In the mountains of Pontos in Anatolia another Byzantine / Roman state clung on for years after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. But, the Empire of Trebizond was conquered by the Ottomans on August 15, 1461, after over 250 years since it became independent from Constantinople. They had been a unique Roman refuge in Anatolia, surviving the threats of Seljuks and Mongols. They remained as the rest of Anatolia was conquered by the Turks. But they had got on the list of targets of Sultan Mehmed II, and they were destined to be under the rule of Constantinople again – but under Ottoman hegemony.
Mehmed’s conquest of Constantinople must have cast a spell of doom over the city. Trebizond had resisted an attack by Murad II in 1442. The Ottomans already had launched a raid of the city’s suburbs in 1456 and captured slaves & demanded a random to leave. Sultan Mehmed inevitably decided to acquire the last piece of Byzantine civilization remaining.
The Ottoman Sultan sent his navy ahead, as he brought a huge army by land. Donald Nicol described the fall: The arrival of an Ottoman fleet surprised David Komnenos, the emperor. “The fields around the walls had been burnt & the city was under siege almost before the people knew what was happening. But they held out for over a month. It was a hopeless cause, and it was seen to be as good as lost when the first regiment of Mehmed’s army appeared…The Grand Vizir Mahmud sent an offer of peace with the customary terms of surrender to the emperor. The alternative was the total destruction of the city the enslavement or death of its inhabitants. David submitted, though not without some hesitation. He is said to have been pushed into his decision by his Logothete George Amiroutzes. Much has been made of the supposed treachery of Amiroutzes. But, given the known practice of the Turks in the matter of cities that resisted capture, it may well appear that Amiroutzes gave good counsel to his Emperor.” The Emperor David surrendered on August 15.
Nicol went on to compare David Komnenos with Constantine XI: “The last emperor of Trebizond was not called upon to meet his death doing heroic deeds like the last Emperor of Constantinople. He was put aboard a Turkish ship…and taken to Constantinople. After a while he was moved to Adrianople. 2 years later he was accused of complicity in a plot…the story goes that his niece, the wife of Uzun Hasan, asked him to send one of his sons to be brought up at her court. She entrusted the message to George Amiroutzes, who revealed it to the Sultan. Mehmed did not take kindly to things being·arranged behind his back, having David incarcerated. On 1 November 1463 the Sultan ordered the Emperor David, his older children, and his nephew to be executed in Constantinople. Their remains were thrown outside the walls.”
SOURCE:
The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 by Donald M. Nicol
shadowsofconstantinople.com 