Andronikos I of Trebizond
Encyclopedia
Andronikos I Gidos or Andronicus I Gidus , (ruled 1222–1235), Emperor
of Trebizond
, whose first name is unknown. He succeeded his father-in-law, Alexios I of Trebizond
in 1222. His mother-in-law was Theodora Axuchina
.
Andronikos may be the same Andronikos Gidos who served as a general of Theodore I Laskaris
. The first crisis of the reign came in 1224 when the capital had to face a serious attack.
in the Crimea
and constructed a fortress there between 1221 and 1223. In 1223 the Seljuk governor of Sinope
sent ships to attack the coast of Trapezuntine Crimea (the so-called Perateia
) in an effort to divert trade into his port. A ship carrying the annual tribute of Perateia, with the archon of the province and a number of notables from Cherson on board, was driven by a storm into Sinope's harbour. In violation of the treaty with Andronikos, the city's governor seized the vessel with its cargo, passengers, and crew and also sent a fleet to plunder Perateia
.
Andronikos collected a fleet and dispatched it against Sinope. The fleet plundered up to the walls of the city and killed or captured the crews of the ships lying in the harbour. They rescued the captive archon, his ship and his money, as well as all the plunder carried off from Cherson.
Sultan Kay Ka'us I marched on Trebizond. Andronikos summoned all his troops and fortified the passes leading to the city. The emperor inflicted considerable loss upon the advance guard of the sultan before withdrawing within the walls, which were already accounted impregnable.
The sultan made camp near the St Eugenios monastery, set fire to the suburbs outside the walls, and after a survey of the fortifications, ordered an attack from the sea. A string of attacks and counter attacks (punctuated by a Seljuk embassy being shown the ample stores inside the city) ended in an attempt to storm the walls by night. The last attack failed when a sudden thunderstorm, accompanied by torrential rain and hail, terrified and scattered the besiegers. Some rode over the cliffs in the dark into the ravines, others were caught by swollen torrents from the mountains.
Kay Ka'us was brought a prisoner to Trebizond, where Andronikos received him with honour. A pact was made between them that in the future the tie of vassalage, which had previously bound Trebizond to Iconium, should cease, and that the Trapezuntines should no longer be obliged either to perform military service to the sultan or to send tribute or gifts. Kay Ka'us is reported to have been so impressed by this moderation that he performed more than the treaty required by sending an annual present of Arab horses to Andronikos and money to the St Eugenios monastery.
. Jalal-ad-din, who had conquered Georgia
in the 1220s, was now a neighbour of Trebizond. Andronikos considered neutrality impossible and made an alliance with the Khwarizmshah, and agreed to war with the Seljuks. Many of Jalal-ad-din's troops, after their defeat at Aklat in 1230, sought refuge at Trebizond, that the Trapezuntine contingent had assisted the Shah in that battle.
The alliance with Jalal ad-Din cost Andronikos the loss of the privileges which he had gained in his treaty with Kay Ka'us. Trebizond once more became a vassal to the Sultan of Iconium. About 1240 Vincent de Beauvais reports the ruler of Trebizond used to send the sultan 200 lances (1,000 men). Nor was this the only loss of this reign.
The Mongols occupied a large part of Georgia. Iberia
and Lazica, which had been subject to Trebizond, whose eastern frontier had been Soteropolis
, separated themselves from the empire and formed an independent kingdom of Imereti
under David VI Narin
, son of the Georgian Queen Rusudan
.
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
of Trebizond
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, founded in April 1204, was one of three Byzantine successor states of the Byzantine Empire. However, the creation of the Empire of Trebizond was not directly related to the capture of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, rather it had broken away from the Byzantine Empire...
Marriage
He married a KomneneKomnene, daughter of Alexios I of Trebizond
Komnene was the wife of Andronikos I of Trebizond. Her first name is unknown. Komnene is the female form of "Komnenos", her family name.-Family:...
, whose first name is unknown. He succeeded his father-in-law, Alexios I of Trebizond
Alexios I of Trebizond
Alexios I Megas Komnenos or Alexius I Comnenus was Emperor of Trebizond from 1204 to 1222. He was the eldest son of Manuel Komnenos and of Rusudan, daughter of George III of Georgia. He was thus a grandson of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos I. Andronikos was dethroned and killed in 1185...
in 1222. His mother-in-law was Theodora Axuchina
Theodora Axuchina
"Theodora Axuchina" is supposed by some to have been the wife of Alexios I of Trebizond. She is not mentioned in any source and both her first name and surname are just guesses made by modern genealogists.-Name:...
.
Andronikos may be the same Andronikos Gidos who served as a general of Theodore I Laskaris
Theodore I Laskaris
Theodoros I Komnenos Laskaris was emperor of Nicaea .-Family:Theodore Laskaris was born to the Laskaris, a noble but not particularly renowned Byzantine family of Constantinople. He was the son of Manuel Laskaris and wife Ioanna Karatzaina . He had four older brothers: Manuel Laskaris Theodoros...
. The first crisis of the reign came in 1224 when the capital had to face a serious attack.
The Seljuks
The Seljuk Turks occupied SudakSudak
Sudak or Sudaq is a small historic town located in Crimea, Ukraine situated to the west of Feodosiya and to the east of Simferopol, the capital of Crimea...
in the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
and constructed a fortress there between 1221 and 1223. In 1223 the Seljuk governor of Sinope
Sinope
Sinope may refer to:*Sinop, Turkey, a city on the Black Sea, historically known as Sinope** Battle of Sinop, 1853 naval battle in the Sinop port*Sinope , in Greek mythology, daughter of Asopus*Sinope , a moon of the planet Jupiter...
sent ships to attack the coast of Trapezuntine Crimea (the so-called Perateia
Perateia
Perateia was the overseas territory of the Empire of Trebizond, comprising the Crimean cities of Cherson, Kerch and their hinterlands. The territory was probably administered during Byzantine rule from Trebizond before the Comneni established a separate empire a few weeks before the Crusader sack...
) in an effort to divert trade into his port. A ship carrying the annual tribute of Perateia, with the archon of the province and a number of notables from Cherson on board, was driven by a storm into Sinope's harbour. In violation of the treaty with Andronikos, the city's governor seized the vessel with its cargo, passengers, and crew and also sent a fleet to plunder Perateia
Perateia
Perateia was the overseas territory of the Empire of Trebizond, comprising the Crimean cities of Cherson, Kerch and their hinterlands. The territory was probably administered during Byzantine rule from Trebizond before the Comneni established a separate empire a few weeks before the Crusader sack...
.
Andronikos collected a fleet and dispatched it against Sinope. The fleet plundered up to the walls of the city and killed or captured the crews of the ships lying in the harbour. They rescued the captive archon, his ship and his money, as well as all the plunder carried off from Cherson.
Sultan Kay Ka'us I marched on Trebizond. Andronikos summoned all his troops and fortified the passes leading to the city. The emperor inflicted considerable loss upon the advance guard of the sultan before withdrawing within the walls, which were already accounted impregnable.
The sultan made camp near the St Eugenios monastery, set fire to the suburbs outside the walls, and after a survey of the fortifications, ordered an attack from the sea. A string of attacks and counter attacks (punctuated by a Seljuk embassy being shown the ample stores inside the city) ended in an attempt to storm the walls by night. The last attack failed when a sudden thunderstorm, accompanied by torrential rain and hail, terrified and scattered the besiegers. Some rode over the cliffs in the dark into the ravines, others were caught by swollen torrents from the mountains.
Kay Ka'us was brought a prisoner to Trebizond, where Andronikos received him with honour. A pact was made between them that in the future the tie of vassalage, which had previously bound Trebizond to Iconium, should cease, and that the Trapezuntines should no longer be obliged either to perform military service to the sultan or to send tribute or gifts. Kay Ka'us is reported to have been so impressed by this moderation that he performed more than the treaty required by sending an annual present of Arab horses to Andronikos and money to the St Eugenios monastery.
Cult of St Eugenios
The siege of 1224 is the source of two early legends of the St Eugenios cult. Fear of the army of Kay Ka'us is said to have driven many Trapezuntines to the sanctuaries of the Panagia Chrysokephalos and Saint Eugenios. In the first legend, the account of the siege compiled by John Lazaropoulos, who, under the name of Joseph, was Metropolitan of Trebizond in the second half of the fourteenth century, narrates the legend that a further ruse was perpetrated by the outraged St Eugenios, who appeared to Kay Ka'us I, the profaner of his shrine, in the guise of mayor of the city, who held its keys, and pretended to have been sent by the suffering citizens to invite him to enter. Kay Ka'us Is suspicions were calmed by his astrologers, who told him that his entry into the city was written in the stars. In the second, Kay Ka'us fled, only to fall into the hands of the mountaineers from Matzouka, and 150 years later a shrine erected to St Eugenios still marked the spot of his capture. Traditional accounts of the siege emphasise the sultan's threats to destroy churches, especially the monastery of St Eugenios, even though destroying churches was not usual Seljuk practice. The church of the Panagia Chrysokephalos and St Eugenios both grew richer from the spoils of the siege.The Khwarizmshah and the Mongols
The independence of Trebizond lasted only until 1230. Jalal-ad-din, the Sultan of Khwarizm, invaded Anatolia in a direct challenge to the Sultanate of IconiumSultanate of Rûm
The Sultanate of Rum , also known as the Anatolian Seljuk State , was a Turkic state centered in in Anatolia, with capitals first at İznik and then at Konya. Since the court of the sultanate was highly mobile, cities like Kayseri and Sivas also functioned at times as capitals...
. Jalal-ad-din, who had conquered Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
in the 1220s, was now a neighbour of Trebizond. Andronikos considered neutrality impossible and made an alliance with the Khwarizmshah, and agreed to war with the Seljuks. Many of Jalal-ad-din's troops, after their defeat at Aklat in 1230, sought refuge at Trebizond, that the Trapezuntine contingent had assisted the Shah in that battle.
The alliance with Jalal ad-Din cost Andronikos the loss of the privileges which he had gained in his treaty with Kay Ka'us. Trebizond once more became a vassal to the Sultan of Iconium. About 1240 Vincent de Beauvais reports the ruler of Trebizond used to send the sultan 200 lances (1,000 men). Nor was this the only loss of this reign.
The Mongols occupied a large part of Georgia. Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
and Lazica, which had been subject to Trebizond, whose eastern frontier had been Soteropolis
Borçka
Borçka is a town and district of Artvin Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, on the border with Georgia.Borçka is reached by a winding road up from the Black Sea coast, alongside the Çoruh River. There is an ancient stone bridge across the river just west of the town.Borçka Lake is a popular...
, separated themselves from the empire and formed an independent kingdom of Imereti
Imereti
Imereti is a province in Georgia situated along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni river. It consists of the following Georgian administrative-territorial units:#Kutaisi #Baghdati region#Vani region#Zestafoni region...
under David VI Narin
David VI Narin
David VI Narin , from the Bagrationi dynasty, was king of Georgia in 1245–1293. From 1259 to 1293, he ruled the kingdom of Imereti under the name David I as a vassal state of Georgia.-Life:...
, son of the Georgian Queen Rusudan
Rusudan of Georgia
Queen Rusudan , from the Bagrationi dynasty, ruled Georgia in 1223–1245.- Life :Daughter of Queen Tamar of Georgia by David Soslan, she succeeded her brother George IV of Georgia on January 18, 1223. George’s untimely death marked the beginning of the end of the Georgian “golden age”...
.