Eudoxia of Moscow (; 1353 – 1407), also known by her

monastic name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign to ...

Euphrosyne (), was the grand princess of Moscow between 1366 and 1389 during her marriage to

Dmitry Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol ...

Biography

Eudoxia was a daughter of Dmitry Konstantinovich,

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) (; ; ; ; ) is a hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. Grand duke is the usual and established, though not litera ...

Suzdal Suzdal (, ) is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, town that serves as the administrative center of Suzdalsky District in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which is located along the Kamenka tributary of the Nerl (Klyazma), Nerl River, north o ...

"St. Euphrosyne the Princess, (Eudocia) of Moscow", Orthodox Church in America
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Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

and Vasilisa of

Rostov Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

. Her maternal grandparents were Konstantin Vasilievich, Prince of Rostov and Maria of Moscow. Maria was a daughter of

Ivan I of Moscow Ivan I Danilovich Kalita (, ; – 31 March 1340) was Prince of Moscow from 1325 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1331 until his death. Ivan inherited the Moscow principality following the death of his elder brother Yury. In 1327, following a ...

and his first wife Yelena. On 18 January 1366, Eudoxia married

. In 1382, she stayed in Moscow in the absence of her husband, while the army of khan

Tokhtamysh Tokhtamysh ( Turki/ Kypchak and Persian: توقتمش; ; ; – 1406) was Khan of the Golden Horde from 1380 to 1395. He briefly succeeded in consolidating the Blue and White Hordes into a single polity. Tokhtamysh belonged to the House of Bo ...

was approaching the capital. After the birth of her son Andrey Dmitriyevich, she attempted to leave Moscow, but was detained by the Muscovites, who agreed to let her go only after long negotiations.

Religious works

She was greatly influenced by

Alexius, Metropolitan of Kiev Alexius (, ''Aleksii''; before 1296–1378) was Metropolitan of Kiev and all Rus' from 1354. He presided over the Muscovite government during Dmitrii Donskoi's minority. Biography Alexius, whose name at birth was Eleutherius, was a son o ...

. After her husband's death, Eudoxia became known for her piety; legend has it that she possessed the gift of

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

. To commemorate her husband's victory at the

Battle of Kulikovo The Battle of Kulikovo () was fought between the forces of Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander of the Golden Horde, and Russian forces led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry of Moscow. The battle took place on 8 September 1380, at Ku ...

, Eudoxia commissioned an icon of the Archangel Michael, which later became the patronal icon of the Kremlin's

Archangel Cathedral The Cathedral of the Archangel () is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the m ...

. In 1387, Eudoxia established the Ascension Monastery next to the Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) Tower of the

Moscow Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Kremlin Wall along with the K ...

. Later in her life, Eudoxia Dmitriyevna took the veil at the Ascension Monastery under the name of Yefrosiniya (Euphrosyne) and remained there until her death in 1407. In 1393, she founded the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos (Церковь Рождества Богородицы), the oldest surviving building in Moscow. The church was dedicated to the Virgin's Nativity, because on this feast her husband defeated the Tatars in the

. According to tradition, in 1395, during

Tamerlane Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol tradition, Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timuri ...

's invasion into southern Russia, she had the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God transferred to Moscow. Euphrosyne died on 7 July 1407 and was buried in the

Ascension Convent Ascension Convent, known as the Starodevichy Convent or Old Maidens' Convent until 1817 (), was a Russian Orthodox nunnery in the Moscow Kremlin which contained the burials of grand princesses, tsarinas, and other noble ladies from the Muscovite ...

. In 1929, the authorities ordered the destruction of the church and her relics were lost, but were uncovered in 2002, and then transferred to the

Cathedral of the Archangel The Cathedral of the Archangel () is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the m ...

located inside the Kremlin. She was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

by the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

Children

Eudoxia and

Dmitri Donskoi Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy (; 12 October 1350 – 19 May 1389) was Prince of Moscow from 1359 and Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1363 until his death. He was the heir of Ivan II. He was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol a ...

had at least 12 children: *Daniil Dmitrievich (c. 1370 – 15 September 1379). *

Vasily I of Moscow Vasily I Dmitriyevich (; 30 December 137127 February 1425) was Grand Prince of Vladimir and Moscow from 1389. He was the heir of Dmitry Donskoy, who reigned from 1359 to 1389. He entered an alliance with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1392 a ...

(30 September 1371 – 27 February 1425). *Sofia Dmitrievna. Married Fyodor Olegovich, Prince of Ryazan (reigned 1402–1427). * Yury Dmitrievich, Duke of

Zvenigorod Zvenigorod () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Moscow Oblast of western Russia. In 2010 it had a population of about 16,000. History The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a ...

and Galich (26 November 1374 – 5 June 1434). Claimed the throne of Moscow against his nephew

Vasily II of Moscow Vasily II Vasilyevich (; 10 March 141527 March 1462), nicknamed the Blind or the Dark (), was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1425 until his death in 1462. He succeeded his father, Vasily I, only to be challenged by his uncle Yuri of Zveni ...

. *Maria Dmitrievna (d. 15 May 1399). Married Lengvenis. *Anastasia Dmitrievna. Married Ivan Vsevolodich, Prince of Kholm. *Simeon Dmitrievich (d. 11 September 1379). *Ivan Dmitrievich (d. 1393). *Andrei Dmitrievich, Prince of

Mozhaysk MozhayskAlternative transliterations include ''Mozhaisk'', ''Mozhajsk'', ''Mozhaĭsk'', and ''Možajsk''. (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Mozhaysky District, Moscow Oblast, Mozhaysky Distri ...

(14 August 1382 – 9 July 1432). *Piotr Dmitrievich, Prince of

Dmitrov Dmitrov () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District, Moscow Oblast, Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Mosc ...

(29 July 1385 – 10 August 1428). *Anna Dmitrievna (born 8 January 1387). Married Yuri Patrikievich. Her husband was a son of Patrikei, Prince of

Starodub Starodub (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets (river), Babinets River in the Dnieper basin, southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

and his wife Yelena. His paternal grandfather was

Narimantas Narimantas or Narymunt (baptized ''Gleb''; 1277 or just before 1300 (according to Wasilewski 1992) – 2 February 1348) was a Lithuanian duke and the second eldest son of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. During various periods of his life, h ...

. The marriage solidified his role as a

Boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russia), Moldavia and Wallachia (and later Romania), Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. C ...

attached to Moscow. *Konstantin Dmitrievich, Prince of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

(14 May/15 May 1389 – 1433).

Legacy

On 15 August 2007, the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the Russian Orthodox Church instituted the Order of St. Euphrosyne, named after Eudoxia, who was the first noblewoman of Moscow to enter monasticism. The award was established to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Euphrosyne's death. According to the synod's

ukase In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz ( ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leadership (e.g., Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' or the Most Holy Synod) that had the force of law. " Edict" and " decree" are adequate trans ...

(decree), the new decoration will be given to women for special contributions towards the strengthening of spiritual and moral traditions in society, development of the church's social activities, maintaining relations between church and state or church and society, and other fields of work for the betterment of the Orthodox faith. The Order of St. Euphrosyne will be the second women's decoration of the Russian Orthodox Church after the Order of Saint Olga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eudoxia of Moscow 14th-century births Eudoxia Grand princesses consort of Moscow Russian saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church 15th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Female saints of medieval Russia 15th-century Russian women 15th-century Russian people Medieval Russian princesses Women in Moscow Daniilovichi family Mothers of Russian monarchs Daughters of princes regnant