ANNA DMITRIEVNA (SOPHIA) OF KASHIN (c. 1280 - † October 2, 1368 in Sloboda near Kashin), Princess of Tver and the Grand Princess of Vladimir, since November 8, 1294 the wife of Mikhail Yaroslavich, Prince of Tver and the Grand Prince of Vladimir

Father

  • Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov, Prince of Rostov (1278-1286, 1288-1294) and Prince of Uglich (1285-1288)

Biography

About the wife of Mikhail of Tver, Anna (in the tonsure of Sophia), little information has been preserved in the chronicals. The Laurentian Chronicle informs about the wedding of the prince, but does not name the bride: «Ѡженисѧ кн(ѧ)зь Михаило Ӕрославичь. понѧ дщерь кнѧжю Дмитрееву Борисовича Анну» [IV, cl. 527]. The Rostov Moscow-Academic Chronicle specifies that the bride was the daughter of the Rostov prince Dmitry Borisovich [2, p. 53]. If we accept the genealogical conclusions of A. V. Eksemplyarsky, then Anna was the second of three daughters of Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov [7, p. 30]. Mother's origine is unknown. Anna's date of birth is also unknown [1].

On November 8, 1294, the wedding of Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver and Anna Dmitrievna took place in the Savior Cathedral in Tver [IV, cl. 527; 2, p. 53]. Probably, Dmitry Borisovich had already died at this time, therefore matchmakers arranged Anna`s marriage. Anna could have been less than 14 years old when she got married. They rushed to marry her precisely because of the death of her father.

The following mentions of Anna date back to 1298: the chronicles report a fire in the prince's palace and the birth of the first-born, Dmitry, to the princely couple. Some information about the biography of the princess is contained in the "Tale of Mikhail Tverskoy". From the "Tale" we learn that Anna and her son Vasily accompanied her husband on his last trip to the Horde to the river Nerl [II, p. 151]. While expecting death in the Horde, Mikhail Yaroslavich talks with his son Konstantin and «приказываше къ княине и сыном своим, приказываше про отчину свою, и про бояре, и про тѣх, иже с нимъ были» [II, p. 151-152]. The available material of this type makes it possible to operate with various elements of the form of princely wills. The princess is named first in the above phrase. According to the usual form of the spiritual charter: «даю рѧдъ с(ы)номъ своимъ и кнѧгини своеи». And the next article says «Приказываю дѣти свои своеи кнѧгинѣ». The sons of Mikhail and Anna were not yet married, Konstantine had barely reached the age of majority, and Vasily had clearly not reached it. The younger sons, thus, could be passed on to the care of the Grand Princess. Subsequent events showed that it was with the younger sons, especially with Vasily, that Anna was most intimate. Princess Anna is mentioned in the title "Instructions of Metropolitan Peter: «Пооученiе Петра митрополита всея Руси кьнязю Дмитрею, и к матери его, и братьи его, и къ епископу, и к бояромъ, к старымъ и к молодымъ» [V, p. 627].

In 1319, she, together with the bishop and part of the townspeople, met the relics of Mikhail and accompanied the procession carrying the deceased husband to Tver. During the Fedorchukov ratification of 1327/1328 Anna, along with her sons, Konstantin and Vasily fled to Ladoga [III, p. 98].

Returning to Tver, she helped Konstantin, who became the prince of Tver, to restore the city and establish a peaceful life. Researchers note the authority and active character of Anna in matters related to the patronage of the church [2, p. 51; 5, p. 188-192; 6, p. 144, etc.].

In 1339 Anna had to meet the remains of Alexander's son and grandson from the Horde. After that, Anna was tonsured under the name of Sophia. In the chronologically next mention of the princess, she is already mentioned under this name. Anna was for some time the abbess of the nunnery of St. Afanasy [5, p. 190]. Also she was mentioned in 1367 (funeral of Bishop Theodor).

After 1367, Anna moved to Kashin to her son Vasily, perhaps having learned about the illness of her beloved son, who soon died on July 24, 1368. Immediately after this record, the Rogozhsky chronicler says: «и потомъ въсенинѣ, мѣсяца октября въ 2 день, мати его княгини великаа Софiа Михаиловаа преставис[я] въ Свободѣ» [VI, p. 88].

In the XVII century a cult of veneration for Anna of Kashin is gradually taking shape. The first attempt at canonization was made during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, but the death of the tsar stopped this. In 1650, the relics of Princess Anna were solemnly transferred to the Cathedral of the Resurrection Church, then by the decision of the Moscow Cathedral she was canonized. However, already under Fedor Alekseevich, the question of canonization was revised. Only in 1901, by the decision of the Synod, the general church veneration of the princess was restored.

Memorial Day Anna of Kashin is on June 12.

Children

  • Dmitry Mikhailovich the Horrible Eyes (1298–1326), Prince of Tver and the Grand Prince of Vladimir
  • Alexander Mikhailovich of Tver (1301–1339), Prince of Tver and he Grand Prince of Vladimir
  • Konstantin Mikhailovich of Tver († 1345), the Grand Prince of Tver
  • Vasily Mikhailovich of Kashin († 1368), Prince of Kashin and the Grand Prince of Tver.
  • Feodora (born in 1300)

Demesne

From the agreements between Mikhail Yaroslavich and Novgorod, it is clear that the prince and his wife violated the prohibition to have mortgages in Nogovorod, since it is said that it is necessary to return everything to its previous state: «кто купець, тотъ въ сто; а кто смердъ, а тот потягнеть въ свои погостъ; тако пошло Новегородѣ, отпустите ихъ проць» [I, no. 3]. The same applies to the acquisition of villages in the Novgorod land: the agreement instructs the prince and princess to «съступитися» some villages and return “Saint Sophia” with compensation [I, No. 7. P. 17]. It is obvious that Mikhail and Anna violated the ban on the princely possessions of the Novgorod territories. Undoubtedly, there were her possessions in the Tver land. Anna «любовiю и печалованiемъ бышеть къ владыцѣ Феодору и села ему подавала въ монастырь» [VI, p. 72]. From this record it is clear that the villages from the princess to the monastery were transferred repeatedly, she could dispose of these villages on her own, therefore, most likely they were her purchases.

Sources

I. Gramoty Velikogo Novgoroda i Pskova / Podgot. k pechati V.G. Geiman, N.A. Kazakova, A.I. Kopanev. M.; L., 1949. 

II Kuchkin V.A. Prostrannaia redaktsiia Povesti o Mikhaile Tverskom // Srednevekovaia Rus'. Vyp. 2. 1999. S. 116–163.

III. Novgorodskaia pervaia letopis' starshego i mladshego izvodov. M.; L., 1950.  

IV. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisei (PSRL). T. 1. Lavrent'evskaia letopis'. M., 1997.

V. PSRL. T. IV. Ch. 1. Vyp. 3. Novgorodskaia IV letopis'. Pg., 1929.

VI. PSRL. T. 15. Rogozhskii letopisets. Tverskoi sbornik. M., 2000.

Bibliography

1.      Gadalova G.S. Kniga T. Manukhinoi "Sviataia blagovernaia kniaginia Anna Kashinskaia' // Zhivye traditsii: rezul'taty i perspektivy kompleksnykh issledovanii russkogo staroobriadchestva: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, 21–24 noiabria 1995 g.: sbornik nauchnykh trudov / Otv. red. I.V. Pozdeeva. M., 1998. S. 216–225.

2.      Koniavskaia E.L. Ocherki po istorii tverskoi literatury XIV–XV v. M., 2007.

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

4.      Kuchkin V.A., Epifanov I.A., Zelenina Ia.E.  Anna Kashinskaia //   Pravoslavnaia entsiklopediia. T. II. M., 2001.  S. 461–463.

5.      Kuchkin V.A. Povesti o Mikhaile Tverskom. M., 1974.

6.      Manukhina T.I. Sviataia blagovernaia kniaginia Anna Kashinskaia. Parizh, 1954.

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'ia Suzdal'sko-Nizhegorodskie, Tverskie. Riazanskie. SPb., 1891.