Teodora Nemanjić ( sr-cyr, Теодора Немањић; 1330 – after 1381) was the despotess of
Kumanovo
Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia by population, largest municipali ...
as the wife of
Despot Dejan (
fl. 1355). She was the daughter of King
Stephen Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
and her eldest half-brother was Serbian emperor,
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan
Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
. She was the mother of two sons,
Constantine Dragaš
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
and
Jovan Dragaš
Jovan Dejanović ( sr-cyr, Јован Дејановић), known as Jovan Dragaš (Јован Драгаш), was a Serbian nobleman that held the title of despot under the Serbian Emperor Uroš V, his cousin. He later became an Ottoman vassal a ...
, and one daughter. She later became a nun adopting the name Evdokija (Евдокија, gr. ''Eudokia''), hence she is known in historiography as Teodora-Evdokija (Теодора-Евдокија).
Family
Theodora was born in 1330,
[Cawley, Charles. ''Medieval Lands, Serbia''] the youngest daughter and child of King Stephen Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia by his second wife,
Maria Palaiologina
Maria Palaiologina ( el, Μαρία Παλαιολογίνα) was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos () who became the wife of the Mongol ruler Abaqa Khan, and an influential Christian leader among the Mongols. After A ...
. Her maternal grandparents were John Komnenos Palaiologos, Governor of
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
and Irene Metochitissa.
Theodora had one full brother,
Simeon Uroš
Simeon Uroš ( sr-cyr, Симеон Урош, gr, Συμεών Ούρεσης; 1326–1370), nicknamed Siniša (Синиша), was a self-proclaimed Emperor of Serbs and Greeks, from 1356 to 1370. He was son of Serbian King Stephen Uroš III a ...
and a sister,
Jelena Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. It is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helen, which is of uncertain origin. Diminutives of the name include Jelica, Jelka, Jele, Jela, Lena, Lenotschka, Jeca, Lenka, and Alena.
Not ...
; she also had two half-siblings from her father's first marriage to
Theodora Smilets of Bulgaria
Theodora of Bulgaria (Bulgarian and sr, Теодора) was a Bulgarian princess and Queen consort of Serbia, the first wife of Stefan Dečanski. Teodora was the second daughter of Tsar Smilets of Bulgaria and Smiltsena Palaiologina. Teodora is be ...
, Stephen Uroš Dušan and Dušica. When Theodora was a year old, at the insistence of the nobility, Stephen Uroš Dušan had their father deposed and imprisoned in chains.
He consequently usurped the Serbian throne as Stephen Uroš IV Dušan. Five years later, Theodora's father was murdered by strangulation. Her mother unsuccessfully attempted to obtain the crown for Simeon; defeated in her efforts, she retired to a convent and died in 1355.
Marriage
In 1347, at 17 years of age, Theodora married Despot Dejan. He was granted the title of ''
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 ...
'' by her brother, Stephen Dušan.
Sometime after her marriage a fresco painting of Theodora was executed at the
Serbian Orthodox Christian
The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The majority of the population in ...
monastery of
Visoki Dečani
The Visoki Dečani Monastery ( sr, Манастир Високи Дечани, Manastir Visoki Dečani, sq, Manastiri i Deçanit) is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Deçan, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half of ...
. Together Theodora and Dejan had three children:
*
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
* Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given na ...
(d. 1395), fell at the
Battle of Rovine
The Battle of Rovine took place on 17 May 1395. The Wallachian army led by Voivod Mircea the Elder opposed the Ottoman invasion personally led by Sultan Bayezid I the Thunderbolt. The Turkish force heavily outnumbered the Wallachian troops. ...
, he had issue with an unnamed woman, married secondly
Eudokia of Trebizond
Eudokia Megale Komnene (died after 4 September 1395), was a Trapezuntine noblewoman and a member of the powerful Byzantine Komnenos dynasty as a daughter of Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond.
She was styled ''Despoina in Sinop'' after her first m ...
, without issue
*
Jovan (d. 1378), fell at the
Battle of Maritsa,
*
Theodora
Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift".
Theodora may also refer to:
Historical figures known as Theodora
Byzantine empresses
* Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church
* Theodora of ...
, married 1.
Žarko, 2.
Đurađ I Balšić
Đurađ I Balšić ( sr-cyr, Ђурађ I Балшић), or Gjergj Balsha I ( sq, Gjergj Balsha I) was the Lord of Zeta between 1362 and 13 January 1378. He was the eldest of the three sons of Balša I, and belonged to the Balšić family.
Life ...
Religious life
On an unrecorded date, Theodora followed in her mother's footsteps and also entered a religious life. Her mother had taken the name Marta, and Theodora, upon becoming a nun, adopted the name Eudokia. In a charter dated 1379, it was recorded that ''Eudocia imperatrix et filius Constantinus'' donated property to the Chilandar Monastery.
Ancestry
See also
*
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 Douk ...
(Evdokija Anđel), Grand Princess of Serbia 1196-1198
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nemanjic, Theodora
14th-century Serbian royalty
Medieval Serbian princesses
14th-century Serbian nuns
1330 births
Year of death unknown
Nemanjić dynasty
Daughters of kings