Alexios I (Trebizond)

Alexios I Megas Komnenos ("Grand Comnene"; * 1182 ; † February 1, 1222 ) was the first emperor of Trebizond from 1204 to 1222 . He was the son of Manuel Komnenos and grandson of Andronikos I Komnenos , the last Byzantine emperor from the Komnenen family , who was overthrown by Isaac II Angelos in 1185 and then killed. His mother Rusudan was a daughter of the Georgian King Giorgi III.

childhood

Alexios' father Manuel was blinded by his opponents after Andronikos I was overthrown and most likely died a short time later. His mother then fled with the young Alexius and his brother David Komnenos from Konstantin Opel . The escape led the three either to Georgia or to the south coast of the Black Sea .

Accession to the throne

Even before the conquest of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the 4th Crusade in 1204, Alexios succeeded in taking Trapezunts and the surrounding areas with the support of Georgian troops, which his aunt Queen Tamara of Georgia made available to him. The action was facilitated by the fact that the Comnen family came from the area and was therefore popular with the local population. Thus, a stronghold was the followers of Alexios' grandfather in between Trebizond and Sinope located Oinaion . All three cities named therefore quickly declared themselves to be Alexios.

After this success Alexios, who was 22 years old at the time, was proclaimed the first Emperor and Grand Comnene of Trebizond. The Comnenian dynasty founded by Alexios with the adoption of the title was to rule Trebizond for 257 years. The new state stretched along the northern coast of the Black Sea from Herakleia in the west to Soterioupolis on the border with Georgia. Furthermore, parts of today's Crimea were subject to tribute to the Trapezuntian state. Chersoneses , Pantikapaion and the hinterland of both cities were combined to form an overseas province and were thus directly subordinate to Alexios.

While Alexios carefully stabilized his power in the vicinity of Trebizond, his brother David conquered areas in Paphlagonia and Pontus with the help of Georgian mercenaries . Among other things, he took possession of the Kastamonu fortress , the legendary ancestral seat of the Komnenes. Eventually David reached Heracleia on his westward campaign towards Constantinople.

Alexios and his brother faced dangerous enemies. In addition to the empire of Nikaia , which Theodor I Laskaris founded after the loss of Constantinople to the Latins, a number of smaller Greek domains emerged at this time, the leaders of which saw themselves as successors to the Byzantine emperor. The Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium , which ruled most of Asia Minor , threatened further danger . Finally, there were considerable differences with the Latin Empire founded by the Crusaders in Constantinople , which made claims to Paphlagonia , Oinaion , Amisos and Sinope .

Wars against the Seljuks and against the Nikaia Empire

While the smaller Greek territories competing with Trebizond soon became part of the Nikaia Empire, the Latin Empire, after an initial attempt to conquer the territories claimed against Trebizond, soon found itself embroiled in a conflict with the Bulgarians in its European territories . The only serious opponents of the Comnenes were the Seljuks and Theodor I. Laskaris of Nikaia, who had been proclaimed emperor in 1206.

Around the year 1205 the Seljuks under Sultan Kai Chosrau I of Iconium besieged Trebizond without being able to take the city. In the west, David Theodor I provoked Laskaris by sending troops against the city of Nicomedia , which was ruled by the Nikaia Empire . The attack failed and the Komnenen had to limit themselves from now on to assert their western border against offensives of the empire of Nikaia. For this David took the help of the Latin Empire, with whose support the advance of the Nicaians on Herakleia could be stopped.

1214 Sinope was built by the Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium under Sultan I. Kai Kaus taken. David was killed and Alexios had to commit himself to paying tribute to the Seljuks and to military service. With the loss of Sinope to the Seljuks, the land connection between the Empire of Trebizond and the Empire of Nikaia was interrupted, which put a stop to further hostilities with the Nicaiians. Since then, the western border of the Trapezunt empire ran 250 km from the capital along the Iris and Thermodon rivers .

As a result, Alexios' foreign policy focused on relations with Georgia, the Iconium Sultanate, the Italian sea trade republics and the smaller emirates of Erzurum and Erzincan .

family

Alexios was married to the Trapezuntian noblewoman Theodora Axuchina, with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

He died in 1222 after a reign of 18 years. His successor was Andronikos I , his daughter's husband. Alexios' sons were passed over in the succession. They were to ascend the Trapezuntian throne later than John I and Manuel I.

swell

• Niketas Choniates 626; 639 (ed. Jan-Louis van Dieten, CFHB Vol. 11, 1975)
• Michael Panaretos 1

literature

• Jean-Claude Cheynet: Pouvoir et contestations à Byzance (963-1210) (= Publications de la Sorbonne. Series Byzantina Sorbonensia. Vol. 9). Reimpression. Publications de la Sorbonne Center de Recherches d'Histoire et de Civilization Byzantines, Paris 1996, ISBN 2-85944-168-5 , p. 131 No. 184, pp. 144-145 No. 205.
• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 1: Aaron - Azarethes . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2007, ISBN 978-2-503-52303-3 , pp. 148-149.
• Eras L. Vranoussi: Alexios I. Megas Komnenos , in: Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Vol. 1. Munich 1974, p. 51

Web links

• Alexios Megas Komnenos on Medieval Lands

predecessor	Office	successor
---	Emperor of Trebizond 1204–1222	Andronikos I.