George Grand Komnenos

1. Biography

George Grand Komnenos was born after 1254. He was the son of the emperor of Trebizond, Manuel I Grand Komnenos and Eirene Syrikaina, and the brother of John II Grand Komnenos. He had two sisters, whose names remain unknown, and two half-siblings, Andronikos II Grand Komnenos and Theodora Grand Komnene.

In 1266 he ascended the throne of Trebizond after succeeding his brother, Andronikos II. During his reign, George won several wars against the Türkmen and made conscious attempts to purify public life. On the reverse of the coin he minted there is a representation of his patron, St. George, instead of St. Eugenios, who was the official iconographic motif of the Grand Komnenoi.

2. Internal Policy

The internal conflicts between the local aristocracy and the aristocratic families of Constantinople that had escaped to the Empire of Trebizond, which became quite serious after Michael VIII Palaiologos (1261-1282) recaptured Constantinople in 1261, made the emperor firm with aristocracy, thus provoking strong reactions. In the context of this policy, George supported fervently the anti-unionists and opposed to the Union of the Churches signed in 1274, in the Council of Lyon.

3. External Policy

As regards external policy, the emperor aimed at intermarriages to the royal houses of Georgia and Abkhazia, while he also turned against the Mongols. In 1278, he came into direct conflict with the Mongol Ilkhan, Abaga (1265-1281/2), and mainly with the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos, when he chose to make use of the title “Emperor of the Romans” in his diplomatic affairs.1 In view of the external threats the empire was facing at the time, members of the local aristocracy and the imperial family betrayed Emperor George turning him over to the Mongol khan during a campaign in Mount Tauresion, to the south of the country.

In 1282,2 after the death of Ilkhan Abaga, George was set free and in 1284 he returned to Trebizond in order to claim his throne. He gathered a group of followers from anti-Constantinople party and turned against the legal ruler of the empire. His attempts failed and he was captured.

4. Τhe End of George Grand Komnenos

George Grand Komnenos died while in captivity. He was given the epithet “Planos” (mean. the wanderer) due to his long wanderings in mountainous Chaldia before he was captured for a second time.



1. Initially, the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond used the title “Emperor of Romans”, that is, the traditional title of the Byzantine emperor; they also used the symbol of the eagle, as did the emperors of Nicaea, who reestablished the Byzantine Empire and its capital, Constantinople, in 1261. In 1282 it was agreed that the Trapezuntines would make use of the title “emperor of the East, Iberon and Perateia” and the symbol of the eagle, while the emperors in Constantinople, from then on, would hold the title of the “Emperor of the Romans” but they would change their emblem.

2. The writers of the Εγκυκλοπαίδεια του Ποντιακού Ελληνισμού (Encyclopaedia of the Pontic Hellenism) believe that he was set free in 1283; see Γεωργιάδης, Θ. (ed.), Εγκυκλοπαίδεια του Ποντιακού Ελληνισμού. Ο Πόντος. Ιστορία, Λαογραφία και Πολιτισμός 1 (Thessaloniki 1991), p. 122.