A RUSSIAN CINDERELLA 

Early in the 17th century Russia was living through the so-called Time of Troubles, being torn apart by feuding princes who were waging internecine wars against one another. To restore elementary law and order the Russian people needed a czar who would be able to accommodate the interests of the warring princes. The popular choice eventually fell on the 17-year-old Mikhail Romanov, a distant relative of the late Czar Ivan the Terrible. The Romanov princes belonged to old Russian nobility and had traditionally been admired for their fairness and fatherly care for their subjects. 

In 1613 Mikhail Romanov was crowned as the first in the Romanov dynasty of Russian czars.  Eleven years later and eager to have a son to inherit the throne, Mikhail Romanov married Princess Maria Dolgorukaya but, unfortunately, she died just a few weeks after the wedding. Mikhail needed a new wife and, according to an old tradition, he sent out messengers to every corner of the Russian sate to invite young noblewomen of impeccable lineage to come to Moscow to vie to become Russia’s next Czarina. Soon after sixty young girls with parents and relatives in tow arrived to the Kremlin each dreaming to win royal attention. Czar Mikhail and his mother carefully examined the young ladies lined up in the palace hall stopping for a moment in front of each contender for closer inspection.  Thus examining them all, Mikhail remained undecided. Realizing the desperate need for a definite choice, Mikhail’s mother suggested taking another look at the contenders, this time during the night where the girls would be asleep and their faces serene and not contorted by agitation. There should be no relatives around, only maids. 

After everyone had gone asleep, Mikhail and his mother made a second round and again Mikhail did not utter a word, just moving past the sleeping beauties. Czar Mikhail’s mother again explained to her undecided son that he had a duty to the people and if he wanted a peaceful country he was supposed to make a choice. Asked how come he hadn’t taken a fancy to any of Russia’s very best fiancées, Mikhail said: “Well, I liked one of them…” Greatly relieved, his mother asked which one he liked only to be told it was one of those maids… This was where Mikhail showed his regal nature choosing a humble servant over the posse of well-groomed noble ladies. Yevdokiya Streshneva, that’s the name of the girl who took the young Czar’s fancy, was a real beauty. On the following morning she was publicly declared as Russia’s would-be Czarina. One can only imagine the excitement of this poor servant girl who went to sleep one night as a humble maid only to wake up a Czar’s bride in the morning… 

After the engagement Mikhail Romanov sent out messengers with lavish gifts for Yevdokiya’s father, Lukyan Streshnev. Arriving to the village where the Czar’s would-be father-in-law lived, the messengers were directed to a nondescript straw-covered hut. Lukyan happened to be out working in the field. Seeing the Czar’s messengers, Lukyan thought it was a mistake and refused to believe he was the man they were actually looking for.  When it all cleared up, the poor man said how happy he was and the messengers handed him a formal invitation to visit the royal couple. In Moscow Lukyan Streshnev was accorded a hero’s welcome with the Czar’s very own grooms personally leading his horse and the highborn boyars seeing him through the palace. Then the Czar himself went out to meet him halfway and restrained the man from bowing low to his regal son in law. 

In 1646 Lukyan Streshnev held the crown over the head of his grandson, Czar Alexei, the eldest son of his daughter Yevdokiya and Czar Mikhail Romanov. Mikhail and Yevdokiya lived a long and happy life together bearing three sons and seven daughters. Lines of Fate fortune… Sometimes they move in very unsearchable ways…
 

I.Andreev, “The Life of Famous People. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich”, Moscow, Molodaya Gvardiya, 2003