Sofia Paleolog

Morea, Greece 1449: Princess Zofia Paleolog is born to Prince Thomas of the Byzantine Empire and Catherine Zaccaria of Genoa. She is the second of four children and the couple's second daughter.

1453, Fall of an empire: When Zoe was four years old her uncle, the Emperor, died. This was when the city of Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans and now her family had a target on their backs. This was because Zoe's father was the Empire's heir along with her two younger brothers Andrey and Manuel. For seven years after the fall of the empire, her father battled to keep the Ottomans away from their home in the Peloponnese, however they were forced to relocate to the island of Corfu in 1461.

When Zoe was only thirteen years old, her mother passed away and her father was Rome, Italy attempting to gain support to take back the throne of the Byzantine Empire. This meant that it was Zoe's responsibility to take care of her younger brothers on Corfu. In 1465, Zoe received a letter from her dying father urging her and her brothers to come to Rome because he did not have much time left. The three Paleolog siblings rushed desperately to Rome from Corfu but unfortunately, their father had died the day before they arrived and they were never able to say goodbye to him.

While in Rome, Zoe's father had developed a friendship with Pope Sixtus IV. After her father's death, the Pope took pity on Zoe and her brothers, and adopted the Paleolog siblings. He then chose to raise them in Rome. All three siblings converted from the Orthodox faith they had been raised in to Roman Catholicism and Zoe had her name changed from Zofia to Sofia to fit in among Rome's elite.

Zoe and her brothers had a decent childhood living in Rome. According to some surviving letters, we know that they were given amount of 3,600 crowns a year in payments. In total, 200 crowns per month were provided for their clothes, horses and servants, and an additional 100 crowns for the maintenance of the household, which included a doctor, a Latin teacher, a Greek teacher, a translator, and one or two priests. Zoe was well educated, as she was taught history, various languages, dancing, music, and and many other items that were important for a young Renaissance woman to learn.

1469, Marriage negotiations: Throughout Zoe's teenage years, Pope Sixtus tried desperately to marry Zoe off but she rejected many potential suitors. Her first proposed marriage was to King James II of Cyprus but both of them were not fond of the idea, and the marriage was cancelled. Sixtus then thought of marrying her into the French royal family but Zoe also disliked that idea. Sixtus was at a loss until the Grand Prince of Moscow, Ivan III, showed interest in marrying Zoe which was considered an ideal proposition. This was because Pope Sixtus was interested in reuniting the western and eastern churches and he believed that with Zoe's marriage to Ivan she might convince him to convert. Marriage negotiations between Ivan and Zoe began when she was about 19 years old.

Grand Princess of Moscow 1472-1503: the marriage negotiations between Moscow and Rome lasted over three years due to the geographic distance between Rome and Moscow.

On 11 February 1469, a delegation led by Cardinal Bessarion arrived in Moscow with the formal proposal of marriage between Zoe and the Grand Prince. Ivan III consulted his mother, Maria of Borovsk, the Metropolitan Philip and his boyars, and received a positive response.

In 1469 Ivan Fryazin, was sent to the Roman court to engage in the proper negotiations for the match. According to the chronicles, he was sent back to Moscow with a portrait of the princess that "caused an extreme surprise in the court". (Unfortunately, this portrait was not preserved, however it was likely painted by one of the painters at the papal court at that time: Pietro Perugino, Melozzo da Forlì or Pedro Berruguete). The Pope received the Russian Ambassador with great honors.

On 16 January 1472, Fryazin was sent again to Rome. He arrived there on 23 May, after a journey of more than four months.

On 1 June 1472, at St. Peter's Basilica, the marriage took place. Grand Prince Ivan III was not present: Fryazin was his proxy. Among the guests at the ceremony were Clarice Orsini (wife of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ruler of Florence) and Queen Catherine of Bosnia. As a dowry, Zoe received 6,000 ducats.

On 24 June 1472, Sophia and Fryazin, left Rome with a grand entourage. The bride was accompanied by Cardinal Bessarion, who was able to act as an agent at the Moscow court. Legend says that Zoe's dowry included books that became the basis of the famous library of Ivan the Terrible. Their itinerary took them to the north of Italy through Germany to the port of Lübeck, where they arrived on 1 September. The voyage across the Baltic Sea took 11 days. The ship landed in Reval (now Tallinn) in October 1472, and she continued the trip through Dorpat (now Tartu), Pskov, and Novgorod. She was officially acclaimed in Pskov, and impressed onlookers by the way she thanked the public herself for the celebrations. On the 12th of November 1472, Zoe finally arrived in Moscow.

Zoe married Ivan on the 12th of November 1472, the bride was 23 and the groom was 32. Ivan allowed Zoe more freedom than your average Grand Princess. She was allowed to participate in politics and didn't have to stay confined to the palace. Zoe also brought the style of the Byzantine Empire to Moscow by having Greek artists come and beautify the city. Additionally, Zoe and Ivan's marriage turned out to be a love match as Ivan became extremely fond of his wife and adored the children they had together. It was even once said by one of Ivan's minsters that his excessive attachment to his wife and children would be his destruction. From the year 1474 to 1490 Zoe gave birth to eleven children, six daughters and five sons although she would lose three of her children before they reached adulthood. There is a legend associated with the birth of Sophia's eldest son, the future Vasily III, during one of her pious trips to Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, the Grand Princess had a vision of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, who "presented her the long-waited son between his arms."

A True Game of Thrones: Even though Ivan was pleased with the heirs Zoe had given him, Ivan's dynasty had been secure for years before they got married due to the son he had with his first wife. The first born was also named Ivan. Additionally, Ivan the Young ended up having a son named Dimitri some years later. However, Zoe was extremely ambitious for her children especially her son Vasili and she wanted him on the throne instead of Ivan's older son. In 1490, Ivan the Young became ill with gout. Zoe wrote to a Venetian doctor called Leon, who arrogantly promised Ivan III that he could cure the heir to the throne. All efforts failed, and on 7 March 1490, Ivan the Young died. The doctor was executed, and in Moscow, rumors spread that Zoe had purposely killed him but no one can be sure whether she did have him killed. After the death of Ivan the Young, his son Dimitri was named heir. Seven years later, Zoe and her son would be implicated in an alleged plot to have Dimitri killed which ended with them banished from 1497-1502. However, in 1502 Ivan very suddenly changed his mind and had Zoe and Vasili brought back and sent Dimitri and his mother to prison to die. No one know what caused Ivan III to change his mind, but it is assumed it was a serious offense.

7th of April 1503: Zoe dies of an unknown illness in Moscow, her husband follows her to the grave two years later and her son Vasili succeeded as Vasili III of Moscow continuing his father's vision of Moscow as the third Rome. Vasili's second wife gave birth to the infamous Ivan the Terrible who it was said inherited many of his shrewd qualities from his grandmother, the last princess of the Byzantine empire.