Catherine of Bulgaria ( cu, Єкатерїна el, Αἰκατερίνη bg, Екатерина, Ekaterina; died after 1059) was Empress-consort to
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 ...
Isaac I Komnenos
Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, ''Isaakios Komnēnos''; – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty.
The son of the gen ...
and co-
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 ...
of Constantine X for a period after the abdication of her spouse in 1059. She was a daughter of
Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria
Ivan Vladislav ( cu, Їѡаннъ Владиславъ; bg, Иван/Йоан Владислав; died February 1018) ruled as emperor ( tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth ...
and his wife
Maria, and thus a sister of
Presian and
Alusian. Catherine was also a paternal aunt of
Maria of Bulgaria.
Life
Catherine was a daughter of
Ivan Vladislav
Ivan Vladislav ( cu, Їѡаннъ Владиславъ; bg, Иван/Йоан Владислав; died February 1018) ruled as emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from August or September 1015 to February 1018. The year of his birth is ...
(reigned 1015–18), the last Tsar of
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
. She married the general Isaac Komnenos. After he became emperor in 1057, Isaac raised her to ''
Augusta''.
Isaac abdicated the throne on November 22, 1059. He retired to the
Stoudios Monastery
The Monastery of Stoudios, more fully Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner "at Stoudios" ( grc-gre, Μονή του Αγίου Ιωάννη του Προδρόμου εν τοις Στουδίου, Monē tou Hagiou Iōannē tou Prodromou en t ...
and spent the remainder of his life, until his death in late 1060 or 1061, as a monk. Following her husband's abdication, she appears to have co-reigned for a while with Constantine X, but eventually she too retired to the
Myrelaion monastery under the
monastic name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should not be "foreign ...
of Xene.
Family
Catherine had at least two children with Isaac:
* Manuel Komnenos (ca. 1030 – 1042/57), probably the "son of Komnenos" recorded as having been engaged to the daughter of the ''
protospatharios
''Prōtospatharios'' ( el, πρωτοσπαθάριος) was one of the highest court dignities of the middle Byzantine period (8th to 12th centuries), awarded to senior generals and provincial governors, as well as to foreign princes.
History
Th ...
'' Helios. He died sometime between 1042 and 1057.
* Maria Komnene (born ca. 1034), her beauty is remarked upon by Psellos, but she remained unmarried, and retired with her mother to the Myrelaion.
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
Book 7 of the Chronographia which deals with the period 1056-1078. The text is part of the Internet Medieval Source Book
{{Authority control
11th-century births
11th-century deaths
11th-century Bulgarian women
11th-century Byzantine nuns
Aaronios family
Augustae
Bulgarian princesses
11th-century Byzantine empresses
Komnenos dynasty
Daughters of emperors