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Latest comment: 7 years ago4 comments2 people in discussion
"Theodore became the lover of the dowager empress Anna, then aged 22; they did not marry because in marrying a commoner she would have lost her dowry."
I think this isn't correct. Theodore Branas' mother Anna Komnene Vatatzina belonged to the Komnenos family through her own mother Eudokia Komnene, daughter of John II Komnenos and his father Alexios Branas also was a Komnenos through his mother Maria Komnene, Alexios I Komnenos' great-niece. I don't think he can be considered a commoner with such ancestors, except if women couldn't pass down nobility when they married commoners (like in France). So I don't think that's the reason why Theodore Branas and Anna didn't marry. Maybe the above sentence should be removed.--Aziliz Breizh (talk) 16:49, 27 July 2016 (UTC)Reply
Certainly one could say that he was a noble rather than a commoner!
I wrote those words ("because ...") a long time ago, and I can't now find that I had a source for them. There are sources for the statement that they became lovers, however, and that they married later at the urging of Baldwin I. I'll remove the "because ..." clause. OK? Andrew Dalby 14:06, 28 July 2016 (UTC)Reply
OK, thank you for your answer. Indeed, it's funny to have two noble people, one a widow, the other a bachelor, living together without marrying in this era. Maybe they married in order to legitimize their daughter?--Aziliz Breizh (talk) 14:16, 30 July 2016 (UTC)Reply
I picked up an implication somewhere that they married because Baldwin, having taken power as the result of a Christian crusade, wanted to have everything just right at his court. If so, he did not survive very long to enjoy it.
Illegitimate children of royals and nobles often did very well in life, so whether illegitimacy would have been a problem for their daughter I don't honestly know. You could be right, after all. Andrew Dalby 10:24, 31 July 2016 (UTC)Reply
