Heraclius and Muhammad

4 - Heraclius: Personal Life and Final Years

His personal life was as dramatic and controversial as his political one. His family life caused a massive scandal that some believe “cursed” his reign.

His first wife died in 612 CE: He was married

to Fabia Eudokia who was crowned alongside him in 610 CE but tragically died just two years later (612 CE) from epilepsy. She gave him a son, Heraclius Constantine (the heir), and a daughter.

Married to His Niece?

About a year after his first wife died, Heraclius did something that shocked the Christian world: he married his niece, Martina. In the eyes of the Church and the Roman people, this was incest. The Patriarch of Constantinople refused to support it, but eventually gave in and crowned her. Martina was hated by the public. When many of her children were born with disabilities or died young, the people of Constantinople whispered that it was a curse and “divine punishment” for the incestuous marriage.