Despotess Eirene Branković

TURUL:1905:

Első feleség,és az ő fia Brankovics Istvan1420-76.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Kantakouzenos

Theodore's wife was Helena Ouresina Doukaina, a daughter of John Uroš, ruler of Thessaly.[10] He is believed to have had the following issue:

4. Irene Kantakouzene (d. May 1457), wife of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Kantakouzene

Irene Kantakouzene (Greek: Ειρήνη Καντακουζηνή, Eiréne Kantakouzené, modern pronunciation Eiríni Kantakouziní; Serbian: Ирина Кантакузин / Irina Kantakuzin; c. 1400 – May 3, 1457), known simply as Despotess Jerina[a] (Serbian: деспотица Јерина / despotica Jerina), was the wife of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković. In Serbian folk legends, she is the founder of many fortresses in Serbia.

Origins

Seen as child of Elek Komnemos and Theodora Kantakuzena.

But https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Kantakouzene shows as:

Irene was one of the sisters of George Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, according to Spandounes and other sources.[3]

The genealogy Donald Nicol had constructed gives George and Irene at least four siblings: Andronikos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, Thomas Kantakouzenos, Helena Kantakouzene, and one more sister who married a king of Georgia.[4]

Although he speculated their father was Demetrios I Kantakouzenos, Nicols was "certain" that their grandfather was Matthew Kantakouzenos and their great-grandfather the Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos.[5] However, Nicol later backed away from this identification of Irene and George's father, instead stating that it is more likely that he was Demetrios' brother Theodore Kantakouzenos.[6]

Family

Irene married Đurađ Branković on 26 December 1414, Irene having come to Serbia from Thessalonika; he would not become Despot of Serbia until 1427, by which time they had been married 13 years.[3] No contemporary source states which of Branković's five children were also Irene's, although the youngest, Catherine, bore the name of Kantakouzenos, and Mara was "clearly" the daughter of one of Branković's earlier wives.[7] Based on portraits of Irene with Đurađ Branković and his five children from a chrysobull preserved at the monastery of Esphigmenou on Mount Athos, dated 11 September 1429, Nicol interprets how the individuals were grouped that Stefan and Lazar were her children too. He also adds that Theodore Spandounes "records at the time of their mutilation by the Sultan Murad II in 1441 Gregory and Stephen were aged sixteen and fifteen respectively, which, if correct, signifies that Gregory too must have been a child of Eirene".[8]

Legends

Being a Romioi and with her brothers very influential to the new despot, people began to dislike her, attributing to her many vicious and evil characteristics including that building of Smederevo was her caprice. In folk poetry she has been dubbed Prokleta Jerina (Serbian Cyrillic: Проклета Јерина, the "Damned Jerina" or "Jerina the Cursed").

References

• Nicol, Donald M. (1968). The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos (Cantacuzenus), ca. 1100–1460: A Genealogical and Prosopographical Study. Dumbarton Oaks studies 11. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies. OCLC 390843. GoogleBooks
• Nicol, Donald M. “The Byzantine Family of Kantakouzenos: Some Addenda and Corrigenda.” Dumbarton Oaks Papers, vol. 27, 1973, pp. 309–315. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1291347. Accessed 13 Mar. 2021.
• http://genealogy.euweb.cz/byzant/byzant5.html shows as child of D2. Demetrios I Kantakouzenos: E4. Eirene Kantakouzene, basilissa, *ca 1400, +as a nun (possibly poisoned by her son Lazar) at Rudnik 2/3.5.1457; m.Serbia 26.12.1414 Djuradj Brankovic, Despot of Serbia (+26.12.1456)