"Woman plus..." Do you know that...

DO YOU KNOW THAT...

Beauty contests existed long before this century. Traditional procedures of selecting Russian sovereign's bride were surprisingly similar to those for naming miss something of nowadays. The one basic difference was that -- instead of limousines and contracts -- winners of old days were prized with royal husbands and Russian throne.

Royal marriages in old Russian state usually resulted from some political considerations. For example, Ivan III married Hellenic princess Sophia Paleolog who was a niece of the last Emperor of Byzantium. His son, Vasiliy the Dark married Lithuanian princess Elena Glinskaya.

Every now and then, however, Great Dukes of Muscovy and Sovereign Tzars of all Russia would find themselves in opportunity to marry whomever they might like with no regard given to possible political consequences of their personal choice. Whenever it happened, a genuine beauty contest would take place.

We have to mention that beauty perception in those times was shockingly different from what we have today. To illustrate, here is the portrayal of Xenia Godunova, daughter of Tzar Boris. Princess Xenia was "all white and rubicund in face, with eyes wide and black, having eyebrows in union, and her body corpulent, neither high nor low in stature, and her braids like black tubes."

Expedition parties of dyaks, okolnichies and other officials were commissioned throughout the country to search for beauties and deliver the royal order to every noble and principal: "And whoever has a virgin daughter, let him appear with her before provincial governor for appraisal, and not conceal her at home or otherwise". And he who dares conceal an unwed girl, shall fall short of Tzar's mercy and serve capital punishment.

Governors looking for possible tzar's brides, first of all, appraised girls' looks. A bride candidate had to meet criteria indicating at her good health: be corpulent, have rosy face and good stature. Stoutness was the basic standard of beauty. Being slim was synonymous to poor health. Tzar Ioann Alexeyevich, co-ruling brother of Peter the Great, made his chosen bride Praskovya Saltykova who was round-faced with babyish cheeks, tall, graceful and stout. Her hair was long, and her shoulders were rounded.

Then all girls thus selected (of most noble blood, of course) were transported to tzar's mansion. If the Tzar liked none of them, a new party of candidates would be escorted to his court, including less noble maids of Moscow, Novgorod, Ryazan, Vladimir...

After Ioann the Terrible had decided to marry for the third time, they brought to Moscow over two thousand brides, both of noble and ignoble blood, for his inspection. First, the Tzar selected two dozen, and then, a dozen candidates.

Every lady was assigned her own apartments, and day by day they assembled at dinner around one large table. Everything was provided for their amusement, while the Tzar studied them taking closer looks, listening to their conversations, asking questions, comparing them in terms of "beauty, aptness to please and quickness of mind." And sometimes tzars prefered to scrutinize bride candidates on individual basis.

Tzar Alexei Mikhailovich the Meekest made nineteen rounds of dormitories where in scenic sleeping postures ladies lay before he could make his final choice. At each bedside close relatives of brides stood on guard. Of course, girls only pretended to be asleep. How on earth can you fall asleep in moments of such importance? The Tzar slowly made his rounds taking time to review sleeping beauties. At his side, doctors made conclusions of their own to report any suspicious sign to His Majesty.

And then the final would come. Examination complete, the Tzar would announce his choice and grant his bride a scarf and a ring. Usually, a winner would have to change her name before being proclaimed the Princess and the Great Duchess. As for less lucky candidates, they would receive Tzar's generous gifts and go home.

The highest honor it was -- to become Tzar's chosen bride. No wonder that many intrigues accompanied Tzar's beauty contests. Afimya Vsevolzhskaya was a daughter of a nobleman of no royal blood; she fell unconscious right at brides' parade and thus was considered to be epileptic. Some think competing parties talked or bribed her maids into making poor girl's hair in a knot too tight. Other sources inform that she simply fainted "overwhelmed with awe and joy" as someone whispered to her ear that the Tzar had chosen her to be his wife ... Anyway, unfortunate bride and all her family were subsequently sent away to Tyumen, Siberia, for this default.

Maria Klopova fell another victim to similar mishap. She was brought to Tzar's court as a bride for Mikhail Romanov and ended in Siberian Tobolsk exile after someone reported her vomiting in her apartment. It was announced that the princess was deadly ill while, in fact, she might have simply overeaten at dinner. Punishment that followed seemed rather inappropriate. Years later clear evidence emerged that poor girl had fallen victim to a court intrigue which drove her along with her family to exile.

Like him or not, was not a question to ask girls. Winner's beauty might be rewarded with marriage not to a fabulously handsome prince, but someone like the Tzar Fedor -- maimed and sick since as a boy he had suffered under horse hoofs -- or the Tzar Ioann Alexeyevich -- "grievous in his head". Nonetheless, not a girl dared refuse tzars' proposals. After all, humiliating procedures might result in career upsurge beyond one's hope ... And then, relatives of the newly wed would have highest positions at the Royal court and all possible celebration and praise. And newly chosen bride's father would be granted a title and led in possession of best lands (which the Tzar would have taken away from some old royal or noble family).

The last Russian Tzar to pay tribute to this ancient Russian habit was Peter I the Great. But, as in everything else, he violated traditional procedures by commissioning his mother, Natalia Kirillovna, to make a final decision for him. His mother's choice was Eudokia Lopukhina, a lady "of ample face, though of medium brains and manners matching not to those of his spouse, which seemingly was the reason why all her fortune eventually left her ... However, at first they had true love for each other ... which lasted a year at most." Dying love resulted in Peter's decision to commit his first wife to a monastery and marry another woman -- this time of his own choice -- Martha Skavronskaya of squire family who would in her time become the first Russian Empress.

From then on Russian Sovereigns never turned to procedures so romantic again and limited themselves to political choices of brides coming from diverse European royalties. Soon beauty contests went into oblivion -- just to be invented anew in this century. Nothing is new under the Sun.

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