Eudoxia

▪ Byzantine queen

died Oct. 6, 404

      wife of, and a powerful influence over, the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius (reigned 383–408).

      Her father was a Frankish general in the Roman army and consul (385) named Bauto. The marriage (April 27, 395) of Arcadius to Eudoxia was arranged by Arcadius' minister, the eunuch Eutropius, who had supported the match in order to undercut the position of a political rival. But Eudoxia came to resent being dominated by Eutropius, and in 399 she helped bring about his downfall. The period of Eudoxia's most decisive influence over her ineffectual husband dates from her designation as augusta on Jan. 9, 400.

      Although an earnest Christian, she quarreled bitterly with John Chrysostom (Chrysostom, Saint John), patriarch of Constantinople, who attacked her and the frivolity of her court in outspoken terms. In 404 she expelled him from his see and sent him into exile. Shortly afterward Eudoxia died from a miscarriage. But she had borne Arcadius four daughters and a son, who became the emperor Theodosius II (reigned 408–450). One of the daughters, Pulcheria, was regent for Theodosius II for several years.

▪ tsarina of Russia

Russian  in full Yevdokiya Fyodorovna Lopukhina  

born Aug. 9 [July 30, Old Style], 1669, Moscow, Russia

died Sept. 7 [Aug. 27], 1731, Moscow

      tsarina and first wife of Peter I the Great of Russia.

      In 1689 she was given in marriage to Peter, a bridegroom of only 17. Endowed with beauty but lacking intelligence and ambition, she had little in common with the young tsar, whose chief interest was the mechanics of war.

      In 1698 Peter sent her to a monastery. There she took vows (1699) but left after six months and resumed life as a laywoman. Following the trial of her son, Tsarevich Alexis, for treason (1718), she was kept in confinement at a fortress east of St. Petersburg on Lake Ladoga. Upon the accession (1727) of her grandson Peter II, she was released and later installed at the Voznesensky Convent in Moscow and provided with a generous allowance. After the death of Peter II (1730), she made a feeble, unsuccessful attempt to succeed him.

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