Anna-Euphrosyne Angelos (c1180-c1255)

Anna or Maria ("Grand Princedss of Romanov", born 1188 - not earlier than 1253 ) is a hypothetical monastic name of the second wife of the Prince of Galicia-Volhynia and the Grand Duke of Kiev, Roman Mstislavich, the mother of Daniil Galitsky and Vasilko Volynsky , who, after the death of her husband supported her sons in the struggle for the Galicia-Volyn principality.

Versions of origin
Roman Mstislavich married again around 1197. The Galician-Volyn chronicle does not indicate the name of his wife, calling her the "Grand Duchess of Romanov" .. The conclusion that her monastic name was Anna was made by historians on the basis that her grandson Volyn Prince Mstislav Danilovich founded on its grave a church in honor of the Saints Joachim and Anna. According to another version in monasticism her name was Maria (and Joachim and Anna were considered her patrons as the parents of the Virgin ).

Currently, three versions of the origin of his second wife, Roman Galitsky, have been put forward:

N.I. Kostomarov considers her to be the sister of the Hungarian King  Andrash II Ukrainian researcher  N.F. Kotlyar  makes the assumption that Anna was a relative (perhaps a sister) to one of the "great" Volyn boyars, Miroslava. In part this is based on annalistic news, in which Miroslav is called the "uncle" of Daniel Romanovich Russian historian, Professor A.V. Maiorov, on the basis of a study of Byzantine and other foreign sources, suggests that Anna was Euphrosyneus Angelina, daughter of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angel  and sister of the wife of Philippe Swabian Most researchers currently support the third version (among others, LV Voitovich, D. Dombrovsky, who calls the second wife of Roman Maria).

Arguments in favor of the version of the Byzantine origin of Anna
According to the version of the Byzantine origin of Anna, she could be born around 1186 / 1187 the year the daughter of Emperor Isaac II Mary or Frosya. The birth of the firstborn (Daniel), therefore, dates back to 1201 (when the princess was 14-15 years old). A logical argument is the appearance after the second marriage of the Volyn Izyaslavichi ( Romanovichi ) uncharacteristic (mostly Greek) names: Irakly, Leo, Schwarn (the sons of Daniel), etc. This version also explains the relationship of Roman's wife to the Hungarian king, for She helped her after the death of her husband: her father Isaac was married to a second marriage to his sister András II Margarita (who could have been either Anna's mother or stepmother).

Roman's union with Anna's uncle by the Byzantine emperor Alexei III Angel could be concluded at the turn of the 12th-13th centuries and was cemented by this marriage of the Galician-Volyn prince. Dislocated by the Crusaders in 1203, the emperor fled with his family to Eastern Europe. According to AV Mayorov, after August 1203 and until April 1204, when Alex III was in Bulgaria to search for military allies against the Crusaders, he had enough time and opportunities for direct contacts with Roman Mstislavich and even for a personal visit to Galich.

The evidence for the military and dynastic alliance between Alexey and Roman, as well as Galich's traditionally active role in supporting the aspirants for the Byzantine and Bulgarian thrones can support this. In addition, the invasion of Roman Galitsky to Poland, during which he was killed, could be part of a campaign in Saxony against Otto of Brunswick  to support her husband's sister Anna Philip of Swabia in their struggle for power in  the Holy Roman Empire  after the death of  Emperor Henry VI of. .

Arguments against the version of Byzantine origin of Anna
1) The elder daughter of Isaac II Angela - Euphrosyne Angelina (1174/79 - October 1 to 1208), a nun from 1183 - could not be "Anna", as in the Synodik of the Speer's Cathedral, the contribution made by Irina ) Angelina , who remembers her sister Euphrosyne among the dead.

2) Voitovich's hypothesis - does not stand up to any criticism, according to his speculations - "Anna (Elena) Angelina", daughter of Isaac II Angel and Maria of Hungary . But Maria Hungarian was born in 1175, and the hypothetical "Anna (Elena)" then it turns out was born - the earliest 1189/90 (and died, according to him in 1289 - in 100 years!) And already in 1201 (at 11-12 years! ) gave birth to Daniel.

3) Onomastics of male names of imperial families: Duk, Komninov, Angels and Paleologi is limited to 95% by a dozen names: Alexey, Andronicus, Dmitry, Isaac, John, Constantine, Manuel, Michael, Nicephorus and Fedor. There was a stable tradition, the names of descendants in a certain order: the first child by the name of grandfather / grandmother, the second by the name of the elder uncle / aunt, etc. Names: Schwarn, Leo and Irakly, during the years 915-1453, in the imperial families do not occur even once. In any case - these names have absolutely no connection with the kind of Angels.

4) It is noteworthy that such an exceptionally exotic name - Schwarn (not once mentioned in the annals in the mid 12th - early 13th centuries) - could not but draw the attention of historians. But, for some reason, the researchers of the origin of "Anna", closed their eyes to this obvious relationship. From 1176 three sisters are mentioned - led by the wife of Vsevolod Yuryevich Bolshoy Gnezdo - Maria Shvarnovna  - the daughter of a Czech prince. The subject is as mysterious as the personality of the "princess Romanova" herself

5) Having (hypothetically) the sister - Irina (Mary) Angelina, the wife of one of the strongest sovereigns of Europe, the German king Philip of Swabia - "Anna", the boyars from Galich, who fled because of the mutiny, for some reason wanders with the children in the yards of Europe - but does not address to the "sister". In 1206, she finds refuge in Poland, Leszek White , and then in Hungary with Andrew II.

After the death of her husband
The novel died in the summer of 1205, hitting a small detachment of Poles under the town of Zavihost. After that, his widow Anna signed in Sanoka an agreement with King Andras II on the deployment of the Hungarian garrison in Galicia to protect her family. The attempt of the Grand Duke of Kiev Rurik Rostislavich, made in the same year, together with the Olgovichi and the Polovtsi, seized Galich. In 1206, on the eve of their new campaign, the princess took the children to Vladimir-Volynsky, and to avoid the attack of the allies (joined by the Poles) to Volyn managed only thanks to the arrival of Andrash with the army. The Volyn boyars, in particular Vyacheslav Tolsty, Miroslav and Demyan, helped the princess and the Romanovichs.

However, soon in Galicia, and then in Vladimir, at the invitation of the boyars of Kormilichi who returned to Galich, the Novgorod-northern Igorevichs from Olgovichi, who demanded to give them Roman's family, sat down. Anna and her children fled and found shelter in Krakow, near  Leszek Bely , in the struggle against whom Roman died, although earlier they were allies. After the intervention of Leszek and Andrash, Anna, along with Vasilko's younger son, were taken to reign in Berestie ( 1208 ). Then Vasilka's mother asked Leszek to give her son more land: " Alexander ," said the Princess, "holds all our land and paternal estate, and my son sits in one Brest" [12]. As a result, they received from her nephew Alexander Vsevolodovich Belz, who he took back in 4 years later. Then Anna with Vasilko and boyars left for Kamenets (1212).

After the repression of the Igorevichi against the Galician boyars, the Hungarians, Poles and Volyn princes were imprisoned in Galich Daniel ( 1211 ), but shortly after the departure of the patrons, the princess was expelled by the boyars, and 10-year-old Daniil, crying about her departure, wounded the horse with a sword under the tyoon, sent to return it. The following year, Andrash returned the princess and Daniel to Galich, but they were again forced to flee to Hungary after the boyars of the Romanoviks, the Peresopnytsky, cousin uncle of the Romanoviches, brought the boyars to Galich Mstislav. Then Andrash entered into an agreement with Vladislav Kormilich, captured by him , and he, being a boyar, began to  reign in Galicia. Then the princess and Daniil left Andrash to Leszek, and he led a campaign against Galich: Vladislav and his Hungarian and Czech contingents were defeated, but Galich himself was able to defend himself. Then Tikhoml and  Peremil were added to the possessions of the Romanoviks in Volhynia.

The gap between András and Leszek was replaced by the alliance concluded at the Spiši, as a result of which Leszek's famous appeal was made: " There is no leper boyar prince in Galicia, but add my daughter for my son Koloman  and put in Galichi " ( 1214 ). 5-year-old Koloman with the consent of Pope Innocent III  became the " King of Galicia ", Przemysl went to Leschek, and Lyubachev Pakoslava, with the assistance of which Leszek planted Romanovichs in Vladimir-Volynsky, driving Alexander out of there.

In 1219, after the sons reached the age of majority, the princess, perhaps under the pressure of the boyars, went to the monastery under the name of Elena or Anna, but later took part in the political life of the principality. In the Galicia-Volyn chronicle it is reported that in 1253, she gave advice to her son Daniel about accepting the royal crown from the Pope.

Also there is a version that as "nun Elena" she was mentioned in 1288 at the funeral of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, and the other her grandson Prince Mstislav Danilovich built in 1289 the chapel of Saints Joachim and Anna on her grave immediately after her death.

Buried in the city of Vladimir-Volynsky.

Children

 * Daniil Romanovich of Halych (1201-1264), Prince of Halych-Volhynia, King of Russia from 1254
 * Vasilko Romanovich of Halych (c1203-1279) -Prince of Belz 1207-1211, Prince of Berestey 1208-1210, 1219-1228,Prince of Peremyshl1209-1218, Prince of Peresopnytsky 1225-1229, Prince of Lutsk 1229-1238, Prince of Vladimir-Volynsky from 1238