Women in Byzantine Empire

Aelia Flaccilla

386

Aelia Flavia Flaccilla, was a Roman empress and first wife of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. She was of Hispanian Roman descent. During her marriage to Theodosius, she gave birth to two sons – future Emperors Arcadius and Honorius – and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria.

Pulcheria

399

Aelia Pulcheria was an Eastern Roman empress who advised her brother emperor Theodosius II during his minority and then became wife to emperor Marcian from November 450 to her death in 453. She was the second child of Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius and Empress Aelia Eudoxia.

Aelia Eudoxia

404

Aelia Eudoxia was a Roman empress consort by marriage to the Roman emperor Arcadius. The marriage was the source of some controversy, as it was arranged by Eutropius, one of the eunuch court officials, who was attempting to expand his influence.

Galla Placidia

450

Galla Placidia, daughter of the Roman emperor Theodosius I, was a mother, tutor, and advisor to emperor Valentinian III, and a major force in Roman politics for most of her life.

Aelia Eudocia

460

Aelia Eudocia Augusta, also called Saint Eudocia, was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to Emperor Theodosius II. Eudocia lived in a world where Greek paganism and Christianity existed side by side, with both pagans and non-orthodox Christians being persecuted.

Ariadne

515

Aelia Ariadne was Eastern Roman empress as the wife of Zeno and Anastasius I. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, with her feast day falling on August 22.

Anicia Juliana

527

Anicia Juliana was a Late Antique Roman imperial princess, wife of the magister militum of the eastern Roman empire, Areobindus Dagalaiphus Areobindus, patron of the great Church of St Polyeuctus in Constantinople, and owner of the Vienna Dioscurides.

Theodora

548

Theodora was an Eastern Roman empress by marriage to emperor Justinian. She became empress upon Justinian's accession in 527 and was one of his chief advisers, albeit from humble origins.

Theodote

797

Theodote was the second Empress consort of Constantine VI of the Byzantine Empire. She was a member of a distinguished family of Constantinople and her brother Sergios was mentioned as an hypatos. Their mother Anna was a sister of Theoktiste and her brother Plato.

Irene of Athens

Aug 9, 803

Irene of Athens, surname Sarantapechaina, was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, empress regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, empress

Kassia

810

Kassia, Cassia or Kassiani was a Byzantine-Greek composer, hymnographer and poet. She holds a unique place in Byzantine music as the only known woman whose music appears in the Byzantine liturgy. Approximately fifty of her hymns are extant, most of which are sticheron, though at least 26 have uncertain attribution.

Theodora

Jan 11, 867

Theodora was a Byzantine empress as the spouse of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos, and regent of her son, Michael III, from Theophilos' death in 842 to 855.

Eudokia Ingerina

882

Eudokia Ingerina was a Byzantine Empress as the wife of the Byzantine emperor Basil I, the mistress of his predecessor Michael III, and the mother of Leo VI the Wise, Alexander and Stephen I of Constantinople.

Zoe Karbonopsina

919

oe Karbonopsina, also Karvounopsina or Carbonopsina, lit. 'with the Coal-Black Eyes', was a Byzantine Greek empress consort and regent of the Byzantine empire. She was the fourth spouse of the Byzantine Emperor Leo VI the Wise and the mother of Constantine VII, serving as his regent from 914 until 919.

Theophano

941

Theophano was a Greek woman from the region of Laconia, who became Byzantine empress by marriage to emperors Romanos II and Nikephoros II. In 963, between the deaths of Romanos and her marriage to Nikephoros, she was regent for her sons, Basil II and Constantine VIII.

Theophanu

Jun 15, 991

Theophanu was empress of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage to Emperor Otto II, and regent of Empire during the minority of their son, Emperor Otto III, from 983 until her death in 991. She was the niece of the Byzantine Emperor John I Tzimiskes.

Eudokia Makrembolitissa

1021

Eudokia Makrembolitissa was a Byzantine empress by her successive marriages to Constantine X Doukas and Romanos IV Diogenes. She acted as regent of her minor sons, Michael VII and Konstantios Doukas, in 1067–68, and resigned her regency by marriage to Romanos IV Diogenes.

Zoë Porphyrogenita

1050

Zoë Porphyrogenita was Byzantine Empress from 11 November 1028 until her death in 1050, briefly ruling in her own right from April to June 1042, alongside her sister Theodora Porphyrogenita. Zoë was born when her father Constantine was nominal co-emperor to his brother, Basil II. Basil died in 1025 when Zoë was 47.

Theodora Porphyrogenita

Aug 31, 1056

Theodora Porphyrogenita was Byzantine Empress from 19 April 1042 to her death on 31 August 1056, and sole ruler from 11 January 1055. She was born into the Macedonian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire for almost 200 years. Theodora became involved in political matters only late into her life.

Anna Komnene

Dec 1, 1083

Anna Komnene, commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the Alexiad, an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Komnenos. The Alexiad is the most important primary source of Byzantine history of the late 11th and early 12th centuries.

Anna Dalassene

1102

Anna Dalassene was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise to power of the Komnenoi in the eleventh century.

Maria of Alania

1118

Maria of Alania was Byzantine empress by marriages to emperors Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates.

Irene of Hungary

Aug 13, 1134

Saint Irene of Hungary, born Piroska, was a Byzantine empress by marriage to John II Komnenos. She is venerated as a saint.

Irene Doukaina

Jan 19, 1138

Irene Doukaina or Ducaena was a Byzantine Greek empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and the mother of Emperor John II Komnenos and of the historian Anna Komnene.

Maria of Antioch

1182

Maria of Antioch was a Byzantine empress by marriage to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, and regent during the minority of her son porphyrogennetos Alexios II Komnenos from 1180 until 1182.

Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera

1211

Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamaterina or better Kamatera was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Euphrosyne was the daughter of Andronikos Kamateros, a high-ranking official who held the titles of megas droungarios and pansebastos and wife, an unknown Kantakouzene.

Theodora Palaiologina

Mar 4, 1303

Theodora Doukaina Komnene Palaiologina, usually known simply as Theodora Palaiologina, was the Empress consort of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos

Irene Asanina

1363

rene Asanina, was the Empress consort of John VI Kantakouzenos of the Byzantine Empire. She is known to have participated in military issues in a degree uncommon for a Byzantine empress.