Wedding of Anna Vasilievna and Vasily Ivanovich of Ryazans (The Illustraited Chronicle of the 60s – 70s of the 16th century)

ANNA VASILIEVNA (the year of birth is unknown - † April 14, 1501 in Moscow), the Grand Princess of Ryazan, since January 28, 1464 the wife of Vasily Ivanovich, the Grand Prince of Ryazan, the sister of the Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III

Biography

About Anna, the younger sister of the Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III,there are little records in the chronicles. It is known that in 1464 she was married to the Ryazan prince Vasily Ivanovich [VI, p. 158]. Based on the record of the Moscow Chronicle Code about this wedding, it can be assumed that Anna was born in the early - mid 1440s. L. E. Morozova names the period of her birth between 1442 and 1445. [10, Ch. 5]. N.L. Pushkareva believes that Anna was born later, and at the time of the wedding she no more than 13 years old [11, p. 61].

The prince himself Vasily Ivanovich had spent about eight years in Moscow before, since at the age of eight he was "entrusted" to Vasily II and his wife Maria Yaroslavna by the dying Ryazan prince Ivan Fedorovich [III, p. 181; IV, p. 147; V, p. 111-112; VI, p. 212; VII, p. 263; VIII, p. 155; 1; 3; 4; 6; 14, p. 816, etc.]. During his childhood Ryazan was ruled by governors sent by Ivan III, but the Grand Prince made no attempts to annex the Ryazan principality to Moscow. When Vasily Ivanovich was 15 years old, he was released to Ryazan for independent reign. A year later, in 1464, he returned to Moscow for a wedding with Anna and returned to Ryazan with his young wife [IX, p. 378; 8, p. 262-263; 10, ch. 5].

Almost nothing is known about Anna Vasilievna's life in marriage, as well as about her husband's rule in Ryazan. There is a mention of her trip to Moscow in 1467 and the birth of her son, Ivan there [V, p. 119]. In total, Anna gave birth to at least three children in marriage: two sons, Ivan and Fedor, and a daughter, Irina (according to other sources, Anna) [II, No. 84, p. 333; V, 245-246; 2, p. 156-157; 5, p. 121; 8, p. 116; 10]. Her name appears in the sources in connection with the death of Vasily Ivanovich in 1483: Ivan Vasilyevich was proclaimed the Grand Prince of Ryazan, and Anna became regent under him [III; p. 181, 185; V, p. 111-112; IX, p. 275, 278; 11, p. 62].

A. V. Eksemplyarsky does not speak of Anna as a full-fledged ruler of the Ryazan, unlike other researchers [6; 11, p. 61; 16, p. 602]. There is no clarity on this score in the sources. Thus, the treaty of Ivan III with the Ryazan princes in 1496 mentions Anna in his address to the princes; it is likely that the agreement itself was signed thanks to Anna's efforts - that year she once again went to Moscow to see her brother [II, No. 84, p. 333; III, p. 42, 45; 15, p. 210-211; 9, p. 277; 11, p. 62]. At the same time, the agreement between Moscow and Lithuania, concluded two years earlier and also partially related to the Ryazan princes, does not say a word about Anna, limiting only to mentioning both her sons and recognizing Ryazan's vassal dependence on Moscow. The agreement of 1496, concluded between the brothers Ivan and Fyodor gave Anna a land plot consisting of the lands she bought, and presupposes the independent rule of Ivan (Fedor recognizes himself as a younger brother) [II, No. 84, p. 333]. Nevertheless, the influence of the princess on the eldest son and her active participation in political affairs is undoubted.

There is no unambiguous assessment of the activities of Anna of Ryazan. A number of researchers believe that her skillful policy helped to preserve the independence of the Ryazan principality [2, p. 156-157; 11, p. 61–62]. Others see in the frequent trips of the princess to Moscow to her brother a manifestation of vassal dependence [10, Ch. 5; 14, p. 895, etc.] or semi-dependent position [1, p. 65]. Even the bride for her eldest son, Ivan Vasilyevich, was chosen by Anna taking into account the interests of the Moscow prince: Ivan married Agrippina Babicheva from the branched out Lithuanian family of princes of Drutsk [II, no. 76, p. 283-290; III, p. 237; V, p. 117; X, p. 151]. Probably, this marriage contributed to the transition of the Drutsk family to the service of Ivan III [10, Ch. 5]. The ambitions of the Moscow prince are also associated with the absence of a family from Anna's youngest son, Fedor (he eventually transferred all his lands to Ivan III), and the marriage of Irina / Anna's daughter with Prince Ivan Fedorovich of Velsk [V, p. 245-246; 10].

Thanks to frequent trips to Moscow, Anna was aware of the struggle that unfolded between the son and grandson of Ivan III, but it is difficult to say whether she supported any side in this struggle.

There is evidence of Anna of Ryazan's active inner policy. She patronized the Solotchinsky monastery donating lands. Also by her order the Church of St. John Chrysostom in Pereyaslavl Ryazan and a temple in the same Solotchinsky monastery were laid.

Princess Anna died on April 14, 1501, having outlived her eldest son Ivan for only a year. He was buried in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin next to the daughter of Dmitry Donskoy, Sophia Dmitrievna.

Demesne

Forest against Khotkina glade on the river Piles, Yelets and lands to the south, lands on the left bank of the Don, volosts at the mouth of Voronezh and in the region of Zadonsk [I, T. III, No. 334, p. 360, no. 367, p. 388, No. 336, p. 361; XI, p. 31, 45–46; 2, p. 156; 9, p. 274] * * In the agreement of 1496, concluded between Ivan and Fyodor Vasilyevich, both recognize for Anna "a quarter of the entire principality", which she owned until her death. However, the contract does not list specific volosts [II, No. 84, p. 333]

Court

Equestrian F.V. Verderevsky, I. Y.Arl, treasurers Velyamin Vasilyevich, Semyon Glebovich, clerks Yazvets Melent'ev and Yuri, boyar F.I. Denisievich (?) [4, p. 161-188; 5, p. 267; 7, p. 48; 12, p. 49-80; 13]

Sources

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II. Dukhovnye i dogovornye gramoty velikikh i udel'nykh kniazei XIV–XVI vv. / Podg. k pechati L. V. Cherepnin. M.; L., 1950.

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V. PSRL. T. XII. Letopisnyi sbornik, imenuemyi Patriarsheiu ili Nikonovskoiu letopis'iu. M., 2000.

VI. PSRL. T. XVIII. Simeonovskaia letopis'. CPb., 1913.

VII. PSRL. T. KhKh. L'vovskaia letopis'. M., 2004.

VIII. PSRL. T. KhKhIII. Ermolinskaia letopis'. SPb., 1910.

IX. PSRL. T. XXV. Moskovskii letopisnyi svod kontsa XV veka. M., 2004.

X. PSRL. T. XXVIII. Letopisnyi svod 1497 g. Letopisnyi svod 1518 g. M.; L., 1963.

XI. Iushkov A.A. Akty XIII–XVII vv., predstavlennye v Razriadnyi prikaz. Ch. I. SPb.,1898.

Bibliography

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Internet Resources

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

3. Zimin A.A. Formirovanie boiarskoi aristokratii v Rossii v poslednei chetverti XV–pervoi treti XVI v. M., 1988.

4. Ilovaiskii D.I. Istoriia Riazanskogo kniazhestva. SPb., 1859.

5. Kirpichnikov I.A. Boiarstvo Velikogo kniazhestva Riazanskogo v nachale XVI v. // Vestnik VGU. Seriia: Istoriia. Politika. Sotsiologiia. 2020. № 4. S. 47–50.

6. Morozova L.E. Znamenitye zhenshchiny Moskovskoi Rusi XV–XVI vv. M., 2014.

7. Cherepnin L.V. Russkie feodal'nye arkhivy. T. 1. M.; L., 1948