Eirene 3

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexF
FloruitM VIII
Dates730 (taq) / 750 (tpq)
PmbZ No.1437
ReligionChristian;
Iconophile
EthnicityKhazar
LocationsKhazaria (birthplace);
Holy Apostles (Church of the, Constantinople) (burialplace);
Khazaria (residence);
Constantinople (residence);
Khazaria;
Constantinople
Textual SourcesBar Hebraeus, Chronographia, tr. E. A. W. Budge, The Chronography of Abu 'l-Faraj (London, 1932; repr. Amsterdam, 1976) (history);
Chronicon Anonymi ad annum 1234 pertinens, ed. and tr. J.-B. Chabot, I = CSCO 81-82 (Paris, 1916-20), II = CSCO 109 (Louvain, 1937) (chronicle);
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, ed. G. Moravcsik, trans. R. J. H. Jenkins (Washington, D.C., 1967) (history);
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae Libri II, ed. J. J. Reiske, CSHB (Bonn, 1829); also ed. (in part) A. Vogt (Paris, 1935, repr. 1967) (history);
Nicephorus, Breviarium Historiae, ed. C. Mango, Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople: Short History; prev. ed. C. de Boor Nicephori ArchiepiscopiConstantinopolitani Opuscula Historica Leipzig 1880 (history);
Theophanes Confessor, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1883-85, repr. Hildesheim/NewYork, 1980); tr. and comm. C. Mango and R. Scott, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor, Oxford 1997 (chronicle);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)

Eirene 3 was daughter of the khagan of the Khazars (Anonymus 178): Nic. Brev. de Boor 58-59, Mango 63, Theoph AM 6224 (τὴν θυγατέρα Χαγάνου,) Theoph. AM 6241 (ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Χαγάνου τῆς Χαζαρίας θυγατρός), Zon. XV 4. 11 (ζεύγνυσιν αὐτῷ γαμετὴν τὴν θυγατέρα Χαγάνου τοῦ τῶν Σκυθῶν ἡγεμονεύοντος, βαπτίσας αὐτὴν καὶ ὀνομάσας Εἰρήνην), Zon. XV 6. 5 (τῷμέντοι Κοπρωνύμῳ ἡ τοῦ Χαγάνου θυγάτηρ ἔτεκε παῖδα, ὃν ὠνόμασε Λέοντα), Chron. 1234, §§164, 177 (pp. 310, 325). In 730 she was betrothed by the emperor Leo III (Leo 3) to his son Constantine (Konstantinos 7): Nic. Brev., de Boor 58-59, Mango 63. She married Constantine (Konstantinos 7) in 733 and became a Christian, receiving from Leo III the baptismal name Eirene (ποιήσας αὐτην Χριστιανὴν καὶ ὀνομάσας αὐτὴν Εἰρήνην : Theoph. AM 6224); after studying the Scriptures she was remarkable for her piety and for rejecting the iconoclasm of her husband and father-in-law (ἥτις ἐκμαθοῦσα τὰ ἱερὰ γράμματα διέπρεπεν ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ τὴν τούτων δυσσέβειανἐλέγχουσα: Theoph. AM 6224): Theoph. AM 6224, cf. Zon. XV 4. 11-12, Chron. 1234, §164 (unnamed).

On 25 January 750, she bore Constantine V (Konstantinos 7) a son, Leo 4 (the future emperor Leo IV) (ἐτέχθη τῷ βασιλεῖ Κωνσταντίνῳ υἱός, ὃν ἐπωνόμασε Λέοντα, ἐκ τῆς τοῦ Χαγάνου τῆς Χαζαρίας θυγατρός): Theoph. AM 6241, cf. Zon. XV 6. 5 (τῷ μέντοι Κοπρωνύμῳ ἡ τοῦ Χαγάνου θυγάτηρ ἔτεκε παῖδα, ὃν ὠνόμασε Λέοντα), Chron. 1234, § 177. She apparently died shortly afterwards, since Constantine V (Konstantinos 7) then married his second wife, Maria 1, who herself died in 752. Cf. Dunlop, Jewish Khazars, pp. 177ff. (where the allusion to "sacred letters", i.e. Scripture, is misunderstood).

Unnamed daughter of the khagan of the Khazars, she married Konstantinos 7 (the future emperor Constantine V) and received baptism: Bar Hebr., p. 110. She bore Constantine a son, Leo 4: Bar Hebr., p. 112. She died in the year 1063 Sel. (751/752): Bar Hebr., p. 113.

The wife of the emperor Constantine V (Konstantinos 7), she was buried in the Mausoleum of Justinian in the Church of the Holy Apostles: Const. Porph., De Cer. II 42 (Reiske 645). See Downey, "Tombs", p. 36. Daughter of the khagan of the Khazars; she married an emperor called Leo: Const. Porph., DAI 13, 62; 13, 134 (she was in fact the wife of Constantine V and the mother of Leo IV). Either Eirene 3 or Theodora 1 could be identified with the augusta who introduced to Constantinople from Khazaria the dress called tzitzakion, which was subsequently worn by the rulers on certain ceremonial occasions: Scholion to Const. Porph., De Cer. I 1. See also Theodora 1. See Rochow, Konstantin V, pp. 10-11, 212-213.

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