Shemyakin-Pronskaya Eudoxia Ivanovna

Biography

Eudoxia Ivanovna Shemyakin-Pronskaya (Mezetskaya) is a daughter of the prince Ivan Semyonovich Mezetsky and and to Evfimiya Protopopova. The spouse of one of voivodes of Ivan the Terrible Yury Ivanovich Shemyakin-Pronsky, the hero of campaigns to Kazan and Astrakhan.

Its defects were concluded under circumstances, not absolutely normal for medieval Russia. From the spiritual testament of the grandmother of the bride - Marfa, the widow of the Blagoveshchensk archpriest Vasily Kuzmich, we learn history of a marriage of her granddaughter princess Eudoxia (Avdotya) Mezetskaya. After the death of parents — the prince Ivan Mezetsky and Evfimiya Protopopova — the orphan remained on care of the grandmother. When it grew up, the grandmother and the uncle trustee Ivan Protopopov of her "sgovorila" (no later than June, 1546) for the representative of the old Moscow seigniorial sort Ivan Mikhaylovich Vorontsov. Collusion was issued in due form which Kotoshikhin announces:

"… and they between themselves, about both parties, uchnut ugovarivatets about any wedding articles and will put to a svadba term as to whom mochno by that time it will be made, in a week, in a month, both for half a year, and in a year and bolsh … and will write that on that zgovor ty to take the bride to it for direct fixed term, without application, and for it to issue the bride to that person for the same term, without application, and will put in that letter among themselves a charge: there will be that person on that set term will not issue, taking on guilty 1000, either 5000, or 10,000 Rublyov of money how many who will write to records" ^[1]

However this time plans of matchmakers were unexpectedly destroyed by the bride.

"And on my sin, enemy I sponoit the grandson mine for Ivan not a pokhotela" — Marfa writes.

The relatives of the bride had to pay impressive "charge" (penalty) that, undoubtedly, was a big rarity. However the grandmother, feeling sorry for Eudoxia ("her for tears"), laid out the whole 500 rubles, having sold for this purpose two villages. Having refused to Vorontsov, the princess became the wife of the brave voivode prince Yury Ivanovich Shemyakin-Pronsky. This Braque was childless and short — in eight years in 1554, having reached a seigniorial rank, the prince died. The widow did not take the veil, but also did not marry, being loyal^[2]

In the Spiritual testament of the princess of Avdotya (Eudoxia) Ivanovna Shemyakina-Pronskaya 7073 (1564/65) years are said:

"... yes by Friday behind the swamp a fur coat scarlet chervchat and to Ivan Predoteche for Volot a fur coat skorlat chervchat".

Skarlat (fr. écarlate) - bright red, scarlet. A sort of the cloth produced in France, originally only scarlet color. French cloth in Russian sharlat. Chervchaty - dark red color.

The fur coat was a kind of a fur coat. Length to toe. Width of a hem was placed by wedges. The fur coat differed from an ingate in a form of sleeves. Fur coat sleeves not wide, long and folding. Above a waist special cuts for hands became — sleeves often played a decorative role. If the fur coat was worn in sleeves, then sleeves collected on hands in numerous cross folds. To a fur coat usually fastened a round fur collar.

It is considered that in the 16th century women's fur coats were traditionally white, and only in the 17th their century began to cover with color fabrics. But judging by the document, such fur coat covered with red French fabric was also bequeathed by Avdotya Shemyakin-Pronskaya to the temple of Beheading of John the Forerunner near Bohr in Zarechye. This mentioning of the temple in the will of the princess became the first reliable source in the history of this church.

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