Marie de Courtenay (c. 1204 – September 1228) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was a daughter of

Peter II of Courtenay Peter, also Peter II of Courtenay (french: Pierre de Courtenay; died 1219), was emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople from 1216 to 1217. Biography Peter II was a son of Peter I of Courtenay (died 1183), a younger son of Louis VI of Franc ...

and

Yolanda of Flanders Yolanda (french: Yolande de Hainault; 1175 – August 1219), often called Yolanda of Flanders, was Empress of the Latin Empire in Constantinople, first as the wife of Emperor Peter from 1216 to 1217 and thereafter as regent until her death in 1 ...

. She married Theodore I of

Nicaea Nicaea, also known as Nicea or Nikaia (; ; grc-gre, Νίκαια, ) was an ancient Greek city in Bithynia, where located in northwestern Anatolia and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

. Marie served 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 younger brother

Baldwin II of Courtenay Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay (french: Baudouin de Courtenay; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople. Biography Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be b ...

in 1228, and styled herself "Empress of Constantinople".

Family and background

Her parents were successive rulers of the

Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzanti ...

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 (" ...

. Her father Peter was chosen as emperor in 1216, but in 1217 while attempting to reach Constantinople by land was taken captive by Theodore Comnenus Ducas, the 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 Heinrich ...

, and spent the rest of his life in captivity. Yolanda however reached Constantinople and took over the Empire. Marie's mother Yolanda was ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'' regent for her husband, ruling alone from 1217 to 1219. She negotiated an alliance with

Theodore I Lascaris 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 de ...

of the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

, which was sealed with the marriage of Theodore and Marie after Theodore repudiated his second wife

Philippa of Armenia Philippa of Armenia (1183 – before 1219) was an Empress of Nicaea. She was a daughter of Ruben III of Armenia and Isabella of Toron. Her maternal grandparents were Humphrey III of Toron and Stephanie of Milly. Princess of Armenia She was a youn ...

Empress of Nicaea

Marie was Empress of Nicaea from 1219 to November, 1221 when Theodore died. They had no known children. One of her stepdaughters,

Maria Laskarina Maria Laskarina (c. 1206 – 16 July or 24 June 1270) was a Greek Queen consort of Hungary by marriage to Béla IV of Hungary. She was the daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and Anna Komnena Angelina. Life She was a younger sister of Irene Lascarina ...

, became the wife of King

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his father ...

, and the other,

Irene Lascarina Irene Laskarina (died 1240) ( el, Εἰρήνη Λασκαρίνα, ''Eirēnē Laskarina'') was an Empress of Nicaea. She was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, emperor of Nicaea and Anna Angelina. Her maternal grandparents were Emperor Alexios ...

, was married to

John III Doukas Vatatzes John III Doukas Vatatzes, Latinized as Ducas Vatatzes ( el, Ιωάννης Δούκας Βατάτζης, ''Iōannēs Doukas Vatatzēs'', c. 1192 – 3 November 1254), was Emperor of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254. He was succeeded by his son, known ...

who took over the throne of the Nicaean Empire. Marie briefly served as regent of Nicaea in 1222.

Regent and Empress of Constantinople

Her brother

Robert of Courtenay Robert I, also Robert of Courtenay (died 1228), Latin Emperor of Constantinople, was a younger son of the emperor Peter II of Courtenay, and Yolanda of Flanders. When it became known in France that Peter of Courtenay was dead, his eldest son, Phil ...

succeeded their mother in 1219. In late January 1228 Robert himself died. Their younger brother

succeeded to the throne. He was only eleven years old, and thus underage. The barons of Constantinople elected Marie regent, and she styled herself "Empress", but her regency lasted only until her own death eight months later.Kerrebrouck, P. Van (2000) Les Capétiens 987-1328 (Villeneuve d'Asq), p. 459.

References

Sources

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External links

Her listing along with her siblings in "Medieval lands"
by Charles Cawley. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marie de Courtenay 1204 births 1228 deaths Capetian House of Courtenay Laskarid dynasty 13th-century Byzantine people 13th-century women rulers Empresses of Nicaea Regents of the Latin Empire