Irene Laskarina
Seal of Irene Laskarina
Empress consort of Nicaea
Tenure1222–1240
Died1240
SpouseAndronikos Palaiologos
John III Doukas Vatatzes
IssueTheodore II Vatatzes
HouseLaskaris
FatherTheodore I Laskaris
MotherAnna Angelina

Irene Laskarina (died 1240) (Greek: Εἰρήνη Λασκαρίνα, Eirēnē Laskarina) was Empress consort of Nicaea. She was a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris,[1] emperor of Nicaea and Anna Komnene Angelina. Her maternal grandparents were Alexios III Angelos and Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera. Her sister, Maria Laskarina, married Béla IV of Hungary.

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[1] in 1212. 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.[2]

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.[1]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Theodore Lascaris s.v. Irene Lascaris" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 766.
  2. ^ Murata, Koji; Ichikawa, Kohei; Fujii, Yuri I.; Hayakawa, Hisashi; Cheng, Yongchao; Kawamoto, Yukiko; Sano, Hidetoshi (2021), "Cometary records revise Eastern Mediterranean chronology around 1240 CE", Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 73: 197–204, arXiv:2012.00976, doi:10.1093/pasj/psaa114
Irene Laskarina LaskarisBorn:  ? Died: 1240 Royal titles Preceded byMarie de Courtenay Empress consort of Nicaea 1221–1240 Succeeded byAnna of Hohenstaufen
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