Theodora Axuchina

Theodora Axuchina was the wife of Alexios I of Trebizond.

Name

Her name appears in the "Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten" (1978) by Detlev Schwennicke and has since found its place in several modern genealogies. However the name does not seem to appear in primary sources. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#TheodoraAxuchinaMAlexiosITrebizond Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

That her family name was "Axuch" is considered probable because the full name of her eldest son was "John I Megas Komnenos Axouchos". Komnenos was the name of the reigning family of the Empire of Trebizond. "Megas" (the Grand) was the name assumed by their particular branch of the family, in contrast with other existing lines of the extended Komnenoi family. The "Axuchos" in the name is thus considered to reflect maternal ancestry. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#TheodoraAxuchinaMAlexiosITrebizond Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

The first name Theodora is probably based on the name of her best known granddaughter, Theodora of Trebizond. Under Greek naming conventions, the eldest daughter of a couple is named after her paternal grandmother. However it is not certain that the younger Theodora was the eldest daughter of her parents. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#TheodoraAxuchinaMAlexiosITrebizond Her profile in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] She had at least two sisters. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/TREBIZOND.htm#AlexiosITrebizondB Profile of Alexios I and his children in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

Family

She was probably a daughter of John Komnenos Axuch. John was a short-lived rival emperor to Alexios III Angelos. On 31 July, 1200, John was proclaimed Emperor in Hagia Sophia. He was betrayed and killed by his own soldiers, defecting back to the service of Alexios. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#_Toc178348366 Profile of the Axuches family in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond" by Kelsey Jackson Williams, gives his nickname as "John the Fat". [ [http://www.thepeerage.com/p21914.htm#i219134 Profile of John in Peerage.com] ] Williams theorises that John had married a daughter of John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary. [Kelsey Jackson Williams, "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond", Jornal of Foundation for Medieval Genealogy 2.3 (January 2007): page 174]

Her paternal grandparents would be Alexios Axuches and Maria Komnene. Alexios served as Duke of Cilicia, "Protostrator" and "Pansebastos". [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#_Toc178348366 Profile of the Axuches family in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] Hovever he fell out of favor with Manuel I Komnenos in 1167. John Kinnamos and Niketas Choniates report that the accusations against him included practice of witchcraft. He and an unnamed "Latin" wizard were accused of causing the pregnancy of Maria of Antioch, the Empress consort, to result in a miscarriage. They suppossedly managed to do so by providing drugs to Maria. [ [http://www.roman-emperors.org/maryant.htm Lynda Garland and Andrew Stone, "Mary of Antioch"] ] Alexios ended his life as a monk. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTINE%20NOBILITY.htm#_Toc178348366 Profile of the Axuches family in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] Maria Komnene, "wife of Alexios the protostrator" was mentioned in a seal. According to the "Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople" (1983) by Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, this Maria was suffering from insanity by the end of her life. [Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, "Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople" (1983), p. 276.]

Alexios is considered to have been a son of a senior John Axuch, founder of the Axuch family. This John Axuch served as Commander-in-Chief, ("Megas Domestikos"), of the Byzantine Army during the early part of the reign of John II Komnenos. John Axuch was originally an Oghuz Turk, born in the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. In 1097, as an infant, he was among the population of Nicaea when the city fell to the forces of the First Crusade. He was sent as a present to Alexios I Komnenos and was raised as a member of the imperial household. [John Julius Norwich, "Byzantium: The Decline and Fall". (New York: Alfred P. Knopf, 1996) p. 66, 68.]

The seal of Maria Komnene identifies her as a daughter of Alexios Komnenos, co-emperor from 1122 to 1142. He was the eldest son of John II Komnenos and Piroska of Hungary. He was an older brother of Isaac Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos. The identity of his wife is uncertain. The "Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten" suggests two wives. The first being Dobrodjeja Mstislavna of Kiev, a daughter of Mstislav I of Kiev and his wife Christine of Sweden. The second being Katay of Georgia, a daughter of David IV of Georgia by either of his two wives, Rusudan and Gurandukht. While both women are known to have married members of the Komnenoi family, several theories have been suggested as to the identities of their husband or husbands. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM%2010571204.htm#AlexiosKdied1142 Profile of Alexios Komnenos and his daughter in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ]

Marriage and children

Theodora married Alexios I of Trebizond. He was the eldest son of Manuel Komnenos and of Rusudan. His paternal grandfather was Andronikos I Komnenos. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BYZANTIUM%2010571204.htm#AndronikosIdied1185B Profile of Andronikos I Komnenos and his children in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] They would have at least three known children [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/TREBIZOND.htm#AlexiosITrebizondB Profile of Alexios I and his children in "Medieval Lands" by Charles Cawley] ] :

*Komnene, a daughter. Wife of Andronikos I of Trebizond.
*John I of Trebizond.
*Manuel I of Trebizond.

References