Theodora Kantakouzene (wife of Orhan)
| Theodora Kantakouzene | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | c. 1332 Byzantine Empire |
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| Died | after 1381 Constantinople, Byzantine Empire |
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| Spouse | Orhan Gazi | ||||
| Issue | Şehzade Halil | ||||
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| House | House of Kantakouzenos (by birth) House of Osman (by marriage) |
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| Father | John VI Kantakouzenos | ||||
| Mother | Irene Asanina | ||||
| Religion | Greek Orthodox Christian | ||||
Theodora Kantakouzene (Greek: Θεοδώρα Καντακουζηνή; died after 1381) was a Byzantine princess, the daughter of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and the fifth wife of the Ottoman Sultan Orhan Gazi.[1]
After her marriage to Orhan, she became known among the Turks as "Maria Hatun" (Turkish for "Lady Maria").[citation needed]
Contents
Life
Theodora was one of the three daughters of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos by his wife Irene Asanina. The historian Nikephoros Gregoras erroneously calls her "Maria" in one passage.[1] In January 1346, to cement her father's alliance with the rising Ottoman emirate and to prevent the Ottomans from giving their aid to the Empress-regent Anna of Savoy during the ongoing civil war, she was betrothed to the Ottoman ruler, Orhan Gazi.[2] The marriage took place in the summer of the same year. Her parents and sisters escorted her to Selymbria, where Orhan's representatives, including grandees of his court and a cavalry regiment, arrived on a fleet of 30 ships. A ceremony was held at Selymbria, where Orhan's envoys received her and escorted her to the Ottoman lands in Bithynia, across the Marmara Sea, where the actual wedding took place.[3]
Theodora remained a Christian after her marriage, and was active in supporting the Christians living under Ottoman rule.[1][4] In 1347 she gave birth to her only son, Şehzade Halil, who was captured by Genoese pirates for ransom while still only a child. The Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos was instrumental in his eventual release. Later, Halil married Irene, a daughter of John V Palaiologos and Theodora's sister, Helena Kantakouzene.
Except for a three-day sojourn in Constantinople in February 1347, in the aftermath of her father's victory in the civil war,[5] Theodora remained at the Ottoman court until Orhan's death in 1362. After that, she apparently returned to Constantinople, where she lived with her sister, the Empress Helena, in the palace.[1][6] She is last known to have been held imprisoned at Galata during the brief reign of Andronikos IV Palaiologos there in 1379–81.[1]
References
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 PLP, 10940. <Καντακουζηνὴ> Θεοδώρα.
- ↑ Nicol 1996, pp. 76–77.
- ↑ Nicol 1996, pp. 77–78.
- ↑ Nicol 1996, p. 78.
- ↑ Nicol 1996, p. 89.
- ↑ Nicol 1996, pp. 146, 179.
Sources
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