Acropolitissa, wife of Michael of Trebizond
Acropolitissa was a Byzantine aristocrat, whose full name has not survived. She was the wife of Michael of Trebizond; her father was Constantine Acropolites, and her mother has been identified as Maria Komnene Tornikina.[1] Constantine was the eldest son of George Acropolites and his wife Eudokia.[2] Eudokia's maternal grandfather is believed to be John Tornikes, sevastokrator.[3]
Little is known about Acropolitissa. According to Donald M. Nicol's paper, she was the daughter and middle child of the megas logothetes Constantine Acropolites, who provides most of what we directly know about her; "Acropolitissa" is the feminine form of "Acropolites".[4] The Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos attempted to marry Michael Komnenos' older brother, Alexios to the daughter of one of his ministers, only to be foiled when Alexios married a princess of Georgia without telling his uncle. Nicol observes that "it would be quite in keeping with the elaborate dynastic and marital schemes of Andronikos II that, having failed to marry off the daughter of one of his ministers to the Emperor of Trebizond, he should encourage or arrange the marriage of the daughter of his Grand Logothete to that Emperor's brother."[5]
Acropolitissa and Michael had at least one son, John, who was emperor of Trebizon (1341-1343).[1] She was most likely dead by 1341, for that year Michael was invited to return to Trebizond and marry the reigning Empress, Irene Palaiologina, widow of his nephew Basil of Trebizond.
Possible descendants
The "Georgian Chronicle" of the 18th century reports George V of Georgia marrying a daughter of "the Greek Emperor, Lord Michael Komnenos". However the reigning dynasty of the Byzantine Empire in the 14th century were the Palaiologoi, not the Komnenoi. The marriage of a daughter of Michael IX Palaiologos and his wife Rita of Armenia to a Georgian ruler is not recorded in Byzantine sources. Neither is the existence of any illegitimate daughters of Michael IX.[6] Whether this was a daughter of Michael Komnenos of Trebizond and Acropolitissa is unknown.
References
- 1 2 Donald M. Nicol, "Constantine Akropolites: A Prosopographical Note", Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 19, (1965), pp. 249-256
- ↑ M. Kalatzi, "Porphyrogenita:Essays on the History and Literature of Byzantium and the Latin East" (2003), entry "Constantine Acroplites", p. 389
- ↑ "Prosopographische Frauenliste des christlichen Ostens", entry: "Tornikina, Maria Komnēnē Akropolitissa"
- ↑ This is the name Jackson Williams uses to refer to her in his paper, "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond", Foundations, 2 (2006), pp. 171-189
- ↑ Nicol, "Prosopographical Note", p. 256
- ↑ M.-F. Brosset, (1849) Histoire de la Géorgie (St Petersburg, 1849), vol. 1 p. 621, cited in Cawley, Charles, Profile of George V, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012
External links
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Irene of Trebizond |
Empress consort of Trebizond 1341 |
Succeeded by Herself in the second reign of her husband |
| Preceded by Herself in the first reign of her husband |
Empress consort of Trebizond 1344–1349 |
Succeeded by Theodora Kantakouzene |