Maria-Irene Palaiologina

Irene Palaiologina (1327 – c. 1399), born Maria, was a Byzantine princess, daughter of Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos and Anna of Savoy, and an elder sister of Emperor John V. Her betrothal to the Bulgarian heir Michael Asen sealed the peace after the Battle of Rusokastro; they married in 1336, and she took the name Irene as a pledge of peace between the two realms.

In 1355 Michael Asen IV was killed fighting the Ottoman Turks near Sofia. His widow returned briefly to Constantinople, then settled at Mesembria, where she became a nun under the name Mataisa. She spent the rest of her life in the town's monastery and was buried there around 1399.