Marie of Courtenay
Overview
Biography
Marie of Courtenay was a daughter of Peter II of Courtenay, emperor of Constantinople and Yolanda of Flanders, sister of two previous emperors of Constantinople and regent for her embattled and captive husband after he was elected. Yolanda made peace with Theodore I, emperor of Nicaea, and married her daughter Marie to him but Theodore died in 1221, leaving no children with Marie. The empire reverted to Marie’s brother Robert in 1219, when Yolanda died, but he did not get to Constantinople until 1221 when he was crowned. When he died in 1228, a younger brother, Baldwin succeeded him, for whom Marie served briefly as regent until her death the same year.