Alexios I Megas Komnenos or Alexius I Comnenus (Greek: Αλέξιος Α΄ Μέγας Κομνηνός, Alexios I Megas Komnēnos), (c. 1182– February 1, 1222), ruled 1204 - 1222, Emperor of Trebizond, was the eldest son of Manuel Komnenos (born 1145) and of Rusudan, daughter of George III of Georgia. He was thus a grandson of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I. Andronikos was dethroned and killed in 1185. Manuel was blinded at the same time and may well have died; at any rate he disappears from the historical record. He left two children, the Caesars Alexios and David. Their mother Rusudan fled either to Georgia or to the southern coast of the Black Sea. February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Centuries: 12th century - 13th century - 14th century Decades: 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s - 1220s - 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s Years: 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 See also: 1222 state leaders Events Foundation of the University of Padua Completion of the Cistercian convent in Alcobaca... // Events February - Byzantine emperor Alexius IV is overthrown in a revolution, and Alexius V is proclaimed emperor. ... The Empire of Trebizond and other states carved from the Byzantine Empire, as they were in 1265 (William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas, 1911) The Empire of Trebizond was a Pontic Greek successor state of the Byzantine Empire founded in 1204 immediately before the fall of Constantinople. ... Giorgi III Giorgi III (გიორგი III) (d. ... This is a list of Byzantine Emperors. ... Billon trachy (a cup-shaped coin) of Andronikos I Komnenos (1183-1185) Andronikos I Komnenos or Andronicus I Comnenus (Greek: Ανδρόνικος Α’ Κομνηνός, Andronikos I KomnÄ“nos) (c. ... Events April 25 - Genpei War - Naval battle of Dan-no-ura leads to Minamoto victory in Japan Templars settle in London and begin the building of New Temple Church End of the Heian Period and beginning of the Kamakura period in Japan. ... Painting of Emperor Basil II, exemplifying the Imperial Crown handed down by Angels. ... Map of the Black Sea. ...

Formation of the Empire

The month before Constantinople fell in 1204, Alexios occupied Trebizond with the aid of a Georgian contingent provided by his aunt, Queen Tamar of Georgia. // Events February - Byzantine emperor Alexius IV is overthrown in a revolution, and Alexius V is proclaimed emperor. ... Trabzon, formerly known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey. ... Tamar as depicted on a mural from Vardzia monastery Tamar (1160-1213), from the House of Bagrationi, was Queen of the Kingdom of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. ...

The new ruler was only 22.^[1] The Komnenos family was popular on the Black Sea coast, from which it had come originally, and where it had left roots. In 1182 his grandfather Andronikos had a stronghold at Oinaion between Trebizond and Sinope. Those three places all declared for Alexios, and while he remained cautiously in the neighbourhood of Trebizond, his brother David, aided by the Georgians and local mercenaries, made himself master of Pontus and Paphlagonia, including Kastamonou, said to be the ancestral castle of the Komnenoi. David conquered as far west as Herakleia Pontike well on the way to Constantinople. Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos The Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Κομνηνοί) family was an important dynasty in the history of the Byzantine Empire. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... Sinope was an ancient city on the Black Sea, in the region of Galatia, modern-day Sinop, Turkey. ... Traditional rural Pontic house A man in traditional clothes from Trabzon, illustration Pontus is the name which was applied, in ancient times, to extensive tracts of country in the northeast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey) bordering on the Euxine (Black Sea), which was often called simply Pontos (the main), by... Paphlagonia was an ancient area on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia and Pontus, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia) by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. ... Kastamonu is the capitol district of the Kastamonu Province, Turkey. ... Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos The Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Κομνηνοί) family was an important dynasty in the history of the Byzantine Empire. ... Karadeniz Eregli (Ereğli) is a city in Zonguldak, Turkey. ... Map of Constantinople. ...

Alexios took the titles of Grand Komnenos (Megas Komnenos) and Emperor. The new title and the Trapezuntine dynasty would last 257 years — the longest, as Bessarion wrote, in Byzantine history. From Herakleia the new state extended east to Trebizond itself and then to Soterioupolis on the Georgian frontier. Alexios made parts of the Crimea tributary to Trebizond. Cherson, Kerch and their hinterlands were governed as an overseas province called Perateia ('beyond the sea'). The loss of Sinope to the Seljuk Turks of Rum in 1214 isolated Trebizond from direct contact with (and further territorial encroachment by) the Empire of Nicaea. Trapezuntine foreign policy now focused on relations with Georgia, the Sultanate of Iconium, the Italian maritime cities (especially the Genoese, and the small emirates of Erzerum and Erzincan. Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Borçka is a district of Artvin Province of Turkey. ... Motto: Процветание в единстве - Prosperity in unity Anthem: Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина - Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Capital Simferopol Largest cities Simferopol, Eupatoria, Kerch, Theodosia, Yalta Official language Ukrainian. ... Tauric Chersonesos, Greek Χερσονασος (Chersones, Khersones, Korsun, Russian: Херсонес) was the Greek settlement founded approximately 2500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimean (Taurian) Peninsula. ... Kerch (Russian: Керчь; Ukrainian: Керч; Old East Slavic: Корчев, Turkish and Crimean Tatar: Kerç) is a city (2001 pop 157,000) on the Kerch Peninsula of eastern Crimea, an important industrial, transportation and tourist center of Ukraine. ... Perateia (beyond the sea) was the overseas territory of the Empire of Trebizond. ... The Seljuk coat of arms was a double headed eagle The Seljuk Turks (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq; in modern Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian سلجوقيان SaljÅ«qiyān; in Arabic سلجوق SaljÅ«q, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that ruled parts of... The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the states founded by refugees from the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade. ... The Sultanate of Rûm was a Seljuk sultanate in Anatolia from 1077 to 1307. ... The Republic of Genoa, in full the Most Serene Republic of Genoa (known as the Ligurian Republic from 1798 to 1805) was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast from ca. ... Generally speaking, an emirate (Arabic imarah, plural imarat) is a territory that is administered by an emir, although in Arabic the term can be generalized to mean any province of a country that is administered by a member of the ruling class. ... Erzurum (or Erzerum, Arzen in antiquity, Karin in ancient Armenian, Theodosiupolis or Theodosiopolis during Byzantine rule) is one of the Provinces of Turkey, in the Eastern Anatolia Region, to the east of the country. ... English page about Erzincan will be add next a little time. ...

The Komnenoi faced dangers. Besides the Empire of Nicaea established by Theodore I Laskaris, Amisous, under the rule of Sabbas Asidenos, formed an enclave in their territory and interrupted access to the Black Sea. Mad Theodore Mangaphas held Philadelphia. Manuel Maurozomes made himself secure on the Maeander by giving his daughter in marriage to Kay Khusrau I, the Seljuk Sultan of Iconium who was lord of the greater part of Asia Minor. The distant Armenian kingdom in Cilicia and the Armenian colony in the Troad were not threats. Alexios was allied to Georgia. The treaty by which the Latin conquerors of Constantinople had partitioned the empire assigned much of the new Trapezuntine state - Paphlagonia, Oinaion, Amisous, and Sinope to the Latin Emperor. The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the states founded by refugees from the Byzantine Empire after Constantinople was conquered during the Fourth Crusade. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Kay Khusrau I, one of the sons of Izz ad-Din Kılıj Arslan II, was a Seljuk sultan of Rüm. ... The Seljuk coat of arms was a double headed eagle The Seljuk Turks (also Seldjuk, Seldjuq, Seljuq; in modern Turkish Selçuklular; in Persian سلجوقيان SaljÅ«qiyān; in Arabic سلجوق SaljÅ«q, or السلاجقة al-Salājiqa) were a major branch of the Oghuz Turks and a dynasty that ruled parts of... Anatolia (Greek: ανατολη anatole, rising of the sun or East; compare Orient and Levant, by popular etymology Turkish Anadolu to ana mother and dolu filled), also called by the Latin name of Asia Minor, is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asian portion of Turkey. ... Map of the Troas The Troas (Troad) is an ancient region in the northwestern part of Anatolia, bounded by the Hellespont to the northwest, the Aegean Sea to the west, and separated from the rest of Anatolia by the massif that forms Mount Ida. ... The knights of the Fourth Crusade set up a Crusader kingdom known as the Latin Empire or Romania based on Constantinople after sacking the city in 1204. ...

Seljuk and Nicaean Wars

Theodore I Laskaris soon swept away Mad Theodore and Sabbas, while the Latins, after an attempt to conquer some of their allotted territory, found themselves occupied in Europe with the Bulgarians. With the Latins went the Armenians of the Troad. Only Laskaris, who had himself crowned Emperor in 1208, and the Seljuks remained to menace the new empire.

Kay Khusrau I, the new Sultan of Iconium, besieged Trebizond in 1205 or 1206. David provoked Laskaris by sending his young general Synadenos to occupy Nicomedia, claimed by the Niceaean Empire. Synadenos was no match for the abler Laskaris, who led his troops through a difficult pass, setting an example to his soldiers by wielding an axe against the trees that obstructed his path of victory. Synadenos was taken prisoner. David was forced to recognise Herakleia as the westward limit of the Trapezuntine Empire, and Laskaris threatened to make him recede still further eastward. David, hard pressed by his Nicaean adversary, invoked the aid of the Latins; Laskaris occupied the frontier district of Plousias, famous for its archers and its warlike spirit, and would have taken Herakleia also, had not the Latins under Thierri de Loos again seized Nicomedia. Kay Khusrau I, one of the sons of Izz ad-Din Kılıj Arslan II, was a Seljuk sultan of Rüm. ... Nicomedia (modern İzmit, also known as Iznik) was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus (which opens on the Propontis) in 264 BC. The city has ever since been one of the chief towns in this part of Asia Minor. ...

But the Latins soon retired, to face another Bulgarian invasion of Thrace, rewarded by David for their temporary aid by shiploads of corn and hams. David asked the Latin Emperor of Constantinople to include him as his subject in his treaties and correspondence with Laskaris, and to treat his land as Latin territory. David preferred a nominal Latin suzerainty to annexation by the Nicaean emperor. Having thus secured his position, he crossed the Sangarios with a body of about 300 Frankish auxiliaries, ravaged the villages subject to Laskaris, and took hostages from Plousias. David withdrew, but the Franks, incautiously advancing into the hilly country, were suddenly surprised by Andronikos Gidos, a general of Laskaris, in the Rough Passes of Nicomedia, and scarcely a man of them was left to tell the tale.

Territory and Economy

In 1214 the new Seljuk Sultan, Kay Ka'us I captured Sinope, killed David, and compelled Alexios to render tribute and military service. The loss of Sinope pushed the western frontier of Trebizond, which had been at Herakleia a few years earlier, and then at Cape Kerembi, back to the Iris and Thermodon Rivers and only 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the capital. The empire ran east 170 kilometres to the Georgian frontier at Soteroupolis. Events Simon Apulia becomes Bishop of Exeter. ... The Sultanate of Rûm was a Seljuk sultanate in Anatolia from 1077 to 1307. ... The Sultan in Disneys Aladdin A Sultan (Arabic: سلطان) is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. ... Terme is a district of Samsun Province of Turkey. ... Borçka is a district of Artvin Province of Turkey. ...

The capital was considered impregnable, for art had supplemented nature in its defence. It possessed a mild climate, a fruitful soil in which the olive and the vine flourished, an excellent supply of water, and abundant wood. John Eugenikos in his later panegyric, called it 'the apple of the eye of all Asia', and it was believed by its inhabitants to enjoy the special protection of Saint Eugenios of Trebizond.

Family and Succession

Alexios married Theodora Axouchina, a Trapezuntine noblewoman. He had two sons, the future John I and Manuel I, and a daughter, the wife of Andronikos. John I Axuch, Grand Comnenus and Emperor of Trebizond, the eldest son of Alexius I, succeeded his uncle, Andronicus I in 1235. ... Manuel I, (died 1263), emperor of Trebizond, surnamed the Great Captain, was the second son of Alexius I, first emperor of Trebizond, and ruled from 1228 to 1263. ...

Alexios died at forty on 1 February 1222 after a reign of eighteen years. His eldest son John was passed over in favour of his son-in-law, Andronikos I. February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Centuries: 12th century - 13th century - 14th century Decades: 1170s 1180s 1190s 1200s 1210s - 1220s - 1230s 1240s 1250s 1260s 1270s Years: 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224 1225 1226 1227 See also: 1222 state leaders Events Foundation of the University of Padua Completion of the Cistercian convent in Alcobaca... John I Axuch, Grand Comnenus and Emperor of Trebizond, the eldest son of Alexius I, succeeded his uncle, Andronicus I in 1235. ...

Notes

1. ^ Michael Panaretos, History p. 266 Lambros.

Michael Panaretos (1320 - ca. ...

Bibliography

• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
• C. Toumanoff, "On the relationship between the founder of the Empire of Trebizond and the Georgian Queen Thamar" in Speculum vol. 15 (1940) pp. 299-312.
• W. Miller, Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era, Chicago 1926.