Maria Megale Komnene (; 1404 – 17 December 1439), known as Maria of Trebizond (), was Byzantine Empress by marriage to the Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos (r. 1425–1448).William Miller is error saying she "married the Byzantine Emperor John VI., just as her aunt Eudokia had married his grandfather John V": John VI Kantakouzenos was co-emperor with John V. This mistake is easily explained by the loss of two characters, either by Miller's pen or the typesetter's fingers. Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461, 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut Books, 1969), p. 80 She was the last crowned Byzantine empress.

She was one of the daughters of Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene.

Life In September 1427, Maria was married to John VIII Palaiologos by Patriarch Joseph IIDoukas, 20.7; translated by Harry J. Marguoulias, Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottoman Turks (Detroit: Wayne State University, 1975), p. 114 in Constantinople, having arrived by ship from Trebizond on the last day of August; the connection had been negotiated through ambassadors sent from Constantinople the previous year.Chronicle 14:3-4; translated by Marios Philippides, The Fall of the Byzantine Empire: A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes, 1401-1477 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1980), p. 30 The Ecthesis Chronica calls her Maria Katakouzene (Katakouzene was a variant of Kantakouzene) and extols her exceptional beauty which caused John VIII to love her dearly.Donald M. Nicol, The Byzantine family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus) ca. 1100-1460: a genealogical and prosopographical study (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, 1969), p. 171 and note

Bertrandon de la Brocquière, who saw her in Constantinople in 1432, likewise praised her beauty stating, "I should not have had a fault to find with her had she not been painted, and assuredly she had not any need of it."de la Brocquière, Early Travels in Palestine; cited in William Miller, Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461, 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), pp. 80f

The Spanish traveller Pero Tafur met Maria in November 1437 when he visited Constantinople and gave a glimpse into her daily life. During his stay at Constantinople, Tafur found she often went hunting in the adjacent countryside, either alone or with the Emperor.A. Vasiliev, "Pero Tafur, a Spanish Traveler of the XVth Century and His Visit to Constantinople, Trebizond, and Italy", Byzantion 7 (1932), p. 95 He adds that he met her elder brother, Alexander, in that city, where he lived "in exile with his sister, the empress, and they say that his relations with her are dishonest."Vasiliev, "Pero Tafur", p. 98 When Pero Tafur returned to Constantinople a few months later, he asked to be shown the Hagia Sophia; his hosts included not only the Despot Constantine but Maria and her brother Alexander, all of whom had wanted to hear Mass there.Vasiliev, "Pero Tafur", p. 103

Maria's marriage with John lasted twelve years but resulted in no children. Sphrantzes records the date of her death while John was away in Italy at the Council of Florence;Chronicle, 24.3; translated by Philippides, The Fall, p. 52 Steven Runciman attributed her death to bubonic plague.Runciman, The Fall of Constantinople, 1453 (Cambridge: University Press, 1965), p. 21 She was buried in the church of the Pantokrator monastery in Constantinople. John Eugenikos, brother of Mark Eugenikos of Ephesus, composed a lament for her death.

After Maria's death, John never remarried and died childless on 31 October 1448. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Constantine XI, who became the last Emperor. Constantine was a widower when he ascended to the throne and never married again,Runciman, Fall of Constantinople, p. 521 leaving Maria the previous empress.

Primary sources Doukas, History George Sphrantzes, Chronicle

References

External links Portrait by Pisanello thought possibly a portrait of Maria.