Andrey of Staritsa

Andrey Ivanovich (August 5, 1490 – December 11, 1537) was the youngest son of Ivan III of Russia the Great by Sophia Palaiologina of Byzantium. Since 1519, his appanages included Volokolamsk and Staritsa.

When his elder brother Vasily III ascended the throne, Andrey was just 14. Like his other brothers, he was forbidden to marry until Vasily could produce an heir. This didn't come to pass until 1530, but it was only two years later, when Vasily's second son was born, that Andrey was finally allowed to find himself a wife. Several months later, on February 2, 1533, he married a Gedyminid Princess, Euphrosinia Andreyevna Khovanskaya. Their only child, Vladimir, was born later that year.

Next month, however, Vasily died. After 40 days of mourning, Andrey applied to his widow Elena Glinskaya for extension of his demesnes. Elena denied him that favour and Andrey departed for Staritsa in anger. There he heard that his only living brother, Yury Ivanovich, had been taken to prison and died there. It is only natural that he declined Elena's emphatic invitations to visit Moscow and lived in Staritsa in seclusion for three following years. He built there a fine cathedral, which still stands.

In 1537, however, it was rumoured that Andrey was going to escape to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Upon hearing the news, Elena closed the Lithuanian border and dispatched her minion, Prince Obolensky, to seize him. Andrey escaped to Novgorod, where he persuaded local nobility to join his cause. Reluctant to appeal to arms, however, he surrendered to the mercy of Obolensky. At Moscow, he was tried and thrown into prison with all his family. He died several months later and was succeeded in Staritsa by his son Vladimir.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Andrey of Staritsa

16. Dmitriy Ivanovich Donskoy               8. Vasiliy I Dmitriyevich of Moscow                       17. Eudoxia Dmitriyevna of Suzdal               4. Vasily II Vasiliyevich of Moscow                             18. Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania               9. Sophia of Lithuania                       19. Anna               2. Ivan III Vasilevich of Moscow                                   20. Vladimir Andreievich, Prince of Sierpukhov and Bobrovsk               10. Yaroslav Vladimirovich, Prince of Serpukhov, Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets                       21. Elena of Lithuania               5. Maria Yaroslavna of Bobrovsk                             22. Feodor "Koshka" Goltiayev               11. Maria Feodorovna Goltiayeva                       1. Andrey of Staritsa                                         24. John V Palaiologos               12. Manuel II Palaiologos                       25. Helena Kantakouzene               6. Thomas Palaiologos                             26. Constantine Dragaš               13. Helena Dragaš                       3. Zoe Palaiologina                                   28. Andronikos Asen Zaccaria               14. Centurione II Zaccaria                       29. Daughter of Erard III Le Maure, Baron of Arcadia               7. Catherine Zaccaria                             30. Leonardo II Tocco               15. Creusa Tocco

This article incorporates material from the public domain 1906 Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.