Basil Comnenus

This article deals with the Trapezuntian emperor Basil Comnenus; for his grandson of the same name, see Basil Comnenus the Younger

Basil Comnenus († April 1340 ) was Emperor and Grand Comnene of Trebizond from 1332 to 1340 .

Life

Basil was born as one of four sons of the Trapezuntian emperor Alexios II . After his father's death in 1330, his older brother Andronikos III climbed the hill. the throne. He immediately had all male relatives he could get killed killed. Unlike his two brothers, who were murdered by Andronikos, Basil managed to escape into exile in Constantinople .

When Andronikos died in 1332 after a brief reign of terror and his only eight-year-old son Manuel II succeeded him, Basil had the opportunity to return to Trebizond. He was recalled from exile by the population of the city, whom Manuel refused to accept as ruler because of his father's crimes. On his arrival Manuel was deposed and Basil was proclaimed the new emperor. Manuel, who was entrusted to a monastery by Basil, died in 1333; he was probably murdered on his orders.

During his reign, Basil did not succeed in bringing the quarreling parties within the state, which had formed in the course of the tyranny of Andronicus, under control. Many aristocrats took advantage of Basil's weakness to rule their estates like little kings. The resulting anarchy in the rural areas and above all the apathy with which Basil accepted this development made him increasingly hated. Eventually general dissatisfaction spread to the city guards and Basil was forced to recruit foreign mercenaries as bodyguards . The arrogant and corrupt behavior of the mercenaries only made Basil even more hateful, so that he had to flee to the citadel of the city to save his life during a popular riot.

In 1335 Basil married Irene Palaiologina , a daughter of the Eastern Roman emperor Andronikos III. Palaiologos . Shortly after the wedding, the relationship between the two broke up and Basil turned to a mistress , with whom he fathered four children. After a while he decided to dissolve his marriage to Irene and instead marry his mistress. In July 1339 the marriage was divorced by imperial decree because of alleged consanguinity . The clergy of Trebizond was then forced to recognize the divorce and to carry out the wedding ceremony with the mistress.

In April 1340, Basil died as a result of a poison attack, which was probably caused by the humiliated Irene. As his successor, she ascended the throne herself. His two sons Alexios and Johannes, who later changed his name and became Alexios III in 1349 . ascended the throne, were exiled to Constantinople, where they were under the supervision of Irene's relatives.

literature

• Alexios G. Savvides, Benjamin Hendrickx (Eds.): Encyclopaedic Prosopographical Lexicon of Byzantine History and Civilization . Vol. 2: Baanes-Eznik of Kolb . Brepols Publishers, Turnhout 2008, ISBN 978-2-503-52377-4 , pp. 61-62.

predecessor	Office	successor
Manuel II	Emperor of Trebizond 1332–1340	Irene