Maria Kantakouzene

Maria Kantakouzene (born c. 1329) was probably the eldest daughter of Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and Irene Asanina. In 1340 she was betrothed to Nikephoros II Orsini, deposed ruler of Epirus, and married him around 1342. From 1351 the couple governed Ainos.

When Nikephoros sailed for Thessaly in 1356, Maria held Ainos and refused to surrender its fortress to the rebel commander Libidarios. Nikephoros, urged to cast her off for a Serbian marriage, later put her under guard at Arta.

She escaped on a ship sent by her brother Manuel, helped by Acarnanians and Albanians; the Albanians rose against Nikephoros until he broke with the Serbs and recalled her. Before she returned he fell fighting at the Achelous in 1359. She ended her life as a nun in Constantinople.