Irene Asanina
1297 – ? · Generation XXXVII · Empress
Irene Asanina was the wife of John VI Kantakouzenos and one of the few Byzantine empresses to command soldiers. She was a daughter of Andronikos Asen and a granddaughter of Ivan Asen III of Bulgaria, and through her paternal grandmother, a daughter of Michael VIII Palaiologos, she belonged to the wider imperial family. She married John Kantakouzenos, the trusted adviser of Andronikos III, and they had six children.
When Andronikos III died in June 1341, his nine-year-old son John V came to the throne with his mother, Anna of Savoy, as regent. While Kantakouzenos was away campaigning, the regency declared him a public enemy and stripped him of his titles. His reply came on 26 October 1341, when he had himself proclaimed emperor at Didymoteicho, with Irene crowned at his side. One of her first acts was to secure the release of her brothers John and Manuel Asen, imprisoned in Thrace since 1335.
The civil war lasted until 1347. While her husband campaigned, Irene stayed at Didymoteicho with her daughters, held command of the garrison and defended the city against Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria until John returned with the help of Umur of Aydın in the winter of 1343. Her courage impressed contemporaries, among them Umur himself and the historian Nikephoros Gregoras. The peace of February 1347 made John senior emperor, sealed by the marriage of their daughter Helena to John V, and Irene entered Constantinople as senior empress. She organised the defence of the city against the Genoese in 1348 and against John V in 1353.
In December 1354 John VI abdicated, and the couple withdrew to separate religious houses. Irene took the name Eugenia at the convent of Hagia Martha. She later refused an offer to free her imprisoned son Matthew and restore him as emperor. No record gives the date of her death, but the historian Donald Nicol thought it came before 1379.
Place in the family
- Irene Asanina was a 7× great-granddaughter of Alexios I Komnenos.
- The archive records 12 of her descendants, across 4 generations.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Theodora Komnene → Andronikos Angelos Doukas → Alexios III Angelos → Irene Angelina → Theodora Palaiologina → Michael VIII Palaiologos → Irene Palaiologina → Andronikos Asen → Irene Asanina.
Parents
- Andronikos Asen (1278 – 1322)
Partners
- Married John VI Kantakouzenos (1292 – 1383) in 1318 — 2 children together
Children
- Matthew Kantakouzenos (1325 – 1383)
- Helena Kantakouzene (1333 – 1396)
Life
- 1297 — Born
- 1318 — Married John
Sources
- Irene Asanina · Wikipedia
- John VI Kantakouzenos · Wikipedia