ostensibly in the
interests of Michael VII., son of Constantine; and when Romanus, having
been released by his gallant foe, returned to Constantinople, Ducas had
him seized and blinded and left to die through neglect. Eudocia was
forced to retire to a monastery and take the veil; there she devoted
herself to literary labors. She is reputed to be the author of a learned
work, still extant, entitled Ionia, a species of historical and
mythological dictionary. The last public appearance of the hapless
Eudocia was on the occasion of the funeral of the valiant Romanus, which
she was permitted to celebrate in an imposing manner.

A period of anarchy followed the cruel death of Romanus, and there were
at one time no less than six pretenders to the throne. Throughout this
trying period John Ducas maintained his power as regent, relinquishing
his regency only when his ward, Michael VII., became of age and asserted
his rights. Michael was fortunate in the choice of his empress, Princess
Maria, daughter of the King of Iberia, whose beauty and grace are
celebrated by the historian Anna Comnena. When her husband was
overthrown and slain by the rebel Nicephorus Botaniates, Maria married
the latter, with the hope of securing the throne for her child and the
regency for herself. And from this time on her story is closely
interwoven with that of the Comneni princesses, to whom we now return.

John Comnenus died soon after Constantine Ducas, leaving to the widowed
Anna the task of bringing up a large family of eight children,--Manuel,
Isaac, Alexius, Adrian, Nicephorus, Maria, Eudocia, and Theodora. But
Anna was equal to the task, and deserves to be ranked among the great
mothers of the world. She gave herself up to the proper education of her
sons and daughters, and to the promotion of their political advancement.
She could never console herself for the loss of an imperial crown
through the weakness of her husband, and all her tireless energy was
directed toward recovering her lost opportunity and reaching the throne
through the elevation of one of her sons. What is recounted of her shows
that she was a woman of extraordinary intelligence, inexhaustible
energy, remarkable political astuteness, and inordinate ambition.

After performing political services of great merit, Manuel, the eldest,
died at an early age. The mother sought to make her sons Isaac and
Alexius men who could show themselves capable of performing every task
imposed upon them in the high station they were destined to acquire; and
the proof of the influence she exerted in the formation of their
characters is seen not only in their high attainments, but also in the
ascendency she retained over Alexius when he had reached the throne.

Owing to her undying hatred of the house of Ducas, Anna attached herself
to the party of the Empress Eudocia and Romanus, and, being then in high
favor at court, she married her daughter Theodora to Romanus's son
Constantine. The revolution made by John Ducas to the advantage of
himself and his ward, Michael VII., upset all the well-laid plans of
Anna Dalassena; and the fall of Romanus marked for a time the end of the
favor of the Comneni. Anna showed her firmness of character by remaining
faithful to the cause of the dethroned emperor. Her correspondence with
him was detected, and she was exiled, with her children, to one of the
Prince's Isles. Her exile did not last long, however, for she was
recalled and restored to favor; and Michael VII. brought about the
marriage of Isaac, the eldest son since the death of Manuel, to Irene,
daughter of an Alanian prince, and cousin-german to the Empress Maria.

Meanwhile, another matrimonial scheme was being matured, which was not
at all in accordance with the wishes of Anna and the empress. John
Ducas, from the monastery to which he had retired, projected the
marriage of his grand-daughter Irene, with Alexius Comnenus, who was
rapidly growing in promise and influence, and was already giving
evidence of his political astuteness and diplomacy. Alexius gladly
welcomed an alliance which would unite the two most powerful families of
Constantinople in his interest, but his patrician mother opposed any
affiliation with the rival house, and hated the very name of Ducas. The
Empress Maria also had plans for Alexius, with which she feared this
alliance would interfere, and at first threatened open opposition. But
Alexius won his point with his usual cleverness. Anna finally yielded to
his persuasion, and the empress gave her reluctant consent. The result
of the union was that Alexius at once became the most powerful of the
younger nobles at the court.

The next step in his career was also determined by the profound wisdom
or wily caprice of a woman. To the surprise of her friends and
consternation of her enemies, the Empress Maria adopted Alexius as her
son. Anna Dalassena in all probability had a hand in this move for the
elevation of her house, but it is difficult to see what was the motive
of the empress, who had a young son, Constantine, whom she wished to
succeed to the purple. Perhaps she felt the need of a strong hand to
support the claims of herself and her son against her second husband,
the usurper Nicephorus Botaniates. Perhaps she was captivated by the
manly vigor and personal charms of the young man, and wished to play
with Alexius the rГґle of Theophano with Zimisces. It is impossible to
state her motive, but the step was the first move toward the final
overthrow of her house and the succession of the Comneni.

Alexius had now all the reins of power in his hands, and a revolution
against Botaniates ensued. The usurper was overthrown and Alexius was
proclaimed emperor by the army. At first Constantine, the son of the
Empress Maria and Michael VII., was associated with him on the throne,
though still in his minority. Anna Dalassena and Maria, dreading the
ascendency of Irene Ducas, wife of Alexius, plotted to prevent her
coronation as empress, but the patriarch, who was a partisan of the
house of Ducas, defeated their intrigues; a few days after Alexius
assumed the purple, Irene, with imposing ceremonies, was crowned
empress.

Alexius well knew how to gain over to his support and utilize for his
schemes the intriguing women who were about him. He had a profound
respect for the political sagacity of his mother and during the earlier
years of his reign her word exerted a deep influence on the course of
government. When he was called away from Constantinople by the wars that
demanded his personal attention, he left his mother as regent during his
absence.

The first offspring of the union of Alexius and Irene was a daughter,
Anna Comnena. She was in her infancy affianced to Constantine, and the
two were regarded as heirs to the throne, much to the delight of the
ex-Empress Maria. In the ceremonies of the court, the names of
Constantine and Anna immediately followed those of Alexius and Irene.

Finally, in 1088, the empress bore a son, the third of her children. The
joy of Alexius was unbounded. Seeing the possibility of his son carrying
on the dynasty and perpetuating the name of Comnenus, Alexius determined
to set aside the claims of Constantine and his eldest daughter. An
estrangement with Maria Ducas followed. In 1092, John in his fourth year
was proclaimed emperor, and Constantine was deprived of his rights. The
rupture between Alexius and Maria was a source of enmity to the reigning
house. Chagrined at the failure of her plans, and at the usurpation of
one to whom she had shown every kindness, the ex-empress took part in a
conspiracy against Alexius. But the plot was exposed in time, and all
who were engaged in it were severely punished, except the ex-empress,
who was permitted by her adopted son to go into peaceful retirement.

Constantine, though no longer associated on the throne, was still
affianced to Anna, but an early death removed him from the scene of
action and the intrigues of the court. In 1097, Anna was married to
Nicephorus Bryennius, scion of a noble house. The mother, Anna
Dalassena, continued for some time to be a powerful factor at court,
but, becoming unpopular and realizing that she was losing her hold on
her imperial son, she finally followed the usual custom of retiring to a
monastery.

Thus the ex-Empress Maria and Anna--the real founder of the fortune of
her house--found in religious retirement and meditation a life of peace
and tranquillity after the turmoils of revolutions and the intrigues of
imperial politics. The one had seen the failure of her plans and the
downfall of her house; the other could look with pride upon the full
fruition of her plots for the elevation of the Comneni.

The reign of Alexius I.,--Comnenus,--occupies a considerable place not
only in Byzantine, but, also, in general history. It inaugurated a new
era in the relations between the East and the West, between the Greek
and the Latin, both in affairs of Church and state, and the events of
which the tragic expedition of 1204 was the climax had their beginning
in the days when the courtiers of Alexius revelled with the companions
of Godfrey of Bouillon. Equally important is this reign from the point
of view of the Byzantine Empire; it put an end to the anarchy of the
eleventh century, it established a dynasty which restored much of the
territory that weak rulers had lost, and for over a century it preserved
the tottering Empire from its inevitable fall. It was a period in which
woman's influence was marked, and its record is well known to us because
of the literary skill of Anna Comnena. This imperial princess is the
first woman in the world's annals to write an extended history. Both in
learning and in personality she has won a place among the notable women
of the world, and hers is the last great name in the chronicles of
Byzantine womanhood.

In the comprehensive education which Anna received, we have a view of
the literary prominence of the Comnenic epoch. She had the best masters
the Empire afforded, and in her childhood she exhibited a phenomenal
capacity for learning. Her teachers gave her thorough training in the
works of classical authors. She read Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides,
Aristophanes, the Tragedians and Polybius under suitable guidance, and
without assistance mastered the writings of the church fathers. She
studied with avidity ancient mythology, geography, history, rhetoric,
and dialectic, and was also versed in Platonic and Aristotelian
philosophy. It was in history, however, that she found her chief
delight, and she early conceived the idea of composing a work in honor
of her father's reign.

We have already mentioned the incidents of her childhood. Anna never
forgave her brother John for supplanting her, and this disappointment of
her tender years largely influenced the course of her later life. She
was devoted to Maria, the mother of her first betrothed, and no doubt
imbibed from her much of the ambition and hatred which were the marked
characteristics of her career in politics. Her empress-mother, Irene,
also exhibited a marked partiality for her eldest daughter, to the
disparagement of her son, whom Alexius had destined for the throne.
Irene was a beautiful and intriguing princess of much natural ability,
and stood in awe of the greater learning of her daughter. The two became
companions in intrigue and diplomacy, and worked together for the
promotion of their own interests, against the schemes of Alexius and
John. Anna was married at a tender age to Nicephorus Bryennius. He was
the representative of one of the most aristocratic and powerful families
of Constantinople, and exhibited much ability both in authorship and
statecraft, but he seems mediocre and colorless by the side of his
spouse.

Walter Scott laid the scene of his Count Robert of Paris in the
Constantinople of this period, and he presents an interesting picture of
Anna as a devotee of the Muses, and of the principal heroes and heroines
who figure in the intrigues of the