Irene Laskarina
1196 – 1240 · Generation XXXIII · Empress · Laskaris (Nicaea)
Irene Laskarina was empress of Nicaea, the Byzantine state in exile that held out in Asia Minor after the crusaders took Constantinople. She was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris, the first emperor of Nicaea, and Anna Komnene Angelina, a daughter of the emperor Alexios III. Her sister Maria married Béla IV of Hungary.
She was still a child when the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople in 1204 and her family, with much of the nobility, fled to rebuild an empire at Nicaea. She first married the general Andronikos Palaiologos. After his death she married John Doukas Vatatzes, whom her father chose as his successor, and he became John III. Their son was the future emperor Theodore II Laskaris.
After his birth a fall from her horse left her so gravely hurt that she could bear no more children. She withdrew to a convent under the name Eugenia and died there some fourteen years before her husband. Historians praise her modesty and prudence, and say that her example did much to improve the morals of the court.
Place in the family
- Irene Laskarina was a great-great-great-granddaughter of Alexios I Komnenos.
One of 6 people of Laskaris (Nicaea) (1175–1305) in this archive. The emperors in exile at Nicaea, who kept the empire alive while Latins held Constantinople.
Line of descent: Manuel Komnenos → John Komnenos → Alexios I Komnenos → Theodora Komnene → Andronikos Angelos Doukas → Alexios III Angelos → Anna Angelina → Irene Laskarina.
Parents
- Theodore I Laskaris (1175 – 1222)
- Anna Angelina (1176 – 1212)
Siblings
- Nicholas Laskaris (1200 – 1210)
Partners
- Married John III Vatatzes (1192 – 1254) in 1212 — one child together
Children
- Theodore II Laskaris (1222 – 1258)
Life
- 1196 — Born
- 1212 — Married John
- 1240 — Died
Sources
- Irene Laskarina · Wikipedia
- John III Doukas Vatatzes · Wikipedia