Maria Shvarnovna (c. 1158 - 19 March/19 May 1205/1206) was the first wife of the

Yurievichi Yuri I Vladimirovich (; ; c. 1099 – 15 May 1157), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy (, ) or the Long Arm, was a Monomakhovichi prince of Rostov and Suzdal, acquiring the name ''Suzdalia'' during his reign. Noted for successfully curbing t ...

grand prince of Vladimir The Prince of Vladimir, from 1186 Grand Prince of Vladimir (), also translated as Grand Duke of Vladimir, was the title of the monarch of Vladimir-Suzdal. The title was passed to the prince of Moscow in 1389. Overview The monarch of Vladimir-Su ...

Vsevolod III Big Nest, and gave birth to at least 14 children (hence Vsevolod's sobriquet of "Big Nest"). Four of her sons,

Konstantin The first name Konstantin () is a derivation from the Latin name '' Constantinus'' ( Constantine) in some European languages, such as Bulgarian, Russian, Estonian and German. As a Christian given name, it refers to the memory of the Roman empe ...

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

Yaroslav Yaroslav () is a Slavic masculine given name. Its variant spelling is Jaroslav and Iaroslav, and its feminine form is Yaroslava. The surname derived from the name is Yaroslavsky and its variants. East Slavic patronymics are Yaroslavovich and Yar ...

and

Sviatoslav Sviatoslav (, ; , ) is a Russian and Ukrainian given name of Slavic origin. Cognates include Svetoslav, Svatoslav, , Svetislav. It has a Pre-Christian pagan character and means "one who worships the light" (likely in reference to the sun). In C ...

, succeeded their father as

Grand Prince Grand prince or great prince (feminine: grand princess or great princess) (; ; ; ; ) is a hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. Grand duke is the usual and established, though not litera ...

s of

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

, and Yaroslav went on to become Grand Prince of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

around the time of the

Mongol Invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

. As Yaroslav's mother, she is thus the paternal grandmother of

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...

, whose son,

Daniel of Moscow Daniil Aleksandrovich ( Russian: Даниил Александрович; 1261 – 5 March 1303), also known as Daniil of Moscow, was the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky and forefather of all Princes of Moscow. His descendants are known as t ...

, founded the Daniilovichi, the Muscovite branch of the Yurievichi. Maria's origins are disputed. Some sources say she was Ossetian or

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and connected to the Georgian royal house, while others, such as the ''Uspensky Sbornik'' (a 13th-century text now housed in the

Russian State Museum The State Russian Museum (), formerly known as the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (), on Arts Square in Saint Petersburg, is the world's largest depository of Russian fine art. It is also one of the largest art museums in ...

in Moscow), say she was Moravian. M. V. Shchepkina posited the idea that the Sbornik was compiled for Maria in 1199–1206, and thus the claims that she was Moravian might be more believable than the other claims, but Caucasian chronicles claim Vsevolod traveled to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

in 1170 (from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

), where he was married to Maria at the suggestion of the Georgian King. The date of her death is also uncertain, as 19 March 1205 is also given in some accounts. The ''

Novgorod First Chronicle The Novgorod First Chronicle ( rus, Новгоро́дская пе́рвая ле́топись, Novgoródskaya pérvaya létopisʹ, nəvɡɐˈrot͡skəjə ˈpʲervəjə ˈlʲetəpʲɪsʲ, commonly abbreviated as NPL), also known by its 1914 Eng ...

'' mentions her death under the year 1205, but does not give an exact day. As it is mentioned after her son Konstantin's arrival in Novgorod on March 20, it would seem she died after that, perhaps in May. There is a hypothesis that her father is a certain voivode , possibly of Czech origin.Казаков Александр Александрови�
К вопросу о происхождении Марии Шварновны, супруги великого князя Всеволода большое Гнездо
Maria is venerated as a saint by the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

and is credited with founding several convents, most notably the Convent of the Assumption, known as the () in Vladimir on the Klyazma. According to several accounts, the convent was founded in 1200 and Maria took the and the name Marfa (although this would have required her to have ended her marriage with Vsevolod, who outlived her by six years). She and her sister, Anna, were buried in the convent and her relics, along with those of several other saints, including

's first wife, Princess Alexandra, and his daughter are still kept there.

Children

Maria and

Vsevolod the Big Nest Vsevolod III Yuryevich, or Vsevolod the Big Nest (; 1154–1212), was Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1176 to 1212. During his long reign, the city reached the zenith of its glory. Family Vsevolod was the tenth or eleventh son of Yuri Dolgoruk ...

had at least 14 children: *Sbislava Vsevolodovna (born 26 October 1178). *Vseslava Vsevolodovna. (died c. 1206) Married

Rostislav Yaroslavich Rostislav Yaroslavich (24 June 1171 – after 1212/before 1223) was a Rus' people, Rus' prince (a member of the Rurik Dynasty). His baptismal name was Ivan. He was prince of Snovsk. His life Rostislav was the elder son of Yaroslav II Vsevolodovi ...

, Prince of

Snov The Snov (; ) is a river in Bryansk Oblast in Russia and Chernihiv Oblast in Ukraine, right tributary of the Desna River (Dnieper basin). The length of the river is 253 km. The area of its drainage basin is 8,700 km2.Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich, Prince of

Chernigov Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukrain ...

. His paternal grandfather was

Vsevolod II of Kiev Vsevolod II Olgovich (died August 1, 1146) was Prince of Chernigov (1127–1139) and Grand Prince of Kiev (1139–1146). He was a son of Oleg I of Chernigov, Oleg Svyatoslavich, Prince of Chernigov. Family Vsevolod married Maria Mstislavna of Ki ...

. * Verkhuslava Vsevolodovna. (born 1181) Married

Rostislav II of Kiev Rostislav Rurikovich (1173 – before 1214) was Prince of Torchesk (1195–1205), Grand Prince of Kiev (1204–1206), Prince of Vyshgorod (1205–1210), and Prince of Galicia (1207).Енциклопедія українознавства : � ...

. *

Konstantin of Rostov Konstantin Vsevolodovich () (18 May 1186 in Rostov – 2 February 1218) was the eldest son of Vsevolod the Big Nest and Maria Shvarnovna. In 1206 and 1207, he was the prince of Novgorod. In 1207, his father sent him to rule the towns of R ...

(18 May 1186 – 2 February 1218) *Boris Vsevolodovich. (c. 1188 – 1238) *Gleb Vsevolodovich (died 29 September 1189) *

Yuri II of Vladimir Yuri II (, also transcribed as ''Iuri''), also known as George II of Vladimir or as Georgy II Vsevolodovich (26 November 11884 March 1238), was the fourth Grand Prince of Vladimir (1212–1216, 1218–1238) who presided over the Pri ...

(1189 – 4 March 1238) *

Yaroslav II of Vladimir Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich (; Christian name: ''Theodor'' (); 8 February 1191 – 30 September 1246), also transliterated as Iaroslav, was Grand Prince of Vladimir from 1238 to 1246. He collaborated with Batu Khan following the Mongol invasion, be ...

(8 February 1191 – 30 September 1246) *Yelena Vsevolodovna (died after 1206) *Vladimir Vsevolodovich, Prince of Yuryev-Polsky (25 October 1194 – 6 January 1229) *

Sviatoslav III of Vladimir Sviatoslav (, ; , ) is a Russian and Ukrainian given name of Slavic origin. Cognates include Svetoslav, Svatoslav, , Svetislav. It has a Pre-Christian pagan character and means "one who worships the light" (likely in reference to the sun). In ...

(27 March 1196 – 3 February 1252) *Ivan Vsevolodovich, Prince of

Starodub Starodub (, , ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets (river), Babinets River in the Dnieper basin, southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

(28 November 1197 – after 1247) *Pelagea Vsevolodovna *Anna Vsevolodovna. Married Vladimir, Prince of

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

(died 1239)

Children

References

Further reading