Helena Kantakouzene (d. 1463) was the second wife of David of Trebizond.
The primary source about her is the account "On the Origin of the Ottoman Emperors" (1538) by Theodore Spandounes. Theodore was related to the Kantakouzenoi. He was a son of Matthew Spandounes and Eudokia Kantakouzene. His father was a soldied of the Republic of Venice. His mother was a daughter of Theodore Kantazouzenos and Helena Kantakouzene, both parents members of the same extended family. [1]
Theodore was a son of Georgios Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, "Sachatai" (d. circa 1456-59), a scholar and military commander who defended Smederevo during a Hungarian attack in 1456. Georgios was married to Maria Razi (or Ralli). Georgios was a son of a senior Theodore Kantakouzenos and Euphrosyne Palaiologina. The senior Theodore is considerec a possible son of Demetrios I Kantakouzenos. [2]
Spandounes names Helena as a sister of Georgios and Empress of Trebizond. This is contradicted by "Dell'Imperadori Constantinopolitani", a manuscript held in the Vatican Library. The document is also known as the "Massarelli manuscript" because it was found in the papers of Angelo Massarelli (1510 - 1566). [3] Masarelli is better known as the general secretary of the Council of Trent, who recorded the daily occurings of the council. [4] This document agrees that a sister of Georgios married an Emperor of Yrebizond. But identifies her as Theodora Kantakouzene, wife of Alexios IV of Trebizond and mother of David. [5] The marriage of David to a maternal aunt is considered improbable. Spandunes had probably confused the Empresses of Trebizond. [6]
According to the account of Spandounes, Helena the last Empress of Trebizond. On 15 August, 1461, Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire captured Trebizond. David and his family were settled in Edirne, receiving the profits of estates in the Struma valley, comprising an annual income of some 300,000 pieces of silver. In 1463, David was accused of conspiring against Mehmed. He was executed along with his sons. [7]
According to Spandounes, Helena survived her husband and sons. She was however condemned to pay a fine of 15,000 ducats or be executed herself. Helena paid the fine but was reduced to poverty. The corpses of her family were reportedly left exposed to the elements outside the Walls of Constantinople. Helena took to living in a straw hovel in close proximity to the corpses. Dressed in sackcloth, Helena started secretly digging graves for her family. In the absence of tools, she dug the graves with her own hands. She completed the task, buried the corpses and died herself days later.[8]
The Masarelli manuscript ignores her existence and no other soutce mentions her. Her existence is doubtful. The account of Spandounes may instead relate to Maria of Gothia, the wife mentioned in the mansuscript. [9]
The children of David have been attributed variously to Maria or Helena by various genealogies. They included Basil, Manuel and George Komnenos, princes decapitated by orders of Mehmed II in 1463. Their sister Anna married first Mohammed Zagan Pasha, Beglerbeg of Macedonia and secondly to Sinan Beg, son of Ilvan Beg. Another daughter reportedly married Mamia II, Prince of Guria. Cyril Toumanoff gives Maria, a third daughter, as wife of Constantine Mourousis. [10]. [11]