Περίληψη : Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης. Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου. Κύρια Ιδιότητα empress IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

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1 Περίληψη : Empress of Trebizond. She lived in the 14 th century and was the illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and wife of the emperor of Trebizond Basil Grand Komnenos. In 1340, after her husband died, she ascended the throne of Trebizond, but her reign was too short because of her inability to deal with the internal conflicts and external dangers menacing the empire. She was forced to resign in July Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης first half of 14 th century, Constantinople Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου second half of 14 th century, Constantinople Κύρια Ιδιότητα empress 1. Βiography Eirene was the illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos ( ) and Anna, daughter of the duke of Savoy, Amadeus V. On 12 September 1336, she went from Constantinople to Trebizond in order to marry the emperor Basil Grand Komnenos. Their wedding took place a few days later, on September 17th; 1 however, it did not last for a long time, because circa 1339, the emperor expelled her from the palace and married Eirene of Trebizond, a local aristocrat. 2 The cohabitation of Basil and Eirene of Trebizond during his marriage to Palaiologina and the subsequent marriage to the aristocrat from Trebizond provoked strong reaction from circles in Constantinople, particularly from the Ecumenical Patriarch John XII Calecas and Nikephoros Gregoras, and enraged the people of Trebizond. So, in 1340, after Basil s death, 3 Eirene Palaiologina entered the palace and assumed rule over the empire, while she exiled in Constantinople her rival and her two children, Alexios and John. During her reign, Eirene had to deal with both internal conflicts within the pale of aristocracy and external dangers threatening the empire. Because she aimed to remain on the throne, she sent envoies to her father, Andronikos III, asking for a husband who would take control of the empire upon himself. 4 But the envoies returned empty-handed because the Byzantine emperor was away in a campaign in Acarnania, and the empress, unable to deal with the dangers, was made to resign by Anna Anachoutlou, in July The Reign Among the most serious problems the empress had to face were the controversy between the aristocratic families of Trebizond. The contention and competition within aristocracy after the assassination of Emperor Manuel II Grand Komnenos came to an outburst during the reign of Eirene Palaiologina and threatened the unity of the empire. The aristocracy was represented at the time by two major groups: the Scholarios family, continuing the tradition of Constantinople, and the native Amytzantarios family. The two groups took advantage of the vacant throne after Basil s death as he did not have any children by his legal wife, Eirene Palaiologina, and the latter was incapable of asserting her authority in order to establish a new sociopolitical balance. 5 The Scholarios family, supported by the families of Meizomates, Doranites, Kabasitai and Kamachenos, and under the megas stratopedarches and sebastos Tzanichites, turned against the empress and made the monastery of St. Eugenios their stronghold from where they launched their operations against her. Eirene was supported by the Amytzantarios family and managed to maintain the harbour and the castle under her control. 6 In July 1340, the eunuch and megas doux John arrived in Trebizond to support her. His forces attacked along with the imperial army the monastery of St. Eugenios. The monastery was set to fire and suffered extensive damages. The Scholarios family was defeated and their leaders were arrested and taken at first to the fortress of Limnia, while next July they were executed. Eirene seemed to be gaining control. Δημιουργήθηκε στις 5/2/2017 Σελίδα 1/5

2 Internal conflicts had, however, a direct impact on the foreign affairs of the empire. The Turkmen of Amid, 7 encouraged by the internal contention, turned against the empire. The imperial forces faced them at Parcharia and managed to repel them. 8 However, on 4 July 1341, when the Turkmen army attacked Trebizond again, the imperial forces failed to defend the city. There was a horrible massacre and the city was set to fire. In the same period a new threat emerged for Eirene. Having realised the inability of Eirene to deal with the impending collapse of the empire, the sister of the former emperor Basil, Anna Anachoutlou, made her appearance in the political scene. Anna, who had gained control over the country of the Laz in Pontus, was crowned empress, and all the Laz and the Tzan people, 9 as well as the provinces, had recognised her as the legal heir to the throne. The resistance of Anna, along with the popular anger triggered by the fire in Trebizond, made Eirene Palaiologina abdicate the throne. On the 17th of July 1341, Anna entered Trebizond in triumph, followed by her Laz fighters. On August 10 of the same year, Eirene was taken to Constantinople on a Frankish ship. From then onwards, the sources provide no information regarding the life and the activitiy of Eirene. 1. T.E. Euangelides asserts that Eirene Palaiologina was engaged to Basil Grand Komnenos already when he was in Constantinople, before he became Emperor, see Ευαγγελίδης, Τ.Ε., Ιστορία της Ποντικής Τραπεζούντας. Από τα αρχαιότερα χρόνια μέχρι σήμερα ( ) Odessa 1898, reprint by Fotiades K (edit.), Kessopoulos A. (transl.), Thessaloniki 1994), p According to Chrysanthos, the metropolitan of Trebizond, there was a deeper, political motivation for the divorce between Eirene Palaiologina and Emperor Basil Grand Komnenos. See Chrysanthos, metropolitan of Trebizond, Η Εκκλησία της Τραπεζούντος, Αρχείον Πόντου 4 5 (1933), p Eirene Palaiologina was assumed to be responsible for the death of Basil Grand Komnenos. See Miller, W., Trebizond. The Last Greek Empire (London 1926), p Only in 1341 after the death of Andronikos III Palaiologos did the new emperor, John VI Kantakouzenos, send Michael Grand Komnenos as a husband to Eirene Palaiologina. However, before Michael arrived in Trebizond, a revolt instigated by Anna Anachoutlou had erupted. Eirene was forced to resign and Anna ascended the throne. See Chrysanthos, metropolitan of Trebizond, Η Εκκλησία της Τραπεζούντος, Αρχείον Πόντου 4 5 (1933), pp See Λυμπερόπουλος, B.Χ., O Βυζαντινός Πόντος. H αυτοκρατορία της Τραπεζούντας ( ), ο χώρος, οι άνθρωποι, η οικονομία (Athens 1999), p According to Lymperopoulos, the empress had been arrested by the Amytzantarios family and was confined in the stronghold. Λυμπερόπουλος, B.Χ., O Βυζαντινός Πόντος. H αυτοκρατορία της Τραπεζούντας ( ), ο χώρος, οι άνθρωποι, η οικονομία (Athens 1999), p About Amid and its name, see Zachariadou, E.A., Trebizond and the Turks ( ), Αρχείον Πόντου 35 (1979), pp The sons of the aristocrat Dolinus were killed in this battle. See Bredenkamp, F., The Doranites Family of the 14th Century Byzantine Empire of Trebizond, Βυζαντιακά 19 (1999), p The Laz and the Tzan, who came from the ancient Colchians and Makronai repectively, lived in northeastern Anatolia and had often played an important role in the political developments of the Empire of Trebizond. About their historical background, see Bryer, A., Some notes on the Laz and the Tzan (1) (2), in People and Settlement in Anatolia and the Caucasus, (VR, London 1988), pp , Δημιουργήθηκε στις 5/2/2017 Σελίδα 2/5

3 Βιβλιογραφία : Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, "Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος", Αρχείον Πόντου, 4/5, 1933, Λυμπερόπουλος Β.Χ., Ο Βυζαντινός Πόντος. Η Αυτοκρατορία της Τραπεζούντας ( ), ο χώρος, οι άνθρωποι, η οικονομία, Αθήνα 1999 Λαμψίδης Ο., "Μιχαήλ του Παναρέτου περί των Μεγάλων Κομνηνών", Αρχείον Πόντου, 22, 1958, Janssens E., Trébizonde en Colchide, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1969, Travaux de la Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres XL Miller W., Trebizond. The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era, , London 1926 Γεωργιάδης Θ. (επιμ.), Εγκυκλοπαίδεια του Ποντιακού Ελληνισμού. Ο Πόντος. Ιστορία, Λαογραφία και Πολιτισμός 1-5, Θεσσαλονίκη Ευαγγελίδης Τ., Ιστορία της ποντιακής Τραπεζούντας από τα αρχαιότατα χρόνια μέχρι σήμερα (756 π.χ ), Φωτιάδης, Κ. (επιμ.), Κεσόπουλος, Α. (μτφρ.), Θεσσαλονίκη 1994 Bredenkamp F., "The Doranites Family of the 14th Century Byzantine Empire of Trebizond", Βυζαντιακά, 19, 1999, Νικηφόρος Γρηγοράς, Ρωμαϊκή ιστορία, Bekker, I. Schopen, L. (eds.), Nicephori Gregorae historiae Byzantinae, I-ΙΙΙ, Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn I: 1829, II: 1830, III: 1855 Δικτυογραφία : History of the Empire of Trebizond Γλωσσάριo : megas doukas The commander of the Byzantine fleet (from 1092 onwards). In the Late Byzantine period, the title of the megas doukas was assigned to the highest officials of the imperial administration/army. megas stratopedarches Superior officer responsible for the provision of equipment and supplies for the military forces of the byzantine empire of Nicaea. sebastos ("venerable") Title of honour created by Constantine IX the Monomachos in the middle of the 11th century. Originated from the translation of the imperial adjective augustus. This title was given successively to the two mistresses of the emperor. Πηγές Λαμψίδης, O., Μιχαήλ του Παναρέτου περί των Μεγάλων Κομνηνών, Aρχείον Πόντου 22 (1958), pp Bekker I. Schopen L. (ed.), Nicephori Gregorae historiae Byzantinae, 2. Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. (Bonn 1830) Δημιουργήθηκε στις 5/2/2017 Σελίδα 3/5

4 Χρονολόγιο first half of 14 th c.: Birth of Eirene Palaiologina 12 September 1336: Eirene Palaiologina goes from Constantinople to Trebizond to get married to Emperor Basil Grand Komnenos 17 September 1336: Eirene marries the emperor of Trebizond, Basil Grand Komnenos 1339 (?): Eirene Palaiologina is expelled from the palace 1340: Eirene becomes empress July 1340: The Scholarios family revolts 4 July 1341: The Turkmen of Amid attack Trebizond 17 July 1341: Forced abdication of Eirene Palaiologina from the throne. Ascension of Anna Anachoutlou 10 August 1341: Eirene Palaiologina is sent to Constantinople second half of 14 th c.: Death of Eirene Palaiologina Βοηθ. Κατάλογοι List of Emperors of Trebizond Alexios I 1204 Andronikos I Gidon 1222 John I (Axouch) 1235 Manuel I 1238 Andronikos II 1263 George 1266 John II 1280 Theodora 1285 John II (again) 1285 Alexios II 1297 Andronikos III 1330 Manuel II 1332 Δημιουργήθηκε στις 5/2/2017 Σελίδα 4/5

5 Basil 1332 Eirene 1340 Anna 1341 Michael 1341 Anna (again) 1341 John III 1342 Michael (again) 1344 Alexios III 1349 Manuel III 1390 Alexios IV 1417 John IV 1429 David /1463 Δημιουργήθηκε στις 5/2/2017 Σελίδα 5/5