Martina (empress)
| Martina | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress of the Byzantine Empire | |||||
| Born | 6th century | ||||
| Died | after 641 Rhodes |
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| Spouse | Heraclius | ||||
| Issue | Constantine, Fabius, Theodosios, Heraklonas, David (Tiberios), Marinus, Augoustina, Anastasia/Martina, Febronia | ||||
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| Dynasty | Heraclian Dynasty | ||||
| Father | Martinus | ||||
| Mother | Maria | ||||
| Full name | |
|---|---|
| Martina |
Martina (died after 641) was the second Empress consort of Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire. She was a daughter of Maria, Heraclius' sister, and a certain Martinus. Maria and Heraclius were children of Heraclius the Elder and his wife Epiphania according to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor.
Eudokia, first wife of Heraclius, died on 13 August 612. According to the Chronographikon syntomon of Ecumenical Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople, the cause of death was epilepsy.
According to Theophanes, Martina married her maternal uncle not long after, placing the marriage in 613 at the latest. However Nikephoros places the marriage during the wars with the Eurasian Avars which took place in the 620s.
The marriage was considered to fall within the prohibited degree of kinship, according to the rules of Chalcedonian Christianity concerning incest. This particular case of marriage between an uncle and a niece had been declared legal since the time of the Codex Theodosianus. Thus the marriage was approved by the people of Constantinople and the Church.
Despite his disapproval and attempts to convince Heraclius to repudiate Martina, Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople performed the ceremony himself and crowned Martina in the Augustaeum after she was proclaimed Augusta by Heraclius. Even the members of the imperial family voiced their objections, with Heraclius' brother (and Martina's uncle) Theodore continually criticising Heraclius.
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