ANASTASIA ALEXANDROVNA (the year of birth is unknown; † November 20, 1365), the Grand Princess of Tver, since 1453 the second wife ofBoris Alexandrovich, the Grand Duke of Tver

• Alexander Vasilievich Glazaty, Prince of Suzdal

The Tver prince Boris Alexandrovich remarried after the death of his first wife, Anastasia Andreevna. His second wife was also Anastasia, the daughter of the Suzdal prince Alexander Vasilyevich Glazaty [7, p. 399], the ancestor of the younger branch of the family of Suzdal princes. Anastasia's date of birth is unknown. Her wedding with Boris Alexandrovich took place on February 4, 1453 [II, p. 55], a year later the first son, Mikhail was born to the princely couple  [III, cl. 495], a year later was born the second son, Alexander, who died in infancy [III, cl. 496].

In the year of Boris Alexandrovich's death, Mikhail was four and a half years old (or about seven years old) *; Anastasia, apparently, had no political influence, unlike other princesses - regents, as she was not mentioned in sources during this period [3, p. 353; 5, p. 75, n. I].

Two letters of commendation have survived, where Anastasia appears as the initiator of the actions. According to the first, dating from the second half of the 1450s [I, no. 178b. P. 194], Boris Aleksandrovich sells to Alexander Kozhin his village Nastasovskoye with everything that attachted it for 50 rubles. The Grand Prince of Tver was asked about this by his wife, the Grand Princess, and his son Mikhail.

The second letter refers to the period of the reign of Mikhail Borisovich. The prince favors Efim Dobrynya - he gives him letters patentfor his fatherland Sovachevo in the Kashinsky district in exchange for the lost ones that «поимал разбоиник». Michael does this «своее дел(ѧ) м(а)т(е)ри, велик(и)е кнѧини Настасии Борис(о)вы» [I, No. 154, p. 172].

It is known that in 1483 Anastasia, together with her son, received the ambassadors of Ivan III on the occasion of the marriage of the eldest son of the Grand Prince Ivan Ivanovich Molodoy to the daughter of the Moldavian governor Elena Stefanovna (of Moldavia) [III, p. 498]. After just a few months, relations between Moscow and the Tver principality, which was living out the last days of its independence, would enter the next phase of the conflict [1; 2; 6]. The ambassador of Ivan III, who has arrived to inform about the birth of the first child in the family of Ivan Ivanovich - Dmitry the Grandson, would not be allowed to visit either Mikhail Borisovich or Anastasia Alexandrovna [II, cl. 499; 3, p. 362]. At about the same time, Mikhail made a trip to Kashin, most of the boyars of which switched to Moscow service. Anastasia accompanied her son on this trip [II, cl. 498] (on the political situation related to Ivan the Young and Dmitry the Grandson, see the biography of Elena of Moldavia).

Despite all the efforts of the last prince of Tver, it was almost impossible to resist Moscow. Most of the boyars went over to the side of Ivan III; Mikhail's attempts to get help from Lithuania were unsuccessful. On September 8, 1485, Ivan III laid siege to Tver. Mikhail Borisovich fled to Lithuania, Anastasia remained in Tver. She was captured by Ivan III and brought first to Moscow, and then exiled to Pereyaslavl [IV, p. 236; V, p. 278; 2; 3, p. 364]. She tried to hide Mikhail's treasury or her jewelry [7, p. 512, n. 1602].

Anastasia died during a pestilence in 1365 on November 20, apparently, suddenly, so that she could not have time to get a tonsure as a nun, as did most of the great princesses [4, p. 23].

* E. Klug drew attention to the contraversial information about the birth and age of Mikhail Borisovich at the time of the death of Prince Boris Alexandrovich. The scientist suggested that, perhaps, Anastasia's firstborn died, and the third (youngest) son, also named Mikhail, became the last prince of Tver [3, p. 313].

• Mikhail Borisovich, the last Grand Duke of Tver (1461-1485)
• Alexander Borisovich (died in infancy in 1454/1455)

I. Akty sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoi istorii Severo-Vostochnoi Rusi kontsa XIV–nachala XVI vv. T. 3. M., 1964.

II. Likhachev N.P. Inoka Fomy slovo pokhval'noe o blagovernom velikom kniaze Borise Aleksandroviche. SPb., 1908.

III. PSRL. T. XV. Rogozhskii letopisets. Tverskoi sbornik. M., 2000.

IV. PSRL. T. XXIV. Letopis' po Tipografskomu spisku. Pg., 1921.

V. PSRL. T. XXVI. Vologodsko-Permskaia letopis'. M.; L., 1959.

1.      Alekseev Iu.G. Gosudar' vseia Rusi. M., 2017.

2.      Zimin A.A. Rossiia na rubezhe XV–XVI stoletii (Ocherki sotsial'no-politicheskoi istorii). M., 1982.

3.      Kliug E. Kniazhestvo Tverskoe (1247–1485 gg.). Tver', 1994. 

4.      Koniavskaia E.L. Tverskie kniagini i ikh rol' v semeinoi, obshchestvennoi i khoziaistvennoi zhizni // Vestnik TvGu. Seriia "Istoriia'. 2020. № 4 (56). S. 16–32.

5.      Lur'e Ia.S. Iz istorii politicheskoi bor'by pri Ivane III // Uchenye zapiski LGU. 1941. № 80. S. 75–92.

6.      Cherepnin L.V. Obrazovanie Russkogo tsentralizovannogo gosudarstva. M., 1960.

7.        Ekzempliarskii A. V. Velikie i udel'nye kniaz'ia severnoi Rusi v tatarskii period s 1238 g. po 1505 g.: biograficheskie ocherki po pervoistochnikam i glavneishim posobiiam. T. 2. Vladetel'nye kniaz'ia Vladimirskikh i Moskovskikh udelov i velikie i udel'nye vladetel'nye kniaz'iakh Suzdal'sko-Nizhegorodskie, Tverskie. Riazanskie. SPb., 1891.

Internet Resources 

1.      Alekseev Iu.G. Gosudar' vseia Rusi. M., 2017.

2.      Zimin A.A. Rossiia na rubezhe XV–XVI stoletii (Ocherki sotsial'no-politicheskoi istorii). M., 1982.