Maria Komnene of Byzantium

Maria Komnene of Byzantium (* before 1144, † 1190 ) was Queen of Hungary.

Maria Komnene was born as the daughter of Isaak Komnenos (* 1115, † 1154/74), the son of the Byzantine Emperor John II and brother of Emperor Manuel I , and his wife Theodora Kamaterina († 1144). Maria's nephew Isaak (son of her sister Irene) became emperor in Cyprus and her half-sister Theodora was with Baldwin III. , King of Jerusalem, married. In 1156 she was married to the future Hungarian King Stephan IV , after he had to flee to Constantinople in the Hungarian succession dispute with his brother Géza II and a failed conspiracy, where he was received with joy by the emperor.

After the death of Géza II, Emperor Manuel decided to make Hungary a Byzantine vassal. The Hungarian kingdom had to endeavor to maintain its independence in the coming periods. Stephan became king in 1163, but he was very unpopular - especially the great influence of Byzantium was a thorn in the side of many. Stephan was murdered in 1165. He was long accused of instability on the royal throne and people did not want to bury him for a long time. Maria outlived her husband by 25 years. The couple had no children and Maria never married again.

literature

• K. Varzos: E genealogia ton Komnenon , Thessalonica 1984, Volume 2, pp. 314-326.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Euphrosina of Kiev	Queen of Hungary 1163	Agnes of Austria