Irene of Hungary

Name The original Hungarian form of her name cannot be determined with complete certainty. Her original Hungarian name from first mentioned in the Chronicon Pictum, which refers to the daughter of Saint Ladislaus as Pyrisk. If Pyrisk is not a rendering of the name Piros but of Piroska, it is unclear why the final -a is omitted, which would have made the name declinable in the Latin text, and why an i appears in place of the o. If the name is instead derived from the Latin Prisca, the omission of the final -a is even more difficult to explain. There is no trace among the Árpáds of the veneration or even knowledge of Saint Prisca, moreover, both the name Prisca and Piroska are otherwise unknown in the Árpád period. Family Piroska was born in 1088, As Byzantine empress, following her settlement in Constantinople, Piroska was renamed Irene after she had to convert to the Eastern Orthodox faith, a name also borne by her mother-in-law, Irene Doukaina, as well as several other Byzantine empresses of the time., Istanbul)Irene died on 13 August 1134 and was later venerated as Saint Irene. == Physical appearance and character ==

At Hagia Sophia, in a mosaic dated circa 1118, Empress Irene is depicted as a fair-haired, rosy-cheeked empress in rigid ceremonial attire. No similar portrait of any other member of the Árpád dynasty is known. ==Issue==

She and John had eight children. The primary source about their order of births is the chronicle of Niketas Choniates: • Alexios Komnenos (February 1106 – 1142), co-emperor from 1122 to 1142. His birth is recorded in the Alexiad by Anna Komnene. • Maria Komnene (b. February 1106, twin to Alexios), who married John Rogerios Dalassenos. • Andronikos Komnenos (died 1142). • Anna Komnene, married Stephen Kontostephanos. • Isaac Komnenos (died 1154). • Theodora Komnene (died 12 May 1157), who married Manuel Anemas. • Eudokia Komnene, who married Theodore Vatatzes. • Manuel I Komnenos (died 1180), emperor from 1143 to 1180. == Legacy ==

Sainthood and veneration Irene was canonised during the reign of Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, most likely in 1166, making her the only canonised empress of 12th-century Byzantium. At the time of Irene's canonisation, Prince Béla (the future King Béla III of Hungary) was living at the Byzantine court as heir to the imperial throne and was a relative of Irene. It was later Béla who initiated the canonisation of Irene's father, King Ladislaus I of Hungary, later venerated as Saint Ladislaus. ==References==