Eudokia Makrembolitissa (Greek: Εὐδοκία Μακρεμβολίτισσα, romanized: Evdokía Makremvolítissa) was a Byzantine empress by her successive marriages to Constantine X Doukas and Romanos IV Diogenes. She acted as ruler with her two sons in 1067, and resigned her rule by marriage to Romanos IV Diogenes. When he was deposed in 1071 she resumed the rule with her son Michael VII, but was soon forced to resign again.
Because she essentially ruled in her own right during her rules and retained the title of empress, several modern scholars consider Eudokia to have been empress regnant in 1067 and 1071.
Contents
Background and early life
Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the daughter of John Makrembolites and a maternal niece of Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, whose sister Keroularie had married Makrembolites. John, who belonged to the aristocracy of Constantinople, allied with Cerularius in 1040 to conspire against Emperor Michael IV, but their plan was stopped soon after. The birth date of Eudokia is unknown, but scholars often place it c. 1030. Some authors give her a lifespan of 1021–1096, but this is not corroborated by other sources. Eudokia married Constantine X Doukas sometime before his accession in 1059, probably c. 1049, when Constantine was 43 years old. She was Constantine's second wife, as his first one, a daughter of Duke Constantine Dalassenos, died soon after their marriage. By 1059 they already had at least five children: the future Michael VII, an unnamed son who died young, Andronikos Doukas, Anna Doukaina and Theodora Doukaina.
Empress
Constantine X Doukas was crowned emperor on 23 November 1059, the day after Isaac I Komnenos' abdication. Eudokia was crowned augusta soon after, probably on the same year. They had a fourth son around this time, Konstantios Doukas, who was crowned before his brother Michael, and an other daughter, Zoe. When Constantine fell ill in October 1066, he appointed caesar John Doukas and patriarch John VIII Xiphilinos as co-regents. Eudokia was meant only to take care of Michael and Konstantios, but Constantine knew that she had larger ambitions. Constantine died the next year, on 23 May 1067.
Some historians regard Eudokia as an empress regnant who actually ruled in her own right for seven months, while others consider her as a regent who was the de facto emperor. Some books include her in lists of Byzantine emperors as reigning in 1067 and 1071, while others do not. All the sources unanimously show Eudokia, not her two sons, as having assumed the supreme power. According to the contemporary Michael Psellos, Eudokia "succeeded [Constantine X] as supreme ruler, she did not hand over the government to others... she assumed control of the whole administration in person. Michael VII was "already long past his boyhood" by this time, but nevertheless "left the whole administration to his mother". Some authors argue that he had some type of mental disability.
It was very unusual that, on Constantine X's silver and copper coins, he appeared with only his wife Eudokia, without his sons Michael and Constantios, even though they were co-emperors. One inscription on a silver reliquary, showing Constantine X and Eudokia, calls her "Great Empress of the Romans" (megalē basilis tōn Romaiōn), suggesting that she was a co-ruler or successor to Constantine. Some inscriptions ascribe the masculine title emperor to her. On Constantine X's silver coinage, the miliaresion, she and Constantine are together called 'faithful emperors of the Romaioi'. On a seal, probably dated between May and December 1067, the inscription reads 'Eudokia, Michael and Constantios, emperors of the Romaioi' and the image displays Eudokia as the central and tallest figure, emphasizing her authority over her sons and co-rulers. A seal, dated to early 1068, link Romanos and Eudokia as co-rulers with the title 'Romanos and Eudokia emperors of the Romaioi'. On a tetarteron, dated to 1071 during the co-rule of Eudokia and Michael VII, there are images of the two with the inscription 'Eudokia and Michael, emperors' (Εὐδοκία καὶ Μιχαήλ βασιλεῖς), signifying that Eudokia occupies the place of honor on the right. Giving her the title 'most pious Augusta', seals, probably from the period of her rule, make no mention of her sons. On coins, the title of basilis(sa) is used by only the empresses who assumed the throne: Irene, Zoe, Theodora, and Eudokia Makrembolitissa. On Constantine X's miliaresion, Eudokia has taken the place to the spectator's right, which is traditionally given to the co-emperor and successor to the throne. Calling her the ruler of the world (κοσμοκράτορ), the dedication poem provides evidence for Eudokia's perception of herself as sharing the empire with her husband Constantine. On the dating clauses of South Italian charters, Eudokia's name always takes precedence over those of her sons, and she is often the only one to receive the imperial title.
Later life
Eudokia continued to be influential even after her exile in 1071. Soon after her deposition, she allied with Anna Dalassene, a sister-in-law of Isaac I Komnenos who had also been exiled, to restore Romanos IV and depose John Doukas. However, Doukas soon fell from grace as a result of the schemes of eunuch Nikephoritzes, who was close to the Komnenos family. Eudokia later performed a memorable funeral and burial for Romanos IV, who died on 4 August 1072.
After Michael VII was deposed in 1078 by Nikephoros III Botaneiates, Eudokia was recalled to Constantinople by the new emperor, who offered to marry her. This plan did not come to pass, mainly due to the opposition of John Doukas, who returned to power after Nikephoritzes's exile. However, Nikephoros still sent her many rewards and gifts of gratitude. Her date of death is unknown, but it was sometime after the accession of Alexios I Komnenos in 1081. Her last known action is the adoption of one of the cousins of Patriarch Michael I Cerularius.
Attributed to Eudokia is a dictionary of history and mythology, called Ἰωνιά (i.e., Collection or Bed of Violets). It is prefaced by an address to her husband, Romanos Diogenes, and the work is described as "a collection of genealogies of gods, heroes, and heroines, of their metamorphoses, and of the fables and stories respecting them found in the ancients; containing also notices of various philosophers". However, the book is now thought to be a modern (16th-century) compilation, falsely attributed to Eudokia, and compiled by the counterfeiter Constantine Paleocappa c. 1540. The sources from which the work was compiled include Diogenes Laërtius and the Suda.
Issue
By her first husband, Eudokia had seven children, four sons and three daughters:
Michael VII Doukas, co-emperor from 1060 and senior emperor after 1071.
A son who died in infancy.
Anne Doukaina, nun.
Andronikos Doukas, co-emperor from 1068 to 1078.
Theodora Doukaina, who married Domenico Selvo, Doge of Venice.
Konstantios Doukas, co-emperor from 1060 to 1078, died in battle with the Normans in 1081.
Zoe Doukaina, who married Adrianos Komnenos, a brother of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. They had a son, Alexios, and two daughters, maybe named Anne and Alexia.
By her second husband, she had two sons, most likely twins:
Nikephoros Diogenes, blinded by order of Alexios I Comnenus on charges of treason.
Leo Diogenes, died in battle.