Pavel Zagrebelny’s novel “Evpraksiya” tells the story of a woman who was born to a Russian княгиня, as a teenage girl found herself in a foreign land and was given in marriage to a German margrave, and then, unexpectedly to everyone, became queen of the Holy Roman Empire—Adelheid.
But the power of authority and the brilliance of gold were never tempting for Evpraksiya, and her husband, Henry IV, and his circle, mired in vice, could not taint her pure soul. She exposed the immorality and debauchery of her husband and remained honest with everyone to the end, even though honesty and purity in those times were not easy to maintain…