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Manuel III Grand Komnenos

Συγγραφή : Vougiouklaki Penelope (27/11/2003)
Μετάφραση : Chrysanthopoulos Dimitrios

Για παραπομπή: Vougiouklaki Penelope, "Manuel III Grand Komnenos",
Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Μ. Ασία
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=7799>
Μανουήλ Γ΄ Μέγας Κομνηνός (27/3/2008 v.1) Manuel III Grand Komnenos (6/2/2009 v.1) 
 

1. Biography

Manuel III was born in Trebizond on December 16, 1364. He was the son of the emperor of Trebizond Alexios III Grand Komnenos (1349-1390) and of Theodora Kantakouzene. He had six siblings, Basil, Eudokia, Anna and three other sisters whose names are not known, as well as a stepbrother, Andronikos.

On September 6, 1376, Manuel III married Kulkanhant, the daughter of the king of Georgia David VII (1318-1360),1 who was later named Eudokia. He had two sons with Eudokia, Basil and Alexios, the later emperor Alexios IV Grand Komnenos (1417-1429). He later remarried Anna Philanthropene, a member of the Constantinopolitan nobility.

On 20 March 1390, Manuel III rose to the throne of Trebizond, succeeding his father Alexios III.2 Little is known about the period of his reign. He emphasized on the foreign affairs of the empire with Genoa and Venice in particular, cities with commercial colonies in the Empire. In 1401 he was accused of simony by the patriarch Matthaios I (1397-1410). Manuel III Grand Komnenos died on March 5, 1417.3 His body was buried in the church of Panagia Theoskepastos.

2. Internal policy

Little is known about the internal policy of Manuel III Grand Komnenos, since he emphasized on the foreign affairs of the Empire with the Italian commercial cities, in contrast with Alexios III, who emphasized on the internal organization of the Empire of Trebizond and its defence against the attacks of the neighbouring Turkmen tribes. It seems that he followed his father’s policy on internal affairs and did not face political crises.

3. Ecclesiastical policy

A letter from the Ecumenical Patriarch to the metropolitan of Trebizond in 1401 AD reveals a small crisis between the Church of Trebizond and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople during the reign of Manuel III. In this letter, the patriarch Matthaios I (1397-1410 AD) accuses the metropolitan of Trebizond and indirectly the emperor himself Manuel III of simony. The causes of this accusation were the circumstances of the election of the metropolitan of Alania in Caucasus. Due to the continuing siege of Constantinople by the sultan Bayezid I (1389-1403 AD), the patriarch and the Holy Synod could not ordain the metropolitan of Alania. It was decided that the priest favoured by the Patriarchate should be ordained in Trebizond by the patriarchal exarch according to the ecclesiastical ritual. The letter makes clear that the ecclesiastical ritual was violated and that they ordained a person of their own liking through intimidation and bribery of the people involved. However, despite any disagreements, the Church of Trebizond remained under the roof of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and their unity was intact.

Manuel III Grand Komnenos, like all his predecessors, sponsored the monasteries and churches of Trebizond. It is possible that he was a donor of the church of St. Constantine. He also donated to the Soumela monastery a gold-embroidered case, inside which a cross with holy relics and a part of the Holy Cross were kept.4 Depictions of Manuel III Grand Komnenos survived until recently in both these churches.

4. External policy

During his reign, Manuel III Grand Komnenos faced the raids of the Mongols. Their leader, Tamerlane, had already conquered Georgia during the last years of the reign of Alexios III (1349-1390 AD), and raided the lands of the Empire of Trebizond. Under the terms of the peace treaty signed in 1390 AD by Tamerlane and Manuel III, the empire became tributary to the Mongols. In 1404 AD, Manuel reinforced with 20 galleys the Han of the Mongols in his campaign against the Ottomans.

On the other hand, the relations between the Empire of Trebizond and the Byzantine Empire were improved. Following the attempts made by the two empires to strengthen their bonds, the widower Manuel III remarried in 1395 AD Anna Philanthropene of Constantinople, the daughter of the caesar Manuel Angelos Philanthropenos. The improvement in the relations between the two empires is revealed in a large number of letters sent by the byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos (1391-1425 AD) to Manuel III Grand Komnenos.

Manuel III also emphasized on the relations of the empire with the italian cities of Genoa and Venice trading in the Black Sea. During his reign (1390-1417 AD), the relations between the empire and the Venetian merchants were improved. In 1396 AD, he granted them new privileges with a chrysobull: the Venetians had the right to trade in the entire Empire of Trebizond and anchor their ships in all its ports. These extra privileges caused the reaction of the Genoese, who decided on a prohibition of commerce and stopped any commercial activities in the lands of the empire.

1. The marriage with the daughter of David VII was originally intended for his brother Andronikos. Following the death of the latter, it was bequeathed to Manuel. See Miller, W., Trebizond. The Last Greek Empire (London 1926), p. 61.

2. Oikonomides claims that Manuel rose to the throne of Trebizond in 1395 AD; see Οικονομίδης, Ν., “Πρόσταγμα Αλεξίου Δ του Μεγάλου Κομνηνού περί της εν Άθω μονής του Διονυσίου”, Νέον Αθήναιον 1 (1995), p. 18.

3. According to the Spanish traveller Pero Tafur, the death of Manuel III was caused by his son Alexios IV; see Pero Tafur, Travels and adventures 1435-1439, Letts, M. (ed.-trans.) (London 1926), pp. 116, 130, 138, 150; Vasiliev, A. A., “Pero Tafur, a Spanish traveler of the fifteenth century, and his visit to Constantinople, Trebizond and Italy”, Βυζάντιον 7 (1932), pp. 75-122; ibid “A note on Pero Tafur”, Βυζάντιον 10 (1935), pp. 65-66. Bryer also poses some questions regarding the relationship between Manuel III and his son Alexios IV, based on Pero Tafur and Clavijo; see Bryer, A., “The faithless Kabazitai and Scholarioi”, in Moffat, A. (ed.), Maistor. Classical, Byzantine and Renaissance Studies for Robert Browning (Byzantina Australiensia 5, Canberra 1984), pp. 315-318.

4. See Χρύσανθος Φιλιππίδης, μητροπολίτης Τραπεζούντος, “Η Εκκλησία Τραπεζούντος”, Αρχείον Πόντου 4-5 (Athens 1933), pp. 476, 477, 480, 483-484; Bryer, A. – Winfield, D., The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos I (Dumbarton Oaks Studies 20, Washington D.C. 1985), p. 284.
     
 
 
 
 
 

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