The Rise and Fall of the Empire of Trebizond v2.0

Anyway guys my previous version was very asb and highly unlikely. SO I have restarted the thread. Here I have recreated the timeline to make it more realistic, plausible, and grammatically legible. However the POD is difference. This is a tl which takes place in the 1340s. Specifically the reign of the nun empress Anna Megale Komnena. Unlike otl Anna does not lose power thus butterflying away the very inept successor. Hope you all enjoy this interesting take and please give me as much feedback as possible to help fix any mistakes I make.


Trebizond Part I: The reign of Anna Megalina Komnena Empress of Trebizond



In 1341

Anna Megal Kommenos was crowned Empress of Trebizond at the urging of many influential people.
However things would take a turn for the worse, In may Michael arrived in three galleys that came from Constantinople and was backed by Niketas and the Scholorai faction who backed Eirien and were opposed to Anna’s Succestion.

Anna's first thoughts were to slaughter Michael's men and imprison him and was about to send her able advisor John the enunch but then she thought for a minute and changed her mind. If I kill him I may lose favor with the populace so it is best for now to treat him like a friend and then Poison him at my palace, then I shall rule Trebizond not he.


The next day Michael landed at Trebizond where he received a warm welcome, this was unusual, Anna was his enemy yet she was giving him a welcome? Something was going on and he realized it would be best to remain cautious while staying here in Trebizond. Michael was really quiet intuitive and had a feeling that Anna was up to no good. Anna and her entourage soon greeted Michael. The two hugged each other and Anna smiled “welcome my uncle I hope your journey was quiet alright.”


Michael smiled “of course my lovely niece I never expected you to give me a warm welcome.”


“Well times have changed my uncle. I know my place. After all I am just a woman and you are a man. As such surely you must succeed to the throne as our male heir.”


Michael grinned “Of course sister you’re right. I never thought you would see things my way.” Cunning wretch he thought trying to cozy up with me well it will not work.” Anna meanwhile was thinking
“Idiotic uncle it was a bad idea for you to come here.”


“My dear uncle your soldiers are tired let them rest in the city and enjoy.” Anna said this out loud. The soldiers who were exhausted from the trip and happy there was no real battle rejoiced. Michael cursed his luck “vile niece you outmaneuvered me very clever but it will not succeed completely.” You see because the soldiers wanted to rest Michael had to agree lest they mutiny against him but he then spoke up. “I will need bodyguards to guard me after all who knows who might kill me.”


Anna grew irritated “vile fiend so that’s how you will play” Michael meanwhile just smiled. The two were playing a complex game to outmaneuver and outwit each other.
His soldiers soon went into the city to relax but Michael received a special invitation to dine with his niece. “Very well Anna I will come.”



Anna smiled like an innocent girl
“That’s wonderful my dear uncle.”
Michael just smiled he would have the last laugh.
That night Michael arrived at the Palace gate where Anna welcomed him warmly “Welcome Uncle Michael It is a pleasure to see you please come in and have some wine" Michael interjected suddenly


“Cut the crap Anna, I know you are planning something, I shall not eat anything you give me you witch." Anna frowned well that didn’t work too well it was too conspicuous she knew her uncle was smart but was he smart enough to escape a woman’s charms. She knew her uncle had a soft spot for woman and wine. Yes he loved wine and that would be his downfall. Michael meanwhile was confident he had succeeded no way she could assassinate him he was many steps ahead of her. . So she said in a charming voice" Oh glorious Michael the conqueror of all You shall be emperor, but first I wish to speak with you over such matters, you are thirsty and so I will offer you my best wine I know how much you like it and afterword’s you may enjoy with some very beautiful woman, surely you won’t say no. Michael wobbled oh no his weakness wine and woman the temptation was too much for Michael. “of course my niece I will love to join you for a drink he thought. " Very well I accept your offer." Soon he sat at the dining table, the two chatted about what he would do as emperor, his future plans, what he was planning, etc... The wine finally came and two cups were set in front of Michael and Anna by a servant. Michael saw Anna take a sip from her cup and then interjected. May I please have your cup. Anna frowned “what why that’s disgusting.”

“Well you see I don’t trust you and I expect your cup has no poison hand it over.” Anna was shocked as she said “You suspect me of poisoning you. Well okay here.” She handed him the glass which he soon took and drunk. He emptied the whole thing. Suddenly he felt woozy and ill. Anna was shocked as she feigned a sad face and as Michael groaned and immediately called the Physician. Michael felt terrible. Dammit he should have realized the old double trick. He said in a booming voice how what did you do my niece as he coughed up blood. Anna smiled “Do you know why I wasn’t affected Michael. It was because I developed a tolerance for this poison in small quantities. You know of Mithradates do you not. I emulated him by taking a little of this poison till I built up some tolerance to it. You on the other hand have no tolerance for the poison foolish uncle you didn’t think I would honestly hand my throne to you.” Michael laughed “Ha-ha as deceitful as always you may have won but Trebizond is doomed anyway. Muslims surround us, the idiot in Constantinople is weak and inept, Georgia is fighting for its life and you think you can solve our predicament.” She smiled
“Of course uncle I have already charted a way to emerge victorious. Anyways sweet dreams”
“you’ll go to hell for this Anna” Screamed Michael and Anna mockingly replied
“I’ll see you there my uncle.”
Michael gave up hope and his consciousness left him. His last thoughts were what a fool I was.


An hour later the physician arrived and soon he proclaimed Michael had been poisoned and had died. Anna was weeping on the floor as he tried comforting her. The other courtesans soon arrived at the palace excited when they heard the news just hours after the physicians report soon rushed to her side offering her solace. The next morning in a solemn ceremony for her uncle’s burial. After the burial outside and an hour of mourning she entered the church where the bishop of Trebizond crowned her solemnly Empress of Trebizond and the east Anna I Megalina Komnena. You see shortly after his death his “will” read that Anna was to be the new empress. As such the nobility believed it. Meanwhile Niketas and Gregory were assassinated that very night and Michaels son who had arrived was silently murdered in cold blood shortly before daybreak. With her power solidified Anna was overjoyed she was now the ruler and she would make big changes indeed.


In May 1342 Anna realized she needed allies against the growing power of the Ottomans. The Ottomans were a growing power, She knew that the Greeks grip on Anatolia was falling apart and soon this Beydom would become a major power it already controlled much of Anatolia as it is, she knew she had to eliminate it lest it get too strong for Trebizond to oppose. However she knew that was no easy task, the Army was a mere shell of the Kommenian army and was weak, should she attack now her forces would be crushed. The ottomans had her outmatched, outnumbered, outclassed, and out resourced.



She knew that realistically as things stood Trebizond stood no chance, however she knew there was space for reform which she avidly went into work to create the perfect army.


She quickly implemented reforms and created a unique army after looking at various military makeups of Europe and the middle east she decided to combine them to make a unique army, It was composed 10 percent of Western Heavy Calvary, Turkish Calvary archers made up 20 percent Trebizond archers made up 20 percent Then 30 percent of the army was made of roman legions which had been reinstituted, 20 percent was made of pike-men. This ensured advantage in all fields so that should any army attack they would stand a chance.


Anna sent envoys to the Other Turkish Beyliks who were also growing suspicious at the rise of Ottoman power such as the Germanyids, Eritea, Iconium, and Adana, although they did not trust all of them faced a common enemy. So they accepted Anna’s pleas and promised to support her against the Ottoman threat.


She had traveled personally to all the other beydoms where her speeches made many of the beydoms realize the threat of the Ottomans and rally alongside her. Anna then incited the Karamnids and the other Beyliks to declare war upon the Ottomans. With she sending just a token force saying that she was putting down a revolt and couldn’t spare any more. The Ottoman Empire was still a fledgling and was in no shape to take on this new army... For months fierce battles were fought between Osman and the Ottoman emirate and its allies whom Osman had managed to rally behind him against the Karamanids and their allies. It was a vicious war that lasted till 1345 by which point Anatolia had been devastated. The Ottoman army was in ruins while the Karaminids having emerged victorious were bankrupt and exhausted.


Anna seized the opportunity and turned on the Karaminids. With an army of 6000 the megas Doux John the Eunuch crushed the exhausted Karamid army of 10000 at the battle for SInope. This caught the Karaminds by surprise. By 1346 their capitol had fallen without much fight due to the already exhausted power of the sultanate. The other Anatolian beyliks did nothing because now with both Karamids and the Ottomans vanquished as major threats the beyliks soon turned on each other and were fighting vicious battles for supremacy. It had worked perfectly. Anna’s plans of dividing the Turkish emirates proved brilliant and its execution flawless. With Karaman taken she soon turned her attention to the Ottomans, BY 1348 Trebizond troops were at the gates of the Ottoman capitol city of Bursa. Osman had recently died in a battle with Trebizond and with his death his sons fought another vicious civil war to succeed that ended in Orhans victory at a terrible cost. The Ottomans who once boasted a powerful army had a weak and much worn out army. As such the Trebizond soldiers who were fresh and battle ready won several victories that ended with the fall of the Ottoman capitol. However these lands were not annexed. Orhan was allowed by Anna to remain Emir of the ottomans but he was a vassal of Trebizond. Similarly the Karaminid sultan was forced to accept similar terms. Thus indirectly Trebizond controlled this vast territory without having to worry about revolts because they never directed aforementioned territory.


The Turks accepted the offer for piece that was given to them, They would become vassals of Trebizond and would only serve Trebizond and only keep a large enough force that they can defend their borders, and politically be under Trebizond's control but could rule with relative autonomy. How this came about was that Anna did not agree to full annexing urged by her advisers due mainly to the fact that currently Trebizond was very weak to spread that much influence to such a faraway place. Trebizond was a small country how could it hope to administer all those provinces filled with Turks and Muslims who would inevitably revolt and if they did so Trebizond could not stop them. So why not keep its leaders in power but be puppets of Trebizond rather than Trebizond worrying about how to deal with the while administrative issues. Due to full control of southern Baltic Trebizond controlled the trade on the black sea it grew very wealthy and by Anna’s death in 1359 Trebizond had managed to dominate the ottoman beyliks and was the dominant power in much of western Anatolia.


However turmoil still brewed in virtually all of eastern Anatolia which had been devastated by vicious fighting between the Turkish emirs and lead to the rise of Eritea as the dominant power of the east. While Trebizond had influence in the west it was Eritaea who had power in the east. Soon the stage was set for the war between the two for supremacy in Anatolia.. After she died her son Alexius succeeded to the throne as Emperor Alexius III Megal Komnenos in 1360. Alexios was a resourceful man, compared by many to the original Alexios Commnenos and he was bursting with Ambition. However he did an unusual thing. He adopted the practices of the Ottomans. One system hat fascinated Alexius was the Ottoman Janissary system. He viewed it as a perfect way to develop a core of elite soldiers loyal only to him with no ties whatsoever to anyone else. SO he decided to do the exact opposite of the ottomans. He would bring Muslim boys usually Turks as children to the palace where they would be baptized and soon educated. Those who were smart went into high bureaucratic positions. The brawny ones became trained in the art of warfare and the beauty was they were loyal and would die for the emperor. These boys received the best possible education the empire could afford. In fact many Greeks claimed they were of Islamic descent just so their boys could receive this education. It was one of Alexius's crowning achievements. In 1361



Alexius made an oath that would terrify the nations around the Black sea. In fact it would lead to the war with Georgia.The Oath us what accredited to the true Rise of Trebizond as Told by Modern Archeologists in The modern city of Trebizond. In 2000 his exact speech was successfully reconstructed in Trebizond.


"people of Trebizond, for years we have been an insignificant power, one that Is no more but a city state like those Bastard Italians, We were a backwards nation stuck to old ideals that now are useless, we must Westernize and I shall accomplish this, In the year 1362 of our lord Christ The kingdom of Trebizond is to have changes made. But that is not my only goal, Petty states rule the Black sea, but no more, my mother successfully vassalized the western emirs and now we must turn east. I had a dream in that dream Trebizond ruled all of the Black sea which was personal lake. We have always been a vassal to the Georgians but no longer. Yes my people we will throw off the Georgian yolk no longer shall Georgia dictate our policies and lifestyle! People of Trebizond here my words we shall undertake a great campaign largest ever known to man, and we shall
Conquer the entire black Sea, but I cannot do it alone for like the Spartans I beg of you my people for greater rights and freedom every able bodied man aged 18-40 shall join on this glorious conquest, however this applies only to the poor and downtrodden of Trebizond who have nothing better to do. For completing the grande campaign. The aristocrats and rich can if they want pay 600 gold coins to not participate in the war. The poor who serve shall not go unrewarded, they shall be paid more gold than they can ever dream of, and all plunder they take belongs to them so join me as I will personally lead our great forces to Victory, Let the
one true faith come crashing down on the Heretics who shall be destroyed, we will launch this invasion, so I speak to the common man, I had a dream where The whole black sea was Christian, I had a dream where peace and prosperity reigned in Trebizond, and I promise you that with your help our sons and daughters of the future shall have a place they can call home..." This speech read in every city controlled by Trebizond moved the people; Alexius instantly became an hero and Thousands
of people quickly signed up to go on this grand campaign. However Alexius knew the Trebizond navy was a joke and so he ordered preparations to rebuild the devastated navy.


It was Anna who laid the foundations for David’s success. Throughout Anna's reign she gave Trebizond a safe secure position and she created many knew public roads, ordered the University construction, reformed gov and beurocracy she was known forever as the enlightened Nun Empress.
 
I was always interested in Trebizond, and as such I am interested in this.

Very well done, I am subscribed.


Just wondering though
Fredrick II Barbarossa said:
Anna Megal Kommenos was crowned Empress of Trebizond at the urging of many influential people.
Who are these "influential people"?
 
I was always interested in Trebizond, and as such I am interested in this.

Very well done, I am subscribed.


Just wondering though

Who are these "influential people"?
During the bad reign of Irene she was persuaded by many trebizond nobles to renounce her nun vows and become empress by overthrowing eiriene. So she became empress due to the influential people who were many Trebizond nobles and aristocrats.

Thank you for the subscription:D
 
Interesting point of divergence. It's cool to see Trebizond rising. It's also good to see Trebizond using diplomacy as a major weapon against the Turks. That's one of the main reasons it was able to survive for so long.
 
Interesting point of divergence. It's cool to see Trebizond rising. It's also good to see Trebizond using diplomacy as a major weapon against the Turks. That's one of the main reasons it was able to survive for so long.
Also don't forget it's clever use of vassals. After all their is no way Trebizond can manage the ottoman and karaman provinces by itslef due to their Muslim and Turkish majorities who would easily revolt against Trebizond. So they left the rulers as they are so as to not deal with such situations

also I neverreally understood why the byzants didn't try playing the emirs against each other and use divide and conquer tactics against the Turks.
Still you can't blame them if they weren't at war with the Turks they were at war withtheir western neighbors:p
 
Also don't forget it's clever use of vassals. After all their is no way Trebizond can manage the ottoman and karaman provinces by itslef due to their Muslim and Turkish majorities who would easily revolt against Trebizond. So they left the rulers as they are so as to not deal with such situations

also I neverreally understood why the byzants didn't try playing the emirs against each other and use divide and conquer tactics against the Turks.
Still you can't blame them if they weren't at war with the Turks they were at war withtheir western neighbors:p

Exactly what does Byzantium (or Trebizond) have to do to play one emir against another?

Not much.

And...you might want to look at this map:http://rbedrosian.com/Maps/shpha89.htm (bottom one).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_I#Initial_expansion and this article.

Anna is going to have a hard time selling "the Ottomans are our common enemy."
 
Exactly what does Byzantium (or Trebizond) have to do to play one emir against another?
Not much.

And...you might want to look at this map:http://rbedrosian.com/Maps/shpha89.htm (bottom one).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orhan_I#Initial_expansion and this article.

Anna is going to have a hard time selling "the Ottomans are our common enemy."

one clarification Trebizond is not byzantium most emirs view it as a weak petty state easy to be defeated so to them it isn't much of a prey. Byzantium on the other hand is well... Byzantium. Trebizond is hardly as useful or as strategically placed as Constantinople nor as beutiful and tempting. Plus at the time their was much distrust beetween Byzantium and trebizond As seen with the deposement of Irene and souring of relations.

True but you must also understand that many of the emirs were alarmed at the ottomans growing power. Also they mistrusted each other. Plusshe she didn't convince all of them. Just mainly Karaman and a couple other emirs. She convinced them due to her warnig them of the terrible ottoman onslaught claiming that If the ottomans were not stopped they would conquer not only Anatolia which they have but also conquer the Balkans and then crush the emirs. Basically she played on their fears of the terrifien ottoman army andthe fact that the ottomans were taking all their glory. After all shouldn't said emir of said sultanate be the ones to crush Byzantium and not those ottomans who steal the spotlight.

Plus the Turks turned against each other afterwords because with Karaman and the ottomans broken their was no emirate strong enough to fill the vaccum leading to a series of wars beetween the Turks for supremacy.
 
one clarification Trebizond is not byzantium most emirs view it as a weak petty state easy to be defeated so to them it isn't much of a prey. Byzantium on the other hand is well... Byzantium. Trebizond is hardly as useful or as strategically placed as Constantinople nor as beutiful and tempting. Plus at the time their was much distrust beetween Byzantium and trebizond As seen with the deposement of Irene and souring of relations.

Right. What I mean is, neither really has much to offer to would be allies.

True but you must also understand that many of the emirs were alarmed at the ottomans growing power. Also they mistrusted each other. Plusshe she didn't convince all of them. Just mainly Karaman and a couple other emirs. She convinced them due to her warnig them of the terrible ottoman onslaught claiming that If the ottomans were not stopped they would conquer not only Anatolia which they have but also conquer the Balkans and then crush the emirs. Basically she played on their fears of the terrifien ottoman army andthe fact that the ottomans were taking all their glory. After all shouldn't said emir of said sultanate be the ones to crush Byzantium and not those ottomans who steal the spotlight.

But they don't have Anatolia. And the Ottomans so far aren't really threatening to take out all the other emirs.

As for taking all the glory...I don't know what to say here.

Plus the Turks turned against each other afterwords because with Karaman and the ottomans broken their was no emirate strong enough to fill the vaccum leading to a series of wars beetween the Turks for supremacy.

That's not really the problem though.
 
Right. What I mean is, neither really has much to offer to would be allies.



But they don't have Anatolia. And the Ottomans so far aren't really threatening to take out all the other emirs.

As for taking all the glory...I don't know what to say here.



That's not really the problem though.

well you are right about that but how about trading and marraige. Trebizond princesses were famed for their beauty and Anna married then to various major beyliks and gave them dowries in return for invading ottomans and excellent trade rights. Remember at this point Trebizond is famous for it's International trade. It also used existing tensions between the ottomans and their neighbors to its advantage. Is this more realistic. By the way it was very wealthy as well.
 
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