MARIA ALEXANDROVNA (the year of birth is unknown - † March 17, 1399), the Grand Princess of Vladimir, since the spring of 1347 the third wife of Simeon Ivanovich the Proud, Prince of Moscow and the Grand Prince of Vladimir

• Alexander Mikhailovich, Prince of Tver (1338-1339) and the Grand Prince of Vladimir (1326-1327)

• Anastasia, Princess of Tver and the Grand Princess of Vladimir

The chronicles did not preserve data on the time of birth of Maria, the daughter of the Tver prince Alexander Mikhailovich.

It is known that in 1347 she became the third wife of the Moscow prince Simeon Ivanovich, who had recently divorced Eupraxia, the daughter of the Smolensk prince Fyodor Svyatoslavich. The traditional explanation for such a hasty divorce (less than two years after the wedding) was the infertility of the wife, however, the political interests of the Moscow prince could well be named as a possible reason. The quick marriage to the princess of Tver that followed the divorce led to a temporary improvement in relations between these two principalities and contributed to the strengthening of Moscow. The status of the Moscow prince was recognized, according to A. V. Eksemplyarsky, by both the closest and relatively distant princes. It was to Alexander Mikhailovich that the Lithuanian prince Algirdas turned with a request to marry his other daughter Ulyana (Juliania) [1, p. 167], as well as the Volyn prince Lyubart Gediminovich, who intended to marry the cousin of the Rostov prince Konstantin Vasilyevich [11, p. 87]. Marriage diplomacy, coupled with military campaigns against Lithuanian cities, delegations to the Horde, etc. led to the consolidation of the leading role of the Moscow prince.

Married to Simeon, Maria had four sons. However, the plague, or "black death" epidemic, which had reached the Russian principalities by 1352, first took the lives of children, then, in 1353, the life of the Grand Prince himself. The will that Simeon Ivanovich left was for a long time the subject of discussions in the scientific community. The fact is that all the lands, both received from his father and purchased personally, the prince transferred into the unconditional possession of his wife, despite the presence of a male heir, the brother Ivan Ivanovich the Fair. In pre-revolutionary historiography the prevailing opinion was that the will was not fulfilled, and Simeon's brother Ivan Ivanovich nevertheless became the owner of the inheritance. Later, L.V. Cherepnin believed that the transfer of land into the possession of his wife is explained by the childlessness of Simeon [10, p. 26]. M.N. Tikhomirov did not agree with him [9, p. 39]. N.L. Pushkareva notes that Old Rus law allowed the inheritance of land estates by women [8, p. 133-134], however, the nature of the ownership of real estate remains in question. V.A. Kuchkin emphasizes that the lands mentioned in the contractual charter of Simeon's nephew Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy belonged to Maria Alexandrovna and could be transferred to the nephew only in the event of the death of the princess [3, p. 7-8]. Simeon Ivanovich made a will in favor of his wife Maria Alexandrovna, counting on her patronage of his young son / sons. However, the grand-princal table passed to his brother Ivan Ivanovich (the Fair), who took away from the Grand Princess a significant part of the possessions bequeathed to her and financial receipts from taxes [4].

After the death of Simeon Ivanovich, Maria took monastic vows under the name Theotinia. She much outlived not only her husband, but also Ivan Ivanovich the Fair, her brother-in-law, and his son, the Grand Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. In the year of the death of the latter, Maria Alexandrovna ordered the production of the so-called shroud - the finest sewing, dedicated to the memory of the prince and his victory in the Battle of Kulikovo [5, p. 193].

Maria died on March 17, 1399 and was buried in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin [2; 6, p. 91]. However, already in 1479, the grave of Maria Alexandrovna was opened by order of Ivan III, and her remains were dressed in new clothes. According to T.D. Panova, the burial of Maria - Theotinia was the last in the necropolis [6, p. 91-92]. The burial has not survived to date.   

• Daniil Semenovich
• Mikhail Semenovich
• Ivan Semenovich
• Semyon Semyonovich

"The Shroud of Maria of Tver" is an embroidered shroud (vozdukh) made in the year of Dmitry Donskoy's death in 1389 by order of Maria Alexandrovna in memory of the Battle of Kulikovo. On the shroud there are images of Edessa, the Mother of God, John the Baptist, Dmitry of Solunsky, as well as Prince Vladimir I the Baptist and saints Boris and Gleb. Now it is stored in the collection of the State Historical Museum in Moscow [3, p. 193].

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

II. Kuchkin V.A. Izdanie zaveshchanii moskovskikh kniazei XIV v. Dushevnaia gramota velikogo kniazia Semena Ivanovicha // Drevniaia Rus'. Voprosy medievistiki. № 3 (33). 2008. S. 123–125. 

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

2.      Koniavskaia E.L. Dannye o russkikh kniaginiakh v kniazheskikh zaveshchaniiakh i dogovornykh gramotakh XIV–nachala XVI v. // Drevniaia Rus'. Voprosy medievistiki. 2020. № 3 (81). S. 180–184. DOI 10.25986/IRI.2020.16.43.014 

3.      Kuchkin V.A. Kniaginia Anna – tetka Simeona Gordogo // Issledovaniia po istochnikovedeniiu istorii Rossii (do 1917 g.). M., 1993. S. 4–11.

4.      Kuchkin V.A. "Svoĭ diadia' zaveshchaniia Simeona Gordogo // Istoriia SSSR. 1988. № 4. S. 149–158.

5.      Lavrent'ev A.V. "Pelena Marii Tverskoi' i otnosheniia v dome moskovskikh kniazei 50-80-kh gg. XIV v. // Voprosy epigrafiki. Vyp. 8. M., 2015. 

6.      Panova T.D. Kremlevskie usypal'nitsy. Istoriia, sud'ba, taina. M., 2003.

7.      Presniakov A.E. Obrazovanie Velikorusskogo gosudarstva. Ocherki po istorii XIII–XV stoletii. Pg., 1918.

8.      Pushkareva N.L.  Zhenshchiny Drevnei Rusi. M, 1989.

9.      Tikhomirov M.N. Drevniaia Moskva. M., 1947.

10.   Cherepnin L.V. Russkie feodal'nye arkhivy XIV–XV vekov. Ch. 1. M.; L., 1948.

11.   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. 1. Velikie kniaz'ia Vladimirskie i Vladimiro-Moskovskie. SPb., 1889.