- Eudoxia of Moscow
Eudoxia Dmitriyevna ( _ru. Евдокия Дмитриевна)—monastic name, Euphrosyne— (? - 1407) was a
Grand Duchess ofMuscovy and wife ofDmitry Donskoy .Family
Eudoxia Dmitriyevna was a daughter of
Dmitry Konstantinovich ,Grand Prince ofNizhny Novgorod and Vasilisa ofRostov .Her maternal grandparents were Konstantin Vasilievich, Prince of Rostov and Maria of
Moscow .Maria was a daughter of
Ivan I of Moscow and his first wife Helena.Marriage
On
18 January ,1367 , Eudoxia marriedGrand Prince Dmitry Donskoy. In 1382, she stayed inMoscow in the absence of her husband, while the army of khanTokhtamysh was approaching the capital. After the birth of her sonAndrey Dmitriyevich , she attempted to leave Moscow, but was detained by the Muscovites, who agreed to let her go only after long negotiations.Religious works
After her husband's death, Eudoxia became known for her pious ways; the legend has it that she possessed the gift of
healing . In 1393, she founded the Church of theNativity of the Theotokos (Церковь Рождества Богородицы), the oldest surviving building in Moscow. The church was dedicated to the Virgin's Nativity, because on this feast her husband defeated the Tatars in theBattle of Kulikovo .Four years later, Eudoxia established the
Ascension Monastery next to the Frolovskaya (Spasskaya) Tower of theMoscow Kremlin . Later in her life, Eudoxia Dmitriyevna took the veil at the Ascension Monastery under the name of Yefrosiniya (Euphrosyne) and remained there until her death in 1407. She wascanonize d by theRussian Orthodox Church .Children
Eudoxia and
Dmitri Donskoi had at least twelve children:*Daniil Dmitrievich (c. 1370 -
15 September ,1379 ).
*Vasily I of Moscow (30 September ,1371 -27 Febtuary , 1425).
*Sofia Dmitrievna. Married Fyodor Olegovich, Prince of Ryazan (reigned 1402-1427).
*Yury Dmitrievich , Duke ofZvenigorod and Galich (26 November ,1374 -5 June ,1434 ). Claimed the throne of Moscow against his nephewVasily II of Moscow .
*Maria Dmitrievna (d.15 May ,1399 ). MarriedLengvenis .
*Anastasia Dmitrievna. Married Ivan Vsevolodich, Prince ofKholm .
*Simeon Dmitrievich (d.11 September ,1379 ).
*Ivan Dmitrievich (d. 1393).
*Andrei Dmitrievich, Prince ofMozhaysk (14 August ,1382 -9 July ,1432 ).
*Piotr Dmitrievich, Prince ofDmitrov (29 July ,1385 -10 August ,1428 ).
*Anna Dmitrievna (born8 January ,1387 ). Married Yuri Patrikievich. Her husband was a son of Patrikej, Prince ofStarodub and his wife Helena. His paternal grandfather wasNarimantas . The marriage solidified his role as aBoyar attached to Moscow.
*Konstantin Dmitrievich, Prince of Pskov (14 May /15 May ,1389 - 1433).Legacy
On
15 August 2007 , theHoly Synod of theRussian Orthodox Church instituted the Order of St. Euphrosyne, named after Eudoxia, who was the first noblewoman of Moscow to enter monasticism. The award was established to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Euphrosyne’s passing away. According to the synod’sukase (decree), the new decoration will be given to women for special contributions towards the strengthening of spiritual and moral traditions in society, development of the church’s social activities, maintaining relations between church and state or church and society, and other fields of work for the betterment of the Orthodox faith. The Order of St. Euphrosyne will be the second women’s decoration of the Russian Orthodox Church after theOrder of St. Olga . [Citation
last =Interfax
first =
contribution =
date =21 August 2007
title =Russian Orthodox Church institutes another women’s prize, Order of St. Euphrosyne, the first saint of Moscow
editor-last =
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url = http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=3505
accessdate = 2007-08-26]References
External links
* [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/RUSSIA,%20Rurik.htm#DmitryIvanovichDonskoyVladimirdied1389B Her listing, along with her husband, in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley.]
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