John II Megas Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός, ''Iōannēs Megas Komnēnos'') (c. 1262 – 16 August 1297) 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 June 1280 to his death in 1297. He was the youngest son of Emperor
Manuel I Manuel I may refer to:
* Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180)
*Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263)
*Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), wa ...
and his third wife,
Irene Syrikaina Irene Syrikaina ( el, Εἰρήνη Συρίκαινα) was the third Empress-consort of Manuel I of Trebizond. She may be the same Irene Syrikaina whom Michael Panaretos mentions was stoned to death in September 1332 in the purges that followed Ba ...
, a Trapezuntine noblewoman. John succeeded to the throne after his full-brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
was betrayed by his
archon
''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
s on the mountain of Taurezion. It was during his reign that the style of the rulers of Trebizond changed; until then, they claimed the traditional title of 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 ...
s, "
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), ...
and
Autocrat
Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...
of the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
", but from John II on they changed it to "Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, the Iberians, and the
Transmarine Provinces", although Iberia had been lost in the reign of
Andronikos I Gidos.
[ William Miller, ''Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204–1461'', 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), p. 29]
John is the first ruler of Trebizond for whom we know more than a few incidents and hints; there is enough information to compose a connected narrative of the first part of his reign. The chronicle of
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 ...
, which is often terse and even cryptic, is relatively full for John's reign, and external sources add further details to Panaretos' account. Emperor John II faced many challenges to his rule, which partly explains his marriage to the daughter of the Byzantine emperor
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 ...
.
This insecurity may explain the sole instance where two emperors of Trebizond appear on the coins of this polity: John and his oldest son,
Alexios
Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...
. By associating himself with his son Alexios on these coins, John may be advertising his choice for his successor.
Life
John was born ca. 1262/3, the son of
Manuel I Manuel I may refer to:
* Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine emperor (1143–1180)
*Manuel I of Trebizond, Emperor of Trebizond (1228–1263)
*Manuel I of Portugal
Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), wa ...
(reigned 1238–1263) and his wife,
Irene Syrikaina Irene Syrikaina ( el, Εἰρήνη Συρίκαινα) was the third Empress-consort of Manuel I of Trebizond. She may be the same Irene Syrikaina whom Michael Panaretos mentions was stoned to death in September 1332 in the purges that followed Ba ...
.
John's reign was marked from the beginning with instability. He came to the throne in June 1280,
following the betrayal and death of his brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
(r. 1266–1280) by his own officials. His first recorded act as Emperor was in 1281, when he received an embassy from
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 ...
(r. 1259–1282) consisting of
George Acropolites George Akropolites ( Latinized as Acropolites or Acropolita; el, , ''Georgios Akropolites''; 1217 or 1220 – 1282) was a Byzantine Greek historian and statesman born at Constantinople.
Life
In his sixteenth year he was sent by his father, the ...
and a prominent churchman by the name of Xiphilinos; the goal of this mission was to convince John to discontinue using the title of "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". Michael had gained the throne of the
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea or the Nicene Empire is the conventional historiographic name for the largest of the three Byzantine Greek''A Short history of Greece from early times to 1964'' by W. A. Heurtley, H. C. Darby, C. W. Crawley, C. M. Woodhouse ...
through a coup against the youthful heir
John IV Laskaris
John IV Doukas Laskaris (or Ducas Lascaris) ( el, Ἰωάννης Δούκας Λάσκαρις, ''Iōannēs Doukas Laskaris'') (December 25, 1250 – c. 1305) was emperor of Nicaea from August 16, 1258, to December 25, 1261. This empire was one ...
some 20 years before, then gained possession of
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 (" ...
itself from the
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzant ...
, and based on this achievement Michael believed that only he had the right to this title. This was not the only reason the Byzantine emperor regarded John as a threat: some opponents of Michael's acceptance of
union with the Western Church saw John as a viable
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
candidate for the imperial throne. Michael considered high-ranking members of the Byzantine aristocracy who refused to embrace the union as threats to his reign, and they were imprisoned, flogged, blinded, or murdered.
Michael had repeatedly petitioned John's predecessors to discontinue using the traditional imperial title. When Acropolites and Xiphilinos presented the invitation of his daughter's hand in return for ceding his ancestral title, John refused this offer. John replied that he was following the precedent set by his predecessors and that the nobility of Trebizond would not allow him to renounce the traditional title.
Once Akropolites left Trebizond, John was faced with a rebellion led by one Papadopoulos, which according to Finlay gained control of the citadel and made John their prisoner. Finlay states that while it is not "possible to establish the complicity of the Byzantine agents in this business", he considers that they likely had a hand in the matter. As Finlay points out, regardless of Michael's possible machinations, "there cannot be a doubt that it
he revoltwas the cause of producing a great change in the views of the emperor of Trebizond and his court".
[Finlay, ''History of Greece'', p. 401]
Following the suppression of Papadopoulos' revolt, a second embassy from Michael arrived at Trebizond, composed of
Demetrios Iatropoulos, ''
logothetes ton oikeiakon The ''logothetēs tōn oikeiakōn'' ( el, ), originally the ''epi tōn oikeiakōn'' () was a Byzantine official with varying duties.
The ''oikeiakoi'' (from , "belonging to the household") were a class of senior imperial household officials attest ...
'', and a high ecclesiastic, who offered the bargain once again.
This time John agreed to the marriage, but explained it was impossible for him to lay aside the imperial title, which had been borne by his ancestors. "The title of ''
Basileus
''Basileus'' ( el, ) is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. In the English-speaking world it is perhaps most widely understood to mean "monarch", referring to either a "king" or an "emperor" and al ...
'', the purple boots, the robes embroidered with eagles, and the prostrations of the powerful chiefs of the aristocracy, were dear to the pride of the citizens of Trebizond, and attached them to the person of the emperors."
After pledges of sincerity from Michael were made, John agreed to the marriage. However, when he reached Constantinople, his hosts induced him, before he entered the city, to lay aside his purple boots and imperial robes out of respect for Michael Palaiologos—despite the fact his future father-in-law was absent campaigning against the Turks. In exchange for this concession, Michael awarded John with the title of
Despot.
Michael died before the wedding took place.
While John was away at Constantinople,
David VI Narin
David VI Narin ( ka, დავით VI ნარინი, tr) (also called ''the Clever'') (1225–1293), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1245–1293. From 1259 to 1293, he ruled the kingdom of Imereti under the name David ...
, the
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
King of
Imereti
Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...
,
besieged the capital. Though King David failed to take the city, the Georgians occupied several provinces.
[Miller, ''Trebizond'', p. 30] John left for Trebizond on 25 April 1282 with his new wife,
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 ...
. Not long after John arrived home, he was confronted by two new threats to his reign. The first was from his half-brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
, who returned to Trebizond and made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the throne. Next was his half-sister
Theodora
Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift".
Theodora may also refer to:
Historical figures known as Theodora
Byzantine empresses
* Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church
* Theodora o ...
, daughter of Manuel I by his Georgian wife, Rusudan, who apparently deposed him in 1284 to rule for a short time before making a "sudden flight" (in Michael Panaretos' words) from Trebizond; Michel Kuršanskis suggests he may have taken refuge in
Tripolis. John was restored to the throne no later than 1285.
[Panaretos, ''Chronicle'', ch. 5; translated by Bryer, "The fate of George Komnenos," p. 333f]
Panaretos offers us few details about the remainder of his reign. His account of John's reign—which amounts to three paragraphs—concludes with the statement that it was "during his reign the Turks seized
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 ...
and launched a great invasion, so that all those places became uninhabited."
During the 1290s, the
Ünye
Ünye (''Oinòe'', Οἰνόη in ancient Greek) is a large town and district of Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, 76 km west of the city of Ordu. In 2009 it had 74,806 inhabitants. İrfan Akar is the President of the Chamber of ...
fortress on the western border of the country was built by him.
John died at
Limnia in 1297.
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 ...
, in his ''Logos'', notes that when his son
Alexios
Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...
succeeded him, the western part of his realm was under heavy pressure from "the godless Agarenes" and only
Kerasous
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 w ...
, part of Chalybia,
Oinaion, and "the thirteen towns or forts of Limnia" remained to the Empire; John may have been leading his forces against the enemy when he died. His body was transported to his capital and interred in the
Panagia Chrysokephalos Church ("Golden-headed" Virgin). Portraits of John and his wife Eudokia could be seen in the church of St. Gregory of Nyssa, prior to its reconstruction in 1863. These portraits were notable that his robes were adorned with the single-headed eagle "the special emblem of the Comneni of Trebizond", while her robes bore the double-headed eagle of Byzantium.
Foreign policy
It was in the later half of John's reign that his Empire attracted attention from the West. For most of the 13th century, Trebizond had not been on the minds of Western leaders: for example, they had played no part in the
Council of Lyons in 1274. That changed in the 1290s.
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV ( la, Nicolaus IV; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292), born Girolamo Masci, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be ele ...
wrote two letters in 1291 inviting John II to convert to Catholicism, join in a new crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land and be Christianity's envoy to the
Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
. The following year an English embassy to the Mongols passed through Trebizond;
Anthony Bryer
Anthony Applemore Mornington Bryer (31 October 1937 – 22 October 2016) FSA FRHistS was a British historian of the Byzantine Empire and founder of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham.
Bio ...
notes John did little for them except lend them "his palace chef to show how the local delicacies of the Empire were cooked." About this time a
Genoese colony was established in Trebizond, perhaps as early as 1290, for the English embassy records meeting a merchant of Genoa, Nicolo d'Oria, in Trebizond; he may have been the Genoese consul. Also in the first years of this decade there is evidence that the
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
s established a convent in Trebizond, which not only served as their base for evangelizing
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, but provided friars to minister to the Genoese in that city.
[Bryer, "Trebizond and Rome", pp. 293–7]
Family and succession
John II is known to have two sons by
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 II, who succeeded as emperor
#
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name "Michael"
* Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...
References
External links
Vougiouklaki Penelope, "John II Grand Komnenos" ''Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor''
{{DEFAULTSORT:John 02 Of Trebizond
1262 births
1297 deaths
13th-century emperors of Trebizond
Grand Komnenos dynasty
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
Despots (court title)