Euphrosyne 1 was the daughter of emperor Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) and Maria 2 of Amnia: Ps.-Symeon 620, Theoph. Cont. II 24 (p. 79), Zon. XV 24. 12 (θυγατέρα λεγομένην γενέσθαι τοῦ βασιλεύσαντος Κωνσταντίνου, ... καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τῇ γυναικὶ Εὐφροσύνη), Genesius II 14, Const. Porph., De Cer. II 42 (cf. below). Before her marriage to Michael II (Michael 10) she had lived as a nun, from childhood, in a convent on the island of Prinkipo: Theoph. Cont. II 24 (p. 79), Ps.-Symeon 620, Zon. XV 24. 13, 25. 10. She was probably sent there after the overthrow of her grandmother, the empress Eirene 1 (in 802, when she could have been no more than about fourteen at the most). After his first wife died, the emperor Michael II (Michael 10) chose her for his second wife: Theoph. Cont. II 24 (pp. 78-79), III 1 (p. 86), Zon. XV 24. 12-13 (καὶ εἰσοικίζεται γυναῖκά τινα, ... καὶ ἡ κλῆσις τῇ γυναικὶ Εὐφροσύνη). This was the cause of some controversy, because of the fact that she was at that time a nun: Genesius II 14, Theod. Stud., Ep. 514, Theod. Stud., Catech. Parva 74 (p. 258 Auvray). She was the stepmother of the emperor Theophilos 5 (τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μητρυιὰν): Theoph. Cont. III 1 (p. 86). Wife of the emperor Michael II (Michael 10); she was supposedly mother of the emperor Theophilos (Theophilos 5) (but see above and cf. Thekla 2): Leo Gramm. 211, 213, Georg. Mon. Cont. 783, 789, Ps.-Symeon 620, 621, 624, 628. When Theophilos 5 became emperor, she ruled with him: Leo Gramm. 213, Georg. Mon. Cont. 789, Ps.-Symeon 624. She arranged a bride show for the benefit of Theophilos 5, summoning beautiful girls from all parts of the empire for him to choose from; the show took place in the palace in the so-called Pearl dining room (εἰς τὸν λεγόμενον Μαργαρίτην τρίκλινον): Leo Gramm. 213, Georg. Mon. Cont. 789-790, Ps.-Symeon 624-625. Euphrosyne once purchased a property from Niketas 12 patrikios and converted it into a convent, renaming it Ta Gastria: Ps.-Symeon 628, cf. Leo Gramm. 214, Georg. Mon. Cont. 790, Ps.-Symeon 625. After Theophilos 5 was married, Euphrosyne 1 retired from the palace into Ta Gastria and became a nun: Leo Gramm. 214, Georg. Mon. Cont. 790, Ps.-Symeon 625. During the reign of Theophilos 5, while living in Ta Gastria as a nun, she encouraged the daughters of Theophilos 5 and Theodora 2 to venerate icons; the emperor was powerless to punish her but forbade the girls to visit her: Ps.-Symeon 628-629. According to Theophanes Continuatus and Zonaras, she was forced by Theophilos 5 to return to the same monastery as she had left to marry Michael 10: Theoph. Cont. III 1 (p. 86), Zon. XV 25. 10. Wife of Michael II (Michael 10) and stepmother (τὴν αὐτοῦ μητρυιάν) of Theophilos 5, she was aged fifty: Zon. XV 25. 19-22.

Described (inconsistently) as the granddaughter of the emperor Constantine and of Eirene, she was a nun living in a convent when the wife of the emperor Michael II (Michael 10), Thekla 2, died; the emperor removed her from the convent and married her, and they had a son; she is said to have been determined to rear her son free from Jewish influences (see Anonymus 728 and Anonymus 733) but her plans ended in the death of her own child: Bar Hebr., p. 129. After the death of Michael 10, she returned to life in a convent: Bar Hebr., p. 131. A faithful and orthodox nun, in 836 she gave comfort and support to Michael Synkellos (Michael 51) when he was imprisoned in the Praitorion by Theophilos 5, and provided him with food, drink and clothing: Vita Mich. Sync., p. 74, 9-16. On her identity, see W. T. Treadgold, "The Chronological Accuracy of the Chronicle of Symeon the Logothete for the Years 813 - 845", DOP 33 (1979), p. 188, with n. 139. She was buried with her father and her sister (Eirene 13) and the (first) wife of Constantine VI, Maria 2, in the same sarcophagus in the monastery of Euphrosyne at Constantinople: Const. Porph., De Cer. II 42 (Reiske, 647) (she was presumably therefore the daughter of Constantine VI (Konstantinos 8) and Maria 2).

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