Anna Diogenissa
| Anna of Byzantium, Grand Princess of Serbia | |
|---|---|
| Grand Princess of Serbia | |
| Tenure | ca. 1112–1145 |
| Spouse | Uroš I of Serbia |
| Issue | |
| House | |
Anna of Byzantium (Serbian: Ана; ca. first half of the 12th century), also designated by some modern genealogists as Anna Diogenissa (Greek: Ἄννα Διογένισσα), was Grand Princess consort of Serbia, as wife of Uroš I, Grand Prince of Serbia (r. ca. 1112–1145). Her name is known only from late medieval Serbian genealogies, while her Byzantine origin was recorded by Italian chronicler Pietro Ranzano (d. 1492). Since Uroš I had several children, including sons Uroš II, Beloš and Desa, and also daughters Helena of Serbia, Queen of Hungary and Marija, Duchess of Znojmo, Anna is considered as their mother.
Life
Anna's name is recorded only in late medieval Serbian genealogies, that are designating her as wife of Bela Uroš (Serbian: Бела Урош), who is identified as the Grad Prince Uroš I. In later genealogies she is also designated as a French princess,[1] but that is considered to be a very late addition, and thus rejected by scholars,[2][3][4] since late medieval Italian chronicler Pietro Ranzano, who served at Hungarian court (1488-1490) recorded in his "Epitome rerum Hungarorum" that the (unnamed) mother of Hungarian Queen Helena of Serbia was a niece by sister to the (unnamed) Byzantine emperor (Latin: Eius uxor matrona singulari prudentia Helena dicta est, quam perhibent neptem ex sorore fuisse Constantinopolitani imperatoris).[5]
Trying to resolve those genealogical connections, some modern genealogists have suggested that Anna might have been a daughter of Byzantine princess Theodora, a sister of emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and her husband Constantine Diogenes, a son of emperor Romanos IV Diogenes,[6][7][8] but several modern scholars have pointed out that such assumptions can't be proven with certainty, since no Anna is mentioned in Byzantine sources as a daughter of Theodora and Constantine.[9][10]
It is not recorded when Anna married Uroš I, the Serbian Grand Prince, who reigned from ca. 1112 to 1145. It was assumed that the marriage took place during or after Urošʻs captivity in Byzantium (1094), where he had been sent as a hostage by his uncle, Grand Prince Vukan of Serbia, following the capture of Lipljan in 1094 by the troops of Alexios I Komnenos.
Uroš had at least five children, presumably by Anna:
- Uroš II,[11] Grand Prince of Serbia
- Beloš,[12] Grand Prince of Serbia and the Hungarian palatine
- Desa,[13] Grand Prince of Serbia
- Helena,[14] Queen of Hungary
- Marija,[15] Duchess of Znojmo
Some researchers have proposed that Zavida was also their son.[16][17]
References
- ^ Engel 1801, p. 191.
- ^ Wertner 1888, p. 65-68.
- ^ Wertner 1891a, p. 543.
- ^ Wertner 1891b, p. 8-13.
- ^ Kulcsár 1977, p. 119.
- ^ Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte (1991-1996), p. 365.
- ^ Cawley, Charles (2010). Medieval Lands, Byzantium: Diogenes, Emperor 1068-1071
- ^ Genealogy.eu: Vukanivich family
- ^ Vajay 1979, p. 21-22.
- ^ Farkas 2016, p. 87-118.
- ^ Kalić 2016, p. 75–96.
- ^ Ćirković 2004, p. 30-31.
- ^ Ćirković 2004, p. 31.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 50.
- ^ Balcárek 2023, p. 271.
- ^ Leśny 1989, p. 37.
- ^ Fine 1994, p. 3.
Sources
- Balcárek, Petr (2023). Byzantium in the Czech Lands (4th–16th centuries): Historical and Art Historical Perspectives. Leiden-Boston: Brill.
- Bataković, Dušan T., ed. (2005). Histoire du peuple serbe [History of the Serbian People] (in French). Lausanne: L’Age d’Homme.
- Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
- Engel, Johann Christian (1801). Geschichte des Ungrischen Reichs und seiner Nebenländer, III: Geschichte von Serwien und Bosnien. Halle: Gebauer.
- Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St. Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895-1526. London & New York: I.B.Tauris.
- Farkas, Csaba (2016). "A basileus unokahúga" (PDF). Fons: Forráskutatás és Történeti Segédtudományok. 23: 87–118.
- Fine, John Van Antwerp Jr. (1994) [1987]. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
- Kalić, Jovanka (2016). "Grand Župan Uroš II of Rascia". Balcanica. 47: 75–96.
- Kulcsár, Petrus, ed. (1977). Pietro Ranzano: Epithoma rerum Hungararum id est annalium omnium temporum, liber primus et sexagesimus. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.
- Leśny, Jan (1989). "Stefan Zavida als Sohn von Uros I. und Vater von Stefan Nemanja: Ein Beitrag zur serbischen Prosopographie". Südost-Forschungen. 48: 37–49.
- Vajay, Szabolcs (1979). "Byzantinische Prinzessinnen in Ungarn" (PDF). Ungarn-Jahrbuch. 10: 15–28.
- Wertner, Moriz (1888). "Zur Genealogie der Nemanjiden: Eine Widerlegung". Der Deutsche Herold. 19: 65–68.
- Wertner, Moriz (1891a). "Die fürstlichen Nemanjiden: Beiträge zur Kenntniss der ungarisch-serbischen Beziehungen". Ungarische Revue. 11: 536–571.
- Wertner, Mór (1891b). A középkori délszláv uralkodók genealogiai története. Temesvár: Nyomatott a Csanád-egyházmegyei könyvsajtón.
- Živković, Tibor (2008). Forging unity: The South Slavs between East and West 550-1150. Belgrade: The Institute of History.