Thamar Angelina Komnene

Thamar Angelina Komnene († 1311 ) was a member of the ruling family in the Despotate of Epirus and later Princess of Taranto as the wife of Prince Philip I from the House of Anjou .

family

Thamar was the daughter of Nikephorus I Komnenos Dukas , despot of Epirus, and his second wife Anna Kantakuzena, a niece of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII. Palaiologos . She had an older sister, Maria, and a younger brother, Thomas Komnenos Dukas , who succeeded her father as Despot of Epirus.

Marriage plans

Thamar's mother tried to mend the break between Byzantium and Epirus, to marry Michael , the son and co-emperor of Andronikos II. Palaiologos . Andronikos rejected the plan because of too close relatives. After the failure of this project, Nikephorus tried to consolidate the independence of Byzantium through an alliance with the Angevin dynasty in the Kingdom of Naples . King Charles II of Naples had already proposed a marriage between members of the two families, and after lengthy negotiations it was agreed to marry Thamar to Charles's fourth son Philip of Taranto.

The marriage contract stipulated that Thamar's dowry would give Philip the same position in Epirus that King Manfred of Sicily had received through his marriage to Thamar's aunt Helena Dukaina 35 years earlier. Thamar brought an annual pension of 100,000 Hyperpyra into the marriage, plus four castles in the south of Epirus. Philipp and Thamar should also inherit Epirus after Nikephorus' death. Thamar was allowed to maintain her Orthodox faith. The wedding took place in September 1294 in L'Aquila , southern Italy .

The princess of Taranto

The marriage was not a happy one. Five years after the wedding, her husband was captured by the King of Aragon . She pawned jewelry and borrowed money from her family in Epirus to raise the ransom. Thamar didn't see her husband again until 1302.

In Taranto, contrary to the agreements in the marriage contract, she was put under pressure because of her faith and forced to be baptized as a Catholic under the name of Caterina . Moreover, when political problems arose between Naples and Epirus after Thamar's brother Thomas succeeded Nikephosor, this radiated into their marriage.

Injustice and death

Philip suspected his wife of putting her family's interests above his in the two-year conflict between Naples and Epirus, even though she had pawned other pieces of her jewelry to aid him in his military endeavors. Philip's suspicion led to the decision to dissolve the marriage, and in 1309 she was charged with adultery . She was forced to confess that she had slept with at least 40 courtiers, including the Grand Chamberlain of Taranto, Bartolomeo Siginulfo. Thamar was given the choice of going to the monastery or being thrown into prison by her divorced husband. She died a little later in 1311.

progeny

Thamar and Philipp had eight children:

1. Karl, * probably 1296, X August 29, 1315 in the battle of Montecatini , Prince of Achaia , Vicar of Romania ;

   ⚭ 1306 NN von Savoyen, daughter of Philip of Savoy in Piemont ( House of Savoy )

2. Philipp, * probably 1297, † May 17, 1330, probably 1315 despot of Romania ;

   ⚭ 1328 Violante Infanta of Aragón, * October 1310 in Barcelona , † after July 19, 1353 in Pedrola , daughter of Jacob (Jaime) II. ( House of Barcelona ), married in July 1339 in Lerida Lope de Luna, Señor de Segorbe , † June 19, 1360 in Pedrola

3. Margarete (Marguerite), † after 1332;

   ⚭ December 1325 Gautier VI. de Brienne , 1311 Duke of Athens , Connétable of France , † September 19, 1356 ( House of Brienne )

4. Blanca, † before 1337;

   ⚭ 1327 Ramón Berenguer Infant von Aragón, Count of Ampurias , † after 1349 ( House of Barcelona )

5. Maria, † small
6. Margarete, † after 1374 in prison in Naples;

   ⚭ I, divorced in 1344, Edward Balliol , 1332/41 anti -king of Scotland , † 1363 in England;

   ⚭ II François II. Des Baux, 1362 Duca d ' Andria , Conte de Montescaglioso , Signore de Bisceglie , † 1353 ( House Les Baux )

7. Maria, † 1368, Abbess of Conversano
8. Johanna, † 1317 as Queen Irene of Armenia;

   ⚭ around 1310 Oschin , King of Armenia , † 1320 ( Hethumids )

literature

• Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Lady
• Donald M. Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium 1261-1453
• John Julius Norwich - Byzantium: The Decline and Fall

Web links

• Thamar Angelina Dukaina, Princess of Taranto. Retrieved May 9, 2018 .