Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera ( el, Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to 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 ...
Alexios III Angelos.
Euphrosyne was the daughter of
Andronikos Kamateros Andronikos Doukas Kamateros ( el, ) was a Byzantine aristocrat, senior official under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and theologian, best known for his theological treatise ''Sacred Arsenal''.
Family and career
Born probably around 1110, Andronikos Ka ...
, a high-ranking official who held the titles of ''
megas droungarios'' and ''
pansebastos'' and wife, an unknown Kantakouzene. She was related to the Emperor
Constantine X and
Irene Doukaina
Irene Doukaina or Ducaena ( el, , ''Eirēnē Doukaina''; – 19 February 1138) was a Byzantine Greek empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She was the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komn ...
, empress of
Alexios I Komnenos
Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...
. Both of her brothers had rebelled against
Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos ( gr, Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός; – 12 September 1185), Latinized as Andronicus I Comnenus, was Byzantine emperor from 1183 to 1185. He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and the grandson of the emperor Al ...
; one was imprisoned and the other was blinded.
Life
Euphrosyne married Alexios Angelos, the older brother of the future Emperor
Isaac II Angelos
Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204.
His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...
in c. 1169. Although Isaac II bestowed many titles and honors upon his brother, Alexios seized the throne on April 8, 1195, deposing Isaac and proclaiming himself emperor. In this he was assisted by Euphrosyne, who had organized a party of aristocratic supporters. Euphrosyne took control of the palace and quelled the opposition herself, securing the accession of her husband to the throne by wholesale bribery.
Euphrosyne was a dominating woman with a talent for politics, and she virtually ruled the Empire in the name of Alexios III, who was concerned primarily with pleasure and idle pursuits. She issued commands herself and even altered Alexios' decrees when it suited her, and secured the recall of the capable minister
Constantine Mesopotamites Constantine Mesopotamites ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Μεσοποταμίτης) was a senior Byzantine official, and ''de facto'' chief minister under the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos from 1193 until his fall in summer 11 ...
. Euphrosyne and Alexios were criticized for their love of finery and the enrichment of their relatives at state expense. Her own brother,
Basil Kamateros, and her son-in-law,
Andronikos Kontostephanos
Andronikos Komnenos Kontostephanos ( el, ; ca. 1132/33 – after 1183), Latinized Andronicus Contostephanus, was a major figure in the Eastern Roman Empire during the reign of his uncle Manuel I Komnenos as a general, admiral, politician and a l ...
, accused Euphrosyne of adultery with one of her ministers, a nobleman named Vatatzes. Alexios III believed the allegations and had Vatatzes executed. Euphrosyne was stripped of her imperial robes and banished to a convent at Nematarea in October 1196. However, her relatives convinced Alexios to reinstate her, and she was recalled six months later in spring 1197.
In 1203, faced with the
Fourth Crusade and the return of his nephew,
Alexios IV Angelos
Alexios IV Angelos or Alexius IV Angelus ( el, Ἀλέξιος Ἄγγελος) (c. 1182 – February 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from August 1203 to January 1204. He was the son of Emperor Isaac II Angelos and his first wife, an unknown Palaio ...
, Alexios III fled
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 ( ...
with a magnificent treasure and some female relatives, including his daughter Irene. Euphrosyne was left behind and was immediately imprisoned by the new regime. Alexios IV was soon strangled by
Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos, the lover of Euphrosyne's daughter Eudokia, who then proclaimed himself emperor as Alexios V. In April 1204 Euphrosyne fled the city along with her daughter and Alexios V, and they made their way to
Mosynopolis, where Euphrosyne's husband Alexios III had taken refuge. Alexios III had Alexios V blinded and abandoned to the
crusaders, who had him executed.
Euphrosyne and Alexios III fled across Greece to
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 ...
and
Corinth
Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
, but were finally captured by
Boniface of Montferrat
Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat ( it, Bonifacio del Monferrato, link=no; el, Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός, ''Vonifatios Momferratikos'') (c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat ( ...
and imprisoned. In 1209 or 1210 they were ransomed by their cousin
Michael I of Epirus, and Euphrosyne spent the remainder of her life in
Arta. She died in 1210 or 1211.
Family
By her husband, Alexios III Angelos, Euphrosyne had three daughters:
# Eirene Angelina, who married (1) Andronikos Kontostephanos; (2)
Alexios Palaiologos, by whom she was the grandmother of Emperor
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
.
#
Anna Angelina
Anna Komnene Angelina or Comnena Angelina (c. 1176 – 1212) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos and of Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera.
Life
Her first marriage was to the '' sebastokratōr'' I ...
, who married (1) the ''
sebastokratōr'' Isaac Komnenos, great-nephew of Emperor
Manuel I Komnenos; (2) Emperor
Theodore I Laskaris
Theodore I Laskaris or Lascaris ( gr, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Λάσκαρις, Theodōros Komnēnos Laskaris; 1175November 1221) was the first emperor of Nicaea—a successor state of the Byzantine Empire—from 1205 to his d ...
of Nicaea.
#
Eudokia Angelina
Eudokia Angelina (or Eudocia Angelina) ( gr, Ευδοκία Αγγελίνα, sr, Evdokija Anđel; around 1173–died , or later) was the consort of Stefan the First-Crowned of Serbia from c. 1190 to c. 1200. She later remarried, to Alexios V Do ...
, who married (1) King
Stefan I Prvovenčani of Serbia; (2) Emperor
Alexios V Doukas
Alexios V Doukas ( gr, Ἀλέξιος Δούκας; – December 1204), in Latinised spelling Alexius V Ducas, was Byzantine emperor from February to April 1204, just prior to the sack of Constantinople by the participants of the Fourth ...
; (3)
Leo Sgouros
Leo Sgouros ( el, Λέων Σγουρός), Latinized as Leo Sgurus, was a Greek independent lord in the northeastern Peloponnese in the early 13th century. The scion of the magnate Sgouros family, he succeeded his father as hereditary lord in th ...
, ruler of Corinth.
Sources
*''The
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...
'', Oxford University Press, 1991
*Garland, Lynda. ''Byzantine Empresses'', 1999
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamatera, Euphrosyne Doukaina
1150s births
1211 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Angelid dynasty
Christians of the Fourth Crusade
12th-century Byzantine empresses
13th-century Byzantine empresses
Euphrosyne Doukaina