Trapezuntine Civil Wars
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The Trapezuntine Civil Wars was a series of civil wars in the Empire of Trebizond in the aftermath of the death of Basil Megas Komnenos of Trebizond in 1340, possibly poisoned by his former widow Irene Palaiologina. It lasted until 1349 with the accession of Alexios III putting an end to the violence.
| Trapezuntine Civil Wars | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Map of Trebizond in 1300 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Scholarioi | Amytzantarioi | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Background
When Alexios II died in 1330, the empire was thrown into chaos when his son Andronikos III came to the throne and began executing his younger brothers George Azachoutlou and Michael Achpougas thus blunging the empire into political instability. When he died from a plague in 1332 his son Manuel II succeeded him, however though he would depose that same year by Basil Megas Komnenos. During his reign, the factional strife continued. According to George Finlay, the great officers and principal nobles had become petty sovereigns, reducing the countryside to anarchy. Contemporary and later accounts describe increasing insubordination among the Scholarioi and Amytazontarioi; an influential aristocratic family In 1334 Basil married Irene Palaiologina the daughter of Andronikos III Palaiologos forming an alliance with the Byzantines, however the couple's relationship soured and Basil to a mistress another Irene and divorce Irene Palaiologina. Basil died in 1340; some sources and later historians have suggested poisoning as a possible cause, allegedly involving Irene Palaiologina, though this remains debated. His death precipitated a period of dynastic dispute and factional conflict within the empire.[1][2][3]
Timeline
Irene Palaiologina
By the time Basil have died Irene Palaiologina had ascended to the throne as empress ruling in her own right and becoming the second empress of Trebizond after Theodora Grand Komnene However though after only one year on the throne she was deposed by Anna Anachoutlou.[4][5]
Anna Anachoutlou
Anna secured herself on the throne after overthrowing her sister-in-law but the situation under her reign was much more chaotic.The Scholarioi, as well as several unaffiliated noble families, such as the Tzanichitai, Doranitai, Kamachenoi, Kabazitai and Meizomatai would overthrow her in 1342.[6][7]
John III Megas Komnenos
Shortly after his coronation in the Panagia Chrysokephalos Church, the Scholarioi began executing nobles who supported Anna or the Amytzantarioi faction. Despite being in his early 20s he was a weak, and dissolute ruler, who cared only for entertainment, self-indulgence, and luxury; he showed no interest over his own father which caused Michael to be deposed and sent to Constantinople.[8][9]
Michael Grand Komnenos
When Michael become emperor, he granted Niketas the title of megas doux and was forced to sign the document which gave Niketas and his ministers almost all power in the Empire, promising to seek their counsel in all official actions. But after a revolt broke out against the oligarchy he imprisoned Niketas, but his short reign was mark by political instability and the black death allowing Niketas to returned and deposed him.[4]
Aftermath
Once Alexios III was on the throne, he was able to become a capable ruler and dismissed Niketas in 1354 leading to revolts and rebellions by the Scholarioi and some of the nobles, but Alexios defeated the Scholarioi nobles thus bringing an end to it.[4]
See also
Sources and research
Primary sources:
- 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.
- Book: Bryer , Anthony . Variorum Reprints. 978-0-86078-062-5. The Empire of Trebizond and the Pontos. London. 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, История Трапезундской империи ("A history of the empire of Trebizond"). Saint Petersburg, 2007.
- 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.
- Book: Savvides, Alexios G. K. . el:Ιστορία της Αυτοκρατορίας των Μεγάλων Κομνηνών της Τραπεζούντας (1204–1461). 2η Έκδοση με προσθήκες . History of the Empire of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond (1204–1461). 2nd Edition with additions . Kyriakidis Brothers S.A. . Thessaloniki . 2009 . 978-960-467-121-2 . el.
- Rustam Shukurov, Великие Комнины и Восток (1204—1461) ("The Megas Komnenos and the Orient (1204–1461)"). Saint Petersburg, 2001, 446 pp (in Russian),
- Levan Urushadze, The Comnenus of Trabizond and the Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia. — J. "Tsiskari", Tbilisi, No 4, 1991, pp. 144–148: in Georgian.
- Fyodor Uspensky, From the history of the Empire of Trabizond (Ocherki iz istorii Trapezuntskoy Imperii), Leningrad, 1929 (in Russian).
- Book: Zehiroğlu, Ahmet M. . Trabzon İmparatorluğu 2 . The Empire of Trebizond (Vol.2) (1222–1382) . Istanbul . 2016 . 978-6054567522 . tr.