THE ENCOMIUMS BY MICHAEL PSELLOS DEDICATED TO THE AUGUSTA EUDOKIA MAKREMBOLITISSA
THE ENCOMIUMS BY MICHAEL PSELLOS DEDICATED TO THE AUGUSTA EUDOKIA MAKREMBOLITISSA

Summary/Abstract: Based on interpretation of original sources of information found in the encomium dedicated to Augusta Eudokia Makrembolitissa, written after the Empress married the Roman military leader Romanos Diogenes by Michael Psellos, one of the most distinguished philosophers, rhetoricians and politicians of the 11th century, this study highlights the exceptional significance of imperial speeches as an inevitable part of Byzantine imperial ceremony serving as political propaganda. Psellos dedicated another two of the so-called minor encomiums to Eudokia Makrembolitissa, which refer to the Augusta’s panegyric found in the imperial speech dedicated to Michael VII Doukas, the first-born son of Eudokia and Constantine X Doukas and the speech created in honour of Romanos Diogenes’ enthronement. By comparing historical records, this paper also investigates the way in which the Augusta Eudokia was presented in the aforementioned imperial speeches.

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