Anna Koltovski

Anna Koltovski ("Анна Колтовская") (????-1626) was Tsarina of the Tsardom of Russia and the fourth wife of Ivan the Terrible.

After the sudden death of his third wife Marfa Sobakin on November 13 1571, Ivan had difficulty in securing another marriage, due to the laws of the Russian Orthodox Church prohibiting fourth marriages; "The first marriage is law; the second an extraordinary concession; the third is a violation of the law; the fourth is an empiety, a state similair to that of animals." Ivan countered this by claiming he did not consumate the marriage.

He married Anna, the daughter of a courtesan, on April 29 1572 without asking the Church's blessing. Ivan organised a meeting in the church of the Assumption, and gave a heartfelt speech which moved the prelates to tears. They conceded to Ivans marriage, though on the condition that he not attend church until Easter, and that for a year, he spend time with penitents, and a year later, with common Christians. Their honeymoon took place in Novgorod, which only two years prior, had been decimated by Ivan in the Massacre of Novgorod.

After two years of marriage, Ivan began to tire of his wife due to her sterility. He repudiated her, and sent her to a monastery.

References

* Troyat, Henri "Ivan le Terrible". Flammarion, Paris, 1982
* de Madariaga, Isabel "Ivan the Terrible". Giulio Einaudi editore, 2005