View source for Empire of Trebizond

{{Short description|Byzantine rump state (1204–1461)}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = Αυτοκρατορία της Τραπεζούντας ([[Greek language|Greek]])
| conventional_long_name = Empire of Trebizond
| common_name            = Trebizond|
| era                    = [[Late Middle Ages]]
| status                 = {{plainlist|
*Successor of the [[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Client state]] of the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] (1204–1227){{efn-ua|"Some scholars believe that the new state was subject to [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]], at least in the first years of its existence, at the beginning of the 13th century."<ref name="Vasiliev, A.A. 1936 pp. 3-37">{{cite journal|author=Vasiliev, A. A.|title=The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond 1204–1222|journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]]|date=1936|volume=11|issue=1|pages=3–37|doi=10.2307/2846872|jstor=2846872|s2cid=162791512}}</ref><ref name="Ostrogorsky, G. 1997 pp. 102, 305" />}}
*Vassal of the [[Mongol Empire]] (1243–1335)}}
| government_type        = [[Monarchy]]|
| event_start            = [[Georgian expedition to Chaldia|Establishment]]<ref name=Hewsen47/>
| year_start             = 1204
| year_end               = 1461<ref name=Babinger-1949>This is the date determined by Franz Babinger, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1949_num_7_1_1014 "La date de la prise de Trébizonde par les Turcs (1461)"], ''Revue des études byzantines'', '''7''' (1949), pp.
205–207 {{doi|10.3406/rebyz.1949.1014}}</ref>
| event1                 = [[Sack of Constantinople (1204)|Fall of Constantinople]] to the [[Fourth Crusade]]
| date_event1            = 12 April 1204
| event2                 = Submission to the [[Mongol Empire]]
| date_event2            = 1243
| event3                 = Permanent loss of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]]
| date_event3            = 1265
| event4                 = [[Byzantine–Trapezuntine treaty of 1282|John II renounces Imperial claims]]
| date_event4            = 1282
| event5                 = [[Trapezuntine Civil War]]s
| date_event5            = 1340–1349
| event_end              = [[Fall of Trebizond]]
| date_end               = 15 August|
| p1                     = Byzantine Empire under the Angelos dynasty{{!}}Byzantine&nbsp;Empire<br /><small>(Angelos dynasty)</small>
| s1                     = Ottoman Empire
| s2                     = Genoese Gazaria
| s3                     = Principality of Theodoro
| today                  = [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]<br />[[Russia]]<br />[[Turkey]]<br />[[Ukraine]]|
| image_flag             = Banner of the Empire of Trebizond.svg
| flag_border            = no
| flag_type              = [[Double-headed eagle]] flag as depicted in Western [[portolans]]<ref>{{cite journal | last = Androudis | first = Pascal | title = Présence de l'aigle bicéphale en Trebizonde et dans la principauté grecque de Théodoro en Crimée (XIVe-XVe siècles) | language = fr | journal = Byzantiaka | pages = 179–218 | year = 2017 | volume = 34 | url = http://histsociety.web.auth.gr/7.%CE%91%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%8D%CE%B4%CE%B7%CF%82-2017.pdf | issn = 1012-0513}}</ref>
| image_map              = Map of the Empire of Trebizond.svg
| image_map_caption      = Map of the Empire of Trebizond shortly after the foundation of the [[Latin Empire]] in 1204, featuring the short-lived conquests in western [[Anatolia]] by [[David Komnenos]] (later reconquered by the [[Empire of Nicaea]]) and [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinop]]e (later conquered by the [[Sultanate of Rum]]).|
| capital                = [[Trabzon|Trebizond]]
| common_languages       = {{plainlist|
*[[Pontic Greek]] (official)
*[[Laz language|Laz]]<ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/laz Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Laz] "Though Greek in higher culture, the rural areas of Trebizond empire appear to have been predominantly [[Laz people|Laz]] in ethnic composition."</ref>
*[[Western Armenian]], [[Old Anatolian Turkish]],<ref name=shukurov>{{cite book|title=The Byzantine Turks, 1204-1461|page=289|author=Rustam Shukurov|year=2016|quote=A remarkable feature of the Pontic situation in that some groups of nomad apparently wandered Trapezuntine territories as subjects of the Grand Komnenoi. According to Brendemoen, by the 14th century, a group of Pontic nomads was bilingual and spoke both Turkic and Greek. In addition to the case of the Christian Çepni, this is substantiated by linguistic data. Moreover, the earliest Turkic dialect of the Pontos was based on the Aqqoyunlu Turkic dialect under the influence of Pontic Greek.}}</ref> [[Ligurian language|Ligurian]], [[Latin]]}}
| religion               = [[Greek Orthodoxy]]

<br>'''Minority:'''<br> [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]
| demonym                = Trapezuntine
| leader1                = [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios I]]
| leader2                = [[Manuel I of Trebizond|Manuel I]]
| leader3                = [[John II of Trebizond|John II]]
| leader4                = [[Alexios III of Trebizond|Alexios III]]
| leader5                = [[David of Trebizond|David]]
| year_leader1           = 1204–1222
| year_leader2           = 1238–1263
| year_leader3           = 1280–1297
| year_leader4           = 1349–1390
| year_leader5           = 1459–1461
| title_leader           = [[List of Trapezuntine emperors|Notable emperors]]<sup>1</sup>
| footnotes              = <sup>1</sup> the full title of the Trapezuntine emperors after 1282 was "the faithful ''[[Basileus]]'' and ''[[Autokrator]]'' of All the East, the [[Kingdom of Georgia|Iberians]] and [[Perateia]]"
}}

The''' Empire of Trebizond''' or the '''Trapezuntine Empire''' was one of the three successor [[rump state]]s of the [[Byzantine Empire]] that existed during the 13th through to the 15th century. The empire consisted of the [[Pontus (region)|Pontus]], or far northeastern corner of [[Anatolia]], and portions of [[southern Crimea]].

The Trapezuntine Empire was formed in 1204 with the help of [[Tamar of Georgia|Queen Tamar of Georgia]] after the Georgian expedition in [[Chaldia]] and [[Paphlagonia (theme)|Paphlagonia]],<ref name="Vasiliev, A.A. 1936 pp. 3-37"/> which was commanded by [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios Komnenos]] a few weeks before the [[Sack of Constantinople]]. Alexios later declared himself [[List of Trapezuntine emperors|emperor]] and established himself in Trebizond (now [[Trabzon]] in Turkey).

Alexios and [[David Komnenos]], grandsons and last male descendants of the deposed emperor [[Andronikos I Komnenos]], pressed their claims as Roman emperors against [[Alexios V Doukas]]. While the rulers of Trebizond bore the title of emperor until the end of their state in 1461, their rivals, the Laskarids in Nikaia and the Palaiologoi in Constantinople contested their claim to the imperial title until the later fourteenth century. In the thirteenth century, [[George Pachymeres]] would call them the princes of the Laz, while [[Demetrios Kydones]] in the mid fourteenth century would claim that the emperors at Constantinople had given the rulers of Trebizond their state. For the rulers in Constantinople, Trebizond was often viewed as a rebellious former vassal or barbarian who had broken loose and proclaimed themselves as emperors but the emperors in Trebizond never renounced their imperial claim.<ref>S. Kennedy(2019) Michael Panaretos in Context in Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 904-5, 928-9. The emperors of Trebizond did pride themselves on their Laz origins to some degree. Bessarion's history of Trebizond during the sixth century only works if you identify the Laz with Trapezuntines. He does also proclaim that they legitimately rule over Lazike. See Kennedy, Two Works, 183, 264-5. This reading of history seems to have been somewhat widespread, as the Soumela history of Trebizond from the 18th century does also identify the Laz with the Trapezuntines making them the predecessors of the Grand Komnenoi.  </ref>

After the crusaders of the [[Fourth Crusade]] overthrew Alexios V and established the [[Latin Empire]], the Empire of Trebizond became one of three Byzantine successor states to claim the imperial throne alongside the Empire of Nicaea under the Laskaris family and the Despotate of Epirus under a branch of the Angelos family.<ref>Alexander A. Vasiliev (1958), ''History of the Byzantine Empire, Vol 2. 324–1453'', second edition (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, p. 506: "...&nbsp;on the territory of the disintegrated eastern empire, three independent Greek centers were formed; The empire of Nicaea and the empire of Trebizond in Asia Minor and the Despotat of Epirus in Northern Greece."</ref> The ensuing wars saw the [[Empire of Thessalonica]], the imperial government that sprang from Epirus, collapse following conflicts with Nicaea and the [[Second Bulgarian Empire]] and the final recapture of [[Constantinople]] by the Nicaeans in 1261.

Despite the Nicaean reconquest, the Emperors of Trebizond continued to style themselves as Roman emperor for two decades and to press their claim on the imperial throne. Emperor [[John II of Trebizond]] officially gave up the Trapezuntine claim to the Roman imperial title and Constantinople itself 21 years after the Nicaeans recaptured the city, altering his imperial title from "[[Basileus|Emperor]] and [[Autokrator|Autocrat]] of the Romans" to "Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, [[Kingdom of Georgia|Iberia]] and [[Perateia]]".<ref name=":02">{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaId=8823|title=Establishment of the Empire of Trebizond by the Grand Komnenoi, 1204|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor|publisher=Foundation of the Hellenic World|access-date=2018-01-21}}</ref>

The Trapezuntine monarchy survived the longest among the Byzantine successor states. The Despotate of Epirus had ceased to contest the Byzantine throne even before the Nicaean reconquest and was briefly occupied by the restored Byzantine Empire {{circa|1340}}, thereafter becoming a [[Serbian Empire|Serbian Imperial]] dependency later inherited by Italians, ultimately falling to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1479.

The restored empire ended in 1453 with the [[Fall of Constantinople|conquest of Constantinople]] by the Ottomans. Trebizond lasted until 1461, when the Ottoman sultan [[Mehmed II]] conquered it after [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|a month-long siege]] and took [[David of Trebizond|its ruler]] and his family into captivity.<ref>William Miller, ''Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204–1461'', 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), pp. 100–106</ref>

The Crimean [[Principality of Theodoro]], an offshoot of Trebizond, lasted another 14 years, falling to the Ottomans in 1475.

== Origins ==
Trebizond already had a long history of autonomous rule before it became the center of a small empire in the [[Late Middle Ages]]. Due to its natural harbours, defensible topography and access to silver and copper mines, Trebizond became the pre-eminent Greek colony on the eastern Black Sea shore soon after its founding. Its remoteness from [[Roman Empire|Roman]] capitals gave local rulers the opportunity to advance their own interest. In the centuries before the founding of the empire the city had been under control of the local [[Gabras]] family, which – while officially still remaining part of the Byzantine Empire – minted its own coinage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=180899 |title=Very Rare Issue of Interest to Both Byzantine & Crusader Collectors |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= February 2017 |website=CNGcoins.com |publisher= Classical Numismatics Group |access-date=November 22, 2020}}</ref>

The rulers of Trebizond called themselves ''Megas Komnenos'' ("Great Comnenus") and – like their counterparts in the other two Byzantine successor states, the [[Empire of Nicaea]] and the [[Despotate of Epirus]] – initially claimed supremacy as "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". However, after [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]] of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople in 1261, the Komnenian use of the style "Emperor" became a sore point. In 1282, [[John II of Trebizond|John II Komnenos]], as a result of [[Byzantine–Trapezuntine treaty of 1282|a treaty]] with Michael, stripped off his imperial regalia before the walls of Constantinople before entering to marry Michael's daughter, accepting his legal title of [[Despot (court title)|despot]].<ref>Donald M. Nicol, ''The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261–1453'', second edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1993), p. 74</ref> However, his successors used a version of his title, "Emperor and Autocrat of the entire East, of the [[Kingdom of Georgia|Iberians]] and the [[Perateia]]" until the Empire's end in 1461.<ref>See the discussion in N. Oikonomides, "The Chancery of the Grand Komnenoi: Imperial Tradition and Political Reality", ''Archeion Pontou'' '''35''' (1979), pp. 299–332</ref>

== Geography ==
[[File:Fourth Crusade and foundation of the Latin Empire.png|left|thumb|The path of the [[Fourth Crusade]] and the political situation of what once was the [[Byzantine Empire]] in 1204 AD.]]
Geographically, the Empire of Trebizond consisted of the narrow strip along the southern coast of the [[Black Sea]] and the western half of the [[Pontic Mountains]] along with the [[Gazarian Perateia]], or southern Crimea (soon losing to the [[Genoese Gazaria]] and the [[Principality of Theodoro|Theodorite Gazaria]]).

The core of the empire was the southern Black Sea coast from the mouth of the [[Yeşilırmak (river)|Yeşilırmak]], a region known to the Trapezuntines as [[Limnia (Pontus)|Limnia]], possibly as far east as [[Çoruh|Akampsis]], a region then known as [[Lazia (Pontus)|Lazia]]. [[Anthony Bryer]] has argued that six of the seven ''[[bandon (Byzantine Empire)|banda]]'' of the [[Theme (Byzantine district)|theme]] "district" of [[Chaldia]] were maintained in working order by the rulers of Trebizond until the end of the empire, helped by geography.

Geography also defined the southern border of this state: the Pontic Alps served as a barrier first to [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] and later to [[Turkmens]], whose predations were reduced to a volume that the emperors could cope with.<ref>Bryer, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291371 "Greeks and Türkmens: The Pontic Exception"], ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers'', '''29''' (1975), pp. 117ff</ref> This territory corresponds to an area comprising all or parts of the current [[provinces of Turkey|Turkish provinces]] of [[Sinop Province|Sinop]], [[Samsun Province|Samsun]], [[Ordu Province|Ordu]], [[Giresun Province|Giresun]], [[Trabzon Province|Trabzon]], [[Bayburt Province|Bayburt]], [[Gümüşhane Province|Gümüşhane]], [[Rize Province|Rize]], and coastal parts of [[Artvin Province|Artvin]].

In the 13th century, some experts believe the empire controlled the Gazarian Perateia, which included [[Cherson (theme)|Cherson]] and [[Kerch]] on the Crimean peninsula. [[David Komnenos]], the younger brother of the first Emperor, expanded rapidly to the west, occupying first Sinope, then coastal parts of [[Paphlagonia]] (the modern-day coastal regions of [[Kastamonu Province|Kastamonu]], [[Bartın Province|Bartın]], and [[Zonguldak Province|Zonguldak]]) and [[Heraclea Pontica]] (the modern-day [[Karadeniz Ereğli]]), until his territory bordered the Empire of Nicaea. The expansion was, however, short-lived: the territories west of Sinope were lost to [[Theodore I Laskaris]] by 1214, and Sinope itself fell to the Seljuks that same year, although the emperors of Trebizond continued to fight for its control over the rest of the 13th century.<ref>As documented by Charitopoulos Evangelos, [http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/forms/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx?lemmaID=8828 "Diocese of Cerasous. Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor"]</ref>

== History ==

=== Background ===
[[File:Medieval Trebizond 2.png|thumb|Fortification plan of Trebizond]]

The city of Trebizond was the capital of the theme of Chaldia, which according to the 10th century [[Arabs|Arab]] geographer [[Abulfeda]] was regarded as being largely a [[Lazica]]n port. Chaldia had already shown its separatist tendencies in the 10th and 11th centuries when it came under the control of a local leader named [[Theodore Gabras]], who according to [[Anna Komnene]] regarded Trebizond and its hinterlands "as a prize which had fallen to his own lot" and conducted himself as an independent prince. The Byzantine Emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]] confirmed him as governor of Chaldia but kept his son at Constantinople as a [[hostage diplomacy|hostage for his good conduct]].

Nevertheless, Gabras proved himself a worthy guardian by repelling a [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgian]] attack on Trebizond.<ref name="Miller-12">Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 12</ref> One of his successors, [[Gregory Taronites (governor of Chaldia)|Gregory Taronites]], also rebelled with the aid of the sultan of Cappadocia, but he was defeated and imprisoned, only to be made governor once more.<ref>Some authorities identify Taronites with the known son of Theodore Gabras, [[Gregory Gabras]]. See Anthony Bryer, "A Byzantine Family: The Gabrades, c. 979 – c. 1653", ''University of Birmingham Historical Journal'', '''12''' (1970), p. 176</ref> Another successor to Theodore was [[Constantine Gabras]], whom Niketas describes as ruling Trebizond as a tyrant, and whose actions led Emperor [[John II Komnenos]] in 1139 to lead an expedition against him. Although that effort came to nothing, this was the last rebel governor known to recorded history before the events of 1204.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 13</ref>

=== Foundation ===
{{main|Georgian expedition to Chaldia}}
The empire traces its foundation to April 1204, when [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios Komnenos]] and his brother David took advantage of the preoccupation of the central Byzantine government with the encampment of the soldiers of the [[Fourth Crusade]] outside their walls (June 1203 – mid-April 1204) and seized the city of [[Trabzon|Trebizond]] and the surrounding province of [[Chaldia]] with troops provided by their relative, [[Tamar of Georgia]].<ref name=Hewsen47>{{cite book|last=Hewsen|first=Robert H.|title=Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities|year=2009|publisher=Mazda Publishers, Inc.|location=Costa Mesa, CA|isbn=978-1-56859-155-1|pages=47, 37–66|editor=Richard G. Hovannisian|chapter=Armenians on the Black Sea: The Province of Trebizond}}</ref> Henceforth, the links between Trebizond and [[Kingdom of Georgia|Georgia]] remained close, but their nature and extent have been disputed.<ref>Eastmond, Antony. "Narratives of the Fall: Structure and Meaning in the Genesis Frieze at Hagia Sophia, Trebizond". ''[[Dumbarton Oaks Papers]]'' 53 (1999), 219–36.</ref> However some scholars believe that the new state was subject to Georgia, at least in the first years of its existence, at the beginning of the 13th century.<ref name="Vasiliev, A.A. 1936 pp. 3-37"/><ref name="Ostrogorsky, G. 1997 pp. 102, 305">Ostrogorsky, G., Ιστορία του Βυζαντινού κράτους 3 (Athens 1997), pp. 102, 305.</ref>

[[File:Trabzon, Hagia Sophia Ἁγία Σοφία (39484827385).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia church]] of Trebizond, which was converted from a museum to mosque in 2013.]]

Both men were the grandsons of the last [[Komnenos|Komnenian]] [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]], [[Andronikos I Komnenos]], by his son [[Manuel Komnenos (son of Andronikos I)|Manuel Komnenos]] and [[Rusudan, daughter of George III of Georgia|Rusudan]], daughter of [[George III of Georgia]]. Andronikos I had been deposed by [[Isaac II Angelos]], while Manuel was blinded (a traditional Byzantine punishment for treason) and died not long after. Alexios and his brother, David, ended up at the court of Queen Tamar of Georgia, who gave them military support to return to Byzantine territory. Vasiliev explains that she had been motivated to do so after the Emperor [[Alexios III Angelos]] stole the gifts Tamar had given to a group of visiting monks as they passed through Constantinople.<ref name="Vasiliev, A.A. 1936 pp. 3-37"/> While Michel Kurskanskis has argued in support of Vasiliev's interpretation, he disagrees with Vasiliev over the intent of Tamar's intervention: Vasiliev has argued that the Queen intended to create a buffer state to protect the Georgian Kingdom, while Kurskanskis believes she supported the brothers in their attempt to reclaim the Byzantine throne in [[Constantinople]].<ref>Michel Kuršanskis, "[http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1977_num_35_1_2073 L'Empire de Trébizonde et la Géorgie"], ''Revue des études byzantines'', '''35''' (1977). pp. 243–247</ref>

After marching from Georgia, and with the help of their paternal aunt Queen Tamar, Alexios and David occupied Trebizond in April 1204.<ref name="Panaretos-4">Michael Panaretos, Chronicle, ch. 1. Greek text in ''Original-Fragmente, Chroniken, Inschiften und anderes Materiale zur Geschichte des Kaiserthums Trapezunt'', part 2; in ''Abhandlungen der historischen Classe der königlich bayerischen Akademie'' 4 (1844), abth. 1, pp. 11; German translation, p. 41</ref> That same month Alexios was proclaimed emperor at the age of 22, an act considered by later writers as the moment the Empire of Trebizond was founded. Alexios ruled his new empire for the next eighteen years, until his death in February 1222. The throne then passed to his son-in-law [[Andronikos I of Trebizond|Andronikos I Gidos Komnenos]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Scott|title=Two Works on Trebizond|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2019|isbn=9780674986626}}</ref>

=== Up to the civil wars ===
[[File:Fresco of Comneni at Agia Theotokos, Trebizond..jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Copy of a destroyed fresco depicting [[Alexios III of Trebizond|Alexios III]], his mother Eirene and his wife Theodora, [[Panagia Theoskepastos Monastery]]]]
[[File:Alexios III Megas Komnenos.JPG|thumb|upright=0.7|Alexios III, from the [[chrysobull]] he granted to the [[Dionysiou monastery]] on [[Mount Athos]].]]

The date Alexios entered Trebizond may be narrowed down even further. [[Sergey Karpov]] has identified a lead seal of Alexios, on one side "the image of a [[strategos]] in the peaked helmet led by hand by St. George" with the inscriptions Ἀλέξιος ὁ Κομνηνός [Alexios Komnenos] and Ὁ Ἅ(γιος) Γεώργιος [Saint George] on either side; on the obverse is a scene of Ἡ Ἁγία Ἀνάστασις [The Holy Resurrection] with the corresponding inscription. Karpov interprets the significance of this image and the inscription as portraying the most important achievement of his life, St. George inviting the victorious prince to enter Trebizond and opening the gates of the city with his left hand. The importance of St. George was that Easter—the date of the Resurrection—in 1204 fell on 25 April, while the memorial date of St. George was 23 April. "So I dared to assume," writes Karpov, "that the seal points out the date of the capture of Trebizond."<ref>Karpov, "New Archival Discoveries of Documents concerning the Empire of Trebizond", ''Gamer'', '''1''' (2012), pp. 75f</ref>

Vasiliev points out that the brothers occupied Trebizond too early to have done so in response to the Crusaders capturing Constantinople; Alexios and David began their march on Trebizond before news of the [[Sack of Constantinople]] on 13 April 1204 could reach either Trebizond or Georgia. According to Vasiliev, however, their original intention was not to seize a base from which they could recover the capital of the Byzantine Empire, but rather to carve out of the Byzantine Empire a [[buffer state]] to protect Georgia from the [[Seljuk Turks]].<ref>Vasiliev, "Foundation", p. 19</ref> Kuršanskis, while agreeing with Vasiliev that Tamar was motivated by revenge for Alexios Angelos's insult, proposed a more obvious motivation for the brother's return to Byzantine territory: they had decided to raise the banner of revolt, depose Alexios Angelos, and return the imperial throne to the [[Komnenos]] dynasty. However, not long after they had gained control of Trebizond and the neighboring territories, news of the Latin conquest of Constantinople reached them, and the brothers entered the competition for recovery of the imperial city against [[Theodore I Laskaris]] in western Anatolia (ruler of the "[[Empire of Nicaea]]") and [[Michael I Komnenos Doukas|Michael Komnenos Doukas]] in mainland Greece (ruler of the "[[Despotate of Epirus]]").<ref>Kuršanskis, "Trébizonde et la Géorgie", pp. 243–245</ref>

For most of the 13th century Trebizond was in continual conflict with the [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm]] and later with the Ottoman Turks, as well as Constantinople and the [[Republic of Genoa]]. It was an empire more in title than in fact, surviving by playing its rivals against each other, and offering the daughters of its rulers, who were famed for their beauty, for [[Marriage of state|marriage]] with generous [[dowry|dowries]], especially with the [[Turkish people|Turkish]] rulers of inland [[Anatolia]]. The common view is that the Empire of Trebizond relied heavily upon wealth gained from its trade with Genoese and [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] merchants to secure for itself the resources necessary to maintain independence.<ref name="Hewsen">Hewsen, "Armenians on the Black Sea", p. 48</ref>

The second son of Alexios I, [[Manuel I of Trebizond|Manuel I]] (1238–1263), preserved internal security and acquired the reputation of a great commander. His accomplishments included capturing [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] in 1254.<ref>Maria Nystazooulou, [http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1964_num_22_1_1329 "La dernière reconquête de Sinope par les Grecs de Trébizonde (1254–1265)"], ''Revue des études byzantines'', '''22''' (1964), pp. 241–9</ref> He was the first ruler to issue silver coins, which were known as ''[[aspron|aspers]]''.

The [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|destruction of Baghdad]] by [[Hulagu Khan]] in 1258 diverted the western terminus of the [[Silk Road]] north to the Black Sea, and due to its link with their local capital at [[Tabriz]], Trebizond accumulated tremendous wealth under the suzerainty of the [[Mongols]].<ref>E.S. Georganteli, "Trapezuntine Money in the Balkans, Anatolia and the Black Sea, 13th–15th centuries", in T. Kyriakides (ed.), ''Trebizond and the Black Sea'' (Thessaloniki, 2010), p. 94</ref> Western travelers used Trebizond as their starting point for journeys into Asia; these travelers included [[Marco Polo]], who returned to Europe in 1295 by way of Trebizond. The troubled reign of Manuel's youngest son [[John II of Trebizond|John II]] (1280–1297) included a reconciliation with the restored Byzantine Empire and the end of Trapezuntine claims to Constantinople. Trebizond enjoyed a period of wealth<ref>Zehiroğlu, A.M. [https://www.academia.edu/29570856/Astronomy_in_the_Trebizond_Empire "Astronomy in the Trebizond Empire"], (2016), pp. 2–5</ref> and influence during the long reign of John's eldest son [[Alexios II of Trebizond|Alexios II]] (1297–1330). During his reign, the city of [[Erzurum]] was also under Trebizond Empire occupation for a while around the 1310s.<ref>Zehiroğlu, Ahmet M. ; "Trabzon Imparatorluğu 2" 2016, Trabzon, ({{ISBN|978-605-4567-52-2}}) ; pp.133–134</ref>

=== From the civil wars to the end of the 14th century ===
Following the death of Alexios II, Trebizond suffered a period of repeated imperial depositions and assassinations, despite a short period of stability under his youngest son [[Basil of Trebizond|Basil]] (1332–1340). Two groups struggled for ascendency: the ''Scholaroi'', who have been identified as being pro-Byzantine, and the ''Amytzantarantes'', who were identified as representing the interests of the native ''[[archon]]tes''. The years 1347–1348 marked the apex of this lawless period. The Turks took advantage of the weakness of the empire, conquering [[Oinaion]] and besieging Trebizond, while the Genoese seized [[Kerasus]]. In addition, the [[Black Death]] spread from [[Caffa]] to ravage Trebizond and other Pontic cities. Bending under the weight of the disasters that accumulated on his states, Emperor [[Michael of Trebizond|Michael]] abdicated in 1349 in favor of his nephew, [[Alexios III of Trebizond|Alexios III]], who gradually brought the partisans of both factions under control.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Under the rule of Alexios III, Trebizond was considered an important trade center and was renowned for its great wealth and artistic accomplishment. It was at this point that their famous diplomatic strategy of marrying the princesses of the Grand Komnenos to neighboring Turkish dynasts began. However, Anthony Bryers has argued against thinking this empire was a wealthy polity, stating that while the income from taxes levied on this trade was "by Byzantine standards" substantial, as much as three quarters of the income of the Emperor came from land "either directly from the imperial estates or indirectly from taxes and tithes from other lands."<ref>Bryer, "The Estates of the Empire of Trebizond. Evidence for their Resources, Products, Agriculture, Ownership and Location", ''Archeion Pontou'' '''35''' (1979), p. 371. He also includes revenue from such typical medieval sources as "the profits of justice, imperial trade and mining, confiscations and even piracy."</ref>

=== 15th century ===
[[File:Trebizond1400.png|thumb|300px|A reduced Trebizond with surrounding states by 1400]]

The last years of the fourteenth century were characterized by the increasing Turkish threat. This threat was not from the small Turkmen emirates that bordered Trebizond, but from the dynasty of the Osmanli, a new Turkish power emerging from western Anatolia that would soon consolidate the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Although their expansion was temporarily checked by [[Timur|Tamerlane]] at the [[Battle of Ankara]] in 1402, by the 1430s the Ottomans had recovered their fortunes, seizing large segments of Greece and finally capturing Constantinople itself [[Fall of Constantinople|on 29 May 1453]]. [[Manuel III of Trebizond|Manuel III]] (1390–1417), the second son and successor of Alexios III, had allied himself with Tamerlane, but the mighty conqueror soon left Anatolia, and the empire he had built crumbled with his death. Manuel's son [[Alexios IV of Trebizond|Alexios IV]] (1417–1429) continued the tradition of [[political marriage]]s by marrying two of his daughters to rulers of two neighboring Muslim empires: [[Jihan Shah]], khan of the [[Kara Koyunlu]], and [[Ali bin Qara Yoluq Osman|Ali Beg]], khan of the [[Ak Koyunlu]]. His eldest daughter Maria became the third wife of the Byzantine Emperor [[John VIII Palaiologos]]. {{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

Alexios IV's eldest son, [[John IV of Trebizond|John IV]] (1429–1459), could not help but see that his Empire would soon share the fate of Constantinople. The Ottoman sultan [[Murad II]] first attempted to take the capital by the sea in 1442, but high surf made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 85</ref> While Murad's son and successor, [[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]], was away laying siege to [[Belgrade]] in 1456, the Ottoman governor of [[Amasya]] attacked Trebizond, and although defeated, he took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', pp. 87f</ref> A Genoese document records the seizure of one of their ships at that port in 1437 by a military Galley on the orders of Emperor John IV.<ref>S. P. Karpov, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1291707 "New Documents on the Relations between the Latins and the Local Populations in the Black Sea Area (1392–1462)]", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers: Symposium on Byzantium and the Italians, 13th–15th centuries'', '''49''' (1995), p. 39</ref>

John IV prepared for the eventual assault by forging alliances. He sent an envoy to the [[Council of Florence]] in 1439, the humanist [[George Amiroutzes]], which resulted in the proclamation of the Union of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but this proclamation brought little help. He gave his daughter [[Despina Khatun|Theodora]] (also known by the name of Despina Khatun) to the son of his brother-in-law, [[Uzun Hasan]], khan of the [[Ak Koyunlu]], in return for his promise to defend Trebizond. He also secured promises of help from the Turkish [[emir]]s of [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]] and [[Karamanid|Karamania]], and from the king and princes of Georgia.<ref name="Nicol-407">Nicol, ''Last Centuries'', p. 407</ref> Through Theodora and the daughter of [[Alexios IV of Trebizond]] (also named Theodora), the [[Safavid dynasty]] of [[Iran]] that succeeded the Ak Koyunlu, would be of direct partial [[Pontic Greeks|Pontic Greek]] ethnicity from its very beginning, [[Ismail I]] being the [[Safavid dynasty family tree|grandson of Theodora]].

After John's death in 1459, his brother [[David of Trebizond|David]] came to power. David intrigued with various European powers for help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the conquest of [[Jerusalem]]. Mehmed II eventually heard of these intrigues and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Mehmed remit the tribute imposed on his brother.<ref name="Nicol-407"/>

Mehmed's response came in the summer of 1461. He collected a sizable army at [[Bursa, Turkey|Bursa]], and in a surprise move marched on Sinope, whose emir quickly surrendered. Then the sultan moved south across eastern Anatolia to neutralize Uzun Hasan. Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|placed it under siege]]. The city held out for a month before David surrendered on 15 August 1461. With the fall of Trebizond, the last independent remnant of the Byzantine Empire, as well as the Roman Empire from which the Byzantine Empire sprang, was the Empire of Trebizond's offshoot, the [[Principality of Theodoro]]. On December 30, 1475, it would also fall to Ottoman rule.<ref>Nicol, ''Last Centuries'', p. 408</ref>

{{Wide image|Cassone Conquest of Trebizond Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso.png|700px|A contemporary depiction of the fall of Trebizond by [[Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso]] }}

== Culture ==
===Religion===
Christianity strongly influenced society in the Empire of Trebizond. According to the [[Vazelon Monastery#The Acts of Vazelon|Acts of Vazelon]], which were written by contemporary monks, most peasants in the Matzouka region of the Empire had first names relating to Christian religious figures. Last names often referred to Christian saints, trades, and place names.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bryer |first=Anthony |title=Continuity and Change in Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman Society: Papers Given at a Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks in May 1982 |date=1986 |page=79 |publisher=University of Birmingham |isbn=9780704407480 |oclc=260168166 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/260168166}}</ref>

In the relatively limited territory of the kingdom of the Grand Komnenoi (known as the "Empire of Trebizond") there was enough room for three dioceses: [[Trabzon|Trebizond]], which was the only [[diocese]] established far in the past, [[Giresun|Cerasous]] and [[Rize|Rizaion]] in [[Lazia (Pontus)|Lazika]], both formed as upgraded bishoprics. All three dioceses survived the Ottoman conquest (1461) and generally operated until the 17th century, when the dioceses of Cerasous and Rizaion were abolished. The diocese of Rizaion and the bishopric of [[Of, Turkey|Of]] were abolished at the time due to the [[Islamization|Islamisation]] of the [[Laz people|Laz]] and of the region respectively. Possibly the diocese of Cerasous was deactivated for the same reasons.<ref>As documented by Charitopoulos Evangelos, "Diocese of Cerasous.
Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor", (3/7/2007)</ref>

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Komnenos-Trebizond-Arms.svg|thumb|right|In the 19th-century [[Johannes Rietstap]] popularized ''Argent, three bars Sable'' as the arms of Trebizond and the Komnenoi, based on older medieval sources, however, no contemporary sources support these arms, and medieval armorials are known to conjure fanciful arms for remote regions]] 
The Empire of Trebizond acquired a reputation in Western Europe for being "enriched by the trade from Persia and the East that passed through its capital," according to [[Steven Runciman]], "and by the silver-mines in the hills behind, and famed for the beauty of its princesses."<ref>Runciman, ''A History of the Crusades – the Kingdom of Arce and the Later Crusades'' (Cambridge: University Press, 1975), p. 126</ref> Donald Nicol echoes Runciman's observations: "Most of the emperors were blessed with a progeny of marriageable  daughters, and the beauty of the ladies of Trebizond was as legendary as the wealth of their dowries."<ref>Nicol, ''Last Centuries'', pp. 402f</ref> Its wealth and exotic location endowed a lingering fame on the polity. [[Cervantes]] described the eponymous hero of his ''[[Don Quixote]]'' as "imagining himself for the valour of his arm already crowned at least Emperor of Trebizond." [[Rabelais]] had his character Picrochole, the ruler of Piedmont, declare: "I want also to be Emperor of Trebizond." Other allusions and works set in Trebizond continue into the 20th century.<ref>Miller, ''Trebizond'', pp. 117ff</ref>

In [[Italian language|Italian]], there exists the expression "to lose the Trebizond" (''perdere la Trebisonda'') which means "to be bewildered". Trebizond was a port reachable by all the routes that crossed the Black Sea, and therefore a safe shelter in case of storms.<ref>{{in lang|it}}[http://www.nationalgeographic.it/popoli-culture/2015/04/03/news/perche_si_dice_perdere_la_trebisonda_sapevatelo-2554866/ Perché si dice perdere la Trebisonda], ''nationalgeographic.it''. Retrieved October 19, 2019.</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of Trapezuntine emperors]]
*[[Komnenos|Komnenos dynasty and related family tree]]
*[[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon]]
*[[Sumela Monastery]]
*[[Dorothy Dunnett]], a Scottish historical novelist, much of whose book ''The Spring of the Ram'' is set in Trebizond at the time of its fall
*[[Lawrence Schoonover]], an American historical novelist, much of whose book ''The Burnished Blade'' is set in Trebizond at its height
*''[[The Towers of Trebizond]]'', a novel by [[Rose Macaulay]] (1881–1958)

==Notes==
{{notelist-ua}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Sources and research ==

=== Primary sources ===
* [[Basilios Bessarion]], ''The praise of Trebizond''
* [[Michael Panaretos]], ''Chronicle''

=== Secondary sources ===
* Anthony Bryer & David Winfield, ''The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos'' (DOS. XX), vol. 1–2, Washington, 1985.
* Anthony Bryer, ''Peoples and Settlement in Anatolia and the Caucasus, 800–1900'', Variorum collected studies series, London, 1988.
* {{Cite book
| publisher = Variorum Reprints
| isbn = 978-0-86078-062-5
| last = Bryer
| first = Anthony
| title = The Empire of Trebizond and the Pontos
| location = London
| year = 1980
}}
* [[Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer]], ''Geschichte des Kaiserthums Trapezunt'' (Munich, 1827–1848)
* [[George Finlay]], ''The History of Greece, from Its Conquest by the Crusaders to Its Conquest by the Turks, and of the Empire of Trebizond: 1204–1461''. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1851.
* Émile Janssens. ''Trébizonde en Colchide''. Bruxelles: Presses universitaires de Bruxelles, 1969,
* [[Sergei Karpov]], ''L' impero di Trebisonda, Venezia, Genova e Roma, 1204–1461''. Rapporti politici, diplomatici e commerciali. Roma, 1986.
* Sergei Karpov, ''Трапезундская империя и западноевропейские государства, 1204–1461''. ("The Empire of Trebizond and the nations of Western Europe, 1204–1461".) Moscow, 1981.
* Sergei Karpov, ''История Трапезундской империи'' ("A history of the empire of Trebizond"). Saint Petersburg, 2007.
* [[William Miller (historian)|William Miller]], ''Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire,'' (1926; repr. Chicago: Argonaut Publishers, 1968)
* Donald Queller, [[Thomas F. Madden]], ''The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople'', University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2nd ed., 1997. {{ISBN|0-8122-3387-5}}
* {{cite book | last = Savvides | first = Alexios G. K. | script-title=el:Ιστορία της Αυτοκρατορίας των Μεγάλων Κομνηνών της Τραπεζούντας (1204–1461). 2η Έκδοση με προσθήκες |trans-title=History of the Empire of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond (1204–1461). 2nd Edition with additions | publisher = Kyriakidis Brothers S.A. | location = Thessaloniki | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-960-467-121-2 | language = el}}
* Rustam Shukurov, ''Великие Комнины и Восток (1204—1461)'' ("The Megas Komnenos and the Orient (1204–1461)"). Saint Petersburg, 2001, 446 pp (in Russian), {{ISBN|5-89329-337-1}}
* Levan Urushadze, ''The Comnenus of Trabizond and the Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia.'' — J. "Tsiskari", Tbilisi, No 4, 1991, pp.&nbsp;144–148: in Georgian.
* [[Fyodor Uspensky]], From the history of the Empire of Trabizond (''Ocherki iz istorii Trapezuntskoy Imperii''), Leningrad, 1929 (in Russian).
* {{cite book | last = Zehiroğlu | first = Ahmet M. |title=Trabzon İmparatorluğu 2 |trans-title=The Empire of Trebizond (Vol.2) (1222–1382) | location = Istanbul | year = 2016 | isbn =978-6054567522 | language = tr}}
* {{cite book | last = Zehiroğlu | first = Ahmet M. |title=Trabzon İmparatorluğu 3 |trans-title=The Empire of Trebizond (Vol.3) (1382-1451) | location = Istanbul | year = 2018 | isbn =978-6058103207 | language = tr}}

===Further reading===
*{{cite book | last=Eastmond |first=Antony |year=2004 |title=Art and Identity in Thirteenth-Century Byzantium: Hagia Sophia and the Empire of Trebizond |publisher=Routledge  |isbn=0754635759 }}
*{{cite book | editor=Eastmond, Antony |year=2016 |title=Byzantium's Other Empire: Trebizond |publisher=Ege Yayinlari |isbn=978-6059388009 }}

== External links ==
* {{commons category-inline|Empire of Trebizond}}

{{Trabzon}}
{{Byzantine Empire topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Fragments of the Byzantine Empire}}
{{Medieval states in Anatolia}}
{{Emperors of Trebizond}}
{{Authority control}}

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