Irene Palaiologina

Irene Komnene Palaiologina (; –1284), after known by her monastic name as Eulogia (Εὐλογία), was an elder sister of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. Originally close to the emperor, her opposition to the Union of the Churches in 1273 led to their estrangement, and even to intrigues by Irene against Michael involving foreign rulers. As a result, she was imprisoned for the remainder of his reign. After Michael's death, she encouraged Andronikos II Palaiologos to repudiate the Union. Life Irene was born around 1218, the second daughter of the megas domestikos Andronikos Palaiologos and Theodora Angelina Palaiologina. Around 1240, she married John Kantakouzenos Komnenos Angelos, who died some time before 1257. After her husband's death, Irene became a nun and assumed the monastic name Eulogia. It is not known when exactly this happened, but she was a nun by 1261. Irene was close with her younger brother, Michael VIII Palaiologos, on whom she exerted great influence. The historian George Pachymeres reports on how she used to lull Michael to sleep with the assurance that he would be the future emperor who would recover Constantinople from the Latin Empire; in 1261, she was the one who brought him the news of the reconquest of Constantinople.