Maria Temryukovna

Maria Temryukovna (born Kucheney; ; ; – 1 September 1569) was the tsaritsa of all Russia from 1561 until her death as the second wife of Ivan the Terrible, the tsar of all Russia. Life The daughter of Temryuk of Kabardia, Maria (originally named Qochenay bint Teymour (Кученей) before her baptism) was presented to Ivan in Moscow after the death of his first wife Anastasia Romanovna. Russian folklore tells of how Ivan's first wife, before dying, warned him not to take a pagan as a wife. Ivan was so smitten by Maria's beauty, that he decided to marry her immediately. On 21 August 1561, they married, four days before Ivan's 31st birthday. The marriage took place after the marriage negotiations between Ivan and Catherine Jagiellon stranded. Ivan soon came to regret the decision to marry her, on account of his new wife being viewed as illiterate and vindictive. She never fully integrated to the Muscovite way of life, and was considered a poor stepmother to Ivan's two sons Ivan and Feodor. She gave birth to a son named Vasili, named after her father-in-law on 21 March 1563, though he died on 3 May that same year. Maria was generally hated by her subjects, who believed her to be manipulative and witch-like in her behaviour. Some sources claim it was she who first incited her husband to form the oprichniki.