The Archontes of Trebizond

οἱ ἐν τέλει πρὸς ταραχὰς ὥρμησαν. Οἳ καὶ ἀλλήλων διαιρεθέντες, οἱ μὲν  ̓Αμιντζανταράνται ἐλέγοντο, οἱ δὲ Σχολαράνται·

…the leading officials started an upheaval. Of those who were splitting between themselves one party was called Amyntzantarantai, the other Scholarantai.

– Joseph Lazaropoulos, Metropolitan of Trebizond, Synopsis[1]

Immediately after the Emperor’s death, Empress Eirene Palaiologina seized power with her supporters and banished Eirene of Trebizond with her children. Our chronicler Panaretos proceeds to introduce the civil war’s main players; I will endeavor to acquaint the reader with some basic scholarship on each of the families/parties in the order that is related in Panaretos’ history, for I find that subsequent interpretations in modern historiography concerning the civil war have been too reliant on the explication given by J.P. Fallmerayer, a reading done in 1827 which assumes abounding bipolarity and simplicity in a society as colorful as Trebizond’s.

For context, Fallmerayer originally conjectures that the Trapezuntine nobility formed two distinct camps after the death of Basileios, which he terms the “Scholarioi” and “Mesochaldaioi” (interchangeable with “Amytzantarantai”, a name more faithful to Trapezuntine accounts); the former being the pro-Constantinople party led by the Scholarioi, thought by the German scholar to have been descendants of the Scholae Palatinae palace guard founded by Constantine the Great, and the latter the coalition of local and provincial aristocrats from the inland regions of the Empire (Chaldia), comprised mainly of those non-Greek citizens: Laz, Armenians, Turks, etc. However, as history will show, even if two parties did exist with such names, their interests and alliances in the civil war were far from fixed, so while Fallmerayer’s classification of the Trapezuntines into two general leanings (center-periphery) is helpful, it is not definite. The reader might be reminded of the Optimates-Populares controversy in Republican historiography, which another influential 19^th century German polymath, Theodor Mommsen, popularized in his seminal work, Römische Geschichte. While Cicero and other Roman authors wrote of Optimates and Populares as two overall aristocratic ideological camps, one side emphasizing the legitimacy of the Senate and the other the will of the Populus, Mommsen overinterpreted them as distinctly formed political parties like the conservatives and liberals of his own 1850s.

Returning to Panaretos, he describes the belligerents thus: “The archontes immediately rebelled and split into two factions. Tzanichites, lord Sebastos the chief quartermaster, along with the Scholarioi, the Meizomatai, lord Constantine Doranites, the Kabazitai, Kamachenos, some of the people, and some of the palace guards seized the monastery of Saint Eugenios, while the Amytzantarantai, some of the archontes, and some of the imperial guards seized the citadel with the empress.”[2]

The Tzanichitai seemed to be one of the oldest, wealthiest and most powerful clans of the Empire of Trebizond, their earliest known mention dating to an inscription from 1305 (or even as distant as 1204, the founding of the Empire, according to previous scholarship). They were landowners who held the mighty fortress of Tzanicha (modern day Canca) and may be related to the Tzan minority of the Empire. This megas stratopedarches Sebastos Tzanichites became the first leader of the pro-Constantinople alliance, opposing Empress Palaiologina out of loyalty to the deceased Emperor Basileios. Several more of his family: Stephanos, Michael and Ioannes Tzanichites would appear over the course of the civil war,[3] although never as prominently again, as it seems Sebastos’ failure, capture and execution in 1341 led to a demise of their family fortune.

The Scholarioi, the eponymous group which Fallmerayer used to name the whole of the pro-Constantinople faction, seemed to have taken the leadership role next. But as to the nature of the Scholarioi, scholars are still puzzled. Were they a guard faction, like the Scholae Palatinae? Or just a family? “Scholares” was certainly a common surname in the late Byzantine world, borne by the most notorious partisan of the Scholarioi and the whole civil war, Niketas Scholares; but other than this eminent schemer who seemed to dictate the direction of the whole 1340s, only three more scions of the family were known at all: a son of Niketas who aided his father near the end of the civil war, a Georgios Scholares who played a minor role during a short relapse of aristocratic insurgency in 1363, and an Amirialis Scholares from a much later period.[4] As Bryer demonstrates that the Scholarioi should not have been affiliated with the Scholae Palatinae as Fallmerayer suggests,[5] and as the family shows little importance after the downfall of Niketas Scholares, I would say the naming of the pro-Constantinople party by both medieval Roman sources and Fallmerayer reveals not the prevalence of a certain imperial guard unit or any other profession within the party, but rather the personal ability and charisma of Niketas Scholares alone, who carried the Scholarioi forward with exceeding zeal, giving historians a handy label for all who shared this ideology.

The Meizomatai were some of the chief supporters of the Scholarioi and Niketas Scholares. The only two named Meizomatai, Gregorios and Michael Meizomates, closely cooperated with Scholares to install the two puppet Emperors Michael and Ioannes III Megas Komnenos in the early 1340s, being greatly rewarded for their efforts when the Scholarioi took absolute control. Gregorios was honored as megas stratopedarches while Michael became amyrtzantarios, which was just the Trapezuntine take on the Byzantine office of protospatharios (chief bodyguard). It seems, however, that the loyalty to Scholares was not long lasting, for in 1355 one of the Meizomatai and some of Niketas’ trusted associates captured him for the Emperor Alexios III, ending the civil war, after which reference to this family was scarce.[6]

The Doranitai, another powerful household, was not so active in the earliest stages of the civil war. Its first known member, Konstantinos Doranites, followed the most basic Scholarian trajectory: participate in the coup against Palaiologina, install Michael and Ioannes III to the throne, and be honored with a high court title (protovestiarios). Once Konstantinos’ more memorable brother, Theodoros “Pileles” Doranites, joined the scene, though, the Doranitai energetically attempted to seize power, rebelling openly against the government of Alexios III and his kingmaker Niketas Scholares, from 1350 until 1352 when Pileles’ family was strangled.[7]

The Kabazitai would appear to be the family which benefited the most from the civil war and the downfall of the other Scholarioi. A Leon and Ioannes Kabazites were known to have fought on the pro-Constantinople side during the civil strife, but later, a different Ioannes Kabazites was the doux of Chaldia, deep inland. The whole power base of the Kabazitai became associated with the perilous southern borderlands of the Empire, perhaps resulting from the power vacuum left by the now downtrodden Tzanichitai. Although now castle lords whose main duty was the defense of Trebizond from the Turks, the Kabazitai still frequently politicked and extorted travelers passing through their domain;[8] the details of their subsequent nefarious deeds will be revealed later. Their reputation was not the highest in the Trebizond, though the clan’s longevity though could not be disputed, as they were recorded all throughout the 15^th century, even after the Fall.[9]

Only a single Kamachenos was known to have been involved in the civil war, and he was the unnamed Kamachenos recorded by Panaretos above. Although politically insignificant, socially they were not, and other sources, such as the Acts of Vazelon Monastery, reveal that the Kamachenoi were first and foremost landowning aristocrats, more concerned with attending to and acquiring property than the affairs of state. Their assets and transactions were many, however they don’t seem to be attested anymore after the coup of 1340.[10]

The Amytzantarantai are a real mystery, the best accurate description I can give of them is simply “the party opposing the Scholarioi”. Their nature is more ambiguous than their rival faction, and many have speculated whether they were an archontic family, a profession, a social or ethnic group. To start with the facts, the term “amytzantarantai” seems to be related to the nearly identical word amyrtzantarios, the court title given to Michael Meizomates. It is literally the local fashion of calling the protospatharios, deriving from the old Seljuq Turkish title emir candar. That, coupled with the “-antai” suffix, which in the Pontic Greek dialect refers to the totality of a family or profession or any other grouping,[11] would mean the Amytzantarantai in its most barebone sense, means the ensemble of the protospatharioi of Trebizond?

It is tempting to describe the Amytzantarantai as “the provincial party of local ethnic minorities” but Fallmerayer’s interpretation does not really account for the fact that they debuted as the ardent protectors of Empress Eirene Palaiologina, a lady representing Constantinopolitan legitimacy at its finest, before lending their support to Palaiologina’s rival, the clearly attested championess of the Pontic provincials, Empress Anna Megale Komnene. One suggested workaround is that the Amytzantarantai simply took the citadel of Trebizond and the Empress in it as a hostage, fighting their own war with the Scholarioi.[12] But it should also be questioned why the supposedly pro-Constantinople Scholarioi would be led by Sebastos Tzanichites, a Chaldian castle lord who was very likely of minority origin, against a Palaiologina? With no answers to offer, I could only now advance the narrative and demonstrate that the general Constantinople-inner Trebizond opposition only started clarifying in the second stage of the civil war.

The Second Decade (1340-1350)[13]

Τίς τοίνυν ἑώρακε τῶν ἀστικῶν καὶ ἐπηλύδων τότε τὸν ἐμφύλιον πόλεμον καὶ ἀδακρυτὶ παρῆλθε τὴν ἀνάγκην τοῦ πτώματος;

Who among the citizens and the foreigners then has witnessed this civil war and passed by the cadaverous calamity without tears?

– Andreas Libadenos, Periegesis[14]

Palaiologina and the Amytzantarantai struggled to hold onto the citadel against the assailments of Sebastos Tzanichites and the Scholarioi, but surprise salvation came upon them in the form of Ioannes the Eunuch, the megas doux who rebelled against Basileios before. The fleet sailed from their base in Limnia to Trebizond and set Saint Eugenios Monastery aflame, driving out the Scholarioi. Palaiologina banished Sebastos and his followers to Limnia, where they were later executed, but in 1341 she received the grim tidings of her father Andronikos III Palaiologos’ passing; this means the support she hoped for from Constantinople would not arrive. One month later, more calamities befell the Romans, as the Turks of Aq Qoyunlu took advantage of the chaos of civil war to plunder the capital of Trebizond itself, burning everything and everyone so intensely that the charred remains of the Trapezuntines caused an epidemic. Palaiologina’s public support was at an all-time low.

Anna “Anachoutlou” Megale Komnene, the eldest daughter of Alexios II, previously a nun, left her convent to make a bid for her father’s throne. She went through Lazia, the easternmost province of the Empire, where she secured the support of the Laz people and formed a personal army composed of them. Together, they marched on Trebizond, where the people needed no extra incentive to depose their unpopular Constantinopolitan Empress and welcome back an Empress of their beloved Komnenian dynasty.

However, another Komnenos soon made his way to Trebizond too: this was Michael Megas Komnenos, the younger brother of Alexios II, sent by the new Emperor in Constantinople, Ioannes VI Kantakouzenos, to marry Palaiologina and help her rule. Niketas Scholares and Gregorios Meizomates accompanied Michael to Trebizond, where the Scholarioi swore to serve their Emperor, but later regretted choosing such a mature and unmanipulable old man as their puppet, so they imprisoned him. Empress Anna’s Laz army then seized Michael’s ships and shot many of his supporters dead. After repelling a new Aq Qoyunlu attack, Anachoutlou expelled the Constantinopolitan pretenders, sending her uncle Michael first to Oinaion, then to Ioannes the Eunuch in Limnia for safekeeping, and Eirene Palaiologina was shipped back to Constantinople.

The Scholarioi, including Scholares, Meizomates and Konstantinos Doranites, fled the scene on a Venetian galley, and returned to Trebizond in 1342 with a new puppet, the son of Michael, Ioannes III Komnenos. With three Genoese ships and one of their own, the Scholarioi stormed Trebizond and crowned Ioannes III, then exacted their bloody revenge. The Amytzantarantai suffered a purge, and Empress Anna Anachoutlou was strangled to death, along with Lady Sargale, the mother of an important nobleman. After the Scholarian lust for vengeance was satiated, they realized their protégé was not as compliant as they thought, so they decided to replace him with his father Michael again. After Michael’s jailor, Ioannes the Eunuch, died in 1344, Scholares fetched the old Emperor and deposed Ioannes III, who reigned for just a year.

Emperor Michael Megas Komnenos reigned once more, but merely posed as a front for the ascendant Scholarioi, who ruled de facto and divided the government among themselves: Scholares became megas doux, Gregorios Meizomates the megas stratopedarches, Leon Kabazites megas domestikos, Konstantinos Doranites protovestiarios, Michael Meizomates amyrtzantarios, etc. However, the Scholarian Oligarchy also lasted for only one year, as Michael regained control of his state and arrested them all in 1345, then he sent his deposed son to Constantinople to avoid further trouble. Now truly in power, Emperor Michael came to the realization that as sole ruler, he simply lacked the capability that Niketas Scholares possessed to manage the state. In the following years, the crucial port cities of the Empire, from Oinaion to Kerasous, suffered incessant assault from the Turks and especially the Genoese of Caffa, not to mention how the latter also spread the Black Death to Trebizond. Sickly, feeble and old, Michael was compelled to release Scholares from prison in 1349, after concluding a humiliating peace treaty with Genoa. Thus, the kingmaker returned to the political stage with his old post, and a new marriage alliance with the Sampson family; he was more dominant than ever, and little time passed before he unmade Michael, forcing the abdication of the stubborn geriatric sovereign who once defied him.

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[1] Lazaropoulos, J., Synopsis, translated in Rosenqvist, J. O. (1996). The Hagiographic Dossier of St Eugenios of Trebizond in Codex Athous Dionysiou 154. Department of Classical Philology Uppsala University, 339.

[2] Panaretos, 13

[3] Σαββίδης, Α. (2009). Ιστορία της αυτοκρατορίας των μεγάλων Κομνηνών της Τραπεζούντας (1204-1461), 208-212.

[4] Lymperopoulos, V. Ch. (1999). O βυζαντινός Πόντος-Η Αυτοκρατορία της Τραπεζούντας, 1204-1461. Ο χώρος, οι άνθρωποι, η οικονομία, 158-160.

[5] Bryer, A. (1984). The Faithless Kabazitai and Scholarioi, in Maistor: Classical, Byzantine and Renaissance Studies for Robert Browning. 310-312.

[6] Lymperopoulos 161-162

[7] Ibid, 164-165

[8] Ibid, 162-164

[9] Bryer, Faithless, 310.

[10] Ibid, 166.

[11] Ibid, 151-152

[12] Ibid, 174.

[13] Narration sourced from Panaretos and Nikephoros Gregoras, translated to Latin in Schopen, L. and Bekker, I. (1829-1830). Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, ii, 679-683.

[14] Libadenos, 26.