Who was Anna Comnena?

Answer 1

Anna Comnena was a princess in medieval times.Anna was born in the Porphyra Chamber (the purple chamber) of the palace of Constantinople.

She was the eldest of seven children.

Tutors trained her in subjects that included astronomy, medicine, history, military affairs, geography, and math.

As it was normal in medieval times, Anna was betrothed as a child. She was betrothed to Constantine Doukas, the son of Emperor Michael VII and Maria of Alania. At the time of the engagement Emperor Alexios I had no male heirs to inherit the throne, so Constantine was declared the co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire, but in 1087 John II was born.Constantine died shortly after.

When Anna was 14 she married Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger. Nikephoros Bryennios was the son of an aristocratic family. Nikephoros was also a historian. Anna wrote that the marriage was a political union rather than one of love.However their marrige was successful for forty years, and they had four children together.

In 1087, Anna's brother, John II Komnenos, was born.It is said that Emperor Alexios, Anna's father, "favored" John and made him emperor in 1092. On the other hand, Anna's mother, Irene Doukaina, continually attempted to persuade the emperor to make Anna's husband emperor. Around 1112, Alexios fell sick with rheumatism and could not move.As Emperor Alexios lay dying in his imperial bedchamber, John arrived and secretly took the emperor's ring from his father during an embrace pretending to mourn. In 1118, Alexios I Komnenos died.

In the monastery, Anna gave her time to studying philosophy and history.

As he was a historian, Anna's husband had been working on an piece of writing that he called "Material For History", which was based on the reign of Anna's father. He died before finishing the work. At the age of 55, Anna finished her husbands work, calling it The Alexiad. The Alexiad is today the biggest source of Byzantine political history from the end of the 11th century to the start of the 12th century.

We do not know the exact date of Anna Komnene's death. It is mentioned in the Alexiad that she was still alive in 1148.

The Alexiad shows Anna's emotional confusion. She wrote that no one could see her, yet many hated her.

The novel,Anna of Byzantium, starts with Anna Comnena in the convent where she was placed by her brother, emperor John II Comnenus, after she tried to poison him and failed. The book is told from Anna's point of view as she ponders on her previous years and history. Anna thinks about her life as a child under the influence of her grandmother,and how her brother became emperor.

Answer 2

Anna Comnena was a Byzantine princess born in 1083 and the daughter of Emperor Alexios I Comnenos. She is known for her chronicle, the Alexiad, which chronicles the reign of her father. Anna Comnena is considered an important figure in Byzantine history and one of the first female historians.