- 著者
- 片倉 綾那
- 出版者
- ジェンダー史学会
- 雑誌
- ジェンダー史学 (ISSN:18804357)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.4, pp.45-56, 2008 (Released:2011-12-20)
- 参考文献数
- 32
This essay investigates the identity of Byzantine princess Anna Komnene through a consideration of two conspiracies in which she was involved.Before and after the accession of the Alexios I Komnenos, who was the founder of the Komnenos Dynasty, there were three women, who played roles on the political stage. Each of them participated in politics as mothers and wives of emperors on behalf of their children.However, there was a princess who had ambitions for herself, not her own children. This princess is Anna Komnene, who was the first-child of Alexios I. She is famous as the author of "Alexias" and the only female historian in the society of medieval Christianity. But she has another identity, as a chief conspiratress. She attempted plots in order to gain for herself a government post during Alexios I's reign, claiming her right of place as the emperor's first-child.Some scholars have analyzed these two plots by Anna as part of the long history of political struggles and intrigues that characterized the political history in the Komnenian era. On the other hand, other scholars have used the incidents as a way to focus on the role of imperial women who participated in these events; they have investigated the political role of imperial women through a close examination of their participation in these plots.In this essay I focus not only on the patterns of action by the women, but also on the incidents as an important part of the way in which Anna forged her own identity. I believe this approach will allow us to see more clearly how Anna used the incidents to strengthen her own position.In this paper, the hypothesis is demonstrated that the two plots in 1118 and 1119 were Anna's attempts to recover her right to the throne. Firstly, I describe Anna's role in these affairs as revealed through consideration of the process of development of the two conspiracies. Next, I examine the ways in which imperial women in general were able to participate in politics and compare these with Anna's actions in these two incidents. Finally, I look into Anna's identity, as the first-child of the emperor and the empress.