Irene Choumnaina

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 (Greek: Ευλογία), 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 Irene 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 of Philadelphia, who was her spiritual advisor,[1][2] and took the veil under the name Eulogia. She devoted a large part of her fortune in establishing the Monastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople,[1][3][4] which she also entered and administered.[5]

After the death of Theoleptos, she continued his legacy and commissioned copies of his letters and monastic orations. However, she remained without a spiritual guide for a decade, until Gregory Akindynos filled that role.[6] She remained active in the intellectual life of the capital, maintaining a large library, commissioning copies of manuscripts, and corresponding with scholars of the time.[7]

Her friend and fellow student of Theoleptos, Matthew of Ephesus, commended her as such for her spiritual and intellectual achievements:

You have become a paradigm of virtue to both women and men. [...] a reminder of the highest philosophy and endurance.[6]

She was possibly condemned for her Akindynist and anti-Palamite stance in 1351, by the Fifth Council of Constantinople.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Nicol 1994, p. 59–70.
  2. ^ Bautista 2024, p. 83.
  3. ^ Necipoğlu 2001, p. 239, 240.
  4. ^ Nicol 1994, p. 152.
  5. ^ Bautista 2024, p. 38.
  6. ^ a b Bautista 2024, p. 84.
  7. ^ Cavallo 1997, p. 137.
  8. ^ Bautista 2024, p. 63.

Sources

  • Cavallo, Guglielmo (1997). The Byzantines. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-09792-3.
  • Juan López, Juan Bautista (2024). Manuel Gabalas: Biography, Intellectual Network, Works and Thought. Department of Medieval Studies of the Central European University Private University, Vienna.
  • Nicol, Donald M. (1994). "Eirene-Eulogia Choumnaina Palaiologina, princess and abbess, died c. 1355". The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250-1500. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45531-2.
  • Nicol, Donald M. (1993) [1972]. The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453 (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43991-6.
  • Necipoğlu, Nevra (2001). Byzantine Constantinople: monuments, topography, and everyday life. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-11625-2.
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