Anna, wife of Artabasdos

Anna (c. 705 - after 772) was the wife of Artabasdos, one of two rival Byzantine Emperors in a civil war which lasted from June, 741 to November, 743. The other Emperor was her brother, Constantine V.

Family

Anna was a daughter of Leo III the Isaurian and his wife Maria. She was a sister of Constantine V. They had two sisters named Irene and Kosmo. Their names and place of burial were recorded in De Ceremoniis by Constantine VII. However nothing else is known of them.

Marriage

The throne of the Byzantine Empire was unstable in the early 710s. Justinian II had been deposed and executed in 711. His deposition was followed by the brief reigns of Philippikos (711-713), Anastasios II (713-715) and Theodosios III (715 - 717). All three were elevated to the throne after coup d'états by factions of the Byzantine army.

Under this conditions two military commanders sought each other as allies. According to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, Leo, strategos of the Anatolikon Theme and Artabasdos, strategos of the Armeniac Theme, formed an alliance in 715. Their goal was the eventual deposition of Theodosios and elevation of Leo to the throne. The alliance was sealed with the betrothal of Anna to Artabasdos.

Their revolt was launched two years later and succeeded in both its stated goals. On 25 March, 717, Leo was proclaimed emperor in Hagia Sophia. Anna was at this point a member of the new imperial family. Her marriage to Artabasdos followed the successful elevation of her father. Her husband was soon appointed Kouropalates ("master of the palace") and Komes of the Opsikion theme, while retaining control of his original command.

Empress

The religious policies of Leo III divided the Chalcedonian Christianity of his time to Iconoclasts and Iconodules. With the Emperor leading the former and prosecuting the latter. Leo III the Isaurian died on 18 June, 741.

He was succeeded by Constantine V, his only known son. Constantine was also an Iconoclast and enjoyed support from their faction. On the other hand, Artabasdos gathered support from the Iconodules in preparation for a revolt.

In June, 741/742, Constantine was crossing Asia Minor to campaign against the Umayyad Caliphate under Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik on the eastern frontier. The forces of Artabasdos attacked his brother-in-law during this course. Defeated, Constantine sought refuge in Amorion, while the victor advanced on Constantinople and was accepted as emperor.

Artabasdos was crowned Emperor by Patriarch Anastasius of Constantinople. Anna was declared an Augusta and their son Nikephoros a co-emperor. Artabasdus declared himself the "Protector of the Holy Icons" and sought to secure himself in the throne. His main support base consisted of the Armeniac, Opsikion and the province of Thrace. He was recognised as Emperor by Iconodule religious leaders, including Pope Zachary.

The civil war lasted for about two years as the two rival Emperors gathered their supporters. The first major battle took place near Sardis, Lydia in May, 743. Ending with the defeat of Artabasdos. An army led by Niketas, another son of Artabasdos and Anna, was defeated in August. Constantine headed for Constantinople and managed to capture the city three months later. Artabasedos was deposed on 2 November, 743.

Retirement

Theophanes records that Constantine had Artabasdos, Nikephoros and Niketas first incarcerated and then subjected to public humiliation in the Hippodrome of Constantinople. [Lynda Garland (ed., 2006), "Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800-1200". Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 075465737X.] All three were then blinded and exiled to the monastery of Chora.

Anna and other seven of her children, mentioned but not named, reportedly followed them to their monastic retrement. Anna was the caretacer of her husband and her children to their deaths. All were eventually buried in Chora. At some point the relics of Patriarch Germanus I of Constantinople were transferred to Chora and the monastery became a shrine to iconodule martyrs. [Lynda Garland (ed., 2006), "Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800-1200". Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 075465737X.]

Anna was possibly the one to turn the place of exile to one of worship. She was still alive thirty years after the end of the civil war. According to Theophanes, c. 772 Constantine forced Anna to return to Chora and exhume the bones of Artabasdos. She was then ordered to transport the bones in her pallium (a woollen cloak) and throw them to the "tombs of Pelagius". Theophanes explains that the term was an euphemism for a pit reserved for the bodies of common criminals, people who suffered illicit deaths (such as suicide victims) and the unbaptised pagans. [Lynda Garland (ed., 2006), "Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800-1200". Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 075465737X.]

Her year of death is unknown but she is not mentioned following the reign of her brother.

Children

Anna and Artabasdos had a reported number of nine children:

*Nikephoros. Co-emperor from 741 to 743. Blinded and exiled to Chora.
*Niketas. A strategos under his father. Blinded and exiled to Chora.
*Seven children, mentioned but not named in Iconodule hagiographies.

Nikephoros is presumed to be the eldest son because of being a co-emperor. However it has been noted that in the "Chronographikon syntomon" of Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople, Niketas' name is mentioned prior to his brother in listings. With children typically listed in order of age, this would imply he was older.

The biography "Artabasdos: Der rechtgläubige Vorkämpfer der göttlichen Lehren : Untersuchungen zur Revolte des Artabasdos und ihrer Darstellung in der byzantinischen Historiographie" (1981) by Paul Speck, suggests that Niketas was the eldest son but Nikephoros the eldest by Anna. Which would mean Niketas was the product of an earlier marriage for Artabasdos.

Possible descendants

Modern genealogists in search of descent from antiquity have theorised Artabasdos and Anna could be ancestors to later Byzantine Emperors or nobility.

For example, David Hughes has theorised [ [http://www.angelfire.com/ego/et_deo/empire2britain.wps.htm "Five descent-lines of Queen Elizabeth of Britain from Julia, sister of Julius Caesar" (2005)] ] that their son Nikephoros was married. He suggests his wife "Irene" was a daughter of Constantine V and his first wife Tzitzak. The theory then proposes they were parents to Nikephoros I and a younger "Anna". Suggesting that this "Anna" married patrician Bardas and was mother to Leo V the Armenian.

However such relations are not mentioned in primary sources and their status remains purely theoretical.

ources

*Lynda Garland (ed., 2006), Byzantine Women: Varieties of Experience, 800-1200. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 075465737X

References

*Reflist

External links

* [http://www.roman-emperors.org/anna.htm A short article on her by Lynda Garland]
* [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM.htm#_Toc176857623 Her profile, along with her father, in "Medieval lands" by Charles Cawley.]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=T4eMlP3nV4YC&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=%22Artabasdos%22+%22Anna%22+Experiences&source=web&ots=mhKnG2ZsNH&sig=4ClGkOg08RyBTkCbHZLu_SAtKXA#PPA9,M1- The page of "Byzantine Women" dealing with her]
* [http://fabpedigree.com/s013/f498130.htm A pedigree of Anna, covering real and theoretical relations]