Who was Anna Comnena? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Died At Age: 69

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Nikephoros Bryennios (m. 1097)

father: Alexios I Komnenos

mother: Irene Doukaina

siblings: Andronikos Komnenos, Eudokia Komnene, Isaac Komnenos, John II Komnenos, Maria Komnene, Theodora Komnene.[5]

children: Alexios Komnenos, Irene Doukaina, John Doukas, Maria Bryennaina Komnene

Historians Philosophers

Died on: 1153

place of death: Monastery of Kecharitomene, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire

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Childhood & Early Life

She was born on 1 December 1083 as the eldest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos of Byzantium and Irene Doukaina. Her father was a Byzantine emperor who ruled from 1081 to 1118 while her mother was the daughter of Andronikos Doukas and Maria of Bulgaria.

She had several younger siblings, namely: Maria, John II, Andronikos, Isaac, Eudokia, and Theodora.

Royal women during her time often received good education and she was no exception. Her parents arranged for her to receive lessons in varied subjects like astronomy, medicine, mathematics, history, and literature. She was particularly skilled at studying medicine.

As an infant she was betrothed to Constantine Doukas, the son of Emperor Michael VII and Maria of Alania, as per the customs of that era. During her early childhood she was raised by her future mother-in-law. Constantine, however, died before the wedding could take place.

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Later Years

She grew up to be a well-educated, intelligent and ambitious woman. She had a deep interest in philosophy and loved to read the works of ancient poets.

Sensing her intellectual capabilities her father built a large hospital and orphanage and placed her in charge of the establishment. The hospital was a very big one, equipped with beds and facilities for 10, 000 patients and orphans.

She had studied medicine and was known to be a good physician, considered to be an expert in treating gout. She also taught medicine at various hospitals.

From a young age she had harbored the dream of ascending the throne as her father’s successor after his death. Being the eldest daughter, she believed it to be her right to be chosen as her father’s heir.

However her brother John II Komnenos (born in 1087) was proclaimed the heir to the throne in 1092. This infuriated Anna as she believed her right had been snatched away.

Her mother Irene always favored Anna over her brother and wanted Anna to ascend the throne. She tried her best to persuade the Emperor Alexios to designate Anna’s husband, Nikephoros Bryennios, as the future emperor. But her father always preferred John.

Alexios fell ill with rheumatism around 1112 and could no longer govern the empire. Thus he turned over the civil government to his wife, Irene, who in turn designated the administration to Nikephoros Bryennios.

Anna, with her medical expertise helped the physicians in attending to her ill father. Emperor Alexios died after some years in 1118 and John became the emperor.

After John ascended the throne Anna and her mother conspired to depose him. But her husband was not in favor of this and refused to participate in the conspiracy.

Anna and her husband had to retire from the court once this conspiracy was discovered. Her husband died in 1137 and Anna, along with her mother, retired to a monastery which her mother had founded.

It was in the monastery that she dedicated her time to studying philosophy and history, and began writing the ‘Alexiad’. In this work she wrote about the political relations and wars between Alexios I and the West, vividly describing weaponry, tactics, and battles.

Major Works

She is best known for writing the ‘Alexiad’, in which she details the history of the Byzantine Empire under the reign of her father. The text, which is divided into fifteen books and a prologue, is composed in a literary style fashioned after Thucydides, Polybius, and Xenophon.

Personal Life & Legacy

She had been betrothed to Constantine Doukas, the son of Emperor Michael VII and Maria of Alania, in infancy. But her fiancé died before the marriage could take place.

She married an accomplished nobleman, Caesar Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger, in 1097. Her husband was also a statesman and historian. This marriage lasted for 40 years and produced four children: Alexios Komnenos, John Doukas, Irene Doukaina, and Maria Bryennaina Komnene.

The exact date of Anna Komnene’s death is not known, but as inferred from Alexiad, she was alive in 1148. She is believed to have died sometime in 1153, in the Monastery of Kecharitomene, Constantinople, Byzantine Empire.

Anna Comnena Biography