Mother and Son: Princess Maria (Euphrosyne) Fyodorovna Pozharskaya, “Senior Court Lady-in-Waiting” and Stolnik Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky

One of the earliest notable mentions of Prince D. M. Pozharsky in documents is connected with a precedence (mestnichestvo) dispute with stolnik Prince B. M. Lykov in 1602, concerning the service of their mothers as “verkhovye boyaryni” (senior court ladies-in-waiting) to Tsarina Maria Grigoryevna Godunova and Tsarevna Ksenia Borisovna. An analysis of this case, which was re-examined (but never resolved) following the petition of boyar Prince B. M. Lykov in 1609, reveals the significance of familial ties and the influence of the female segment of the courts of tsarinas and tsarevnas on the careers of their male relatives serving in the Sovereign’s court. The article will elucidate the connections between the Pozharsky family and Prince Andrei Ivanovich Gundorov, the dvoretsky (court steward) of Tsarina Maria Grigoryevna, which enabled Princess M. F. Pozharskaya to secure a position at court and allowed her son to enter service at the tsar’s court. The patronage of his mother helped Prince D. M. Pozharsky embark on a long path toward the “restoration” of his family’s status within the ruling elite at the turn of the 16th — 17th centuries.