Despina Khatun
Despina Khatun | |
---|---|
Born | After 1438[1] |
Died | After 1474[1] |
Burial | St. George's church, Diyarbakır,[1] Turkey |
Spouses |
Uzun Hassan (m. 1458) |
Issue |
|
Komnenos | |
Father | John IV of Trebizond |
Theodora Megale Komnene (
Some older writers refer to her as "Catherine". Charles Diehl has shown that it was based on Du Cange’s misunderstanding of the Mongol title "Khatun" as "Catherine".[2]
John IV agreed to the marriage only if his daughter was allowed to continue her
Marriage between Christians and Muslim rulers, although uncommon, was not unprecedented. Speros Vryonis provides several examples from the Sultanate of the
In Western Europe, Theodora inspired the myth of the "Princess of Trebizond", a fixture of tales of damsels in distress as well as of a possible grand Crusade against the Ottoman Turks. The legend inspired several artists, including Pisanello and Jacques Offenbach.
Early life
Theodora was daughter of John IV and his first wife Bagrationi, a daughter of King Alexander I[6][7] In 1458 she was married to Uzun Hasan, Khan of the Turkoman tribe of Aq Qoyunlu; her uncle David gave her away at the marriage.[8]
Political marriage
At the time of marriage, the Empire of her father John faced a serious threat. Constantinople had fallen to the Ottoman sultan,
Trebziond and the Aq Qoyunlu had a history of co-operation, for they had concluded a
However this alliance failed to help John's successor, his brother David. Mehmed II, the Ottoman ruler, marched on the imperial city of Trebizond in 1461. Uzun Hassan initially supported the Trapuzentines, but he was persuaded by the Ottomans to abandon Trebizond after the failed mediation of his mother, Sara Khatun. After securing the eastern border, Mehmed attacked Trebizond, which surrendered 15 August 1461, ending the polity.
Late life
After the fall of Trebizond, David was put in house arrest. In 1463, David was discovered attempting to send a secret letter to Theodora, which gave Mehmed II the needed excuse to get rid of David once and for all. He considered this letter a conspiracy to recapture the land of Trebizond with the help of Aq Qoyunlu and had David, his sons and his nephew executed on 1 November 1463.[13]
Despite the death of her uncle, Theodora continued to influence her husband in foreign affairs. According to Anthony Bryer, she was the moving force behind diplomatic overtures to Venice in 1465-1466, and to
After the death of Uzun Hassan in 1478, not much is known about her. She was buried at St. Georges Church in
Family
By Uzun Hasan, Theodora Despina had at least two sons and three daughters:[14]
- Maqsud Beg (? - 1478). Executed by his half-brother Khalil in 1478.
- Masih Beg (? - before 1473)
- Shah Tahmasp I. She was called Martha in Christian sources.
- Two other daughters whom Caterino Zeno met in Damascus, where they conversed in Pontic Greek.
See also
- Safavid dynasty family tree
- List of the mothers of the Safavid Shahs
- Pontic Greeks
- Saint George and the Princess of Trebizondby Pisanello.
References
- ^ a b c d Bierbrier 1997, p. 233.
- ^ Diehl (1913). "Catherine on Theodora?". Byzantinische Zeitschrift. 22: 88f – via De Gruyter.
- ^ Christian-Muslim Relations. A Bibliographical History. Volume 5 (1350-1500),BRILL, Jun 21, 2013.
- ^ Vryonis, The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California, 1971), pp. 227f
- ^ Discussed in Elizabeth Zachariadou, "Trebizond and the Turks (1352-1402)", Archeion Pontou, 35 (1979), pp. 333-358.
- ^ William Miller, Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461, 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), pp. 81f
- ^ Byzantine aristocratic practice at the time favored marriages as early as 13 years, so Theodora could have been born as late as 1439.
- ^ Chalcocondyles, 9.70; translated by Anthony Kaldellis, The Histories (Cambridge: Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, 2014), vol. 2 p. 353
- ^ Miller, Trebizond, pp. 87f
- ^ Donald M. Nicol, The Last Centuries of Byzantium, second edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1972), pp. 396-398.
- ^ Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) ca. 1100-1460: a genealogical and prosopographical study (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1969), pp. 145f
- ^ Cited in Miller, Trebizond, pp. 88f
- ^ Cited in Miller, Trebizond, pp. 108f
- ^ a b c Anthony Bryer, "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 29 (1975), n. 146
- ^ Caterino Zeno, "Travels in Persia", A Narrative of Italian Travels in Persia, in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries, translated and edited by Charles Grey, (London: Hakluyt Society, 1873), pp. 13f
- ^ Babinger, Mehmed the Conqueror and his Time, translated by Ralph Manheim (Princeton: University Press, 1978), p. 314
- ^ Also Halime, Alamşah, Alemshah, Alemşah
Bibliography
- Bierbrier, M.L. (1997). "The Descendants of Theodora Comnena of Trebizond". The Genealogist. 11 (2). Picton Press.