Irene Choumnaina or Irene Choumnaina Palaiologina (Greek: Ειρήνη Χούμναινα Παλαιολογίνα; 1291–c. 1355) was a daughter of Nikephoros Choumnos and a nun under the name Eulogia, as well as a monastic founder, abbess, and theologian.
Life
In 1303, Irene Choumnaina married the despot John Palaiologos, son of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II and Yolande of Montferrat. She was entilted empress (basilissa), a title of which she was very proud and which she retained for the rest of her life. Widowed in 1307, she wished to become a nun under the influence of Theoleptos, bishop of Philadelphia and her spiritual advisor, and took the veil under the name Eulogia. She devoted a large part of her fortune to establishing the Monastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople.[1]
References
- ^ Nicol, Donald M. (1994). "Eirene-Eulogia Choumnaina Palaiologina, princess and abbess, died c. 1355". The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250-1500. Cambridge University Press. pp. 59–70. ISBN 978-0-521-45531-2.