“Shagi / Steps” the Journal of the SASH

SHAGI/STEPS 7(3)

Keywords: genealogy, anthroponymy, Saburovs, Godunovs, Sovereign Court, Vasily III, Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Sofia Vitovtovna, Sophia Paleologue, Solomoniia Saburova

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of the political role of Saburovs and Godunovs at the Sovereign’s court in the 15th–16th centuries. The path to power of the Saburov and Godunov clans is analyzed through various official appointments, representation in the Boyar Duma and in the Court administration, by examining the marriage and family ties of persons belonging to these clans. The author focuses his main attention on the reign of Ivan the Terrible, when the Godunov clan was significantly strengthened and outstripped the Saburovs. The author proposes an explanation for the suddenly increasing influence of the Godunovs, which involves such factors as cohesion and corporatism of the clan, a skillful use of the current political situation and the unexpected chance for promotion in the Oprichny Court, the marriage of Boris Fedorovich Godunov to the daughter of the favorite of the Tsar, Malyuta Skuratov, which was followed by the wedding of Tsarevich Fyodor to Boris’s sister Irina Fyodorovna. Plots related to the service of the Saburovs and the Godunovs are complemented by excurses into the field of anthroponymy, the study of secular and monastic names of female representatives of these clans.

Acknowledgements: The study was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 19-18-00247 “Court of Russian Princesses in the System of Power Structures of Ancient Russia and Western Europe during the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times (11th–16th cc.)”.The author expresses sincerely gratitude to F. B. Uspensky for the help in anthroponymic research.

To cite this article: Korzinin, A. L. (2021). The path to power of the Saburovs and the Godunovs. Shagi/Steps, 7(3), 287–311. (In Russian). https://doi.org/10.22394/2412-9410-2021-7-3-287-311.