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Yelena Glinskaya

Elena Glinskaya
Grand Princess consort of Moscow
Regent of Moscow/Russia
Glinskaya reconstruction.jpg
Grand Princess consort of Moscow
Tenure 1526–1538
Born c. 1510
Died 4 April [O.S. 13 April] 1538
Burial Ascension Convent, Kolomenskoye
Archangel Cathedral, Kremlin (1929)
Spouse Vasili III of Russia
Issue Ivan Vasilyevich
Yuri Vasilevich
Clan by birth
House by marriage
House of Glinski
House of Rurik
Father Vasili Lvovich Glinsky
Mother Princess Ana Jakšić
Religion Eastern Orthodox

Elena Vasilyevna Glinskaya (Russian: Елена Васильевна Глинская ; c. 1510 – 4 (13) April 1538, Moscow) was the second wife of Grand Prince Vasili III and regent of Russia for 5 years (1533–38).

Elena was a daughter of Prince Vasili Lvovich Glinsky and Serb Princess Ana Jakšić. It is to her powerful uncle, Prince Mikhail Glinsky, that the family owed its distinction. In 1525, Vasili III resolved to divorce his barren wife, Solomoniya Saburova, and marry Elena. According to the chronicles, he chose Elena "because of the beauty of her face and her young age." They were married on 21 January 1526.

Despite strong opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church, the divorce was effected, and Elena gave birth to Ivan (future Ivan IV the Terrible) in 1530 and Yuri (future prince of Uglich) in 1532. It was later rumoured, that Elena brought witches from Finland and people of the Sami to help her conceive by the help of magic On his deathbed, Vasili III transferred his powers to Elena Glinskaya until his oldest son Ivan, who was only three at the time, was mature enough to rule the country. The chronicles of those times do not provide any more or less precise information on Elena's legal status after Vasili's death. All that is known is that it could be defined as regency and that the boyars had to report to her. That is why the time between Vasili's death on 3 December 1533 and her own demise in 1538 is called the reign of Elena.


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