Maria Yaroslavna was the daughter of Yaroslav Vladimirovich, the prince of
Maloyaroslavets,
Borovsk and
Serpukhov, and a son of
Vladimir the Bold. She was also a granddaughter of
Feodor Koshka. Maria became the
grand princess of Moscow in 1433 after her marriage to
Vasily II of Moscow. Two years later the sons of
Yury of Zvenigorod,
Vasily Kosoy and
Dmitry Shemyaka, usurped the throne and she was exiled to
Galich. With great difficulty, she managed to return to Moscow. On 12 February 1446,
Dmitry Shemyaka with Ioann of Mozhaysk and
Boris of Tver attacked Moscow. Maria was captured and put into prison. On 16 February 1446, she was sent into exile to
Uglich, together with her husband. In later years, together with her mother-in-law
Sophia of Lithuania, Maria played a significant role in the principality. In order to ingratiate herself with the church, in 1450 she exempted the
Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius from taxes, and the
Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in 1471. After her husband's death she inherited
Rostov and
Poshekhonye, and some other lands. In 1480, she blessed her son
Ivan III of Russia to fight against
Khan Ahmed. The fasti mention her as a wise, reasonable woman, and that even as adults, her children sought her advice. Maria took the veil under the name Marfa in 1482, and died in 1485. At first, she was buried in
Starodevichy Convent of the Moscow Kremlin. In 1929, her remains were moved to the
Cathedral of the Archangel. == Children ==