Eudoxia Streshneva (; 1608 – 18 August 1645) was the

Tsaritsa Tsarina or tsaritsa (also spelled ''csarina'' or ''csaricsa'', ''tzarina'' or ''tzaritza'', or ''czarina'' or ''czaricza''; ; ; ) is the title of a female autocratic ruler (monarch) of Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, or the title of a tsar's wife ...

of Russia as the second spouse of Tsar

Michael of Russia Michael I (; ) was Tsar of all Russia from 1613 after being elected by the Zemsky Sobor of 1613 until his death in 1645. He was elected by the Zemsky Sobor and was the first tsar of the House of Romanov, which succeeded the House of Rur ...

Life

Eudoxia Streshneva was a daughter of Lukyan Stepanovich Streshnev (d. 1630) from

Meshchovsk Meshchovsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Meshchovsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Tureya River southwest of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

and his wife, Anna Konstantinovna Volkonskaya. Her family belonged to an old

Russian nobility The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

of Polish descent from the

Principality of Polotsk The Principality of Polotsk (obsolete spelling: ''Polock''; ; ), also known as the Duchy of Polotsk or Polotskian Rus', was a medieval principality. The origin and date of the establishment of the state are uncertain. Chronicles of Kievan Rus' ...

. Her mother died shortly after birth, and her father left home to serve in the military. She was thus regarded almost an orphan and was raised by a rich relative who belonged to the circle of the tsar's court in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. She was distantly related to Tikhon Nikitich Streshnev a Russian boyar and statesman during the reign of

Peter I of Russia Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, ...

, one of the first members of the

Governing Senate From 1711 to 1917, the Governing Senate was the highest legislative, judicial, and executive body subordinate to the Russian emperors. The senate was instituted by Peter the Great to replace the Boyar Duma and lasted until the very end of the R ...

and the first

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, after the post was reformed by Peter.

Marriage

Eudoxia Streshneva was among those daughters of the nobility summoned to appear in the

bride-show The bride-show (; ; zh, 后妃選納) was a custom of Byzantine emperors and Russian tsars to choose a wife from among the most beautiful maidens of the country. A similar practice also existed in Imperial China. Byzantine Empire The method ...

at court, when the tsar was to select his new tsaritsa, after his first spouse had died. Tsar Michael did not like any of those selected for him to choose from, but was pressed by his parents to make a choice. He eventually chose Eudoxia because of her beauty, polite behavior and mild disposition. The parents of the tsar were reportedly displeased with his choice. His mother,

Xenia Shestova Boyarinya Kseniya Ioannovna (Ivanovna) Shestova (; 1560–1631) was a spouse of Fyodor Romanov and the mother of Mikhail Romanov. Life The origins of Xeniya Ivanovna have been disputed by genealogists for centuries. It is currently accepted t ...

, claimed that Streshneva was not of an important enough family, and that he risked angering all the most high ranked noble families by choosing a bride from a family of a lower rank than them. However, the tsar refused to change his mind. He did not only refer to his feelings, but also to his Christian duty to help a girl who would otherwise be forced to leave court and anger her family. She was described as a modest and virtuous girl, dominated by her proud relatives, who sometimes brought her to tears but still did not complain. Reportedly, the tsar was moved by her situation and felt sorry for her. The wedding was conducted on 5 February 1626. As was the custom, Eudoxia was given the title of Tsaritsa prior to the wedding, but only three days before the wedding, which was a much shorter time period than usual. Her parents-in-law both participated in the ceremony. They wished to change her name to Anastasia from the tsaritsa of tsar Ivan, but she successfully refused. After the wedding, she was given several lands, and a substantial fortune of her own.

Tsaritsa

As tsaritsa, Eudoxia Streshneva lived in the terem, secluded from contact with men, as was expected from a Russian noblewoman at the time. Despite this, she was also expected to participate in public religious and charitable duties and manage the imperial household. Tsaritsa Eudoxia was known to have been in a difficult situation in the imperial court because of her mother-in-law,

, who dominated her and the life of the imperial court. She and her mother-in-law shared the same

confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...

and diak. Xenia Shestova accompanied her daughter-in-law during all her official visits to monasteries and churches, and managed her public life as a tsaritsa. She also chose tutors for her grandchildren, dominating her relationship to them. Eudoxia never managed to achieve any influence over Tsar Mikhail, either during or after the death of her mother-in-law. Reportedly, Eudoxia was under great pressure to produce a son and heir to the throne, a task which gave her great anxiety until the birth of Tsarevich Aleksei in 1629. After the birth of her last child in 1639, Tsar Michael reportedly no longer wished to share her bed. She is noted to have given donations to churches and convents in order to be given another child, but without success. In 1642, Eudoxia financed the rebuilding of the Saint George Monastery in

. She also benefited the Ivanovsky Convent, where she made several visits and often prayed to Saint Martha during her pregnancies. She founded several charitable institutions, and made public donations to charitable and religious subjects.

Death

Eudoxia Streshneva died shortly after her spouse. She 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 ...

Issue

Yevdokiya and Mikhail had ten children:

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Streshneva, Yevdokiya 1608 births 1645 deaths 17th-century Russian women 17th-century Russian people House of Romanov Tsarinas of Russia Mothers of Russian monarchs Streshnev family