TREBIZOND THE LAST GREEK EMPIRE ay WILLIAM MILLER ca AMSTERDAM ADOLF M. HAKKERT — PUBLISHER 1968CONTENTS CHAPTER | ‘TRERIZOND BEFORE THE EMPIRE (7562.0. TOA. 1204) "7 CHAPTER ‘TE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE (1204-1222) - 14 CHAPTER IIL ‘THE PROSPERITY OF THE EMPIRE (1222-1330) - 70 CHAPTER IV THE CIVIL WARS AND THE RELIGIOUS FOUXDATIONS (gotgg9) = a8 / CHAPTER V ‘Tue DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE (1390-1458) = 7 | CHAPTER VI ‘rum PALL OF THE EMPIRE (1458-1461) = = OT uist of mwpznons == += 85 - 7 tour Reprint of the edition New York 1926 F . go? mM” 1768TREBIZOND THE LAST GREEK EMPIRE CHAPTER 1 ‘TREBIZOND BEFORE THE EMPIRE (756 D.c. TO A.D. 1204) Tue medieval Empire of Trebizond is one of the curiosities of history. It was born at the time of the Latin, and survived by eight years the Turkish con- quest of Constantinople. At its death it was the last independent Greek state governed by Greeks, who were themselves descended from one of the great Imperial families of Byzantium. During the two and a half centuries of its existence it attained to a high degree of civilization; its princesses were sought in marriage for their beauty; its ports were fre- quented for their commerce. But ts history presents considerable difficulties. The original authorities are mainly confined to a bald palace chronicle, occa- sional accounts in the later Byzantine historians, a few ecclesiastical charters and treatises,some valuable notebooks of travel, two or three poems, a few in- scriptions, scanty references by Genoese historians, and some valuable Genoese documents. But when Fallmerayer, nearly a century ago, first rescued the Empire of Trebizond from oblivion, and even when 7Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire Finlay's second edition was published half a century later, many of these sources had not been published. Of the two modern Greek histories, one is over fifty, the other nearly thirty, years old. Pro- fessor Krumbacher, almost a generation ago, wrote that the “time had come for a new history of the Empire of Trebizond.” The present book is an attempt to undertake such a task, as the result of an examination of all the available materials in the various languages. At a time when the victorious ‘Turks have once again destroyed the Hellenism of Pontos, it seems appropriate to recall the subjugation of its medieval progenitor. Trebizond had already had a long, if not an inde- pendent, history. Founded, according to Eusebius, in 756 B.c., it was three years older than Rome and nearly a century older than Byzantium. Xenophon, who visited it with the Ten Thousand, tells us that it was a colony of Sinope, and as Sinope was a colony of the Athenian settlement of Miletus, later writers like Bessarion* and Kritoboulos* could point with pride to the Attic origin of the city on the “‘table- land.” ‘Thither had emigrated the inhabitants of the other “ tableland,” the Trapezuntines of Arkadia, when Epaminondas amalgamated the Arkadian cities in the new Megalopolis® Paying a tribute to the metropolis, Sinope, Trebizond seems to have enjoyed freedom and peace throughout the classical period * Chronica, apud Migne, P-L. xxvi, 355 » anabass, iv, 8; ¥, 3 2 Encomim in Néot WDqrousiqan, xl, 150. iv, te * Pausanias, vil, 27. 8 Trebizond before the Empire of Greek history. In the struggle between Rome and Mithridates it took the side of the victorious Republic, and under the Empire enjoyed the privileges of a free city.’ In the Armenian campaign of Nero's reign Trebizond, the gate of Armenia, wag the port through which the Roman army conveyed its supplies; and in the civil wars which followed his, death this “illustrious,” this “long famous city,” as Mela and Tacitus? call it, was suddenly seized by an adventurer in the name of Vitellius. Hadrian, the second founder of Athens, made the fortune of her Enuxine grandchild by endowing Trebizond with an artificial harbour,* of which Finlay and Texier found remains, whence roads radiated in all directions to carry the Roman peace and the Roman productsinto Asia. Two events in the following period interrupted the pacific life of the city—the civil war between Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, in which ‘Trebizond suffered for its adhesion to the latter, and the Gothic invasion in the reign of Valerian, The Enuxine port was then, so Zosimos¢ informs us, “a great and populous city defended by a force of 110,000 men over and above its usual garrison,” and “girt about with two walls.” But the Goths easily captured it from its slothful and drunken defenders; 4 Bugenikos, apud Tafel, Euslathit Opuscula, p. 371; Pliny, i, 39; Hishy i, 47 ; Meta, i, 19, ® “Arrian, Scrifla Minora, 86, 87, 98 (ed. Teubner). Finlay's MS, “Journal” p. 44; Texier and Pullan, Byzantine Avchitec. ture, 196. 45,33Trebizond : the Last Greek Empire and, as most of the surrounding population had crowded into it for security, they took an immense ‘booty and many prisoners. The captors destroyed ‘the temples, the buildings, and everything of beauty ‘or size which they found. Trebizond was ruined for ‘a generation. Not till the time of Diocletian does an inscription in tke Metropolitan Church allude to the restoration of the city, but not to its former im- portance; for, more than half a century later, Ammianus Marcellinus* could find nothing better to say for it than that it was a ‘‘not obscure town,” Moreover, its local antonomy had been lost; we ‘hear of a Roman proconsul there, and under the administrative system of Constantine, Trebizond marked the extreme limit of the jurisdiction exercised ‘by the prefect of the East* ‘Meanwhile, Christianity had spread to this remote corner of the Hellenic world. A local tradition ascribes to St. Andrew the propagation of the Gospel there; the Metropolitan Church is said to have been erected over the cave in which he taught, and his name is still preserved at Trebizond. In the perse- cution of Diocletian Trebizond produced a little army of martyrs : Eugenios, Canidius, Valerian, and Aquila, the first of whom became the patron-saint of the city. Eulogies of his courage in destroying the image of Mithras, which stood on the “ grey bill” overlooking Trebizond, have come down to us;* when Justinian built an aqueduct for the citizens, * ra, 2 Zosimos, i, 33. 2 Papadopulos-Kerameus, Fontes, j, 132. 10 Trebizond before the Empire they called it after their great martyr, and, at critical moments in their history, they ascribed their deliverance to the intervention of St. Eugenios. ‘Hannibalianus, the nephew of Constantine, who was ‘entrusted with’ the government of t, has, been credited with the foundation of the Church of the “Golden-headed" Virgin; but if no historic allusion to it is found before gr4, the church of St. ‘Anna is known to have been restored twenty years earlier? Among those present at the Council of Nice was the Bishop of Trebizond; the Bishop in the eighth century became a Metropolitan ; in the reign of Justinian one of his successors became Patriarch’ at Constantinople; and in the eleventh century the Patriarch John Xiphilinos was a Trapezuntine, and, as such, wrote on the miracles of St. Eugenios. Trebizond was naturally an important position in Justinian’s Persian war, and a portrait of Belisarius jong adorned the church of St. Basil, while to that great general is ascribed the restoration of the famous monastery of Soumeld, a conspicuous landmark of ‘Trapezuntine history, founded in the reign of Theo- dosius the Great by two monks from Athens, Barnabas and Sophronios.* An inscription on the eastern gate of the city commemorated the recon- struction of the walls and other public buildings at Justinian’s expense after a severe earthquake. When, under Leo the Isaurian, the Byzantine Empire was + Procopias, De ABdifcis, i, 7- 2 Bull, Corr hell, ix, 421, 43, » Papadopulos-Kerameus, Fontes, i, 3351 N. "BAA, i, 142 1Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire reorganized and divided into themes, Trebizond ‘became the capital of the eighth theme, that of ‘Chaldia? Its strong fortifications protected it from ‘the Seljk invasion which swept over Asia Minor after the great battle of Manzikert in rox, and at that critical period it found a defender in Theodore Gabras, a local leader, who saved the city from the invaders. Gabris was the first strong man who ‘emerged out of the obscure history of Byzantine ‘Trebizond. A distinguished and unconquered soldier, as even Anna Comnena? admits, he regarded Trebi zond “as a prize which had fallen to his own lot,” sand himself as a practically independent prince. Fearing his influence at the capital, Alexios I. con- firmed him in his government, but kept his son Gregory as a hostage for his good conduct on the ‘excuse of marrying him to a princess of the blood. Meanwhile, Theodore held Trebizond against a Georgian attack. One of his successors in its govern- ment, Gregory Taronites, although connected with the Imperial family, took up arms against the Imperial forces, and did not scruple to invoke the aid of the Sultan of Cappadocia. But he was ‘defeated and imprisoned, only once more to be pat in charge of Trebizond. His restless ambition led ‘him to engage in a conflict between two Moslem ‘chiefs, the Emir of Kamakh and the prince of Meli- tene; he was again taken prisoner, and his heavy * Constantine Porphyrogenitus, ili, 30, 208 (ed. Bonn) ; ‘Texiet and Pullas, Byzantine Archilecure, 190 ; Hamilton, Researches in Asia Minor, i, 409. ¥ ii, a3, 121, 163 (ed, Teubner), 12 Trebizond before the Empire ransom must have cost his province very dearly. Another Gabras, Constantine by name, is described by Niketas® as having long held Trebizond, which he governed like a tyrant, so that the Emperor Jobn [I in 1139, set out on an expedition against his unruly governor. Although the expedition had to be abandoned, we hear no more of independent satraps of Trebizond before the Latin conquest of Constan- tinople, even though the local family of Gabras was still influential. Manuel I. employed a Constantine Gabris as his envoy to the Sultan of Iconium, and a Michael Gabrs held high military positions in his reign. Another Theodore Gabris gained the title of a martyr for his heroic death at the hands of the Saracens;® a monastery was called after him, and the family name is not yet extinct in the neighbeur- hood. The last governor of Trebizond mentioned in the twelfth century was a certain Nikephcros Palaiologos.* But it was not by the family of Palaiologos, but by that of Comnenos, that the future Empire of Trebizond was to be formed. * Abul-Pharajius, Historia Orientalis, 300 (ed. Pococke ; Oxford, 1672). 2 Pp. 454 159, 17335 Bivobus Xporech apud Sathas, Mevuwnic ‘BiBdobjen, vi, 205 ; Cinnamos, 298 ed. Bonn) * wefarri Kpoved i 132-37 | NED, Vil 17. 4 Niklas, 295 5 Bévopus Xpoouc, 308. 3BCHAPTER II ‘THE FOUNDATION OF THE EMPIRE (204-1222) Tue Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204 drove Hellenism to find other centres of activity and inde- pendence. Three Greek Empires arose—at Nica, Trebizond, and Salonika, this last a development of the “Despotat,” or Principality of Epeiros—and it was reserved for the first to reconquer Byzantium and for the second to survive by a few years the capture of Byzantium by the Turks. Alexios Comnenos, the founder of the strange and romantic Empire of Trebizond, was a son of Manuel and grandson of that resourceful adventurer, Andro- nikos [., who, after a series of hairbreadth escapes only possible in South-Eastern Europe, had occupied the Imperial throne, only to be murdered with the utmost savagery by the mob of Constantinople in 1185, His eldest son Manuel was blinded so brutally that he died, leaving two children, Alexios and David. Of their history between that time and the Latin conquest we know nothing. But in the same month of April in which Constantinople fell, Alexios, who had left the Imperial city for Georgia, set out thence at the head of a Georgian contingent provided by the active labour of his paternal aunt Thamar, and occupied Trebizond. The new ruler of that already 4 The Foundation of the Empire famous city had much in his favour. He was only ‘twenty-two, he was shrewd, his family was populat ‘on the Black Sea coast, whence it had originally ‘come, and where it had left comparatively recent memories, for in 1182 his grandfather had resided at ‘Oinaion, the modern Unit, between Trebizond and Sinope." Those three places all declared for him, and ‘while he remained cautiously in the neighbourhood ‘of Trebizond, his dashing brother David, aided by a body of Georgians and native merceraries, made ‘himself master of all Paphlagonia, where was situated the ancestral castle of the Comneni at Kastamuni, and extended his power as far westward as Pontic Herakleia, the modern Erekli, well on the way to Constantinople, as “the herald and forerunner” of Alexios.* The latter, in the bombastic style of Oriental majesty, styled himself Grand-Comnenos (with which we may compare the “Great Lord” of Frankish Athens) and Emperor, and both the grandil- oquent adjective and the Imperial title survived for 257 years in his dynasty—the longest, as Bessarion said, in Greek history. But the two brothers were not free from dangerous neighbours, and even rivals of their own race. Besides the other Greek Empire, established by Theodore Laskaris at Nicaza, Samsin, under the rule of Sabbas, formed an enclave in their territory, and interrupted its continuity on the Black Sea; “Mad Theodore" | Niketas, 828, 842 ; Akropolita, i, 12 (ed. Teubner) ; Pas aretos, ch. : ; Chalkokondyles, 461 (ed. Bont) ; Kritoboutos, iv, 2; Bessarion, Encomium, in N. "EX, xii, 183 ; Ephremivs, 304 5 Bivepas Xpovenh, 453 15Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire Mangkaphis held Philadelphia; Mavrozomes felt ‘himself secure on the Meander by giving his daughter in marriage to Kai Khisri I., the Seljak Sultan of Tconium, who was lord of the greater part of Asia Miner. "From the distant Cilician kingdom of ‘Armenia and the Armenian colony in the Troad ‘Trebizond had nothing to fear. With Georgia Alexios was connected; but the treaty, under which the Latin conquerors of Constantinople had pat tioned the Byzantine Empire, had assigned much of the new Trapezuntine territory — “ Papblagonia, Oinaion, and Sinope . . . with the appurtenances of Samsin”—to the Latin Emperor. But Theodore Laskaris soon swept away two of the Greek rulers, “Mad Theodore” and Sabbas, while the Latins, after an attempt to conquer some of their allotted territory, found themselves sufficiently occupied in Europe with the Bulgarians. With the Latins went the Armenians of the Troad ; Laskaris, who had been crowned Emperor in 1206, and the Seljaks remained to menace the new-born Trapezuntine Empire as allies. Kai Khisra, who had become Sulten in the same spring which witnessed its birth, besieged Trebizond in panisbment for the disobedience of Alexios to his commands? in 1205 or 1206; while David provoked Laskaris by sending his young general Synadenos to occupy Nicomedia, recently evacuated by the Latins, which formed part of the Nicene Empire. But Synadenos was no match for the abler Laskaris, 1 Tn al-Athirin Recueit des hist, des Crosades, Hist, Orien- aus. ji, pti, 201. 36 The Foundation of the Empire ‘who led his troops through a difficult pass, setting an example to his soldiers by wielding an axe against tthe trees that obstructed his path of victory. Syna- deros became his prisoner; David was forced to recognize Herakleia as the westward limit of the ‘rapezuntine Empire, and even thence Laskaris ‘threatened to make him recede still further eastward. David, thus hard pressed by his Greek adversary, ‘invoked the aid of the Latins ; Laskaris occupied the frontier district of Plousias, famous for its archers and its warlike spirit, and would have taken Herakleia also, had not the Latins under Thierri de Loos again seized Nicomedia. But the Latins soon retired, to face another Bulgarian invasion of Thrace, rewarded by David for their temporary aid by shiploads of com and hams. He begged that the Latin Emperor of Constantinople would include him as his subject in his treaties and correspondence with Laskaris, and lock upon all his land as Latin territory. It was his interest to prefer a nominal Latin suzerainty to annexation by the Nicene Emperor. Having thus secured his position, he crossed the Sangarios, the modern Sakaria, with a body of about 300 Frankish auxiliaries, ravaged the villages subject to Laskaris, and took hostages from Plousias. David then drew, but the Franks, incautiously advancing into the hilly country, were suddenly surprised by Andro- nikos Gidos, a general of Laskaris, in the “ Rough Passes” of Nicomedia, and scarcely a man of them wwes left to tell the tale. A further reinforcement from the Latin Emperor merely postponed the fall of Herakleia, which was annexed with Amastris and y BTrebizond: the Last Greek Empire all the surrounding country to the Nicene Empire. Niketas, ina fulsome panegyric of Theodore Laskacis, ‘poured scorn upon the “fools” of Trebizond who had chosen their David instead of the real David of Nicwa, ridiculed Alexios as an effeminate “youth nurtured in the shade,” a ‘lad thrown up on the Shores of Pontus, like offscouring cast up by a wave of the sea,” and in a feeble pun upon the name of the battlefield, declared that Laskaris had made the SrRough Ways" causeways." But this was not the only loss sustained by Trebizond. In r21q the new Seljak Sultan, Kai Kawus I,, anxious to have a ‘ree outlet on the Black Sea, captured Sinope, slew David, who commanded there, and compelled Alexios to pay tribute and render him military service* The results of the loss of Sinope were far-reaching. The western frontier of Trebizond, which had been @ few years earlier Erekli, and more recently Cape Kerembé, was now limited by the Rivers Iris and ‘Thermodon, the modern Jeschil Yrmak and Terme, only 155 miles in a straight line from the capital. Fastward the Empire stretched to the Georgian frontier at Soteropolis, or Savastopoli, a journey of eighteen hours. But, in compensation for_ these losses, Alexios seems to have made the Crimea tributary to Trebizond, which henceforth possessed. in Cherson and Gothia a transmarine province known as “ Perateia,” of the land beyond the sea."* Nor 1 Niketas, 828, 844-45; Idem, aud Sathas, Macau BadoBjen, i, 115-267 Akropolita, i, 18; Ephriemius, 305 5 Binoy Kpovich 457> TPapadopulos-Kerameus, Fontes, i, 131, * ‘Ibid 117. 38 ‘The Foundation of the Empire was it altogether an evil that the loss of Sinope and hhis western provinces cut him off from direct contact with the rival Empire of Nicea. Trapezuntine foreign policy was now limited to relations with Georgia and Iconium. The capital was considered impregnable, for art had supplemented nature in its defence. It'possessed a mild climate, a fruitful soil in which flourished the olive and the vine, an excellent supply of water—the first requisite for Orientals— and abundant wood. Joannes Eugenikos,! in his Jater panegyric, called it “the apple of the eye of all Asia,” and it was believed by its inhabitants to enjoy the special protection of St. Eugenios, The founder ‘was, however, not long spared to taste the delights of this agreeable residence. After a reign of eighteen yeas at the age of forty, he died on February ty 1222. As the new Empire was not yet hereditary, his eldest son John was passed over ia favour of bis son-in-law, Andronikos Gidon, or Gidos, whom Finlay tentatively identified with the victorious general of Theodore Laskaris, while a modern local historian tells us that the name Gidos means “ guardian.”* * Leus Trapezunis, ud Tafel, Eustathii Opuscul, 370. rte etna ee» 19CHAPTER II ‘THE PROSPERITY OF THE EMPIRE (222-1330) ‘Ir was well for the young Empire that a shrewd ‘man of great experience in warfare had been placed ‘on the throne rather than a raw youth, for in the second year of the second Emperor the capital had to face a serious attack. It had chanced that a ship bearing the tribute of the transmarine province, and hhaving on board the Archon who collected the annual taxes, together with certain notables of Cherson, was driven by one of those storms so common in the Black Sea into the harbour of Sinope. In violation of the treaty of peace recently made with Andronikos I. by Melik, son of the Seljal Sultan, Kai Kubad I., who had succeeded to the throne of Iconium in 1220, his subordinate official, the local governor, Hetum, not only seized the vessel and all its cargo, passengers, and sailors, but also sent ships to plunder the territory of Cherson. ‘Andronikos, when the news reached Trebizond, collected a fleet and despatched it agains: Sinope. His sailors not only plundered the district right up to the walls of the “mart,” but also slew or captured the crews of the ships lying in the harbour, whom they exchanged for the captive Archon, the vessel which had conveyed him, and the sums which had been taken from him, as well as all the plunder 20 The Prosperity of the Empire ‘carried off from Cherson. Melik thereupon marched ‘upon Trebizond, for the defence of which Andronikos summoned all his provincial subjects and fortified ‘the passes leading to it. But such was the fear which Melik’s “countless host ” inspired, that many “Trapezuntines fied to the sanctuaries of the ‘‘ Golden- headed” Virgin and St. Eugenios. But their brave ‘Emperor, supported by the “polemarch " Theodore and George Akrivitziotes, after partaking of the Holy Sacrament, inflicted considerable loss upon ‘the advanced guard of the enemy before withdrawing within the walls, which were already accounted impregnable, although those running down to the sea—the work of Alexios II—did not then exist. Melik pitched his tents near the monastery of St. Eugenios, set fire to the “mart” outside the city, and after a careful survey of the fortifications, ordered an attack from the sea side. A vigorous sally by the Emperor, however, caused the invaders to fiee; many of them were slain, their tents and money plundered, and in a further engagement the governor of Sinope, who had caused the war, and a first cousin of Melik fell on the one side, and several prominent Greeks on theother. Enraged athis defeat, Melik ordered the destruction of the church of St. Eugenios, while his army to the sound of their barbarous music and with a great shout again attacked the city. This attack, too, was repulsed; bat Andronikos, seeing the determination of the besiegers and the overcrowded state of the city, which had not then its later extent, called to his aid the Virgin and St. Eugenios, whose shrine Melik 20Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire vowed that he would burn on the morrow and then take the city, which he believed to be short of water and provisions. The Emperor thereupon resolved upon a ruse. He invited Melik to send envoys to treat for peace, and allowed them to ride through the city, so that they might see for themselves the flocks and herds, the various kinds of meat, the well- stored barns, and the abundant springs of water Which it contained. The account of the siege, com- piled by Joannes Lazaropoulos, who, under the name of Joseph, was Metropolitan of Trebizond in the second half of the fourteenth century, narrates the legend that a farther ruse was perpetrated by the outraged St. Eugenios, who appeared to Melik, the profaner of his shrine, in the guise of the Archon and mayor of the city, who held its keys, and pretended to have been sent by the suffering citizens {fo invite him to enter. Melik’s suspicions were calmed by his astrologers, who told him that his entry into the city was written in the stars. He accordingly ordered a night attack; but a sudden thunderstorm, accompanied by torrential rain and hail, terrified and scattered the besiegers. Some in the dark rode over the cliffs into the ravines which fre a feature of Trebizond, others were caught in the swollen torrents from the mountains. Melik fled, only to fall into the hands of the mountaineers from Matzouka, and 150 years later a shrine erected to St. Eugenios still marked the spot of his capture. Melik was brought a prisoner to Trebizond, where ‘Andronikos received him with honour, seated him by his side, and contented himself with telling him that 22 The Prosperity of the Empire those who treat treaties as “scraps of paper” devise evil for themselves. He then ccnsulted his council ‘on the policy to be pursued towards his prisoner- “The unanimous opinion was to send Melike home in peace, and a pact was made between them that in the future the tie of vassalage, which had previously bound Trebizond to Iconium, should cease, and that the Trapezuntines should no longer be obliged either to perform military service to the Sultan or to send him tribute or gifts. Melik was so much impressed by his conqueror’s moderation that he performed more than the letter of the treaty required, sending an annual present of Arab steeds to Andronikos and money to the monastery of St. Eugenios, which was also enriched as well as the church of the “ Golden- headed” Virgin by Andronikos from the spoils* ‘But the independence of Trebizond was of brief duration, Jalal-ad-din, the Shah of Khwarizm, appeared to dispute with the Seljuk Sultan the hegemony of Western Asia, Jalal-ad-din, as the conqueror of Georgia, became the neighbour of Trebizond, whose Emperor, cossidering neutrality impossible, in an evil moment made an alliance with the “ King of the Globe,” thus coming into conflict with the Seljaks. It has been argued from the fact 1 Papadopulos -Kerameus, Fonte, i, 30-31) 76, 13632 5 anu 3 Bere Ean 898s 3 Repent or ae Ee hen wy tne Waroplton of er ond tothe Tsar Alexander Il in 1858, and now inthe public Iibrary of Petrograd, formed part of the gospel presented by “Anddronikos to the Chrysokephatos Chureh, and had come from the Commenian library at Constantinople. 23Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire that many of Jalal-ad-din's fleeing troops, after their defeat at Aklat in 1230, sought refuge at Trebizond, that the Trapezuntine contingent had assisted the Shah in that battle? This unfortunate, if perhaps inevitable, mistake of policy cost Andronikos the loss of the advantages which he had gained in his treaty with Melik. Trebizond once more became the vassal of the Sultan of Iconium; for about 1240, according to Vincent de Beauvais? “the loré of Trebizond used to give him 200 lances,” or 1,000 men. Nor was this the only loss of this reign. ‘The Mongols occupied a large part of Georgia, and the Iberian and Lazic districts, hitherto subject to Trebizond,® whose eastern frontier had been Savastopoli, separated themselves from Greek domination, forming an inde- pendent kingdom under David, son of the Georgian Queen Roussadan. “When, in 1235, Andronikos I. was laid to rest in the church of the ‘Golden-headed" Virgin, which he had richly endowed in thanks for her aid against Melik, and which in its present form may date from his reign, the eldest son of Alexios I. was old encugh to succeed to the throne. Rot John [., or “ Axod- chos,” as he was called by what seems to have been a family name of the Comneni—for it had been borne by a Persian, who had been Great Domestic at Constantinople and was connected with that racet— after a brief and uneventful reign of three (or, 2 Abul-Pharajius, Historia Orientals 314. 2 Speculum historiale, bi xx, ch. 144, 1282 (Dovai, 1624). 3 Bessarion, Enconiune i N. "ENA. xl, 177, 185. 4 Sathas, Meo. BiB i 84+ 24 The Prosperity of the Empire according to an inaccurate reading* of Panaretos’ text, six) years, was killed while playing polo—a fashionable game of the Byzantine nobility, which had been imported to Trebizond. His son Joannikios was then put into a monastery, and his second brother Manuel ascended the throne. Manuel I. obtained the titles of “the greatest captain” and “the most fortunate”; but his reign witnessed the exchange of the Seljok for the Mongel suzerainty. His “lances” doubtless served in the Seljak ranks at the battle of Kousadac, when the Mongcls routed the forces of the Seljak Sultan, Kai Khusra IJ., and accordingly the friar Rubriquis® on his mission to the victors in x253 found the Emperor cf Trebizond, whom he mistakenly calls “Guion”—obviously a corruption of “ Gidon"— obedient to the Tartars.” In that same year “the Grand-Comnenus and Lord of Trebizond” sent envoys to Rubriquis’ master, Louis IX. of France, then at Sidon, begging him to give him a French princess as his wife. The King had no French princesses with him on the crusade, ut recommended Manuel to make a matrimonial alliance with the Latin Empire of Constantinople, to which the aid of “so great and rich a man” would be useful against Vatatzes, the Greek Emperor of Nicwa® There is evidence to support the adjective 1 Lampros in N, “EM, iv, 66, and Tafel in his edition 362) to ae almcaper in is tbe "Buf he 1238" and Manuel" in 1263, after regaing (went five years the lat gure must becorrece In Haklayt’s Voyages, 23t (Glasgow, 2902) 2 Joinvile, Histoire de St. Lows, 324 (ed, Be Wally, 1874) 25Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire “rich,” bestowed upon Manuel by the King. The great number of coins minted in his reign is one sign Of prosperity; for, although some bronze coins have been doubtfully attributed to Alexios I., and silver aspers were certainly coined by John I, of his sue- ‘cessor we have both a bronze coin and a large silver currency. ‘The reason for this was the increase in the transit trade of Trebizond after 1258, the date of the destruction of Bagdad by Halaga, the Mongol chief, when goods from the East were transported :0 Trebizond and the Black Sea, instead of to the Mediterranean. In this reign, such was the circula- tion of the Trapezuntine coinage in Georgia, that “ Kirmaneoul” (Kgr. Manuel) became the generic name for money in that country. These coins bore con the obverse the standing figure of the Emperor, ton the reverse that of St. Eugenios, or in some cases a seated figure of the “ Golden-headed” Virgin hold- ing the infant Christ! A portrait of this Emperor with a medallion on his breast, bearing the figure of St. Eugenios on horseback (destroyed by the Turks in 1866), was seen by Finlay in the middle of the last century in the church of the Divine Wisdom, of which Manuel was, therefore, perhaps the founder, but hes aince disappeared. An inscription beside the picture described him as “ Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans”; thus he considered himself the legiti- ‘mate heir of Byzantium.* | ‘Manuel died in 1263, after “doing that which was 1 Wroth, Catalogue of the Coins of the Vandals, ey PP Ixaviexix, 230-57. 2 Bull Correll, it, 429-32 + 26 joannides, 77. ‘The Prosperity of the Empire right in the sight of the Lord,” as the chronicler puts , leaving three sons and a daughter as the offspring ofhis three marriages. He appointed as his successor his eldest son by Anna Xylaloe, apparently the daughter of a noble Trapezuntine family; but of the three years’ reign of this second Andronikos nothing is recorded. Trebizond continued to flourish as a commercial place, for we find two mecchants from Marseilles there in that and the following year bear- ing a letter of introduction from Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence? His half-brother George, son of Irene Syrikaina, another Trapezuntine, followed him in 1266. But those internal disputes which were characteristic of the history of this Empire now began. George, after a reign of fourteen years, was betrayed by his disloyal nobles while engaged in a campaign against the Turkomans ‘in the mountain of Tauresion"—perhaps the Taurus range—and taken prisoner by his enemies. He was considered as de- posed, and his younger brother John II. reigned in his stead, soon to be menaced by another local sedi- tion headed by a certain Papadopoulos. ‘Meanwhile, in 1261, the Greek Empire had been re- stored at Constantinople, and Michael VIIT. resented the assumption by his “brother” of Trebizond of the: title of “Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans,” which, as we saw, George's father had already borne. As an usurper and as a ruler of doubtful orthodoxy —for his negotiations for union with the Roman Catholic Church had made him suspect to the in- transigent section of his subjects, some of whom had 3 Del Giudice, Codize Diplomatico di Carlo a Angi, i, 209. 27Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire even emigrated to Trebizond from religious motives— Michael Palaiologos regarded the Trapezuntine ruler as a possibly dangerous rival for their affections. Indeed, the enemies of the union of the two Churches hhad offered to recognize him as their Emperor! For the Emperor of Trebizond was just as much the rep~ resentative of Byzantium as the Emperors of Nica hhad been, and more so than the man who had sup- planted them on the throne. Michael accordingly ent frequent embassies to the “ ruler of the Lazes,” ‘as Pachymeres? styles John II, rebuking him for using the Imperial style and emblems, as he was only ‘a part” of the Empire. John replied that his pre~ dezessors had acted as he had, and that he was only following their precedent; nor would his powerful nebles allow him to curtail his privileges. The failure of his diplomatic remonstrances led Michael to adopt another plan. He resolved to win over the young and inexperienced ruler by a matrimonial alliance. In 1281 he therefore, as his envoy, sent the historian Akropolites, who was his Chancellor, together with Xiphilinos, a high ecclesiastical digui- tary whose family came from Trebizond, to arrange a marriage between his third daughter Eudokia and {John, and to invite the latter to Constantinople, But this invitation neither John nor his nobles wished to accept. They argued that experience had proved the advantages of marriage with neighbouring dynasties, ‘and preferred a less magnificent match than that with + Nikephoros Gregoras i, 28 (ed. Bona) ; Wadding, Annale Minorurn ¥, 66. 1 |, s20-24 (ed. Bonn) ; Nikephoros Gregoras, i, 149. 8 The Prosperity of the Empire '@ daughter of the Imperial house of Byzantium. Michael was not, however, to be put off. He seat ‘another embassy, composed of Iatropoulos, the logo- thete of the domestics, and of another high ecclesiastic, ‘who took an oath that John should, indeed, become ‘their master’s son-in-law and be well treated. Then aat last John yielded; but no sooner had he crossed ‘the Byzantine frontier than the envoys suggested ‘that, out of regard for the feelings of Michael, he ‘should doff his red boots, the symbol cf the Imperial dignity, and put on black. It had been agreed that ‘the Byzantine Emperor should give him, as soon as whe became his son-in-law, the inferior rank and symbols of a Despot. John had so little pride or ‘was so much impressed by this matrimonial alliance with Constantinople that he consented. He married in 1282 Eudokia, who shortly bore him a son, the ature Alexios II., and was probably the frst Trape- zuntine sovereign to change his title to that of “ Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, the Iberians, and the Transmarine Provinces,” although Iberia had been lost in the reign of Andronikos I. Official Byzantine historians long continued to refuse the Imperial title to the rulers of Trebizond, much as Nicholas I. of Russia declined to address Napo- leon IIT, as“ my brother.” An incidental advantage of this marriage was, however, the fact that thereby the Emperor of Trebizond became connected with ‘the Mongol chief, Abakha, who married an illegiti- mate daughter of Michael VIII. Even if we assume with Fallmerayer that the Mongol suzerainty over ‘Trebizond had become extinct upon the death of 29Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire Holago about 1265, such a family connection may have been useful. But if the Mongols allowed him fall independence, his neighbour David, King of Georgia, besieged his capital during his absence at Constantinople in 1282 3 ‘and, although he was forced to retreat empty-handed, his elder brother George, whom men called the “knight-errant," and who had been released from captivity, attempted to recover his throne, only once ‘again to be captured. Nor was this the only family quarrel. The Emperor's half-sister, Theodora, daughter of Manuel's Georgian wife, Roussadan, seized the throne in 1285, only to be put suddenly to flight; but her brief reign lasted long enough to provide numismatists with one or perhaps two Specimens of the only coins minted by an Empress of Trebizond.) Jobn’s own coinage was very numer- ous, and indicates a large volume of trade, although in his time the Turkomans overran, took, and laid ‘waste, in order to convert it into pasture-land, the rich province of Chalybia, with its valuable minerals, which had been worked since the days of the Ar- gonauts. His name and fame had penetrated to the Vatican Chancery, always well informed about the East; for, upon the fall of Acre, the last fragment of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, in 1291, Pope Nicholas IV. wrote two letters inviting him to be baptized so as the better to join in a new crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, and recommending to him the papal penitentiary, a Minorite and an envoy 1 Wroth, boxe. 277 5 Pl. xxi 30 ‘The Prosperity of the Empire to the Tartars.1_In his reign, too, occurred the first ‘connection between England and Trebizond. In rag2 Edward I. sent an embassy to Tabriz, which passed through Trebizond, headed by Geoffrey of Langley, afterwards “one of the household of the King's brother, Edmund.” On both their outward and their homeward journey in 1293 our countrymen stayed there, bought a horse from a Genoese, ard deposited their baggage in the house of Nicolo D’Oria, probably the Genoese consul, for we know ‘from a later letter of the Doge of Genoa that the pre- -decessors of Alexios IT. had given the Genoese lands there. The accounts of the Englishmen’s expenses at Trebizond have been preserved, and there seems ‘to have been a notable expenditure on shoe-leather, due to the stony streets of the city and the rocky mule-paths of the interior.* John, after a weak and ‘turbulent ceign, died at Limnia on August 26, 1297, ‘whence his body was transported to his capital ard interred in the church of the “Golden-headed” Virgin. Before 1863, when it was pulled down for reconstruction, the church of St. Gregory of Nyssa ‘contained his portrait, with that of his wife, and it ‘was noticeable that while his robes were adorned with ‘the single-headed eagle, “the special emblem of the ‘Comneni of Trebizond," his Imperial consort’s were 2 Les Regitres de Nicholas 1¥s pp. 904-5: 2 Row p19 Ewe ly in hy Ath elle Soe Ligwe «i storia patria xi, 598-608 * Bull: Corr. helt, ix, 428, 440. Finlay’s MS. “Journal” (pp. 41,42) a description of the church in 1850, with ‘drawings of the different crowns worn by the Emper cravings by the Emperor and 3t‘Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire distinguished by the double-headed eagle of Byzan- tium, to show her superior origin. ‘John’s death left Trebizond in practical dependence upon the Byzantine Empire. Of his two sons, the elder, who succeeded him as Alexios II, he had recommended to the care of his Imperial brother-in- law, Andronikos IT., and it was to the latter's court that his widow took the younger, Michael, in 1298. ‘Andronikos received her well, promising to send her ‘back when she wished to her elder son, whose position—such was the official Byzantine version—he did all in his power to consolidate. Eudokia had become entirely devoted to Trapezuntine interests, and had adopted her late husband's country. She refused a second marriage with King Stephen ‘Urosh II. of Serbia, as she wished to keep her troth toher first consort, and secretly opposed her brother's plan of marrying his ward Alexios to a daughter of the high court official Choumnos. She pretended, however, to approve this match, so that, under pretence of making arrangements for her son's wedding, she might return to Trebizond. Meanwhile, Alexios had resolved to decide for himself, without asking the leave of his guardian, and married an Iberian princess, the daughter of Pekal. In vain ‘Andronikos appealed to his legal authority as guardian and uncle in place of the young sovereign’s late father ; in vain he appealed tothe Church, to the Patriarch, and the Synod to annul the marriage. The Patriarch and a majority of the ecclesiastics refused to assist him, on the ground that the young ‘man’s wife was reported to be already enceinte. His, 2 The Prosperity of the Empire mother, on the pretext of inducing her son to dissolve the marriage, succeeded in returning in x3or to Trebizond, where she advised her son to stick to his Iberian’ wife. She died in the following ‘year, and was pethaps buried in the church of St. ‘Gregory? Having defeated the matrimonial intrigues of his guardian by placing him before an accomplished fact, Alexios proceeded to free himself from the em- ‘barrassing influences of the Turkomans and the Genoese. After their conquest of Chalybia in the late reign, the Turkomans had penetrated to Kera- sunt, the second city of his Empire. There, in 1302, hhe severely defeated them, killing many of them, capturing Koustaga, their general, and building a fort overlooking the sea, which was the subject of a Iaudatory official poem? ‘The Genoese were more dificult adversaries. They had already been long established at Trebizond. We saw how the British mission had used a Genoese house there in 1292, ‘and how a Dog: of Genoa had referred to a settle- ment of his countrymen there previous to the reign of Alexios. Pachymeres,? writing of the year 1305, describes them as ‘‘ having from old days inhabited ‘Trapezuntine territory,” and a Genoese document of xx302 was drawn up there in the building occupied 4 Panaretos, ch. 6; Pachymeres, ii, 270-71, 272-75; Nike- ‘Phoros Gregoras, i 202, 287-8, By “the protonotary ‘of Trebizond, Stephanos Sgouro- ‘poulos." In Papadopulot-Kerameus, Avddeera ‘iepooohopriiie rayooheriae i 432-37. Pi, 448 Aly nil, 553 ; Panaretos, ch. 6 (who puts the date at 130). 33 ©Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire by the Genoese court. As early as about 1250 Genoa had founded her first colony, Caffa, on the Black Sea, of which Michael VIII., by the treaty of Nympheum in r26r, had given Genoa a practical monopoly, such as in 1924 Signor Mussolini sought from the Soviet Government. Moreover, in theit own quarter of Galata they enjoyed exemptions from dues such as they did not possess in their long- established settlement at Daphnous, the marine suburb to the east of Trebizond. As the numbers of their Trapezuntine colony increased, they put forward a claim to exemption, quoting the precedent of Galata, and went so far as to refuse to allow the ‘Trapezuntine customs officials to touch their wares, adding, with a tactlessness that must have been specially galling to the sovereign’s pride, that it was absurd that persons “honoured with exemptions from an Emperor should have to go down on thei knees before others who were only local authorities.” In 1306 the Genoese sent a delegation to Alexios with certain proposals, which he rejected; where- upon they announced their intention of leaving his country in a body, and sent out a crier to bid their colony embark on board the galleys lying in the harbour. Alexios was indifferent to their departure, for he knew that their Venetian rivals were only waiting to take their place. He merely insisted upon the payment of duty upon all goods up to date. ‘With their usual arrogance they refused his demand ; he ordered his Iberian soldiers to attack them, and defeated them. But his was but a Pyrthic victory 5 for the Genoese, when hard pressed, set fire to the 4 The Prosperity of the Empire suburbs, thus causing immense damages to both parties—for the cargoes of twelve Genoese ships were destroyed by the flames. The loss was all the greater because in the previous year a great fire had raged in the castle. Humbled by these misfortunes, the self-assertive foreigners made peace. In fact, wwe have the text of a treaty made in 1314 between Genoa and Alexios. But this did not terminate the quarrels between the Genoese and the Emperor j for to this period, and not, as usually stated, to 1380, belongs the episode of Megollo Lerceri. For a Genoese document of 1313 mentions a Megollo Lercari as having had a galley in the Levant in the previous year ; and whereas the treaty of 1314 makes no mention of this remarkable incident, that of 1316 expressly alludes to it. Thus, although there were living about 1380 two persons named Megollo Lercari, the well-known Italian scholar Desimoni places the episode between the two treaties? ‘There was among the Imperial officials a certain Andronikos, to whom all the moneys of the Empire were paid, and who in the flower of his youth was said to have been a favourite of the dissolute Emperor. This man was jealous of the Genoese merchant Megollo (Domenico) Lercari, who had the entry to the palace. One day, while the two were playing chess, the official slapped the Genoese in the face. Unable to obtain redress from Alexios, Lercari returned to Genoa, and came back to Trebizond to exact satisfaction himself, He informed the ‘Trapezuntines in Palmerstonian language that * Atl, xi, 513-26. 2 bid. 499, 28. 35Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire “the Greeks must know that they cannot injure a ‘Genoese citizen with impunity.” He ravaged several maritime towns of the Empire, cut off the noses and ‘ears of the prisoners and preserved them in salt. ‘After wintering at Caffa, Lercari returned in the ‘spring to Trezibond, enticed the Greek ships out to sea by a pretended flight, and then attacked and de- feated them. Thereupon he sent ashore to the ‘Emperor uras containing the salted noses and ears, with the threat that he would send more unless ‘Andronikos were delivered up to him. ‘The Emperor sighed, "It is enough,” and complied with this severe ultimatum. Andronikos knelt down humbly before Lercari, who bade him rise with the bitter taunt, “Genoese citizens are not wont to vent their anger on women,” adding that there were other Genoese greater than himself, Lercari also bade hhim restore the horse and performing monkey, the gifts of the Emperor. A second treaty was then concluded by which it was promised that the Genoese should be no more oppressed; that a consul should be sent every year from Caffa and a consulate built at the Emperor's expense; that the Genoese should have a magazine, a furnace, and a bath. Alexios also ordered a picture of the scene to be painted. Bartolomeo Senarega, from whose letter to Giovanni Pontano these details are derived, and who flourished about 1480, said that he had heard them from a Genoese consul who had seen the picture, as well as from other Genoese. The text of the treaty of 1316 has been preserved, and contains a clause by which Alexios promised not to claim one- 36 The Prosperity of the Empire half of the sum agreed upon as compensation for the damages done by Accellino Grillo, Admiral of Genoa, and Megollo Lercari. In exchange for their former quarter at the “castle of lions," the modern Guzel Hissar, on the Cape of Meidan to the north of Daphnous, the Emperor gave them the site of the arsenal and allowed them to fortify it, provided that none of his subjects inhabited it; the adjacent quay was to be at the disposition of the Genoese ex- clusively. Thus the Genoese obtained at Trebizond something similar to the free zone accorded in our time by the Greeks to the Jugoslavs at Salonika." ‘The Lercari family continued to be coanected with Trebizond. In the church of St. Eleutherios at the landing-place beneath the “lion castle," which was perhaps the church of the colony, is a Latin inscrip- tion with the family arms relating the building of the sacristy by a Manfredo Lercari in 1365, and another Lercari was consul at Trebizond in 14564 Possibly the favourite so deeply humiliated by Lercari was the same whose murder the Franciscan friar, Odoricus, found Alexios lamenting when he fed Trebizond in 1318. The superstitious Em- peror besought a wizard to discover the murderer. The wizard brought the corpse into the castle * Alt, xii, 495-536 : Ag. Giustiniano, Casictisimd annali della. republica di Genoa, 148; P. Tneriano, Ristrelo delle “istoric Genovesi, 126-27 ; P. Bizari, Senatus Popalique Genuensis 1» historia, 735; U. Folietta, Hisloria Genuensium, 159-60 Senarega gives no date; the others 1380, BSA. xvi, 1485 All, vy pt. i 95556 5 xi, pt, p-coxa, Gf ay note in Eng. Hist. Review (923), xxv, 408 ; Rams, Dale Nasigation el Viaggi, 245. aTrebizond: the Last Greek Empire square, and after incantations uttered ia the presence of a large crowd, placed a lump of pastein its mouth, whereupon the dead man arose, stated by whom and why he had been murdered, and then sank back into the sleep of death. ‘The Venetians were not long in following their rivals after the conclusion of these arrangements. There is no evidence of a treaty between Venice and Trebizond in 1306, as alleged by Maller and Finlay; the date is a mistake for 1396. The first Venetian treaty was concluded in 1319. It granted to the ‘Venetians trading rights throughout the Empire upon payment of the same dues as those paid by the Genoese, and a site for a church, dwellings, and warehouses. Italian priests or Franciscans were to perform the service, and the Venetian baily was allowed to keep a band of music in his palace. We learn from the treaty that all foreigners arriving in ‘Trebizond paid a tax to the Emperor's privy purse. ‘The Venetians at once availed themselves of these privileges. Giovanni Sanudo is mentioned as already baily there in 1320, and in 1334 the baily was assisted by two councillors. In 1344 rules were drawn up for the voyage of the Venetian galleys to ‘Trebizond. Their captains were “to go like our ambassadors into the presence of the Emperor, and, after properly saluting him, to tell him that for the ancient love we bear him and his we rejoice at the happy state of his Empire, and pray the Most High to increase and preserve him and it. And let the 1 J, Malle, Siteungsberchte der K. Akadenie (Wien, 185%), vil, 334 Finlay, iv, 355. 38 The Prosperity of the Empire captains obtain renewal of our privileges. And let them carry presents to the value of 200 ducats for the Emperor and his barons.”* Trebizond was in the time of Alexios II. better policed than some modern towns; for an inscription of 1314, removed to the museum at Constantinople, speaks of a corps of “night watchmen,” like the bekdjis of the Bosporos.? But these watchmen were powerless to prevent conflagrations by enemies. The Moslem corsairs of Sinope, the forerunners of the Algerine pirates of a later day, set fire to ‘all the finest parts of the city ” in the year of the Venetian treaty ; four years later the crews of the Genoese galleys were ‘treacherously invited ashore by the chief of Sinope, ‘a great Turkish admiral,” who entertained them to dinner, and then afterwards bade his followers slay them and take and sack their galleys, of which only three escaped? Moved by these dangers, Alexios constructed a new wall to protect the western suburb and the space between the fortress and the sea, as, two inscriptions of 1324 inform us. The name of Trebizond was now well known in Italy; so we find Pope John XXIT. addressing “* Magnificence the Emperor of Trebizond" in 1329, and begging his “ Excellency” to add to his other merits and distinctions by returning with the people committed to his charge unto “the unity of the * Diplomatarium Veneto-Levantinumy 3122-24, 971-72, 249-50, ang704 1 LirCommomoratyy2a6e IT THOS Tz, xvii, 49099. *G. Villani, Historie Fiorentine, apud Muratori, xii, 5425 © Stellae, Annales Genuenss, ib, xi, 1051. «Rallmerayes, Original-Fragmente, i 13233. 39Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire Catholic and Universal Church,” by receiving charit- ably the monks who passed through his dominions, and especially Bernardo di Gardiola, Bishop of Dei- kirgan in Persia. Five months later, however, on May 3, 1330, Alexios IT. died. A fulsome rhetorical faneral oration has been preserved which was pro- nounced over him nine days after his burial by Constantine Loukites, his “‘protonotary and first chamberlain,” author of an encomium upon St. Enugenios and his fellow-martyrs, ‘The official orator spoke of Alexios as “having filled the whole earth with his good deeds,” as being ‘‘alone of all sovereigns worthy of great grief and praise from every race of men.” He described his ‘‘divine voice and golden tongue”—a “voice more beautiful than that of the Sirens”; his “ golden mouth, pearly teeth, end. gracious lips”; his “‘leonine arms, iron breast, and huge shoulders.” He asserted the second Alexios to have been ‘in all ways the equal” of the first; he was a good warrior, at whose “sword the Iberian hosts wondered, the Abasgian armies trembled, end the multitudes of the Khazars rejoiced exceedingly.” As for the “ Latin race "—an allusion to the Genoese —“having experienced his darts, it in every way trembled and was made to keep quiet,” while he “routed the Persians"”"—the Turkomans of Kerasant —and “deadened their pride.” In short, he was “brave as Samson, beautiful as Joseph, mild as David, wise as Solomon, hospitable as Abraham."* Annales Minoru, vi, 100 ff. Ads ann.1329, 0. 2 Papadopuios-Kerameus, 'Avdhecra “leperdhyuricis Bravo Doyles i, 421-30. 40 The Prosperity of the Empire A similarly bombastic eulogy of Alexios II. was pronounced many years later by the Metropolitan Joseph, who spoke of his “Imperial nose” and % golden beard,” his mildness to the obedient, and his roughness to the disobedient. In short, “"Thu- cydides and Demosthenes could scarcely have done justice to his merits.” After describing the admira- tion felt for this “hero” by not only his own subjects, but also “Persians and Medes, Egyptians and Ttalians, and almost every race of Scythians and barbarians,” the ecclesiastic, in the style of the later Ariosto, makes him slay a dragon at the ‘Dragon's Well” on Mount Mithrion to the eas: of Trebizond with the aid of St. Eugenios, whose birthday on June 24, which had fallen into oblivion, he ordered again to be kept. This episode perhaps accounts for the appearance of equestrian figures an the coinage of this reign. The dragon’s head was still preserved in the Metropolitan's time in the palace ; the festival lasted all day and all night; at the Emperor's request Gregorios Chioniades composed the hymns for the occasion; there were brilliant illuminations, and at the end of the feast the Emperor gave rich presents to the feasters.t Even stripped of its purple patches, the eulogy gives us some idea of the magnificence of court life at Trebizond. Tt was characteristic of this splendour-loving + Papadopalos-Kerameus, Fontes, i, 59-65. This refers, as the historical allasions and the phrase “ many years” show, to Alesios Tl., not Alexios IIL as Fallmerayer (Origin ‘mente, i, 35-39) imagined. Joseph was Metropolitan in the lifetime, aot after the death, of Alexios IIL 4Trebizond : the Last Greek Empire prince thas his coinage was more elaborate than that of his predecessors, for, besides the equestrian figures above mentioned, a plant or flower now appeared on it for the first time. Nikephoros Gregoras* men- tions a troop of jugglers at Constantinople who had been performing at Trebizond, and a Trapezuntine horoscope of 1336, preserved at Munich, gives us a curious insight into the social life of this period. We read of lectures by learned scholars, of theological discussions, of the great luxury, of the falsification of the coinage, of the large volume of trade, For the first time in Byzantine literature we find mention of Siam, while the horoscope alludes by name to Con- stantine Loukites, the author of the above-quoted eulogy? 5,348. 2 NEA, il, 33.50. 42 = 4 cman CHAPTER IV ‘THE CIVIL WARS AND THE RELIGIOUS FOUNDATIONS, (1330-1390) Avextos II. had four sons and two daughters. His eldest con, Andronikos III, who suecceded him, resolved to make his throne secure by the Turkish practice of killing two of his brothers, Michael Azachoutlot and George Achpougas—his third brother had probably fled to Constantinople. But nature took her revenge, for he died, after a twenty months’ reign, in January, 1332, and that of his, ight-years-old son, Manuel IT., was even shorter. ‘The only event of his eight months’ rule was another invasion by Bairambeg, the Turkoman chief, who penetrated as far as the monastery of the Angels, but was repulsed with great loss of men and horses. In all probability no coins have perpetuated either the second Manuel or the third Andronikos. ‘The weakness of the Crown had stimulated the jealousy of the rival parties, which had grown up at Trebizond. The founder of the dynasty had found on his arrival there a native aristocracy, which looked with as scant favour upon the imported nobility that had followed him from Byzantium as the “autoch- thonous” Greeks of Otho's reign regarded the Phana. totes, or as the modern Greek Royalists regard the 8Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire refugees from Asia Minor. An inscription of 1306, confirmed by other sources, gives the names of two of these great local families—those of Tzanichites and Kamachenos. The two principal factions were known as the Mesochaldatoi and the Scholarioi, the former representing the otiginal Pontic aris- tocracy, the backwoodsmen ” of the Trapezuntine territory, the latter being the descendants or the representatives of the palace guards of Byzantium. ‘The strength of the former lay in the provinces, that of the latter in the capital. In these circumstances, the Byzantine party invited Basil, the second son of Alexios II, who was living at Constantinople, to return. Basil usurped the throne, imprisoned his nephew, put to death the Grand-Duke Lekes Tzat- zintzaios and his son, the Great Domestic (or Minister of the Interior) Tzamtas, and stoned the Grand-Duchess, a Syrikaina and a member of that illustrious house which had provided the wife of one and the mother of two Emperors. A few months later, an insurrection headed by the new Grand-Duke John, an intriguing eunuch, led to the murder of the unhappy Manuel IJ., so that his name might be the rallying-cry for n0 more con- spiracies. ‘As the representative of the Byzantine faction, the ‘usurper, who had only seated himself on the blood- stained throne “after many contests,” naturally de- sired to ally himself with the established monarchy of Byzantium, and accordingly, ir 1335, following the 2 Bull. Corr, helly xx, 49697; Panaretos, chs. 10, 13; \Nikephoros Gregoras, i, 551. 44 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations example of John Il., took his wife thence in the person of a natural daughter of Andronikos I1I., ‘whom both Panarctes and Nikephoros Grogoras (in ‘two passages) call Irene, although the latter in another passage calls her Eudokia from confusion with the widow of John II. But he soon grew tired of his Byzantine consort. The Ecumenical Patriarch wrote to the Metropolitan of Trebizond complaining of Basil's maltreatment of his wife. The Metropolitan had at first officially assured the Patriarch that there was nothing in this story. But the facts soon spoke for themselves. Basil trans- ferred his affections to another Irene, whom the Byzantine historian called a courtesan, but the Trapezuntine chronicler a lady of Trebizond; he drove the Empress out of his palace, and would have killed her had he not feared the people, which had risen against him in indignation. His churchmen were more indulgent. The Patriarch expressed his irprise at the acquiescence of the Metropolitan and his clergy in this adultery, and bade them stop it. Other evil practices, he reminded the Metropolitan, had been reported from Trebizond, and he excom- municated the second Irene, and threatened to excommunicate the Metropolitan; but he did not think it prudent to excommunicate the chief culprit, to whom also he addressed a letter. Basil treated his communications with contempt; in 1339 he married his mistress, who had already borne him two sons, the second nearly three years earlier, whereas her legitimate rival had not provided him with an heir. The Trapezuntine hierarchy connived at the 45Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire pious fraud practised on the people, who, when the names of Basil and Irene were commemorated in the church services and at public spectacles, were deceived by the similitude of names into thinking that it was Irene the first, their lawful Empress.! ‘The unpopularity of the Emperor, due to his treat- ment of his wife, was enhanced’ by other events. ‘The Turkoman Sheikh Hassan, son of Tamartan, descended upon Trebizond ; fighting took place at the palisade of St. Cyriacus and on the hill of Mithras, and it was only by a providential storm of rain that the enemy was routed, and one of the prominent leaders killed in the flight. Moreover, when an eclipse of the sun occurred, the people in its superstitious terror ascribed that natural phenomenon to the sovereign’s wickedness, and, assembling outside the castle, threw stones at him. In these circum- stances, his death after a short illness on April 6, 1340, was attributed to other than natural causes. Tt was whispered that the discarded Empress had murdered him privily, and her conduct lent some colour to the suspicion, for she was evidently prepared to profit by his demise. She immediately entered the palace as its lawiul mistress, drove out her hated rival, and with the confirmation of a common vote of the Trapezuntines banished her and her two sons, Alexios and Kalo- joannes, to Constantinople, whither she sent an em- assy to her father, asking him to send her a husband to whom she could hand over the government of the 1 Mikosich et Maller, Acta et diplomata Graca Medi Avi, | agpaor Niephros Greer 53, HS 4 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations Empire. Unfortunately, Andronikos was at the moment on a campaign in Akarnania, the western- ‘most, 25 Trebizond was the easternmost, portion of ‘the Greek world. Accordingly, some time elapsed before the message reached him there, and the Nationalist party at Trebizond had thus leisure to ‘organize a revolt against the Byzantine woman who ‘was trying to bestow their Empire upon some unknown Constantinopolitan courtier. Irene, in despair, sent a second messenger, the Metropolitan ‘of Trebizond, on a swift galley to urge her former re- quest. Still, however, her father was absent, and the horsemen despatched to seek him at Salonika did not find him even there. Letters were therefore directed to him in Akarnania; but before his answer could reach Trebizond a revolution had broken out there, fomented by the rumour that the Empress was the lover of the Great Domestic. The people, and especially the nobles, became violently excited, and the division into two parties common to most Greek communities became intense. The faction opposed to the Empress was headed by Sebastos Tzanichites, the Commander-in-Chief, then the wealthiest and most powerful man in the Empire,-and included another influential noble, Constantine Doranites, the Kabasitai, who represented what in the eighteenth century we should have called “‘ the country party,” the head of the great family of Kamachenos, which we have already seen mentioned in an inscription, besides some of the common people and of the Imperial horse-guards This faction occupied the monastery of St. Eugenios. The Imperialists, or aTrebizond : the Last Greek Empire Amytzantarantai,! with the rest of the horse-guards ‘and some of tke nobles, held the citadel with the Empress. On July 2 the Grand-Duke John, the ‘eunuch, came to her relief from Limnia, some twenty miles west of the capital, with a large army, and directed his siege engines against the monastery, with the result that, in the eloquent phrase of the chron- icler, “all its beauties were burned.” The present church must, therefore have been reconstructed after this fire of 1340. Tzanichites and other leading nobles of his party were taken to Limnia and there executed a year later. Nor was civil war the only scourge of Trebizond. Hordes of Turkomans from Amida in Mesopotamia invaded the territory of the divided Empire. Their first attack was repulsed on “‘the Parcharis,""? or downs, but the sons of Dolinos, a distinguished citizen, who, or at any rate one of his clan, had been commemcrated in an inscription at Trebizond® in 1325, were Killed. But in July 1341, the Turko- ‘mans returned, routed the Greeks without resistance, slew many of them, and, assisted by a strong wind that had suddenly arisen on a blazing day, burnt “all Trebizoné within and without,” so that much people who bad taken refuge in the churches, with women, children, besides horses and cattle, perished in the flames. The stench of the putrefying, half-burned bodies caused an epidemic, so that the first secretary and keeper of the archives of the + Papadopulos-Kerameus, Fontes i, 134. 2 Sil called wepydpua (Evangelides, 03). 2 Wallmerayer, Original Fragment, 79 48 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations Metropolitan see of Trebizond, Andreas Libadenos,* who has left an account of this period, scarce'y ‘exaggerated when he compared the misfortunes of “Trebizond with the ten plagues of Egypt. Nearly a century later, Bessarion alluded to this con- flagration. A fresh palace revolution followed the fire and the plague. Anna Anachoutloa, daughter of Alexios II., sister of Basil, and known as the restorer of the monastery of St. Euthymios at Jerusalem, whose abbot was bound to be a Trapezuntine,? had retired into a convent, but shortly before these last events she had thrown off her monastic dress and occupied ‘the country of the Lazes. After the invasion and tthe fire, supported by Lazic troops, she seized the ‘throne, as the Iawful heiress of the Comneni, cn Joly 17, 1341. The ease with which she accom- plished the dethronement of Irene may be explained by the fact that, whereas the latter represented the foreign cour: of Byzantium, she represented the local dynasty, which in nearly a century and a half had thoroughly identified itself with the country. But thirteen days later another competitor appeared at Trebizond. Andronikos III. had recently died before he could attend to Irene’s request that he should send her a husband. The Regent, Jokn Cantacuzene, who then directed the affairs of the Byzantine Empire, realizing that the Trapezuntines + mpejpness, 15-28; Bessarion, Encomium in N. "ERX, xii, 62. + Papadopulos-Kerameus, 'Avdhecra ‘Teper. Bray, hy 2433 5i, 255-57 (Which contains the will, dated 1344, of the monk Gerasimos). 49 >Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire ‘had an “almost inviolable law” that no one should «govern them except one of the family of the Comneni, ‘bethought him of Michael, brother of Alexios IT. and son of John II., a man of already fifty-six years of age, who was then living at Constantinople. Michael arrived on July 30, 1341, escorted by two or three vessels, and accompanied by Niketas and Gregorios, the leaders of the Scholarioi and of the life-guard. In the evening the nobles and the Metropolitan Akakios weat down to meet him, received him as their lord, and took the oath of allegiance to him. But it did not suit the plans of the wealthiest and most eminent senators to have on the throne a man of mature years who might not be a puppet in their hands. In order that they might govern as they chose, they professed the desire of making Emperor one of the bastards whom Irene of Trebizond had borne to Basil. But they did not like to act openly, for they feared the people, who might be aided by the two Latin ships of Michael's escort. They therefore dissimulated, received him with honour and escorted him to ‘the palace of his ancestor: There, when night fell, they shut him up as a prisoner. Of the crowds favourable to him, all who could not escape to the ships were either cut down or imprisoned, while Anna's Lazic troops plundered the ships ard killed many persons. Next day Michael was put on board a vessel and sent off first to Oinaion, and then for safer custody to the eunuch, who was of the senatorial party, and commanded at Limnia. The dethroned Empress Irene, the Palaio- logina, was also sent on a Frankish vessel to Con- 50 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations stantinople. As both she and her intended husband ‘were out of the way, the senatorial party had for the moment the ascendancy. Two or three of the senators governed behind the scenes, while Anna ‘Comnena sat on the throne, the people insulted the ruling clique and plotted another insurrection, and ‘the Turkomans had seized the opportunity of these internal troubles to make another, providentially ‘fruitless, raid. This state of affairs did not last long. Niketas and Gregorios, who had accompanied Michael, with others of their party, escaped on a Venetian galley to Constantinople, and persuaded the Empress Anne of Savoy to give them Michael’s son Jobn, then in the twentieth year of his age. They hired three Genoese galleys, and with these and two of their own sailed for Trebizond, having John on board. Upon their arrival the party in power took up arms in its defence but the people rose against the Government, and the Italian crews easily made themselves masters of the city on September 4, 1342. John III. was crowned in the church of the “ Golden-headed” Virgin, where in 1223 the people had sought refnge from Melik, where in 1297 his grandfather, John II, had been buried, and a great crowd assembled from the whole countryside to see the newly.arrived Emperor. But the new sovereign was merely the puppet of his sup- porters, The Scholarioi, now all-powerful, used their power to take revenge upon their opponents, like rival Greek parties in our own day. A severe persecution ensued ; two of the opposition leaders, the Amytzantarioi, were put to death and their aTrebizond: the Last Greek Empire Property confiscated; the mother of another Prominent personage was strangled, and with her the ex-Empress Anna; people of the second and third rank were exiled for life. Had John ILI, been contented to sign whatever his advisers submitted to him, he might have prolonged hhis reign. But, like Reboboam, he despised the counsel of the Scholarian elders, and spent his days and nights in riotous living with flute-girls and dancing-girls, squandering the finances of the state fon such diversions. Accordingly, on the death of the powerful eunuch, the Grand-Duke John, who guarded the dethroned Emperor Michael at Limnia, the Scholarian captain, Niketas, went and fetched that Imperial prisoner, placed him on the throne on May 3, 1344, instead of his unworthy son, and sent the latter under the custody of a Byzantine guard to the monastery of St. Sabas, situated, like Megaspe- laion, in a cave, and admirably designed by nature for a prison. Michael, however, had to swear to the Scholarioi, who had placed him on the throne of his ancestors, that he should keep “ the form of power,” but that they should have the substance. They were to “counsel him beforehand all that he was to do,” and should be “arbiters and authors of all his open and secret policy.” As the chief office-holders had been put to death, the leaders of the party now in power divided the principal offices of state between them. Niketas became Grand-Duke, Gregorios Meizomates Commander-in-Chief, Leon Kabasites Great Domestic, Constantine Doranites Treasurer and his son High Steward, John Kabasites Minister 52 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations of Finance, the son of Niketas Chamberlain, Michael Meizomates Marshal, and Stephen Tzani- chites Great Constable. Thus, Trebizond was a ‘Whig oligarchy, nominally presided over by a dummy sovereign. A few great families governed, the Emperor reigned. But as time went on, when the arrogance of the governors made them odious to the governed, and the opposite faction had recovered strength with the aid of the people, both parties found themselves obliged to entrust the Emperor with real power. Michael thereby became sovereign in fact as well as in name, and none could hinder his authority. In November, 1345, he made his position still surer by the arrests of the Grand-Duke, the Great Domestic, and others of their party, and by the removal of his son, the late Emperor John, from St. Sabas to Constantinople, and thence to Adrianople. Seventeen years later John escaped from Adrianople to Sinope, where he died! The absolute monarchy of Michael did not, however, bring peace and prosperity to the much-tried Empi In 1346 the Turkomans captured the Trapezuntine towns of St. AndrewandOinaion. In September, 1347, the Black Death made its appearance at Trebizond, and raged seven months, The Florentine chronicler, Villani,? states that “only one out of five persons survived,” and that earthquakes accompanied the plague. "But Libadenos, who was there at the time, makes no mention of either plague or earthquake, although the former is chronicled by Panaretos. In 4 Nikephoros Gregoras, i, 678-83 ; Panaretos, chs. r1-14,31- 4 Historie Florentine, apud Moratori, RIS, ii, 964. 53Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire 3348 another Turkoman invasion, in which that wild mountain-folk, the Tzans, participated, afflicted ‘Trebizond; but the barbarians were repulsed with much loss after three days’ fighting. But far more sericus was the fresh quarrel with ‘the Genoese. A few years earlier the arrogance of ‘the Genoese colonists of Caffa towards the Tartars had alarmed the Trapezuntines lest their Genoese ‘colony should treat them in a similar manner. Ac- cordingly, they suddenly surrounded them and put ‘most of them to the sword—a brutal lesson which made the survivors teat the people of the country ‘with greater humility in future” But in 1348 the Genoese took their revenge by capturing and burning Kerasunt, the second city of the Empire. In May, 3349, they made further reprisals. Two Genoese galleys from Caffa threatened the capital. A “Trapezuntine flotilla of one large and one small galley and a number of small boats set out from the ‘harbour of Daphnous to meet them; but in the ‘battle which ensued the Latins were victorious, John Kabasites, Michael Tzanichites, and many others ‘were slain, and the large Trapezuntine galley burned. ‘The Greeks retaliated by plundering and imprison- 4ng the Italian colony ashore. Thereupon, some six ‘weeks later, the Genoese returned with three galleys from Caffa and a barque ftom Samstin. The i ‘ternal condition of Trebizond counselled a peaceful settlement, for Michael was old and ill. After long discussions and questions peace was made, and the “Lion's Castle,” which the Genoese had originally 2 Nikepheros Gregoras, i, 687. 54 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations ‘obtained about half a century earlier, but had lost by ‘the treaty of 1316, was restored to them. Henceforth ‘they kept it till the fall of the Empire. Michael hed already confirmed the grant of land made to them by Alexios II. forty-five or more years before—that is, about 1300 ; but their rivals, the Venetians, hed trespassed upon their land by raising fortifications there against the Turkomans, who had burned the ‘Venetian caravanserai; the Genoese complained to the Emperor “and his barons”—a significant alli- sion, which occurs in another Venetian document, :0 the Whig oligarchy of Trebizond—who requested the Venetians to stop the work; but the common, danger from the Turkomans induced the Doge of Genoa to permit its resumption for the mutual security of both the Republican colonies.” (On December 13, 1349, the old and ailing Michael was made to abdicate, after he had been compelled to release from the prison fortress of Kenchrina and restore to his former dignity of Grand-Duke the old intriguer Niketas, whom he had had arrested foar years carlier. Niketas strengthened his position by ‘marrying the daughter of Michael Sampson, the Intendent of the palace. On December 22 the dominant clique, headed by the Grand-Duke Niketas, placed upon the throne John, second son of the former Emperor Basil by Irene of Trebizond, at that time a boy of eleven years of age. To legitimize his position he assumed the name of Alexios TIL. after his grandfather and the founder of the dynasty. His reign of forty years was the longest in the + Diflomatarium Veneio-Levantinum,i,275-76,288-89, 33031. 55Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire history of the Empire. His mother and John Lazaropoulos, subsequently Metropolitan of Trebi- zond,' accompanied him, and he was crowned on January 21, 1350, in the church of St. Eugenios on the festival of that patron-saint of Trebizond. His first act was to compel the late Emperor Michael to become a monk, and to shut him up in the cave of St. Sabas. A year later Michael was sent for further security to Constantinople with Michael Sampson, ‘whose mission it was to arrange a marriage between Alexios and Theodora, the niece or cousin of the uusurper, John Cantacuzene; but it was not till ‘September 20, 135r, that the wedding was celebrated in St. Eugenios. Thus the illegitimate Emperor of Trebizond was connected with the illegal Emperor of Byzantium. An inscription on “‘the tower of Michael Comnenos” to the west of the palace pre- served the late Emperor's name.* But the accession of a boy king was not calculated to bring peace to the state, distracted for the pre- vious decade by the jealousies and ambitions of rival gangs of noble place-hunters. Alexios had not been six months on the throne when a fresh aristocratic insurrection broke out ; the Commander-in-Chief of the army, Theodore Doranites, called Pileles, his brother Constantine, the Treasurer, and all’ bis family were arrested and imprisoned in the houses of the nobility for several days. Seven months later a counter-revolution drove out the new Treasurer, Leo Kabasites, and put Pileles in his place. Four * Papadopulos-Kerameus, Forte, i135. Of Kapono, November 13,1916. 56 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations months afterwards, Pileles and his followers seized the castle and captured the Grand-Duke. But the ‘people rose against the conspirators; Pileles, his son, ‘and son-in-law, and the sons of Xenites, another local magnate, were seized and sent for safe custody to Kenchrina. Alexios was so much impressed by the insecurity of his capital, in which not even the castle was safe, that he retired to Tripolis, a strong place on the sea twelve hours westward of Trebizond, and described by Clavijo half a century later as “‘a large town ” and“ the Emperor's property.” The mediaeval castle and the traces of frescoes in its ‘chapel survived in the time of Fallmerayer to tell of its former importance. ‘At this point we have the first mention of the intervention in politics of Michael Panaretos, the author of the meagre chronicle which is one of oar chief sources for the history of Trebizond. In September, 1351, he accompanied the Emperor's ‘who commanded there. Civil war still continued. In January, 1352, the cup-bearer, John Tzanichites, seized by force his ancestral castle of Tzanicha, “ the fortress of the Tzans,” and it needed a personal visit from the Emperor and his mother to restore a state ‘of peace there. In July, however, Pileles, his son, and son-in-law, were strangled in the castle of Kenchrina, and it was probably then that their family ‘property was confiscated. In the same year the Imperial family tried to strengthen its connections by the marriage of the Emperor's sister Maria with 7Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire Fakhreddin Koutloubeg, chief of the Turkomans of the horde of the “ White Sheep"—the first of three such matrimonial alliances contracted by the beautiful princesses of Trebizond. ‘The wat between the two rival Italian Republics at this period extended even as far as Trebizond ; for in this year Venetian galleys burnt much of the Genoese shipping in the harbour. The defeat and execution of the Doranites clan had left the Grand-Duke Niketas and his Scholarioi in power. But the young Emperor's position kad been strengthened, and accordingly that old intriguer who had placed him on the throne as a puppet thought it safer to flee to Kerasunt in June, 1354, where a fresh insurrection broke out among the nobles. The feeble pen of Panaretos was unequal, as he writes, to the task of describing the nego- tiations which went on between the capital end Kerasunt during the following month, But in March, 1355, the Grand-Duke, his son, the Lord and Basil Choupakes, the Treasurer, set out with a galley and eleven smaller vessels against Trebizond; however, after long and weari- some confabulations, they returned unsuccessful to Kerasunt. The young Emperor thereupon took vigorous action. In May he fitted out two galleys and a flotilla of small craft, and embarked with bis mother and the Metropolitan against the rebels. Kerasunt, to quote Libadenos, who was there at this time, was “fortified with ‘bronze walls’”; but the arch-rebel, Niketas, was absent at Kenchrina, wh the Chamberlain ‘commanded at Kerasunt. Its powerful defences yielded after a battle; Kerasint 5 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations did homage to the Emperor, and the Chamber lain (like Libadenos) escaped to Kenchrina, (or “Kenchreoi,” as the latter spells it). But the Emperor, leaving his mother and the fleet in Tripolis, fetched his cavalry from Trebizond and closely besieged Kenchrina. After a fight the besieged did homage and acknowledged his sovereignty, though ‘the Grand-Duke and his party remained in possession of the place, where the Treasurer joined them. Simultaneously John Kabasites, the Duke of Chaldia, took Cheriana and Sorogaina in the interior moun- tainous district, while an attempt of the ex- Emperor Michael, who had escaped from Constanti- nople and advanced as far as Soulchation, failed. In October, the civil war was ended by the march into Tripolis and as far as Kenchrina of the Great Domestic, Meizomates, and the Commander-in-Chief, Michael Sampson, who took Niketas and his fol- lowers to Trebizond. When, five years later, that restless politician, who had been so active a mover in the civil discords of his country, ended his life, the Emperor showed his regard for his abilities by walk- ing at the head of the funeral procession in the white robes which were the garb of Imperial mourning at ‘Trebizond. Alexios, having at last restored domestic peace, hastened a month later to lead an expedition inst the Turkomans of the interior. Panaretos, who took part in it, enlivens his dull chronicle by suggesting that this fresh but unfortunate under- taking against Cheriana must have been inspired by the devil! At first the expeditionary corps met with 59Trebizond: the Last Greek Empire no serious opposition ; it ravaged, besieged, and made captives to its heart's content. But suddenly a hand- fal of Turkomans appeared on the scene; panic seized the Trapecuntine army, which fled in disorder some 400 men were killed, many horses were lost; John Kabasites, Duke of Chaldia, who had taken ‘Cheriana in the previous year, wes captured, and our chronicler escaped, only thanks to the speed and strength of his horse, which enabled him to follow the Emperor and reach Trebizond in three days. The birth of a natural son, Andronikos, his first child, and of a legitimate daughter, Anna, was some consolation for this ignominions defeat, which nearly deprived Imperial Trebizond of its chief contemporary historian. Had Panaretos had a worse mount, little of its medizeval history would have been handed down to posterity. Fortunately, he survived to make a three months’ tour to Limnia, Kerasunt, and Iasonis, with his master. A defeat of the Turkomans at last place did not compensate for the extensive made upon old Matzouka by Hadji-Omar, the emir of the former Trapezuntine province of Chalybia. Doubtless by way of placating this formidable invader, Princess Theodora, second daughter of the Emperor Basil, was married to bim in 1358, just as her eldest sister, Maria, had in 1352 become the wife f Koutloubeg, chief of the Turkoman horde of the ‘White Sheep.” Thus, both the sisters of Alexios were the wives of Moslems, and later on four of daughters experienced the same fate, one marrying Hadji-Omar’s son, Suleiman Bey; a second the e of Arsinga (or Erzerum); a third (Eudokia) Tadjeddin, 60 Civil Wars and the Religious Foundations the emir of Limnia, with its thirteen forts; and a fourth Kara Youlouk (‘the black leech), son of Koutloubeg. This kinship did not, however, prevent the Emperor's sons-in-law from fighting against one another. A fifth daughter married Bagrat VI., king of Georgia, while 2. Georgian princess, the Lady Koulkan, daughter of King David, was affianced to Alexios'' natural son, Andronikos, and when the young prince died from a fall in 1376 and was laid to rest in the Theoskepastos Church, became in the following year the wife of Alexios’ legitimate son and successor, Manuel III. A flowery inscription of the period, for which a modern composition in iambics hhas, been substituted, commemorated the young Andronikos, in whose memory, perhaps, his discon- solate father decorated this church, and whose tomb the Turks violated in the seventeenth century. ‘This was not the only church connected with this Emperor, for Alexios III. is chiefly known for his munificont ecclesiastical foundations. Some thirty miles ftom his capital, in magnificent mountain scenery, there stood the famous monastery of SoumelA, founded by two Athenian monks, Barnabas and Sophronios, in the fourth century, and famous, like Megaspelaion and the Cypriote monastery of Kykkos, for a picture of the Virgin attributed to St. Luke# Gorgocpekoos® bore the same name as + Panaretos, chs. 26, 31, 33, 39 49, 523 Doukas, 125 ; Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzales de Clavij, te. by C.K. Markham, 66; Falimerayer,Orignal-Fragment, i 04 i 439, 8.15 Ne ED, a 555.

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