Saint Anna Porphyrogenita

Anna Porphyrogenita (Greek: Άννα Πορφυρογέννητη; 13 March 963 – 1011) was the grand princess consort of Kiev during her marriage to Vladimir the Great. Anna was the daughter of Byzantine emperor Romanos II and the Empress Theophano. She was also the sister of Emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII. Anna was a Porphyrogenita, a legitimate daughter born in the special purple chamber of the Byzantine Emperor's Palace. Anna's hand was considered such a prize that some theorize that Vladimir became Christian just to marry her. Anna did not wish to marry Vladimir and expressed deep distress on her way to her wedding. Vladimir was impressed by Byzantine religious practices; this factor, along with his marriage to Anna, led to his decision to convert to Eastern Christianity. Due to these two factors, he also began Christianizing his realm. He also gave up his other wives and mistresses. By marriage to Grand Prince Vladimir, Anna became the grand princess of Kiev, but in practice, she was referred to as queen or tsarina, probably as a sign of her membership of the imperial Byzantine dynasty. Anna participated actively in the Christianization of Rus': she acted as the religious adviser of Vladimir and founded a few convents and churches herself. She likely lived in the halls built on the Starokievskaia Hill, thus enjoying the feasts held there every Sunday, presumably after religious service in the nearby church of the Mother of God. After her death, she was put to rest in a marble sarcophagus next to Vladimir's own sarcophagus, a sign of different status and conjugal relationship. It is not known whether she was the biological mother of any of Vladimir's children, although some scholars have pointed to evidence that she and Vladimir may have had as many as three children together, possibly Gleb-David, Boris-Romanos, and Theophana. Polish medievalist, Andrzej Poppe proposes that the last two were named after Anna's parents.