Name Komnene, of | ||
Komnene was the wife of Andronikos I of Trebizond. Her first name is unknown. Komnene is the female form of "Komnenos", her family name.
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Family
She was the only known daughter of Alexios I of Trebizond and Theodora Axuchina. Her siblings included John I of Trebizond and Manuel I of Trebizond.
Her paternal grandparents were Manuel Komnenos and of Rusudan. Her maternal grandfather was probably John Komnenos Axouch. John was a short-lived rival emperor to Alexios III Angelos. On 31 July 1200, John was proclaimed Emperor in Hagia Sophia. He was betrayed and killed by his own soldiers, defecting back to the service of Alexios. "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond" by Kelsey Jackson Williams, gives his nickname as "John the Fat". Williams theorises that Komnene's maternal grandmother was a daughter of John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary.
Empress
Komnene married Andronikos Gidos. The chronicle of Michael Panaretos gives his name as "Gidon". The origin of this family name is unknown. The article "Byzantine Trebizond:A Provincial Literary Landscape" by Jan Olof Rosenqvist suggests that it may originate in the first name Guido, indicating Italian origins.
An Andronikos Gidos is recorded by Niketas Choniates to have served under Theodore I Laskaris, Emperor of Nicaea. In 1206, this Andronikos ambushed a force of three hundred troops of the Latin Empire at Tracheiai, near Nicomedia. The invading force had been lend by Henry of Flanders to David Komnenos as part of their alliance against Theodore I. Whether this Gidos was her husband or a namesake relative of his is uncertain.
On 1 February 1222, Alexios I died. He was succeeded not by his sons but by his son-in-law, Andronikos. Gidos was probably already a prominent member of the military, while his brothers-in-law were still underage. Komnene was his Empress consort, succeeding her mother. Their marriage seems to have been childless. Andronikos died in 1235, succeeded by her brother John I of Trebizond.