Maria of Bulgaria
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Maria of Bulgaria (d. after 1081), protovestiaria, was the wife of protovestiarios Andronikos Doukas and mother of Irene Doukaina.
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[edit] Life
Maria was a daughter of Troian of Bulgaria by an unnamed Byzantine noblewoman desceded from the families of Kontostephanos and Phokas. Her paternal grandparents were Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria and his wife Marija. Her paternal uncles included Presian II of Bulgaria and Alusian of Bulgaria.
Maria married Andronikos Doukas well before 1066. Her husband was a son of the Caesar John Doukas and Eirene Pegonitissa. He was also a nephew of Constantine X and first cousin of Michael VII.
Maria was endowed with an inheritance of vast land holdings around Lake Ohrid, and her considerable income was used to support her husband's lavish lifestyle and political ambitions.
Her prominent marriage is another evidence to the integration of descendants of the Kometopouloi into the court nobility in Constantinople.
As mother of the Empress Irene Doukaina, Maria was a woman of some influence in the early years of the reign of Alexios I Komnenos. Her granddaughter Anna Komnene praises her beauty and wisdom in the Alexiad.
[edit] Family
Maria of Bulgaria and Andronikos Doukas had five children:
- Michael Doukas.
- John Doukas.
- Irene Doukaina, who married Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
- Anna Doukaina, who married George Palaiologos.
- Theodora Doukaina, a nun.
[edit] References
- D.I. Polemis, The Doukai, London, 1968.
- Roderick W. Stuart, Royalty for Commoners
