Marfa Apraksina
{{family name hatnote|Matveyevna|Apraksina|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{Use British English|date=January 2024}}
{{Short description|Tsarina of Russia as Feodor III's second wife, 1664–1716.}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}{{Infobox royalty
| name = Marfa Apraksina
| image = File:Marfa Apraxina 2.jpg
| alt = Young woman in traditional Russian robes, all heavily gilded and lined with fur. She has light blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pale face. She is holding a tiny dog.
| caption = Portrait of Marfa Apraksina, by an unknown painter.
| birth_date = {{birth year|1664}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death year and age|1716|1664}}
| death_place =
| burial_date = 7 January 1716
| full name = Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina
{{langx|ru|Марфа Матвеевна Апраксина}}
| succession = Tsarina of Russia
| reign = 14 February 1682 – 7 May 1682
| reign-type = Tenure
| burial_place = Peter and Paul Cathedral
| spouse = {{marriage|Feodor III of Russia|1682|1682|end=d}}
| house = Romanov
| father = Matvey Vasilyevich Apraksin
| mother = Domna Bogdanovna Lovchikova
| royal house =
}}
Marfa Matveyevna Apraksina ({{langx|ru|Марфа Матвеевна Апраксина}}; 1664–1716) was a Tsarina of Russia and the second spouse of Tsar Feodor III of Russia.
Life
She was the daughter of the pantler Matvey Vasilyevich Apraksin and Domna Bogdanovna Apraksina, {{nee}} Lovchikova.Пётр I. Время и окружение. — СПб.: Palace Editions, 2015. — С. 122. Marfa Matveyevna had three brothers, Peter, Fyodor and Andrey, who all became leading statesmen.
Her marriage to the widowed Tsar was arranged by his friend, Ivan Yazykov, who hoped to strengthen his position at court. Marfa Matveyevna was approved as a bride by Metropolitan Hilarion, himself close to the Apraksin family. She received the status of royal bride in December 1681.{{Cite web|url=http://rmgallery.ru/ru/3299|title=Портрет Марфы Матвеевны Апраксиной, жены царя Фёдора Алексеевича. Декабрь 1681 — 14 февраля 1682|publisher=rmgallery.ru|accessdate=2017-01-16}} The wedding of seventeen-year-old Marfa Matveyevna to the twenty-year-old Tsar took place on 15 February 1682 (O.S.; 25 February N.S.).
Marfa Matveyevna was tsarina for only 71 days, from her wedding day to 27 April 1682 (O.S.; 7 May), when the Tsar died of scurvy. Marfa Matveyevna, being childless, still a virgin according to some assumptions,{{Clarification needed|reason=Who assumed this, based on what.|date=January 2024}} remained in mourning for more than thirty years.На это указывал ещё Василий Татищев: см. История Российская // Собр. соч. — М. 1996. — Т. 7. — С. 178.
См. также: Записки капитана Филиппа Иоганна Страленберга об истории и географии Российской империи Петра Великого. She first lived in Moscow, then in Saint Petersburg in her own palace, at the corner of Admiralty Square and Nevskaya Prospect,Современный адрес: Невский проспект, д. 1. near the mansion of her brother, Admiral General Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin. Today, the Winter Palace is located there.
By her skillful behavior,{{Clarification needed|reason=Who assumed this, based on what.|date=January 2024}} she created a strong position for herself at court. She retained the trust and respect of her husband's younger brother, Peter the Great, and the whole royal family, and received an allowance from the treasury until the end of her life, without participating in political intrigues.
In December 1715, Marfa Matveyevna visited the sick Tsar, but suddenly became ill herself. On 25, 28 and 30 December, the Tsar visited her, and she died on 31 December. According to Friedrich Christian Weber, the cause of the queen's death was poisoning from pickled mushrooms.Беспятых Ю. Н. Петербург Петра I в иностранных описаниях. — Л., 1991. The Tsar personally attended the autopsy, as, according to Pyotr Dolgorukov, he 'wanted to know the truth about [her] short marriage'. Peter 'did not stop before examining the corpse: only having convinced himself of the virginity of his deceased sister-in-law with his own eyes, he handed over to [her brother] the enormous riches bequeathed to [him] for life'.Записки князя Петра Долгорукова. — СПб.: Издательский Центр Гуманитарная Академия, 2007. — С. 64.
The Tsarina's funeral took place on 7 January 1716 in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, as the fourth burial there. Marfa Matveyevna was a devout woman, observing the old rituals.{{Clarification needed|reason=Who assumed this, based on what.|date=January 2024}} She was the last member of the Romanov family whose funeral and burial were according to the ancient traditions,{{Clarification needed|reason=Who assumed this, based on what.|date=January 2024}} prohibited by Peter afterwards in the whole country.
References
{{Portal|History|Russia|Biography|
}}{{Reflist}}
- Grigoryan VG Romanov. Biographical Directory. - Moscow: AST, 2007.
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{{s-vac|last=Agafya Grushetskaya}}
{{s-ttl|title=Tsaritsa consort of Russia|years=1682}}
{{s-vac|next=Praskovia Saltykova}}
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{{Russian royal consorts}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Apraksina, Marfa}}
Category:17th-century Russian women
Category:17th-century Russian people
Category:18th-century women from the Russian Empire
Category:Burials at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint Petersburg