1. Origins

Constantine Gabras was born to the aristocratic Gabras family, who influenced greatly the political, economic and social life of Byzantium. Nothing is known about the origin of the family.¹ The Armenian origin has been suggested in the last decade due to the multiple etymology of the family name, which is related to three Middle East traditions: Persian, Arabic and Armenian.² According to a theory, the name is possibly derived from the Aramaic and Syrian root g-b-r (‘man’, ‘hero’).³ According to another theory, the name Gabras comes from the Persian ‘gabrak’ (the believer in the religion of Zoroaster), the Irani-Kurdish ‘gebir’ or ‘gavir’ (‘Armenian’, from which the Turkish ‘gavur’, that is, ‘unbeliever’, derives) and the Arabic ‘Kafir’ (‘unbeliever’).⁴ The term ‘gabr’ indicated the Armenians or Christians within the Muslim community.⁵

2. Biographical Information

Little is known about the early years of Constantine Gabras. He was the son, brother or perhaps nephew of the subsequent sebastos and patrikios Theodore Gabras, according to the Synaxarion of St Theodore Gabras.⁶

In the beginning of his career he was a strategos under Emperor Alexios I Grand Komnenos (1081-1118) and held the title of protosebastos. One of the missions he undertook was the campaign against Bohemond, governor of the Duchy of Antioch. In 1108 he went to the Balkan peninsulaand captured the city of Petroula as well as the stronghold Mylos in the wider region of Dyrrhachium (Durrës) aiming to intercept the crusaders. However, his campaign was not successful and was replaced by strategos Marianos Mavrokatakalon.⁷

Then, Constantine Gabras became the strategos of Philadelphia, commanding a powerful military corps, which aimed to defend the city and the surrounding region against the Seljuk Amir Saisan. In 1112 the Byzantines fought against the Seljuk Turks under Malikshah (Malikşah) at Kelvianon, not far from Philadelpheia. In that battle Gabras gallantly charged first at the enemy lines and urged his soldiers to follow him. As a result, the Seljuks⁸ were defeated and cut up by the Byzantine army. In 1113 Constantine Gabras, in command of the vanguard, took part in a battle in the valley of Akrokou (near Mount Olympus) under Emperor Alexios I Grand Komnenos.⁹ In 1116, in command of the left wing, he participated in the campaign of the Byzantine emperor in Asia Minor and fought in a battle near Philomelion.¹⁰ In 1119 Gabras was appointed Dux of Trebizond (Chaldia) and remained in office until 1140. The association of Gabras with Trebizond and Chaldia was based on the fact that the Gabras family has had a long tradition in the administration of the district.¹¹

In 1119, when he was already Dux of Trebizond, he was involved in conflicts among Turkmen tribes of Asia Minor. Ibn Mangudjak (Mangucak), the founder of the dynasty of Erzindjan (Erzıncan), sought shelter in Trebizond and asked for protection and alliance with Gabras against Balak of Melitene and Ghazi Gümüştegin, the son of the emir of the Danişmendids. However, the military forces of Gabras and Ibn Mangudjak were defeated by Gümüştegin, thus resulting in the capture and even death of 5,000 Byzantines. Constantine Gabras was captured during the battle and Ibn Mangudjakasked 30,000 dinars to set him free. Finally, after the ransom was paid, Gabras was freed.¹² The defeat of Gabras made the Danişmendids more powerful and enabled them to capture Neocaesarea.

The political and military career of Constantine Gabras is associated with a period characterised by the emergence, climax and decline of the dynasty of the Persianised Danişmendids (1110-1141). They played an important role in the Byzantine-Turkish relations in Asia Minor. After 1126 Constantine returned to Trebizond and governed it in an authoritative manner, taking advantage of the looser control exercised by Constantinople. The autonomous way in which Gabras was governing posed a threat to the influence of Constantinople over Asia Minor. Thanks to the autonomy Trebizond enjoyed in the years of Gabras, his territory became a centre of activities against the central administration of Constantinople. In 1130 the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos, brother of Emperor John II Komnenos, fled for refuge to Trebizond because of adverse political developments in Constantinople. Between 1139 and 1140 the Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos launched a campaign to recapture Tzanicha and Chaldia. The campaign was unsuccessful and Neocaesarea was not recaptured by the Byzantine emperor. During the campaign John Komnenos, son of Isaac Komnenos, found shelter among the Seljuk Turks and married Kamero, daughter of the Seljuk sultan Mas‘ūd, brother-in-law of Gümüştegin. Although John II Komnenos failed at first, Chaldia was finally reannexed to the Byzantine administration in the mid-1160s. There is no information from the available sources about the last years and death of Constantine Gabras.