Anna Dalassene

Who was Anna Dalassene?

Anna Dalassene was an important Byzantine noblewoman who played a significant role in the rise of the Komnenoi to power in the eleventh century. As Augusta, a title bestowed upon her rather than his empress-consort by her son, Alexios I Komnenos, she guided the empire during his many absences for long military campaigns against Turkish and other incursions into the Byzantine empire. As empress-mother, she exerted more influence and power than the empress-consort, Irene Doukaina, whom she hated because of past intrigues with the Doukas family.