Anne of Kiev

Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna[a] (c. 1030 – 1075) was a princess of Kievan Rus who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I.

She ruled the kingdom as regent during the minority of their son Philip I from Henry's death in 1060 until her controversial marriage to Count Ralph IV of Valois.

Her exact birthdate is unknown; Philippe Delorme has suggested 1027,[2] while Andrew Gregorovich has proposed 1032, citing a mention in a Kievan chronicle of the birth of a daughter to Yaroslav in that year.

Due to the pressing need for an heir, and the Church's growing disapproval of consanguineous marriages, it became necessary for Henry to seek an unrelated bride.

[2] Gregorovich claims that part of the wealth she brought to France included the jacinth jewel that Abbot Suger later mounted on a reliquary of St.

In one 1058 charter, Henry granted a privilege to a couple of villages associated with the monastery of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés doing so "with the approval of my wife Anne and our children Philip, Robert, and Hugh."

During this time, Pope Nicholas II sent Queen Anne a letter counseling her to follow her conscience to right wrongs and intervene against oppressive violence, while also encouraging her to advocate with her husband so that he might govern with moderation.

[2] Queen Anne's only existing signature dates from this period; it appears inscribed on a document issued at Soissons for the abbot of Saint Crepin le Grand [de], now held in the National Library of France.

Under the king's rubric, there is a cross and eight letters in Cyrillic, probably meaning "Ana Reina", the contemporaneous French for "Queen Anne".

[2] In 1062, Anne gave a significant amount of money to restore a dilapidated chapel at Senlis, originally dedicated to Saint Vincent of Saragossa.

The discovery was subsequently disputed, as Villiers was not built until the thirteenth century, although it's possible Anne's remains had been moved there at some point following her death.

[2] In the 18th and 19th centuries, increased diplomatic contact between France and Russia led to a revived antiquarian interest in Anne, and a number of short biographies were published.

[3] In 2005, the Government of Ukraine sponsored the construction of a bronze statue of Queen Anne at Senlis, which was unveiled by President Viktor Yushchenko on 22 June.

Art historian Victor Lazarev presumed that the left-most figure on this fresco at Saint Sophia's Cathedral, Kyiv , represented Anne. According to historian Robert-Henri Bautier , it depicts one of her brothers.
Anne as portrayed on a 2014 Ukrainian coin
A charter signed on behalf of Anne [ 1 ] and her son Philip in 1063
Statue of Anne at the Abbey of Saint-Vincent (2011)
Statue of Anne at the Abbey of Saint-Vincent before renovation with change of inscription in 1996