Maria Doukaina Komnene Petraliphaina ( gr, Μαρία Δούκαινα Κομνηνή Πετραλίφαινα) was the wife of Theodore Komnenos Doukas, ruler of Epirus and in 1224–1230 self-proclaimed Emperor of Thessalonica. She is the earliest consort of the Epirote state known by name: the two wives of

Michael I Komnenos Doukas Michael I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Comnenus Ducas ( el, Μιχαήλ Κομνηνός Δούκας, Mikhaēl Komnēnos Doukas), and in modern sources often recorded as Michael I Angelos, a name he never used, was the founder and first ruler ...

, predecessor of her husband, were members of the

Melissenos Melissenos ( el, Μελισσηνός), latinized Melissenus, feminine form Melissene (Μελισσηνή), latinized Melissena, was the name of a noble Byzantine family that flourished from the late 8th century on until the end of the Byzantine Emp ...

family but their first names are unknown.

Life

Origin and family

Maria was a member of the

Petraliphas The Petraliphas or Petraleiphas ( el, Πετραλ ��φας), feminine form Petraliphaina (Πετραλίφαινα), were a Byzantine aristocratic family of Italian descent. History The family's ancestor was Peter, a Norman from Alifa, who first ...

family, of Italian origin. Her brother

John Petraliphas John Petraliphas ( el, ) was a Byzantine noble and governor of Thessaly and Macedonia in the late 12th/early 13th century with the rank of ''sebastokrator''. Biography John was a member of the Petraliphas family, which was of Italo-Norman origi ...

was a ranking noble in the court of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos (), and was appointed as governor of Thessaly and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. In 1195, however, he played a leading role in Isaac's ouster and his replacement with

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 ...

(). John's daughter

Theodora Petraliphaina Theodora Petraliphaina ( el, Θεοδώρα Πετραλίφαινα), canonized as Saint Theodora of Arta ( el, Αγία Θεοδώρα της Άρτας; ca. 1225 – after 1270), was a consort of Epirus and an Orthodox Christian saint. Li ...

married Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the illegitimate son of the founder of the Epirote state,

Marriage

She married Theodore Komnenos Doukas sometime during Theodore's stay at the court of the Theodore I Laskaris. Theodore was a son of the '' sebastokrator'' John Doukas and of Zoe Doukaina. After 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 ...

captured Constantinople in 1204, he followed Laskaris to Asia Minor, where Laskaris founded the

Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...

. In , Theodore was invited by his half-brother

to Epirus, where Michael had founded an independent Greek principality. Michael wanted Theodore's aid, as his only son, the future Michael II, was underage and illegitimate, while Michael's other half-brothers were considered to lack the ability to rule. According to Konstantinos Varzos, the firstborn child of Maria and Theodore must have been born . In the sources, Theodora is never mentioned by her original family name, but always by her husband's surnames as " Doukaina" and "

Komnene Komnenos ( gr, Κομνηνός; Latinized Comnenus; plural Komnenoi or Comneni (Κομνηνοί, )) was a Byzantine Greek noble family who ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185, and later, as the Grand Komnenoi (Μεγαλοκομνην ...

Issue

With Theodore, she had had four children: # Anna Angelina Komnene Doukaina, who married King Stefan Radoslav of Serbia # John Komnenos Doukas, who became Emperor of Thessalonica in 1237 #

Irene Komnene Doukaina Irene Komnene Doukaina or Eirene Komnene Doukaina ( el, Ειρήνη Κομνηνή Δούκαινα, bg, Ирина Комнина Дукина) was an Empress of Bulgaria during the Second Bulgarian Empire and Byzantine princess. She was the ...

, who married John Asen #

Demetrios Angelos Doukas Demetrios Angelos Doukas ( gr, Δημήτριος Ἀγγελοδούκας), was ruler of Thessalonica with the title of Despot as a vassal of the Empire of Nicaea from 1244 until his deposition in 1246. Origin Born , Demetrios was the younger ...

, who succeeded as ruler of Thessalonica in 1244

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petraliphaina, Maria Consorts of Epirus Maria Komnenodoukas dynasty Empire of Thessalonica Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 13th-century Byzantine empresses