The year 1704 was when Hetman Ivan Mazepa reached the peak of his power. In the fall of his life, being 65-year-old, he suddenly fell in love with an extremely beautiful girl, Motria, daughter of the General Judge of the Zaporozhian Cossacks Vasyl Kochubei.
MAZEPA WAS A MASTERFUL SEDUCER
Why did young and beautiful Motria catch the hetman’s eye? It was not, by far, about beauty. She was noble and obstinate. Smart, sharp-tongued, quick in thoughts and deeds, the resolute girl easily won over the man, so versed in love affairs. But Motrona, too, could not resist the striking power of hetman’s charm. Ivan Mazepa’s contemporaries frequently mentioned that he was a masterful seducer. France’s ambassador Marquis de Bonnac wrote in a letter: “As far as I know, Hetman Mazepa, aside other qualities, easily attracts women by his charm whenever his wants it.”
“My beloved Motria,” says one of Mazepa’s love letters, “My heart, I’m sending a bow to your Grace, begging to accept with gratitude my presents, a book and a diamond ring, and preserve your love for me, until if God please I send you something better, and so far I kiss your coral lips, white hands and your whole white body, my sweet love.”
Who would not be fascinated by these sweet words and precious presents sent by the powerful ruler of Cossack Ukraine?
Mykhailo Slaboshpytsky mentioned that Ivan Mazepa was a man of many talents. A statesman, a refined diplomat, a great bibliophile versed in many languages and cultures, a wonderful musician and an outstanding poet, all things being harmoniously combined. It was impossible not to fall in love with such a person, especially for an exalted young woman who not only sought the pleasures of love, but possibly power as well.
MOTRIA CAME TO MAZEPA HERSELF
The Kochubei family descended from the christened Nogai Tatar Kuchuk-bei. Motria was a great granddaughter to that first Kochubei and had inherited from her ancestors hot blood, stubbornness, and ardent feelings. In 1704 the 16-year-old girl started to understand how effective her female powers were, and began to show interest in Hetman Ivan Mazepa, incidentally, her godfather. Surprisingly, the old hetman also fell wildly in love with her and even asked her to marry him, but the girl’s mother Liubov Kochubei, who ruled the family, said no.
Researcher Volodymyr Rakshanov believes that Motria and Mazepa’s feelings were so strong that the girl could not put up with her parents’ decision and fled to the palace of her beloved one night. As soon as the energetic and ambitious Liubov Kochubei learned about Motria’s escape, she forced her husband to raise an alarm at their local church. In the night an alarm bell flew over Baturyn, waking the entire Ukrainian capital. People came and Kochubei’s wife told them about her grief — that Mazepa carried off her daughter.
The hetman heard the bell too. After the servants explained what was the matter, he asked the Tsar Colonel Annanenkov, who was staying at his house, to help him prevent the girl’s good reputation from being exposed, and to send her home.
Motria cried and begged Mazepa not to send her off. But he could not do otherwise, because he found himself in too a complicated situation. Had Mazepa taken Motria to his house, not only Kochubeis would have broken with him, but the entire Cossack nobility, church and people. Later the hetman tried to explain to the girl why he did so, but offended Motria did not want to hear anything. “I am so sad to learn from your servant that you are vexed with me, because I did not keep your Grace in my house and sent you back to your parents. But think a bit yourself what the results would have been,” Mazepa wrote to his beloved one, “First of all, your parents would have spread the story that I had carried off their daughter by force during the night throughout the world, and they would have claimed that I was keeping you as a mistress. Secondly, by keeping your Grace in my house, I could not have contained myself, and your Grace either, so we would have been obliged to live as a newly married couple, while the blows of the Church and its curses would have forced us to separate. I don’t know where I would be at the time, so did not want to be the reason of your Grace’s tears.”
Many contemporary researchers consider that Motria and Mazepa’s feelings were pure and their relations remained Platonic.
“AND SHE GAVE HIM HER NIGHT GOWN”
Historian Oleksandr Ohlobin assumes that there may have been a love affair between Ivan Mazepa and strong-willed Liubov Kochubei. The Kochubeis’ family legends give a plain hints.
If it’s true, according to the version thereafter developed by researcher Denys Zhuravliov, the “following political-romantic story grew extremely intense, and Liubov Kochubei acted as a bad fairy to her husband, being a cause of his death, and her own daughter’s rival, shattering her destiny mercilessly.” Incidentally, this specific motive was used by the outstanding Ukrainian film director Yurii Illienko in his film A Prayer for Hetman Mazepa.
Motria and Ivan Mazepa started to exchange letters. For a short while the loving couple exchanged letters via Motria’s servants, as well as Karp and Melashka — Mazepa’s servants. It was specifically via these envoys that Motria received a diamond ring and a book, and sent to Mazepa a strand of her hair, beads from her neck, and her night gown: this was the way ladies in medieval Europe showed their affection for their admirers.
Later Vasyl Kochubei intercepted these letters and used his daughter’s intimate correspondence in far from noble way, to denounce Mazepa. After the General Judge was arrested, Russian Chancellor Golovkin returned the letters to Mazepa, assuring that they had not been copied. In reality, the Tsar statesmen made copies of them, and in the early 19th century historian Bantysh-Kamensky found them in Moscow’s archives.
History has preserved for us twelve short letters of love written by the hetman to Motrona. Analysis of their content suggests a conclusion that the relations between the two loving people underwent gradual changes.
“My hearty love, I can see that your former feelings to me have changed — you are free to do what you like, but you will regret it later. Just recall what you sworn to me that ‘be it as it may, but our love will stay forever’ as you were leaving my stone house, when I gave a diamond ring to you, which was the best and most precious one among my jewelry.”
Under the pressure of her family, Motrona may have started to estrange herself from Mazepa, and the old hetman reminded her of her promise to love him forever. This was specifically what Motria promised to Ivan Mazepa during her first (and last) visit to hetman’s palace.
But nothing is eternal in this world: their love gradually faded away.
REVENGE ON THE OFFENDERS
Feeling that he was losing his beloved, an infuriated Mazepa openly threatened to take a cruel revenge on his foes. Nonetheless, his real feelings break through pain and anger: the hetman is sincerely envious of his own letters, which could touch the hands of his beloved and passionately dreams of meeting with her.
“My heartily beloved, sweetest and kindest Motrona, I expected death to come sooner than such a change in your heart. Recall your words and oath; recall your hands that you gave many times to me (whether you will be with me or not), telling that you would love me till the end of your days. Finally, recall our amiable talk, when you came to my house: let liars be punished by God, and I — whether you will love me or not — will keep to my word and never stop to heartily love you till the end of my days, athwart my enemies. I beg you, sweetheart, please meet with me by hook or by crook; because I will never tolerate my enemies and will take a revenge, and you will see what kind of revenge it will be. My letters are happier than my poor eyes that cannot see you, as you hold them with your hands.”
The meeting never took place, but Ivan Mazepa exacted revenge on his enemies, who had hindered his happiness. Convicting General Judge Vasyl Kochubei of betrayal, he punished him to death, and kept Motria’s mother under arrest for a long time. His love was also fading away, slowly and with difficulties, as is often the case with men. This was his last love, a light and tragic one.
Later there was the Battle of Poltava and the collapse of all of Mazepa’s political intentions. Then oblivion came. Motria never married. However, some researchers believe that back in 1707 she married a Cossak nobleman Semen Chuikevych, who was later promoted to the position of Regimental Judge in Nizhyn. This way or another, Motria ended her life as a servant of God. She became a nun of the Pushkareve Monastery, located nearby Poltava. At least such is the opinion of historian Oleksandr Lazarevsky. Later all trace of her vanishes.
