Eudoxia Laskarina

Fresco of Eudoxia in the Pantognostis monastery

**Eudoxia Komnena Laskarina** (Greek: Ευδοξία Κομνηνή Λασκαρίνα, *Eudoxía Komnēnḗ Laskarina*, 6 October 1261, Constantinople –) was a Byzantine empress and Augusta by marriage and by birth, sometimes being numbered as **Eudoxia I**. She reigned as senior Empress from 1292 to 1312, alongside her husband, Romanos VI Melissenos, and from 1312 until her death, as the mother of Theodore III Laskaris.

Eudoxia was born to Theodore II Laskaris, who at the time reign as Byzantine emperor. Following the demise of her brothers, Eudoxia was married to the future Romanos VI in 1285 to legitimize his family's rule. She was crowned junior co-empress alongside her new husband, effectively making her his co-ruler rather than ordinary consort. After the death of Romanos V, both rose to the condition of sole emperors.

During her reign, Eudoxia was considered a model wife and mother. In the long absences of her husband during military campaigns, she guided and ruled the Empire in her own right. Due to her charitable works, pious lifestyle and effective rulership, she was able to consolidate her hold to power.  In 1312, she overthrew her husband following a popular insurrection at Constantinople, installing their son as emperor and ruling alongside him until her death. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

## Early Life

Eudoxia was born as the second daughter and fourth child of emperor Theodore II and his wife, Theodora Megali Komnena, in the evening of October 6th, 1261. Her father had been reigning as undisputed emperor since 1249, having risen to the imperial throne after a civil war that had contested his succession to John III. Her mother was a member of the former imperial family of the Komnenids, being the daughter of the Megaduke of Trebizond. She was born at the porphyry chamber of the Boukoleon Palace, at Constantinople, allowing her the use of the *Porphyrogenneta* title as a purple-born princess. Her father, Theodore II, interrupted his military campaign in Bulgaria to return to Constantinople and acknowledge Eudoxia as his daughter after her birth. Her godfather was George Mouzalon and her godmother Theodora Palaiologina Kantakouzene.

As a child, Eudoxia lived a life of virtual obscurity in the imperial gynaeceum. She received a religious education. As an imperial princess, Eudoxia was considered as an eligible bride for high ranking members of the Byzantine aristocracy, as well as foreign potentates. It was said that her father favored a match to his general and favorite George Nestongos, while her godmother worked for a betrothal to one of the sons of Michael Palaiologos in order to pacify lingering tensions in the empire. Among foreign rulers, Austrian, Bohemian and Sicilian nobles were considered, as well as Atouman, then heir to the allied Emirate of Nicaea. However, upon returning from Bulgaria, Theodore II changed his mind about the future of his daughter and promised her to the Church instead.

After Theodore II's death in 1278, Eudoxia, who had not yet made her final vows, was retrieved from the convent by her mother, Theodora, and returned to a life of seclusion in the imperial gynaeceum. In 1280, she was betrothed to Theodore Mouzalon, a son of the Grand Domestic. In the palace coup carried out by Michael Palaiologos against her brother John IV, Eudoxia was held captive at the Prison of Anemas alongside the rest of her family for a brief period of time, until being brought back to the palace by her other brother, the new emperor Skantarios. For the following years, Eudoxia remained in the gynaeceum. She was considered as a bride for the elderly and widowed Romanos Melissenos, but the arrangement was prevented by her mother.

## Reign

After the death of Skantarios Laskaris at the Battle of Seleucia in 1285, Eudoxia became involved in the succession crisis that resulted from her brother having left no clear heir. His junior co-emperor, Romanos V, succeeded to the throne as senior emperor, but was opposed by a popular insurrection at Constantinople, who demanded to see and secure the well-being of the Laskarid women under the new regime. The rioting was only abated when Eudoxia, and her mother and younger sister, appeared on the imperial balcony of Blachernae Palace, putting the protesters at ease. This became the first of a long line of incidents in which Eudoxia was able to placate the crowds of Constantinople with only her appearance - her heritage as a daughter of the beloved emperor Theodore II and the sister of the martyred Skantarios meant that she was popular with the people of Constantinople, who became her foremost political supporters during the following decades.