Argyropolina

• Preferred Name: Argyropolina
  
• Gender: F
  
• Death: ABT 1031 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• alt.birth: um 1003
  
• Birth: um 0998 in Istanbul, Turkey at LATI: N1.0136 LONG: E8.955 with note: GEDCOM data calculated
  
• FSID: 97L5-CNV
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  From: Medieval Lands Genealogy (note relationship to Emperors Romanos I, III and IV)—see reference to N.N Argyrosa LRCN-15Y, at bottom, as last child of Basil Argyros, brother of Emperor Roman III, in turn grandfather of Roman IV (daughter of this unnamed daughter).
  
  --- Argyros, son of ROMANOS Argyros & his wife Agatha Lekepene . His existence is confirmed by Yahya of Antioch who records that Emperor Romanos I was the grandson of Romanos[1538].
  
  8 children w/ unknown wife.
  
  1. ROMANOS Argyros (968-Constantinople 12 Apr 1034). Yahya of Antioch records that Emperor Romanos was the grandson of Romanos[1539]. Psellos records that "Romanus…Argyropulos" was "more than twenty years older than" his second wife[1540]. City Prefect [eparkhos] of Constantinople. He was hastily married to Zoe by his father-in-law a few days before the latter's death. He succeeded his father-in-law in 1028 as Emperor ROMANOS III. Under pressure from the nobility, he abolished the allelengyon system of taxation, introduced by Emperor Basileios II, under whch the nobles bore the tax burden of the poor[1541]. After launching a military campaign against the Saracens in Asia Minor, his army was defeated in 1030 at Aleppo[1542]. He had more success in 1031, when his general Giorgios Maniakes captured Edessa[1543]. He came to despise Empress Zoe, living openly with his mistress[1544]. He suffered from a wasting disease which caused his hair and beard to fall out[1545]. Emperor Romanos drowned in his bath[1546], presumably murdered on the orders of his wife and her lover, whom she married later the same day. Lupus Protospatarius records that "Argiro Barensis" died in Constantinople in 1034[1547]. m firstly (repudiated 1028) HELENA, daughter of ---. Psellos records that the first wife of "Romanus…Argyropulos" was sent to a nunnery to permit his second marriage to the emperor's daughter, but does not name her[1548]. Cedrenus records that "Romano Argyro" repudiated his first wife (unnamed) to marry the emperor’s daughter[1549]. Skylitzes names Helena as the first wife of Emperor Romanos III[1550]. m secondly (1028) as her first husband, ZOE, daughter of Emperor KONSTANTINOS VIII & his wife Helena --- (980-1050). Psellos records that Emperor Konstantinos hastily arranged the marriage of his second daughter to "Romanus…Argyropulos" when dying, calling her "Zoe" in a later passage and stating that she was "in her fiftieth year when she married him" and that "he was more than twenty years older than she was"[1551]. She succeeded in 1042 as Empress ZOE. Mistress: ---. Her existence is confirmed by Psellos, who records that Emperor Romanos came to despise his second wife and lived openly with his mistress[1552].
  
  3. BASILEIOS Argyros (-[1017]). Zonaras names "ex fratre Basilio" (referring to Emperor Romanos III) when recording the marriage of his daughter[1557]. Governor of Samos. Cedrenus records that "Basilium Argyrum Sami et Contoleonem Cephalleniæ præfectos" were defeated by "Meles" whom Emperor Basileios had sent them to attack in southern Italy[1558]. Lupus Protospatarius records that "rebellio" started in southern Italy in May 1009, that "Curcus" (Kourkouas, Byzantine katepan) died in 1010 and that "Basilius catepanus Marsedonici" arrived in Mar 1010[1559]. The Annales Barenses record that "catepano Basilio cognomento Sardonti" besieged Bari in Apr 1013 for 61 days before the town surrendered[1560]. Governor of Vaspurakan. Cedrenus records that Emperor Basileios II appointed "Basilium patricium Argyrum" as governor of "Aspracaniæ" after Senekerim Prince of Vaspurakan submitted to the emperor, but that Basileios was removed from office "ob rem male gestam"[1561]. A seal dated to [1035] names "Basileios Argyros, patrikios and strategos of Thrace"[1562]. Strategos of the theme of Samos, and katepan of Italy until 1016. Lupus Protospatarius records that "Marsedonici catepanus" died "in Butruntio" in 1017 and that "Leo frater Argiro" was killed in Nov 1017[1563]. Strategos of the theme of Vaspurakan 1016-1019. A seal dated to [1025] names "Basileios Argyros, patrikios"[1564]. A seal dated to [1035] names "Basileios Argyros, patrikios and strategos of Thrace"[1565]. m ---. Basileios & his wife had [three or more] children:
  
  a) HELENA Argyre (-Kouthathis [1033]). Cedrenus records that "Abasgiæ princeps Georgius…filio suo Pancratio" married "imperator…Helenamque sui fratris filiam", dated to [1032][1566]. Zonaras records that, after the death of "Georgio Albasgiæ principe", his widow renewed the treaty with Byzantium and that "Helena ex fratre Basilio nepte" was sent "in Abasgiam" and that "Pancratium curopalatem" was chosen as her husband, clarifying in a later passage that she was "Romanus imperator…neptem"[1567]. The Georgian Chronicle records that "Heghine from the line of the Greek kings" was sent to marry Bagrat, presumably at the same time as his mother negotiated the peace treaty in Constantinople[1568]. If the latter negotiation is correctly dated to [1031/32], this was during the reign of Emperor Romanos III, which suggests that the first wife of Bagrat must have belonged to the Argyros family. The Georgian Chronicle (18th century) records that "la reine Eléné" died "à Kouthathis"[1569]. m ([1032]) as his first wife, BAGRAT IV King of Abkhazia and Kartvelia, son of GIORGI I King of Georgia & his wife Mariam of Vaspurakan ([1017/18]-24 Nov 1072).
  
  b) sons (-after 1057). Cedrenus names "Romanus Sclerus, Burtza, Botaneiates, Basilii Argyrii filii" among the supporters of Isaakios Komnenos, in 1057[1570]. The number of sons of Basileios Argyros is not known.
  
  4. LEO (-killed Italy Nov 1017). Lupus Protospatarius records that "Marsedonici catepanus" died "in Butruntio" in 1017 and that "Leo frater Argiro" was killed in Nov 1017[1571]. The fact that the same source records the death of "Argiro Barensis" (which must indicate Emperor Romanos III) in Constantinople in 1034 suggests that the future emperor may have been the same person as the brother of Leo[1572].
  
  5. son . It is not known whether this son was the same person as Basileios or Leo named above, or a different person. m ---. One child:
  
  a) daughter . Zonaras refers to "vestacharum dignitate…a Duca Sardicæ dux", indicating the future Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, whose father married "Romani Argyri neptem ex fratre"[1573]. Cedrenus records that the wife of "Constantinus Diogenes" was "fratre imperatoris nata"[1574]. m KONSTANTINOS Diogenes, son of --- (-[1032]).
  
  6. [--- . m ---.] [One child]:
  
  a) daughter . Skylitzes states that the wife of Smbat King of Armenia was ανεψιάν of Emperor Romanos III[1575]. The Tables chronologiques of Samuel of Ani record the "Romain donne en marriage sa fille à notre roi Iohannès" in 1032[1576]. m (1032) SMBAT III King of Armenia, son of GAGIK I "the Great" King of Armenia & his wife Katramide of Siwnik (-1041).
  
  7. [MARIA Argyre (-Venice 1005, bur San Zaccaria). Cedrenus records the marriage of "principi Venetiæ" and "filiam Argyri, sororem…Romani [postea imperator]"[1577]. The Chronicon Venetum refers to "filiam Argiropoli, imperiali editam stirpe…imperatorum videlicet neptis" as wife of "Iohannem ducem" when recording their marriage, the reference to Giovanni's title suggesting that the marriage took place after he was associated in the Dogeship by his father. In a later passage, she is named "domna vero Maria, Greca ductrix"[1578]. No more precise indication of her parentage has been found in any of the other primary sources so far consulted. If she was a member of the Argyros family, it is chronologically consistent for her to have been a younger sister of the future Emperor Romanos III, but the relationship may have been more distant. It is assumed that the reference in the Chronicon Venetum to Maria having been "…imperatorum…neptis" was hyperbole for Venetian audiences. Basileios II was Byzantine emperor at the time of the marriage and no reference has been found of any relationship between the imperial family and the Argyros family. Indeed, such a relationship is unlikely in view of the subsequent marriage between Empress Zoe, the niece of Emperor Basileios, and Emperor Romanos III Argyros, no mention having been found in the Byzantine primary sources so far consulted to this marriage having been within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. The Chronicon Venetum records the death of Maria and her husband from plague, as well as their burial place[1579]. m ([1003]) GIOVANNI Orseolo, son of PIETRO Orseolo [II] Doge of Venice ([983]-Venice 1005, bur San Zaccaria). His father associated him with the Dogeship. He, his wife and young son died from plague.]
  
  8. daughter . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by Cedrenus who records that Emperor Romanos sent "sororis suæ maritum Constantinum patricium Carantenum" with an army to Syria, dated to [1029/32][1580]. m KONSTANTINOS Karantenos, son of --- (-after [1032]). Cedrenus records that Emperor Romanos appointed "Constantinum Carantenum, sororis suæ maritum" as doux of Antioch.
  
  === Father and Husband Source Info ===
  See her husband’s (Constantine Diogenes) and father’s (Roman Argyros) bios / sources for reference to her; she is well documented as mother of Emperor Roman IV, as wife of Constantine Diogenes and as daughter of Roman Argyros, but her name is unknown.

1. Romanōs Diogēnes IV, b. 1015 in Constantinople,Istanbul,Turkey     d. 4 de agosto de 1072 in Grecia