Anna of Moscow

Anna Vasilievna of Moscow (1393 – August 1417) was the first wife of John VIII Palaiologos. She died while her husband was still the junior co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

Family

She was a daughter of Vasily I of Moscow and Sophia of Lithuania. Her maternal grandparents were Vytautas the Great and his first wife Anna.

Marriage

She married John VIII in 1414. Her husband was the eldest surviving son of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš. John was named Despotes in 1416 and seems to have assumed the position of co-emperor shortly thereafter.

Anna was second in status only to her mother-in-law among the women of the Byzantine court. The history of Doukas records her dying of the "plague" in 1417. She is thought to be a victim of bubonic plague. Following the Black Death this plague continued to strike parts of Europe sporadically until the 17th century, each time with reduced intensity and fatality, suggesting an increased resistance due to genetic selection.

Ancestry

Family of Anna of Moscow

16. Ivan I of Moscow               8. Ivan II of Moscow                       17. Helena               4. Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy                             18. Vasily Velyaminov, mayor of Moscow               9. Alexandra Ivanovna Velyaminova                       2. Vasily I of Moscow                                   20. Konstantin Vasilyevich of Suzdal               10. Dmitry of Suzdal                       21. Helena               5. Eudoxia Dmitriyevna of Suzdal                             22. Konstantin III of Rostov               11. Vasilisa-Anna Konstantinova of Rostov                       23. Maria Ivanovna of Moscow               1. Anna of Moscow                                         24. Gediminas               12. Kęstutis                       25. Jewna               6. Vytautas                             13. Birutė                       3. Sophia of Lithuania                                   28. Ivan Aleksandrovich of Smolensk               14. Svyatoslav II Ivanovich of Smolensk                       7. Anna

External links

Anna of Moscow Rurik Dynasty Born: 1403 Died: 1417
Royal titles
Preceded by Helena Dragaš	Byzantine Empress consort 1416–1417 with Helena Dragaš (1416–1417)	Succeeded by Helena Dragaš