Portal:Byzantine Empire/Selected biography/6

Maria Palaiologina was an illegitimate daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (ruled 1258-1282). She was betrothed by her father to the Mongol ruler Hulagu, the destroyer of the caliphate of Baghdad, as part of an alliance between the Byzantines and the Mongols.

Maria left Constantinople in 1265, escorted by the abbot of Pantokrator monastery, Theodosius de Villehaurdoin. In Kayseri they got the news that Hulagu was dead, so that Maria got married with the son of the Khan, Abagha. She resided in Persia at the Il-Khan court of Abagha for a period of 15 years, until her husband was poisoned by her brother Achmed. She led a pious life and was quite influential on the politics and the religious outlooks of the Mongols, who were mostly already Nestorian Christians. They had previously looked to Doquz Khatun, Hulagu's wife, as a religious leader. After the death of Doquz, this sentiment turned to Maria, who was called "Despina Khatun" from the Greek appellation Despoina, "Lady".

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