Anastasia (wife of Constantine IV)

Empress consort of Constantine IV of the Byzantine Empire

Anastasia

Augusta
Empress of the Byzantine Empire
Tenure| 668–685

Born| c. 650
Died| after 711
Constantinople
(now Istanbul, Turkey)
Burial|

Church of the Holy Apostles

Spouse| Constantine IV
Issue| Justinian II
Heraclius
Dynasty| Heraclian

Anastasia (Greek: Ἀναστασία, c. 650 – after 711) was the empress consort of Constantine IV of the Byzantine Empire.[1]

## Empress[edit]

Anastasia entered historical record when her husband Constantine IV succeeded to the throne in 668. On September 15, 668, her father-in-law Constans II was assassinated in his bath by his chamberlain. He resided for the last few years of his reign in Syracuse, while Constantine and Anastasia[clarification needed] remained in Constantinople.

Anastasia became the senior Empress consort when news of the assassination reached the court. The birth of her first son, Justinian II, can be estimated to 668/669 due to the chronologies of Theophanes the Confessor and Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople. A reference in De Administrando Imperio by Constantine VII, places the birth in Cyprus.

Her only other son mentioned is named as Heraclius in the Liber Pontificalis. The entry on Pope Benedict II (term 26 June 684 – 8 May 685), mentions the Pope receiving locks of hair from both Justinian and Heraclius, presumably as a gesture of goodwill by their father.[2]

Constantine IV died of dysentery in September, 685. Anastasia is known to have survived him by more than two decades.

## Later life[edit]

Justinian succeeded to the throne and would go on to earn a reputation for excessive harshness. Justinian needed funds for his building projects and allowed Stephen the Persian, his logothetes tou genikou (responsible for the taxation of the state), to secure them by any means. Both Theophanes and Nikephoros claimed that Stephen inflicted corporal punishment or plain torture while trying to collect the needed funds.

Theophanes records an incident in 693/694, where Anastasia was subject to flagellation under the orders of Stephen. Justinian was absent at the time. The incident might indicate lasting hostility between the mother of the emperor and his favourite.[1]

The increased taxation and the methods used in collecting made Justinian increasingly unpopular with the people. He was deposed in a coup d'état under Leontius in 695. The whereabouts and status of Anastasia during the short reigns of Leontius (695–698) and Tiberius III (698–705) are unknown. Her son reclaimed the throne in 705 and would rule until 711.

Justinian died while facing a revolt under strategos Bardanes, renamed Philippicus. Justinian was captured and swiftly executed outside the gates of Constantinople. Anastasia resurfaces trying to protect the life of her six-year-old grandson, Tiberius. She took the boy to sanctuary at St. Mary's Church in Blachernae. However, they were pursued by Philippicus' henchmen. Anastasia was still pleading for his life while the boy was forcibly removed from the altar. He was executed despite her protests.[1]

How long she survived her son and grandson is unknown. She was mentioned by Leo Grammaticus to have been buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles alongside her husband.

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Lynda Garland (University of New England, New South Wales) (July 15, 2000). "Anastasia, wife of Constantine IV". Retrieved February 23, 2019.
2. ^ Lynda Garland (University of New England, New South Wales) (July 15, 2000). "Anastasia (Wife of Constantine IV)". Retrieved February 23, 2019. "Heraclius' existence is only known from the fact that a letter was sent by Constantine to Pope Benedict II (684-85) together with locks of his children's hair. (Liber Pontificalis (Book of Pontiffs) 83: 'Like the clergy and army he [Benedict] received locks of the hair of the lord Justinian and of Heraclius, the clement emperor's sons, and also a mandate in which he intimated he had sent the hair'; Stratos 4.5-6.)"

## Sources[edit]

* Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle
* Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople, Chronographikon syntomon
* Joannes Zonaras, Extracts of History.

Royal titles

Preceded by

Fausta

|  Byzantine Empress consort
668–685  | Succeeded by

Eudokia

* v
* t
* e

Roman and Byzantine empresses

Principate
27 BC – AD 235|

* Livia
* Livia Orestilla
* Lollia Paulina
* Milonia Caesonia
* Messalina
* Agrippina the Younger
* Claudia Octavia
* Poppaea Sabina
* Statilia Messalina
* Galeria Fundana
* Domitia Longina
* Pompeia Plotina
* Vibia Sabina
* Faustina the Elder
* Faustina the Younger
* Lucilla
* Bruttia Crispina
* Flavia Titiana
* Manlia Scantilla
* Julia Domna (w. Fulvia Plautilla)
* Julia Cornelia Paula
* Aquilia Severa
* Annia Faustina
* Sallustia Orbiana

Crisis
235–285|

* Caecilia Paulina (?)
* Tranquillina
* Marcia Otacilia Severa
* Herennia Etruscilla
* Cornelia Supera
* Cornelia Salonina
* Ulpia Severina
* Magnia Urbica

Dominate
284–610|

* Prisca
* Eutropia
* Galeria Valeria
* Flavia Maximiana Theodora
* Minervina (?)
* Fausta
* Valeria Maximilla
* Flavia Julia Constantia
* Eusebia
* Faustina
* Helena
* Charito
* Marina Severa
* Justina
* Domnica
* Constantia
* Laeta
* Aelia Flaccilla
* Galla

| Western Empire
395–480|

* Maria
* Thermantia
* Galla Placidia
* Licinia Eudoxia
* Marcia Euphemia
* Placidia
* Julius Nepos's wife

|

Eastern Empire
395–610|

* Aelia Eudoxia
* Aelia Eudocia
* Pulcheria
* Verina
* Ariadne
* Zenonis
* Euphemia
* Theodora
* Sophia
* Ino Anastasia
* Constantina
* Leontia

Eastern/
Byzantine Empire
610–1453|

* Fabia Eudokia
* Martina
* Gregoria
* Fausta
* Anastasia
* Eudokia
* Theodora of Khazaria
* Maria
* Tzitzak
* Maria
* Eudokia
* Anna
* Irene of Athens
* Maria of Amnia
* Theodote
* Theophano of Athens
* Prokopia
* Theodosia
* Thekla
* Euphrosyne
* Theodora
* Eudokia Dekapolitissa
* Eudokia Ingerina
* Theophano Martinakia
* Zoe Zaoutzaina
* Eudokia Baïana
* Zoe Karbonopsina
* Helena Lekapene
* Theodora
* Theophano
* Theodora
* Helena
* Zoë
* Theodora
* Catherine of Bulgaria
* Eudokia Makrembolitissa
* Maria of Alania
* Irene Doukaina
* Irene of Hungary (w. Dobrodeia of Kiev)
* Bertha of Sulzbach
* Maria of Antioch
* Agnes of France
* Margaret of Hungary
* Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera
* Eudokia Angelina
* Anna Komnene Angelina
* Philippa of Armenia
* Maria of Courtenay
* Irene Laskarina
* Anna of Hohenstaufen
* Elena Asenina of Bulgaria
* Theodora Palaiologina (w. Anna of Hungary)
* Irene of Montferrat
* Rita of Armenia
* Irene of Brunswick
* Anna of Savoy
* Helena Kantakouzene
* Irene Asanina (w. Irene Palaiologina)
* Keratsa of Bulgaria
* Irene Gattilusio
* Helena Dragaš (w. Anna of Moscow)
* Sophia of Montferrat
* Maria of Trebizond

See also|

* Roman emperor
* list
* Byzantine emperor
* Augustae

Italics indicates a consort to a junior co-emperor, underlining indicates a consort to an emperor variously regarded as either legitimate or a usurper, and bold incidates an empress regnant.
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