Irene Komnene Doukaina
| Irene | |
|---|---|
Komnenos Doukas | |
| Father | Theodore Komnenos Doukas |
| Mother | Maria Petraliphaina |
Irene Komnene Doukaina or Eirene Komnene Doukaina (
Life
Irene was daughter of
Irene and Ivan Asen II had three children:
- Anna (or Theodora), who married the sebastokratōr Peterbefore 1253.
- Mitso Asen, who succeeded as emperor of Bulgaria 1256–1257.
- Michael Asen I, who succeeded as emperor of Bulgaria (1246–1256).
In 1241 Ivan Asen II died and he was succeeded by Kaliman I of Bulgaria, his son by his second wife Anna Maria of Hungary. Kaliman I was poisoned in 1246 and the throne went to Michael II Asen, the son of Irene. According to one theory Irene poisoned her stepson in order to secure the throne for Michael II. It is assumed that Irene took over the government as tsarina-regent because her son was still a child when he ascended the throne, but there is little evidence to prove this hypothesis.
Irene retired to a monastery under the monastic name Xenia. She was expelled from Bulgaria after the death of her son in 1256 and spent the rest of her life in her family's land around Thessaloniki.[3]
References
- ^ Andreev & Lalkov 1996, pp. 193–194
- ^ Andreev, Lazarov & Pavlov 2012, p. 114
- ^ (in Bulgarian)Plamen Pavlov, "Първите дами" на Средновековна България" Archived 2011-07-15 at the Wayback Machine
Sources
- Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Лалков (Lalkov), Милчо (Milcho) (1996). Българските ханове и царе (The Bulgarian Khans and Tsars) (in Bulgarian). Велико Търново (ISBN 954-427-216-X.
- Андреев (Andreev), Йордан (Jordan); Лазаров (Lazarov), Иван (Ivan); Павлов (Pavlov), Пламен (Plamen) (2012). Кой кой е в средновековна България [Who is Who in Medieval Bulgaria] (in Bulgarian). Изток Запад (Iztok Zapad). ISBN 978-619-152-012-1.
