The parentage of Evdokia is not known. The Annales Pisani (probably written [1182]) records that "l'Imperatore Emanuel" sent his envoys to arrange the betrothal of "una sua nepote…al fratello del Re di Aragona" (Raymond Bérenger III Comte de Provence), the projected marriage aimed at thwarting the influence of the Emperor Friedrich "Barbarossa" through an alliance with Emperor Manuel I, but the betrothal was terminated by Emperor Friedrich as suzerain over the Comté de Provence, the emperor proposing "Goglielmo di Mompellieri" [Guillaume [VIII]] as a suitable alternative. A less specific narrative is provided by the later (and probably more dubious) Historia de Don Jaime I which records that “nuestro abuelo el rey don Alfonso” opened negotiations “con el emperador de Constantinopla” to marry “la hija de este soberano”, that the king had married “doña Sancha hija del emperador de Castilla”, that not knowing about this marriage “el de Constantinopla” sent “su hija al rey de Aragon”, that her entourage learnt of the king´s marriage on arriving at Montpellier, where “Guillermo de Montpeller” arranged to marry her himself. The Historia Albigensium of Guillaume de Puylaurens refers to the mother of Marie de Montpellier, wife of Pedro II King of Aragon, as “Græcam...neptem Emmanuelis imperatoris Constantinopolitani”. The absence of information concerning Evdokia in Byzantine sources suggests that she was probably not the emperor´s daughter (especially as she would have been “porfyrogenneta”) but a more distant relation, assuming that she was a member of the imperial family. According to Sturdza, she was the daughter of Alexios Komnenos, son of sébastocrator Andronikos Komnenos (older brother of Emperor Manuel I) but he provides no indication of the primary source (if any) on which this speculation is based. Barzos suggests that she was the daughter of Isaakios Komnenos, son of Emperor Ioannes II, writing that "if Eudokia [K. 143, according to his numbering] were not the daughter of Isaakios [K. 78], then she would be a daughter of Ioannes [K. 128] [son of Andronikos Komnenos sébastocrator]". However, there appear to be too many unknown factors in the genealogy of the Komnenos family for arguments by elimination to be reliable. It is also possible that she was related to the Komnenos family through the female line, and so not named “Komnene” through her father´s family. Pope Innocent III wrote to “Willelmo domino Montispessulani”, dated [after 7 Sep] 1202, about his marital difficulties.
She became a Benedictine nun at Aniane. 1
Research Notes: