| Eudokia Ingerina | |
|---|---|
| Augusta | |
.jpg) Goldsolidus of Eudokia andConstantine, Basil's firstborn son with first wife, Maria | |
| Byzantine Empress consort | |
| Tenure | 26 May 866 – 882 |
| Born | c. 840 |
| Died | c. 882 (aged 41–42) |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Michael III (as mistress) Basil I |
| Issue more... | Leo VI the Wise Stephen I of Constantinople Alexander (Byzantine emperor) |
| Dynasty | Macedonian |
| Father | Inger |
| Mother | Melissena Martinakia |
Eudokia (orEudocia)Ingerina (Greek:Ευδοκία Ιγγερίνα,romanized: Evdokia Ingerina; c. 840 – c. 882) was a Byzantine empress as the wife of theByzantine emperorBasil I, the mistress of his predecessorMichael III, and the mother of emperorsLeo VI andAlexander, as well as the mother of PatriarchStephen I of Constantinople.
Eudokia was the daughter ofInger, who was probably aVarangian, while her mother Melissena was a member of a prominent Greek family, the Martinakoi, who were related to theAmorian dynasty, which ruled theByzantine Empire from 820 to 867,[1] and claimed imperial ancestry toHeraclius' sister and second mother-in-law,[citation needed] or according to a later alternative reconstruction byChristian Settipani, her connection to the Martinakoi came through her father, whom he identifies as a Byzantine noble, Inger Martinakios,logothete.[2] Eudokia is often referred to as 'half-Swedish', or more generally 'Scandinavian'.[3][4][5]
Because her family wasiconoclastic, the Empress MotherTheodora strongly disapproved of them. Around 855, Eudokia became the mistress of Theodora's son, Michael III, who thus incurred the anger of his mother and the powerful ministerTheoktistos.[4] Unable to risk a major scandal by leaving his wife, Michael married Eudokia to his friend Basil but continued his relationship with her.[5] Basil was compensated with the emperor's sisterThekla as his own mistress.
Eudokia gave birth to a son, Leo, in September 866 and another, Stephen, in November 867. They were officially Basil's children, but this paternity was questioned, apparently even by Basil himself.[3] The strange promotion of Basil to co-emperor in May 866 lends support to the great probability that at least Leo was actually Michael III's illegitimate son. The parentage of Eudokia's younger children is not a subject of dispute, as Michael III was murdered in September 867.
A decade into Basil's reign, Eudokia became involved with another man, whom the emperor ordered to betonsured as monk. In 882, she selectedTheophano as wife for her son Leo, and died shortly afterwards.
Eudokia and Basil officially had six children:
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| Preceded by | Byzantine Empress consort 866–882 withEudokia Dekapolitissa (866–867) | Succeeded by |
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