![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Irene_Laskarina_seal.png/640px-Irene_Laskarina_seal.png&w=640&q=50)
Irene Laskarina
Empress consort of Nicaea / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irene Laskarina (born c. 1194-1199 CE, died 1240 CE) (Greek: Εἰρήνη Λασκαρίνα, Eirēnē Laskarina) was Empress consort of Nicaea.[1][2] She was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris,[3] emperor of Nicaea and Anna Komnene Angelina. Her maternal grandparents were Alexios III Angelos and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera.[4] Her sister, Maria Laskarina, married Béla IV of Hungary.
Irene Laskarina | |
---|---|
![]() Seal of Irene Laskarina | |
Empress consort of Nicaea | |
Tenure | 1222–1240 |
Died | 1240 |
Spouse | Andronikos Palaiologos John III Doukas Vatatzes |
Issue | Theodore II Vatatzes |
House | Laskaris |
Father | Theodore I Laskaris |
Mother | Anna Angelina |
In 1204 CE, during Irene Laskarina's childhood, the city of Constantinople fell to a Crusader army during the Sack of Constantinople.[1] Much of the nobility, including Irene's family, fled, and re-established a capitol in Nicaea; this became the Nicaean empire.[1]
Irene first married the general Andronikos Palaiologos, and after his death became the wife of Theodore's designated successor, the future John III Doukas Vatatzes[3] in 1212.[2][5] They had a son, the future Theodore II Laskaris. After the latter's birth, she fell from a horse and was so badly injured that she was unable to have any more children. She retired to a convent, taking the monastic name Eugenia, and died there in summer of 1240, some fourteen years before her husband.[6]
Irene is praised by historians[like whom?] for her modesty and prudence and is said to have brought about by her example a considerable improvement in the morals of her nation.[3]