Euphrosyne married Alexios Angelos, the older brother of the future Emperor
Isaac II Angelos in c. 1169 CE. Euphrosyne took control of the palace and quelled the opposition herself, securing the accession of her husband to the throne by wholesale bribery. Euphrosyne was recognised as the true power behind the throne. Intelligent, determined, skilled in communication and organization, she had a talent for politics, and virtually ruled the Empire in the name of Alexios III, who had a reputation for being concerned primarily with pleasure and idle pursuits. She issued commands herself and even altered Alexios' decrees when it suited her, and secured the recall of the capable minister
Constantine Mesopotamites. Euphrosyne and Alexios were criticized for their love of finery and the enrichment of their relatives at state expense. Her own brother,
Basil Kamateros, and her son-in-law,
Andronikos Kontostephanos, possibly driven by anger at her apparent curtailing of overall familial power, accused Euphrosyne of adultery with one of her ministers, a nobleman named Vatatzes. In 1203, faced with the
Fourth Crusade and the return of his nephew,
Alexios IV Angelos, Alexios III fled
Constantinople with a magnificent treasure and some female relatives, including his daughter Irene. Euphrosyne was left behind and was immediately imprisoned by the new regime. Alexios IV was soon strangled by
Alexios Doukas Mourtzouphlos, the lover of Euphrosyne's daughter Eudokia, who then proclaimed himself emperor as Alexios V. In April 1204 Euphrosyne fled the city along with her daughter and Alexios V, and they made their way to
Mosynopolis, where Euphrosyne's husband Alexios III had taken refuge. Alexios III had Alexios V blinded and abandoned to the
crusaders, who had him executed. Euphrosyne and Alexios III fled across Greece to
Thessalonica and
Corinth, but were finally captured by
Boniface of Montferrat and imprisoned. In 1209 or 1210 they were ransomed by their cousin
Michael I of Epirus, and Euphrosyne spent the remainder of her life in
Arta. She died in 1210 or 1211. ==Family==