Theodora Angelina (Greek: Θεοδώρα Αγγελίνα; 1190 – 23 June 1246) was the wife of Leopold VI of Austria, by whom she had several children. As a child, she was used by her grandfather, Emperor Alexios III Angelos, as a political tool to gain the allegiance of the regional strongmen Ivanko and Dobromir Chrysos. Her betrothals or marriages to them were cut short as both were successively captured by the Emperor.
Identity
The identity of Leopold VI's wife has long been disputed by scholars. The medieval sources only recorded her name, Theodora, and that she was the granddaughter of a Byzantine emperor (Theodoram neptam regis Graecorum duxit uxorem, Theodoram neptem regis Grecie).[1] Modern scholars, beginning with Georg Juritsch in 1894, have offered different opinions on who that emperor was, with some considering Theodora the granddaughter of Isaac II Angelos (r. 1185–1195, 1203–1204), while others held that it was Alexios III Angelos (r. 1195–1203).[2] Still others interpreted the neptis not as granddaughter as in Classical Latin, but as niece, or even great-niece, which was the more common meaning of the word in the Middle Ages.[3]
Her parents married in or slightly before 1190, and Theodora was born shortly after, since in 1203 she was just entering her fourteenth year.[8]
Betrothal to Ivanko and Dobromir Chrysos
Her father was promoted to the rank of sebastokrator when Alexios III acceded to the throne in 1195,[9] but in the summer of the same year, he was captured during a campaign against Bulgarian rebels under Asen, and imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital, Tarnovo, where he died in spring 1196.[10][11]
According to one story relayed by the contemporary chronicler Niketas Choniates, Isaac played a role in the assassination of Asen by the disaffected Bulgarian boyarIvanko: Isaac reportedly promised Ivanko the hand of Theodora, in exchange for the deed.[12][13] Isaac died before Asen's murder,[14] but after Ivanko killed Asen and fled to the Byzantine court, where he entered Imperial service, Emperor Alexios III betrothed him to Theodora to cement his allegiance.[15][16] Due to her young age—Choniates describes the bride-to-be as "a child mouthing baby talk"[15]—the marriage, if there ever was one, was never consummated; Theodora remained in Constantinople, while Ivanko rose in revolt in 1199, only to be captured and imprisoned by a ruse.[17][18]
Shortly after, Theodora was used by Alexios III to gain the allegiance of another regional Balkan warlord, Dobromir Chrysos, who in 1201 had risen in revolt along with the disaffected Byzantine general Manuel Kamytzes. Chrysos was already married to Kamytzes' daughter, but readily accepted the Emperor's offer, and surrendered the fortresses of Pelagonia (modern Bitola) and Prilep, that he had captured, to the Emperor's forces.[19][20] Shortly after, Alexios III turned on Chrysos as well, and took him prisoner.[21]
Theodora is shown on the late 15th-century family tree [de] of the House of Babenberg at the Klosterneuburg Monastery north of Vienna. Along with her husband she is also one of the historical figures of the Ankeruhr [de], a monumental mechanical clock in Vienna city center.
Neukam, Susanna (2013). Schweigen ist Silber, Herrschen ist Gold: Die Babenbergerinnen und ihre Zeit (in German). Vienna: Amalthea Signum. ISBN978-3-85002-822-6.
Rhoby, Andreas (2004). "Wer war die "zweite" Theodora von Österreich? Analyse des Quellenproblems" [Who was the "second" Theodora of Austria? Analysis of the Sources]. Wiener Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik. Beiträge zum Symposion "Vierzig Jahre Institut für Byzantinistik und Neogräzistik der Universität Wien im Gedenken an Herbert Hunger" (Wien, 4.–7. Dezember 2002). Byzantina et Neograeca Vindobonensia XXIV (in German). Vienna. pp. 387–396.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)