297:, became emperor in September 1342, Michael remained in prison. John's incompetent rule alienated his chief supporters, chief of these was Niketas who marched with the army to Limnia (where John the Eunuch had recently been slain), freed Michael and returned with him to Trebizond. John III was deposed and sent to the monastery of St Sabas under a Byzantine guard, while the nobles supporting him were killed. Michael was crowned on 3 May 1344.
269:, ruling as empress. As the legitimate male descendant of the ruling family, Michael received the support of much of the populace and was acclaimed emperor. Some of the nobility, led by the Metropolitan Akakios, received him as their lord and escorted him into the palace. As soon as night fell, however, the nobles imprisoned Michael, not wishing to be ruled by a mature and forceful monarch. Anna's
36:
309:
and was forced to sign the document which gave
Niketas and his ministers almost all power in the Empire, promising to seek their counsel in all official actions. This constitutional experiment was short-lived, because the greatest opposition came from the people of Trebizond. They were infuriated to
428:
to the daughter of one of his ministers, only to be foiled when
Alexios married a princess of Georgia without telling his uncle. Nicol observes that "it would be quite in keeping with the elaborate dynastic and marital schemes of Andronikos II that, having failed to marry off the daughter of one of
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his ministers to the
Emperor of Trebizond, he should encourage or arrange the marriage of the daughter of his Grand Logothete to that Emperor's brother." She was most likely dead by 1341, for that year Michael Megas Komnenos was invited to return to Trebizond and marry the reigning Empress,
341:
describes how the Black Death carried off "many: children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, and kinsmen." Another
Turkmen invasion the following year led to a three-day battle. Despite the victory, Michael's reputation as ruler was not strengthened.
215:, whose attempts to dictate whom his brother and their mother would marry were thwarted; it is unclear what effect these failures had on Michael. It is certain that Michael was not confined to a monastery, for he married the daughter of the nobleman
357:
John
Kabazites was destroyed and the people of Trebizond responded to this defeat by killing any Westerner they found in the capital. Eventually, peace was reached with the Genoese, but in exchange for Kerasous they were given the fortress of
207:
c. 1297 by his mother
Eudokia, following the death of Emperor John II and his brother Alexios' ascension to the throne. A few years later Eudokia returned to Trebizond, presumably leaving Michael behind in Constantinople.
469:
to a
Georgian ruler is not recorded in Byzantine sources. Neither is the existence of any illegitimate daughters of Michael IX. Whether this was a daughter of Michael Komnenos of Trebizond and Acropolitissa is unknown.
239:, then Basil's two sons – came to Constantinople as refugees from the conflict in Trebizond. It is unknown what contact Michael had with them, if he provided them succor, or if he was even aware they were in the city.
235:, by which time Michael was of middle age; which side in the war he supported, or if he even took a side in this conflict, is again unknown. Lastly, a number of his brother's family – first Alexios' son
349:, the second most important city of the Empire in revenge for a massacre of Genoese by the Trapezuntines some years earlier. In May 1349, a Genoese expedition from
988:
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The deposed
Emperor Michael was forced to become a monk at the cave monastery of St Sabas. In 1351, he was sent to Constantinople. Michael was released by Emperor
251:
314:. Michael swiftly took advantage of the opportunity, and arrested and imprisoned Niketas in 1345. Also, he sent his son John off to Constantinople and then
420:, the feminine form of "Acropolites". Little is known about her; Constantine Acropolites provides most of what we directly know about her. The Emperor
334:
806:
369:
At that time the ailing
Michael was both discredited and completely unable to govern the crumbling Empire. He was deposed on 13 December 1349 by
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Niketas, whom he had been forced to release from prison. Niketas and his supporters placed on the throne his nephew John, the son of
Emperor
686:
978:
416:, and Maria Komnene Tornikina, but the name of their daughter has not been recovered. For convenience, scholars have given her the name
362:. From now on Trebizond's commercial capacity was lessened even further, as the Genoese came to increasingly command the lucrative
395:
in 1355; despite being in his sixties, he set forth to Trebizond, hoping to recover his throne. Michael advanced as far as
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318:
where he was to be kept prisoner to prevent him from becoming a further focus for the discontented nobles of Trebizond.
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This is the name Jackson Williams uses to refer to her in his paper, "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond",
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When Michael's three ships reached Trebizond on 30 July 1341, he found Irene had been deposed and his own niece,
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His life is a blank for the next decades. Michael was presumably left in the care of his uncle, the Emperor
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It is in 1341 that Michael's history is once again known. In that year a group of representatives of the
203:' statement that Michael was 56 in 1344, one can deduce he was born around 1288. Michael was brought to
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see the Emperor stripped of his effective authority and rose up in revolt against the oligarchy of the
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troops dispersed Michael's supporters and plundered his ships. The following day he was sent off to
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to Trebizond, and arrived on December 22. Upon assuming the crown, John took the name
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Cited in Kelsey Jackson Williams, "A Genealogy of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond",
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struck Trebizond, raging for seven months. Its effects on the city is unclear:
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to allow Michael to return. Once there he would marry the deposed Empress
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attacked the Empire in 1346, capturing the towns of Hagios Andreas and
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from 3 May 1344 to 13 December 1349. He was a younger son of Emperor
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was launched against Trebizond. The small Trapezuntine fleet under
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Michael is known to have married the daughter of the Byzantine
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marrying a daughter of "the Greek Emperor, Lord Michael
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Taking advantage of the instability in Trebizond, the
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Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era
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The "Georgian Chronicle" of the 18th century reports
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attempted to marry Michael Komnenos' older brother,
644:"Constantine Akropolites: A Prosopographical Note"
517:"Constantine Akropolites: A Prosopographical Note"
461:, not the Komnenoi. The marriage of a daughter of
28:Emperor and Autocrat of all the East and Perateia
16:Emperor and Autocrat of all the East and Perateia
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40:Coin depicting Michael Megas Komnenos
690:(St Petersburg, 1849), vol. 1 p. 621
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725:Michael of Trebizond
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189:Eudokia Palaiologina
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79:Alexios III
65:Predecessor
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919:Manuel III
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474:References
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195:Early life
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827:Alexios I
684:, (1849)
631:Trebizond
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592:Trebizond
576:Trebizond
565:, pp. 52f
563:Trebizond
550:Trebizond
537:Trebizond
364:Black Sea
277:and then
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199:Based on
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75:Successor
51:Trebizond
904:John III
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849:Manuel I
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347:Kerasous
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225:John III
137:Komnenos
100:Istanbul
69:John III
929:John IV
909:Michael
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746:unknown
732:dynasty
633:, p. 59
620:, p. 56
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594:, p. 54
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426:Alexios
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323:Turkmen
275:Oinaion
177:Emperor
132:Dynasty
47:Emperor
859:George
844:John I
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279:Limnia
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104:Turkey
948:David
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889:Basil
832:David
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351:Caffa
301:Reign
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169:Greek
120:Issue
57:Reign
932:(w.
899:Anna
829:(w.
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250:and
187:and
89:Died
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49:of
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