Anna of the Kumans

Biography

Russian Wikipedia retrieved January 2021.

Anna Polovetskaya (died October 7, 1111 ) - Polovtsian princess, the second wife of the Grand Duke of Kiev Vsevolod Yaroslavich .

According to popular belief, she was the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan, which is not confirmed by sources, although probably from the point of view of the political situation of the late 1060s. In baptism she received the name Anna. The date of birth, the names of her parents and her Polovtsian name are unknown.

In 1068 she became the second wife (after the death of her first wife in 1067) of the Grand Duke of Kiev (from 1076) Vsevolod Yaroslavich . [4] [5]

After Vsevolod's death in 1093, she stayed in Kiev , where, apparently, she was respected by the local residents. When in 1097 her stepson Vladimir Monomakh together with the Chernigov princes besieged Prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich in Kiev, it was her and Metropolitan Nicholas who were asked by the Kievans to become mediators in negotiations between the warring parties. ChronicleShe cites the entire speech with which Anna turned to Vladimir Monomakh: “Pray, to the prince, to you and your brother, you do not want to destroy the Rus lands. Even more will you take up the army among you, the rottenness has to rejoice and disturb our land, your fathers and grandfathers like that, your fathers and grandfathers have acquired great labor and courage, sweeping across the Russian lands, and other lands to seek out. And you want to destroy the Rus land. " The chronicle notes that Vladimir Monomakh revered Anna as a mother, so he took her words with tears and promised to fulfill the request. As a result, the strife ended in peace.

At the end of her life, Anna went to the Andreevsky monastery , whose abbess was her stepdaughter Anna-Yanka . She died on October 7, 1111, and was buried in this monastery. [6]

Princess "Vsevolozh" appears in the graffiti on the wall of the St. Sophia Cathedral , where it is said that the widow bought the land of a certain Boyana with 12 witnesses.

Children

1. Rostislav (1070-1093), prince of Pereyaslavl
2. Eupraxia (c. 1071 - 9 July 1109)
3. Catherine (d.11 August 1108), nun

Family

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/RUSSIA,%20Rurik.htm#VladimirMonomac...

VSEVOLOD Iaroslavich, son of IAROSLAV I "Mudriy/the Wise" Grand Prince of Kiev & his second wife Ingigerd Olafsdottir of Sweden (1030-13 Apr 1093, bur Kiev, Church of St Sophia).

m secondly --- Kuman princess, daughter of --- Khan of the Kumans (-1111). Baumgarten records this marriage and cites a primary source in support[362]. She adopted the name ANNA after her marriage

Grand Prince Vsevolod I & his second wife had five [SIC: four] children:

• 2. ROSTISLAV Vsevolodich (1070-drowned Stugna River 26 May 1093, bur Kiev Church of St Sophia). The Primary Chronicle records the birth of Rostislav, son of Vsevolod, in 1070[364]. Prince of Pereyaslavl. He took part with his half-brother Vladimir and Sviatopolk Grand Prince of Kiev in the campaign against the Kuman [Cumans] in 1093, and after their defeat was drowned while retreating across the river Stugna[365].
• 3. IEVPRAXIA Vsevolodovna ([1071]-10 Jul 1109, bur Kiev, Crypt Monastery). The Annalista Saxo names "Eupracciam filiam regis Ruscie qui in nostra lingua vocobatur Adelheid, quam postea duxit Heinricus imperator" as wife of "Heinricus marchio"[366]. She was known as ADELHEID in Germany. Contemporary chroniclers were scandalised by the alleged sexual abuses inflicted on his second wife by Heinrich IV[367] who imprisoned her at Verona, from where she was released in 1094 by Matilda Ctss of Tuscany. The Chronicon of Bernold records that "Praxedis reginæ" made complaints about her treatment "inauditas fornicationum spurcicias" to the synod of Konstanz in 1094 and that her separation was agreed in 1095 at the same synod[368]. The Annales Sancti Diibodi gives lengthy details concerning her divorce[369]. The empress publicly denounced her husband at the council of Piacenza, presided over by Pope Urban II from 1 Mar 1095[370]. She became a nun at Kiev in 1095. The Primary Chronicle records that Eupraxia daughter of Vsevolod took the veil 6 Dec 1106[371]. The Primary Chronicle records the death 10 Jul 1109 of Eupraxia daughter of Vsevolod and her burial place[372]. m firstly HEINRICH I "der Lange" Graf von Stade Markgraf der Nordmark, son of LOTHAR UDO II Graf von Stade, Markgraf der Nordmark & his wife Oda von Werl ([1065]-27 Jun 1087). m secondly (14 Aug 1089, divorced 1095) as his second wife, Emperor HEINRICH IV King of Germany, son of Emperor HEINRICH III King of Germany & his second wife Agnès de Poitou ([Goslar] 11 Nov 1050-Liège 7 Aug 1106, bur Speyer cathedral).
• 4. IEKATERINA Vsevolodovna (-11 Aug 1108). The Primary Chronicle records the death 25 Jul 1108 of Catherine, daughter of Vsevolod[373]. Nun.
• 5. --- Vsevolodovna (-1089). Baumgarten records this daughter and cites a primary source in support[374].
• 6. IANKA [Anna] Vsevolodovna (-3 Nov 1112). The Primary Chronicle names Ianka, daughter of Vsevolod, recording that she became a nun "while still a maiden" at the convent of the Church of St Andrew founded by her father[375]. In 1089 she was sent to Constantinople to accompany the new Metropolitan, Ioann III, back to Kiev[376]. Abbess of Janczyn. [SIC: other sources place her as daughter of the 1st wife]

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vsevolod_I_of_Kiev
• RAFFENSPERGER, C. (2003). EVPRAKSIA VSEVOLODOVNA BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. Russian History, 30(1/2), 23-34. Retrieved January 16, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24660863