The pursuit of peace seems to have dominated the life of Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene. She was married to Nikephoros in an effort to secure peaceful relations between the Despotate of Epirus and the Byzantine Empire. She dominated her husband, who entrusted her with important diplomatic missions. In 1282 she went to Constantinople to renew the alliance between the two states. Her great ambition was to unite the royal families of Epirus and Constantinople, which she finally achieved in 1307 (or 1313). In the meantime, she became the regent after her husband’s death and fought hard to defeat King Charles II of Naples, who claimed that the Despotate was his because his son had married Anna’s daughter.