Helena Alypia (, ''Helénē Alypía''; 960s? – ?) was a

Byzantine empress consort The term Roman empress usually refers to the consorts of the Roman emperors, the rulers of the Roman Empire. The duties, power and influence of empresses varied depending on the time period, contemporary politics and the personalities of their hu ...

as the wife of

Byzantine Emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Constantine VIII Constantine VIII (;Also called Porphyrogenitus (), although the epithet is almost exclusively used for Constantine VII. 960 – 11/12 November 1028) was ''de jure'' Byzantine emperor from 962 until his death. He was the younger son of Empe ...

Life

Very little is known about her, as she is only briefly mentioned in the ''Chronographia'' of

Michael Psellos Michael Psellos or Psellus (, ) was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek monk, savant, writer, philosopher, imperial courtier, historian and music theorist. He was born in 1017 or 1018, and is believed to have died in 1078, although it has also b ...

, followed by the works of

John Skylitzes John Skylitzes, commonly Latinized as Ioannes Scylitzes (, ; , ; early 1040s – after 1101), was a Byzantine historian of the late 11th century. Life Very little is known about his life. The title of his work records him as a '' kouropalat ...

and

Zonaras Joannes or John Zonaras ( ; 1070 – 1140) was a Byzantine Roman historian, chronicler and theologian who lived in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey). Under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos he held the offices of head justice and private se ...

. Psellos writes of her only that: :"Constantine while still a young man, had married a lady called Helena. She was a daughter of the renowned Alypius, then the leading man in the city and member of a noble family held in high repute. This lady, who was not only beautiful but also virtuous, bore him three daughters before she died." Apart from this reference in Psellos, her father Alypius (Αλυπίος) is otherwise unknown. The marriage probably took place ca. 976, and Helena died at some unknown point, apparently long before her husband became sole emperor in 1025. The historian Gunther G. Wolf theorized that she died ca. 989, possibly during the birth of her third daughter. Their three daughters were: * (Ευδοκία). Eldest daughter. According to the ''Chronographia'' "in childhood she had been attacked by some infectious illness, and her looks had been marred ever since". She later became a nun. *

Zoë Porphyrogenita Zoe Porphyrogenita (also spelled Zoë; , "life"; 978 – 1050) was a member of the Macedonian dynasty who briefly reigned as Byzantine empress in 1042, alongside her sister Theodora. Before that she was enthroned as empress consort or emp ...

. Empress regnant 1042–1050. * Theodora Porphyrogenita. Empress regnant in spring 1042 (sharing with Zoe) and sole empress regnant 1055–56. At the time of their marriage, Constantine VIII was the co-ruler of his older brother

Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus (; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but t ...

. Basil reigned as senior

from 976 to 1025 but never married, which would make Helena the only '' Augusta'' during his reign.

Possible descendants

Ronald Wells, a modern genealogist, has suggested that Eudokia did not remain a nun for life. He has theorised an identification of Eudokia with the otherwise unnamed wife of Andronikos

Doukas The House of Doukas ( pl. Doukai; , pl. , feminine form Doukaina; ), Latinized as Ducas, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire in the 9th–11th centuries. A mat ...

, a

Paphlagonia Paphlagonia (; , modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus (region), Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia ...

n nobleman who may have served as governor of the theme of

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; ) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River. As a Roman domain Moesia was administered at first by the governor of Noricum as 'Civitates of Moesia and Triballi ...

. This theory would make Helena a maternal grandmother of

Constantine X Constantine X Doukas or Ducas (; – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder of the Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy, while in the ...

and ''Caesar'' John Doukas. Wells has further suggested two daughters of the above proposed union. The first suggested daughter is

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, the wife of Ivan Vladislav.

Christian Settipani Christian Settipani (born 31 January 1961) is a French genealogist, historian and IT professional, currently working as the Technical Director of a company in Paris. Biography Settipani holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Paris-Sorb ...

has however posited a more robustly argued descent of Maria from

Boris II of Bulgaria Boris II (; ; c. 931 – 977) was the List of Bulgarian monarchs, emperor (tsar) of First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria from 969 to 977 (in Byzantine captivity from 971). Boris II was the eldest surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria and Iren ...

. The second daughter is "Sophia", an alleged wife of

Manuel Erotikos Komnenos Manuel Erotikos Komnenos (; 955/960 – ) was a Byzantine military leader under Basil II, and the first fully documented ancestor of the Komnenos dynasty. His origin and parentage is obscure. He is only mentioned in the sources as leading the de ...

. Manuel was the father of

Isaac I Komnenos Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus (; – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty. The son of the general Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, he was orphaned at an early age, and w ...

and John Komnenos, the latter being the father of

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

. The claim, which provides no references or argumentation, apparently serves as a way to trace the ancestry of the

and

Komnenos The House of Komnenos ( Komnenoi; , , ), Latinized as Comnenus ( Comneni), was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first reigning member, Isaac I Komnenos, ruled from 1057 to 1059. ...

families to the

Macedonian dynasty The Macedonian dynasty () Byzantine Empire under the Macedonian dynasty, ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Byzantium under the Amorian dynasty, Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greates ...

. There is however no proof for any such relationship of Eudokia in primary sources or contemporary sigillography and modern historical and prosopographical authorities remain equally silent on the matter,Cheynet 1996, p.275 (Ducas). making the asserted descent appear entirely unlikely.

References

Sources

* Cheynet, Jean-Claude, ''Pouvoir et Contestations a Byzance (963-1210)'', Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1996. * * Settipani, Christian, ''Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle'', Paris: De Boccard, 2006.

External links

Book 2 of the Chronographia of Michael Psellos which deals with the period 1025-1028. The text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helena, Daughter Of Alypius 960s births 980s deaths Macedonian dynasty 10th-century Byzantine empresses Year of death uncertain Mothers of monarchs