Family
Theodora was a daughter of Ioannes Doukas Vatatzes (born 1215) and wife Eudokia Angelina. The names of her parents were recorded by George Acropolites. NB: Link to John III Doukas Vatatzes is incorrect. John III would appear to be the uncle of this Ioannes.
Her paternal grandparents were sebastokrator Isaac Doukas Vatatzes (died 1261) and his unnamed wife. Isaac was an older brother of John III Doukas Vatatzes who reigned in the Empire of Nicaea from 1221 to 1254.
Her maternal grandparents were protostrator John Komnenos Angelos and his unnamed wife. His name indicates him being a member of the Angelos family. However his exact relations to the reigning members of the family are not known.
John III and Isaac were probably sons of domestikos Basil Vatatzes, killed in battle against forces of Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria in 1193. Their mother was an unnamed cousin of the Emperors Isaac II Angelos and Alexios III Angelos.
Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten (1978) by Detlev Schwennicke suggests the wife of Basil to be a daughter of Isaac Angelos, strategos of Cilicia in 1170.
The elder Isaac is given by the same book as a son of Constantine Angelos, Admiral of Sicily (c. 1085 – aft. July 1166) and his wife Theodora Komnene. Theodora was the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Irene Doukaina.
Read more about this topic: Theodora Doukaina Vatatzaina
Famous quotes containing the word family:
“Some [adolescent] girls are depressed because they have lost their warm, open relationship with their parents. They have loved and been loved by people whom they now must betray to fit into peer culture. Furthermore, they are discouraged by peers from expressing sadness at the loss of family relationships—even to say they are sad is to admit weakness and dependency.”
—Mary Pipher (20th century)
“When one family builds a wall, two families benefit from it.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Views of women, on one side, as inwardly directed toward home and family and notions of men, on the other, as outwardly striving toward fame and fortune have resounded throughout literature and in the texts of history, biology, and psychology until they seem uncontestable. Such dichotomous views defy the complexities of individuals and stifle the potential for people to reveal different dimensions of themselves in various settings.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)