Michael Matthew Groat PhD's Genealogical Database

Individuals: 97,713  Families: 61,838  
Gedcom Last Modified: December 14, 2025 00:59:10

Eirēnē Doukaina


Preferred Parents:
Father: Andrōnikos Doukas, b. 1036 in Constantinople, Anatolia, Byzantine Empire   d. 14 OCT 1077 in Constantinople, Anatolia, Byzantine Empire
Mother: Maria of Bulgaria , b. in Istanbul, Türkiye   d. AFT 21 NOV 1095 in Lake Ohrid, Byzantine Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire

Family 1: Alexios Komnēnos I,    b. 1048 in Istanbul, Türkiye    d. 15 AUG 1118 in İstanbul, Türkei
  1. Theodōra Komnēnos, b. 15 JAN 1096 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire     d. 1139 in İstanbul, Turquia
  2. II.Iōannēs Komnēnos-házi Bizánci császár, b. 13 SEP 1087 in Constantinople, Byzantine Empire     d. 8 APR 1143 in Constantinople, Istanbul, Byzantine Empire, Turkey
Sources:
  1. Title: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
    Author: [568] Alexeiad, Book 2, pp. 91-2. [569] Alexeiad, Book 2, p. 90. [570] Alexeiad, Book 1, p. 53. [571] Alexeiad, Book 3, pp. 105 and 110. [572] Nikephoros Bryennios Liber III, 6, p. 106. [573] Alexeiad, Book 3, p. 109. [574] Gautier ‘Obituaire du typikon du Pantokrator’ (1969), p. 250, citing Majuri ‘Anecdota Prodromea del Vat. gr. 305’ (1908), pp. 541-4 [not yet consulted]. [575] Gautier ‘Obituaire du typikon du Pantokrator’ (1969), p. 249, citing Baroccianus gr. 131, ff. 228v-229v. [576] Gautier ‘Obituaire du typikon du Pantokrator’ (1969), p. 246, citing Majuri ‘Anecdota Prodromea del Vat. gr. 305’ (1908), pp. 531 and 534 [not yet consulted]. [577] Gautier ‘Obituaire du typikon du Pantokrator’ (1969), pp. 245-6, quoting Petit ‘Typikon du monastère de la Kosmoteira près d’Aenos (1152)’ (1908), p. 65 [not yet consulted]. [578] Alexeiad, Book 15, p. 514. [579] Gautier ‘Obituaire du typikon du Pantokrator’ (1969), p. 238. [580] Chalandon (1912), p. 15 footnote 2. ...et.al.
    Publication: Name: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM%2010571204.htm#EireneDdied1123;
    Note: EIRENE Doukaina ([1065/66]-19 Feb [1123]). The Alexeiad records that Eirene, mother of Anna Komnene, was "kinswoman" of the Doukas family and "legal wife of my [Anna Komnene's] father" but does not name her parents[568]. This passage follows soon after the text which names Mikhael and Ioannes as grandsons of "the Cæsar Ioannes" and "Georgios Palaiologos the husband of their sister"[569]. The omission of Eirene from this list of brothers and sister suggests that she was not the daughter of Andronikos Doukas. In another passage, the Alexeiad records that Anna "on my mother's side [was] related to the Doukas"[570]. Any doubts about her parentage are resolved in a further passage which records that, at the time of the Komnenoi rebellion in 1081, the future Emperor Alexios left "his wife, fifteen years old at the time…in the 'lower' palace with her sisters and mother and the Cæsar, her grandfather on the paternal side", and in yet another passage which explicitly states that she was "a daughter of Andronikos, the Cæsar's eldest son"[571]. Nikeforos Bryennios records that "Alexium Comnenum" married "primogenitam…filiarum" of Andronikos[572]. The Alexeiad records that she was crowned empress "on the seventh day after the public proclamation" of her husband's accession[573]. She supported her daughter's attempt to have the latter's husband Nikeforos Briennios succeed her husband as emperor, but retired to a convent after her husband died. There is some confusion relating to the date of death of Empress Eirene. There is some confusion relating to the date of death of Empress Eirene. Prodromos, in a poem addressed to the empress, lists (in chronological order) the deaths which had occurred in her family: “la protection des Romains, Alexis...un gendre très célèbre...Nicéphore...l’enfant d’Andronic...mais son épouse décéda auparavant...la prophyrogénète Eudocie” and adds that “tu as fait disparâitre deux fils en même temps, cruel Telkine, la vie d’Andronic et la vigueur d’Isaac. L’un erre aux extrémités de l’Anatolie, mort vivant...l’autre est parti dans l’occident ténébreux de l’Hadès”[574]. The latter part of the passage appears to refer to the death of Andronikos and the exile of Isaakios, both events dated to [1130/31]. This suggestion appears confirmed by the song composed by Mikhael Italicos after the death of Andronikos which records that “Irène Doukaina et le césar Nicéphore Bryennios” accompanied his body from the Asian bank back to Constantinople[575]. Prodromos records that Empress Eirene was present at the funeral of Gregorios Kamateros which he says was foretold by the appearance of a comet, dated to 1126 or 14 Aug 1132 (the latter date being favoured by Gautier as he points out that the passage follows a reference to the summer being very dry, which was apparently the case in 1132)[576]. The typikon of Isaakios Komnenos (dated [1151/52]) records that Empress Eirene died “à la première indiction dix-neuvième jour de février”, identified by Gautier as the first year of the indiction (=[1137/38]) during which the monastery of Kosmoteira was founded ([1151/52]), and adds in the same sentence that “mon père et basileus a quitté ce monde le quinzième [jour] d’août, cinquième jour”[577]. However, the Alexeiad confirms that the empress died before her son-in-law Nikeforos Bryennios (dated to [1136/37], see below), when recording the deaths (in that order) of "the great Alexius...the Empress Irene...the Caesar [her husband]", but gives no further indication to enable the events to be dated[578]. In addition, the obituary of the typikon of Kosmoteira (dated Oct 1136) records “tes makariotates despoines kai metros tes basileias mou”, the word “makariotates” being applied in the source to the individuals named who were deceased at the time (μακαρίτης = deceased)[579]. Chalandon concludes that the typikon of Isaakios Komnenos could not therefore refer to the indiction which started in 1137/38, excludes the previous indiction which started in 1122/23 because of the later sources which name the empress as living after that date, and suggests as a solution a transcription error in the typikon which should refer to the eleventh year of the previous indiction [1132/33][580]. Gautier highlights the anomaly in the typikon of Isaakios Komnenos which (as noted above) in the same sentence uses the indiction year for the empress’s death but the day of the week to date the death of her husband, suggests another transcription error whereby (in the case of the empress) a word indicating the first day of the week (Sunday) was misread as “indiction”, and adds that 1133 was the only year around that time when 19 Feb fell on a Sunday[581]. Gautier concludes that, in light of all these considerations, 1133 is the best possibility for the date of the empress’s death, but notes that the speculations concerning the transcript of the typikon of Isaakios Komnenos cannot now be checked against the original manuscript as it no longer survives[582]. m (betrothed before Oct 1077, [1078]) as his second wife, ALEXIOS Komnenos, son of IOANNES Komnenos, kuropalates and domestikos & his wife Anna Dalassena ([1056/57]-15 Aug 1118). He succeeded in 1081 as Emperor ALEXIOS I.
  2. Title: Irene Doukaina, "Find A Grave Index"
    Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q295-K792 : 15 June 2022), Irene Doukaina, ; Burial, , ; citing record ID 150482847, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
    Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q295-K792;
  3. Title: Wikipedia - Irene Doukaina
    Author: Dalven, Rae (1972). Anna Comnena. New York: Twayne Publishers. pp. 67–69. ISBN 978-0805722406. Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8. Anna Comnena, The Alexiad, trans. E.R.A. Sewter. Penguin Books, 1969. Choniates, Nicetas (1984). O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniatēs. Translated by Harry J. Magoulias. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1764-2. Georgina Buckler, Anna Comnena: A Study. Oxford University Press, 1929. Thalia Goumia-Peterson, "Gender and Power: Passages to the Maternal in Anna Komnene's Alexiad ", in Anna Komnene and Her Times, ed. Thalia Goumia-Peterson. Garland Publishing, 2000. Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
    Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Doukaina;
    Note: Irene Doukaina Irina ( Pala d'Oro).jpg Probable representation of Irene Doukaina from the Pala d'Oro in St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy Empress consort of the Byzantine Empire Tenure 4 April 1081 – 15 August 1118 Born c. 1066 Constantinople (modern-day İstanbul, Turkey) Died 19 February 1138 (aged 71–72) Spouse Alexios I Komnenos Issue Anna Komnene Maria Komnene John II Komnenos Andronikos Komnenos Eudokia Komnene Theodora Komnene Isaac Komnenos Manuel Komnenos Zoe Komnene House Doukas Father Andronikos Doukas Mother Maria of Bulgaria Irene Doukaina or Ducaena (Greek: Εἰρήνη Δούκαινα, Eirēnē Doukaina; c. 1066 – 19 February 1138) was a Byzantine Greek empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and of the historian Anna Komnene. Life Irene was born in 1066 to Andronikos Doukas and Maria of Bulgaria, granddaughter of Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria. Andronikos was a nephew of Emperor Constantine X Doukas and a cousin of Michael VII. Succession of Alexios Irene married Alexios in 1078, when she was still eleven years old. For this reason the Doukas family supported Alexios in 1081, when a struggle for the throne erupted after the abdication of Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Alexios' mother, Anna Dalassene, a lifelong enemy of the Doukas family, pressured her son to divorce the young Irene and marry Maria of Alania, the former wife of both Michael VII and Nikephoros III. Irene was in fact barred from the coronation ceremony, but the Doukas family convinced the Patriarch of Constantinople, Kosmas I, to crown her as well, which he did one week later. Anna Dalassene consented to this but forced Kosmas to resign immediately afterwards; he was succeeded by Eustratios Garidas. Empress Lead seal of Irene Doukaina, depicting Jesus on the obverse and herself on the reverse Alexios' mother Anna continued to live in the imperial palace and to meddle in her son's affairs until her death 20 years later; Maria of Alania may have also lived in the palace, and there were rumours that Alexios carried on an affair with her. Anna Komnene denied this, although she herself was not born until December 1, 1083, two years later. Anna may have been whitewashing her family history; she has nothing but praise for both of her parents. She describes her mother in great detail: "She stood upright like some young sapling, erect and evergreen, all her limbs and the other parts of her body absolutely symmetrical and in harmony one with another. With her lovely appearance and charming voice she never ceased to fascinate all who saw and heard her. Her face shone with the soft light of the moon; it was not the completely round face of an Assyrian woman, nor long, like the face of a Scyth, but just slightly oval in shape. There were rose blossoms on her cheeks, visible a long way off. Her light-blue eyes were both gay and stern: their charm and beauty attracted, but the fear they caused so dazzled the bystander that he could neither look nor turn away...Generally she accompanied her words with graceful gestures, her hands bare to the wrists, and you would say it was ivory turned by some craftsman into the form of fingers and hand. The pupils of her eyes, with the brilliant blue of deep waves, recalled a calm, still sea, while the white surrounding them shone by contrast, so that the whole eye acquired a peculiar lustre and a charm which was inexpressible." It "would not have been so very inappropriate," Anna writes, to say that Irene was "Athena made manifest to the human race, or that she had descended suddenly from the sky in some heavenly glory and unapproachable splendour." Irene was shy and preferred not to appear in public, although she was forceful and severe when acting officially as empress (basileia). She preferred to perform her household duties, and enjoyed reading hagiographic literature and making charitable donations to monks and beggars. Although Alexios may have had Maria as a mistress early in his reign, during the later part of his reign he and Irene were genuinely in love (at least according to their daughter Anna). Irene often accompanied him on his expeditions, including the expedition against Prince Bohemund I of Antioch in 1107 and to the Chersonese in 1112. On these campaigns she acted as a nurse for her husband when he was afflicted with gout in his feet. According to Anna she also acted as a sort of guard, as there were constant conspiracies against Alexios. Alexios' insistence that Irene accompany him on campaigns may suggest that he did not fully trust her enough to leave her in the capital. When she did remain behind in Constantinople, she acted as regent, together with Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna's husband, as a counselor. Empress Dowager Irene frequently suggested that Alexios name Nikephoros and Anna as his heirs, over their own younger son John. According to Niketas Choniates, who depicts her more as a nagging shrew than a loving wife, she "...threw her full influence on the side of her daughter Anna and lost no opportunity to calumniate their son John... mocking him as rash, pleasure-loving, and weak in character." Alexios, preferring to create a stable dynasty through his own son, either ignored her, pretended to be busy with other matters, or, at last, lost his temper and chastized her for suggesting such things. Irene nursed Alexios on his deathbed on 1118, while at the same time still scheming to have Nikephoros and Anna succeed him. Alexios had already promised the throne to John, and when John took his father's signet ring Irene accused him of treachery and theft. When Alexios finally died, she felt genuine grief, and wore the mourning clothes of her daughter Eudokia, whose own husband had died previously. However, she soon conspired with Anna against John, but their plots were unsuccessful and both Irene and Anna were then forced into exile at the Kecharitomene nunnery, which Irene had founded a few years previously. It was not a harsh exile, and Irene lived there in peace, distributing food to the poor and educating young orphan girls. Irene may have inspired the history written by her son-in-law Nikephoros Bryennios and corresponded with or patronized several important literary figures, including Theophylact of Ohrid and Michael Italikos. In literature The great modern Greek poet Constantine Cavafy includes a reference to Irene Doukaina in his poem "A Byzantine Nobleman in Exile Composing Verses", which refers to Doukaina as "that viper Irini Doukaina" and that as the cause of the titular nobleman's exile, "may she be cursed". It is a clear reference to her reputation as a plotter. Children Irene died on February 19, 1138. With Alexios I Komnenos she had nine children: Anna Komnene[1] (1083–1153) Maria Komnene John II Komnenos (1087–1143) Andronikos Komnenos Isaac Komnenos Eudokia Komnene Theodora Komnene, who married Constantine Angelos. Among their children were John Doukas (who took his grandmother's surname), father of the first two rulers of the Despotate of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas and Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and Andronikos Doukas Angelos, father of the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos. Manuel Komnenos Zoe Komnene
Master Index | Pedigree Chart | Descendency Chart
Please send genealogical corrections, additions, or comments to Michael Matthew Groat PhD
Created by GIMMWebService Version 1.0.3 (Program Information), Copyright 2023 © Michael Groat
(Web design layout and pedigree indentation subroutine) Copyright 1996 © Randy Winch (gumby@edge.net) and Tim Doyle (tdoyle@doit.com)
(Internal GEDCOM data structures and GEDCOM file parsing) Copyright 2014-2021 © Giulio Genovese (giulio.genovese@gmail.com)

Like the program that you see? Any support is appreciated!

Paypal