John VII
John VII had deposed his paternal grandfather, John V Palaiologos, in 1390. He ruled from 14 April to 17 April 1390 before John V was restored to the throne. John VII managed to keep the title of co-emperor and the domain of Selymbria due to intervention of Bayezid I. His grandfather died the following year, and was succeeded by Manuel II Palaiologos, a paternal uncle of John VII. The sequence of events possibly preceded the marriage of Irene to John VII. She is not mentioned involved in them.