DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24719#0266
FOUNDATION OF THE KINGDOM OF TREBIZOND.
193
Eudoxia, a daughter of David, King of Georgia, by whom he had a son, Basil, who succeeded his
father on the throne.
The reigns of the successors of Alexis were not distinguished by any notable event.
The hordes of Timour, who made their appearance in Anatolia about the year 1387, had taken
and sacked Erzeroum, and marched to the west: they had also defeated Kara Youssuf, the
chief of the Turcoman tribe of the Black Sheep. Notwithstanding these circumstances, Trebizond
flourished as a place of commerce, on account of its proximity to the sea, and was tolerably free
from enemies, on account of the great influence the Genoese had acquired in the Levant.
The reign of the Emperor John II., called Kalo-John, was the last time of prosperity the
empire of Trebizond (which was declining to its fall) enjoyed. That prince had a daughter, Despina
Khatoum, or Catherine, by name, whose beauty was celebrated throughout the East. Her hand
was sought by many of the emirs, amongst whom the most renowned was Uzan Ilassan, King
of Persia. That prince sent an ambassador to Kalo-John, asking the hand of his daughter, and
promising to place his army and treasures at the disposal of his father-in-law, for the defence of
Trebizond against the Mussulmans. The marriage was celebrated, and the beautiful Catherine
became a Mussulman princess. Her fame, which extended even to Italy, through the Genoese
merchants, was the source of inspiration to poets, by whom she was celebrated, under the title
of the Princess of Trebizond.
After the death of Kalo-John, in the year 1458, the crown descended to his son, Alexis Y.;
but David, brother of the deceased, taking as a pretext the precarious state in which the kingdom
would be if governed by an infant of four years old, seized the reins of government, but did
not succeed in saving the empire.
David Comnenus was the brother of Kalo-John : historians accuse him of having caused the
death of his nephew, the young Alexis, whose right to the throne was incontestable. He had for
his first wife Maria Theodora, of the house of the Theodores, princes of the Crimea ; his second
wife was Irene, daughter of Matthew Cantacuzenus, and granddaughter of John VI., Emperor
of Constantinople : by this wife he had seven children.
At this period the Turks had been masters of Constantinople for five years; all Anatolia was
in their power, and Mahomet II. was not desirous of leaving this little Christian kingdom on the
Black Sea quite independent. The reign of David, therefore, commenced under sinister auspices.
He despatched envoys to demand help at the hands of all Christian princes, and at the same
time addressed himself to the King of Persia, Uzan Ilassan, who was his nephew by marriage,
and who had promised him succour. Mahomet II., hearing of this promise, threatened the
Persian monarch, and thus put an end to the alliance. The Christian princes turned a deaf
ear to the entreaties of David, who was then left to combat alone the colossal power of the
Osmanlis.
In the spring of 1461 Mahomet II. determined upon seizing Trebizond, and assembled a
numerous army in the plain of Broussa, and a fleet of a hundred ships in the ports of the
Propontis, for this purpose. The sultan himself went to the camp to hasten the preparations,
though no one at the time knew against whom the expedition was to be directed. The news
of it spread to the Crimea and the Archipelago. David suspected the truth, and set to work
to place his kingdom in a state of defence. To those who asked the sultan what his intentions
were, he responded: “ If a hair of my beard knew my thoughts, I would pluck it out and
throw it into the fire.”
Tidings of the expedition having reached the heart of Asia Minor, the troops at Sivas and
Tocat, which had become Mussulman towns, intercepted all the succour that could have come
from the East. Meanwhile, the sultan had information from Trebizond. Mahmoud, one of his
generals, demanded an interview with the protovestarim, and described the power of his master
in such glowing terms, that David, being alarmed, consented to deliver up his states, on condition
that the sultan would marry his eldest daughter, Anne Comnenus.
Historians look upon the treaty that followed as the result of the treason of the protoves-
tarius, George, and, according to Marini, II Turco acquisto Vimperio di Trabisonda pin con frode
die coll’ arme” 1
The Ottoman army made its entrance into Trebizond in the summer of the year 1462.
The lower part of the town, near the Genoese depfits, had suffered from the attack of the fleet, 3
3 n
Fallmerayer, Op. cit., p. 279.
193
Eudoxia, a daughter of David, King of Georgia, by whom he had a son, Basil, who succeeded his
father on the throne.
The reigns of the successors of Alexis were not distinguished by any notable event.
The hordes of Timour, who made their appearance in Anatolia about the year 1387, had taken
and sacked Erzeroum, and marched to the west: they had also defeated Kara Youssuf, the
chief of the Turcoman tribe of the Black Sheep. Notwithstanding these circumstances, Trebizond
flourished as a place of commerce, on account of its proximity to the sea, and was tolerably free
from enemies, on account of the great influence the Genoese had acquired in the Levant.
The reign of the Emperor John II., called Kalo-John, was the last time of prosperity the
empire of Trebizond (which was declining to its fall) enjoyed. That prince had a daughter, Despina
Khatoum, or Catherine, by name, whose beauty was celebrated throughout the East. Her hand
was sought by many of the emirs, amongst whom the most renowned was Uzan Ilassan, King
of Persia. That prince sent an ambassador to Kalo-John, asking the hand of his daughter, and
promising to place his army and treasures at the disposal of his father-in-law, for the defence of
Trebizond against the Mussulmans. The marriage was celebrated, and the beautiful Catherine
became a Mussulman princess. Her fame, which extended even to Italy, through the Genoese
merchants, was the source of inspiration to poets, by whom she was celebrated, under the title
of the Princess of Trebizond.
After the death of Kalo-John, in the year 1458, the crown descended to his son, Alexis Y.;
but David, brother of the deceased, taking as a pretext the precarious state in which the kingdom
would be if governed by an infant of four years old, seized the reins of government, but did
not succeed in saving the empire.
David Comnenus was the brother of Kalo-John : historians accuse him of having caused the
death of his nephew, the young Alexis, whose right to the throne was incontestable. He had for
his first wife Maria Theodora, of the house of the Theodores, princes of the Crimea ; his second
wife was Irene, daughter of Matthew Cantacuzenus, and granddaughter of John VI., Emperor
of Constantinople : by this wife he had seven children.
At this period the Turks had been masters of Constantinople for five years; all Anatolia was
in their power, and Mahomet II. was not desirous of leaving this little Christian kingdom on the
Black Sea quite independent. The reign of David, therefore, commenced under sinister auspices.
He despatched envoys to demand help at the hands of all Christian princes, and at the same
time addressed himself to the King of Persia, Uzan Ilassan, who was his nephew by marriage,
and who had promised him succour. Mahomet II., hearing of this promise, threatened the
Persian monarch, and thus put an end to the alliance. The Christian princes turned a deaf
ear to the entreaties of David, who was then left to combat alone the colossal power of the
Osmanlis.
In the spring of 1461 Mahomet II. determined upon seizing Trebizond, and assembled a
numerous army in the plain of Broussa, and a fleet of a hundred ships in the ports of the
Propontis, for this purpose. The sultan himself went to the camp to hasten the preparations,
though no one at the time knew against whom the expedition was to be directed. The news
of it spread to the Crimea and the Archipelago. David suspected the truth, and set to work
to place his kingdom in a state of defence. To those who asked the sultan what his intentions
were, he responded: “ If a hair of my beard knew my thoughts, I would pluck it out and
throw it into the fire.”
Tidings of the expedition having reached the heart of Asia Minor, the troops at Sivas and
Tocat, which had become Mussulman towns, intercepted all the succour that could have come
from the East. Meanwhile, the sultan had information from Trebizond. Mahmoud, one of his
generals, demanded an interview with the protovestarim, and described the power of his master
in such glowing terms, that David, being alarmed, consented to deliver up his states, on condition
that the sultan would marry his eldest daughter, Anne Comnenus.
Historians look upon the treaty that followed as the result of the treason of the protoves-
tarius, George, and, according to Marini, II Turco acquisto Vimperio di Trabisonda pin con frode
die coll’ arme” 1
The Ottoman army made its entrance into Trebizond in the summer of the year 1462.
The lower part of the town, near the Genoese depfits, had suffered from the attack of the fleet, 3
3 n
Fallmerayer, Op. cit., p. 279.