Anna Diogenissa

Family/Spouse: Uros of Serbia. Uros (son of Hliubomir) was born about 1080; died in 1140. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Marija of Serbia died after 1190.
2. Jelena of Serbia was born after 1109; died after 1146.

Notes:

Killed in battle at the walls of Antioch.

Konstantinos married Theodora Komnena. Theodora (daughter of Ioannis Komnenos and Anna Dalassene, Regent of the Byzantine Empire) was born about 1053. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Romanos IV Diogenes, also known as Romanus IV, was a member of the Byzantine military aristocracy who, after his marriage to the widowed empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, was crowned Byzantine emperor and reigned from 1068 to 1071. During his reign he was determined to halt the decline of the Byzantine military and to stop Turkish incursions into the Byzantine Empire, but in 1071 he was captured and his army routed at the Battle of Manzikert. While still captive he was overthrown in a palace coup, and when released he was quickly defeated and detained by members of the Doukas family. In 1072, he was blinded and sent to a monastery, where he died of his wounds.

Romanos married (Unknown daughter of Alusian of Bulgaria). (Unknown (daughter of Alusian, Tsar of Bulgaria) died before 1065. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"John Komnenos was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in 1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461." [Wikipedia]

Ioannis married Anna Dalassene, Regent of the Byzantine Empire. Anna (daughter of Alexios Charon and (Unknown member of the Dalassena family)) was born between 1025 and 1030 in Italy; died on 1 Nov 1100. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1102

Notes:

"Anna, born ca. 1028, long outlived her husband and after his death ran the family as its undisputed matriarch. Anna became involved in conspiracies against the Doukas family, whom she never forgave for taking the throne in 1059. Later she also played a major role in the successful overthrow of Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r. 1078–81) and the rise of her son Alexios to the throne. After that, and for about fifteen years, she served as the virtual co-ruler of the empire along her son. She then retired to a monastery, where she died in 1100 or 1102." [Wikipedia]

"As empress-mother, she exerted more influence and power than the empress-consort, Irene Doukaina, a woman whom she hated because of past intrigues with the Doukas family." [Wikipedia]

"Under the Komenian dynasty, women continued to not only retain their roles set by previous empresses but made great strides in founding monasteries, patronizing churchmen, theologians and literary figures and being more assertive in imperial administration: most prominent in such roles were Anna Dalassene and her contemporary, Maria of Alania. Anna Dalassena is memorialized in Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party." [Wikipedia]

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Constantine Diogenes was a prominent Byzantine general of the early 11th century, active in the Balkans. He served with distinction in the final stages of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria under Emperor Basil II, and occupied high commands in the Balkans until his arrest in 1029, as the result of his participation in a conspiracy against Emperor Romanos III Argyros. Imprisoned and forced to enter a monastery, he committed suicide in 1032 during an inquest on a further conspiracy. He was the father of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes.

Konstantinos married (Unknown daughter of Basil Argyros). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Wikipedia:

Alusian was the second son of Emperor Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria (r. 1015–1018) by his wife Maria. Together with his older brother Presian II he attempted to resist Bulgaria's annexation by the Byzantine Empire in 1018 but eventually had to surrender to Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025) in the same year.

In the Byzantine Empire Alusian joined the ranks of the court aristocracy and was appointed governor (strat?gos) of the theme of Theodosioupolis. Alusian increased his wealth by marrying a rich member of the Armenian nobility, but in the later 1030s he lost the favor of Emperor Michael IV the Paphlagonian (r. 1034–1041) and his brother, the powerful parakoimomenos John the Orphanotrophos. Alusian was deprived of certain estates and fined a hefty amount for alleged misdeeds.

Hearing of the successful uprising of his second cousin Peter Delyan against the emperor in 1040, Alusian fled the Byzantine court and joined Peter's ranks. Alusian was welcomed by Peter, who gave him an army with which to attack Thessalonica. The siege however was raised by the Byzantines, and the Bulgarian army was defeated. Alusian barely escaped and returned to Ostrovo.

One night in 1041, during dinner, Alusian took advantage of Peter's inebriation and cut off his nose and blinded him with a kitchen knife. Since Alusian was of the blood of Tsar Samuel (r. 997–1014), he was quickly proclaimed emperor in Peter's place by his troops, but conspired to desert to the Byzantines. As the Bulgarian and Byzantine troops were preparing for battle, Alusian deserted to the enemy, surrendering the blinded Peter Delyan to the emperor. As a reward, his possessions and lands were restored to him and he was given the high court rank of magistros. The same title had been granted earlier to other deposed emperors of Bulgaria, namely Boris II in 971 and Presian II in 1018.

Alusian's subsequent fate is unknown, but his descendants, the Alousianoi, continued to prosper in the ranks of the Byzantine aristocracy until the 14th century.

Notes:

"Manuel Erotikos Komnenos was a Byzantine military leader under Basil II, and the first fully documented ancestor of the Komnenos dynasty. His origin and parentage is obscure. He is only mentioned in the sources as leading the defence of Nicaea in 978 against the rebel Bardas Skleros, and as an imperial envoy to him 11 years later. He had three children, late in life. The eldest, Isaac, became emperor in 1057–1059, and the youngest, John, was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty as the father of Alexios I Komnenos." [Wikipedia]

Notes:

"Alexios Charon was a Byzantine official in southern Italy and the maternal grandfather of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (reigned 1081–1118), the founder of the Komnenian dynasty. Very little is known about his life. His is only recorded in the history of Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger, who married his great-granddaughter Anna Komnene. Bryennios reports that 'Charon' was a sobriquet given to him for his bravery, referring to the ferryman of the underworld in Greek mythology, but the name is attested as an actual surname as well. On Alexios' career, Bryennios only reports that he 'handled the emperor's affairs' in the Byzantine provinces of southern Italy (the Catepanate of Italy) some time in the first half of the 11th century. The exact office that Alexios held is unknown; it has been suggested that he may have been the governor (catepan) of Italy, but his name appears in no other source." [Wikipedia]

Alexios married (Unknown member of the Dalassena family). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]