Berenike Garantia

Berenike Garantia (~858 - 883 AIC) was regent of the Holy Archadian Empire from 878 AIC to 883 AIC after the death of her father, Baldassare Velisario, and the disappearance of her older brother, Nicodemus Belisarius.

Early Life

Berenike was widely considered in her early life to be quiet and unambitious. When she heard of her father's death, she was asked, age 20, by Heraklios Cantacuzenos to act as regent until her brother, Nicodemus, arrived at the capital to accept his crown.

Reign

One of the first acts of the regency was to send the Imperial Guard to retrieve Nicodemus from Isthar. After the guards were defeated, Berenike blamed the captain, Alexeios Vatatzes, for the mistake. Since Nicodemus was now considered missing or dead, tradition dictated that the regent rule for three years before the next-in-line heir receives the throne.

Many rejected the authority of the regency, seeing Berenike as a puppet. Notably the Consilium Basileii and Nicolovian nobles such as Vincenzo della Rovere who called her a usurper.

It is widely considered that throughout her reign Berenike, being obsessed with power, was slowly lost her mind, having visions that were not there and bursts of anger.