Irene of Larissa

Empress consort of Bulgaria

Irene
Empress consort of Bulgaria

Born	Unknown Larissa, Byzantine Empire
Died	1015 Bulgaria
Spouse	Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria

Irene of Larissa (Bulgarian: Ирина от Лариса) was the second wife and empress-consort (tsaritsa) of tsar Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria.^[1]

John Skylitzes reports Irene was a "beautiful captive from Larissa", and nothing else is known about her antecedents. Gavril Radomir married her around 999 after he had expelled his first Hungarian wife, who was pregnant at this time.^[2]^[3]

They had seven children, five sons and two daughters.

Gavril Radomir succeeded to the Bulgarian throne in 1014, but his reign was short. Skylitzes reports that Irene was murdered along with her husband by his cousin, Ivan Vladislav, who seized the throne in 1015. He also took steps to ensure his position and ordered the mutilation of their eldest son.

Sources

История на българската държава през средните векове, Том I. История на Първото българско царство. Част II. От славянизацията на държавата до падането на Първото царство (852—1018). Васил Н. Златарски 4.Приемниците на цар Самуил и покорението на България от Василий II Българоубиец.
Runciman, Steven, The First Bulgarian Empire. 1930.
John Skylitzes. Synopsis Historion Archived 2001-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, translated by Paul Stephenson.

^ Stjepan Antoljak (1985). Samuel and His State. Macedonian Review Editions. p. 111.
^ 1993. Bulgarian Historical Review. Publishing House of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. "She was sent away by her husband who did not stop even at the fact that die Hungarian was pregnant, after which Gavril Radomir concluded a second marriage with "Irene, the beautiful captive from Larissa"."
^ Jovan Pavlovski, Mišel Pavlovski (1996). Macedonia yesterday and today. MI-AN. p. 87. "When Radomir occupied Larissa, he fell in love with a beautiful slave named Irene, and because of her turned out his pregnant wife..."