Grand Duchess Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya ruled the Russian state from 1533. The ruler was not popular with either the people or the boyars. Known for financial reform and the end of the Russo-Lithuanian war.

Childhood and youth

Princess Elena was born in the family of Vasily Lvovich Glinsky (nicknamed "Dark") and Anna Yakshich in 1508. The exact date of birth is not preserved in the annals. Glinskaya's uncle on his father's side was a major government official in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but after the rebellion he fled to Moscow with his whole family. Legends say that the Glinsky family originates from.

The girl grew up as a stately red-haired beauty. She studied languages, the political structure of the country, painting and art. In 1526, Elena became the bride and wife of the Russian Grand Duke, who divorced his first wife because of her infertility.

Governing body

In 1533, Elena Glinskaya became a widow and made a revolution in the country. The princess took power from everyone whom her husband had appointed regents before his death. He ordered his wife to protect the state until his eldest son grows up, but he did not entrust power to a woman.

Elena banned the purchase of land from service people and increased control over the monastic lands. So the princess decided to fight dishonest boyars who wanted to increase their territories at any cost. Glinskaya waged a tough fight against the princes and boyars, who were against the central government. The woman wanted to give her son a calm, submissive and prosperous country.

The main assistant to Elena Vasilievna was Prince Ivan Fedorovich Ovchina Telepnev-Obolensky. There were rumors that they had an affair, despite the fact that the man was married to the daughter of Prince Osip Andreevich Dorogobuzhsky.

Prince Ivan Fedorovich could easily influence Elena, and therefore all the affairs of the Russian state. The subjects were dissatisfied with the arrogant behavior of the favorite, the fact that he did not hide his status.

Elena Vasilievna was strict with those who allowed themselves to publicly speak out badly in the direction of the ruling princess or Prince Ivan Fedorovich. They were punished. So Glinskaya put her uncle Mikhail Glinsky behind bars. He went to prison after the woman found out that Mikhail was talking about Telepnev-Obolensky. There my uncle died of starvation.

In 1537, Elena Glinskaya concluded a peace treaty with the Polish king Sigismund I. Favorable conditions for the country it has achieved with the help of a professional and cohesive army. The king understood that this was the best that he would get from this war, which devastated the treasury of Poland.

During the reign of the princess, many defensive structures. One of them is the Kitaigorod wall. It was built in three years in order to protect Moscow from raids. Crimean Tatars. To our time, the wall has not survived.

The most important of the reforms of Princess Glinskaya is the monetary one. Elena Glinskaya introduced a single monetary currency on the territory of the Russian state - a silver coin weighing 0.34 g. One quarter of this coin was called a "polushka". The Grand Duke was minted on the coin on horseback and with a spear in his hands. All counterfeit coins were confiscated and melted down into original ones. This reform has made a significant contribution to strengthening the country's economy.

Elena was in power for a short time (five years), but managed to lay the foundation for the reign of her son Ivan. So, the woman began lip reform. She ordered the lands to be taken away from the governors and transferred to the labial elders and "beloved heads" who were subordinate to the Boyar Duma.

All these years, the growing Ivan the Terrible watched the reign of his mother and drew his own conclusions. The boy was raised by his grandmother Anna Yakshich. Looking at the struggle for power between the boyar families and the boyar rule itself, Ivan became cruel, harsh and secretive. He understood that such feuds lead to the decline of the state and theft from the treasury.

Ivan was the only contender for the throne, since his father himself, before his death, gave him the "scepter of great Russia." The second son of Elena and Vasily Ivanovich was deaf and dumb and "simple in mind", as they say in the surviving annals. He did not compete with his brother in the struggle for power.

Death

Princess Elena Glinskaya died on April 4, 1538. Some historians claim that there is evidence that the Shuisky boyars poisoned the woman. Studies conducted centuries after the death of the princess indicate the presence of rat poison in the body. However, this version is not considered the main one, because in those days mercury was often used for the production of cosmetics, which could cause death. Elena constantly emphasized her beauty, including a thick layer of cosmetics.

The ruler of the Russian state was buried in the Kremlin, in Voznesensky convent. After her death, the remains were collected dozens of times by scientists in order to learn more about the princess. A portrait of a woman was drawn from the bones of her skull.

If at the beginning of the reign, the citizens of the country treated the foreigner who seized power with caution, then five years later they fell in love with her. They noted the strengthening of the protection of state borders, financial stability and the weakening of the power of the boyars.

Memory

• 1945 - The film "Ivan the Terrible"
• 1999 - Reconstruction appearance Elena Glinskaya
• 2009 - TV series "Ivan the Terrible"

Elena the Terrible (1508-1538)

Grand Duchess Elena Glinskaya, whose life spanned the short span of years (1508-1538), is mostly remembered as the mother of Ivan the Terrible. Meanwhile, she was already an extraordinary woman - for example, Mikhail Lomonosov noted that Elena Glinskaya showed herself to be a skillful and wise ruler ...

Ivan IV's mother reformed Russia?

Photo: Elena Glinskaya - short biography

The Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III was married by his first marriage to Solomonia Saburova. The choice of wife was taken seriously - a census of brides was announced. 500 girls were delivered to the court.

The "wrong" wife

They are being looked at. And, according to an informed foreigner, "with such thoroughness that it is allowed to feel and explore even more intimate." True, it is not the groom who is groping, but his confidants.

No matter how much they felt, they still miscalculated. The marriage was childless. They lived together for 20 years, but no children.

According to the chronicler, Vasily III began to cry. Who does he say I look like? It does not look like birds, for they are prolific. And it does not look like animals, for they are prolific. And it does not look like the earth, for it is fruitful.

The boyars understood that in this way the prince could list for a hundred years who he does not look like, and they said: "The barren fig tree is cut down and removed from the grapes."

The clergy naturally opposed divorce. Then Vasily opened a criminal case against his wife. On charges of witchcraft. She, they say, sprinkled charmed water on his "ports".

Solomonia was ordered to take the veil as a nun. She did not want. A certain Ivan Shigona slapped her on the face. Solomonia asked on whose orders he was beating her. “By order of the sovereign,” Shigona answered. A week later she was sheared, and Shigona made a dizzying career.

Basil III took as his wife Elena Glinskaya. Quite a strange choice. Glinsky - princes from Lithuania, although they came from the Tatars. Elena's uncle - Mikhail Glinsky - is an outstanding adventurer. He lived in Europe for a long time and served everyone there. Then he quarreled with King Sigismund and revolted. Fled to Moscow.

Here he was promised to give Smolensk as a fiefdom, but they did not. Glinsky went over to the side of Sigismund. He was caught and put in jail. Of the 20 years he spent in Russia, he spent 13 in prison.

When Glinsky fled to Moscow, he took his niece Elena with him. On it, Vasily III stopped his choice. On the one hand, she was a foreigner. In addition, from the family of the "enemy of the people." On the other hand, the girl was sweet and unusual, because she was brought up in a European way.

Beard for love

Vasily III fell in love with his wife. At the time of the wedding, Vasily was 47 years old, and the beautiful Elena was 18. No wonder the chronicler says bluntly that the sovereign was seduced by the beauty of her face and figure (he married "beauty for the sake of her face and the goodness of her age"). And for her sake, he did the unheard of - he shaved off his beard. Such victims Moscow princes have not yet been brought.

No wonder the Belozersky monks called this marriage fornication. 4 years after the wedding, Elena and Vasily had an heir, the future Tsar of All Russia Ivan IV. Now Vasily III at once became like a bird, and an animal, and the earth - for they are prolific.

But he did not allow his wife to go to state affairs. And then he died altogether. And before his death, he appointed guardians over his young son Ivan, the future Terrible. Among the guardians leading role played by Mikhail Glinsky and Andrei Staritsky, younger brother Basil III.

The caregivers had enough to do. Vasily III had another brother - Yuri. Everyone thought that he would raise a rebellion, so that, as they say, he himself reigns and all the children rule. So he was captured and put in jail. Where, after 2 years, he died "a suffering death, smooth need."

Order in connection with this has not increased. “The boyars there almost cut each other with knives,” Polish observers reported. The prince opposed the guardians Ivan Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky. He was a talented commander and favorite of Elena Glinskaya. It was rumored that it was Ovchina who was the real father of Ivan the Terrible, but this is unlikely.

Elena had to choose between the favorite and her uncle, Mikhail Glinsky. She, of course, chose a favorite. And my uncle was put in jail and killed.

But there was still Andrei Staritsky, the beloved brother of the late sovereign. He retired to Staritsa and waited for disgrace. All the while demonstrating loyalty. He sent all his troops to the sovereign service in Moscow.

Well, a fool, - Elena and Sheepskin reasoned. And they moved the troops to Staritsa.

Andrew fled to Novgorod. On the way, he could have escaped to Lithuania, but he decided to rebel against the usurpers of Novgorod - Elena and Ovchina. Of course, without success.

Andrew was promised forgiveness. He believed and showed up in Moscow, where he was "imprisoned to death." They put some kind of “iron hat” on him. Probably something like French "iron mask". In general, for six months he was killed.

sole throne

Elena Glinskaya became the sole ruler. Naturally, together with Sheepskin. For 4 years, she even did something useful. Say, introduced a single coin for the whole country - a penny.

The Novgorod money was taken as a sample, on which a horseman with a spear was depicted. On the Moscow coin - "saber" - the rider was with a saber. Note that we settled on the Novgorod money. Because Moscow is always of poor quality. But for some reason Moscow always wins.

And in general, Elena had a strong character, she knew how to win. So, the king of Poland and Grand Duke Lithuanian Sigismund I was deceived in his calculations on internal unrest and impotence of a state led by a woman: in 1534 he started a war against Russia and lost it.

Elena achieved from Sigismund a peace favorable to the Muscovite state (according to the truce of 1536-1537, Chernigov and Starodub lands remained part of Muscovy, and Gomel and Lyubech remained with historical Lithuania). In turn, Elena ordered Sweden not to help Livonian order and Lithuania.

In 1538, 30-year-old Elena died. Perhaps she was poisoned. Sheepskin, of course, did not fare well: "... killing him with smoothness and burden of iron, and exiling his sister Agrafena to Kargopol and there she was tonsured in blueberries."

The boyars rejoiced. But not for very long. Until you grow up Ivan the Terrible. Who, of course, was a great reformer. Before him, the political process was of some kind of sluggish nature - they imprisoned and starved to death. Grozny gave the process dynamism. Immediately executed, without unnecessary formalities.

Guest workers of Moscow Russia

The domestic policy of Elena Glinskaya was quite active. Like Princess Olga, who founded many new settlements in the 10th century, Elena Vasilievna ordered the construction of cities on the Lithuanian borders. She restored Ustyug and Yaroslavl, and in Moscow in 1535, the builder Pyotr Fryazin laid the stone Kitaygorod wall.

During the reign of Glinskaya, an attempt was made to change the system local government, which anticipated the future reforms of Ivan IV. As a result, emigrants from other countries, seduced by the opportunity to earn money, went to Muscovy. For example, only 300 families left Lithuania.

However, the largest event domestic policy Glinskaya was the monetary reform of 1535, which led to the unification monetary circulation in the country and overcoming the consequences of fragmentation.

Studies of the remains of the princess indicate poisoning with mercury as the cause of her death. However, most Russian historians believe that Elena was not poisoned, because her son Ivan the Terrible never wrote anywhere that his mother died a violent death. And if Grozny had even the slightest suspicion of this, you can be sure that he would definitely get to the bottom of the truth.

Glinskaya rested in the Ascension Convent in the Moscow Kremlin. In the 1990s, her appearance was reconstructed. Face princesses had soft features. She was quite tall for women of that time - about 165 centimeters. In a word - a real queen!

Elena Glinskaya was born in 1508 in Serbia. Daughter of Prince Vasily Lvovich and his wife Anna. The Glinskys, known from documents since 1437, considered themselves descended from the Tatar temnik Mamai, whose grandchildren allegedly received the town of Glinsk as an inheritance.

Elena's uncle, Prince Mikhail Lvovich, was a large statesman Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the defeat of the Glinsky rebellion, he fled with his relatives to Moscow. Among the refugees was young Elena.

In 1526, Elena Glinskaya was chosen as the bride of Grand Duke Vasily III, who divorced his first wife due to her lack of children. Elena gave birth to Vasily two sons - Ivan and Yuri. She was widowed in 1533.

In December 1533, Elena Vasilyevna actually carried out a coup, removing the appointed last will her husband had seven guardians, and became the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Thus, she became the first, after Grand Duchess Olga, ruler of the unified Russian state.

As a woman not of Moscow, but rather of Lithuanian morals and upbringing, Elena Glinskaya did not enjoy the sympathy of either the boyars or the people. Elena's closest ally was her married favorite, Prince Ivan Fedorovich Ovchina Telepnev-Obolensky. This connection, and especially the arrogant behavior of the ruler's favorite, disapproved of the boyars. For expressing these sentiments, Prince Mikhail Glinsky was imprisoned by his niece. Both my uncle and my husband's two brothers died of starvation in prison.

In 1536, Elena concluded a peace favorable to Russia with the Polish king Sigismund I; Sweden was obliged not to help the Livonian Order and Lithuania. Under Elena Glinskaya, the Kitaigorod wall was built.

The most important moment in the reign of Elena Glinskaya is the monetary reform. She actually introduced a single currency in the Russian state. It was a silver money weighing 0.34 grams. This was a significant step towards stabilizing the state's economy.

Elena Vasilievna died on April 13, 1538. According to rumors, she was poisoned by the Shuiskys; data from the study of her remains indicate the alleged cause of death - poisoning. But the fact of poisoning has not yet been recognized by historians as indisputable and beyond doubt, since mercury at that time was widely used both in the manufacture of cosmetics and as a component of many medicines. She was buried in the Kremlin, in the Ascension Convent.

The reconstruction of the appearance of Elena Glinskaya, carried out on the skull, highlighted her dolichocephalic type. The face of the princess was distinguished by soft features. She was quite tall for women of that time - about 165 cm and harmoniously built. Elena had a rare anomaly: one more lumbar vertebrae. The remains of red hair were also preserved in the burial, which explains the red hair of Ivan the Terrible, which rumors erroneously attributed to his alleged illegitimacy.

During the reign of Elena Glinskaya, regent for her young son Ivan IV (the future Tsar Ivan the Terrible), an important monetary reform was carried out, which became the first centralized monetary reform in the history of the country.
Glinskaya Elena Vasilievna (c. 1508 - 1538) - Grand Duchess of Moscow, daughter of Prince Vasily Lvovich from the Lithuanian family of Glinsky and his wife Anna Yakshich. In 1526 she became the wife of Grand Duke Vasily III, divorced from his first wife, and bore him two sons, Ivan and Yuri.
After the death of her husband in December 1533, Elena Vasilievna made a coup, removing from power the guardians (regents) appointed by her husband's last will and became the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Thus, she became the first ruler of the Russian state after Grand Duchess Olga (as a regency) 1533-1538.

The niece of the Lithuanian magnate Mikhail Lvovich Glinsky, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vasily Lvovich Glinsky-Blind and Princess Anna, Elena was married to the 45-year-old Tsar Vasily III after his divorce in November 1525 from the allegedly barren first wife Solomonia from the ancient Saburov family.

Compared with Solomonia, she was known in the eyes of the Moscow boyars as “rootless”. The choice of the tsar was also considered unsuccessful because Elena's uncle was at that time in a Russian prison for treason (an attempt to surrender Smolensk to Lithuania when he considered that the tsar did not reward him enough). However, Elena was beautiful and young (the tsar chose “beautifulness for the sake of her face and the goodness of her age, and especially for the sake of chastity”), brought up in a European way: the sources preserved the news that the tsar, wanting to please his wife, “put a razor on his beard”, changed the traditional Moscow attire for a fashionable Polish kuntush and began to wear red morocco boots with turned up toes. All this was seen by contemporaries as a violation of age-old Russian traditions; the tsar's new wife was blamed for the violations.

The marriage of Elena and Vasily III was started with one goal: to new wife could give birth to an heir, to whom the Moscow “table” should have been transferred. However, Elena and Vasily did not have children for a long time. Contemporaries explained this by the fact that the king "was burdened with the vile vice of his father and ... felt disgust for women, respectively, transferring his voluptuousness to the other [sex]."
The long-awaited child - the future Ivan the Terrible - was born only on August 25, 1530.

In honor of the fact that Elena was able to give birth to an heir, Vasily III ordered the Church of the Ascension to be laid in the village of Kolomenskoye near Moscow. In November 1531, Elena gave birth to her second son, Yuri, sickly, weak-minded (according to A.M. Kurbsky, he was “mad, without memory and dumb”, that is, deaf and mute). There were rumors in the city that both children were not the children of the Tsar and the Grand Duke, but of Elena's "heart friend" - Prince Ivan Fedorovich Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky.

Ivan Fedorovich Ovchina Telepnev-Obolensky (? - 1539) - prince, boyar (since 1534), then groom and governor in the reign of Vasily III Ivanovich and Ivan IV Vasilyevich. Favorite of Elena Vasilievna Glinskaya, second wife of Grand Duke Vasily III. Enjoyed great influence on Elena, and as a result, on state affairs.
Son of Prince Fyodor Vasilievich Telepnya-Obolensky.

According to the historian of the era of Ivan the Terrible, Ruslan Skrynnikov, Prince Ivan Fedorovich, who was granted the high rank of equestrian by Vasily III for military merits, became in fact the head of the Boyar Duma. But, dying, Vasily III did not include him in the special guardianship (regency) council and, thus, the equerry was removed from government, which, of course, offended the young commander and became the reason for rapprochement with Elena Glinskaya. The widow of Grand Duke Vasily III was born and raised in Lithuania and had a strong character, the Moscow tradition did not provide for the political significance of the widow of the deceased sovereign, then the ambitious young Grand Duchess decided on coup d'état and found the main ally in the face of a disgruntled equerry.

As a result of the coup, Elena Vasilievna became the ruler of the state. The elimination (exile or imprisonment) of the guardians-regents appointed by Vasily III also followed. The first to suffer was the eldest of the then living brother of the late Grand Duke Vasily, Yuri, the appanage prince Dmitrovsky. He was accused of calling back to his service some of the Moscow boyars and thinking of taking advantage of Ivan Vasilievich's infancy in order to seize the Grand Duke's throne. Yuri was captured and imprisoned, where he was said to have starved to death. A relative of the Grand Duchess, Mikhail Glinsky, was also captured and died in prison. Ivan Fedorovich Belsky and Ivan Mikhailovich Vorotynsky were imprisoned. Prince Semyon Belsky and Ivan Lyatsky fled to Lithuania.

The younger uncle of the sovereign, Prince Andrei Ivanovich Staritsky, tried to enter into a fight with Moscow. When in 1537 Elena demanded him to Moscow for a meeting on Kazan affairs, he did not go, citing illness. They did not believe him, but sent a doctor who did not find a serious illness in the prince. Seeing that his relationship with Elena was escalating, Prince Andrei Ivanovich decided to flee to Lithuania. With the army, he moved to Novgorod; some Novgorodians stuck to him. A detachment under the command of the voivode Buturlin came out against Prince Andrei from Novgorod, and from Moscow - under the command of Prince. Sheepskin-Telepnev-Obolensky.

It didn't come to a battle. Prince Andrei entered into negotiations with Ovchina-Telepnev, and the latter took an oath that if Prince. Andrey will go to confess to Moscow, then he will remain safe and sound. Ovchiny-Telepnev's oath was violated: he was declared feigned disgrace for arbitrarily given a promise, and Prince Andrei was sent into exile, where he died a few months later. Sigismund I thought to take advantage of the infancy of Ivan IV in order to regain the Smolensk region.

His troops were at first successful, but then the advantage went over to the side of the Russians; their advanced detachments under the command of Ivan Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky reached Vilna. In 1537 a five-year truce was signed. At the end of the reign of Elena Glinskaya, Ovchin-Telepnev-Obolensky was the most important adviser to the ruler and continued to bear the title of equerry.

On April 3, 1538, the ruler Elena Vasilievna died suddenly. On the seventh day after her death, Telepnev-Ovchina-Obolensky and his sister Agrafena were captured. Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky died in prison from lack of food and the severity of the chains, and his sister was exiled to Kargopol and tonsured a nun. The stableman was overthrown by one of the regents - Prince Vasily Shuisky-Nemoy, an old and experienced commander, who, with the rank of Moscow governor, took the vacant position of the actual ruler of the state.
In 1533 Vasily III died. His last will was to transfer the throne to his son, and he ordered “to his wife Olena with the boyar council” to “keep the state under his son” Ivan until he matured. The real power in the state was in the hands of Glinskaya as a regent. A strong temper and ambition helped her to defend her position, despite several boyar conspiracies aimed at overthrowing her. During her reign, a significant role in public affairs continued to play her favorite - Prince. I.F. Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky and Metropolitan Daniel (a student of Joseph Volotsky, a fighter against non-possessors), who sanctioned the divorce of Vasily III from the childless Solomonia Saburova.
Glinskaya's foreign policy as regent was firm and consistent. In 1534 the Lithuanian king Sigismund started a war against Russia, attacked Smolensk, but lost. According to the armistice of 1536–1537, Chernigov and Starodub lands were assigned to Moscow, although Gomel and Lyubech remained with Lithuania. In 1537 Russia concluded an agreement with Sweden on free trade and benevolent neutrality.
During the reign of Glinskaya, successful fight against the growth of monastic landownership, a lot was done to strengthen the centralization of power: in December 1533, the inheritance of Prince Yuri Ivanovich of Dmitrov was liquidated, in 1537 - the inheritance of Prince Andrei Ivanovich, the conspiracies of Princes Andrei Shuisky and the uncle of the ruler Mikhail Glinsky, who claimed first places in the state management. Uncle, Mikhail Glinsky, was imprisoned for dissatisfaction with her favorite Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky.
She did not enjoy the sympathy of either the boyars or the people as a woman not of Moscow, but rather of European morals and upbringing.
However, in the five years of her regency, Elena Glinskaya managed to do as much as not every male ruler manages to accomplish during the entire period of his reign.

The Glinskaya government was constantly engaged in intricate intrigues in the field of international diplomacy, trying to gain the "top" in rivalry with the Kazan and Crimean khans, who felt like masters on Russian soil half a century ago. Princess Elena Vasilievna herself negotiated and, on the advice of loyal boyars, made decisions.
In 1537, thanks to her far-sighted plans, Russia concluded an agreement with Sweden on free trade and benevolent neutrality.

The domestic policy of Elena Glinskaya was also very active.
Reflecting the actions of the feudal authorities, maneuvering between various groups of feudal lords, the government of Elena Glinskaya continued to pursue a course towards strengthening the grand ducal power. It limited the tax and judicial privileges of the church, put under its control the growth of monastic agriculture, and forbade buying land from serving nobles.

During the reign of Glinskaya, the reorganization of local government(“lip reform”): Elena ordered that cases be removed from the jurisdiction of the governors and transferred to the labial elders and “beloved heads” subordinate to the Boyar Duma, since the governors, as she was reported, were “fierce, like a lion.” Introduced labial (lip - administrative District) diplomas.
In addition, the government of Elena Glinskaya is taking measures to strengthen the army, build new and reorganize old fortresses. This largely anticipated the future reforms of Glinskaya's son, Ivan the Terrible.

Like Princess Olga, who founded in the tenth century. many new settlements, Elena Vasilievna ordered the construction of cities on the Lithuanian borders, the restoration of Ustyug and Yaroslavl, and in Moscow in 1535 Kitay-gorod was founded by the builder Peter Maly Fryazin.

Emigrants from other countries reached out to wealthy Muscovy; 300 families left Lithuania alone.
From 1536, on the orders of Glinskaya, they began to rebuild and fortify the cities of Vladimir, Tver, Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kostroma, Pronsk, Balakhna, Starodub, and later - Lyubim and cities on the western borders (protection from Lithuanian troops), southern (from the Crimean Tatars) and eastern ( from the Kazan Tatars: in particular, the cities of Temnikov and Buigorod were founded).

One of the most significant events in the economic and political development of the Russian state was the monetary reform of 1535, which eliminated the rights of specific princes to mint their own coins. The reform led to the unification of monetary circulation in the country, as it introduced a single monetary system for the entire state. It was based on a silver ruble, equal to 100 kopecks.

Under Elena Glinskaya, the main and most common monetary unit of Muscovite Rus became precisely the “penny” - a coin with the image of a horseman (according to some sources - George the Victorious, according to others - the Grand Duke, but not with a sword, as before, but with a spear, hence the name of the coin). This was a silver penny weighing 0.68 g; one fourth of a penny is a penny.
This was a significant step towards stabilizing the Russian economy. The monetary reform of Glinskaya completed the political unification of the Russian lands and in many ways contributed to their more intensive development, as it contributed to the revival of the economy.
Elena Glinskaya opened wide prospects. She was young, energetic, full of ideas...

But on the night of April 3-4, 1538, Elena Glinskaya died suddenly (according to some sources, she was only thirty years old, however exact date birth is unknown, so her age is also unknown). The chronicles do not mention her death. Foreign travelers (for example, S. Herberstein) left messages that she was poisoned.

(1508-1538) - Russian princess, wife of Grand Duke Vasily III.

Brief biography of E. Glinskaya

E. Glinskaya was from a noble family of the descendants of Khan Mamai, who fled to Lithuania and took the city of Glinsk as their inheritance. Her father is the Grand Duke of Lithuania Glinsky-Blind Vasily Ivanovich. Elena was the second wife, gave birth to two children: Ivan and Yuri (he was "not far off" and deaf-mute). Dying, Vasily blessed Ivan for the kingdom, and ordered Elena to be regent until her son matured.

The main stages and activities of E. Glinskaya

After the death of her husband, in 1533 - 1538, Elena became regent under little son(later Grozny). During her reign, an important role in the affairs of the state was played by her assistants: Metropolitan Daniel and Prince I.F. Telepnev-Sheepskin.

The most important achievements of the rule of E. Glinskaya:

• Stabilization of relations with countries such as Sweden and Poland;
• Strengthening cities on the western borders;
• Successful resistance to the boyars and princes who opposed the centralization of power;
• The monetary reform of 1535, which regulated the circulation of coins in the country;
• Construction of new cities and fortresses;
• Struggle against the growth of monastic landholdings.

• Elena was a woman of amazing beauty, cheerful character and excellent education. She spoke several languages ​​(Polish, German and Latin). All these advantages "turned the head" to Prince Vasily, he was very passionate about his young wife.
• The boyars did not like E. Glinskaya for her dismissive attitude towards antiquity, secretly called her "evil sorceress." Glinskaya was able to uncover several conspiracies of the boyars, the purpose of which was to overthrow her and, thus, stay on the throne.
• In the last period of her life, Elena Vasilievna was often ill and went to monasteries on a pilgrimage. The woman's death was most likely natural. True, there were rumors about poisoning her with poison, but this fact has not been verified.
• Behind little time of her reign (only 5 years), E.V. Glinskaya was able to accomplish so many things that not every male ruler manages to do in decades.