Biography of Anne of Kiev Queen Consort Francia 1030-1075

History of the Dukes of Normandy by William of Jumieges. Seeing the destruction of his men, the king withdrew from Normandy as quickly as he could, and did not attempt to return again. He sought the friendship of the duke, having considered his valour, and restored to him the castle of Tillières, which he had formerly taken. The said king was very warlike, and of great courage and piety. He had in marriage Matilda¹, daughter of Yaroslav, king of the Rugians, by whom he had two sons, Philip and Hugh, and one daughter. After he had ruled the kingdom of the Franks for nearly twenty-five years, he, for the sake of bodily health, received a potion from John, most skilled of physicians. But, as the medicine brought on too great a thirst, he disregarded the strict instructions of the physician, and receiving a drink from a chamberlain while the doctor was absent, he drank before the purgation. Thereby becoming very ill, he died on the same day², after receiving the Holy Eucharist. He appointed his son Philip as heir to the rule of the Franks, and commended him to the guardianship of Baldwin, Count of Flanders.

Videns autem rex suorum interitum, quantocius valuit a Northmannis recessit et ad eos ultra venire non apposuit. Amicitiam qnoque ducis, considerata ejus probitate, requisivit, et Tegulense castrum, quod dudum abstulerat, illi tradidit. Sæpedictus rex valde fuit militaris, magnæque fortitudinis et pietatis. Mathildem Juliusclodii regis Rugorum filiam in matrimonio habuit, ex qua duos filios, Philippum et Hugonem, unamque filiam genuit. Qui postquam regnum Galliæ fere 25 annis rexit, causa corporeæ salutis a Joanne medicorum peritissimo potionem accepit. Sed veneno nimiam sitim inferente jussum Archiatri sprevit et a cubiculario potum accipiens, dum medicus abesset, ante purgationem bibit. Unde nimis infirmatus, eodem die post perceptionem sacræ Eucharistiæ obiit. Philippum vero filium suum in regimine Francorum hæredem constituit et tutelæ Balduini Flandrensis strapæ commendavit.

Note 1. King Henry I of Francia had two wives 1 before 1040, Matilda of Frisia, who died in 1044, daughter of Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia, and 2 in 1051, Anne of Kiev [aged 30], daughter of Yaroslav, Prince of Kiev and Novgorod. Anne of Kiev was the mother of Philip and Hugh, and a daughter Emma. Following King Henry's death in 1060 Anne married, controversially, [her future husband] Ralph IV of Valois [aged 35]. Chronicle de l'abbaye de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, Page 433: "In the year of the Lord 1060, Henry, king of Francia, died. He granted privileges to the monastery of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, and he was buried at Saint-Denis. Count Ralph, cousin of the deceased king, took the queen as his wife; for this reason he was excommunicated by Gregory VII. Baldwin, count of Flanders, took the young King Philip under his protection and governed Francia." King Henry and Ralph were second cousins once removed, with their common ancestor being Fulk, 2nd Count of Anjou, whose daughter Adelaide was grandmother of King Henry, and whose daughter Adela was great grandmother of Ralph.

Note 2. King Henry I of Francia [aged 52] died on 4th August 1060. He was interred in the Basilica of St Denis, north of Paris. William of Malmesbury, Book 2, Chapter 13: "The same year Henry, king of France, a good and active warrior, died by poison."