Despina Khatun

Theodora Megale Komnene, also known as Despina Khatun (; from the Greek title despoina and Turco-Mongol title khatun, both meaning "lady"), was the daughter of John IV of Trebizond and Bagrationi who married the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Uzun Hasan in 1458. She became the mother of Halima Alamshah Hatun who became the mother of first Safavid king, Shah Ismail I. Some older writers refer to her as "Catherine". Charles Diehl has shown that it was based on Du Cange’s misunderstanding of the Mongol title "Khatun" as "Catherine". John IV agreed to the marriage only if his daughter was allowed to continue her Orthodox Christian religion, a condition which Uzun Hasan agreed upon. Despina was famous for her extreme beauty amongst the Greek women. She was accompanied by a group of Orthodox Christian priests and was allowed to build Orthodox churches in Iran. Uzun Hasan strengthened his anti-Ottoman alliance by this marriage and gained the support of many Greeks, Armenians, and Georgians. Marriage between Christians and Muslim rulers, although uncommon, was not unprecedented. Speros Vryonis provides several examples from the Sultanate of the Seljuk Turks, beginning with Kilij Arslan II. A later example is Michael VIII Palaiologos marrying off his illegitimate daughters Euphrosyne and Maria to Nogai Khan and Abaqa Khan respectively. Previous Emperors of Trebizond had married off their female relatives, most notably Alexios III, during whose reign two of his sisters and two of his daughters were married to rulers of neighboring Muslim states.