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Birth:          1066 
Death:          19 Feb 1127 

Notes
d as a nun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Doukaina
Irene Doukaina or Ducaena (Greek: ?????? ????a??a, Eirene Doukaina; c.?1066 – 19 
February 1138) was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor Alexios 
I Komnenos, and the mother of the emperor John II Komnenos and of the historian 
Anna Komnene.
Succession of Alexios and Irene[edit]

Irene was born in 1066 to Andronikos Doukas and Maria of Bulgaria, granddaughter of 
Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria. Andronikos was a nephew of Emperor Constantine X and a 
cousin of Michael VII.

Irene married Alexios in 1078, when she was still eleven years old. For this reason the 
Doukas family supported Alexios in 1081, when a struggle for the throne erupted after 
the abdication of Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Alexios' mother, Anna Dalassene, a 
lifelong enemy of the Doukas family, pressured her son to divorce the young Irene and 
marry Maria of Alania, the former wife of both Michael VII and Nikephoros III. Irene 
was in fact barred from the coronation ceremony, but the Doukas family convinced the 
Patriarch of Constantinople, Kosmas I, to crown her as well, which he did one week 
later. Anna Dalassene consented to this but forced Kosmas to resign immediately 
afterwards; he was succeeded by Eustratios Garidas.

Alexios' mother Anna continued to live in the imperial palace and to meddle in her 
son's affairs until her death 20 years later; Maria of Alania may have also lived in the 
palace, and there were rumours that Alexios carried on an affair with her. Anna 
Komnene vociferously denied this, although she herself was not born until December 
1, 1083, two years later.

Character[edit]

Anna may have been whitewashing her family history; she has nothing but praise for 
both of her parents. She describes her mother in great detail:


"She stood upright like some young sapling, erect and evergreen, all her limbs and the 
other parts of her body absolutely symmetrical and in harmony one with another. With 
her lovely appearance and charming voice she never ceased to fascinate all who saw 
and heard her. Her face shone with the soft light of the moon; it was not the 
completely round face of an Assyrian woman, nor long, like the face of a Scyth, but 
just slightly oval in shape. There were rose blossoms on her cheeks, visible a long 
way off. Her light-blue eyes were both gay and stern: their charm and beauty 
attracted, but the fear they caused so dazzled the bystander that he could neither 
look nor turn away...Generally she accompanied her words with graceful gestures, her 
hands bare to the wrists, and you would say it was ivory turned by some craftsman into 
the form of fingers and hand. The pupils of her eyes, with the brilliant blue of deep 
waves, recalled a calm, still sea, while the white surrounding them shone by contrast, 
so that the whole eye acquired a peculiar lustre and a charm which was 
inexpressible."

It "would not have been so very inappropriate," Anna writes, to say that Irene was 
"Athena made manifest to the human race, or that she had descended suddenly from 
the sky in some heavenly glory and unapproachable splendour."

Irene was shy and preferred not to appear in public, although she was forceful and 
severe when acting officially as empress (basileia). She preferred to perform her 
household duties, and enjoyed reading hagiographic literature and making charitable 
donations to monks and beggars. Although Alexios may have had Maria as a mistress 
early in his reign, during the later part of his reign he and Irene were genuinely in love 
(at least according to their daughter Anna). Irene often accompanied him on his 
expeditions, including the expedition against Prince Bohemund I of Antioch in 1107 
and to the Chersonese in 1112. On these campaigns she acted as a nurse for her 
husband when he was afflicted with gout in his feet. According to Anna she also 
acted as a sort of guard, as there were constant conspiracies against Alexios. Alexios' 
insistence that Irene accompany him on campaigns may suggest that he did not fully 
trust her enough to leave her in the capital. When she did remain behind in 
Constantinople, she acted as regent, together with Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna's 
husband, as a counselor.

Death of Alexios[edit]

Irene frequently suggested that Alexios name Nikephoros and Anna as his heirs, over 
their own younger son John. According to Niketas Choniates, who depicts her more as 
a nagging shrew than a loving wife, she "...threw her full influence on the side of her 
daughter Anna and lost no opportunity to calumniate their son John... mocking him as 
rash, pleasure-loving, and weak in character." Alexios, preferring to create a stable 
dynasty through his own son, either ignored her, pretended to be busy with other 
matters, or, at last, lost his temper and chastized her for suggesting such things.

Irene nursed Alexios on his deathbed on 1118, while at the same time still scheming to 
have Nikephoros and Anna succeed him. Alexios had already promised the throne to 
John, and when John took his father's signet ring Irene accused him of treachery and 
theft. When Alexios finally died, she felt genuine grief, and wore the mourning clothes 
of her daughter Eudokia, whose own husband had died previously. However, she soon 
conspired with Anna against John, but their plots were unsuccessful and both Irene 
and Anna were then forced into exile at the monastery of Kecharitomene, which Irene 
had founded a few years previously. It was not a harsh exile, and Irene lived there in 
peace, distributing food to the poor and educating young orphan girls. Irene may have 
inspired the history written by her son-in-law Nikephoros Bryennios and corresponded 
with or patronized several important literary figures, including Theophylact of Ohrid 
and Michael Italikos.

In literature[edit]

The great modern Greek poet Constantine Cavafy includes a reference to Irene 
Doukaina in his poem "A Byzantine Nobleman in Exile Composing Verses", which 
refers to Doukaina as "that viper Irini Doukaina" and that as the cause of the titular 
nobleman's exile, "may she be cursed". It is a clear reference to her reputation as a 
plotter.

Children[edit]

Irene died on February 19, 1138. With Alexios I Komnenos she had nine children:
Anna Komnene (1083–1153)
Maria Komnene
John II Komnenos (1087–1143)
Andronikos Komnenos
Isaac Komnenos
Eudokia Komnene
Theodora Komnene, who married Constantine Angelos. Among their children were 
John Doukas (who took his grandmother's surname), father of the first two rulers of the 
Despotate of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas and Theodore Komnenos Doukas, 
and Andronikos Doukas Angelos, father of the emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios 
III Angelos.
Manuel Komnenos
Zoe Komnene

Parents
DOUKAS Andronikos (BEF 1020 - 14 Oct 1077)
OF WEST BULGARIA Maria (ABT 1020 - BEF 1118)

Siblings
DOUKAS Michael (ABT 1061 - ABT 1108)
DOUKAINA Eirene (Irene) "Augusta" (1066 - 19 Feb 1127)

Marriage To KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I (ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
KOMNENOS Ionnes (John) (ABT 1015 - 12 Jul 1067)
____ Anna Dalassena (ABT 1025 - 1 Nov 1100)

Children by KOMNENOS Alexios (Alexius) I ABT 1048 - 16 Jul 1118
____ Ioannis I (John II) (13 Sep 1087 - 8 Apr 1143)
KOMNENOS Isaakios (16 Jan 1093 - AFT 1152)
KOMNENE Theodora (15 Jan 1096 - )

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