homeland so that she would not be called Moscow. queen. On the way, she was intercepted by Zborovsky and taken to the Tushino camp. Despite her disgust for the Tushino thief, Marina Mnishek agreed to secretly marry him on September 5, 1608 in Sapieha’s detachment and lived in Tushino for more than a year.

She lived poorly with her new husband, as can be seen from her letters to Sigismund and the Pope, but it became even worse with his flight on December 27, 1609 from Tushino. 1610, February - fearing for her life, she, in a hussar dress, with one maid and accompanied by several hundred Don Cossacks, fled to Dmitrov to Sapega, and from there, when the Russians took the city, to Kaluga, to False Dmitry 2. A few months later after Zholkiewski's victory over the Russian troops, she appears with her husband near Moscow, in Kolomna, and after the overthrow of Shuiski, she begins to negotiate with Sigismund for help in occupying Moscow.

Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry I

Meanwhile, Muscovites swore allegiance to Vladislav Sigismundovich, and she was offered to abandon Moscow and confine herself to Sambir or Grodno. A proud refusal followed, and with it a new danger appeared - being captured by the Poles. Having settled in Kaluga with her husband and new protector, Zarutsky, she lived there until the beginning of 1611, already under the patronage of one Zarutsky (the Tushinsky thief was killed in December 1610) and with her son Ivan, called. Dmitrievich.

Until June 1612, it was located near Moscow, mainly in Kolomna, where Zarutsky was also. After the killing of Lyapunov, she forced Zarutsky and Trubetskoy to declare her son heir to the throne and, together with Zarutsky, sent assassins to when Trubetskoy fell away from her.

The zemstvo militia approaching Moscow forced Mnishek to flee first to Ryazan land, then to Astrakhan, and finally up the Yaik (Ural). At Bear Island she was overtaken by Moscow archers and, chained, she and her son were taken to Moscow (July 1614). There, her four-year-old son was hanged, and she, according to the Russian ambassadors to the Polish government, “died of melancholy of her own free will”; according to other sources, she was hanged or drowned.