Irene Kantakouzene
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Irene Kantakouzene, known simply as Despotess Jerina was the wife of Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković. Her father was probably the Byzantine nobleman Theodore Kantakouzenos. In Serbian folk legends, she
Irene Kantakouzene, Esphigmenou charter
Mara Branković
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Mara Branković, or Mara Despina Hatun, in Europe also known as Amerissa, Sultana Maria or Sultanina, was a Serbian princess, who married Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire.
Irene Kantakouzene
…However Lazar swiftly deprived her of all authority and treated her so badly that she tried to escape to the court of Sultan Mehmet II with her daughter Mara and her son Grgur (Gregory). Lazar pursued them, and captured Irene although Mara and Gregory successfully escaped. Irene soon became ill and died on…
Illustration from 1429
A letter from Mehmed the Conqueror to his stepmother Mara Despina Hatun (1459)