Shaun Tougher: The Dynasty of Eudokia Ingerina: Female Power and the Macedonian Dynasty

The ‘Macedonian Dynasty’ (867-1056) is one of the longest-lived Byzantine dynasties. In discussion of its origins and identity much attention has been devoted to the figures of the ‘dynasty-founder’ Basil I (867-886) and his predecessor Michael III (840-867). The figure of Eudokia Ingerina (the wife of Basil and possible mistress of Michael) has, however, been rather side-lined in terms of her ‘dynastic’ role. This paper puts her centre stage, considering her role in the founding of the dynasty and her legacy for subsequent imperial women of the family. As wife of Basil I and mother of Leo VI, Basil’s successor, Eudokia is of the utmost dynastic importance. There survive several sources from the early period of the ‘Macedonian dynasty’ in which she features prominently so there is scope to analyse her image within the history and ‘propaganda’ of the dynasty. These sources are poems; the illustrated manuscript of the homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus; the Palazzo Venezia ivory casket; and a solidus of Basil I depicting Eudokia and Constantine, their eldest son. The paper also draws on data about Eudokia’s status as augusta and her burial in Holy Apostles, as well as later sources such as the Life of Basil and Leo VI’s funeral oration for his parents. The paper argues that it is through the figure of Eudokia that we see clearly the articulation of Byzantine perceptions of imperial power and inheritance; the role of the empress within the establishment and continuation of the dynasty is revealed as central.