Maria (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μαρία; died after 718) was the Empress consort of

Leo III the Isaurian Leo III the Isaurian ( gr, Λέων ὁ Ἴσαυρος, Leōn ho Isauros; la, Leo Isaurus; 685 – 18 June 741), also known as the Syrian, was Byzantine Emperor from 717 until his death in 741 and founder of the Isaurian dynasty. He put an e ...

of the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

Empress

The throne of the

was

unstable In numerous fields of study, the component of instability within a system is generally characterized by some of the outputs or internal states growing without bounds. Not all systems that are not stable are unstable; systems can also be mar ...

in the early 710s.

Justinian II Justinian II ( la, Iustinianus; gr, Ἰουστινιανός, Ioustinianós; 668/69 – 4 November 711), nicknamed "the Slit-Nosed" ( la, Rhinotmetus; gr, ὁ Ῥινότμητος, ho Rhinótmētos), was the last Eastern Roman emperor of the ...

had been deposed and executed in 711. His deposition was followed by the brief reigns of

Philippikos Philippicus ( la, Filepicus; el, Φιλιππικός, Philippikós) was Byzantine emperor from 711 to 713. He took power in a coup against the unpopular emperor Justinian II, and was deposed in a similarly violent manner nineteen months later. ...

(711–713), Anastasios II (713–715) and Theodosios III (715–717). All three were elevated to the throne after

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

s by factions of the Byzantine army. A revolt by Leo, '' strategos'' of the Anatolikon Theme, and

Artabasdos Artavasdos or Artabasdos ( el, or , from Armenian: Արտավազդ, ''Artavazd'', ''Ardavazt''), Latinized as Artabasdus, was a Byzantine general of Armenian descent who seized the throne from June 741 or 742 until November 743, in usurpatio ...

, ''strategos'' of the

Armeniac Theme The Armeniac Theme ( el, , ''Armeniakoi hema'), more properly the Theme of the Armeniacs (Greek: , ''thema Armeniakōi'') was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) located in northeastern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). History The Armen ...

, succeeded in deposing Theodosios. On 25 March 717, Leo was proclaimed emperor in

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

. Maria enters historical record at this point as his Empess consort. In July 718, Maria gave birth to Constantine during an ongoing

Siege of Constantinople The following is a list of sieges of Constantinople, a historic city located in an area which is today part of Istanbul, Turkey. The city was built on the land that links Europe to Asia through Bosporus and connects the Sea of Marmara and the ...

by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, a general of the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

. The siege was broken by August of the same year and the Umayyad forces retreated. On 25th, Maria was granted the title of '' Augusta'' and her son was baptised by

Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople Germanus I (c. 634 – 733 or 740) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730. He is regarded as a saint, by both the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, with a feast day of 12 May. He had been ecumenically preceded by Patriarch Jo ...

. Constantine was proclaimed co-emperor in August 720. Leo remained Emperor to his death on 18 June 741. Whether Maria survived him is unknown.

Children

Maria and Leo III had four known children: *

Anna, wife of Artabasdos Anna (Greek: Άννα, fl. 715–773) was the wife of Artabasdos, one of two rival Byzantine Emperors in a civil war which lasted from June, 741 to November, 743. The other Emperor was her brother, Constantine V. Family Anna was a daughter of Leo ...

(c. 705 – after 772). *

Constantine V Constantine V ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος, Kōnstantīnos; la, Constantinus; July 718 – 14 September 775), was Byzantine emperor from 741 to 775. His reign saw a consolidation of Byzantine security from external threats. As an able ...

Gregory E. Roth. AuthorHouse, 2012. ''Paradox Beyond Nature: An Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Dialogue on the Marian Homilies of Germanos I, Patriarch of Constantinople (715—730)''. (July, 718 – 14 September 775). *Irene. *Kosmo. The names and place of burial of two other daughters were recorded in '' De Ceremoniis'' by Constantine VII. However nothing else is known of them.

References

External links

A short article on her by Lynda Garland
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maria, Wife Of Leo Iii 7th-century births 8th-century deaths Isaurian dynasty 8th-century Byzantine empresses Augustae Leo III the Isaurian Mothers of Byzantine emperors