Eudokia Komnene (or Eudocia Comnena) ( el, Εὐδοκία Κομνηνή, ''Eudokia Komnēnē'') (c. 1160 – c. 1203) was a relative of
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 Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
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 ...
, and wife of
William VIII of Montpellier
William VIII (in Occitan: Guilhem; died 1202) was Lord of Montpellier, the son of William VII and Matilda of Burgundy (1135?-1173?).
William VIII married Eudokia Komnene, grand-niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
They had one d ...
.
Life
Eudokia Komnene's parentage has been subject to scholarly dispute. She is not mentioned in any contemporary Byzantine source, while western sources describe her ambiguously as kinswoman of
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 ...
(). As such, her precise placement within the
Komnenoi
Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην� ...
remains uncertain, with recent scholars suggesting that she was daughter of Manuel's brother, 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 ...
''
Isaac Komnenos, son 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 Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
John II Komnenos
John II Komnenos or Comnenus ( gr, Ἱωάννης ὁ Κομνηνός, Iōannēs ho Komnēnos; 13 September 1087 – 8 April 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. Also known as "John the Beautiful" or "John the Good" (), he ...
(), or of his nephew, ''
protostrator
''Prōtostratōr'' ( el, πρωτοστράτωρ) was a Byzantine court office, originating as the imperial stable master. Its proximity to the imperial person led to a highly visible role in imperial ceremonies, and served as a springboard for ...
''
Alexios Komnenos, son of sebastokrator
Andronikos Komnenos, likewise son of Emperor John.
Eudokia Komnene was sent to
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
by Manuel in 1174 to be betrothed to a son of the royal family of
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
-Barcelona. According to untrustworthy troubadour narrative, her projected husband was to be their eldest son, King
Alfonso II of Aragon
Alfonso II (1–25 March 1157Benito Vicente de Cuéllar (1995)«Los "condes-reyes" de Barcelona y la "adquisición" del reino de Aragón por la dinastía bellónida» p. 630-631; in ''Hidalguía''. XLIII (252) pp. 619–632."Alfonso II el Casto, hi ...
(who had just married
Sancha of Castile). The Annals of the city of Pisa report that the intended bridegroom was to be Alfonso's younger brother,
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence
Ramon Berenguer III or IV(c. 1158 – 5 April 1181), born Peter, was the count of Cerdanya (1162–1168) and count of Provence (1173–1181).
He was the third son of Count Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and Queen Petronilla of Aragon. He rec ...
. The projected marriage aimed at thwarting the influence of
Emperor Frederick I
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
through an Aragonese and Provençal alliance with Emperor Manuel I of Constantinople. However the betrothal was terminated by Emperor Frederick I as the liege lord of the County of Provence, the emperor proposing William of Montpellier as a suitable alternative to become her husband. The betrothal with Raymond Berenger was at end in 1179 at latest. Count Raymond died in 1181, incidentally in Montpellier.
As the
troubadour
A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...
Peire Vidal
Peire Vidal ( fl. 12th century) was an Old Occitan troubadour. Forty-five of his songs are extant. The twelve that still have melodies bear testament to the deserved nature of his musical reputation.
There is no contemporary reference to Peire o ...
put it, the young king had preferred a poor Castilian maid to the emperor Manuel's golden camel.
After much indecision Eudokia married
William VIII of Montpellier
William VIII (in Occitan: Guilhem; died 1202) was Lord of Montpellier, the son of William VII and Matilda of Burgundy (1135?-1173?).
William VIII married Eudokia Komnene, grand-niece of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos.
They had one d ...
in 1180, having made it a condition (to which all male citizens of Montpellier were required to swear) that their firstborn child, boy or girl, would succeed him in the lordship of Montpellier.
![Impero romano d'oriente manuele I, emissione aurea, 1143-1180](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Impero_romano_d%27oriente_manuele_I%2C_emissione_aurea%2C_1143-1180.JPG)
Eudokia was sometimes described by contemporaries, including the troubadours
Folquet de Marselha
Folquet de Marselha, alternatively Folquet de Marseille, Foulques de Toulouse, Fulk of Toulouse (c. 1150 – 25 December 1231) came from a Genoese merchant family who lived in Marseille. He is known as a trobadour, and then as a fiercely anti- ...
and
Guiraut de Bornelh
Giraut de Bornelh (; c. 1138 – 1215), whose first name is also spelled Guiraut and whose toponym is de Borneil or de Borneyll, was a troubadour connected to the castle of the viscount of Limoges. He is credited with the formalisation, if not the ...
, as an empress (Occitan: ''emperairitz'') and was commonly said to be a daughter of the Emperor Manuel, which has led to some confusion among modern authors about her family links. Other sources, such as
Guillaume de Puylaurens Guillaume de Puylaurens (in Occitan, Guilhèm de Puèglaurenç; in Latin, Guillelmus de Podio Laurenti; in English, William of Puylaurens) is a 13th-century Latin chronicler, author of a history of Catharism and of the Albigensian Crusade.
He was b ...
, identify her simply as Manuel's kinswoman.
William VIII and Eudokia had one daughter,
Maria of Montpellier
Marie of Montpellier (adapted from Occitan: Maria de Montpelhièr) (1182 – 21 April 1213) was Lady of Montpellier and by her three marriages Viscountess of Marseille, Countess of Comminges and Queen of Aragon.
She was the daughter of Willi ...
, born in 1182. In April 1187 her husband divorced her (because she encouraged the advances of Folquet de Marselha, according to the ''
Biographies des Troubadours
''Vida'' () is the usual term for a brief prose biography, written in Old Occitan, of a troubadour or trobairitz.
The word ''vida'' means "life" in Occitan languages; they are short prose biographies of the troubadours, and they are found in som ...
''; because William VIII wanted a male heir, according to documents likely to be more reliable). Eudokia was thereafter held at the monastery of
Aniane
Aniane (; oc, Aniana) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.
Population
See also
* Benedict of Aniane
* Pont du Diable, Hérault
* Mas de Daumas Gassac
*Communes of the Hérault department
The ...
and took the veil as a Benedictine nun. She died about 1203, shortly before her daughter's marriage to King
Peter II of Aragon
Peter II the Catholic (; ) (July 1178 – 12 September 1213) was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona from 1196 to 1213.
Background
Peter was born in Huesca, the son of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile. In 1205 he acknowled ...
.
References
Sources
* Annali Pisani. Continuazione volgara, 1179, pp 67..68
* Boutière, J. and A.-H. Schutz, eds., ''
Biographies des troubadours
''Vida'' () is the usual term for a brief prose biography, written in Old Occitan, of a troubadour or trobairitz.
The word ''vida'' means "life" in Occitan languages; they are short prose biographies of the troubadours, and they are found in som ...
'' (Paris: Nizet, 1964) pp. 476–481.
*, pp. 62–63.
*
*Sharman, Ruth V.. ''The Cansos and Sirventes of the Troubadour Giraut de Borneil''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. , p. 59.
*
* Stronski, Stanislaw, ' (Kraków: Académie des Sciences, 1910) pp. 156–158.
*
*
{{Komnenoi
1160s births
1203 deaths
Komnenos dynasty
Medieval French nobility
12th-century Byzantine women
13th-century Byzantine women
Consorts of Montpellier
12th-century French women
12th-century French people
13th-century French women