Synadene

Not to be confused withTheodora Palaiologina Synadene.

Synadene
Queen consort of Hungary
Tenure	1074–1077
House	Synadenos
Father	Theodoulos Synadenos

Synadene(Greek:Συναδηνή,Hungarian:Szünadéné) was aByzantine Greekwoman who briefly acted asqueen consort of Hungary,probably in the 1070s. She was most likely married toKing Géza I.

Husband's identity

Synadene's first name is unknown. Her father was theByzantinecommander Theodoulos Synadenos, while her mother was a sister ofNikephoros III Botaneiates,who ruled asByzantine emperorin 1078–1081. The Byzantine chronicle ofScylitzes Continuatusstates that "the emperor had given his niece the Synadene, daughter of Theodoulos Synadenos, to thekralesof Hungaryfor a wife; upon his death she returned to Byzantium. "The king's name, much like her own, is not mentioned.

An important clue to the identity of Synadene's husband lies in one of the enamel plaques contained in theHoly Crown of Hungary,which depicts a man identified as "Géza,faithful king of the Hungarians ". Géza I's death on 25 April 1077 corresponds toScylitzes Continuatus's narration, with the queen dowager returning to the Byzantine Empire by late 1079. The only possible alternative is Géza's brother and successor,Ladislaus I,in which case the marriage would have taken place inc. 1079and her return to Hungary as a widow in 1095. However,Scylitzes Continuatusmentions no other events from the mid-1090s, which makes it likely that Géza I was the king whom Synadene married.

Marriage date

The date of Synadene's marriage is even less certain than the identity of her husband. R. Kerbl suggested the period between 1064 and 1067. He referred to the union as a "private arrangement" between Duke Géza and those Byzantine commanders (including Synadene's uncle, who had not yet become emperor) who were in charge of Balkan and Danubian territories. Géza then possibly ruled south-eastern part of Hungary, on the border of the Byzantine Empire, and had a poor relationship with his cousin,King Solomon,making the marriage with Synadene politically advantageous. However, given that Synadene returned to Byzantium upon Géza's death, it is likely that the marriage produced no issue, and that the mother of his children, born in the 1060s, was his first wife, Sophia. It is thus safe to assume that the marriage took place in the mid-1070s.

Sources

• McGeer, E.; Nesbitt, J. (2020).Byzantium in the Time of Troubles: The Continuation of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes (1057-1079).The Medieval Mediterranean, Vol. 120. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill (published December 30, 2019). p. 189.doi:10.1163/9789004419407.ISBN978-90-04-41940-7.
• Shepard, Jonnathan (1999)."Byzantium and the Steppe-Nomads: the Hungarian Dimension".In Prinzing, Günter; Salamon, Maciej (eds.).Byzanz und Ostmitteleuropa 950–1453: Beiträge einer table-ronde während des XIX. International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Copenhagen 1996.Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 55–83.ISBN3447041463– via academia.edu.