possibly having spent some time in hungary after leaving dalmatia, queen maria settled in ottoman greece. she probably joined her paternal aunts, mara (mehmed's esteemed and influential stepmother) and kantakouzene, on their estate near serres. a conflict which erupted in 1476 between maria and kantakouzene led to the latter's brief imprisonment after the queen complained to mehmed. the strife may have caused the queen to move to constantinople, the ottoman capital, where she enjoyed protection of mehmed and his successor, bayezid ii. she spent years "slandering and intriguing against her closest relatives", as well as suing everyone from whom she could profit.