Maria Komnene Doukaina

Maria Komnene Doukaina (Greek: Μαρία Κομνηνή Δούκαινα) was an Epiriot princess, daughter of Nicephorus I, and countess palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos as wife of John I Orsini.

Maria Komnene Doukaina
Countess Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos
PredecessorMarguerite de Villehardouin
SuccessorAnna Palaiologina
SpouseJohn I Orsini
IssueNicholas Orsini
John II Orsini
Guy Orsini
Margaret Orsini
HouseKomnenodoukas
FatherNikephoros I Komnenos Doukas
MotherMaria Laskaris Vatatzaina
ReligionOrthodox Christian

Biography

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Maria was the only child of Nicephorus I Komnenos Doukas, despot of Epirus, and his first wife, Maria Laskaris Vatatzaina, daughter of the emperor of Nicea Theodore II Laskaris.[1]

In 1283/1284, arrangements were made to marry one of Nikephoros' daughters, Maria or her younger half-sister Thamar, to their cousin Michael, son of John I Doukas of Thessaly, but the groom was captured by the Byzantines while traveling to 'Epirus and imprisoned in Constantinople, where he died.[2]

In 1291, Epirus was invaded by the Byzantines in retaliation for the alliance made by Nicephorus with Charles II of Anjou. To fight them, Nicephorus appealed to Charles' Latin vassals, but in exchange he had to send Mary hostage to Richard II Orsini, Count of Cephalonia and Zakynthos.[3] A year later, Richard married Maria to his son John, without consulting Nicephorus, who was offended and forgave Richard only in 1295, when Richard agreed for Maria and John to live in Epirus. Maria left Epirus in 1303/1304, when her father-in-law was murdered and her husband became the new Count.[4][5]

She died on an unknown date.[4][5]

Issue

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From her husband, she had three sons and a daughter:[6]

References

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  1. ^ Polemis, 1968; p.95
  2. ^ Fine, 1994; p.235
  3. ^ Fine, 1994; p.236
  4. ^ a b Bon, 1969; pp.166-167, 706
  5. ^ a b Nicol, 2010; pp.40-43
  6. ^ Bon 1969, p. 706.

Sources

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  • Bon, Antoine (1969). La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe (in French). Paris: Boccard. OCLC 869621129.
  • Fine, John V. A. (1994). The late medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the late twelfth century to the Ottoman conquest (2. print ed.). Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08260-5.
  • Nicol, Donald MacGillivray (2010). The despotate of Epiros, 1267 - 1479: a contribution to the history of Greece in the middle ages. Paperback re-issue (Digitally print. version ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-521-13089-9.
  • Demetrios I. Polemis, The Doukai: a contribution to Byzantine prosopography, Londra, The Athlone Press, 1968.