Tsaritsa

By engaging in public pilgrimages to the shrines of these saints, the tsaritsy were acting as symbolic extensions of their royal husbands through their exercise of charity and justice along the pilgrimage path.

Portraying the tsaritsy as exemplars of Muscovite femininity and consorts of powerful tsars did not increase the powers granted them by custom.

On the one hand, the tsar’s wife (tsaritsa), sisters, and daughters (tsarevny) were players in court politics—tsaritsy were behind-the-scenes marriage brokers; they could represent their fathers’ and brothers’ interests; […]