Rusudan ( ka, რუსუდანი; el, Ρουσουδάν) was the younger daughter of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and of his wife, Burdukhan (Gurandukht). Her elder sister was the famous Queen Tamar, who succeeded their father as ruler of Georgia. Born after 1160, Rusudan was married, possibly in 1180, to

Manuel Komnenos (born 1145) Manuel Komnenos ( gr, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, Manouēl Komnēnos; 1145–1185?) was the eldest son of Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, and the progenitor of the Grand Komnenos dynasty of the Empire of Trebizond. He served his un ...

, the eldest son of Andronikos I, who was the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...

from 1183 to 1185. Manuel and Rusudan had two sons,

Alexios Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

, probably born in 1182, and

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, born around 1184. When Andronikos was deposed and killed, Manuel was blinded, and possibly may have died from his wounds. It is said that Rusudan fled

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

with her sons, taking refuge in Georgia. While the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

were camped outside Constantinople between 1203 and 1204 (and would later take the city), Tamar sent Georgian troops to help Alexios and David to take control of Trebizond in April 1204. Combined with their additional conquests this became the new

Empire of Trebizond The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...

Bibliography

* C. Toumanoff, "On the relationship between the founder of the Empire of Trebizond and the Georgian Queen Thamar" in ''Speculum'' vol. 15 (1940) pp. 299–312. * 12th-century births 12th-century Byzantine people 12th-century Byzantine women 12th-century women from Georgia (country) 13th-century women from Georgia (country) 12th-century people from Georgia (country) 13th-century people from Georgia (country) Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Komnenos dynasty Year of death unknown Byzantine people of Georgian descent {{Byzantine-bio-stub