Zoë Porphyrogenita Byzantine empress

• Preferred Name: Zoë Porphyrogenita Byzantine empress^{[1] [2]}
  
• Gender: F
  
• Birth: 978 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire at LATI: N1.15 LONG: E8.75
  
• Death: 1050 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire at LATI: N1.15 LONG: E8.75
  
• Burial: 1050 in Church of the Holy Apostles, Constantinople, Anatolia, Byzantine Empire at LATI: N1.15 LONG: E8.75
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Empress
  
• FSID: LR4W-566
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Zoë, Empress of Constantinople was the daughter of Constantine VIII, Emperor of Constantinople.1 She married, firstly, Romanus III Argyrus, Emperor of Constantinople.1 She married, secondly, Michael IV 'the Paphlagonian', Emperor of Constantinople after 1034.1 She married Constantine IX Monomachus, Emperor of Constantinople after 1041.1
  She held the office of Co-regent of Constantinople between 1028 and 1050.1 She succeeded as the Empress Zoë of Constantinople in 1042, suo jure.1
  Citations
  [S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 52. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World.
  
  Zoë was Porphyrogenita,[3] "born into the purple"; this was the appellation for a child born in the capital to a reigning emperor. She was the second daughter of Constantine VIII and his wife Helena.[4] Her father became co-emperor, at the age of two, in 962 and sole emperor in 1025.[citation needed] His reign as sole emperor lasted less than three years, from 15 December 1025 to 15 November 1028.[4]
  
  Empress of the Byzantine Empire
  Reign
  10 April 1042 – June 1050
  Predecessor
  Michael V Kalaphates
  Successor
  Constantine IX and Theodora
  Born
  c. 978
  Constantinople
  Died
  June 1050 (aged 72)
  Constantinople
  Burial
  Constantinople[1]
  Spouse
  Romanos III (1028–1034)
  Michael IV (1034–1041)
  Constantine IX (1042–1050)
  Issue
  (adopted) Michael V Kalaphates
  Dynasty
  Macedonian
  Father
  Constantine VIII
  Mother
  Helena
  
  As an eligible imperial princess Zoë was considered a possible bride for the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III, in 996.[5] A second embassy sent in 1001, headed by Arnulf, Archbishop of Milan,[6] was tasked with selecting Otto’s bride from among Constantine’s three daughters. The eldest, Eudocia, was disfigured by smallpox, while the youngest, Theodora, was a very plain girl. Arnulf therefore selected the attractive 23-year-old Zoë, to which her uncle Basil II agreed.[3] In January 1002 she accompanied Arnulf back to Italy, only to discover when the ship reached Bari that Otto had died, forcing her to return home.[3] Another opportunity arose in 1028, when an embassy from the Holy Roman Empire arrived in Constantinople with a proposal for an imperial marriage. Constantine VIII and Zoë rejected the idea out of hand when it was revealed that the intended groom, Henry, the son of Conrad II, was only ten years old.[7]
  
  Basil II prevented his nieces from marrying any of the Byzantine nobility, as this would have given their husbands a claim on the imperial throne. As women they were unable to exercise any state authority, their only say in this was in choosing, or more likely accepting or not, a husband who would acquire their authority upon marriage.[8] Consequently, Zoë lived a life of virtual obscurity in the imperial gynaeceum (women's quarters) for many years.[7] When Basil II died childless in 1025, her 65-year-old father became sole emperor. As he had no sons, Zoë and her surviving sister, Theodora, were forced into the centre of imperial politics.[citation needed]
  
  Constantine determined that the ruling house would be continued by one of them being married to an appropriate aristocrat. The first potential match was the distinguished noble Constantine Dalassenos, the former dux of Antioch.[9] The emperor's advisors preferred a weak ruler whom they could control and they persuaded him to reject Dalassenos after he had already been summoned to the capital.[8]
  
  Romanos Argyros, the urban prefect of Constantinople, was the next to be considered as a match.[8] Theodora defied her father by refusing to marry Romanos, arguing that he was already married – his wife having been forced to become a nun to allow Romanos to marry into the imperial family[10]:465 – and that as third cousins they had too close a blood relationship for marriage to occur.[11] Consequently, Constantine VIII chose Zoë to be Romanos's wife instead of Theodora.[11][12] Zoe and Romanos married on 10 November 1028 in the imperial chapel of the palace. Three days later Constantine died and the newly-weds were seated on the imperial throne.[13]
  
  For additional biography, notes and references see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoë_Porphyrogenita

• m. 11 JUN 1042

• m. 11 APR 1034

• m. 1028

1. Monomachos of Byzantium, b. ABT 1020 in Istanbul, Turkey     d. in Serbia

1. Title: Peerage, The
   Author: Darryl Lundy, The Peerage, a genealogical survey of teh Peerage of Britian as well as the royal families of Europe(http://thepeerage.com : accessed 27 Jul 2019), Constantine IX Monomachus. Cit. Date: 31 Jan 2019;
   Note: Constantine IX Monomachus, Emperor of Constantinople married Zo, Empress of Constantinople, daughter of Constantine VIII, Emperor of Constantinople, after 1041.1 He died in 1055.1 He succeeded as the Emperor Constantine IX of Constantinople in 1042.1Child of Constantine IX Monomachus, Emperor of Constantinople Irene (?)+2 d. 1087Citations [S38] John Morby, Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook (Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1989), page 52. Hereinafter cited as Dynasties of the World. [S262] Russia, online http://www.friesian.com/russia.htm. Hereinafter cited as Russia.
   
2. Title: Zoe Porphyrogenita, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGJ-15N3 : 15 June 2022), Zoe Porphyrogenita, ; Burial, Istanbul, , Istanbul, Turkey, Church of the Holy Apostles; citing record ID 122488136, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVGJ-15N3;