Eudokia Makrembolitissa

Eudokia Makrembolitissa was a Byzantine empress by her successive marriages to Constantine X Doukas and Romanos IV Diogenes. She acted as regent of her minor son, Michael VII in 1067, and resigned her regency by marriage to Romanos IV Diogenes. When he was deposed in 1071 she resumed the regency for her sons, but was soon forced to resign again. Because she essentially ruled in her own right during her sole regencies and retained the title of empress, several modern scholars consider Eudokia to have been empress regnant in 1067 and some also in 1071. Background and early life Eudokia Makrembolitissa was the daughter of John Makrembolites and a niece of Michael I Cerularius, the patriarch of Constantinople, whose sister had married Makrembolites. John, who belonged to the aristocracy of Constantinople, allied with Cerularius in 1040 to conspirate against Emperor Michael IV, but their plan was stopped soon after. The birth date of Eudokia is unknown, but scholars often place it on 1030. Some authors give her a lifespan of 1021–1096, but this is not corroborated by other sources. Eudokia married Constantine X Doukas sometime before his accession in 1059, probably 1049, when Constantine was 43 years old. She was Constantine's second wife, as his first one, a daughter of Duke Constantine Dalassenos, died soon after their marriage. By 1059 they already had at least give children: the future Michael VII, an unnamed son who died young, Andronikos Doukas, Anna Doukaina and Theodora Doukaina. Empress