Editing Anna Komnene (section)

==Marriage==
In roughly 1097, Anna's parents married her to [[Caesar (title)|''Caesar'']] [[Nikephoros Bryennios the Younger|Nikephoros Bryennios]],<ref name=":4" /> a member of the [[Bryennios|Bryennios family]] that had held the throne before the accession of Anna's father, Alexios I.{{sfn|Smythe|2006|p=126}} Nikephoros was a soldier and a historian.<ref name=":23" />

Most scholars agree that the marriage was a political one – it created legitimacy for Anna's paternal family through Bryennios' connections to past emperor's family.<ref>Jongh 1953, quoted in {{harvnb|Smythe|2006|p=126}}.</ref> The two were an intellectual couple, and Nikephoros Bryennios tolerated and possibly encouraged Anna's scholarly interests by allowing her to participate in various scholarly circles.<ref name=":5">Neville 2016, p. 5.</ref> The couple had several children, of which many died in infancy.{{Sfn|Varzos|1984|p=197}} Of them the names of six are known: Eirene, Maria, [[Alexios Komnenos (megas doux)|Alexios]], [[John Doukas (son of Nikephoros Bryennios)|John]], Andronikos, and Constantine.<ref name=":9">Neville 2016, p. 4.</ref> Only Eirene,{{sfn|Varzos|1984|pp=326–330}} Maria,{{sfn|Varzos|1984|p=331}} John,{{sfn|Varzos|1984|pp=317–326}} and Alexios{{sfn|Varzos|1984|pp=308–317}} survived to adulthood.