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Manuel III Megas Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός; 16 December 13645 March 1417) was Emperor of Trebizond from 20 March, 1390 to his death in 1417. The major event of Manuel's reign was the arrival of the Central Asian conqueror Tamerlane to Anatolia. This led to the virtual destruction of the Ottoman Empire, which had threatened the existence of Manuel's domain, in the Battle of Ankara. Although the Ottomans reconstituted their state after 10 years of civil war, this defeat extended the life and security of the Empire of Trebizond for several more decades.


Life

Manuel was the son of Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond by Theodora Kantakouzene. He was made heir apparent in 1377, after the death of his elder brother Basil. Manuel's domain had come under the growing threat of the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Bayezid I, who in 1398 had led his army along the Black Sea coast as far as the border of the Empire of Trebizond. Tamerlane, who had campaigned in eastern Anatolia in 1394, returned and captured Sivas (27 August 1400), slaughtering all of its defenders. Tamerlane demanded that Manuel and his army join him in the coming war with the Ottoman Turks, but somehow the Emperor avoided this demand, although he did contribute twenty galleys to Tamerlane's general effort. Bayezid and Tamerlane finally met in the Battle of Ankara, where Tamerlane crushed the Ottoman forces and made the Sultan his prisoner. For the next eight months Tamerlane moved about Anatolia, restoring the old Turkish beyliks and plundering Ottoman territories, thus dismantling the Ottoman Empire. It would not be until 1413, when
Mehmet I Mehmed I ( 1386 – 26 May 1421), also known as Mehmed Çelebi ( ota, چلبی محمد, "the noble-born") or Kirişçi ( el, Κυριτζής, Kyritzis, "lord's son"), was the Ottoman sultan from 1413 to 1421. The fourth son of Sultan Bayez ...
defeated his last surviving brother, that the Ottoman Empire would once more be a threat to any of its neighbors. When Tamerlane left Asia Minor in 1403, part of his army detached from the whole to visit the city of Kerasous and it was presumably by their ravages that the rule of Melissenos at Oinaion was destroyed. Only the mountains around Kerasous prevented them from venturing any further, much to the relief of the people of Trebizond. Tamerlane also put his nephew Mirza Halil in charge of the affairs of Armenia, Trebizond, and Georgia, but with his father's death in 1405 Halil rushed off to assume the throne at Samarkand. The
ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
to Tamerlane Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo was received by Manuel while passing through Trebizond in April 1404 and wrote the following of Manuel: Relations with
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  ...
were better than with Genoa. In 1391 a pact was concluded, on the lines of the treaty of 1319, which reduced the dues Venice paid and confirmed the old privileges. In 1396 Manuel signed a golden bull at the insistence of the Venetian bailli, Gussoni, which allowed the Venetians to trade throughout his realm, granted them their own church, bank, and law court. Manuel sent a bell and clock to Venice to be repaired, and in 1416 a Trapezuntine embassy is recorded visiting that city. However, with Genoa was frequent strife. Manuel was accused of bribing the Genoese officials at
Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most notabl ...
. In 1416 Genoa resolved to take steps against him for interference with their castle at Trebizond, which became so serious that the Venetians ordered their galleys to not land at Trebizond due to the "divisions existing between the Emperor and the Genoese". The last years of Manuel's reign were clouded by discord with his own son
Alexios IV Alexios IV Angelos or Alexius IV Angelus ( el, Ἀλέξιος Ἄγγελος) (c. 1182 – February 1204) was Byzantine Emperor from August 1203 to January 1204. He was the son of Emperor Isaac II Angelos and his first wife, an unknown Palaio ...
, although the latter had been associated in authority as '' despotes''. Manuel had for a time taken into his service a young man as his page. The favor shown to him, however, aroused the anger of the native aristocracy because of his humble birth so they poisoned the minds of the people against the page. At the same time, Alexios, covetous of the throne, raised the flag of revolt and demanded that the favorite be banished. The nobles joined him and besieged Manuel in the upper citadel, finally forcing him to concede and banish the favorite from the palace. The people then dispersed, but Alexios, who was still seeking the crown, was forced to reconcile with his father. The price of reconciliation was that Alexios take the young page into his service. Manuel III died in March 1417, and was succeeded by Alexios IV. George Finlay records the rumor that Alexios "was suspected of having hastened his father's death." Manuel, "like his father, took an active interest in buildings of a religious nature. In the year of his succession he presented an ornate cross believed to contain a holy
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
(''stavrotheke''), in this case a piece of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, to the
Soumela Monastery Sumela Monastery ( el, Μονή Παναγίας Σουμελά, ''Moní Panagías Soumelá''; tr, Sümela Manastırı, lzz, სუმელა) is a Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Theotokos located at ''Karadağ'' (Greek: ''Sou ...
."


Family

Manuel married Gulkhan-Eudokia of Georgia, the widow of his elder half-brother Andronikos and a daughter of King
David IX of Georgia David IX of Georgia (died 1360), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia from 1346 until his death. Family David was the only known son of George V of Georgia. The identity of his mother is not known. The "Georgian Chronicle" of the 18t ...
, in 1377. His second wife, whom he married in 1395, was
Anna Philanthropene Anna Philanthropene (Greek: Άννα Φιλανθρώπινη; 1395–1404) was the second Empress consort of Manuel III of Trebizond. Family Anna was the daughter of Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos, ''Caesar'' of the Byzantine Empire and governor ...
of the Byzantine Doukas family. By Gulkhan-Eudokia, he had at least one 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 ...
, who succeeded him as Emperor According to Thierry Ganchou, Manuel had one son by his second wife Anna. Ganchou identifies him as the otherwise nameless Komnenos whom George Sphrantzes mentions in his history. This Komnenos had been the previous owner of the stallion Sphrantzes rode while campaigning in the Morea in 1429, and who married Eudokia the daughter of Manuel Palaiologos Kantakouzenos, but died before the couple could have children.Ganchou, "A propos d’un cheval de race: un dynaste de Trébizonde en exil à Constantinople au début du XVe siècle" in ''Mare et litora: Essays Presented to Sergei Karpov for his 60th Birthday,'' Rustam Shukurov (editor) (Moscow: Indrik, 2009), pp. 553–574


Notes


Further reading

*''The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, 1991. {{DEFAULTSORT:Manuel 03 Of Trebizond 14th-century emperors of Trebizond 15th-century emperors of Trebizond Grand Komnenos dynasty 1364 births 1417 deaths Eastern Orthodox monarchs