Irene Komnene Laskarina Branaina

Miniature of the sebastokrator Constantine Palaiologos and his wife Irene, from the so-called Lincoln Typicon, ca. 1350

Irene Komnene Laskarina Branaina (Greek: Ειρήνη Κομνηνή Λασκαρίνα Βρανᾶίνα; died around 1271) was a Byzantine noblewoman and wife of sebastokrator Constantine Palaiologos, half-brother of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. She seems to have followed suit after her husband's retirement to a convent, and taken the monastic name of Maria. She probably died as a nun.

Marriage and family

Irene was the granddaughter of Byzantine General Theodore Branas and Agnes of France,[1] though the Branas genealogy is poorly recorded. She possibly was a grandchild through an unregistered son of Theodore and Anna[2]. For D. M. Nicol, in his book, the Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) ca. 1100–1460, 1968, her father is simply named strategos Branas. He was alive in 1259[3]. Through Theodore, she was also related to the Vatatzes.

Irene was married c. 1259 to Constantine Palaiologos,[4] by whom he seems to have had five children".

Her wedding date correspond to the year where her first cousin, Anselin (or Anseau as he's sometimes called) of Toucy, was captured by Michael VIII, and with whom he allied himself to retake Constantinople, though Anselin tricked him and run away.[11][12]. Michael had probably hoped to integrate the Principalty of Archea into the empire once more, as he arranged Constantine and Irene wedding but also the marriage between Theodora, daughter of Theodore II Laskaris, and Matthew de Walincourt, a Frankish noble from the Peloponnese, who was living at the court. [13][14]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Guillaume Saint-Guillain, Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204 (Routledge, 2016), p. 108
  2. ↑ Settipani, Christian Les liens dynastiques entre Byzance et l'étranger à l'époque des Comnènes et des Paléologues, 2021
  3. ↑ Erich Trapp, Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit, 1976-1995
  4. ↑ Pachymeres Vol I, De Michaele Palaeologo, Liber II, 5, p. 97
  5. ↑ "Typikon of Theodora Synadene for the Convent of the Mother of God Bebaia Elpis in Constantinople" (transl. Alice-Mary Talbot), 137
  6. ↑ "Typikon of Theodora Synadene for the Convent of the Mother of God Bebaia Elpis in Constantinople" (transl. Alice-Mary Talbot), 138
  7. ↑ 'Typikon of Theodora Synadene for the Convent of the Mother of God Bebaia Elpis in Constantinople' (trans. Alice-Mary Talbot), 139
  8. ↑ "Typikon of Theodora Synadene for the Convent of the Mother of God Bebaia Elpis in Constantinople" (transl. Alice-Mary Talbot), 140
  9. ↑ https://archive.org/details/ErichTrappProsopographischesLexikonDerPALAIOLOGENZEIT [Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit], 1976-1995
  10. ↑ Pachymeres Vol II, Andronicus Palæologus, Liber V, 18, p. 407
  11. ↑ Guillaume Saint-Guillain, Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204 (Routledge, 2016), p. 57
  12. ↑ Georgios Akropolites (1217–1282). Die Chronik. Übersetzt und erläutert von W. Blum. Stuttgart, 1989. P. 174. 10–15
  13. ↑ Guillaume Saint-Guillain, Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204 (Routledge, 2016), p. 62
  14. ↑ Georges Pachymeres, Relations historiques, ed. Failler, V.24: vol. 2, vol. 1, pp. 177-9

References

  • Bekker, I. (ed.) (1835) Georgii Pachymeris De Michaele et Andronico Palaeologis, Corpus Scriptorum Historiæ Byzantinæ (Bonn) Vol I, De Michaele Palaeologo, Liber II, 5, p. 97.
  • George Pachymeres, De Michaele Palaeologo & Andronicus Palæologus
  • George Acropolites, Annals
  • Bartusis, Mark C. (1997). The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204–1453. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1620-2.
  • Cheynet, Jean-Claude; Vannier, Jean-François (1986). Études Prosopographiques (in French). Paris, France: Publications de la Sorbonne. ISBN 978-2-85944-110-4.
  • Hooper, N. & Bennett, M., The Cambridge Illustrated Atlas of Warfare (Cambridge University Press, 1996) ISBN 0-521-44049-1, ISBN 978-0-521-44049-3
  • 'Typikon of Theodora Synadene for the Convent of the Mother of God Bebaia Elpis in Constantinople' (trans. Alice-Mary Talbot), from Byzantine Monastic Foundation Documents: A Complete Translation of the Surviving Founder's Typika and Testaments, Thomas, J. & Hero, A.C. (eds.) (Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington D.C. 2000)
  • Guillaume Saint-Guillain, Identities and Allegiances in the Eastern Mediterranean after 1204 (Routledge, 2016) ISBN 1317119134, ISBN 978-1-317-11913-5
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