Rusudan of Georgia, Empress of Trebizond ( ka, რუსუდანი) was a consort of

Manuel I of Trebizond Manuel I Megas Komnenos (; died March 1263) was the List of Trapezuntine emperors, Emperor of Trebizond from 1238 until his death. He was the son of Emperor Alexios I of Trebizond, Alexios I and his wife, Theodora. At the time Manuel reigned, the ...

, and the mother of Empress Theodora. Very little is known for certain about her.

Family

Rusudan is commonly considered a member of the

Bagrationi dynasty The Bagrationi dynasty (; ) is a royal family, royal dynasty which reigned in Georgia (country), Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christianity, Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In ...

Szabolcs de Vajay Szabolcs de Vajay (born 9 October 1921 in Budapest; died 6 July 2010 in Vevey) was a Hungarian historian and genealogist. In 1943 he left Hungary to live abroad, in Argentina, France and Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Conf ...

has argued that Rusudan was probably an illegitimate daughter of Giorgi IV Lasha. However, Michel Kuršanskis argues that Rusudan could have been no more than a commoner and mistress of Emperor Manuel. First, Kuršanskis notes that it was not Georgian custom to name their children after their parents. "That alone should be enough to indicate that Rusudan couldn't be a daughter of the homonymous Queen," he writes. He points out that in the chronicle of

Michael Panaretos Michael Panaretos (; ) was an official of the Trapezuntine empire and a Greek historian. His sole surviving work is a chronicle of the Trapezuntine empire of Alexios I Komnenos and his successors. This chronicle not only provides a chronological f ...

she is the only one of the three women who gave him children who is not referred to as ''kyra'', or "lady". Lastly, Rusudan is described simply as "from Iberia" and nothing is said about her ancestry.

Empress

Rusudan is mentioned briefly in the chronicle of

. "Lady Theodora Komnene, the first daughter of lord Manuel the Grand Komnenos by Russadan from Iberia." Drawing on Georgian sources, Kuršanskis suggests that Rusudan died in 1247. Manuel had at least two daughters whose mother is not mentioned, and they could be children by Rusudan. One of the daughters, married

Demetre II of Georgia Demetre is an Old Greek male name. Examples * Demetre Chiparus * Demetre II of Georgia * Demetre I of Georgia * Demetre Kantemir * Demetre of Guria * Demetres Koutsavlakis * Demetrescu-Tradem External links Etymology of DemetreEtymology ...

, the other married one of his Didebul.Kuršanskis, "L'usurpation de Théodora", pp. 200f Though mentioned in modern genealogies as a name, "Didebul" was actually a title. According to "The Bagrationi (Bagration) Dynasty" by Christopher Buyers, the Didebul were "non-hereditary noblemen of high rank, senior to aznaur, usually enjoyed by one in state service".

References

{{s-end 13th-century births 13th-century deaths 13th-century women from Georgia (country) 13th-century people from Georgia (country) Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Georgia Empresses consort of Trebizond Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown