ABSTRACT
Anna Porphyrogenita is, despite her relevance for the history of Kievan Rus’, someone we know very little about, and even the order of the few facts we know about her life is still contested among historians. We know she was the sister of Basil II, the Byzantine emperor and so-called “Bulgar-slayer.” We know she married prince Vladimir Sviatoslavich – but historians disagree when or where – that she probably had no children (but the agreement is not unanimous on this point either) and that she died in Kiev, though the date is also disputed. Her paramount role in the history of Kievan Rus’ derives from the fact that her marriage to prince Vladimir symbolized the entry of the newly created polity within the orbit of Byzantium (politically, culturally, religiously) and, therefore, the entry of Kievan Rus’ in Christian history.
