Simonida

Simonida Nemanjić (Serbian: Симонида Немањић; c. 1294 – after 1336), born Simonis Palaiologina (Greek: Σιμωνίς Παλαιολογίνα), was a Byzantine princess and queen consort of Serbia as the fourth wife of Serbian king Milutin (r. 1282–1321). She was a daughter of Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) and Irene of Montferrat.

Life

Simonida was born in Constantinople ca. 1294. In 1298, as a result of a Byzantine defeat, Emperor Andronikos II promised a marriage alliance to the Serbian ruler Milutin. Initially, Andronikos II intended to wed his sister Eudokia, the empress-dowager of Trebizond, but after she refused, the five-year-old Simonida was proposed instead.^[1][2] Church circles in Constantinople opposed the marriage, but the emperor was determined to push the deal through, and in late 1298 he sent his trusted minister Theodore Metochites to Serbia to conduct the negotiations. On his part, Milutin too was eager to accept, and even divorced his third wife, Anna, the daughter of the Bulgarian tsar.^[1]

The marriage was celebrated in Thessalonica in spring 1299, and the couple departed for Serbia in April.^[1] After Milutin's death in 1321, Simonida returned to Constantinople, where she entered the monastery of Saint Andrew in Krisei as a nun. She died some time after 1336.^[1]

Legacy

Her beauty was well known, and she was known as figure of purity and beauty in Serbian tradition. A fresco of her in Gračanica monastery is one of the most valuable frescoes in Serbian art. Unfortunately, the fresco is partly ruined, so that Simonida has no eyes.^[2]

Milan Rakić wrote a lyric poem about her named Simonida, and Milutin Bojić wrote a psychological drama called Kraljeva Jesen (Eng. King's autumn) about her.^[3] Asteroid 1675 Simonida discovered by Serbian astronomer Milorad B. Protić was named after her.

Ancestors

References