| Eudokia | |
|---|---|
| Empress of the Byzantine Empire | |
| Tenure | c. 685–695 |
| Born | 7th century |
| Died | 7th century Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Justinian II |
| Dynasty | Heraclian Dynasty |
Eudokia (Late Greek: Εὐδοκία) was the first empress consort of Byzantine Emperor Justinian II.[1][2][3]
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.
At some point before the Council in Trullo in 692, Eudokia appears to have aided in the migration of the bishop John and other Orthodox Cypriots to Cyzicus in an unknown capacity.[4]
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, Anastasia. She is the only known child attributed to Eudokia.
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 Bulgarian royal lineages of her time and no clear description of the relations the Bulgarian monarchs had to each other. Thus there is little evidence to support them beyond the theoretical level.
