Eudokia, wife of Justinian II

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Eudokia was the first Empress consort of Justinian II of the Byzantine Empire.

Empress

The name and place of burial of Eudokia in the Church of the Holy Apostles was recorded in De Ceremoniis by Constantine VII. However little else is known of her.

She is presumed to have been married to Justinian II during his first reign (685 - 695) and to have either predeceased him or divorced him by the time of his second marriage to Theodora of Khazaria in 703.

A daughter of Justinian is reported by the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor and the Chronographikon syntomon of Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople to have been betrothed to Tervel of Bulgaria between 704 and 705. Her name is presumed to have been Anastasia, after her paternal grandmother. She is the only known child attributed to Eudokia.

Possible descendants

Modern genealogists have theorised Eudokia and Justinian II may have descendants among later Bulgarian and Byzantine royalty and nobility. The theories rely on the successful marriage of her daughter "Anastasia" to Tervel of Bulgaria. However the Byzantine chroniclers give us only fragmentary knowledge of the Byzantine royal lineages of her time and no clear description of the relations the Bulgarian monarchs to each other. Thus there is little evidence to support them beyond the theoretical level.

Among the theorised grandchildren of Eudokia are Telerig of Bulgaria and Maria, wife of Leo III the Isaurian . However such close relations between the two would be rather unlikely to escape the notice of Theophanes.

References

External links

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday February 25, 2008 at 22:02:38 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation