Agnes of France (Byzantine empress)
Encyclopedia
Agnes of France was a daughter of Louis VII of France
by his third wife Adèle of Champagne
.
She was a younger half-sister of Marie de Champagne
, Alix of France
, Marguerite of France and Alys, Countess of the Vexin
. She was a younger full sister of Philip II of France
.
visited Constantinople
on his way back from the Holy Land
. The Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
, who had already entertained Louis VII in Constantinople at Christmas 1147 during the Second Crusade
, was perhaps finally convinced by Philip that France would be a desirable ally in Western Europe
. Over the winter of 1178-1179 an Imperial embassy accompanying Philip, and led by the Genoese Baldovino Guercio, was sent to the French court to secure a match between Agnes and Alexios
, the only son and heir apparent
of Manuel by his second wife Maria of Antioch
. This or some similar marriage alliance had been favored by Pope Alexander III
as early as 1171.
It was not uncommon for princesses, when a future marriage had been agreed, to be brought up in their intended husband's family; this, indeed, is why Agnes probably never met her elder sister Alys, who lived in the Kingdom of England
from the age of about nine, when her marriage to the future Richard I of England
was agreed on (though this marriage never took place). Agnes took ship in Montpellier
, bound for Constantinople, at Easter 1179. At Genoa
the flotilla increased from 5 to 19 ships, captained by Baldovino Guercio.
On arrival in Constantinople in late summer 1179 Agnes was met by seventy high-ranking ladies and lavish festivities were organized for her. She was greeted with an oration from Eustathios
, former Master of the Rhetors and archbishop of Thessalonica
. She was perhaps now presented with an elaborate volume of welcoming verses by an anonymous author, sometimes called the Eisiterion.
According to William of Tyre
, Agnes was eight on her arrival at Constantinople, while Alexios was thirteen. William got Alexios' age wrong (he was born on 14 September 1169) and there is no other source for Agnes' year of birth. If she was in fact eight, she was at least three years too young for marriage, according to most 12th century views. However, William of Tyre
, who was present at the ceremony, seems to describe it as a full wedding (matrimonii legibus ... copulare); in this he is followed by some other non-Byzantine sources and by many modern authors.
The ceremony took place in the Trullos Hall, in the Great Palace, on 2 March 1180. Agnes was officially renamed Anna. Eustathios of Thessalonica produced a speech to celebrate the occasion, whose title in the manuscript is Oration on the Public Celebrations of the Betrothal of the Two Royal Children. This ceremony came approximately one month after the wedding of Alexios' half-sister Maria Porphyrogenita
to Renier of Montferrat
, conducted by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Theodosios
.
succeeded him as Emperor. He was too young to rule unaided; his mother, Maria of Antioch, exercised more influence in affairs of state than Alexios or Anna.
In 1183 Maria of Antioch was displaced by a new power behind the throne
, Andronikos I Komnenos
. Andronikos was a first cousin of Manuel and was known to have harbored imperial ambitions for himself. He is believed to have arranged the deaths by poisoning of Maria Porphyrogenita and her husband Renier; he certainly imprisoned, and soon afterwards executed, Maria of Antioch. Andronikos was crowned co-ruler with Alexios; then, in October of the same year, he had Alexios strangled. Anna was now 12, and the approximately 65-year-old Andronikos married her.
Andronikos had previously been married (his first wife's name is unknown). He had had sexual relationships with two nieces (Eudokia Komnene and Theodora Komnene
) and with Philippa of Antioch. Philippa was a daughter of Constance of Antioch
and her first husband and consort Raymond of Poitiers
; she was also a sister of Maria of Antioch
and thus maternal aunt of Alexios. Andronikos had two sons by his first wife; he also had a young son and daughter from his affair with Theodora. His eldest son, Manuel
already had a son of his own, the future Alexios I of Trebizond
.
Anna was Empress consort for two years, until the deposition of Andronikos in September 1185. In an attempt to escape the popular uprising that ended his rule, Andronikos fled from Constantinople with Anna and his mistress (known only as Maraptike). They reached Chele, a fortress on the Bithynia
n coast of the Black Sea
, where they tried to take ship for the Crimea
. Their ship was prevented from sailing by contrary winds. Andronikos was eventually captured and returned to the capital, where he was tortured and killed on September 12, 1185.
, a military leader who fought on the Empire's northern frontier. They did not at first marry.
After the fall of Constantinople in 1204, Agnes derived respect from the Latin barons due to her being a former Empress. According to Robert of Clari, Agnes had a bad reputation and could only talk through a translator because she did not know French. At that time she was 30 years old and had spent most of her life in the Byzantine court.
Anna and Theodore eventually married, at the urging of the Latin emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople
, in summer 1204. Theodore Branas continued to fight for the Latin Empire
, and is last heard of in 1219, by which time Agnes has already disappeared from the historical record. They had at least one daughter, who married Narjot de Toucy
.
Her date of death is sometimes given in modern genealogies as "1220" or "after 1240". No primary source for these dates has been identified.
However, in that account the embassy is attributed to Agnes' brother, Philip II of France
, though Philip did not succeed to the French throne until 18 September 1180.
Agnes is the subject of the historical novel Agnes of France (1980) by Greek
writer Kostas Kyriazis (1920 - ). The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel, Alexios and Andronikos through her eyes. She is also part of the cast of the sequel
s Fourth Crusade
(1981) and Henry of Hainaut
(1984). All three have been in print in Greece
since their first edition.
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
by his third wife Adèle of Champagne
Adèle of Champagne
Adèle of Champagne , also known as Adelaide and Alix, was the third wife of Louis VII of France and the mother of his only male heir, the future Philip II...
.
She was a younger half-sister of Marie de Champagne
Marie de Champagne
Marie of France , Countess of Champagne was the elder daughter of Louis VII of France and his first wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Family :Marie's younger sister was Alix of France....
, Alix of France
Alix of France
Alix of France was the second daughter born to King Louis VII of France and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine.- Childhood :...
, Marguerite of France and Alys, Countess of the Vexin
Alys, Countess of the Vexin
Alys, Countess of the Vexin was the daughter of King Louis VII of France and his second wife Constance of Castile.- Life :...
. She was a younger full sister of Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
.
Betrothal and marriage
In early 1178, Philip, Count of FlandersPhilip, Count of Flanders
Philip of Alsace was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. He succeeded his father Thierry of Alsace.-Count of Flanders:...
visited Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
on his way back from the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. The Eastern Roman Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
, who had already entertained Louis VII in Constantinople at Christmas 1147 during the Second Crusade
Second Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...
, was perhaps finally convinced by Philip that France would be a desirable ally in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. Over the winter of 1178-1179 an Imperial embassy accompanying Philip, and led by the Genoese Baldovino Guercio, was sent to the French court to secure a match between Agnes and Alexios
Alexios II Komnenos
Alexios II Komnenos or Alexius II Comnenus , Byzantine emperor , was the son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and Maria, daughter of Raymond, prince of Antioch...
, the only son and heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
of Manuel by his second wife Maria of Antioch
Maria of Antioch
Maria of Antioch was a Byzantine empress as the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. She was the daughter of Constance of Antioch and her first husband Raymond of Poitiers...
. This or some similar marriage alliance had been favored by Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
as early as 1171.
It was not uncommon for princesses, when a future marriage had been agreed, to be brought up in their intended husband's family; this, indeed, is why Agnes probably never met her elder sister Alys, who lived in the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
from the age of about nine, when her marriage to the future Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
was agreed on (though this marriage never took place). Agnes took ship in Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
, bound for Constantinople, at Easter 1179. At Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
the flotilla increased from 5 to 19 ships, captained by Baldovino Guercio.
On arrival in Constantinople in late summer 1179 Agnes was met by seventy high-ranking ladies and lavish festivities were organized for her. She was greeted with an oration from Eustathios
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica was a Greek bishop and scholar. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sack of Thessalonike by the Normans in 1185, for his orations and for his commentaries on Homer, which incorporate many remarks by much earlier researchers.- Life :After being...
, former Master of the Rhetors and archbishop of Thessalonica
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. She was perhaps now presented with an elaborate volume of welcoming verses by an anonymous author, sometimes called the Eisiterion.
According to William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
, Agnes was eight on her arrival at Constantinople, while Alexios was thirteen. William got Alexios' age wrong (he was born on 14 September 1169) and there is no other source for Agnes' year of birth. If she was in fact eight, she was at least three years too young for marriage, according to most 12th century views. However, William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
, who was present at the ceremony, seems to describe it as a full wedding (matrimonii legibus ... copulare); in this he is followed by some other non-Byzantine sources and by many modern authors.
The ceremony took place in the Trullos Hall, in the Great Palace, on 2 March 1180. Agnes was officially renamed Anna. Eustathios of Thessalonica produced a speech to celebrate the occasion, whose title in the manuscript is Oration on the Public Celebrations of the Betrothal of the Two Royal Children. This ceremony came approximately one month after the wedding of Alexios' half-sister Maria Porphyrogenita
Maria Komnene (Porphyrogenita)
Maria Komnene was the eldest daughter of the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos by his first wife, Irene of Sulzbach. She was known as the Porphyrogenneta or Porphyrogenita because she had been "born in the Purple Chamber", i.e...
to Renier of Montferrat
Renier of Montferrat
Renier of Montferrat was the fifth son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg...
, conducted by the Patriarch of Constantinople, Theodosios
Patriarch Theodosius I of Constantinople
Theodosius I Boradiotes was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1179 to 1183....
.
Empress
On September 24, 1180, Manuel died and AlexiosAlexios II Komnenos
Alexios II Komnenos or Alexius II Comnenus , Byzantine emperor , was the son of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos and Maria, daughter of Raymond, prince of Antioch...
succeeded him as Emperor. He was too young to rule unaided; his mother, Maria of Antioch, exercised more influence in affairs of state than Alexios or Anna.
In 1183 Maria of Antioch was displaced by a new power behind the throne
Power behind the throne
The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or advisor of a political leader who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through influence or manipulation.The...
, Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos was Byzantine Emperor from 1183 to 1185). He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and grandson of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.-Early years:...
. Andronikos was a first cousin of Manuel and was known to have harbored imperial ambitions for himself. He is believed to have arranged the deaths by poisoning of Maria Porphyrogenita and her husband Renier; he certainly imprisoned, and soon afterwards executed, Maria of Antioch. Andronikos was crowned co-ruler with Alexios; then, in October of the same year, he had Alexios strangled. Anna was now 12, and the approximately 65-year-old Andronikos married her.
Andronikos had previously been married (his first wife's name is unknown). He had had sexual relationships with two nieces (Eudokia Komnene and Theodora Komnene
Theodora Komnene
Theodora Komnene or Comnena was a niece of Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus, and wife of King Baldwin III of Jerusalem.-Family:Theodora was a daughter of the sebastokratōr Isaac Komnenos by his second wife, Eirene Synadene...
) and with Philippa of Antioch. Philippa was a daughter of Constance of Antioch
Constance of Antioch
Constance of Antioch was the only daughter of Bohemund II of Antioch by his wife Alice, princess of Jerusalem. She was also Princess regnant of the Principality of Antioch from 1130 to her death.-Early life:...
and her first husband and consort Raymond of Poitiers
Raymond of Antioch
Raymond of Poitiers was Prince of Antioch 1136–1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his infamous liaison with Dangereuse de Chatelherault.-Assumes control:Following the...
; she was also a sister of Maria of Antioch
Maria of Antioch
Maria of Antioch was a Byzantine empress as the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. She was the daughter of Constance of Antioch and her first husband Raymond of Poitiers...
and thus maternal aunt of Alexios. Andronikos had two sons by his first wife; he also had a young son and daughter from his affair with Theodora. His eldest son, Manuel
Manuel Komnenos (born 1145)
Manuel Komnenos was the eldest son of Andronikos Komnenos by his first wife, whose name is not recorded....
already had a son of his own, the future Alexios I of Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
.
Anna was Empress consort for two years, until the deposition of Andronikos in September 1185. In an attempt to escape the popular uprising that ended his rule, Andronikos fled from Constantinople with Anna and his mistress (known only as Maraptike). They reached Chele, a fortress on the Bithynia
Bithynia
Bithynia was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine .-Description:...
n coast of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, where they tried to take ship for the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. Their ship was prevented from sailing by contrary winds. Andronikos was eventually captured and returned to the capital, where he was tortured and killed on September 12, 1185.
Later life
Anna survived Andronikos' fall and is next heard of in 1193, when she is said by a Western chronicler to have become the lover of Theodore BranasTheodore Branas
Theodore Branas or Vranas was a general under the Byzantine Empire and afterwards under the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He is called Li Vernas by western chroniclers of the Fourth Crusade, including Geoffroi de Villehardouin....
, a military leader who fought on the Empire's northern frontier. They did not at first marry.
After the fall of Constantinople in 1204, Agnes derived respect from the Latin barons due to her being a former Empress. According to Robert of Clari, Agnes had a bad reputation and could only talk through a translator because she did not know French. At that time she was 30 years old and had spent most of her life in the Byzantine court.
Anna and Theodore eventually married, at the urging of the Latin emperor Baldwin I of Constantinople
Baldwin I of Constantinople
Baldwin I , the first emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople, as Baldwin IX Count of Flanders and as Baldwin VI Count of Hainaut, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the capture of Constantinople, the conquest of the greater part of the Byzantine...
, in summer 1204. Theodore Branas continued to fight for the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
, and is last heard of in 1219, by which time Agnes has already disappeared from the historical record. They had at least one daughter, who married Narjot de Toucy
Narjot de Toucy (died 1241)
Narjot de Toucy , lord of Bazarnes, was the son of Narjot II of Toucy and of his wife Agnes de Dampierre.Alongside his father-in-law Theodore Branas and Geoffroy de Merry, Narjot de Toucy formed part of the council that briefly governed Constantinople from 17 December 1219 Narjot de Toucy (died...
.
Her date of death is sometimes given in modern genealogies as "1220" or "after 1240". No primary source for these dates has been identified.
Cultural references
The crusader Robert of Clari, writing only 25 years after the event, is clear about the rich entourage that accompanied Agnes to Constantinople:- then the king arrayed his sister very richly and sent her with the messengers to Constantinople, and many of his people with her ... When they were come, the emperor did very great honor to the damsel and made great rejoicing over her and her people ...
However, in that account the embassy is attributed to Agnes' brother, Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
, though Philip did not succeed to the French throne until 18 September 1180.
Agnes is the subject of the historical novel Agnes of France (1980) by Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
writer Kostas Kyriazis (1920 - ). The novel describes the events of the reigns of Manuel, Alexios and Andronikos through her eyes. She is also part of the cast of the sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
(1981) and Henry of Hainaut
Henry of Flanders
Henry was the second emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. He was a younger son of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut , and Margaret I of Flanders, sister of Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders....
(1984). All three have been in print in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
since their first edition.
Ancestry
Sources
- Nicetas ChoniatesNicetas ChoniatesNicetas or Niketas Choniates , sometimes called Acominatos, was a Greek historian – like his brother Michael Acominatus, whom he accompanied from their birthplace Chonae to Constantinople...
, Historia, ed. J.-L. Van Dieten, 2 vols. (Berlin and New York, 1975); trans. as O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates, by H.J. Magoulias (Detroit; Wayne State University Press, 1984). - Garland, Lynda. Byzantine empresses: women and power in Byzantium, AD 527-1204. London, Routledge, 1999.