Most people associate the end of the Byzantine empire to occur with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 29 May 1453 AD, but there did exist a small holdout after that. The Trebizond was a splinter kingdom founded during the fourth crusade by Byzantine princes in exile now located in present day Turkey along the Black Sea. It is considered the last Byzantine empire. As you can see from this map c.1400 it did not stand much chance of surviving The other successor states to form during this time were the Empire of Nicaea, the Despotate of Epirus, and the Despotate of the Morea. For the first hundred years the empire prospered from the Silk road and was under the protection of the Mongols. But soon after civil war and internal strife started to destabilize the region. With the Turks encroaching all around, alliances were being made that further weakened the state. In 1437 a Spanish historian visited the area and reported the Trebizond had less that 4000 troops. John IV (1429–1459) feared the same fate would come to him as did Constantinople. The Ottoman Sultan Murad II tried to take the capital by sea in 1442, but high surf made the landings difficult and the attempt was repulsed. In 1456, the Ottoman governor of Amasya attacked Trebizond, and although defeated, took many prisoners and extracted a heavy tribute. John IV prepared for the eventual assault by forging alliances. He gave his daughter to the son of his brother-in-law, Uzun Hasan, khan of the Ak Koyunlu, in return for his promise to defend Trebizond. He also secured promises of help from the Turkish emirs of Sinope and Karamania, and from the king and princes of Georgia. After John's death in 1459, his brother David came to power and misused these alliances. He tried to solicit help from European powers to help against the Ottomans, speaking of wild schemes that included the re-conquest of Jerusalem, something that had not happened in almost 300 years. Mehmed II eventually heard of these intrigues, and was further provoked to action by David's demand that Mehmed remit the tribute imposed on his brother. Mehmed's response came in the summer of 1461. He led a sizable army from Bursa, first to Sinope whose emir quickly surrendered, then south across Armenia to neutralize Uzun Hasan. The terrain was quite tough to cross as seen in this photo of the Panagia Sumela Monastery. edited - copyright The Janissary Konstantin writes about it in his Memoirs of a Janissary. It is said that Mehmed combined his European and Asian armies into a force that comprised of 80,000 infantry and 60,000 cavalry. Having isolated Trebizond, Mehmed quickly swept down upon it before the inhabitants knew he was coming, and placed it under siege. The city held out for a month before the emperor David surrendered on August 15, 1461. edited - copyright Marriage chest front panel depicting the Conquest of Trebizond by Marco del Buono Before this coin my most modern was minted around 1320 AD. I wanted one from as close to the fall of the Byzantine empire as possible. No coins of David are known. This literally the last coin in Sears book besides 3 anonymous issues. Although very similar to Alexius IV #2641 and not being able to read the inscription I based this to be John IV from it's crudeness, light weight of only .5 grams, and that it was a match for #2 in Retowski's Die Munzen Der Komnenen Von Trapezunt published 1910. This was a bit hard to photograph. John IV Mint: ? 1446 to 1458 AD AR Asper Obvs: Λ in circle. St. Eugene on horseback right nimbate, holding cross-scepter. In upper field right ИH. Revs: John on horseback right wearing stemma with pendilia and loros, holding trefoil scepter. beneath horse. B to right of horse. 13x14mm, 0.54g Sear 2642; Retowski 2
Great piece of history you have captured with that coin, enjoyed your write up most I did not know. Thanks for sharing.
Nice writeup! Gunning for your first Featured post, are you? It's got my vote. In fact, I just "reported" you (in a good way). PS- the photo of that monastery is stunning. What an amazing place that must be.
Thank you all. Since those images were censured here is a screen shot that is public domain. Share any coins of the late empire or Byzantine/medieval.
Dang, I hope I didn't inadvertently flag you for copyright infringement. I "reported" this thread only to recommend it to be "Featured". Hope you can edit to put the public domain version of the monastery image back into the OP, and hopefully find one for the other image that was taken down as well. Re. Byzantine coins, this is presently my one and only, though I do have a few medievals.
I chose 2 coins. The first is a sizain and was struck in Cyprus circa 1463 under James II Lusignan. The second is a gold ducat from Venice figuring Saint Marc and Jesus as well ( early fifteenth century ) Michele Steno. Hope they fit.
I'd love to get a Trebizond coin, cool new coin and write up! I don't have much from this era at all, this Ottoman coin is as close as I can get. I guess this guy was the successor of Memed II. Ottoman Empire, Ar akce. Bayezid II, 1481-1512 AD. Bursa mint. 11mm, 0.9 g
Here is a small and thin coin from near the end of Trebizond: 16-14 mm. 1.00 grams. Manuel III of Trebizond, 1390-1417 Manuel III standing holding cross and globus cruciger Cross pattee, with pellets O E Γ H
I just finished the Hagiography of St. Eugenios, the patron of Trebizond. It is fascinating (at least to me). There is a fine book on the coins of Trebizon by Simon Bendall that bills itself as an introduction but in fact is quite complete. Here is my coin of Manuel of Trebizond with St. Eugenios on one side. I have also included the copy of an old copy of an icon of St. Eugenios and his three companions. You can see who is whom by looking at the Greek legends above each
