Bertha of Sulzbach

Bertha of Sulzbach (1110s – 1159), also known as Irene, was a Byzantine empress by marriage to Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Life She was born in Sulzbach, a daughter of Berengar II, Count of Sulzbach (c. 1080 – 3 December 1125) and his second spouse Adelheid of Wolfratshausen. He was one of the rulers who signed the Concordat of Worms. Empress Emissaries of the Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos arrived in Germany, seeking an alliance against Roger II of Sicily. To seal the alliance, the emissaries requested that Conrad send a princess of his family to be married to the emperor's son, Manuel. Instead, Conrad selected his sister-in-law, Bertha, and after legally adopting her as his daughter, sent her to the Byzantine Empire escorted by Emicho von Leiningen, the Bishop of Würzburg.