ANASTASIA ALEXANDROVNA OF BELZ (Polish Anastazja Bełska) (year of birth is unknown - † after 1251), princess of Mazovia, since 1244 was the wife of Prince of Mazovia Boleslaw I, after 1248 was the wife of Hungarian magnate Demeter Abu

• Alexander Vsevolodovich, Prince of Belz

• N,daughter of the Grand Duke of Kiev Vladimir Rurikovich

The exact date of birth of Anastasia, the only known daughter of Prince of Belz Alexander Vsevolodovich is unknown. Based on indirect data about the marriage of the parents and the possible date of marriage of Anastasia herself, it can be assumed that she was born around 1226–1231. [3, p. 417]. Anastasia became the second wife of the prince of MasoviaBoleslaw I. In historiography, she is sometimes identified with Pereyaslava Danilovna, the wife of Siemovit Konradovich, or with Boleslaw's first wife Gertrude Henrikhovna, however, this opinion was refuted by O. Baltser on the basis of information from the Halych-Volyn Chronicle [I, cl. 810; 5, s. 505-506]. To date, his concept that the second wife of Boleslaw I was precisely Anastasia of Belz is accepted by most historians [1, p. 503; 3, p. 412-414; 6, Tabl. XIII. R. 58, 72; 7, Tabl. 3; 8, p. 434; 9, s. 54–55; 11, s. 88-89; 12, s. 264; 13, s. 36; 14, s. 267; 15, s. 134, 171, 189, etc.].

The date of the wedding of Boleslaw I and Anastasia can be established based on the approximate date of the death of his first wife. O. Balzer believed that the death of Gertrude Henrikhovna happened in April 1244, respectively, the second marriage of Boleslav could have been concluded between 1244 and 1248,  the year of death of Boleslaw  [5, s. 505-506]. K. Yasinsky specified Balzer's dating by naming the period between 23-30 April 1244 and April 1247 [10, s. 107-108]. D. Dombrowski is leaning towards 1244 [3, s. 413]. At the same time, most historians are of the opinion that the marriage was concluded shortly before the death of Konrad of Masovia, i.e. before 1247 [2, p. 78; 7, Tabl. 3; 11, s. 88; 15, s. 134, 189, etc.]. The political motives of this marriage are undeniable. However, it is rather difficult to unequivocally decide the question of who exactly was the initiator of the union and what political ambitions ultimately played a decisive role. Researchers agree that Anastasia's father did not take part in his daughter's matchmaking, as by this time he was probably already dead [3, p. 414]. On the part of the bride, most likely, the initiators of the marriage were her closest relatives, perhaps Daniil of Halych himself. On the part of the groom, the most interested party was Konrad of Masovia, who was looking for allies in the struggle for the Krakow throne. At the same time, it should be taken into account that up to 1242 relations between the Piasts and Romanovichs were, to put it mildly, tense. However, the situation changed after the defeat of Konrad by the troops of Boleslaw V the Chaste, who relied on the help of his father-in-law, the Hungarian king, as well as with the marriage of Rostislav Mikhailovich with the daughter of Bela IV, which happened almost simultaneously. The Masovian Piasts, having lost Krakow, like Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich, were forced to seek allies through matrimonial ties. According to D. Dombrovsky, only their close relative, Anastasia Alexandrovna, was a successful candidate for such a matrimonial union, since Vasilko and Daniil themselves were already married by this time, Vasilko did not have children, and Daniil's daughters were still too young [ibid., p. 415, n. 1784]. Based on this information, D. Dombrovsky narrows the date of the wedding of Boleslaw I to April 1244 - August 1245, when the battle of Yaroslav took place, where Vsevolod Alexandrovich, Anastasia's brother, participated in the struggle of the Romanovichs against Rostislav Mikhailovich. This loyalty to Vsevolod, according to the scientist, may indicate that marriage of Anastasia had already been concludedby that time [ibid, p. 415; 8, s. 434]. She had no children with Boleslaw. After the death of her husband in 1248 * Anastasia was married to the Hungarian boyar Dimitri [I, stb. 810; 3, c. 417]. There are different versions regarding the personality of the second husband: O. Balzer believed that he might have been one of the court judges [5, s. 506]; A.V. Longinov suggests that he was Palatine Dmitry Lepota from the Aba clan [4, p. 323]; D. Dombrovsky rpoposed the identity of dignitary Dmitry the Elder from the clan of Abu [3, p. 419-420]. Probably in the second marriage, Anastasia had a son, Peter.

The exact date of death and the place of burial of the princess are unknown. We can only say that Anastasia died not earlier than 1249.

* It is impossible to establish the exact date of the death of Boleslaw I. According to J. Grabowski, Boleslaw died on December 5, 1248. K. Yasinsky and D. Dombrowski incline to the date February 25 or April 17, 1248 [3, p. 417; 8, s. 433-434; 9, s. 52-53].

• Peter

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