Maria Doukaina Komnene Petraliphaina ( gr, Μαρία Δούκαινα Κομνηνή Πετραλίφαινα) was the wife of

Theodore Komnenos Doukas Theodore Komnenos Doukas ( el, Θεόδωρος Κομνηνὸς Δούκας, ''Theodōros Komnēnos Doukas'', Latinized as Theodore Comnenus Ducas, died 1253) was ruler of Epirus and Thessaly from 1215 to 1230 and of Thessalonica and most ...

, ruler of

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

and in 1224–1230 self-proclaimed

Emperor of Thessalonica The Empire of Thessalonica is a historiographic term used by some modern scholarse.g. ,, , . to refer to the short-lived Byzantine Greek state centred on the city of Thessalonica between 1224 and 1246 (''sensu stricto'' until 1242) and ruled by ...

. She is the earliest consort of the Epirote state known by name: the two wives of Michael I Komnenos Doukas, predecessor of her husband, were members of the Melissenos family but their first names are unknown.

Life

Origin and family

Maria was a member of the Petraliphas family, of Italian origin. Her brother John Petraliphas was a ranking noble in the court 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 ...

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 ...

(), and was appointed as governor of

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

and Macedonia. In 1195, however, he played a leading role in Isaac's ouster and his replacement with Alexios III Angelos (). John's daughter

Theodora Petraliphaina Theodora Petraliphaina ( el, Θεοδώρα Πετραλίφαινα), canonized as Saint Theodora of Arta ( el, Αγία Θεοδώρα της Άρτας; ca. 1225 – after 1270), was a consort of Epirus and an Orthodox Christian saint. Li ...

married

Michael II Komnenos Doukas Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas ( el, Μιχαήλ Β΄ Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Mikhaēl II Komnēnos Doukas''), often called Michael Angelos in narrative sources, was from 1230 until his death in 1266/68 the rule ...

, the illegitimate son of the founder of the Epirote state, Michael I Komnenos Doukas.

Marriage

She married

sometime during Theodore's stay at the court of the

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 ...

. Theodore was a son of the ''

sebastokrator ''Sebastokrator'' ( grc-byz, Σεβαστοκράτωρ, Sevastokrátor, August Ruler, ; bg, севастократор, sevastokrator; sh, sebastokrator), was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers wh ...

'' John Doukas and of Zoe Doukaina. After the Fourth Crusade captured

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 ( ...

in 1204, he followed Laskaris to

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, where Laskaris founded the Empire of Nicaea. In , Theodore was invited by his half-brother Michael I Komnenos Doukas to Epirus, where Michael had founded an independent Greek principality. Michael wanted Theodore's aid, as his only son, the future Michael II, was underage and illegitimate, while Michael's other half-brothers were considered to lack the ability to rule. According to Konstantinos Varzos, the firstborn child of Maria and Theodore must have been born . In the sources, Theodora is never mentioned by her original family name, but always by her husband's surnames as " Doukaina" and " Komnene".

Issue

With Theodore, she had had four children: #

Anna Angelina Komnene Doukaina Anna Angelina Komnene Doukaina ( el, Ἄννα Ἀγγελίνα Κομνηνή Δούκαινα, sr-cyr, Ана Анђелина Комнина Дукина) was a daughter of Theodore Komnenos Doukas and Maria Petraliphaina. Anna was Queen-conso ...

, who married King

Stefan Radoslav Stefan Radoslav ( sr-cyr, Стефан Радослав; 1192 – after 1235), also known as Stephanos Doukas ( gr, Στέφανος Δούκας), was the King of Serbia, from 1228 to 1233. Family Stefan was the eldest son of Stefan Nemanji� ...

of Serbia #

John Komnenos Doukas John Komnenos Doukas ( el, Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Δούκας, ''Iōannēs Komnēnos Doúkas''), Latinized as Comnenus Ducas, was ruler of Thessalonica from 1237 until his death in 1244. John was the eldest son of Theodore Komnenos Do ...

, who became Emperor of Thessalonica in 1237 # Irene Komnene Doukaina, who married John Asen # Demetrios Angelos Doukas, who succeeded as ruler of Thessalonica in 1244

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petraliphaina, Maria Consorts of Epirus

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, ...

Komnenodoukas dynasty Empire of Thessalonica Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 13th-century Byzantine empresses