Anne of Kiev

Anne of Kiev
Queen of France
Tenure 1051–1060
Spouse Henry I of France
Issue
Philip I of France
Emma
Robert
Hugh I, Count of Vermandois
House House of Capet
Father Yaroslav I the Wise
Mother Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden
Born 1024–1032
Died 1075
Burial Villiers Abbey, La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne

Anne of Kiev (or Anna Yaroslavna) (between 1024 and 1032–1075) was the queen consort of France as the wife of Henry I, and regent for her son Philip I.

Her parents were Yaroslav I the Wise and princess Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden.

Contents

Marriage and children

After the death of his first wife, Matilda, King Henry searched the courts of Europe for a suitable bride, but could not locate a princess who was not related to him within illegal degrees of kinship. At last he sent an embassy to distant Kiev, which returned with Anne (also called Agnes). Anne and Henry were married at the cathedral of Reims on 19 May 1051.

The new queen consort was not instantly attracted to her new realm. She wrote to her father that Francia was "a barbarous country where the houses are gloomy, the churches ugly and the customs revolting."[1]

Anne is credited with bringing the name Philip to Western Europe. She imported this Greek name (Philippos, from philos and hippos, meaning "the one that love horses") from her Eastern Orthodox culture.

Regency

For six years after Henry's death in 1060, she served as regent for Philip, who was only eight at the time. She was the first queen of France to serve as regent. Her co-regent was Count Baldwin V of Flanders. Anne was a literate woman, rare for the time, but there was some opposition to her as regent on the grounds that her mastery of French was less than fluent.

A year after the king's death, Anne, acting as regent, took a passionate fancy for Count Ralph III of Valois, a man whose political ambition encouraged him to repudiate his wife to marry Anne in 1062. Accused of adultery, Ralph's wife appealed to Pope Alexander II, who excommunicated the couple. The young king Philip forgave his mother, which was just as well, since he was to find himself in a very similar predicament in the 1090s. Ralph died in September 1074, at which time Anne returned to the French court. She died in 1075, was buried at Villiers Abbey, La-Ferte-Alais, Essonne and her obits were celebrated on 5 September.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Horne, Alistair (2004). La Belle France. USA: Vintage. pp. 9–10. ISBN 9781400034871. http://books.google.com/books?id=SZ7tAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2010-12-07. 

Sources

External links

French royalty
Preceded by
Matilda of Frisia		 Queen consort of the Franks
1051–1060		 Succeeded by
Bertha of Holland