This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Maria Comnena (Porphyrogenita) is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Maria Komnene or Comnena (Greek: Μαρία Κομνηνή, Maria Komnēnē), (Constantinople March 1152 – there July 1182) was the eldest daughter of the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos by his first wife, Bertha of Sulzbach. She was known as the Porphyrogenneta or Porphyrogenita because she had been "born in the Purple Chamber", i.e. born in the Palace at Constantinople to the consort of a reigning Emperor.
Maria was probably born in March 1152. In 1163 she was engaged to the future King Béla III of Hungary; Manuel, no longer expecting to father a legitimate son, was at that time ready to designate Béla (whom he had given the new court dignity of despotes and had renamed "Alexios") as his eventual successor. This engagement was broken off in 1169, soon after Manuel's son Alexios was born. Maria was then engaged to King William II of Sicily, but this engagement, too, was broken off by her father. Finally, in 1179, Maria was married to Renier of Montferrat, who was renamed "John" and given the title of Caesar.
After the death of the Emperor Manuel in 1180, Maria and Renier became involved in intrigues against Maria's stepmother, the Empress Maria (Xene), who was ruling as regent for her young son, now Emperor Alexios II. A riot broke out against the empress, encouraged by Maria and Renier, but their attempt to seize power failed. Both died soon afterwards, apparently by poison, soon after the seizure of the regency by Andronikos Komnenos, a paternal first cousin of Manuel.
Sources
- Choniates, Niketas, Historia, ed. J.-L. Van Dieten, 2 vols., Berlin and New York, 1975; trans. as O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, by H.J. Magoulias, Detroit; Wayne State University Press, 1984.
- Garland, Lynda, & Stone, Andrew, "Maria Porphyrogenita, daughter of Manuel I Comnenus", De Imperatoribus Romanis (external link)
This biography of a member of a European royal house is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 20 October 2008, at 02:27.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Maria Comnena (Porphyrogenita)".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.