Theodora Komnene (, born circa 1134, died 2 January 1184),
Latinized Theodora Comnena, was a daughter of the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
prince
Andronikos Komnenos and his wife, Eirene (?Aineiadissa). Based on the writings of
Niketas Choniates, it is likely Theodora was Andronikos' second daughter. The year of Theodora's birth is unknown.
Life and Death
Little is known of Theodora's early life, except that her father died in 1142. She does not appear in the historical record again until the late 1140s, when she was betrothed to and married
Henry II of Austria, whose first wife,
Gertrude of Supplingenburg had died in 1143. The marriage had been arranged by her uncle,
Manuel I and her eventual husband's half-brother,
Conrad III of Germany, during the latter's stay in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
.
Theodora and
Henry were married in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, and subsequently granted the Duchy of Austria by
Frederick I Barbarossa in 1156.
Theodora died on 2 January 1184.
[''Necrologium Seccoviense'', Salzburg Necrologies (Regio Styriaca), p. 403]
Family
Theodora had three children by her husband Henry:
*
Agnès (?1154 – 13 January 1182) married to
Stephen III of Hungary
*
Leopold V, Duke of Austria (1157 – 31 December 1194)
*Henry, Duke of
Mödling (1158 – 31 August 1223) married Richeza of Bohemia, daughter of
Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia.
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
* Runciman, S.; ''A History of the Crusades, Vols. 1-3'' (Penguin Books, 1978)
* Fuhrmann, H., (trans. Reuter, T.); ''Germany in the high middle ages c.1050-1200'' (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
* Pertz, G. H. (ed.); ''Auctarium Zwetlensis et Continuatio'' (Hannover, 1851, 1925)
* Hereberg-Fränke, S. (ed.); ''Diocesis Salisburgensis Regiones Salisburgensis et Bavarica'' (Berlin, 1904)
* Johannes Preiser-Kapeller
Von Ostarrichi an den Bosporus. Ein Überblick zu den Beziehungen im Mittelalter(From Ostarrichi to the Bosporus: an overview of relations in the Middle Ages), in: Pro Oriente Jahrbuch 2010. Vienna 2011, p. 66-77
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komnene, Theodora
Theodora
1184 deaths
12th-century Byzantine people
Austrian consorts
Year of birth unknown
Mothers of Austrian monarchs