Читать книгу 100 Key Ukrainian Personalities - Юрий Сорока - Страница 10

Anna, one of three daughters of Yaroslav the Wise, was probably born in 1024 or 1025. Her destiny was rather common for that time – all three daughters of the Prince of Kyiv – Yelizaveta, Anastasiya and Anna became the queens of European monarchies. Yelizaveta married the Norwegian Prince Harald the Ruthless, whereas Anastasiya took the Hungarian throne.

The future Queen of France had quite good education. She was literate, studied history, foreign languages, mathematics and painting. It is known that Anna was fluent in several languages, in particular, in Old Slavic and Greek.

In 1048 the ambassador from the widower Henry I came to Kyiv for the second time (it is known that at first Prince Yaroslav dismissed the request to let his daughter marry Henry). That time the agreement was reached.

Anna Yaroslavna (Anna of Kyiv). A fresco in the Kyiv Sophia Cathedral

The arrival of the fiancée of the King to France was organized pompously. Henry I set off to Reims to meet Anna. There in May 1049, at the Сathedral of Sacred Cross the coronation was held and Anna Yaroslavna became the queen of France. It is interesting that on the marriage document the daughter of Kyivan Prince wrote her name, while Henry І put a cross instead of a signature. In turn, Anna Yaroslavna surprised the king’s guard when she refused from taking the oath on the Latin Bible. She took the oath on the Gospel written in the Old Slavic language. Later that book got the name of the Reims Gospel and all the following kings of France took the oath on it, without suspecting the Kyivan origin of the book.

The years of Anna’s rule coincided with the economic and cultural booming period in France, but even in those conditions French researchers cite the lines from her letter to father, “What a Barbarian country did you send me to, father? Here houses are dull, churches are ugly and traditions are horrible…” From this letter it is possible to understand that for a well-educated Ukrainian, who had grown up in the conditions of the Slavic culture, it was hard to adapt to the conditions of the French elite of the time. However, the fact that Anna was the only woman in Europe, who corresponded with the Pope, also confirmed her high level of education.

P. Clodt. The Departure of Princess Anna Yaroslavna to France to marry King Henry I

In 1053 Anna gave birth to Philip. Over the following two years Anna also had Robert and Hugh – all legal heirs of King Henry. In addition, at that time the king and queen also had a daughter named Emma.

The marriage between Anna and Henry did not last long – the king died in 1060. According to the will, Anna Yaroslavna was appointed the regent to Philip, the heir to the throne. However, remaining the queen, she was not granted the official title of a regent: the regent could only be a man. Nevertheless, Anna, together with Philip I, signed state documents, which have been preserved up to nowadays. For instance, on the grant charter of the Soissons abbey there is her handwritten signature in Cyrillic Anna the Queen.

Jacob de Bi. Queen Anna of Kyiv, circa 1640

The final mentioning of Anna Yaroslavna was dated in documents by 1075. Her further destiny is still unclear. According to some sources, she came back to Kyiv, where she lived her later years. According to some other reports, she died in France and was buried at the church of the Villiers Abbey near the city of Etampes.