Khlopova Maria Ivanovna (? — 1633) was a noblewoman, the betrothed of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov, and a victim of court intrigues in the early seventeenth century. She spent the last years of her life in Nizhny Novgorod, where she died.
The Choice of a Bride and Exile
In 1616, when Tsar Mikhail Romanov turned twenty, a bride-show was held at court. Contrary to the preferences of his mother, the nun Marfa, who had been looking for a bride among the Saltykov family circle, the Tsar chose Maria, the daughter of the Kolomna nobleman Ivan Khlopov. She was lodged in the palace, given the new name Anastasia, and prepared for the wedding; her relatives were drawn close to the Tsar along with her, among them her uncle Gavriil Vasilyevich Khlopov.[1]
When preparations for the wedding were already in full swing, Maria fell ill with a stomach complaint. Despite her swift recovery and the conclusions of the court physicians, the Tsar's relative Mikhail Saltykov convinced the sovereign that the bride's illness was "incurable." The Boyar Duma declared that "the Tsar's bride is not fit for the sovereign's joy." Khlopova, together with her grandmother, aunt, and two uncles, was exiled to Tobolsk, separated from her father and mother.[1] In 1619 she was transferred to Verkhoturye.[2]
The Nizhny Novgorod Years
After Patriarch Filaret returned from Polish captivity in 1619, he advised his son to conduct a new inquiry. Around 1621 Khlopova was transferred to Nizhny Novgorod.[1] At the end of 1623 an investigative commission headed by the boyar Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev arrived there: Maria was examined anew, all the physicians were questioned again, and the Saltykovs' deception was fully exposed — the young woman was found to be perfectly healthy.[2][1] The Saltykovs were convicted and exiled to various towns.[2]
The boyars were already preparing to take Khlopova to Moscow, but the Tsar's mother, the nun Marfa, resolutely opposed the marriage, and a new candidate appeared at court — the daughter of Prince Dolgorukov. Maria was ordered to remain in Nizhny Novgorod on an "honorable" allowance.[1] She lived in the escheated house of Kuzma Minin and never married.[2] Maria Ivanovna Khlopova died in Nizhny Novgorod in 1633.[2]
Origins
The Khlopovs were an ancient Russian noble family entered in Part VI of the genealogical books of the Tver and Kursk Governorates. The family's founder was considered to be the Tatar prince Mustafa (baptized as Ilya), who came from the Golden Horde to Grand Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich. Maria's uncle, Gavriil Vasilyevich Khlopov, held the patrimonial estate of the village of Obukhovo on the Palishka River in Dmitrov Uyezd in 1627.[1]
Links
- Wikidata (Q4498160 — entry in the free knowledge base)
Sources
- podmoskovnye.ru — Noble Estates project, tours in Moscow
- hrono.ru