Wedding of Alexios I Comnenus and Irene Ducaena A few years back Jared Diamond wrote a best-selling book, “Guns, Germs, & Steel” which tried to explain trends in global history. Like many others, I found his observations to be enlightening, if sometimes flawed. He recently came out with a new book, “Upheaval – Turning Points …
Above: The royal wedding of Alexios I Comnenus and Irene Ducaena. Irene Ducaena was the wife and empress of Alexios I Comnenus, marrying him shortly after he seized the throne on April 1, 1081. Her daughter, the erudite Anna Comnena, wrote glowingly of her mother in her history, The Alexiad – extolling her beauty, wisdom, …
Romanos IV Diogenes – submitting to Alp Aslan after defeat at the Battle of Manzikert Romanos’s Father, Constantine The Diogenes family first came to prominence during the reign of Basil II early in the 11th century. Constantine Diogenes rose through the ranks of the taghmata – the central armies under the control of the emperor- …
The husband and wife historians, Nikephoros Bryennios and Anna Comnena, had very different opinions of the same events.
Birth and Early Expectations Anna Comnena was the first child of the Eastern Roman emperor, Alexios I Comnenus, born Dec. 1st, 1083 and named after Alexios’s mother, the determined Anna Dalassena. Her father soon betrothed her to Constantine Ducas, the son of a prior emperor, Michael VII Ducas. Young Constantine’s mother had helped Alexios gain …
Alexios I could not have anticipated this result when he signed his agreement with Venice in 1082. Guiscard’s menace was immediate and he had to address it, however he could manage it. Still, if Alexios’ understanding of economics had been better, he might have agreed to the concessions for a period of time, perhaps 10-20 years, limiting its impact on both the Byzantines and Venetians.
Three great Byzantine historians – Michael Psellos, Michael Attaleiates, and John Skylitzes
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