Gulkhan-Eudokia (Georgian:გულქან-ევდოკია) (died 2 May 1395) was the first Empress consort ofManuel III of Trebizond. Her original name wasGulkhanKhatun;Eudokia was her Christian baptismal name.
Gulkhan was a daughter ofDavid IX of Georgia and his wife SindukhtarJaqeli. She was also a sister ofBagrat V of Georgia.[1]
Her paternal grandfather wasGeorge V of Georgia. The identity of his wife is not known. "The Georgian Chronicles" of the 18th century reports him marrying a daughter of "the Greek Emperor, Lord MichaelKomnenos". However the reigning dynasty of theByzantine Empire in the 14th century were thePalaiologoi, not the Komnenoi. The marriage of a daughter ofMichael IX Palaiologos and his wifeRita of Armenia to a Georgian ruler is not recorded in Byzantine sources. Neither is the existence of any illegitimate daughters of Michael IX.[citation needed] The Komnenoi did rule however in theEmpire of Trebizond. AMichael Komnenos was Emperor from 1344 to 1349. His wife wasAcropolitissa. Their only child recorded in primary sources wasJohn III of Trebizond. Whether John III had siblings is unknown.[citation needed]
Her maternal grandfather was Qvarqvare II Jaqeli, Prince ofSamtskhe.[citation needed] TheJaqeli held theGeorgianfeudal office ofEristavi, a title that could be "governor of a region" or an "army-commander",[2] roughly equivalent to theByzantinestrategos and normally translated intoEnglish as "duke".
Gulkhan was first betrothed or married to Andronikos of Trebizond, an illegitimate son ofAlexios III of Trebizond. On 14 March 1376, Andronikos fell from a window in the imperial palace and subsequently died from his injuries. According toMichael Panaretos, only his mother and the Empress mother took part in the funeral procession, and the betrothal was transferred toManuel III of Trebizond, whom Panaretos describes as the "younger, proper and legitimate" son of the Emperor. Details like these have led historians to suspect more to the incident.[3] TheEuropäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten (1978) by Detlev Schwennicke reports him killed by being thrown out of a tower.[4]
Panaretos sets forth Gulkhan's chronology in the marriage process. The revised betrothal was negotiated while she was still residing inIberia: she left her father's kingdom and met the imperial party at Macragialos on 15 August 1377; together they returned to Trebizond on Sunday, 30 August. On 5 September Gulkhan was crowned Empress, taking the royal name of Eudokia, and she was married to Manuel the next day by theMetropolitan of Trebizond, Theodosius; the nuptial festivities lasted a week.[3]
Their only known son would reign asAlexios IV of Trebizond.[citation needed]
On 20 March 1390, Alexios III died. Manuel III succeeded him with Gulkhan as his Empress consort. Her term as Empress was brief, ending with her death on 2 May 1395.[5] Manuel would go on to marryAnna Philanthropene.
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| Preceded by | Empress consort of Trebizond 1390–1395 | Succeeded by |