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Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera (Greek: Εὐφροσύνη Δούκαινα Καματερίνα ἢ Καματηρά, c. 1155 – 1211) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos.[1]

Euphrosyne was the daughter of Andronikos Kamateros, a high-ranking official who held the titles of megas droungarios and pansebastos and his wife, an unknown Kantakouzene.[2] She was related to the Emperor Constantine X and Irene Doukaina, empress of Alexios I Komnenos. Both of her brothers had rebelled against Andronikos I Komnenos; one was imprisoned and the other was blinded.

Life

Euphrosyne married Alexios Angelos, the older brother of the future Emperor Isaac II Angelos in c. 1169 CE.[2] Although Isaac II bestowed many titles and honors upon his brother, Alexios seized the throne on April 8, 1195, deposing Isaac and proclaiming himself emperor. In this he was assisted by Euphrosyne, who had organized a party of aristocratic supporters.[3] Euphrosyne took control of the palace and quelled the opposition herself, securing the accession of her husband to the throne by wholesale bribery.

Euphrosyne was recognised as the true power behind the throne.[4] Intelligent, determined, skilled in communication and organization, she had a talent for politics, and virtually ruled the Empire in the name of Alexios III, who had a reputation for being concerned primarily with pleasure and idle pursuits.[5] She issued commands herself and even altered Alexios' decrees when it suited her, and secured the recall of the capable minister Constantine Mesopotamites.

Euphrosyne and Alexios were criticized for their love of finery and the enrichment of their relatives at state expense. Her own brother, Basil Kamateros, and her son-in-law, Andronikos Kontostephanos, possibly driven by anger at her apparent curtailing of overall familial power, accused Euphrosyne of adultery with one of her ministers, a nobleman named Vatatzes.[5] Alexios III believed the allegations and had Vatatzes executed. Euphrosyne was stripped of her imperial robes and banished to a convent at Nematarea in October 1196. However, her relatives convinced Alexios to reinstate her, and she was recalled six months later in spring 1197.[6]

In 1203, faced with the Fourth Crusade and the return of his nephew, Alexios IV Angelos, Alexios III fled Constantinople with a magnificent treasure and some female relatives, including his daughter Irene. Euphrosyne was left behind and was immediately imprisoned by the new regime. Alexios IV was soon strangled by Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos, the lover of Euphrosyne's daughter Eudokia, who then proclaimed himself emperor as Alexios V. In April 1204 Euphrosyne fled the city along with her daughter and Alexios V, and they made their way to Mosynopolis, where Euphrosyne's husband Alexios III had taken refuge.[7] Alexios III had Alexios V blinded and abandoned to the crusaders, who had him executed.

Euphrosyne and Alexios III fled across Greece to Thessalonica and Corinth, but were finally captured by Boniface of Montferrat and imprisoned. In 1209 or 1210 they were ransomed by their cousin Michael I of Epirus, and Euphrosyne spent the remainder of her life in Arta. She died in 1210 or 1211.

Family

By her husband, Alexios III Angelos, Euphrosyne had three daughters:

  1. Eirene Angelina, who married (1) Andronikos Kontostephanos; (2) Alexios Palaiologos, by whom she was the grandmother of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
  2. Anna Angelina, who married (1) the sebastokratōr Isaac Komnenos, great-nephew of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos; (2) Emperor Theodore I Laskaris of Nicaea.
  3. Eudokia Angelina, who married (1) King Stefan I Prvovenčani of Serbia; (2) Emperor Alexios V Doukas; (3) Leo Sgouros, ruler of Corinth.

Sources

  1. ^ Rosser, John Hutchins (2012). Historical Dictionary of Byzantium. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7567-8.
  2. ^ a b Shawcross, Clare Teresa M.; Toth, Ida (2018-10-04). Reading in the Byzantine Empire and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-41841-6.
  3. ^ Garland, Lynda (2002-01-04). Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527-1204. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-75638-4.
  4. ^ Angold, Michael J. (2015-11-17). The Fourth Crusade: Event and Context. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-88054-7.
  5. ^ a b James, Elizabeth (2013-01-11). Women, Men and Eunuchs: Gender in Byzantium. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-10547-1.
  6. ^ Boyett, Colleen; Tarver, H. Micheal; Gleason, Mildred Diane (2020-12-07). Daily Life of Women: An Encyclopedia from Ancient Times to the Present [3 volumes]. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 979-8-216-07158-7.
  7. ^ Falk, Avner (2018-05-08). Franks and Saracens: Reality and Fantasy in the Crusades. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-91392-1.
Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera
Born: c. 1155 Died: 1211
Royal titles
Preceded by Byzantine Empress consort
1195–1203 		Succeeded by
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