1. Βiography

Eirene was the illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos (1328-1341) 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 1341.

2. 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.

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.