Maria Komnene (or Comnena) ( el, Μαρία Κομνηνή, ''Maria Komnēnē'';

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 (" ...

, March 1152 – July 1182) was the eldest daughter of the Emperor

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Romanization of Greek, Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; "born in the purple"), w ...

by his first wife,

Bertha of Sulzbach Bertha of Sulzbach (1110s – August 29, 1159) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Life She was born in Sulzbach, a daughter of Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach (c. 1080 – 3 December 1125) and his second sp ...

.Garland-Stone
Bertha-Irene of Sulzbach, first wife of Manuel I Comnenus
/ref> She was known as the Porphyrogennete (Πορφυρογέννητη) or

Porphyrogenita Traditionally, born in the purple (sometimes "born to the purple") was a category of members of royal families born during the reign of their parent. This notion was later loosely expanded to include all children born of prominent or high-ranking ...

because she had been "born in the Purple Chamber", i.e. born in the Palace at

to the wife of a reigning emperor. Maria was probably born in March 1152. In 1163 she was engaged to the future King

Béla III of Hungary Béla III ( hu, III. Béla, hr, Bela III, sk, Belo III; 114823 April 1196) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1172 and 1196. He was the second son of King Géza II and Géza's wife, Euphrosyne of Kiev. Around 1161, Géza granted Béla a ...

; Manuel, no longer expecting to father a legitimate son, was at that time ready to designate Béla (whom he had given the new court dignity of ''

despotes Despot or ''despotes'' ( grc-gre, δεσπότης, despótēs, lord, master) was a senior Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initi ...

'' and had renamed "Alexios") as his eventual successor. This engagement was broken off in 1169, soon after Manuel's son

Alexios Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

was born. Maria was then engaged to King

William II of Sicily William II (December 115311 November 1189), called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. From surviving sources William's character is indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his ...

, but this engagement, too, was broken off by her father. Finally, in 1179, Maria was married to

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, cartographe ...

, who was renamed "John" and given the title of ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

''. After the death of the Emperor Manuel in 1180, Maria and Renier became involved in intrigues against Maria's stepmother,

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 ...

, who was ruling as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for her young son, now Emperor Alexios II. A riot broke out against the empress, encouraged by Maria and Renier, but their attempt to seize power failed. Both died soon afterwards, apparently by poison, soon after the seizure of the regency by Andronikos Komnenos, a paternal first cousin of Manuel. It seems that Maria never bore a child.

Sources

* Choniates, Niketas, ''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, & Stone, Andrew
"Maria Porphyrogenita, daughter of Manuel I Comnenus"
''

De Imperatoribus Romanis ''De Imperatoribus Romanis'' (''DIR'') is an online peer-reviewed encyclopedia about the emperors of the Roman Empire, including the Byzantine Empire. It was established in 1996 by Michael DiMaio, and hosted at Salve Regina University Salve Re ...

'' (external link) 1152 births 1182 deaths 12th-century Byzantine women Assassinated Byzantine people Byzantine people of the Crusades Murdered royalty Deaths by poisoning

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, ...

Manuel I Komnenos Porphyrogennetoi {{Byzantine-bio-stub