Irene Asanina
Encyclopedia
Irene Asanina was the Empress consort of John VI Kantakouzenos
of the Byzantine Empire
.
and his wife Tarchanaiotissa.
Her paternal grandparents were Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria
and Irene Palaiologina. Her maternal grandparents were protostrator
Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes
and his wife Maria Doukaina Komnene Palaiologina Branaina.
The last names of her maternal grandmother indicate descent from the families Doukas
, Komnenos
and Palaiologos
who each produced several Byzantine Emperors. Her last name however indicates being a member of the Branas family which produced military leaders ,like Alexios Branas
and Theodore Branas
, but whose genealogy is poorly recorded.
Her paternal grandmother Irene Palaiologina was a daughter of Michael VIII Palaiologos
and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina
. Which makes Asanina a member of the extended Imperial family of her time.
and Theodora Angelina Palaiologina. In his history, John records his mother being a kinswoman of Andronikos II Palaiologos
. Persumably a cousin by one of the siblings of Michael VIII. The marriage produced six children:
, grandson of Andronikos II and great-grandson of Michael VIII. Andronikos III died on 15 June 1341 and was succeeded by his eldest son John V Palaiologos
. Who was nine-years-old.
John V was placed under the regency of his mother Anna of Savoy
. However Andronikos III had entrusted the administration to Kantakouzenos. At about the same time, Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
launched an invasion of Northern Thrace
. Kantakouzenos left Constantinople to try to restore order to the area. Anna took advantage of his absence to declare him an enemy of the state and strip him of titles and fortune.
Kantakouzenos was still in control of part of the Byzantine army
. On 26 October 1341, he answered by proclaiming himself emperor. He was crowned emperor at Didymoteicho
. Irene joined him and was crowned Empress at his side.
This was the beginning of a civil war that would last until 1347. Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
soon allied with the faction under John V and Anna while Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
sided with John VI. At times both rulers were actually taking advantage of the civil war for their own political and territorial gains. In time John VI would ally himself with Orhan I
of the nascent Ottoman Sultanate
.
During the war Irene often held court at Didymoteicho while John VI was busy campaigning. On 3 February 1347, the two sides reached an agreement. John VI was accepted as senior emperor with John V as his junior co-ruler. The agreement was sealed with the marriage of their daughter Helena Kantakouzene
to John V. John VI entered Constantinople and took effective control of the city.
Irene served as senior Empress at his side. However John V restarted the conflict in 1352 and gained support as the "legitimate" emperor. On 4 December 1354, John VI abdicated. He and Irene retired to separate monasteries. In her case the convent of Hagia Martha
under the monastic name Eugenia. There is no mention of her afterwards.
John VI Kantakouzenos
John VI Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was the Byzantine emperor from 1347 to 1354.-Early life:Born in Constantinople, John Kantakouzenos was the son of a Michael Kantakouzenos, governor of the Morea. Through his mother Theodora Palaiologina Angelina, he was a descendant of the reigning house of...
of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
Family
Asanina was a daughter of Andronikos AsenAndronikos Asen
Andronikos Asen was the epitropos of the Byzantine province of the Morea between 1316 and 1322.-Life:Andronikos Asen was the son of Bulgarian Tsar Ivan Asen III and Irene, who was the sister of Byzantine emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. His father and mother escaped to Byzantine territory...
and his wife Tarchanaiotissa.
Her paternal grandparents were Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria
Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria
Ivan Asen III , ruled as emperor of Bulgaria 1279–1280. Ivan Asen III was the son of Mitso Asen of Bulgaria and Maria of Bulgaria, a daughter of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria and Irene of Thessalonica...
and Irene Palaiologina. Her maternal grandparents were protostrator
Protostrator
Prōtostratōr was a Byzantine court office, originating as the imperial stable master, which in the last centuries of the Empire evolved into one of the senior military offices...
Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes
Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes
Michael Doukas Glabas Tarchaneiotes or Michael Tarchaneiotes Glabas was a notable Byzantine aristocrat and general.- Life :He is first mentioned in ca. 1260, when he was assigned to capture the city of Mesembria on the Black Sea coast from the deposed Bulgarian tsar Mitso Asen...
and his wife Maria Doukaina Komnene Palaiologina Branaina.
The last names of her maternal grandmother indicate descent from the families Doukas
Doukas
Doukas, latinized as Ducas , from the Latin tile dux , is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire...
, Komnenos
Komnenos
Komnenós or Comnenus was the name of a ruling family of the Eastern Roman Empire , who halted the political decline of the Empire from c.1081 to c.1185.-Origins:...
and Palaiologos
Palaiologos
Palaiologos , often latinized as Palaeologus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family, which produced the last ruling dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fourth Crusade, members of the family fled to the neighboring Empire of Nicaea, where Michael VIII Palaiologos became co-emperor in 1259,...
who each produced several Byzantine Emperors. Her last name however indicates being a member of the Branas family which produced military leaders ,like Alexios Branas
Alexios Branas
Alexios Branas or Vranas was a Byzantine nobleman and military leader of the late 12th century.Alexios Branas was doubly linked to the imperial Komnenos family. He was the son of Michael Branas and of Maria Komnene, who was the great-niece of Alexios I Komnenos...
and Theodore Branas
Theodore Branas
Theodore Branas or Vranas was a general under the Byzantine Empire and afterwards under the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He is called Li Vernas by western chroniclers of the Fourth Crusade, including Geoffroi de Villehardouin....
, but whose genealogy is poorly recorded.
Her paternal grandmother Irene Palaiologina was a daughter of Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus reigned as Byzantine Emperor 1259–1282. Michael VIII was the founder of the Palaiologan dynasty that would rule the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453...
and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina
Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina
Theodora Doukaina Vatatzaina was the Empress consort of Michael VIII Palaiologos.-Family:Theodora was a daughter of Ioannes Doukas Vatatzes and wife Eudokia Angelina. The names of her parents were recorded by George Acropolites.Her paternal grandparents were sebastokrator Isaakios Doukas...
. Which makes Asanina a member of the extended Imperial family of her time.
Marriage
Irene married John Kantakouzenos. Her husband was a son of Michael KantakouzenosMichael Kantakouzenos
Michael Kantakouzenos was the first epitropos of the Byzantine province of the Morea, a position he held from 1308 till his death in 1316.-Despot:...
and Theodora Angelina Palaiologina. In his history, John records his mother being a kinswoman of Andronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos
Andronikos II Palaiologos , Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, was Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes...
. Persumably a cousin by one of the siblings of Michael VIII. The marriage produced six children:
- Matthew KantakouzenosMatthew KantakouzenosMatthew Kantakouzenos or Cantacuzenus was Byzantine Emperor from 1353 to 1357.-Life:...
(c. 1325 – 24 June 1283), co-emperor 1353–1357, later despotēs in Morea. - Manuel KantakouzenosManuel KantakouzenosManuel Kantakouzenos , . Despotēs in the Despotate of Morea or the Peloponnese from October 25, 1349 to his death and a contender to the Principality of Achaia.Kantakouzenos was the second son of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina...
(c. 1326 – 10 April 1380), despotēs in Morea. - Maria Kantakouzene (died after 1379), who married Nikephoros II OrsiniNikephoros II OrsiniNikephoros II Orsini - Doukas , was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.-Life:...
of Epirus. - Theodora Kantakouzene (died after 1381), who married Sultan OrhanOrhanOrhan is a Turkish given name for males. People named Orhan include:* Orhan I, Turkish Ottoman sultan* Orhan Ademi, Swiss footballer* Asım Orhan Barut, Turkish-American theoretical physicist* Orhan Boran, Turkish radio and TV host...
of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. - Helena KantakouzeneHelena KantakouzeneHelena Kantakouzene was the Empress consort of John V Palaiologos in the Byzantine Empire.-Family:She was a daughter of John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina.She was a sister of Matthew Kantakouzenos and Manuel Kantakouzenos...
(1333 – 10 December 1396), who married Emperor John V PalaiologosJohn V PalaiologosJohn V Palaiologos was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.-Biography:...
. - Andronikos Kantakouzenos (c. 1334 – 1347). Last child of the marriage. The history of John records that this son died due to "plague". Given the year of his death, Andronikos was probably among the casualties of the Black DeathBlack DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
.
Empress
Kantakouzenos was a trusted advisor of Andronikos III PalaiologosAndronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...
, grandson of Andronikos II and great-grandson of Michael VIII. Andronikos III died on 15 June 1341 and was succeeded by his eldest son John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos
John V Palaiologos was a Byzantine emperor, who succeeded his father in 1341, at age nine.-Biography:...
. Who was nine-years-old.
John V was placed under the regency of his mother Anna of Savoy
Anna of Savoy
Anna of Savoy, born Giovanna, was a Byzantine Empress consort, as the second wife of Andronikos III Palaiologos.-Family:She was a daughter of Amadeus V, Count of Savoy and his second wife Maria of Brabant. Her maternal grandparents were John I, Duke of Brabant and Margaret of Flanders...
. However Andronikos III had entrusted the administration to Kantakouzenos. At about the same time, Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty , was the King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks until his death on 20 December 1355. Dušan managed to conquer a large part of Southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs in his time...
launched an invasion of Northern Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
. Kantakouzenos left Constantinople to try to restore order to the area. Anna took advantage of his absence to declare him an enemy of the state and strip him of titles and fortune.
Kantakouzenos was still in control of part of the Byzantine army
Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...
. On 26 October 1341, he answered by proclaiming himself emperor. He was crowned emperor at Didymoteicho
Didymoteicho
Didymóteicho is a town located in the eastern part of the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace, Greece. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name. The town sits on a plain and located south east of Svilengrad, south of Edirne, Turkey and Orestiada, west of Uzunköprü, about 20 km north...
. Irene joined him and was crowned Empress at his side.
This was the beginning of a civil war that would last until 1347. Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
soon allied with the faction under John V and Anna while Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia
Stephen Uroš IV Dušan the Mighty , was the King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks until his death on 20 December 1355. Dušan managed to conquer a large part of Southeast Europe, becoming one of the most powerful monarchs in his time...
sided with John VI. At times both rulers were actually taking advantage of the civil war for their own political and territorial gains. In time John VI would ally himself with Orhan I
Orhan I
Orhan I or Orhan Bey was the second bey of the nascent Ottoman Empire from 1326 to 1359...
of the nascent Ottoman Sultanate
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
During the war Irene often held court at Didymoteicho while John VI was busy campaigning. On 3 February 1347, the two sides reached an agreement. John VI was accepted as senior emperor with John V as his junior co-ruler. The agreement was sealed with the marriage of their daughter Helena Kantakouzene
Helena Kantakouzene
Helena Kantakouzene was the Empress consort of John V Palaiologos in the Byzantine Empire.-Family:She was a daughter of John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina.She was a sister of Matthew Kantakouzenos and Manuel Kantakouzenos...
to John V. John VI entered Constantinople and took effective control of the city.
Irene served as senior Empress at his side. However John V restarted the conflict in 1352 and gained support as the "legitimate" emperor. On 4 December 1354, John VI abdicated. He and Irene retired to separate monasteries. In her case the convent of Hagia Martha
Martha
Martha of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem...
under the monastic name Eugenia. There is no mention of her afterwards.
External links
- Her listing in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley. The project "involves extracting and analysing detailed information from primary sources, including contemporary chronicles, cartularies, necrologies and testaments."