Eudokia Angelina (or Eudocia Angelina) ( gr, Ευδοκία Αγγελίνα, sr, Evdokija Anđel; around 1173–died , or later) was the consort of Stefan the First-Crowned of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia ( Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hu ...

from c. 1190 to c. 1200. She later remarried, to Alexios V Doukas, who briefly ruled as Emperor of Byzantium in 1204. She was a daughter of

Alexios III Angelos Alexios III Angelos ( gkm, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, Alexios Komnēnos Angelos; 1211), Latinized as Alexius III Angelus, was Byzantine Emperor from March 1195 to 17/18 July 1203. He reigned under the name Alexios Komnen ...

and

Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera ( el, Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Euphrosyne was ...

Life

Eudokia first married Stefan, the second son of

Stefan Nemanja Stefan Nemanja (Serbian Cyrillic: , ; – 13 February 1199) was the Grand Prince ( Veliki Župan) of the Serbian Grand Principality (also known as Raška, lat. ) from 1166 to 1196. A member of the Vukanović dynasty, Nemanja founded the Nema ...

, Grand Župan of

. The marriage was arranged by her uncle, the emperor

Isaac II Angelos Isaac II Angelos or Angelus ( grc-gre, Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός Ἄγγελος, ; September 1156 – January 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from 1185 to 1195, and again from 1203 to 1204. His father Andronikos Doukas Angelos was a ...

, around 1190, while her father was in exile in Syria. In 1196, on her father-in-law's retirement to a monastery, Eudokia's husband became ruler of Serbia. According to the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

historian Nicetas Choniates, Stefan and Eudokia quarrelled and separated, accusing one another of adultery, and therefore in 1200 or 1201, Eudokia was banished from Serbia. Eudokia fled on foot with only the clothes on her back, seeking refuge at the court of Stefan's brother Vukan, ruler of

Zeta Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label= Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived f ...

, who befriended her and provided for. When she recovered, Eudokia went to Dyrrachium, from where a Byzantine ship returned her to her father in

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 (" ...

. The repudiation of Eudokia shows the decline of Byzantine power and prestige. In Constantinople Eudokia became the mistress of the future Alexios V Doukas, with whom she (and her mother) fled the city into

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

on April 12, 1204, as the Crusaders of the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

were storming the city. Reaching her deposed father at

Mosynopolis Mosynopolis ( el, Μοσυνόπολις), of which only ruins now remain in Greek Thrace, was a city in the Roman province of Rhodope, which was known until the 9th century as Maximianopolis (Μαξιμιανούπολις) or, to distinguish ...

, Eudocia was allowed to marry Alexios V, but he was arrested and mutilated on the orders of Alexios III. Eudokia was furious with her father's actions. Afterwards Alexios without any supporters, was captured and sentenced to death by the Crusaders. Eudokia married thirdly Leo Sgouros, the independent ruler of

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

, after he offered asylum to Alexios III and his family in 1204. Blockaded in the citadel of Corinth, Leo Sgouros committed suicide in 1207/1208. Eudokia is thought to have died around 1211. By her marriage to Stefan of Serbia she had four children:Laskaris, p.24 * Stefan Radoslav, King of Serbia (1228-1234) * Stefan Vladislav, King of Serbia from 1234 to 1243 * Sava II, Archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, serving from 1263 until his death in 1271 * Komnena Nemanjić

Notes

Sources

* * * * *''O city of Byzantium: annals of Niketas Choniates'' tr. Harry J. Magoulias (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1984). * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Angelina, Eudokia 1170s births 1210s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Date of death unknown Eudokia Medieval Serbian royal consorts Christians of the Fourth Crusade Medieval Serbian people of Greek descent Remarried royal consorts 12th-century Byzantine women 13th-century Byzantine empresses Daughters of Byzantine emperors

Life

See also

Notes

Sources