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Keratsa of Bulgaria
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Keratsa of Bulgaria
Keratsa of Bulgaria (1348 – c. 1400) was a Bulgarian princess and Byzantine empress consort as the wife of Andronikos IV Palaiologos. She was the mother of John VII Palaiologos.
Keratsa was born in 1348 as the princess of Bulgaria, daughter of Tsar Ivan Aleksandar of Bulgaria. She spent her early years at the Bulgarian court and remained there during the empire's final periods of stability, which came about as a result of Ivan Aleksandar's expansion of Bulgaria's territory and improvement of its economy. She left the country in 1356 when she was about seven or eight.
Based on her depiction, Keratsa was not particularly prominent, exemplified by the image of her brother Ivan Asen's funeral, where Keratsa is seen placed in the background. In another family portrait, which features her father and three brothers, she is absent. However, a third family portrait has her included and prominently placed alongside Ivan Alexander, her sisters, and the husband of her sister Kera Tamara. Lilyana Yordanova, an art historian, argues that Keratsa's red dress and green mantle on one of the portraits[which?] suggests she was already betrothed in 1355.
According to Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras, Keratsa was married to the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos IV Palaiologos, the porphyrogenitus of Emperor John V Palaiologos, some time between 1355-1357 when they were both approximately eight or nine. Bulgaria and Byzantium had gone to war about fifteen years earlier, and the marriage was part of a peace treaty between the two nations. At the time, Byzantium was struggling due to attacks from the Turks, Serbs, and Bulgarians, as well as civil wars and the Black Plague. By forming a marriage alliance with Bulgaria, Byzantium protected itself from further military conflicts with Bulgaria and secured an ally against the Turks.[citation needed] However, the Byzantines eventually became dissatisfied with the union, sparking a conflict between the two nations in 1364.
The poem "Vatican cod. gr. 1851" is suspected to have been written about Keratsa's child marriage to Andronikos IV, which took place immediately after her arrival in Byzantium by ship. The poem opens with the King (Ivan Aleksandar) of a Western land (Bulgaria) debating whether or not he should give Keratsa to Byzantium; he decides to do it for the sake of the empire. The king then sends a messenger to Byzantium, and all the Byzantines rejoice when they hear the news. Then the princess arrives in the great city, and the emperor sends all female courtiers to receive her and prepare to be the empress.
Upon arrival in Byzantium, Keratsa changed her name to Keratsa-Maria and was educated among the children of the palace alongside her husband. Keratsa and Andronikos grew up together and became close, and Keratsa was often at the side of her husband. She remained by her husband's side throughout many hardships, including war, exile, imprisonment, and difficulties conceiving. They had one child together, John VII, in 1370.
Keratsa was empress by marriage to Andronikos IV Palaiologos from 1376 to 1379 and from 1381 to 1385. She became empress, as Byzantium was recovering from recent civil wars and the Black Plague and rapidly losing territory to the Turks, Serbs, and Bulgarians. Keratsa contributed to the stability of Byzantium and helped prevent the empire's collapse during these difficulties.
Much of Keratsa's life took place during the struggles of Andronikos IV and her son, John VII Palaiologos. The historian Petra Melichar writes extensively about Keratsa-Maria's life. Melichar says that Keratsa would have accompanied Andronikos IV and John VII in important diplomatic missions throughout the civil disputes as a loyal wife and mother, and that she would have played an active role in the disputes. The Spanish traveler R.G Clavijo says that when Andronikos had been blinded by John V with hot vinegar in 1373, Keratsa partially healed the blindness. According to the Vita Caroli Zeni, Maria had a jailor's wife tortured in 1376, because she held Venetian plans to rescue John V from Tenedos. By doing this, she foiled the Venetians' plans to escape.
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Keratsa of Bulgaria
Keratsa of Bulgaria (1348 – c. 1400) was a Bulgarian princess and Byzantine empress consort as the wife of Andronikos IV Palaiologos. She was the mother of John VII Palaiologos.
Keratsa was born in 1348 as the princess of Bulgaria, daughter of Tsar Ivan Aleksandar of Bulgaria. She spent her early years at the Bulgarian court and remained there during the empire's final periods of stability, which came about as a result of Ivan Aleksandar's expansion of Bulgaria's territory and improvement of its economy. She left the country in 1356 when she was about seven or eight.
Based on her depiction, Keratsa was not particularly prominent, exemplified by the image of her brother Ivan Asen's funeral, where Keratsa is seen placed in the background. In another family portrait, which features her father and three brothers, she is absent. However, a third family portrait has her included and prominently placed alongside Ivan Alexander, her sisters, and the husband of her sister Kera Tamara. Lilyana Yordanova, an art historian, argues that Keratsa's red dress and green mantle on one of the portraits[which?] suggests she was already betrothed in 1355.
According to Byzantine historian Nicephorus Gregoras, Keratsa was married to the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos IV Palaiologos, the porphyrogenitus of Emperor John V Palaiologos, some time between 1355-1357 when they were both approximately eight or nine. Bulgaria and Byzantium had gone to war about fifteen years earlier, and the marriage was part of a peace treaty between the two nations. At the time, Byzantium was struggling due to attacks from the Turks, Serbs, and Bulgarians, as well as civil wars and the Black Plague. By forming a marriage alliance with Bulgaria, Byzantium protected itself from further military conflicts with Bulgaria and secured an ally against the Turks.[citation needed] However, the Byzantines eventually became dissatisfied with the union, sparking a conflict between the two nations in 1364.
The poem "Vatican cod. gr. 1851" is suspected to have been written about Keratsa's child marriage to Andronikos IV, which took place immediately after her arrival in Byzantium by ship. The poem opens with the King (Ivan Aleksandar) of a Western land (Bulgaria) debating whether or not he should give Keratsa to Byzantium; he decides to do it for the sake of the empire. The king then sends a messenger to Byzantium, and all the Byzantines rejoice when they hear the news. Then the princess arrives in the great city, and the emperor sends all female courtiers to receive her and prepare to be the empress.
Upon arrival in Byzantium, Keratsa changed her name to Keratsa-Maria and was educated among the children of the palace alongside her husband. Keratsa and Andronikos grew up together and became close, and Keratsa was often at the side of her husband. She remained by her husband's side throughout many hardships, including war, exile, imprisonment, and difficulties conceiving. They had one child together, John VII, in 1370.
Keratsa was empress by marriage to Andronikos IV Palaiologos from 1376 to 1379 and from 1381 to 1385. She became empress, as Byzantium was recovering from recent civil wars and the Black Plague and rapidly losing territory to the Turks, Serbs, and Bulgarians. Keratsa contributed to the stability of Byzantium and helped prevent the empire's collapse during these difficulties.
Much of Keratsa's life took place during the struggles of Andronikos IV and her son, John VII Palaiologos. The historian Petra Melichar writes extensively about Keratsa-Maria's life. Melichar says that Keratsa would have accompanied Andronikos IV and John VII in important diplomatic missions throughout the civil disputes as a loyal wife and mother, and that she would have played an active role in the disputes. The Spanish traveler R.G Clavijo says that when Andronikos had been blinded by John V with hot vinegar in 1373, Keratsa partially healed the blindness. According to the Vita Caroli Zeni, Maria had a jailor's wife tortured in 1376, because she held Venetian plans to rescue John V from Tenedos. By doing this, she foiled the Venetians' plans to escape.
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