List of Trapezuntine emperors

Alexios III Megas Komnenos (r. 1349–1390), the longest-reigning Trapezuntine emperor, and his wife Theodora Kantakouzene

The Trapezuntine emperors were the rulers of the Empire of Trebizond, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire founded after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461. All but two of the Trapezuntine rulers belonged to the Komnenos dynasty, which had previously ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185. They initially claimed to represent the legitimate line of Roman emperors, in opposition to the Latin Empire in Constantinople, the Laskaris dynasty of the Nicene Empire, and the Komnenos Doukas family of Epirus and Thessalonica. To emphasize their dynastic claim, Trapezuntine emperors from the late 13th century onwards styled themselves as Megas Komnenos (Μέγας Κομνηνός, lit. 'Grand Komnenos').^[1]

Out of the Byzantine claimants that emerged in 1204 and thereafter, the Trapezuntine emperors, despite their illustrious descent, had perhaps the worst position. Not only were they far away from Constantinople in a peripheral province of the empire, but the reputation of the Komnenoi had been severely damaged by the detested last emperor of the dynasty, Andronikos I Komnenos (r. 1183–1185), grandfather of the first Trapezuntine emperor Alexios I (r. 1204–1222).^[2] Though they continued to claim to be the legitimate rulers of the entire former Byzantine Empire for decades thereafter, conflict with the Nicene Empire and the Sultanate of Rum in the early 13th century reduced the power of the Trapezuntine emperors. After the fall of Sinope to Sultan Kaykaus I in 1214, the Empire of Trebizond ceased to be a major contender for restoring the Byzantine Empire and became reduced to a small and local power.^[3]

After the Nicene Empire under Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople in 1261, the rulers of Trebizond continued to style themselves as 'Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans' (βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαῖων), viewing the Palaiologos dynasty as just another family of usurpers. The Trapezuntine title was altered in 1282, 21 years later, to 'Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, the Iberians, and the Transmarine Provinces' (βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ πάσης Ἀνατολῆς, Ἰβήρων καὶ Περατείας) in order to placate Michael VIII Palaiologos after John II Megas Komnenos (r. 1280–1297) of Trebizond married his daughter, Eudokia Palaiologina.^[4] Initially, the Palaiologoi emperors in Constantinople did not consider the Trapezuntine emperors to be emperors at all, instead typically referring to them as "princes of the Lazes".^[5] However, later in the fourteenth century Trebizond's imperial status was recognized by Constantinople, although only as "Emperor of Trebizond" (βασιλεὺς Τραπεζοῦντος).

Although the Nicene emperors are generally regarded by modern historians to have been the legitimate Byzantine emperors from 1204 to the recapture of Constantinople in 1261, this is only because it was their successor state that eventually retook the city. The emperors in Trebizond and Thessalonica were no less legitimate emperors than those in Nicaea,^[3] the distinction only having been made retroactively as the Trapezuntines never succeeded in taking Constantinople and eventually gave up their claim to the Roman title. The line of Komnenos emperors in Trebizond lasted for more than 250 years, far longer than their dynasty had ruled from Constantinople, and outlasted the restored Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty by eight years, before it too fell to the Ottoman Empire.

List of emperors and empresses regnant

Portrait	Name	Reign	Succession	Life details
	Alexios I Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός	March/April 1204 – 1 February 1222 (17 years and 10/11 months) with David Komnenos (1204–1212)	Grandson of Andronikos I Komnenos (Byzantine emperor 1183–1185). Captured Trebizond with the aid of Tamar of Georgia.	c. 1182 – 1 February 1222 (aged 40) Died of natural causes[6]
	Andronikos I Gidos Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός Γίδος	1 February 1222 – 1235 (13 years)	Son-in-law of Alexios I, possibly became emperor due to Alexios I's sons all being minors	Unknown – 1235 Died of unrecorded causes[7]
	John I Axouchos Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀξούχος[a]	1235 – 1237/1238 (2 or 3 years)	Son of Alexios I	Unknown – 1237/1238 Died while playing polo[10]
	Manuel I Megas Komnenos "the Most Fortunate" Μανουήλ Κομνηνός	1237/1238 – March 1263 (25 or 26 years)	Son of Alexios I	Unknown – March 1263 Died of natural causes[11]
	Andronikos II Megas Komnenos Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός	March 1263 – 1266 (3 years)	Son of Manuel I	Shortly before 1240/1242 – 1266 (aged approx. 26) Died of unrecorded causes[12]
	George Megas Komnenos "the Vagabond" Γεώργιος Μέγας Κομνηνός[b]	1266 – June 1280 (14 years)	Son of Manuel I	After 1253 – after 1284 Deposed by the Trapezuntine nobility in favor of John II and imprisoned. Later released, attempted to retake the throne in 1284.[14]
	John II Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός	June 1280 – 16 August 1297 (17 years and 2 months)	Son of Manuel I	c. 1262/1263 – 16 August 1297 (aged approx. 35) Died of natural causes[15]
	Theodora Megale Komnene Θεοδώρα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή	Autumn 1284 – 1285 (less than a year)	Daughter of Manuel I, briefly usurped the throne from John II	Between 1242 and 1253 – unknown Fled Trebizond in 1285 and disappears from history thereafter, might have gone into exile in Georgia[13]
	Alexios II Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος[c]	16 August 1297 – 3 May 1330 (32 years, 8 months and 17 days)	Son of John II	Late 1283 – 3 May 1330 (aged 46) Died of the bubonic plague[16]
	Andronikos III Megas Komnenos Ἀνδρόνικος Μέγας Κομνηνός	3 May 1330 – 8 January 1332 (1 year, 8 months and 5 days)	Son of Alexios II	Unknown – 8 January 1332 Murdered two of his brothers upon his accession to the throne. Died of the bubonic plague like his father.[17]
	Manuel II Megas Komnenos Μανουήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός	8 January – 23 September 1332 (8 months and 15 days)	Son of Andronikos III	1323/1324 – 21 February 1333 (aged approx. 9) Deposed by his uncle Basil and murdered a few months later[18]
	Basil Megas Komnenos Βασίλειος Μέγας Κομνηνός	23 September 1332 – 6 April 1340 (7 years, 6 months and 14 days)	Son of Alexios II, usurped the throne from Manuel II	Unknown – 6 April 1340 Possibly poisoned by his first wife, Irene Palaiologina[19]
	Irene Palaiologina Εἰρήνη Παλαιολογίνα	6 April 1340 – 17 July 1341 (1 year, 3 months and 11 days)	Widow of Basil, illegitimate daughter of Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Seized control of the government after Basil's death.	Unknown lifespan Deposed in favor of Anna and sent back to her family in Constantinople, fate thereafter unknown[20]
	Anna Anachoutlou Ἀννα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή Ἀναχουτλού[d]	17 July 1341 – August/September 1342 (1 year and 1/2 months)	Daughter of Alexios II. Confined to a monastery as a nun, but escaped in 1341 and seized the throne with the aid of the Lazes.	Unknown – 3 September 1342 Deposed in favor of John III and then strangled to death[22]
	John III Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός	4 September 1342 – 3 May 1344 (1 year, 7 months and 29 days)	Grandson of John II. Supported as emperor by the army and the Republic of Genoa.	1321/1322 – March 1362 (aged approx. 40) Deposed in favor of his father Michael. Died nearly twenty years later, possibly of the plague.[23]
	Michael Megas Komnenos Μιχαήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός	3 May 1344 – 13 December 1349 (5 years, 7 months and 10 days)	Son of John II and father of John III, proclaimed emperor after a palace coup against John III	1288/1289 – unknown Forced to abdicate and become a monk. Last attested in 1351 as an exile in Constantinople.[23]
	Alexios III Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός	13 December 1349 – 20 March 1390 (40 years, 3 months and 7 days)	Son of Basil. Exiled to Constantinople after his father's death in 1340. Proclaimed emperor with the support of the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos after Michael's deposition.	5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390 (aged 51) The longest-reigning emperor. Died of natural causes.[24]
	Manuel III Megas Komnenos Μανουήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός	20 March 1390 – 5 March 1417 (26 years, 11 months and 13 days)	Son of Alexios III	16 December 1364 – 5 March 1417 (aged 52) Possibly murdered by his son Alexios IV[25]
	Alexios IV Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός	5 March 1417 – 26 April 1429 (11 years, 11 months and 23 days)	Son of Manuel III; co-emperor since 1395	c. 1379 – 26 April 1429 (aged approx. 50) Assassinated by his son John IV[26]
	John IV Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός	26 April 1429 – April 1460 (31 years) with Alexander Megas Komnenos (c. 1451–1459)	Son of Alexios IV	Before 1403 – April 1460 Died of natural causes[27]
	Alexios V Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Σκαντάριος Μέγας Κομνηνός	April 1460 (very briefly)	Son of the co-emperor Alexander, a son of Alexios IV	1454 – 1 November 1463 (aged approx. 9) Deposed by his uncle David. Later executed by the Ottomans alongside him.[28]
	David Megas Komnenos Δαβίδ Μέγας Κομνηνός	April 1460 – 15 August 1461 (1 year and 3 months)	Son of Alexios IV	c. 1408 – 1 November 1463 (aged approx. 55) Settled in Adrianople in exile after the conquest of Trebizond by the Ottoman Empire. Later accused of treachery and executed.[29]

Family tree of the Trapezuntine emperors

The Megas Komnenos dynasty of Trebizond[30]

Komnenos Bagrationi Dynasty Manuel Komnenos 1145-1185 Rusudan (?)Theodora Axouchina Alexios I 1182-1204-1222 David 1184-1212 Rusudan d. 1247 Andronikos I d.1235 r.1222-1235 Unnamed Daughter John I d.1238 r.1235-1238 Theodora r.1284-1285 Irene Syrikaina Manuel I d.1263 r.1238-1263 Anna Xylaloe Demetre II of Georgia 1259-1289 Unnamed Daughter Unnamed Daughter George 1255-1266-1280 d. after 1284 Andronikos II c.1240-1263-1266 David VIII of Georgia 1273-1311 Lasha Manuel Eudokia Palaiologina c.1265-1302 John II c.1262-1280-1297 Vakhtang III of Georgia 1276-1308 Acropolitissa d. c.1341 Michael c.1288-1344-1349 d. after 1355 Alexios II 1282-1297-1330 Jiajak Jaqeli Rusudan John III c.1321-1342-1344-1362 Michael Anachoutlou d. 1330 George Achpougas d. 1330 Anna Anachoutlou d. 1342 r. 1341-1342 Eudokia Irene Palaiologina b. c.1315 r. 1340-1341 Basil d. 1340 r. 1332-1340 Irene of Trebizond d. c.1382 Andronikos III d. 1332 r. 1330-1332 Unknown wife Anna Alexios 1327-c. 1349 Maria Qutlugh bin Tur Ali Theodora Manuel II c.1324-1333 r. 1332 Theodora Kantakouzene Alexios III 1338-1349-1390 Unknown Mistress ? Basil 1358-1377 Unnamed Daughter Suleyman Beg Unnamed Daughter Mutahharten Unnamed Daughter Qara Osman 1356-1435 Helena d. 1366 Bagrat V of Georgia d. 1393 Anna b.1357 d. after 1406 Anna Philanthropene Manuel III 1364-1390-1417 Gulkhan-Eudokia of Georgia d. 1395 Andronikos 1355-1376 Eudokia Tadjeddin Constantine I of Georgia 1369-1412 David Tamar Olympias Alexios IV 1382-1417-1429 Theodora Kantakouzene c. 1382-1426 Constantine Dragaš d. 1395 George VII of Georgia d. 1407 David John VIII Palaiologos 1392-1448 Maria d. 1439 Alexander Maria Gattilusio Unnamed daughter Jahan Shah b. 1397 or 1405 d. 1467 Maria of Gothia David c.1408-1460-1461-1463 Alexios V 1454-1460-1463 Daughter of Alexander I of Georgia c.1411-c.1438 John IV c.1403-1429-1460 Daughter of a Turkish sultan (?)Helena Kantakouzene d. 1463 Uzun Hasan 1423-1478 Theodora Mamia Gurieli Unnamed Daughter Basil d. 1463 Manuel d. 1463 George d. after 1463 Shaykh Haydar 1459-1488 Halima Begum Zagan Pasha d. 1462 or 1469 Anna b. 1447 d. after 1463 Sinan Sultan Ali Safawi d. 1494 Ismail I 1487-1524 Ibrahim Safawi

See also

• List of empresses of the Byzantine successor states – for the consorts of the emperors
• List of Byzantine emperors – for the Byzantine emperors, from whom the Trapezuntine emperors claimed succession
• List of Roman emperors – for a list of emperors beginning with Augustus
• Succession of the Roman Empire – for various claims concerning the succession to the Roman Empire

Notes

1. John I used the surname Komnenos Axouchos,^[8] possibly to stress matrilineal ancestry from the prominent 12th-century general Alexios Axouch.^[9]
2. George was the first emperor to officially and formally use the name Megas Komnenos (Μέγας Κομνηνός; "grand Komnenos"), previously only a nickname.^[13]
3. Alexios II used the full surname Megas Komnenos Palaiologos (Μέγας Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος), stressing both his patrilineal descent from the Komnenoi and his matrilineal descent from the Palaiologoi.^[8]
4. For unknown reasons, Anna used the surname Anachoutlou, seemingly of Turkish origin. Perhaps it derived in some way from her Georgian mother, Jiajak Jaqeli.^[21]

References

1. Macrides 1979, pp. 238–245.
2. Treadgold 1997, p. 710.
3. Treadgold 1997, p. 718.
4. ODB, p. 1047.
5. Miller 1926, p. 343.
6. ODB, pp. 63–64; Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 172–174.
7. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 174; Miller 1923, p. 19.
8. ODB, p. 64.
9. Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 173–174.
10. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 174.
11. ODB, pp. 1290–1291; Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 174–176; Miller 1923, p. 515.
12. Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 174–175.
13. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 175.
14. ODB, pp. 836–837; Jackson Williams 2007, p. 175.
15. ODB, p. 1047; Jackson Williams 2007, p. 176.
16. ODB, pp. 63–64; Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 172–174; Zehiroglu 2016, p. 155.
17. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 177; Zehiroglu 2016, p. 155.
18. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 177.
19. Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 177–178; Miller 1923, p. 48.
20. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 177; Miller 1923, p. 49.
21. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 176.
22. Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 176–177.
23. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 178.
24. ODB, p. 65; Jackson Williams 2007, p. 178.
25. ODB, p. 1292; Jackson Williams 2007, p. 181.
26. ODB, p. 66; Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 181, 183.
27. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 183; Kuršanskis 1979, p. 242.
28. Jackson Williams 2007, p. 184; Kuršanskis 1979, pp. 242–244.
29. ODB, p. 589; Jackson Williams 2007, p. 185.
30. Jackson Williams 2007, pp. 171–189.

Bibliography

• Jackson Williams, Kelsey (2007). "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond". Foundations: The Journal of the Foundation for Mediaeval Genealogy. 2 (3): 171–189. hdl:10023/8570. ISSN 1479-5078.
• Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6. (see ODB)
• Kuršanskis, Michel (1979). "La descendance d'Alexis IV, empereur de Trébizonde. Contribution à la prosopographie des Grands Comnènes". Revue des études byzantines. 37: 239–247. doi:10.3406/rebyz.1979.2098.
• Macrides, Ruth (1979). "What's in the name 'Megas Komnenos'?". Archeion Pontou. 35: 238–245.
• Miller, William (1923). "The Empire of Nicaea and the Recovery of Constantinople". In Bury, J. B. (ed.). The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume IV: The Eastern Roman Empire (717–1453). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 716982674.
• Miller, William (1926). Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 1546756.
• Treadgold, Warren (1997). A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2.
• Zehiroglu, Ahmet M. (2016). Trabzon Imparatorlugu (in Turkish). Vol. 2. Lazika Yayın Kollektifi. ISBN 978-6054567522.