Irene Ducaena (1066 – February 19, 1133) was the wife of Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, and the mother of the emperor John II Comnenus and the historian Anna Comnena. Events January 6 - Harold II is crowned List of monarchs September 29 - William of Normandy lands in England at Pevensey. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Geoffrey of Monmouth produces the Historia Regum Britanniae Durham Cathedral is completed Construction of Exeter Cathedral begun June 4 - Lothair III is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Innocent II Births March 5 - King Henry II of England (died 1189) Honen Shonin, Japanese founder of Pure Land Buddhism (died 1212... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus Alexius I (1048–August 15, 1118), Byzantine emperor (1081–1118), was the third son of John Comnenus, the nephew of Isaac I Comnenus (emperor 1057–1059). ... Mosaic of John II John II Comnenus (September 13, 1087 - April 8, 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. ... Anna Comnena (December 1, 1083 - 1153) was a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, and is the first known female historian. ...

Succession of Alexius and Irene

Irene was born in 1066 to Andronicus Ducas and Maria of Bulgaria. Andronicus was a nephew of Emperor Constantine X and a cousin of Michael VII. Irene married Alexius in 1078, when she was still eleven years old. For this reason the Ducas family supported Alexius in 1081 when a struggle for the throne erupted after the abdication of Nicephorus III. Alexius' mother, Anna Dalassena, a lifelong enemy of the Ducas family, pressured her son to divorce the young Irene and marry Maria Bagrationi, the former wife of both Michael VII and Nicephorus III. Irene was in fact barred from the coronation ceremony, but the Ducas family convinced the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cosmas I, to crown her as well, which he did one week later. Anna Dalassena consented to this only by forcing Cosmas to resign immediately afterwards; he was succeeeded by Eustathius Garidas. Anna continued to live in the imperial palace and meddle in Alexius' affairs until her death 20 years later; Maria Bagrationi may have also lived in the palace, and there were rumours that Alexius carried on an affair with her. Anna Comnena vociferously denied this, although she herself was not born until December 1, 1083, two years later. Constantine X Ducas (1006 - May, 1067) was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire (1059 - 1067). ... Michael VII Ducas or Parapinakes, was the eldest son of Constantine X Ducas and Eudocia Macrembolitissa. ... Events Romanesque church begun at Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain Anselm of Canterbury becomes abbot of Le Bec William the Conqueror ordered the White Tower to be built Births Deaths Categories: 1078 ... Ducas, Duches or Doulcas/Doumcas, is the name of a Byzantine family which supplied several rulers to the Eastern Empire. ... Events Corfu taken from Byzantine Empire by Robert Guiscard, Italy Byzantine emperor Nicephorus III is overthrown by Alexius I Comnenus, ending the Middle Byzantine period and beginning the Comnenan dynasty Alexius I helps defend Albania from the Normans (the first recorded mention of Albania), but is defeated at the Battle... Nicephorus III Botaniates, Byzantine emperor from 1078 to 1081, belonged to a family which claimed descent from the Roman Fabii; he rose to be commander of the troops in Asia. ... Anna Dalassena was an important Byzantine noblewoman who rose to position of sort of Empress-Mother during the reign of her son Emperor Alexius I. She married Johannes Komnenos, a nephew of Emperor Isaac I Comnenus (emperor 1057–1059). ... Empress Maria (ca 1050 – after 1103) was a daughter of the Georgian king Bagrat IV (1027–72) and spouse of the Byzantine emperor Michael VII Ducas and later also Nicephorus III Botaniates. ... The Patriarch of Constantinople is the Ecumenical Patriarch, the first among equals in the Eastern Orthodox communion. ... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Sancho I of Aragon conqueres Graus. ...

Character

Anna may have been whitewashing her family history; she has nothing but praise for both of her parents. She describes her mother in great detail:

"She stood upright like some young sapling, erect and evergreen, all her limbs and the other parts of her body absolutely symmetrical and in harmony one with another. With her lovely appearance and charming voice she never ceased to fascinate all who saw and heard her. Her face shone with the soft light of the moon; it was not the completely round face of an Assyrian woman, nor long, like the face of a Scyth, but just slightly oval in shape. There were rose blossoms on her cheeks, visible a long way off. Her light-blue eyes were both gay and stern: their charm and beauty attracted, but the fear they caused so dazzled the bystander that he could neither look nor turn away...Generally she accompanied her words with graceful gestures, her hands bare to the wrists, and you would say it was ivory turned by some craftsman into the form of fingers and hand. The pupils of her eyes, with the brilliant blue of deep waves, recalled a calm, still sea, while the white surrounding them shone by contrast, so that the whole eye acquired a peculiar lustre and a charm which was inexpressible." Assyrian may refer to: Assyria ܐܬܘܿܪ Assyrian cuisine Assyrian flag Assyrian independence Assyrian people ܥܠܡܐ ܐܬܘܿܪܝܝܐ Assyrian Languages ܠܫܢܐ ܐܬܘܿܪܝܝܐ Akkadian language Aramaic language Syriac language Eastern Syriac Assyrian Neo-Aramaic Chaldean Neo-Aramaic Western Syriac Mlahso language Turoyo language Church of the East List of Assyrians This is a disambiguation page: a list of... Scythia was an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times by an Indo-Aryans known as the Scythians. ...

It "would not have been so very inappropriate," Anna writes, to say that Irene was "Athena made manifest to the human race, or that she had descended suddenly from the sky in some heavenly glory and unapproachable splendour." Athena from the east pediment of the Afea temple in Aegina After a sculpture of Athena at the Louvre. ...

Irene was shy and preferred not to appear in public, although she was forceful and severe when acting officially as basilissa. She preferred to perform her household duties, and enjoyed reading hagiographic literature and making charitable donations to monks and beggars. Although Alexius may have had Maria as a mistress early in his reign, during the later part of his reign he and Irene were genuinely in love (at least according to their daughter Anna). Irene often accompanied him on his expeditions, including the expedition against Bohemund I of Antioch in 1107 and to the Chersonese in 1112. On these campaigns she acted as a nurse for her husband when he was afflicted with gout in his feet. According to Anna she also acted as a sort of guard, as there were constant conspiracies against Alexius. When she remained behind in Constantinople, she acted as regent, with Nicephorus Bryennius, Anna's husband, as a counselor. Hagiography is the study of saints. ... Bohemund I of Antioch (c. ... Events William Warelwast becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... Chersonesos is an archeological site in Ukraine on the shore of the Black Sea near Sevastopol. ... Events The people of Laon, France, proclaim a commune and murder their bishop Salzwedel, Germany is founded The German state of Baden is founded Afonso I becomes Count of Portugal Otto of Ballenstedt is made Duke of Saxony by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor Births Deaths October 5 - Sigebert of... Nicephorus Bryennius (1062-1137), Byzantine soldier, statesman and historian, was born at Orestias (Adrianople). ...

Death of Alexius

Irene frequently suggested that Alexius name Nicephorus and Anna as his heirs, over their own younger son John. According to Nicetas Choniates, who depicts her more as a nagging shrew than a loving wife, she "...threw her full influence on the side of her daughter Anna and lost no opportunity to calumniate their son John...mocking him as rash, pleasure-loving, and weak in character." Alexius, preferring to create a stable dynasty through his own son, either ignored her, pretended to be busy with other matters, or, at last, lost his temper and chastized her for suggesting such things. Mosaic of John II John II Comnenus (September 13, 1087 - April 8, 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. ... Nicetas Choniates (c. ...

Irene nursed Alexius on his deathbed on 1118, while at the same time still scheming to have Nicephorus and Anna succeed him. Alexius had already promised the throne to John, and when John took his father's signet ring Irene accused him of treachery and theft. When Alexius finally died, she felt genuine grief, and wore the mourning clothes of her daughter Eudocia, whose own husband had died previously. However, she soon conspired with Anna and Nicephorus against John, but their plots were unsuccessful and both Irene and Anna were then forced into exile at the monastery of Kecharitomene, which Irene had founded a few years previously. It was not a harsh exile, and Irene lived there in peace, distributing food to the poor and educating young orphan girls. Events Knights Templar founded Baldwin of Le Bourg succeeds his cousin Baldwin I as king of Jerusalem John II Comnenus succeeds Alexius I as Byzantine emperor Gelasius II succeeds Paschal II as pope Births November 28 - Manuel I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (died 1180) Andronicus I Comnenus, Byzantine Emperor (died 1185...

Children

Irene died on February 19, in either 1123 or 1133, most likely the latter. With Alexius she had seven children:

• Anna Comnena (1083-1153)
• Maria Comnena
• John II Comnenus (1087-1143)
• Andronicus Comnenus
• Isaac Comnenus
• Eudocia Comnenus
• Theodora Comnenus

Anna Comnena (December 1, 1083 - 1153) was a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, and is the first known female historian. ... Events Sancho I of Aragon conqueres Graus. ... Events January 6 - Henry of Anjou arrives in England. ... Mosaic of John II John II Comnenus (September 13, 1087 - April 8, 1143) was Byzantine emperor from 1118 to 1143. ... Events May 9 - The remains of Saint Nicholas were brought to Bari. ... Events Celestine II is elected pope. ... Isaakios Comnenus (after 16 January 1093 – after 1152) was the third son of Alexius I Comnenus and Irene Ducaena. ...

Sources

• Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, trans. E.R.A. Sewter. Penguin Books, 1969.
• Nicetas Choniates, O City of Byzantium: Annals of Niketas Choniates, trans. Harry J. Magoulias. Wayne State University Press, 1984.
• Georgina Buckler, Anna Comnena: A Study. Oxford University Press, 1929.
• Thalia Goumia-Peterson, "Gender and Power: Passages to the Maternal in Anna Komnene's Alexiad", in Anna Komnene and Her Times, ed. Thalia Goumia-Peterson. Garland Publishing, 2000.
• Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford University Press, 1997.