The bride for the king. Brights in the context of the political culture of Muscovy XVI-XVII centuries

For the XVI-XVII centuries, the Russian rulers chose wives using a complex ritual known as a bride"s review. The most beautiful girls of Muscovy, belonging to the layer of a provincial nobility, were delivered to Moscow, where the trousers of the king - courtiers and boyars - evaluated their physical health, spiritual qualities, appearance and virtue. The applicants who passed the preliminary selection then appeared to the king, who made the final choice.
How did the boyars select the "right" candidates in the bride and eliminated the objectionable ones? How much did Ivan the Terrible really have? How did the brides view constructed the image of the autocracy and at the same time served as a mechanism that limits it? Answering these questions, the book of the American historian Russell Martin tells not only the boyar conspiracies, but also about the complex collective nature of monarchical power.
Russell Martin - Professor and Dean of the Faculty of History of Westminster College (USA)