Ancestry of Constance, Countess of Arles ( Long)
LEA...@aol.com
Constance, Countess of Arles, wife of Robert II, King of France. As I am
trying to
unravel this line I have gleaned all the material I can find from the
archives and compared it with references I have on Byzantine History. I now
have a number of questions on this lineage.
Mr. Settipani on Dec. 6, 1998 posted a brilliant analysis of this line. In
this posting he stated "Charles Constantine is the son of an emperor, and was
named after the first occidental (frankish) emperor, Charlemagne, and the
first oriental (Byzantine) emperor, Constantine the Great. He claimed
evidently descent from both frankish and Byzantine imperial ancestry.
Precisely, we know that sometime before 911, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI had
given his only daughter to a frankish prince, cousin of Bertha of Tuscia."
The posting also states Charles Constantine was the son of frankish emperor
Louis III, second cousin of Bertha and that he was blinded in 905.
The marriage between Charles Constantine and Anna of Byzantium was also
listed in the ancestry of Constance posted by Ed Mann on Nov. 29, 1998. In
this posting Ed lists the dates for Anna as born abt. 887 died abt. 914. She
married Louis III Beronides of the West born abt. 883; died June 5, 928 in
Arles, France. He is listed as the son of Boso II (?) de Provence and
Ermengarde.
The information I have on Anna of Byzantium comes from John Julius Norwich
A Short History of Byzantium; Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997. I realize
this is a shortened version of the three original works on Byzantium written
by Norwich
and much detail may be missing.
Anna of Byzantium is dealt with on page 161:
" A more unsatisfactory consort (Theophano) for a lusty young prince ( Leo VI)
could hardly be imagined; moreover, Leo desperately wanted a son. It was a
huge relief when she retired to the convent at Blachernae, where on 10
November 897 she died. He gave her a magnificent funeral and immediately
summoned his beloved Zoe (Zautsina) to Constantinople. There remained the
problem of her husband; but fortunately -- some people thought a little too
fortunately -- he chose this moment to die in his turn. With unseemly
dispatch his widow was installed in the palace, and early in 898 the two
lovers were married at last. To his delight Zoe soon found herself pregnant,
and he eagerly awaited the son promised by the astrologers, Alas, the child
proved to be another girl, who was given the name of Anna."
Anna is also shown in the genealogy charts under the Macedonian Dynasty as
the daughter of Leo VI and Zoe Zautsina and marrying Lewis the Blind. Anna
is also listed in the index on page 407 as Anna, wife of Lewis III, 161.
Lewis III shows up in the listing of emperors on pages 384-385 as the
successor
in the Western Empire 901-905 to Arnulf and the predecessor of Berengar
915-922, Leo VI is listed as Eastern Emperor 886-912.
The dates are my first question. Anna of Byzantium according to Norwich was
born in late 898 or early 899. She could not have married Lewis III ca. 900.
If she died in 914 she would have only have been able to bear possibly one
or two children. Does someone have dates that are more in line with Norwich?
Exactly who is Lewis III? He is not a son of the Emperor of the East Franks
Louis II as he had no son. Can someone give me an AT for him?
Who is Bertha of Tuscany? I have a number of possibilities and don't know
which one is being referred to.
Is there a longer detailed source on Anna of Byzantium? Is there a marriage
contract? Was this marriage part of the negotiations over control of Italy
during Leo's reign? After 888 Italy was divided up into many spheres of
control and
that was a major source of contention. Louis II of the East Franks also was
expanding his territory and trying to incite the Bulgarians to revolt. This
marriage may have been an appeasement of these tensions also. It was unusual
for
a Byzantine princess to marry into a frankish family. There had to be a
reason
for this arrangement.
Does anyone have the name of Zoe Zautsina's first husband? She was forced to
marry him when Basil I exiled her from Constantinople in 881. She was Leo's
mistress since 879 and Leo was forced into marrying Theophano, his father's
choice.
Also in light of the discussion about four months ago of Leo's ancestry are
there any other facts? Norwich implies several times that Leo VI may well
have been
Michael III's son not Basil's and the dates seem to favor the theory that he
was Michael III's son. The marriage between Eudocia and Basil occurred
sometime between the end of 865 and Whit Sunday (Pentecost) 866 when Basil
was declared co-emperor with Michael III. Leo VI was born Sept. 19, 866. In
addition there is the hatred between Basil and Leo and Basil's death which
doesn't seem entirely accidental.
Any help on these questions would be greatly appreciated. I am a novice and
this line is very complex.
Sincerely,
MichaelAnne Guido
Dr. George Tsambourakis
I start with Leo VI (b. 19 Sep 866; d. 912).
Son of Basil I (b. 812; d. 29 Aug. 886) and Eudokia Ingerina.
Leo VI married Theophano (d. 10 Nov. 897) and had a daughter named after his
mother (Eudokia).
After Theophanos death, LeoVI married Zoe Zautzis (d. 899) (you can call her
Zautzina),
daughter of Stelios Zautzis (Who is also being accused of killing his
father).
With Zoe, LeoVI had a daughter Anna (b. 898 a year before her mother died).
Anna married Lewis the Blind and had a son Charles, Konstantinos.
The name of Zoe's first husband is unknown to me.
If you go back to Basil I (mentioned above), he had a son that he loved very
much out of his first wife Maria, his name: Konstantinos.
There were plans for Konstantinos to marry Lewis II's daughter, however,
Konstantinos died.
Some say assasinated by Leo VI friends.
> The information I have on Anna of Byzantium comes from John Julius Norwich
> A Short History of Byzantium; Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997. I realize
> this is a shortened version of the three original works on Byzantium
written
> by Norwich and much detail may be missing.
I like reading Norwich's books, I never found a mistake (but who am I?)
> Anna is also shown in the genealogy charts under the Macedonian Dynasty as
> the daughter of Leo VI and Zoe Zautsina and marrying Lewis the Blind.
Anna
> is also listed in the index on page 407 as Anna, wife of Lewis III, 161.
Lewis III and Lewis the Blind are one and the same person.
> The dates are my first question. Anna of Byzantium according to Norwich
was
> born in late 898 or early 899.
Anna was born a year before her mothers death.
> Exactly who is Lewis III? He is not a son of the Emperor of the East
Franks
> Louis II as he had no son. Can someone give me an AT for him?
> Who is Bertha of Tuscany? I have a number of possibilities and don't know
> which one is being referred to.
> Does anyone have the name of Zoe Zautsina's first husband? She was forced
to
> marry him when Basil I exiled her from Constantinople in 881.
I do not know about forced.
> Also in light of the discussion about four months ago of Leo's ancestry
are
> there any other facts? Norwich implies several times that Leo VI may well
> have been Michael III's son not Basil's and the dates seem to favor the
theory that he
> was Michael III's son.
Theory or not it is not up to as to change history with out proof. The
relationship
between the three of them was well known. Some say that after they got
married
things changed.
>The marriage between Eudocia and Basil occurred
> sometime between the end of 865 and Whit Sunday (Pentecost) 866 when Basil
> was declared co-emperor with Michael III. Leo VI was born Sept. 19, 866.
In
> addition there is the hatred between Basil and Leo and Basil's death which
> doesn't seem entirely accidental.
Basil I loved his first son Konstantinos who was "assasignated" by friends
of Leo who with his older brother were "enjoying" life. His father did not
like that.
Corect birthdays and deathdays etc are not very common.
regards.
Chris Bennett
<LEA...@aol.com> wrote in message news:0.fb48da4...@aol.com...
The death date given for Anna is wrong, at least according to the analysis
behind this theory. Leo VI married his third wife, Zoe Carbonopsina, around
June 900, who later gave birth to another Anna possibly as soon as c903, but
in any case before 912. The reuse of the name is a strong indication that
the first Anna had already died by this time. The 914 date is the date
Louis III married his second wife, so she must have died no later than 914.
>
>
> The information I have on Anna of Byzantium comes from John Julius Norwich
> A Short History of Byzantium; Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997. I realize
> this is a shortened version of the three original works on Byzantium
written
> by Norwich
> and much detail may be missing.
>
> Anna of Byzantium is dealt with on page 161:
> " A more unsatisfactory consort (Theophano) for a lusty young prince ( Leo
VI)
> could hardly be imagined; moreover, Leo desperately wanted a son. It was
a
> huge relief when she retired to the convent at Blachernae, where on 10
> November 897 she died. He gave her a magnificent funeral and immediately
> summoned his beloved Zoe (Zautsina) to Constantinople. There remained the
> problem of her husband; but fortunately -- some people thought a little
too
> fortunately -- he chose this moment to die in his turn. With unseemly
> dispatch his widow was installed in the palace, and early in 898 the two
> lovers were married at last. To his delight Zoe soon found herself
pregnant,
> and he eagerly awaited the son promised by the astrologers, Alas, the
child
> proved to be another girl, who was given the name of Anna."
>
Very colourful, but does he give a source for this? According to Settipani,
we have no direct information on the birth date of Anna I, and as you point
out, for her to have married Louis III c900 she cannot have been born so
late. Also, in the period between the death of Theophano and the marriage
to Zoe Tzautzina, Anna acted as the official Augusta, which certainly
implies a certain maturity. Tzautzina had been Leo's "official" mistress
since 893, and her father had held the title Basileopator (Father of the
Emperor) since Leo's third year (888/9), but it seems to be generally
believed that she had been his mistress since even before his first marriage
(882). So Anna could easily have been a teenager at the time of the
marriage.
Chris
<snip>
LEA...@aol.com
> Very colourful, but does he give a source for this? According to Settipani,
> we have no direct information on the birth date of Anna I, and as you point
> out, for her to have married Louis III c900 she cannot have been born so
> late. Also, in the period between the death of Theophano and the marriage
> to Zoe Tzautzina, Anna acted as the official Augusta, which certainly
> implies a certain maturity. Tzautzina had been Leo's "official" mistress
> since 893, and her father had held the title Basileopator (Father of the
> Emperor) since Leo's third year (888/9), but it seems to be generally
> believed that she had been his mistress since even before his first
marriage
> (882). So Anna could easily have been a teenager at the time of the
> marriage.
Dear Chris,
Thank you for the excellent information. In response to you question, there
are no footnotes or references cited by Norwich for this passage. I will
attempt to go through the longer version (I believe Leo VI is in Vol. II -
The Apogee in Norwich's longer history) and see if I can find anything else.
I like the theory
about Anna being a teenager. I was unaware that she was acting as the Augusta
between the first and second marriages. This period would have been brief,
maybe a year between early 897 (probably when Theophano left for the convent)
and early 898 when he married Zoe Zautsina.
MichaelAnne