Origins & Early Life

Dobrodeia Mstislavna of Kiev (Cyrillic: Добродея Мстиславна; baptized Eupraxia [Εὐπραξία] or Irene [Εἰρήνη]; died 16 November 1131) was a Byzantine empress by marriage to co-emperor Alexios Komnenos. She was also an author on medicine. Born in Kiev in the early years of the 12th century, Dobrodeia was the daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev and Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden. In or shortly after 1122, she married Alexios Komnenos, the eldest son and co-emperor of Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos (r.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

1118–1143). She received the title of empress (basilissa), and the Christian name "Irene", after her mother-in-law, Empress Irene of Hungary (other sources give her Christian name as "Eupraxia"). She and Alexios had one daughter, Maria, who was born c. 1125. In the imperial court of Constantinople, she became a part of a circle of women intellectuals, notably Alexios' aunt Anna Comnena, and the noblewoman Irene, known as a patron of astrologers and scholars.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

She was encouraged to find her own scholarly interest, studied extensively and was described by contemporaries: "She was not born in Athens, but she learned all the wisdom of the Greeks". The writer Theodore Balsamon noted that...

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