Alexios II Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός , translit=Alexios Megas Komnēnos; Sept./Dec. 1282 – 3 May 1330), was
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
of
Trebizond from 1297 to 1330. He was the elder son of
John II John II may refer to:
People
* John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499)
* John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672)
* John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302)
* John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318)
* John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...
and
Eudokia Palaiologina
Eudokia Palaiologina or ( el, Ευδοκία Παλαιολογίνα) (c. 1265 – 18 September 1302) was the third daughter of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and his wife, Theodora, a grandniece of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes of ...
.
Alexios proved to be a skillful and energetic ruler, under whose rule the Empire of Trebizond reached the climax of its prosperity. He rebuffed the inroads of the marauding
Turks
Turk or Turks may refer to:
Communities and ethnic groups
* Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages
* Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
* Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
, and adequately handled the encroachment of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
and
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
. He also cultivated the arts and sciences at his court serving as a patron to the Byzantine astronomer
Gregory Chioniades
Gregory Chioniades ( el, Γρηγόριος Χιονιάδης, Grēgorios Chioniadēs; c. 1240 – c. 1320) was a Byzantine Greek astronomer. He traveled to Persia, where he learned Persian mathematical and astronomical science, which he introduce ...
and the scholar
Constantine Loukites.
Life
He ascended the throne at the age of 14 after the death of his father. He came under the care of his uncle, the
Byzantine Emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Andronikos II Palaiologos
, image = Andronikos II Palaiologos2.jpg
, caption = Miniature from the manuscript of George Pachymeres' ''Historia''
, succession = Byzantine emperor
, reign = 11 December 1282 –24 May 1328
, coronation = 8 Novembe ...
. The latter wanted to marry his young ward to a daughter of the high court official
Nikephoros Choumnos
Nikephoros Choumnos ( el, , 1250/55 – 1327) was a Byzantine scholar and official of the early Palaiologan period, one of the most important figures in the flowering of arts and letters of the so-called "Palaiologan Renaissance". He is notable ...
, but Alexios without asking for the permission married an
Iberian princess,
Djiadjak Jaqeli, the daughter of
Beka I Jaqeli
Beka I Jaqeli ( ka, ბექა I ჯაყელი) (c. 1240 – 1306) was a Georgian ruling prince (''mtavari'') of Samtskhe (1285–1306). His principality included Samtskhe, Adjara, Shavsheti, Klarjeti, Lazia (Chaneti), Tao, Kola, Artaani an ...
,
atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was wit ...
of
Samtskhe
Meskheti ( ka, მესხეთი) or Samtskhe ( ka, სამცხე) (Moschia in ancient sources), is a mountainous area in southwestern Georgia.
History
Ancient tribes known as the Mushki (or Moschi) and Mosiniks (or Mossynoeci) were the ...
, around 1300. Andronikos appealed to the Church to annul the marriage but the Patriarch refused to oblige, on the ground that the young man’s wife was reported to be already pregnant. Alexios' mother Eudokia, who now returned to Trebizond on the pretext of inducing her son to dissolve the marriage, advised him to keep his Iberian wife.
In 1301 or 1302 he defeated a
Turkoman invasion, who after conquering province of
Chalybia
The Chalybes ( grc, Χάλυβες/Χάλυβοι, ka, ხალიბები, Khalibebi) and Chaldoi ( grc, Χάλδοι, ) were peoples mentioned by classical authors as living in Pontus and Cappadocia in northern Anatolia during Classical A ...
, had penetrated deep into Trebizond's territory to sack Kerasous (modern
Giresun
Giresun (), formerly Cerasus (Ancient Greek: Κερασοῦς, Greek: Κερασούντα), is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon.
Etymology
Giresun wa ...
), the second most important city of the Empire. Alexios captured their general and built a fort overlooking the sea to secure his possession of the city.
Another problem were the
Genoese, who had established virtual economic monopoly in the
Black Sea
The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...
area following the
Treaty of Nymphaeum with
Michael VIII Palaiologos
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
in 1261. Their settlement had outgrown
Daphnous
Daphnus or Daphnous ( grc, Δαφνοῦς) was a city on the Euboean Sea, originally belonging to ancient Phocis, which thus extended from the Corinthian Gulf to the Euboean sea. Its narrow territory separated the Locri Epicnemidii from the Locri ...
, the coastal suburb to the east of Trebizond, and the Genoese demanded more room; the Genoese merchants refused to allow the emperor's customs officials to inspect their wares. After Alexios refused the Genoese demands for further concessions in 1306, they threatened to leave Trebizond altogether. When they denied his demand for dues on any goods they took with them from Trebizond, Alexios ordered his Georgian mercenaries to attack them. Although the emperor's troops were successful, the Genoese set fire to the suburbs of Trebizond and damaged much of their own and the citizens' property. Eventually the two parties made peace, confirmed in a surviving treaty from 1314 and another from 1316.
This did not put a complete end to the tensions between the Genoese and the Emperor of Trebizond. So, in 1319 he concluded a treaty with the
Venetians, Genoa's main rivals, granting them the same privileges as the Genoese as long as they paid their dues. The Byzantinist
Donald Nicol
Donald MacGillivray Nicol, (4 February 1923 – 25 September 2003) was an English Byzantinist.
Life
Nicol was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, to a Church of Scotland minister, and received a classical education at King Edward VII School in ...
observed that Alexios, as well as his successors, "did better out of the foreigners than their colleagues in Constantinople, since the Italian merchants were not allowed to trade tax-free."
Trouble for the Empire came also from the pirates of the Emirate of
Sinope Sinope may refer to:
*Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea, historically known as Sinope
** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port
*Sinop Province
* Sinope, Leicestershire, a hamlet in the Midlands of England
*Sinope (mythology), in ...
, whose targets were Christian traders, including the Genoese. The pirates even set fire to Trebizond itself (1319); to protect his people from these raiders, Alexios built sea walls for the city's harbour in 1324. He had already organized a police force to guard the city at night over a decade earlier.
Like his father before him, Alexios II was also the target of the Pope's efforts to convert to Catholicism. The letter was sent by
John XXII
Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334.
He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
in 1329, but five months later; on May 3, 1330, the Emperor died of bubonic plague, after a reign of 33 years and the throne passed to his eldest son,
Andronikos. Two works survive written on the topic of the Emperor's death: a funeral oration written by his ''
protonotarios
The word prothonotary is recorded in English since 1447, as "principal clerk of a court," from L.L. ''prothonotarius'' ( c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the B ...
'' and ''
protovestiarios
''Protovestiarios'' ( el, πρωτοβεστιάριος, "first ''vestiarios''") was a high Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy, court position, originally reserved for Eunuch (court official), eunuchs. In the late B ...
'',
Constantine Loukites; and a later eulogy by Joseph, the
Metropolitan of Trebizond
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
(born
John Lazaropoulos John Lazaropoulos (c.1310 - 1369) was the Metropolitan of Trebizond (as Joseph) from 1364 to November 1367 and a religious writer.
Life
The first recorded event in John Lazaropoulos' life is a banquet at the Monastery of Saint Eugenios he atte ...
).
Coinage
It was during Alexios' reign that the
aspers
Aspers is a census-designated place in Adams County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 486. At the 2000 census it was listed as the Bendersville Station-Aspers CDP.
Geography
Aspers is located at (39.97 ...
issued by the Emperors of Trebizond were notably modified in appearance and weight, perhaps the most notable change made to this coin which otherwise saw few changes between its first issue and the end of the Empire. Early in his reign not only was the silver content of the coins reduced by 15%, but the standing images of both the Emperor on the obverse and
Saint Eugenios on the reverse were replaced with images of both on horseback. Jan Olof Rosenqvist provides evidence showing this horseback motif had become common on coins in the Black Sea area, beginning with the coinage of king
Constantine Asen of Bulgaria a generation before. He admits that it is unclear whether "there is any connection with the ideals of chivalry prevailing in Western Europe at this time." The horseback motif appeared unchanged on the coins of all subsequent rulers until the fall of Trebizond in 1461.
Family
Alexios is known to have had at least six children, and to have at least one wife,
Djiadjak Jaqeli. These are:
#
Andronikos III, Emperor of Trebizond 1330–1332.
#
Basil
Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...
, Emperor of Trebizond 1332–1340.
# Michael Anachoutlou, murdered by his brother Andronikos III in 1330.
[Panaretos, ''Chronicle'', ch. 16. Greek text and English translation in Scott Kennedy, ''Two Works on Trebizond'', Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 52 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2019), p. 9]
# George Achpougas, murdered by his brother Andronikos III in 1330.
#
Anna Anachoutlou
Anna Anachoutlou ( gr, Ἄννα Μεγάλη Κομνηνὴ Ἀναχουτλοῦ, Anna Megalē Komnēnē Anachoutloū; died 3 September 1342) ruled the Empire of Trebizond from 1341 to 1342. She was the eldest daughter of the Trapezuntine ...
, a nun, became Empress of Trebizond 1341–1342.
# Eudokia, also known as despoina of
Sinop Sinop can refer to:
* Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea
** Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, was planned in 2013, but cancelled in 2018
** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port
*** Russian ship ''Sinop'', Russian ships named after the ...
e for marrying the Emir of that city.
One more child has been suggested:
# An unnamed daughter, who may be the ''ulu hatun'' and ''presbyterissa'' named in a Greek epitaph at Erzincan who died on 28 December 1342.
However, Penelope Vougiouklaki, writing for the ''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor'' website, has asserted that Alexios had three wives: Pekai, daughter of Bekha Jaqeli, by whom he had Andronikos, Basil, and Eudokia; the daughter of Anachoutlou, ruler of the
Laz people
The Laz people, or Lazi ( lzz, ლაზი ''Lazi''; ka, ლაზი, ''lazi''; or ჭანი, ''ch'ani''; tr, Laz), are an indigenous ethnic group who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Black Sea Region, Turkey and Georgia (countr ...
, by whom he had Michael Anachoutlou and Anna Anachoutlou; and "the otherwise unknown Sargale", by whom he had George Achpougas.
[Vougiouklaki Penelope]
"Alexios II Grand Komnenos"
''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor''
References
* ''The
Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
The ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (ODB) is a three-volume historical dictionary published by the English Oxford University Press. With more than 5,000 entries, it contains comprehensive information in English on topics relating to the Byzant ...
'', Oxford University Press, 1991.
External links
Vougiouklaki Penelope, "Alexios II Grand Komnenos" ''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexios 02 Of Trebizond
1282 births
1330 deaths
13th-century emperors of Trebizond
14th-century emperors of Trebizond
Grand Komnenos dynasty
Medieval child rulers
Eastern Orthodox monarchs