Helena Laskarina

Helena Doukaina Laskarina (Greek: Ελένη Δούκαινα Λασκαρίνα, 20 April 1250, Constantinople – 1 September 1310, Thebes) was the illegitimate daughter and eldest child of Byzantine emperor Theodore II Laskaris by his mistress, Anna Loukitissa. As such, she was the older sister of the eunuch chief minister George Loukites Laskaris and half-sister of the emperors John IV Laskaris and Skantarios Laskaris as well as the empress Eudoxia Laskarina.
She was raised at Constantinople from birth, although she was kept away from the imperial court following the marriage of her father to Theodora Megali Komnena when she was four years old. Theodore II originally planned for Helena to eventually pursue a religious life as a nun, as he intended for all his daughters. However, Akropolites records that whereas her legitimate sisters were amiable and easily convinced to the idea, Helena was rebellious and headstrong, refusing to take the vows, which he considered as evidence of Theodore II’s strained relationship with his eldest child and as a symptom of his alleged poor parenting and lack of authority in his old age. When Helena reached twenty-five years of age in 1275, she confronted her father and demanded that a marriage be arranged for her, as was her right under Byzantine law. Theodore II eventually conceded and arranged her marriage to Manuel Daimonoioannes, a son of general Michael Daimonoioannes and one of the New Men.
During much of her marriage, Helena and her family resided at Thessalonica, where her frequently husband served as military governor (doux). They had issue. Later, the family moved to Thebes, where Helena became involved in the silk trade as the owner and manager of a silk shop. Following Manuel’s death, Helena, as his widow, came to manage the family estate. In this role, she proved herself a fervent supporter of the Eusebian movement later in life, endowing the monastery of Mount Athos with estates and sizable donations, which caused further estrangement from her family at Constantinople. She died at age sixty and was buried in the church of Hagia Sophia at Monemvasia.
Category:Byzantine people