Helena Megale Komnene

Elena Megale Komnene (Greek: Έλενα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή, Elena Megalē Komnēnē) (died 1366) is the name given for the first wife of King Bagrat V of Georgia. Her first name is recorded in "The Georgian Chronicle" (18th century), and her family name is based on a theory which identifies her as a daughter of Basil of Trebizond.^[1][2] If true, the identity of her mother would be uncertain. Basil was bigamous, concurrently married to Irene Palaiologina and Irene of Trebizond. He died in 1340. Helena's siblings or half-siblings would include Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond.^[3]

According to the "Dictionary of Georgian National Biography" Elena died in 1366, victim to a plague which had spread across Georgia during the 1350s and 1360s. Possibly a recurrence of the Black Death. A year after her death, her husband married Anna of Trebizond, the 10 year-old daughter of Emperor Alexios III.^[4] According to the Georgian Chronicle, Elena was survived by two children:^[5]

Issue

• George VII of Georgia (d. 1407).
• David. Otherwise unknown.

References