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Basil Megas Komnenos ( grc-x-medieval, Βασίλειος Μέγας Κομνηνός, Basileios Megas Komnēnos) (died 6 April 1340) 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 August 1332 until his death in 1340. Although Basil's reign was a period of stability during the civil war that dominated the pocket empire during the second quarter of the 14th century, some of that conflict had its origins in his marital actions.


Life

Basil was a younger son of Emperor
Alexios II of Trebizond Alexios II Megas Komnenos ( el, Αλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός , translit=Alexios Megas Komnēnos; Sept./Dec. 1282 – 3 May 1330), was Emperor of Trebizond from 1297 to 1330. He was the elder son of John II and Eudokia Palaiologina. ...
and his wife Djiadjak Jaqeli. When his oldest brother Andronikos III assumed the throne in 1330 and killed his two brothers (Michael and George), Basil happened to be in
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
and escaped his brothers' fate. On the death of Andronikos III, his infant son Manuel II became emperor. However, Basil was invited from Constantinople to take the throne; Manuel was deposed in August 1332 and confined to a monastery. Basil purged the court of his brother and nephew's supporters (which included the '' megas doux'' Lekes Tzatzintzaios and his son the ''
megas domestikos The title of grand domestic ( grc-gre, μέγας δομέστικος, ''mégas doméstikos'') was given in the 11th–15th centuries to the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army, directly below the Byzantine Emperor. It evolved from the earl ...
'' Tzambas), but the man he appointed as the new ''megas doux'', John the Eunuch, revolted in favor of the deposed Manuel. The revolt was crushed and to prevent further trouble the child was murdered in 1333, probably on Basil's order. Despite Basil's return, the factional strife continued. According to
George Finlay George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian. Biography Finlay was born in Faversham, Kent, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the Royal Engineers, was inspector of government powde ...
, the great officers and principal nobles had become petty sovereigns, reducing the countryside to anarchy. The ''Scholarioi'', the militia of capital, became so insubordinate that Basil had to hire foreign mercenaries to protect his person, but through their arrogance and corruption they rapidly made themselves and their master hated. Such was his unpopularity with the people of the city, that when a solar eclipse took place they took it for a sign of divine wrath and forced the emperor to seek refuge in the citadel and tried to pelt him with stones.
Michael Panaretos Michael Panaretos ( el, ) (c. 1320 – c. 1390) was an official of the Trapezuntine empire and a Greek historian. His sole surviving work is a chronicle of the Trapezuntine empire of Alexios I Komnenos and his successors. This chronicle not only pr ...
, ''Chronicle'', ch. 21. Greek text and English translation in Scott Kennedy, ''Two Works on Trebizond'', Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 52 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2019), pp. 11-13
On 17 September 1334, Basil formed a marriage alliance with 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 III Palaiologos , image = Andronikos_III_Palaiologos.jpg , caption = 14th-century miniature. Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek. , succession = Byzantine emperor , reign = 24 May 1328 – 15 June 1341 , coronation = ...
by marrying his illegitimate daughter
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
. The affection between the two soon cooled, and Basil took a mistress also named Irene, by whom he fathered four illegitimate children. Whether or not he was actually divorced from his wife remains uncertain, but there is an interesting letter from the Patriarch of Constantinople,
John XIV Kalekas John XIV, surnamed Kalekas ( el, ; c. 1282 – 29 December 1347) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1334 to 1347. He was an anti-hesychast and opponent of Gregory Palamas. He was an active participant in the Byzantine civil war ...
, to Gregory 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 ...
. In this letter the Patriarch reprimands the metropolitan, and all the other ordained men at Trebizond, for the wickedness they had allowed to take place to the injury of the holy canons, and orders them to resolve this problem on the pain of alienating the main body of the Church. The local clergy, however, contented themselves with the pretense that they were actually honoring the legitimate empress in their services since they were honoring an Irene. The uneasy situation at the capital was exploited by the Turkmen Sheikh Hassan, who attacked Trebizond 5 July 1335. The fighting centered at the palisade of Saint Kerykios and on Mount Minthrion, but a providential rainstorm allowed the Trapezuntines to rout the attackers. Basil died 6 April 1340, apparently poisoned by his legitimate wife Irene Palaiologina, who promptly seized the throne.


Children

The children of Basil and his second wife,
Irene of Trebizond Irene of Trebizond (died around 1382) was an Empress consort of Trebizond as the bigamous wife of Basil of Trebizond. She had an important position in the regency of her son Alexios III of Trebizond in 1341-1352. Life Not much is known of Irene's ...
, were:Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 60 * Anna, who married Andrei Konstantinovich, Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal in 1343. * Alexios of Trebizond (1327–c. 1349) * John, later renamed Alexios III (1338–1390) * Maria, who married Fahreddin Kutlug beg, Emir of
Aq Qoyunlu The Aq Qoyunlu ( az, Ağqoyunlular , ) was a culturally Persianate,Kaushik Roy, ''Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400–1750'', (Bloomsbury, 2014), 38; "Post-Mongol Persia and Iraq were ruled by two tribal confederations: Akkoyunlu (Wh ...
in 1352. * Theodora, who married Hajji 'Umar, Emir 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 ...
( tr, Hacıemir) in 1358.Panaretos, ''Chronicle'', ch. 69. Greek text and English translation in Kennedy, ''Two Works'', p. 33 From Irene Palaiologina or Irene of Trebizond, Basil probably had a daughter: * Helena (died 1366), was the first wife of
Bagrat V of Georgia Bagrat V the Great (, ) (died 1393) from the Bagrationi dynasty was the son of the Georgian king David IX of Georgia by his wife Sindukhtar Jaqeli. He was co-ruler from 1355, and became king after the death of his father in 1360. Life A fair a ...
.


References


External links


Vougiouklaki Penelope, "Basil Grand Komnenos"
''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Basil Of Trebizond 14th-century emperors of Trebizond Grand Komnenos dynasty 1340 deaths Eastern Orthodox monarchs Year of birth unknown