Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova (; – 18 December 1542) was the
grand princess of Moscow as the wife of
Vasili III of Russia
Vasili III Ivanovich (; 25 March 14793 December 1533) was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1505 until his death in 1533. He was the son of Ivan III and Sophia Paleologue and was christened with the name Gavriil (). Following on t ...
. She was canonized 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 ...
as ''Saint Sofia of Suzdal''.
Life
Her father was Yury Konstantinovich Saburov, a
Russian nobleman who was elevated to the rank of
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 ...
upon his daughter's marriage to the monarch. One of her relatives later became the wife of
Ivan IV
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. ...
's son and heir, Ivan Ivanovich, and another lady of the Saburov-Godunov clan was
Irina Feodorovna, the wife of the last Rurikid tsar,
Feodor I
Feodor I Ioannovich () or Fyodor I Ivanovich (; 31 May 1557 – 17 January 1598), nicknamed the Blessed (), was Tsar of all Russia from 1584 until his death in 1598.
Feodor's mother died when he was three, and he grew up in the shadow of his ...
. One other relative
Boris Godunov
Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...
reigned as Tsar Boris I of Russia.
Grand Princess
The wedding of Solomonia and Vasily III took place on 4 September 1505, in presence of the groom's father,
Ivan III.
Metropolitan Simon blessed the newlyweds at the
Cathedral of the Dormition
The Cathedral of the Dormition (), also known as the Assumption Cathedral or Cathedral of the Assumption, is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos. It is located on the north side of Cathedral Square of the Mosco ...
in 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 ...
. After twenty years, it became apparent that Solomonia was barren. Vasili perfectly understood that if he died childless his brothers would inherit the throne. In order to preclude this scenario, they were incarcerated or forbidden to marry until his own son was born. In the long term, this led to the extinction of the Rurikid dynasty and to the succession crisis known as the
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...
.

Despite her shining beauty, exemplary morals and mild character, Solomonia's failure to beget an heir must have weighed upon Vasili's relations with his wife, who turned to foreign doctors for help. In 1525, the grand prince decided to divorce Solomonia with the approval of
Metropolitan Daniel and the boyars, although
Vassian Patrikeyev,
Maksim Grek, and some other ecclesiastical authorities declared the divorce unlawful.
Later life
In November 1525, the marriage was annulled and Solomonia was forced to take the veil under the name of ''Sophia'' at the
Nativity Monastery of Moscow. She was then moved to the in
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 ...
, one of the many votive churches commissioned by Vasily and his wife in supplication for the birth of an heir.
Sigismund von Herberstein
Siegmund (Sigismund) Freiherr von Herberstein (or Baron Sigismund von Herberstein; 23 August 1486 – 28 March 1566) was a Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council. He was most noted for his exten ...
asserts in his ''
Notes on Muscovite Affairs
''Notes on Muscovite Affairs'' (''Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii'') (1549) was a Latin book by Baron Sigismund von Herberstein on the geography, history and customs of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. The book was the main early source of knowledge a ...
'' that she was forcefully taken to the convent, whereas the Russian chronicles tend to underline Solomonia's submission to the sovereign's will. There were rumors that Solomonia had given birth to a
child named George within the walls of the monastery. She died in Suzdal in 1542.
In Culture
Solomonia Saburova's relationship with husband
Vasili III of Moscow was fictionalised in the opera
Neprigozhaya by
Ella Adayevskaya.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saburova, Solomonia
1490s births
1542 deaths
Grand princesses consort of Moscow
Eastern Orthodox royal saints from Russia
16th-century Christian saints
Christian female saints of the Early Modern era
Daniilovichi family
16th-century Russian nobility
16th-century Russian women
Monastery prisoners