“The canonical age for marriage was twelve for a girl and fourteen (or sixteen) for a boy. At such an age neither partner could object, although as a rule the men were much older than their almost child brides and were sometimes widowers. The most scandalous case of such a union was Simonis Palaiogina, the five year old daughter of Emperor Andronkos II, who was obliged to marry the fifty-year-old Kral of Serbia, Stephen Milutin, in 1299. The church objected most vigorously: and the consequences were most disastrous for the health and happiness of poor little Simonis. But she was sacrificed for the supposed good of the Empire.”

— Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250–1500

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