Alexios III (Trebizond)

Alexios III Komnenos (* 1338 ; † March 20, 1390 ) was Emperor and Grand Comnene of Trebizond from 1349 to 1390 .

Alexios III Komnenos at the symbolic foundation of the Dionysiou monastery on Mount Athos

Life

Alexios, actually Johannes Komnenos , was born the younger of two sons of the Trapezuntian emperor Basileios and his mistress.

When his father fell victim to a poison attack probably initiated by his wife, Irene Palaiologina , in 1340 and she herself ascended the throne of Trebizond, he and his older brother Alexios were taken to Constantinople , where he was under the supervision of his stepmother's relatives who ruled there . He therefore spent his youth at the imperial court of Byzantium .

At the age of 12 he was in 1349 by the Byzantine emperor John VI. Sent Kantakuzenos to Trebizond to dispute the throne of the ruling Emperor Michael . Michael was with the support of the party of the Byzantine emperor John V. Palaiologos , who with John VI. Kantakuzenos struggled for power in Byzantium, came to the throne of Trebizond. It was therefore in the interest of John VI. Kantakuzenos to eliminate Michael as his rival's protégé.

When he arrived in Trebizond, his troops succeeded in taking the city without much difficulty. After deposed Michael, he ascended the throne himself. On this occasion he gave up his maiden name Johannes and instead took the name of his brother Alexios, who had meanwhile died in Byzantine exile. The reason for this may have been the special reputation that this very name, which the first Emperor of Trebizond had already carried, had among the population of Trebizond.

In 1351 Alexios married Theodora Kantakuzena , a niece of John VI. Kantakuzenos. In the meantime, his rule in Trebizond was generally accepted. Initially, the nobility in particular was satisfied with the new ruler, as he hoped that his youth and inexperience would give them a lot of leeway for their own interests in power. However, with the support of his mother and loyal military officers, the young emperor quickly succeeded in ending the unrest that had been fermenting in Trebizond for years. General Niketas Scholarios , known as the emperor- maker , was defeated as well as various rebellious nobles. In 1355 the last fortress was taken with Kenchrina, which Alexios still offered resistance. This finally ended the civil war that had been openly raging in Trebizond since the death of Alexios' father, Emperor Basileios , in 1340.

Despite these internal successes, Alexios did not manage to build on the old heyday of Trebizond and to restore the prestige and respect that the Empire of Trebizond enjoyed before the outbreak of the civil war. He was neither able to regain lost territories, nor could he sustainably push back the ambitions of the landed aristocracy, which had grown during the civil war. Finally, he also had to accept the duopoly position that the Genoese and Venetians had acquired in the trade of Trebizond.

During his reign, Alexios had the damage that the civil war had left on the cityscape removed. He also provided various monasteries with rich foundations and founded the Dionysiou monastery on Mount Athos .

He and his wife had a total of six children, of whom the second eldest son would later succeed him to the throne.

His two sisters married Alexios to Kutlu Beg , the leader of the White Mutton, and Haci, the Emir of Chalybia . The willingness with which Alexios gave his sisters and also some of his daughters to Muslim nobles in order to protect their own state from attacks was shocking for the Byzantine world of that time. This contributed to a further loss of reputation Trapezeunts.

Alexios III died in 1390. His son Manuel III succeeded him on the throne .

literature

• 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. 149-150.

predecessor	Office	successor
Michael	Emperor of Trebizond 1349–1390	Manuel III