Bertha of Sulzbach (1110s – August 29, 1159) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Life

She was born in Sulzbach, a daughter of

Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach Berengar is a masculine name derived from Germanic roots meaning "bear" and "spear". The name appears frequently among certain noble families during the Middle Ages, especially the Unruochings and those related. Bérenger is the French form, while B ...

(c. 1080 – 3 December 1125) and his second spouse

Adelheid of Wolfratshausen Adelheid of Wolfratshausen (d. 11 January/12 January 1126) was a countess of Sulzbach as the second wife of Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach. Slightly different dates for her death are given in the necrologies of Tegernsee and the Salzburg Cathedral ...

. He was one of the rulers who signed the Concordat of Worms (23 September 1122). In August, 1125, Berengar is mentioned in documents of

Lothair III Lothair III, sometimes numbered Lothair II and also known as Lothair of Supplinburg (1075 – 4 December 1137), was Holy Roman Emperor from 1133 until his death. He was appointed Duke of Saxony in 1106 and elected King of Germany in 1125 before ...

, King of the Romans. The death of Berengar is mentioned four months later.

Empress

Emissaries of the

Byzantine emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

John II Komnenos John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...

arrived in Germany, seeking an alliance against Roger II of Sicily. To seal the alliance, the emissaries requested that Conrad send a princess of his family to be married to the emperor's son, Manuel. Instead, Conrad selected his sister-in-law, Bertha, and after legally adopting her as his daughter, sent her to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

escorted by Emicho von Leiningen, the

Bishop of Würzburg A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. By the time Bertha arrived at the Imperial court in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, the emperor John was dead, and his son Manuel was now the reigning emperor. Manuel delayed marrying her for three years, until shortly after

Epiphany Epiphany may refer to: * Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight Religion * Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ ** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...

1146, at which point she became empress and was renamed "Irene" (Εἰρήνη), a common name for foreign-born princesses. As an introduction for her to the Hellenic culture she was marrying into, John Tzetzes wrote his ''Allegories on the

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

''. Bertha-Irene was noted for shunning the frivolity of the luxurious Byzantine court; Basil of Ochrid, the archbishop of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, praised her for her modesty and piety, and

Nicetas Choniates Niketas or Nicetas Choniates ( el, Νικήτας Χωνιάτης; c. 1155 – 1217), whose actual surname was Akominatos (Ἀκομινάτος), was a Byzantine Greek government official and historian – like his brother Michael Akominatos, wh ...

(53sq.) noted that she did not wear face-paint. The

patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

, Cosmas II Atticus, who had been accused of heresy, allegedly cursed Bertha-Ireneʻs womb in 1147 to prevent her bearing a son. Bertha-Irene died in

in 1159. Her husband Manuel was described as "roaring like a lion" in grief at her death, despite his infidelities during her lifetime. He remarried, in 1161, to

Maria of Antioch Maria of Antioch (1145–1182) was a Byzantine empress by marriage to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and regent during the minority of her son porphyrogennetos Alexios II Komnenos from 1180 until 1182. Life Maria of Antioch was the daug ...

Issue

She and Manuel had two daughters: # Maria Comnena (1152–1182), who married

Renier of Montferrat Renier or Rénier may refer to: Given name: * Renier Botha (born 1992), South African rugby union player * Renier Coetzee PS, General Officer in the South African Army * François Renier Duminy (1747–1811), French mariner, navigator, cartograph ...

# Anna Comnena (1154–1158)

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * *

Otto of Freising Otto of Freising ( la, Otto Frisingensis; c. 1114 – 22 September 1158) was a German churchman of the Cistercian order and chronicled at least two texts which carries valuable information on the political history of his own time. He was Otto I ...

, ''Deeds of Frederick Barbarossa'' * Choniates, Nicetas, ''Historia'', ed. J.-L. Van Dieten, 2 vols., Berlin and New York, 1975; trans. as ''O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates'', by H.J. Magoulias, Detroit; Wayne State University Press, 1984. * Garland, Lynda. ''Byzantine Empresses'', 1999 * Garland, Lynda, & Stone, Andrew
"Bertha-Irene, first wife of Manuel I Comnenus", ''De Imperatoribus Romanis''
(external link) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertha of Sulzbach 1110s births 1159 deaths Komnenos dynasty 12th-century German women German countesses 12th-century Byzantine empresses 12th-century German nobility Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism Burials at the Monastery of Christ Pantocrator (Constantinople) Manuel I Komnenos People from Amberg-Sulzbach