Anna of Kiev: The Russian Consort of Henri I of France (1024/1036-1075)

                      

Today's topic on this blog is about a very interesting medieval queen, who, like others previously discussed here, is not often remembered for the achievements left in the country she reigned as consort. And one of these achievements include being the first female to be regent for her son, the child king Philippe I. So who was this woman? And what's there to tell about her? It's what we intend to find out next.

Anna Yaroslavna, sometimes known as Agnes, was the third oldest daughter of the Grand-Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Kievan-Rus and his wife, Grand-Princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden. The circumnstances of her birth are obscure, so there are only estimatives that her birth year was between 1024 and 1036. And, in concern about her childhood and youth, before the betrothal to the king of France, there is almost nothing about these events, except that her father and mother gave the princess a good education, as we can see below:

"(...) and, by the age of 18, under the supervision of her mother, she had mastered Latin, Ancient Greek and the basics of medicine."

The region where the Grand-Prince ruled, Kiev, includes, today, part of Russia and  all of Ukraine, and so had no links to France, no trades or political treaties. Many historians, thus, questioned what could have been the reason that made the French king look for a wife in such a farther region? 

Henry I was the grandson of Hugh Capet, whose wife Adhélaide of Aquitaine was already a topic discussed on this blog. He had some troubles throughout his reign, especially with his own family. By the time he managed to hold the crown for himself, Henry thought wise to marry the niece of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III, named Matilda. Not much about her is known, except she died at a young age and that she gave the king a daughter, who sadly did not survive. Below, we can have a better perceivement of the reasons that led King Henry to send his embassy to such a distant country:

"Several reasons are quoted as possible motivations for a French king's wish to marry a princess from such a far away, alien country. The Roman Pope had issued an edict that banned marriage between close relatives (in fact, all the cousins seven times removed were included into the ban), both the inbreeding adverse effects which had become visible, and religious grounds being the possible grounds for the edict. A more plausible explanation involves the rising power and might of the Kyivan state alliance with which could come in a handy one way or the other. Henry I, feeling rather insecure on his throne, could have wanted to establish links with a dynasty that claimed several princesses of the royal blood, Byzantine and Sweidsh--it would add glamour to his own Capetian dynasty, Byzantium still ranking very high in the early medieval Europe"

This is also attested in the next paragraph, whose author reminds us of the decline by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry III, when the Grand-Prince of Kiev offered the hand of his daughter Anna for a match, opened the eyes for a desire of the french King to settle properly the dynasty.

"Although the German emperor declined the offer, this failed embassy may have drawn the attention of Henry I eastwards to Kievan Rus' to seek one of Yaroslav's daughters for himself in 1049. The Capetian dynasty was still at a comparatively young stage and a Rusian princess who had been offered to a German emperor may have been seen as a way of legitimizing Capetian dynastic status."

That being said, "(...) the French embassage, led by the Bishop of the city of Meaux Gautier and minister of the French Court Goscelin de Chalignac, arrived in Kiev with a mission to arrange a marriage between the king of France, Henry I, and Anna. Rumours of Anna's exquisite beauty, literacy and wisdom reached many corners of Europe."

It is also said that "the king was more than 40 at the time of the couple's first meeting: he suffered from obesity and became spiteful, even with his concubines. However when he saw Anna, he softened and even smiled, leaning in to kiss her. After his passionate introduction, Anna is quoted to have pulled back, blushed and said: "I suppose it's you who is king..."".

Also, "Anna arrived in France in the late autumn of 1048. Her wedding and coronation took place in May 1049, the Holy Trinity Day, in the Cathedral of the city of Rheims, long the site of the coronation of French kings. During the coronation ceremony, which was conducted by the Archbishop of Rheims Guy de Chatilion, Anna took her oath placing her hand on  the Gospel that she had brought from Kyiv. This Gospel since then was used in the coronation ceremonies of the French kings all down the line until (...) Charles X. (...)"

It seems, however, there was a disappointment felt by the new queen to her new homeland. It is reported that "in 1050 she writes to her father: "What a barbarous country you sent me to--the dwellings are somber, the churches horrendous and the morals--terrible", aside of her complaints that the French did not bathe, nor could read and write. 

Regardless of the poor impressions left in Anna, she was quick to learn the language and soon had a role in the government herself, despite the limitations brought by the functions a consort was expected to make. The differences with her husband, however, became quite evident as seen next:

"Evidence of the differences between them is obvious on their marriage certificate: Anne signed her own name with her own hand, while her iliterate husband could only mark an "X"."

"The signatures read "by the approval of my spouse Anna" or "in the presence of Queen Anna"."

Tensions came to rise, nevertheless, when Anna did not give the king the heir needed. She then spent most of her time in prayers, and vowed to make a monastery if her prayers were attended. Which they eventually did. Together with the king, she had four children: Philip, this named after a macedonian ancestor king of the same name and whose Anna's family claim to descend from, Emma, Robert and Hugh. 

Of these children, however, it is known that only two of them made to adulthood: Philip, who would inherite his father's crown and become Philip the First, and Hugh, this becoming a leader at the crusades and also the Count of Vermandois. As for Emma and Robert, they probably died in infancy.

Even after the death of her husband, Anna continued to have a part in politics, acting as regent for her son, until he reached majority at age 14, with the count of Flanders, Baldwin V, as co-regent. It seems that, even after she was married in clandestine to Raoul III Peronne, Count of Crepy and Valois, she managed to keep the role, though for a while she was away from court until the death of Raoul, as it states according to the next paragraph:

"Anna's regency officially ended in 1067 when Philip was fourteen and thought fit to rule on his own. That means that Anna remained regent after she had consorted with Raul. In 1071 Philip married Berthe of France and the available evidence suggests that Anna was forced to leave the court altogether and retire to her estates of Vernin of Chateaunef-sur-Loire. There is some evidence that after the death of Raul she returned to the court and was even engaged to a certain extent in the affairs of the state --the document that confirms royal privileges to the Nunnery of the Virgin bears her signature and she is referred to in it as 'Mother of King Philip'".

This, however, was a match that created some problems to Anna. She apparently fell in love with him, but Raoul was already a married man. Yet, on the basis of adultery of the part of his wife, he soon repudiated her and, whilst Anna was having a stroll in the gardens, kidnapped her so they could marry. The pope, to whom the repudiated wife of the count pledged to, commanded him to return to his family, disapproving the marriage and not recognizing it. But he did not do so, which resulted them both being excommunicated. The relationship, though, did not seem to make mother and son estranged, with Philip granting forgiveness for it so we may observe, from the excerpt above, that she continued with her influence at court.

Finally, despite the evidence that claims the year of her death being 1075, "it is not known when Anna died or where she is buried. According to some historians she returned to Kiev to die; others claim that she died in France and was buried in the Vilier Abbey not far from Forte-Aleps." The last direct descendant of Queen Anna was Henri III of France, when he was succeeded to the first of the House of Bourbon, Henri IV.

Bibliography:

http://famous.russianwomen.club/famous/Anna-Yaroslavna-Queen-of-France.shtml

http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20054/44

http://www.historyofroyalwomen.com/the-royal-women/anne-kiev-first-female-regent-france/

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~queens/Anne.html

http://history.info/on-this-day/1051-wedding-french-king-henry-anne-kiev/

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2281.12139/pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Kiev

http://russiapedia.rt.com/prominent-russians/the-ryurikovich-dynasty/anna-yaroslavna/