Maria I Claudia
| Maria I Augusta Saint Maria Augusta | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <imgur w=220>oGzPDl1.png</imgur> Portrait of Maria I Augusta, c. 16th century | |||||
| Latin Empress (more...) | |||||
| Reign | 11 September 1011 – 25 December 1059 | ||||
| Coronation | 19 November 1014 | ||||
| Predecessor | Constantine XV | ||||
| Successor | Maurice | ||||
| Regent | Anastasia Psellos (until 1014) | ||||
| Co-monarch | Michael V (1021–1027) | ||||
| Born | 25 December 996 Palatium Supranio, Adrianople, Latium | ||||
| Died | 25 December 1059 (aged 63) Alexandria, Latium | ||||
| Burial | Basilica of Holy Apostles, Alexandria | ||||
| Spouse | husband (m. 1030) | ||||
| Issue Detail | Prince Constantine Princess Anna Peter I of Adrianople | ||||
| |||||
| House | Claudia | ||||
| Father | Constantine XIV | ||||
| Mother | Anastasia | ||||
| Religion | Fabrian Catholic | ||||
Maria I Augusta (Maria Claudia Sophia Euphemia Constantia Caesaris Augusta; b. 25 December 996 – 25 December 1059), also known as Saint Maria Augusta in the Fabrian Catholic Church, was the 82nd Latin monarch, and the first woman to serve as monarch in her own right. She was the middle child of Emperor Constantine XIV and wife. She spent a great deal of her childhood in Adrianople away from court in Alexandria. Her older brother, Constantine XV was a sickly man, and would only reign for a meager three years after their father's death, leaving no surviving legitimate heir of his own. In the time leading up to her father's death death, Constantine XIV issued the Orders of Succession to allow for his Maria to eventually succeed to the throne. It remains the only officially defined law regarding succession in Latium to this day.
Maria was a girl of thirteen when she reached Alexandria and was proclaimed Empress of the Latins, marking her first visit to the capital. The early years of her reign were under the regency of her mother, Lady Anastasia Psellos. It wasn't until she was eighteen that she was able to remove her mother as regent through force. Empress Maria married her cousin, Michael Claudius in 1016. The two jointly ruled from 1021 until his untimely death in 1027. The death of her first husband Michael was said to have scared her, with many writings of the era speaking of the great love they had for one another
Maria was empress at a great turning point for the Latin Empire, and initated invasions of modern-day Vannois and other nearby Belisarian realms. These invasions eventually proved to be catastrophic for Latium, as they resulted in the death of her only son and heir Prince Constantine, but also overextended the empire's already thinly stretched resources. Empress Maria would die days after hearing of her son's death, leaving Latium in the hands of Emperor Maurice, her 9 year old grandson, who was later overthrown and murdered marking the end of Latium's peak as a Belisarian power of the era.