Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene

Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene (Greek: Άννα Καντακουζηνή) (died after 1313) was the niece of the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, second wife of Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus and regent of Epirus upon his death around 1297.

Anna was the third of four daughters born to John Kantakouzenos and his wife Irene Palaiologia, sister of Michael VIII Palaiologos. Anna and her three sisters all lived to adulthood, they were: Theodora Raoulaina, wife of George Mouzalon, Maria Palaiologina Kantakouzene, Empress consort of Bulgaria and Eugenia Palaiologina Kantakouzene, wife of Syrgiannes and mother of Syrgiannes Palaiologos.

Anna was married in the autumn of 1264 to Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas as part of a peace agreement between her uncle Emperor Michael and Nikephoros' father Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the leader of the pro-Byzantine party in Epirus. Anna dominated her husband, similar to her sisters Maria and Theodora. She became Despotess of Neopatras in 1289. Nikephoros had been married once before to Maria, the daughter of Emperor Theodore II Doukas Laskaris and had one daughter, Catherine.

After the restoration of Orthodoxy under Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1282, Nikephoros renewed the alliance with the Byzantine Empire through Anna, who travelled to Constantinople to arrange the treaty; Anna herself served the interests of the Byzantine court. In 1284 they lured Michael, the son of John Doukas of Thessaly, to Epirus with the promise of a dynastic alliance, and had him arrested and sent off to Constantinople. This drew Nikephoros into a war against his half-brother, who ravaged the environs of Arta in retaliation in 1285. Anna embarked on an ambitious project of uniting the houses of Epirus and Constantinople by marrying her daughter Thamar to Michael IX Palaiologos, Andronikos II's son and co-emperor. Although this project failed, in 1290 her young son Thomas was conferred the dignity of Despot by the emperor.

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