It is currently accepted that her surname was Shestova (Шестова; rather than Shastunova, as was previously believed) and that her grandfather was Timofey Gryaznoy, a rich landowner from Uglich.
During Boris Godunov's repression of the Romanovs, she was forced to take the veil, changing her name to Martha (Russian: Марфа).
It was there that the ambassadors arrived to inform Mikhail about his election to the Russian throne in 1613.
As the previous tsars had been either killed or disgraced, Martha at first declined to bless her son and let him go to Moscow.
She placed her relatives, the Saltykovs, at important posts in the government, leading to widespread corruption.