Maria | |
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Spouse | Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria |
Born | Unknown |
Died | Unknown |
Maria was the wife of tsar Ivan Vladislav of Bulgaria. She was the last empress-consort (tsaritsa) of the First Bulgarian Empire.
Her antecedents are unknown. It is believed that Maria was married to Ivan Vladislav in the late 10th century. Her husband was the son of Aron, who was the brother of Emperor Samuel (Samuil) of Bulgaria. In 987 Samuel ordered his brother Aron executed for treason together with his entire family. The massacre was survived only Ivan Vladislav, who was saved through the intercession of his cousin, Samuel's son Gabriel Radomir.
Maria and Ivan Vladislav had several children, including:
Tsar Samuil died in 1014 and the Bulgarian throne was inherited by his son Gavril Radomir. In 1015 Ivan Vladislav murrdered his savior Gavrail Radomir, while the latter was hunting near Ostrovo (Arnissa), and seized the Bulgarian throne.
Maria's husband followed the determined policy of his predecessors to resist the ongoing Byzantine conquest over Bulgaria, but he was killed before the walls of Dyrrhachium in the winter of 1018. After his death the widowed empress Maria and much of the Bulgarian nobility and court submitted to the advancing Basil II in exchange of guarantees for the preservation of their lives, status, and property. Maria together with her children were sent to Constantinople, where she was granted the title zostē patrikia (lady-in-waiting of the empress). Her family was integrated into the Byzantine court and provincial aristocracy.
In 1029 Maria together with her son Presian entered a conspiracy against emperor Romanos III Argyros. The plot was discovered, Presian was blinded and Maria was exiled to a monastery in Asia Minor.
Maria | Ivan Vladislav (1015–1018) |
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Alusian stratēgos |
Aron stratēgos |
Radomir | Catherine wife of Isaac I Komnenos |
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Presian stratēgos |
Trayan | unknown son | 5 daughters |
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[Anna] wife of Romanos IV Diogenes |
Basil stratēgos |
Theodore stratēgos |
Maria wife of Andronikos Doukas |
Manuel Komnenos | Maria Komnene | ||||||
Samuil vestētōr |
Radomir proedros |
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Constantine married Theodora, sister of Alexios I |
Aron Theodore | Irene Doukaina wife of Alexios I |
Theodora Doukaina | John Doukas governor of Bulgaria (1090–1092) |
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Maria (Anna) Doukaina wife of George Palaiologos |
Michael Doukas prōtostratōr |
Preceded by Irene of Larissa |
Empress consort of Bulgaria 1015–1018 |
Succeeded by ... |