on 17 september 1334, basil formed a marriage alliance with the byzantine emperor andronikos iii palaiologos by marrying his illegitimate daughter irene. the affection between the two soon cooled, and basil took a mistress also named irene, by whom he fathered four illegitimate children. whether or not he was actually divorced from his wife remains uncertain, but there is an interesting letter from the patriarch of constantinople, john xiv kalekas, to gregory the metropolitan of trebizond. in this letter the patriarch reprimands the metropolitan, and all the other ordained men at trebizond, for the wickedness they had allowed to take place to the injury of the holy canons, and orders them to resolve this problem on the pain of alienating the main body of the church. the local clergy, however, contented themselves with the pretense that they were actually honoring the legitimate empress in their services since they were honoring an irene.