Empire of Trebizond: Encyclopedia II - Empire of Trebizond - Decline and fall

Empire of Trebizond - Decline and fall

Manuel III, who succeeded his father Alexius III as emperor in 1390, allied himself with Timur, and benefited from Timur's defeat of the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. His son Alexius IV married two of his daughters to Jihan Shah, khan of the Black Sheep Turkmen, and to Ali Beg, khan of the White Sheep Turkmen; while his eldest daughter Maria became the third wife of the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaeologus. Pero Tafur, who visited the city in 1437, reported that Trebizond had less than 4000 troops.

John IV could not help but see his Empire would soon share the same fate as Constantinople. Ottoman Sultan Murad II first attempted to take the capital by sea in 1442, but high surf made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed. While Mehmed II was away laying siege to Belgrade in 1456, the Ottoman governor of Amisus attacked Trebizond, and although defeated, took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute.

John IV prepared for the eventual assault by forging alliances. He gave his daughter to the son of his brother-in-law, Uzun Hasan, khan of the Akkoyunlu, in return for his promise to defend Trebizond. He also secured promises of help from the Turkish emirs of Sinope and Karamania, and from the king and princes of Georgia.

After John's death in 1458, his brother David came to power and misused these alliances. David intrigued with various European powers for help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the conquest of Jerusalem. Mehmed eventually heard of these intrigues, and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Murad remit the tribute imposed on his brother.

Mehmed's response came in the summer of 1461. He led a sizeable army from Brusa, first to Sinope whose emir quickly surrendered, then south across Armenia ro neutralize Uzun Hasan. Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed quickly swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and placed it under siege. The city held out for a month before the emperor David surrendered on August 15, 1461.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Decline and fall", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki