Maria of Bulgaria (died 21 November, after 1095), known as Maria Doukaina () in the Byzantine sources, was the wife of ''

protovestiarios ''Protovestiarios'' (, ) was a high Byzantine court position, originally reserved for eunuchs. In the late Byzantine period (12th–15th centuries), it denoted the Empire's senior-most financial official, and was also adopted by the medieval Ser ...

'' and ''

domestikos ton scholon The office of the Domestic of the Schools () was a senior military post of the Byzantine Empire, extant from the 8th century until at least the early 14th century. Originally simply the commander of the '' Scholai'', the senior of the elite '' tag ...

'' Andronikos Doukas and mother of Empress

Irene Doukaina Irene Doukaina or Ducaena (, ''Eirēnē Doúkaina''; – 19 February 1138) was a Byzantine empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She was the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and the historian Anna Komnene. She w ...

Life

Maria was a daughter of Troian of Bulgaria by an unnamed Byzantine Aballantissa noblewoman, daughter of

Strategos ''Strategos'' (), also known by its Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized form ''strategus'', is a Greek language, Greek term to mean 'military General officer, general'. In the Hellenistic world and in the Byzantine Empire, the term was also use ...

Romanos Aballantes,Genealogieonline
/ref> descended from the families of Kontostephanos and

Phokas Phocas (; ; 5475 October 610) was Eastern Roman emperor from 602 to 610. Initially a middle-ranking officer in the Roman army, Phocas rose to prominence as a spokesman for dissatisfied soldiers in their disputes with the court of the Emperor ...

, and thus a granddaughter of

Ivan Vladislav Ivan Vladislav (; ; died February 1018) served as the emperor (tsar) of the First Bulgarian Empire from approximately August or September 1015 until February 1018. The precise year of his birth remains elusive; he was born at least ten years pri ...

and

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, the last rulers of the

First Bulgarian Empire The First Bulgarian Empire (; was a medieval state that existed in Southeastern Europe between the 7th and 11th centuries AD. It was founded in 680–681 after part of the Bulgars, led by Asparuh of Bulgaria, Asparuh, moved south to the northe ...

. Maria married Andronikos Doukas well before 1066. Her husband was a son of the ''

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war. He ...

'' John Doukas, a major power player in Byzantine politics of the era, and Eirene Pelagonitissa. He was also a nephew of

Constantine X Constantine X Doukas or Ducas (; – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder of the Doukid dynasty. During his reign, the Normans took over much of the remaining Byzantine territories in Italy, while in the ...

and first cousin of

Michael VII Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...

. Maria was endowed with an inheritance of vast land holdings around

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

, and her considerable income was used to support her husband's lavish lifestyle and political ambitions. As the last descendants of the ruling family of Bulgaria, Maria and her daughters

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...

and Anna, who married the first notable member of the

Palaiologos The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greeks, Byzantine Greek Nobility, noble family that rose to power and produced th ...

family, carried not only immense wealth but also legitimisation of Byzantine authority over the Bulgarian population: her (and her daughters') prominent marriages are evidence for the eventual integration of the descendants of the

Cometopuli dynasty The Kometopuli dynasty ( Bulgarian: , ; Byzantine Greek: , ) was the last royal dynasty in the First Bulgarian Empire, ruling from until the fall of Bulgaria under Byzantine rule in 1018. The most notable member of the dynasty, Tsar Samuel, i ...

into the court nobility in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. As mother of the Empress Irene Doukaina, Maria was a woman of some influence in the early years of the reign of

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos (, – 15 August 1118), Latinization of names, Latinized as Alexius I Comnenus, was Byzantine Emperor, Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. After usurper, usurping the throne, he was faced with a collapsing empire and ...

, although she, as a widow, shunned the Imperial court and chose to live in her

estate. Her granddaughter

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene (; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine Greek historian. She is the author of the '' Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Her work constit ...

praises her beauty and wisdom in the ''

Alexiad The ''Alexiad'' () is a medieval historical and biographical text written around the year 1148, by the Byzantine princess Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was written in a form of artificial Attic Greek. Anna described th ...

''. In 1077–1081, she extensively rebuilt and restored the

Chora Church The Chora Church or Kariye Mosque () is a Byzantine architecture, Byzantine church, now converted to a mosque (for the second time), in the Edirnekapı, Istanbul, Edirnekapı neighborhood of Fatih district, Istanbul, Turkey. It is famous for ...

, to more or less its present shape.

Family

Maria of Bulgaria and Andronikos Doukas had seven children: * Michael Doukas * Constantine Doukas * Stephen Doukas * John Doukas *

, who married Emperor

. *Anna Doukaina, who married George Palaiologos *Theodora Doukaina, a nun

References

Sources

* *

External links

*{{cite web , last=Marek , first=Miroslav , url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/balkan/balkan8.html#MT , title= A family tree of the Comitopuli dynasty , publisher= Genealogy.EU 11th-century Byzantine women 11th-century Bulgarian women 11th-century Bulgarian people Aaronios family Doukid dynasty Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Cometopuli dynasty