The Etymology of the Word Tsar, Princess Zoe, Zachariah the Jew and the Worst Political Move in Papal History

So I am hearing about all the “Tsars” in the Obama administration, what’s with the name and the authoritarian implications?

Let’s start from the pivotal time in history. Thomas Palaiologina (1409-1465) was a brother of the last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI (slaughtered by the Turks after the conquest of Constantinople). Thomas Palaiologina technically ruled over the Greek province of Morea and had the tile of “Despot” (not a bad name in those days). Thomas was eventually kicked out of Morea by the Turks and with his family found a refuge in the Papal Rome. He even converted to the Catholicism before his death. Zoe Palaiologina (1455-1503) was the daughter of the Despot Thomas. The Byzantine royal orphans, Zoe and her brothers, were looked after by the Pope Paul II.

Russia, at the time under the rule of Ivan III (Ivan the Great, 1440-1505), was emerging as a superpower. The Pope had a brilliant idea that proved to be the worst political move ever. In hope of bringing about the reunification of the Russian and the Catholic Churches, he sent Zoe Palaiologina to the widower Ivan III as a bride, together with the Cardinal Johannes Bessarion as a persuader. Ivan took Zoe as his wife and promptly discharged the Cardinal back to the Eternal City (Popes should stay the heck away from the matchmaking business).

Zoe, who changed her name to Sophia while in Rome (Софья (Зоя) Палеолог), had an enormous influence on her husband and on the entire Mother Russia. She initiated Ivan III into the ceremonies and traditions of the Byzantine, more importantly she told him to have fewer consultations with his “parliament” of boyars. Zoe planted in Ivan’s head the idea of Russia as the Third Rome. This was the time when the Russian kings re-branded themselves as Tsars (Csar), a corruption of Caesar. Caesar was originally just the last name of Julius Caesar (ironically caesar being the Latin for hairy) but it became a royal title in the late Roman and Byzantine empires. The name Tsar in Kremlin was intended to solidify the symbolism of Russia as the Third Rome (same as the future German imperial Kaisar). The Double Headed Eagle, the ancient Byzantine symbol, was then introduced as the state seal.

Ivan III groomed his grandson from his first marriage Dmitry to succeed him as the king. Zoe outmaneuvered Dmitry, convinced Ivan III to install their son Vassily as the Tsar (and had Dmitry and his mother imprisoned). Now, Vassily’s future son was the infamous Ivan the Terrible who was, if are you still following, the grandson of the Byzantine princess raised by the Pope.

At the time in Russia there was the Sect of Skhariya the Jew. Zacharia ben Ahron ha-Cohen from Lithuania was a scholar and translator of scripture who moved to Kiev and then to Novgorod (1470), he was successful in preaching Judaic religious and political concepts to the prominent church authorities and the feudal lords. His sect (Жидовствующие) had powerful patrons including the presumed future king Dmitry and even had the ear of Ivan the Great. (“…this heretical movement spread over Moscow. In 1480, even Ivan III himself invited a few prominent sectarians to visit the city. The Grand Prince’s seemingly strange behavior could be explained by the fact that he had greatly sympathized with heretics’ ideas of secularization and the struggle against feudal division. Thus, the Judaizers enjoyed the support of high-ranking officials, statesmen, merchants”). With the loss of protection from Dmitry, after Vassily’s succession, the Judaic sect was dismantled and some of the heretics burned at the stake (this incidentally might be a factor in the institutionalized monarchical antisemitism in Russia). It’s entirely in the realm of possibility, that if not for the intervention of the Pope’s gift of Zoe, Russia under Dmitry would have become a Judaic state (like the Khazars). Instead, contrary to the Papal political interests, the Great Matriarchy was strengthened as the ideological center of the Greek Orthodoxy and carried on the traditions of the fallen Byzantine Empire.

Back to the New World and the etymological somersault of the term Tsar in America, specifically the executive appointment of a “Drug Tsar” during the Reagan administration (1982). Naturally it made the perfect sense with Russia officially still “the evil empire”. And of course the logical “King” title is historically inappropriate in America. The throwback usage of the intimidating “Tsar” or “Csar” is understandable since the Ceasar(s) brand was relaunched in America as a casino chain, not to mention the crunchy salad that smells of garlic and the Parmesan cheese. The Ceasar(s) American undertone alludes to the hedonistic Rome, inviting the getaway good times and the carnival debauchery, rather than the overtone of the Tsarist, Kremlin-like domination. And the “Tsar” trademark is pretty safe, never to be confused with a salad. It’s like – “Can I have a little “Ivan the Terrible” with extra onions, cucumbers and the Italian dressing on the side?”  Don’t think this will catch on.

Further Reading:
St.Basil and Vasily III

1961 Graduating Class of the 22nd Party Congress in Moscow

Al-Farabi’s Al-lugha and the Post-Babylon Byzantine

Tagged as: byzantine, etymology, history, politics, rome, russia