Maria Miloslavskaya

Maria Miloslavskaya

Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya (Russian: Мария Ильинична Милославская, 1625-1669) was the first wife of tsar Alexis I of Russia and mother of the tsars Feodor III of Russia and Ivan V of Russia, as well as regent princess Sophia Alekseyevna.

Maria Ilinichna was a younger daughter of the nobleman Ilya Danilovich Miloslavsky. In 1648 tsar Alexis I of Russia reached the age required for marriage. The tsar was to choose his bride among hundreds of noble girls. The selection was managed by tsar's tutor Boris Morozov, who arranged the tsar's marriage to Maria, himself marrying her sister Anna. Another tsarina's sister, Irina, married Prince Dmitry Dolgorukov.

The weddings brought much power to Morozov and especially Ilya Miloslavsky, who was made boyar and was one of the most powerful courtiers between the Maria's wedding in 1648 and his own death in 1668. Maria died several months after her father.

Maria had thirteen children but only two sons survived infancy: the future tsar Feodor III of Russia and the future Ivan V of Russia, who co-ruled with his half-brother Peter I of Russia. Maria's granddaughter became Empress Anna of Russia. Maria also had six surviving daughters. The third daughter, Sophia Alekseyevna became regent of Russia during the minority of Peter I.

Maria's sisters died childless. A distant cousin, Solomonida Mikhailovna Miloslavskaya, however, married Andrey Vasiliyevich Tolstoy, becoming the ancestor of the later Tolstoys. In the 20th century, the senior of her descendants was authorized by Nicholas II to add the name of the long-extinct Miloslavskys to his surname. His posterity has been known as the Tolstoy-Miloslavskys.