Theodora Megale Komnena, of Trebizond

First marriage

The first of Demetrius' wives was a Trapezuntine princess, whom he married c. 1273–1274 or 1277.[1] Her name and parentage are not recorded in the medieval sources. She might have been a daughter of the emperor Manuel I of Trebizond by his wife Irene Syrikaina, and was probably called Theodora or Irene. In contrast to Demetrius' other wives, she is invariably referred to by the medieval chronicler as "the queen", indicating that she enjoyed the status of the king's principal consort.[6] By this woman, Demetrius had four sons, David VIII, Vakhtang III, Lasha, and Manuel, and a daughter named Rusudan.[7] After Demetrius' demise, the Ilkhan Arghun assigned the valley of Skoreti near Tbilisi for the support of the Georgian queen, who kept by her her two young sons, Manuel and Lasha.[8] In 1298, she was part of negotiations with the Mongol general Kutlushah sent by the Ilkhan Arghun against her son David VIII.[9]

Of the children of this marriage, David VIII succeeded his cousin Vakhtang II as king of Georgia in 1292, but continued as a co-king with his younger brother Vakhtang III (r. 1301–1307) and his own son, George VI the Little (r. 1307–1318), until his death in 1310.[10]

Manuel is known from the Georgian annals to have been involved in the mission to Kutlushah in 1298.[9] He was married to Mamkan, a daughter of his tutor Tarsaich Orbelian, Prince of Syunik and Atabag of Georgia, as recorded by Tarsaich's son Stephen in his chronicle. Manuel died in 1314, without known issue.[1]

The only daughter born of Demetrius' first marriage, Rusudan, was married off by his father to a son of his ally, the influential Mongol statesman Buqa.[1] Rusudan appears to have survived the demise of Buqa and his family in 1289, later remarrying Taqa, a Georgian nobleman of the house of Panaskerteli. Rusudan and Taqa are known as benefactors of the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem. Furthermore, Rusudan is identified with the "queen of queens Rusudan" mentioned, along with the late Taqa, in an inscription from the Gudarekhi monastery.[11]