Irene Angelina

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Irene Angelina (1177/1181 - 1208) was the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos by his first wife Herina.

In 1193 she married Roger III of Sicily, but he died on 24 December 1193. Irene was captured in the German invasion of Sicily , on 29 December 1194, and was married on 25 May 1197 to Philip of Swabia.

Her father, who had been deposed in 1195, urged her to get Philip's support for his reinstatement; her brother, Alexius, subsequently spent some time at Philip's court during the preparations for the Fourth Crusade. She thus had an early influence on the eventual diversion of the Crusade to Constantinople in 1204.

She was described by Walther von der Vogelweide as "the rose without a thorn, the dove without guile."

Philip and Irene had four daughters:

• Beatrice of Hohenstaufen (1198-1212), married Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor
• Cunigunde of Hohenstaufen (1200-1248), married King Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia
• Mary of Hohenstaufen (1201-1235), married Henry II, Duke of Brabant
• Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen (1203-1235), married King Ferdinand III of Castile

Preceded by: Constance of Sicily	Queen of the Romans 1198–1208	Succeeded by: Constance of Aragon
	German Queen 1198–1208	Succeeded by: Beatrix of Swabia
Preceded by: Constanze of Hungary	Duchess consort of Swabia 1197–1208

[edit] Sources

• O city of Byzantium: annals of Niketas Choniates tr. Harry J. Magoulias (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1984).