Manuel I of Trebizond
| Manuel I Megas Komnenos | |
|---|---|
Silver asper of Manuel I Megas Komnenos
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| Reign | 1238–1263 |
| Predecessor | John I Komnenos |
| Successor | Andronikos II Komnenos |
| Died | 1263 |
| Wives | |
| Issue | Andronikos II Komnenos, Theodora Komnenos, George Komnenos, John II Megas Komnenos |
| Father | Alexios I Megas Komnenos |
Manuel I Megas Komnenos (Greek: Μανουήλ Α΄ Μέγας Κομνηνός, Manouēl I Megas Komnēnos) (died March 1263) was an Emperor of Trebizond, from 1238 until his death. At the time Manuel reigned, the Empire of Trebizond comprised a band of territory stretching along the southern coast of the Black Sea. Although Michael Panaretos, a 14th-century Greek chronicler, calls Manuel "the greatest general and the most fortunate" and states he ruled "virtuously in the eyes of God", the only event he documents for Manuel's reign is a catastrophic fire striking the city of Trebizond in January 1253. The major events of his reign are known from external sources, most important of which is the recovery of Sinope in 1254, which had been lost to the Sultanate of Rum forty years before.
In 1243, a Trapezuntine army is recorded as assisting the Seljuk Turks, along with a detachment from the Nicaean Empire, against the Mongols of Persia at the Battle of Köse Dag. Despite this, the Seljuk forces were shattered, and both the Seljuks and their allies had to settle their own submission to the victorious Mongols. Manuel visited in person the court of the Great Khan Güyük as early as 1246; this was an important act, as Rustam Shukurov notes, for the personal visit of a vassal ruler to the Khan’s camp was regarded as an indispensable ceremony; it brought these persons into the "family" of the Great Khan. "Seljuk Anatolia was under tight Mongol control," Shukurov writes. "Any serious change in social and political life (including appointments to key offices) required Mongol approval and sanction, which was embodied, in particular, in yarlighs."
On 24 June 1254, Manuel recaptured Sinope, and made Ghadras archon of the Black Sea port. Kurškanskis suggests that Manuel had obtained a yarligh prior to this attack, although he admits doing so would have been inconsistent with the practices of the Grand Komnenes. For the years Manuel held this port, the Seljuk Turks were landlocked, making Trebizond once again the major naval power in the Black Sea.
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