Maria Dukaina Komnene Petraliphaina

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Petraliphaina

Maria (Doukaina Komnene) Petraliphaina was the wife of Theodore Komnenos Doukas. She is the earliest consort of the Despotate of Epiros known by name. The two wives of Michael I Komnenos Doukas,predecessor of her husband, were members of the Melissenos family but their first names are unknown. [1] [2]

 Family

George Acropolites notes that Maria had a brother, a member of the Petraliphas family. Through him she was aunt to another Petraliphaina, the wife of Aleksii Slav. [3] Aleksii Slav was a nephew of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria, Peter IV of Bulgaria and Kaloyan of Bulgaria. Henri de Valenciennes records Aleksii was a first cousin of Boril of Bulgaria. According to "The Late Medieval Balkans" (1987) by John V.A. Fine, Jr., Aleksii opposed the succession of Boril to the throne of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1207. He seceded and established his own state in the Pirin region with the town of Melnik for a capital. Henri de Valenciennes records that Aleksii sought an alliance with Henry of Flanders, Latin Emperor. The alliance was sealed with his marriage to an illegitimate daughter of Henry in 1208. Aleksii received the title of despot by his father-in-law. According to Fine, the second marriage of Aleksii to a niece of Maria took place c. 1216. With Henry deceased, Aleksii was seeking an alliance with Michael I. [4]

Niketas Choniates reports the Petraliphas family to descent from "Franks" (Western Europeans). Morris Bierbrier, a modern genealogist, traces their descent to Peter of Alife, a Norman. In that case their last name would partly derive from the town of Alife in Campania. The earliest member of the family recorded was Alexios Petraliphas. According to John Kinnamos, Alexios was in charge of a military force sent by Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor to his ally Kilij Arslan II, Sultan of Rûm. [5] According to "The Byzantine Family of Raoul-Ral(l)es" (1973) by Sterios Fassoulakis, Alexios Petraliphas married Anna Raoul. She was a daughter of John Roger Dalassenos (Raoul) and Maria Komnene. Kinnamos records that Anna was a daughter of John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary. [6] A son of Alexios Petraliphas and Anna Raoul reportedly married Helena of Bohemia. She was a daughter of Frederick of Bohemia and Elizabeth of Hungary. [7] Elizabeth was a daughter of Géza II of Hungary and Euphrosyne of Kiev. [8]

Kinnamos also mentions a certain Nikephoros Petraliphas. He and Andronikos Lampardas co-led a Byzantine campaign in the Kingdom of Hungary. Kinnamos does not mention his relation to other members of the family. An hagiography of Saint Panteleimon preserved in the archives of Mount Athos names Nikephoros as a grandson of Maria with the title of Sebastokrator. If said Maria was Maria Komnene, Nikephoros could be a son of Alexios and Anna Raoul. [9] A Theodora Antiochitissa Petraliphaina is mentioned on a seal dated to c. 1200. Antiochitissa means "woman from Antioch". [10]

John Petraliphas was a ranking noble in the court of John III Doukas Vatatzes of the Empire of Nicaea. He had three known children. His daughter Theodora Doukaina Petraliphaina married Michael II Komnenos Doukas. His son Theodore Petraliphas is noted escaping from Michael VIII Palaiologos. Theodore married a Tornikaina. His other daughter Maria Petraliphaina married Philip Chinard, governor of Corfu from 1258 to 1266. Chinard served Manfred of Sicily to the death of the latter in the Battle of Benevento (26 February 1266). Chinard switched allegiance to Michael II. The marriage of Chinard to Maria was arranged to seal their alliance. According to the "Dictionnaire Historique et Généalogique des Grandes Familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople" (1983), Maria murdered her husband shortly following her arrival in Corfu. [11]

 Marriage and children

Maria married Theodore Komnenos Doukas. He was a son of sebastokratōr John Doukas and of Zoe Doukaina. [12] According to Sturdza, Zoe was a daughter of Constantine Doukas, better known as "Macrodoukas". On 30 May 1185, Constantine was stoned to death by orders of Andronikos I Komnenos. Choniates records that his wife was a Komnene. Her parents were daughter of Isaac Komnenos (d. 1154) and his first wife Theodora. [13]

Theodore took over as Lord of Argos, Corinth and Nafplion in 1208. He succeeded his paternal half-brother Michael I Komnenos Doukas as ruler of ruler of Epiros in 1215. He expanded his rule to Thessaly and Medieval Thessalonica. He was crowned emperor in 1225. He was captured by Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria in 1230 and effectively deposed from all his lands. Maria is presumed to have been his consort throughout the reign. Her date of death is not recorded. [14]

They had four known children:[15]

• John Komnenos Doukas. Ruler of Thessalonica and Thessaly.
• Demetrios Angelos Doukas. Ruler of Thessalonica.
• Anna Doukaina Angelina. Wife of Stefan Radoslav of Serbia.
• Irene Komnene Angelina. Wife of Ivan Asen II of Bulgaria.

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-http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#MariaDKPet...

b) MARIA Doukaina Komnene Petraloifaina. Her parentage is indicated by Georgios Akropolites who records that "Sthlavus Asani regis affinis" married "Petraliphæ Theodori Comneni uxoris fratris filia"[529].

m (before 1210) THEODOROS Komnenos Doukas Angelos, Lord of Corinth, Navplion and Argos, son of IOANNES Konstantinos Doukas Angelos & his [first/second] wife Zoe --- (-in prison in Nikaia shortly after 1253). He succeeded his half-brother in 1215 as Lord of Epirus. He declared himself Despot and autokrator in the Kingdom of Thessaloniki in 1224. He was crowned as THEODOROS I Emperor of the Romans in [1225].