| Eudokia Makrembolitissa | |
|---|---|
| Augusta Empress and Autocratess of the Romans | |
.jpg) Contemporary miniature of empress Eudokia[a] | |
| Byzantine empress regnant (disputed) | |
| Reign | 22/23 May – 31 December 1067[3] |
| Predecessor | Constantine X Doukas |
| Successor | Romanos IV Diogenes |
| Co-emperors | Michael VII Doukas Konstantios Doukas |
| Byzantine regent | |
| Regency | late September – late October 1071[4] |
| Monarch | Michael VII Doukas |
| Byzantine empress consort | |
| Tenure | 1059–1067, 1068–1071 |
| Born | c. 1030 |
| Died | after 1081 |
| Spouse | |
| Issue more... | Michael VII Doukas Andronikos Doukas Theodora Doukaina Konstantios Doukas Nikephoros Diogenes Leo Diogenes |
| Family | Makrembolites |
| Dynasty | Doukid |
| Father | John Makrembolites |
| Religion | Greek Orthodox |
Eudokia Makrembolitissa[5] (Greek:Εὐδοκία Μακρεμβολίτισσα,romanized: Evdokía Makremvolítissa) was aByzantine empress by her successive marriages toConstantine X Doukas andRomanos IV Diogenes. She acted as ruler with her two sons in 1067, and resigned her rule by marriage toRomanos IV Diogenes. When he was deposed in 1071 she resumed the rule with her sonMichael VII, but was soon forced to resign again.
Because she essentially ruled in her own right during her rules and retained the title of empress, several modern scholars consider Eudokia to have beenempress regnant in 1067 and some also in 1071.
Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the daughter of John Makrembolites and a maternal niece ofMichael I Cerularius, thepatriarch of Constantinople, whose sister Keroularie had married Makrembolites.[6] John, who belonged to the aristocracy of Constantinople, allied with Cerularius in 1040 to conspire against EmperorMichael IV, but their plan was stopped soon after.[7] The birth date of Eudokia is unknown, but scholars often place itc. 1030.[8] Some authors give her a lifespan of 1021–1096,[9] but this is not corroborated by other sources.[10][6][5] Eudokia marriedConstantine X Doukas sometime before his accession in 1059, probablyc. 1049,[10][5] when Constantine was 43 years old.[11] She was Constantine's second wife, as his first one, a daughter of DukeConstantine Dalassenos, died soon after their marriage.[12] By 1059 they already had at least five children: the futureMichael VII, an unnamed son who died young,Andronikos Doukas, Anna Doukaina andTheodora Doukaina.[13]
Constantine X Doukas wascrowned emperor on 23 November 1059, the day afterIsaac I Komnenos' abdication.[14] Eudokia was crownedaugusta soon after, probably on the same year.[5][13] They had a fourth son around this time,Konstantios Doukas, who was crowned before his brother Michael, and an other daughter, Zoe.[14] When Constantine fell ill in October 1066, he appointedcaesarJohn Doukas and patriarchJohn VIII Xiphilinos as co-regents. Eudokia was meant only to take care of Michael and Konstantios, but Constantine knew that she had larger ambitions.[15] Constantine died the next year, on 23 May 1067.[14]
Some historians regard Eudokia as anempress regnant who actually ruled in her own right for seven months,[16][17] while others consider her as a regent who was thede facto emperor.[18][19] Some books include her in lists of emperors,[20][21][22] others do not.[23][24] According to the contemporaryMichael Psellos, Eudokia "succeeded [Constantine X] as supreme ruler, she did not hand over the government to others... she assumed control of the whole administration in person.[25] Michael VII was "already long past his boyhood" by this time, but nevertheless "left the whole administration to his mother".[26] Some authors argue that he had some type of mental disability.[27]
It was very unusual that, on Constantine X's silver and copper coins, he appeared with only his wife Eudokia, without his sons Michael and Constantios, even though they were co-emperors.[28][16] One inscription on a silver reliquary, showing Constantine X and Eudokia, calls her "Great Empress of the Romans" (megalē basilis tōn Romaiōn), suggesting that she was a co-ruler or successor to Constantine.[29][16] Some inscriptions ascribe the masculine title emperor to her. On Constantine X's silver coinage, themiliaresion, she and Constantine are together called 'faithful emperors of the Romaioi'.[28] On a tetarteron probably of late 1067, the inscription reads 'Eudokia and Michael, emperors', and on a seal, probably dated between May and December 1067, the inscription reads 'Eudokia, Michael and Constantios, emperors of the Romaioi'.[30] A seal, dated to early 1068, link Romanos and Eudokia as co-rulers with the title 'Romanos and Eudokia emperors of the Romaioi'.[31] On coins, the title ofbasilis(sa) is used by only the empresses who assumed the throne:Irene,Zoe,Theodora, and Eudokia Makrembolitissa.[32] On Constantine X'smiliaresion, Eudokia has taken the place to the spectator's right, which is traditionally given to the co-emperor and successor to the throne.[16] Calling her the ruler of the world (κοσμοκράτορ), the dedication poem provides evidence for Eudokia's perception of herself as sharing the empire with her husband Constantine.[33] On the dating clauses of South Italian charters, Eudokia's name always takes precedence over those of her sons, and she is often the only one to receive the imperial title.[30][34]
Constantine left as co-regents Michael, Konstantios and Eudokia. Eudokia holds the first place in the Hierarchical order, and she alone bears the imperial status.[17] HistorianMichael Attaleiates, in order to declare the status of Eudokia after May 1067 and of Zoe and Theodora in April 1042, uses the title ofautokrator, precisely because the above were brought to the Byzantine throne with the same legal status as male emperors.[17] Byzantine sources, referring to imperial statutes, usually mention the name of the ruler who issued this decree, and the name of the first-class emperor is never omitted. Eudokia issued a decree determining the distance between buildings being erected, and the inscription of only the name of Eudokia as its publisher presupposes her imperial capacity at the time of the issuance of the legislation.[17]Alexios II, for whomMaria was regent, was simplybasileus, but upon his fatherManuel I's death he was immediately proclaimedautokrator. On the other hand, Michael VII continued to be referred as simplybasileus after his father Constantine X's death and was proclaimedautokrator in 1071.[17] On the coin of 1067, Eudokia is depicted in the midst of her two sons. The arrangement of the figures corresponds to a certain legal relationship between the co-emperors, the senior emperor in the middle and on either side of him the junior co-emperors.[17] The inscription fromMesembria testify to the repair of the city wall under Constantine and Eudokia. In the inscriptions concerning the renovation of the walls, the rulers who held the throne in the capacity of emperor at the time of the construction work and following the writing of the inscription are always mentioned.[17]
Eudokia had sworn on Constantine's deathbed not to remarry, and she even made the oath in the presence of patriarchJohn VIII Xiphilinos.[10] However, she knew that her position of power could be compromised if she continued to wield power alone. She then choseRomanos IV Diogenes, a general who had great popularity with the army.[35] This decision was quite controversial, as Romanos had been accused of conspiring with the Hungarians shortly before Constantine X's death.[36] Eudokia hoped that his skills and leadership would stop the advance of theSeljuk Turks in the East.[9][35][37] On 25 December, Eudokia rewarded Romanos with the titlesmagistros andstratelates in preparation for his coronation.[36] However, they still needed the approval of the patriarch of Constantinople. According to some sources, Eudokia tricked John VIII into believing that she would marry one of his brothers. John VIII accepted the offer and canceled the oath.[36][38][5] The marriage and imperial coronation took place on 1 January 1068, to the surprise of the patriarch and other officials.[39][38]
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With her new husband's assistance, Eudokia was able to dispel the impending danger. She had two sons with Romanos IV,Nikephoros andLeo.[10][5] Another of Eudokia and Constantine's sons,Andronikos Doukas, was also made co-emperor by Romanos IV, although he had been excluded from power by his own father, mother, and brothers. He was probably crowned too in 1068, although he is ignored by contemporary chronicles.[13] Contemporary coinage seems to depict Romanos as inferior to Michael and his brothers, and thus inferior to the empress. He is sometimes not even called "emperor", as sometetarteron only call himdespotes and reserve the titlebasileus for Eudokia.[39][40] According to Michael Psellos, she explicitly referred to him as "a subject, not a ruler."[41] Romanos IV, however, soon started to act independently of her, even starting to resent her.[42] Discontent was also shared by a faction of the Senate and army, withJohn Doukas at the head.[43]
On 26 August 1071, Romanos IV facedAlp Arslan, sultan of theSeljuk Empire, at the decisiveBattle of Manzikert.[4][44] The Byzantine army was destroyed and the emperor himself was captured, partly because of the treachery of generalAndronikos, John Doukas's son.[45][40][46] The news reached Constantinople a few days later, causing much shock in the populace.[47] Onc. 1 October the Senate declared Romanos IV deposed and proclaimed Eudokia and Michael VII as joint rulers.[48][45] Some sources state that Eudokia was already planning on deposing her husband, but this is very unlikely.[49] The new regime only lasted one month,[b] when Eudokia's opposition became strong enough to depose her, especially after news of Romanos release arrived at the capital.[4][45] Michael VII was then proclaimed soleautokrator by John Doukas, who forced Eudokia to retire to a monastery as a nun.[4][5][50]
Eudokia continued to be influential even after her exile in 1071.[50] Soon after her deposition, she allied withAnna Dalassene, a sister-in-law ofIsaac I Komnenos who had also been exiled,[50] to restore Romanos IV and depose John Doukas.[51] However, Doukas soon fell from grace as a result of the schemes of eunuchNikephoritzes, who was close to theKomnenos family.[51] Eudokia later performed a memorable funeral and burial for Romanos IV, who died on 4 August 1072.[49][5]
After Michael VII was deposed in 1078 byNikephoros III Botaneiates, Eudokia was recalled to Constantinople by the new emperor, who offered to marry her. This plan did not come to pass, mainly due to the opposition of John Doukas, who returned to power after Nikephoritzes's exile. However, Nikephoros still sent her many rewards and gifts of gratitude.[33][5][10] Her date of death is unknown, but it was sometime after the accession ofAlexios I Komnenos in 1081.[33] Her last known action is the adoption of one of the cousins of PatriarchMichael I Cerularius.[5]
Attributed to Eudokia is a dictionary of history and mythology, calledἸωνιά (i.e.,Collection orBed of Violets). It is prefaced by an address to her husband, Romanos Diogenes, and the work is described as "a collection of genealogies of gods, heroes, and heroines, of their metamorphoses, and of the fables and stories respecting them found in the ancients; containing also notices of various philosophers".[52] However, the book is now thought to be a modern (16th-century) compilation, falsely attributed to Eudokia, and compiled by the counterfeiterConstantine Paleocappac. 1540.[53] The sources from which the work was compiled includeDiogenes Laërtius and theSuda.[53]
![Constantine X and Eudokia in a reliquary of Demetrius of Thessaloniki, by John Autoreianos.[54][c]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aConstantine_X_and_Eudokia_in_St._Demetrius%2527_reliquary_(detail).jpg)
![Miniature of Constantine X and Eudokia alongside their son and co-emperor Michael VII Doukas.[2]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aConstantine_X%2c_Michael_VII_and_Eudokia.jpg)
By her first husband, Eudokia had seven children, four sons and three daughters:[55]
By her second husband, she had two sons, most likely twins:[56]
Primary sources
Secondary sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Eudocia Macrembolitissa".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Smith, William, ed. (1870),"Eudocia Augusta Macrembolis",Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, vol. 2, p. 80Eudokia Makrembolitissa | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Byzantine empress regnant 23 May – 31 December 1067 | Succeeded by |
| Royal titles | ||
| Preceded by | Byzantine empress consort 23 November 1059 – 23 May 1067 and 1 January 1068 – 1 October 1071 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
