Irene Palaiologina (Trebizond)

Irene Palaiologina (* around 1315, † after 1341) was Empress of Trebizond from 1340 to 1341 .

Life

Irene was an illegitimate daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Andronikos III. Palaiologos . In 1335 she married the Trapezuntian emperor Basileios .

Shortly after the wedding, her husband turned to a mistress and divorced Irene in 1339. When Basil died in 1340, probably as a result of a poison attack caused by Irene, she ascended the throne as empress. However, her position was extremely difficult both because of the dubious circumstances under which she had gained power, and because of her origins, because she was not a member of the Trapezunti ruling family of the Comnenes . To secure her position, she sent the very young sons of her late husband and his mistress, Alexios and Johannes, who later changed his name and became Emperor Alexios III. went to Constantinople , where they were under the supervision of Irene's father.

With her accession to the throne, a civil war broke out. In addition to the supporters of Irenes, which consisted mainly of the noble family of the Amytzantarantos and mercenaries provided by their father , two other parties faced each other. One of these consisted largely of nobles and members of the imperial bodyguard under the orders of Prince von Tzanich, who rose up against Irene in memory of Basil and his fate. The third party was led by Johannes, the governor of Limnia , who probably had his own hopes for the throne. He joined his forces with those of Irenes to take action against the supporters of Basil, who had holed up in the city in the St. Eugenios monastery. The monastery was shelled by Irenes and Johannes' troops and almost completely destroyed, which ended the uprising bloody.

In order to consolidate her position, Irene asked her father to look for a suitable husband for her among his nobles, who would rule with her the Empire of Trebizond and keep the growing host of her enemies at bay. However, her father died in June 1341 before he could answer her request. However, Irene had in the meantime fallen in love with the commander of her bodyguard, which led to a further split in her court, as many aristocrats rejected this connection as improper.

During this internal turmoil, the situation of the Trapezunti state became more and more precarious due to an external threat. Irene's demoralized army was unable to stop a Turkmen advance on Trebizond. These moved to the walls of the capital, which they besieged unsuccessfully. The nobles who escaped the massacre at St. Eugenios Monastery, who had come to believe that Irene's incompetent style of government would lead the state into disaster, decided to look for a legitimate candidate for the imperial throne. They chose Anna , a daughter of Alexios II and sister of Basil, who belonged to the Comnen family.

They convinced Anna, a nun, to leave the convent community and proclaimed her empress. When Irene found out about the revolt, she had all the survivors of the massacre at St. Eugenios Monastery who were still prisoners in the city killed. Ultimately, this measure did not stop Irene's decline either. After all, she was so unpopular with the people of Trapezun that she was removed the moment Anna appeared in front of the city walls. Soon afterwards she was sent back to Constantinople, where her traces are lost.

Ironically, shortly after the fall of Irenes, a small fleet appeared in front of the city, bringing Michael , son of John II and uncle Anna, from Constantinople to Trebizond. Michael had been chosen to be the husband of Irenes by the half-brother of Irenes, John V. Palaiologos , the new emperor of Constantinople. Instead he found himself facing his niece Anna, with whom there were immediately further arguments about the throne.

literature

• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 3: Faber Felix - Juwayni, Al- . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2012, ISBN 978-2-503-53243-1 , pp. 326-327.

predecessor	Office	successor
Basil	Empress of Trebizond 1340 - 1341	Anna