Irene of Trebizond

Who was Irene of Trebizond?

Irene of Trebizond was the bigamous wife of Basil of Trebizond, by whom he had two sons, Alexios and John, and possibly two daughters, Maria and Theodora.

Not much is known of Irene's early life before she became Basil's mistress; "the Byzantine historian called [her] a courtesan, but the Trapezuntine chronicler a lady of Trebizond," writes William Miller. She bore him two sons before he married her in 1339. This marriage engendered much protest from the Patriarch of Constantinople, John XIV Kalekas. Their marriage only lasted about nine months before he died after a short illness; Miller writes again, "It was whispered that the discarded Empress had murdered him privily, and her conduct lent some colour to the suspicion, for she was evidently prepared to profit by his demise." Irene Palaiologina and her supporters seized power immediately and sent Irene of Trebizond with her two young sons, Alexios and John, off to Constantinople where they could be guarded by Palaiologina's father, Andronikos III Palaiologos.

Their time in exile witnessed palace revolutions, both in Trebizond and in the Constantinople. The Byzantine regency government of John V Palaiologos supported her late husband's uncle Michael of Trebizond and also Basil's cousin John III of Trebizond in their power bids for power in Trebizond, but when John VI Kantakouzenos won the Byzantine civil war, he lent his support to a power bid on the behalf of Irene's son John, renamed Alexios, led by Niketas Scholares, the leader of the powerful Scholares clan whom Michael had alienated. The bid was successful and overturned the weak and violent government of Michael and brought Irene's son to the throne.