Eliana of Basnoi, Queen of Sayamati

Eliana of Basnoi (19 November 998-30 April 1072), was Queen consort of Sayamati from 1012 until 1034 as wife of Joan III and mother of his successor, Isacca II. Her sister Renee was Eadien empress. She had lust for power as her sister, and exerted a tremendous influence on political issues. Not favored by her husband, she was with great dominance over her son, and wielded power as the queen mother. She was detested by Sayamatian people due to her ambitiousness, voracity and selfishness. After her son Isacca II was overthrowned by his half-brother Kensa of Gabriaunt (King Kensa I), she got insulted and banished, and died in exile eventually.

Early years
Eliana was born in the Verdulan, Basnoi, as the fourth daughter of Fabio II, Duke of Basnoi, and his wife Anmarie of Forle. She had 2 brothers and 5 sisters, including Fabio III who will become duke of Basnoi later and Renee, Empress of Eadien.

Eliana was the most ordinary one of four living daughters of Fabio II, who was with a common appearance, especially comapred with her fabulous sister Renee. Maybe because she was neglected in her childhood, she turned arrogant after she was selected as Queen of Sayamati, looking down on her sisters excluding Renee as they had lower status than her by marriage or never married. Her arrogance aroused her father and brother's dissatisfaction.

At that time, Hsindra allied with Maharapura, and even cancelled the marriage between King Fabio V and Eadien princess Joana to make Sirica of Maharapura queen of Hsindra, while the Eadien empire had allied with Sayamati for several years. These two alliances held hostile attitude to each other. In 1001, to avenge Eadien taking the Saungson Island from it, Maharapura invaded Laungshe in Eadien and gained the support of Hsindra. When Eadien troops came, Maharapura demanded Basnoi to consent Maharapura troops to go through Fattre, which lay in Basnoi, so Maharapura can withdraw its troops fluently. Basnoi refused to be involved in this dispute, and got warned from Hsinpalay the Great, therefore it didn't give its consent, causing a great loss for Maharapura troops. Suriya III, King of Maharapura tried to punish Basnoi. He invaded Fattre in 1008 after Hsinpalay's death by the reason of taking the Saungson Island back, and burned fields around, pushing Basnoi to team Eadien and Sayamati to a great extent, this as an important reason of Eliana being chosen as Sayamatian queen in the future.

Queen of Sayamati
In 1010, Madharia Anna of Palarra, Queen mother of Sayamati, ordered to choose a bride for her son, Joan III. Kanaunto de Kindo, the royal manager, suggested to choose a princess of Basnoi, as Basnoi had a close relationship with Sayamati in recent years, and Duke Fabio II and his wife had many children, so their daughters may also be fertile like their mother. This suggestion was permitted by Madharia Anna.

At that time, among Fabio's four living daughters, the eldest one Anmarie had become a nun, and the youngest Kedhuri was still a little girl. Only Renee and Eliana fit the age. Renee was the most suitable one who was only 2 years older than Joan III, already mature, and benefit to attract her husband and produce an heir due to her good appearance. Nevertheless, Madharia Anna vetoed Renee, taking Eliana instead, because Renee was with a bad reputation, regarded as fake, impious and indulgent, and for Madharia Anna who wanted to dominate her son like dominating her husband, a strong and attractive queen will be a threat for her. Eliana, ordinary, only 11 years old, not too young but easy to control, it's benefit for Madharia Anna to continue her power-holding if Eliana became the queen. Eliana's portrait was presented to Joan III, who neither be attracted, nor show disgust. Joan III agreed to marry Eliana as it's his mother's decision, but it will be proved a wrong choice in the future.

Fabio II prepared a large dowry for Eliana, his first married daughter. The next March, Eliana began her journey, then was arranged to reside in the Pziwa Palace after reaching Fwabosi, adapting the environment while waiting for the marriage as she was still too young to get married. Kalantha Mihadela, first wife of Lebinande II, had her marriage delayed for a half year, so Eliana's marriage-delayed was acceptable. However, a year passed, and Sayamati still have no plan to hold the marriage, which rendered Fabio II and some nobles dissatisfied. Madharia Anna explained that Eliana was still young, but nobles contradicted her by the fact that Orajta of Theebo became queen when she was only 14, and now Eliana was 13, enough to marry. Fabio even threated Sayamati to return some dowry if it still wanted to delay the wedding. Madharia Anna had to agree to hold the wedding in the summer. Many historians regarded the marriage delay as a mean of Madharia Anna to seize the power, as once Eliana became the queen, Madharia Anna was no longer the first lady of the realm.

On 2 August 1012, Joan III and Eliana got married in the Apina Palace. Anmarie of Basnoi, eldest sister of Eliana, came to Sayamati to bless her, and stayed with her until the end of that year. Although married, Eliana was still young, thus this couple didn't consummate their marriage. Later, Madharia Anna forbade the meeting of this couple. She claimed they should see each other after consummating the marriage. Eliana felt hostility from the queen mother, so their relationship got tense. As Madharia Anna had dominated the royal court and exerted a great influence on the king, Eliana can't confront her then, and she can only seek a chance. In this period, Eliana showed nice and kindly, enjoying a good reputation in the court.

By chance, Eliana learned that Madharia Anna was suspected of poisoning her father-in-law, King Oraj III of Sayamati. It's an unproven rumor, but Eliana regarded it as a weapon against the queen mother. To this end, Eliana paid a special visit to Joana de Dongulas, the last consort of Oraj III, who ruled over the court during the last period of Oraj III. It was said that Joana confirmed that this rumor was true to Eliana, but no hard evidence that Madharia Anna poisoned Oraj III. Eliana had this rumor spread throughout the court and the people, and even the Eadien ambassador's report to the emperor said that the queen mother was involved in poisoning Oraj III.

Eliana consummated the marriage with her husband about 3 years after the wedding. On 8 January 1016, she gave birth to her first son, future king Isacca II. As the mother of the future king, Eliana became powerful and many nobles took her side. She constantly persuaded Joan III to abandon his mother. Finally, in April 1017, Joan ordered the expulsion of Manicia Felonaz, Madharia Anna's most trusted lady-in-waiting, from the court in order to appease his pregnant wife. On 16 May, Eliana was crowned in the Ilkalo Temple, and her eldest son Isacca was crowned Prince of Basha, officially being declared him heir to the throne. Realizing that the court was in the hands of her daughter-in-law, Madharia Anna was forced to leave, and she retreated to Ranbin and later to Gwafoir for a long time.

Eliana entered her most glorious stage, in which period she enjoyed the power as the first lady, harmonious relationship with her husband, and had given birth to three sons, among whom the eldest was the heir to the throne. She also had a good reputation. Eliana's sister, Empress Renee, was deeply disgusted by Eadien people; by contrast, Eliana's reputation was good, so nobles and people are delightful, thinking she will be a model of the queen just like Anna of Mohal, but soon they will find that Eliana was as ambitious and greedy as her sister.

Having banished her mother-in-law, Eliana followed Madharia Anna's previous behavior of trying to control her husband as Madharia Anna had once controlled Diagal I. Eliana often tried to sow discord in Joan III's ear, trying to drive away those close to the king, and frequently interfered in political affairs, often changing the king's mind. This antagonized Joan III, who realized that his wife, like his mother, had a strong desire to dominate others. Soon, Eliana was abandoned, and Joan left her and moved to The Candarvid Hall in Dasaung, where he hung out with his mistresses. In 1019, a Maharapura noble girl named Kesara de Portier captured the king's attention. In 1020 Kesara bore a son to the king, who named him Joan after himself, making Eliana felt angry and humiliated. The Queen Mother, Madharia Anna, who saw this as a good opportunity to deal with her troublesome daughter-in-law, also supported Kesara and gave her some jewels. Joan III and Kesara established another family in Dasaung, and Kesara gave birth to three sons and two daughters, the second son becoming Kensa I. Many nobles followed the king and moved to Dasaung, making Kesara the queen de facto, while Eliana and her children were neglected. Fearing that his daughter would indeed be replaced by Kesara, Fabio II went to Sayamati to ask Joan III if he intended to divorce Eliana. Joan III denied this and was forced by Fabio II to promise to meet Eliana at least three times a year. In her limited time with her husband together, Eliana gave birth to three more sons, but of all her children, only two survived, Isacca II and Muhatanio, Duke of Theebo.

Unable to control her husband, she controlled her son, making Isacca dependent on her, but Muhatanio, who could not inherit the throne, was neglected by his mother and raised by his grandmother, Madharia Anna. Eliana rallied some of the nobles around her to make a profit for herself in the government. Some of her courtiers were making money in the name of the queen, and because Eliana could benefit from it, she did not stop it. Soon, Eliana became one of the most unpopular people in Sayamati.

In 1021, Jakigan, Eadien Emperor was deposed, and Empress Renee decided to go to Sayamati with her son Rogathu to join her sister. But Eliana treated her elder sister coldly who had already lost her status as the empress. Renee can only leave Sayamati for Hsindra, where Jakigan's sister Joana was the queen. Eliana was also arrogant when her younger sister, Kedhuri, came to visit her, for she thought her sister's marriage - with a marquess - was not qulified her status. Eliana's indifference towards her sisters caused her father Fabio II and brother Fabio III's displeasure, which may be why Eliana did not receive support from Basnoi when Kensa I later overthrew Isacca II.