Queen Simonida was a classic pledge of piece, given to the king when she has only five years old.
Simonida (1294-1345) was only five years old when her father, the Byzantine emperor Andronicus Palaeologus, sent her to the Serbian court. The little princess was a pledge of peace and the bride of Stefan II Milutin, who at that time had less than fifty, several marriages behind him and grown children.
The wedding was performed by the Archbishop of Ohrid, Makarije, in the spring odf 1299. In the name of the dowry, the Serbs ware granted the conquered territory above above the famous line Ohrid - Prilep - Stip. Simonida thus became a Serbian woman and the fourth wife of 40-year-old king Milutin, despite the fact that there was strong resistance to her marriage to the Byzantine princess at Nemanjic's court.
Serbian king Milutin, grandfather of Dusan Silni and father of Stefan Decanski, had a special relationship with women. He adore them, and Simonida was a small child. However, the then patriarch Jovan was most concerned about the issue of her legal position, since Milutin entered into a fourth marriage with Andronicus's daughter, which the Orthodox church didn't consider canonical.
For two decades, she "suffered" the king, a very old man to her. Even her mother-in-law, the famous Jelena Angevin, didn't like her, because she didn't like Byzantium. She also suffered her mother, Empress Irina, who tires to use her position at the court of the powerful King Milutin.
Not many documents have been preserved about Simonida's married life with Milutun, only a few records. According to the agreement, by which the Serbian-Byzantine border was drawn along the line Ohrid-Stip-Veles, Simonida was to be brought at the Serbian court until she was mature enough to take on marital obligations. In the Middle Ages, young noblewomen became adults, usually at the age of 12, and then they were usually married.
According to Pahimer, during the first meeting, Milutin, contrary the customs, got off his horse and greeted Simonida "more as a mistress than as a wife". That detail reveals how much Milutin , an experienced politician and a seasoned warrior, attached to his marriage. It was the first, and the only marriage that a Serbian ruler made with the daughter of the Byzantine emperor will be shown.
From famous recordings, it is revealed that during 14th century, Simonida was keenly interested in theological issues and dreamed of becoming a monk. When her mother Irina died in vain, the young Serbian queen went to her funeral in Constantinople and decided not to return to her husband.
She appeared in monk's robe in front of Milutin's men. Their astonishment and confusion was cut short by Simonida's half brother, despot Constantine Palaeologus, who tore her closes and made her wear clothes of ordinary world.
He handed her over to he Serbian embassy, despite Simonida's resistance nad tears.
King Milutin ordered her to return immediately or he would start a war again! He immediately sent his envoys with treats. The young and beautiful Simonida was then 22 years old. She returned to her husband, and when Milutin fell ill, she didn't separate from him. Everyone was surprised by her great care and nursing of her sick husband.
Milutin died on October 19, 1321. Two and half years later, he was canonized. There are records that Simonida, on that occasion, sent a beautiful holy lamp to decorate his grave. Historians, such as Stanoje Stojanovic, believe that this was obvious proof that there wasn't hatred in her towards her much older husband.
Simonida's great wish to wear monk's shirt was fulfilled after Milutin's death, on October 29, 1321. She became a nun in the monastery of St. Andrew in Constantinople, where she dedicated all her love to God. She lived in a monastery robe at the Byzantine court.
"It is said that due to the interrupted childhood and the unfortunate early marriage, she remained barren and that she hated male gender forever. Paradoxically, the only man she sincerely loved until her death was her father, who sold her for peace."
Little is known about Simonida's later days. It is known that she ordered a funeral song for her father and that, at the urging of her stepmother Maria Paleolog, against the loving Emperor Dusan, she roamed with his love, the widow Evdokia. The last time, as the historian Lasker writes, Simonida is mentioned in 1336 as one of those present at a large gathering of state and church dignitaries, who tried conspirators against the goverment.
