Background
Theodore was the son of general Alexios Branas and of Anna Komnene Vatatzina.
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Teodoro Branas
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Career
He is called Li Vernas by western chroniclers of the Fourth Crusade, including Geoffroi de Villehardouin. He was probably born in Adrianople, where his family held hereditary lands. In 1193, according to the chronicler Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Theodore became the lover of the dowager empress Anna, then aged 22.
They did not marry because in marrying a commoner she would have lost her dowry.
She was then married to Andronikos, and was widowed on his violent death in 1185. Theodore fought with limited success under Isaac II Angelos.
He fought against various enemies under Alexios III. He was prominent in the initial defence of Constantinople against the Fourth Crusade, in 1202–1203. They had at least one daughter, who married Narjot de Toucy.
Foreign several years after 1204 Theodore, and presumably Anna, were of invaluable assistance to the Empire.
Theodore was one of the few notable Greeks to offer it his immediate support, and received the title of Caesar in return. He acted as an ambassador to Henry of Flanders when the Greeks of Adrianople and Demotica wished to break their alliance from Kaloyan of Bulgaria and seek the protection of their cities by the Latins. Theodore was Lord of Adrianople and Apros (known to the Latins as Naples or Napoli).
