Maria

1053 – 1118 · Generation XXVIII · Empress

Maria (AD 1053 – 1118). Empress. Married Michael around AD 1065; they were set apart in AD 1078. Married Nikephoros around AD 1078. Georgian princess; wife of Michael VII then Nikephoros III. Born Martha, a daughter of King Bagrat IV of Georgia, she had first come to Constantinople at five, briefly, as a hostage. Her first husband’s reign foundered on defeats by the Seljuks and a debased coinage, and after the coup of 1078 she withdrew to a monastery with her son Constantine without taking the veil. The Doukas family then promoted her as bride for the new emperor, Nikephoros III — a marriage the church regarded as adulterous, since Michael still lived. When Nikephoros broke his promise to make Constantine his heir, she joined the plot that brought Alexios Komnenos, rumoured to be her lover, to the throne in 1081. Constantine was named heir and betrothed to Anna Komnene until John II’s birth ended his prospects. Wealthy and devout, she kept her own court at the Mangana palace, patronising scholars and the Georgian monastery of Iviron.

Partners

Married Michael VII Doukas (1050 – 1090) in 1065; they separated in 1078
Married Nikephoros III Botaneiates (1002 – 1081) in 1078

Life

1053 — Born
1065 — Married Michael
1078 — Parted from Michael
1078 — Married Nikephoros
1118 — Died