Anna Dandolo

Anna Dandolo
Wall painting at Sopoćani monastery depicting Anna Dandolo on her deathbed surrounded by her family and members of the clergy
Queen consort of Serbia
Tenure	1217–1228
Coronation	1217
Born	Venice
Died	1258 Serbia
Burial	Sopoćani
Spouse	Stefan the First-Crowned
Issue	Stefan Uroš I
House	Dandolo
Father	Rainero Dandolo
Mother	Unnamed

Anna Dandolo (Serbian: Ana Dandolo / Ана Дандоло; fl. 1217—d. 1258) was a Venetian noblewoman who became Queen consort of Serbia as the second wife of King Stefan the First-Crowned, founder of the Serbian kingdom. She was crowned at Stefan's coronation in 1217, and she held this title until his death on 24 September 1228. She was the granddaughter of Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice. King Stefan Uroš I was her son.

Anna was born in Venice, Republic of Venice, on an unknown date, the daughter of Rainero Dandolo, Vice-Doge of Venice, and Procurator of San Marco. Her paternal grandfather was Enrico Dandolo, Doge of Venice, who had earlier made incursions into Zadar (1202) and Constantinople (1204). In 1209, her father was killed in battle against the Genoese during the conquest of Candia.

In about 1216 or 1217, she married Stefan, the Grand Prince of Serbia and son of Stefan Nemanja, in a magnificent ceremony which was celebrated in Venice and attended by all the patrician families in the republic. Following the splendid festivities held in their honour, the bridal couple were then transported with much fanfare by galley to Dalmatia. Anna was his second wife; his first, Eudokia Angelina, from whom he had separated for alleged adultery, had died in 1211. The marriage of Stefan to a woman from the powerful maritime republic of Venice was politically advantageous to Serbia; the alliance also strengthened Orthodox Serbia's ties to the west and brought a strong Latin influence to the country through the Venetian artisans who followed in Anna's wake. In 1217, Stefan was crowned the first King of Serbia by Archbishop Sava, and Anna became the first Queen consort.