Editing Anna Komnene (section)

==Early life and family==
[[File:Aspron trachy of Alexios I.png|thumb|210x210px|[[Aspron|Byzantine coin]] depicting emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]] and [[Irene Doukaina]], parents of Anna Komnene, 11th century.]]
Anna was born on 1 December 1083{{sfnp|EB|1878}} to [[Alexios I Komnenos]] and [[Irene Doukaina]].{{sfn|Laiou|2000|p=3}} Her father, Alexios I Komnenos, became emperor in 1081, after usurping the previous Byzantine Emperor, [[Nikephoros III Botaneiates|Nikephoros Botaneiates]].<ref name=":0" /> Her mother, [[Irene Doukaina]], was part of the imperial [[Doukas]] family.{{sfn|Laiou|2000|pp=11–12}} In the ''Alexiad'', Anna emphasises her affection for her parents in stating her relationship to Alexios and Irene.{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=130}} She was the eldest of seven children; her younger siblings were (in order) Maria, [[John II Komnenos|John II]], [[Andronikos Komnenos (son of Alexios I)|Andronikos]], [[Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)|Isaac]], Eudokia, and [[Theodora Komnene (daughter of Alexios I)|Theodora]].<ref>Frankopan 2009, p. 479.</ref>

Anna was born in the Porphyra Chamber of the imperial palace in [[Constantinople]], making her a ''[[porphyrogenita]],''<ref>Frankopan 2009, p. 536.</ref> which underscored her imperial status. She noted this status in the ''Alexiad,'' stating that she was "[[Born in the purple|born and bred in the purple]]."<ref name="Komnene 2009, p. 3">Komnene 2009, p. 3.</ref> According to Anna's description in the ''[[Alexiad]]'', her mother asked Anna to wait to be born until her father returned from war.<ref name=":6">Comnena 2001, p. 152.</ref> Obediently, Anna waited until her father came home.<ref name=":6" /> 

At birth, Anna was betrothed to [[Constantine Doukas (co-emperor)|Constantine Doukas]],<ref name=":23" /> the son of Emperor [[Michael VII Doukas|Michael VII]] and [[Maria of Alania]].<ref>Garland and Rapp 2006, p. 115.</ref> The two were the heirs to the empire until sometime between c.1088 and 1092, after the birth of Anna's brother, John II Komnenos.<ref name=":8">Garland and Rapp 2006, p. 110.</ref> Various scholars point out that the betrothal was probably a political match intended to establish the legitimacy of Anna's father, who had usurped the previous emperor.<ref>Hanawalt 1982, p. 303; Neville 2016, p. 2.</ref>

Starting around 1090, Constantine's mother – Maria of Alania – raised Anna in her home.<ref>Garland and Rapp 2006, p. 108.</ref> It was common in Byzantium for mothers-in-law to raise daughters-in-law.<ref>Garland & Rapp 2006, p. 108.</ref> In 1094, Maria of Alania was implicated in an attempt to overthrow Alexios I Komnenos.<ref name=":8" /> Some scholars argue that Anna's betrothal to Constantine Doukas may not have ended there, as he was not implicated in the plot against Alexios,<ref name=":4" /> but it certainly ended when he died around 1094.{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=126}}

Anna's relationships to her mother-in-law Maria of Alania, her paternal grandmother [[Anna Dalassene]], and her mother Irene Doukaina, have been noted as sources of inspiration and admiration for Anna.{{sfn|Gouma-Peterson|2000|p=109}} For example, Thalia Gouma-Peterson argues that Irene Doukaina's "maternal ability to deal with the speculative and the intellectual enables the daughter to become the highly accomplished scholar she proudly claims to be in the opening pages of the ''Alexiad''."{{sfn|Gouma-Peterson|2000|p=118}}