| John I Axouchos | |
|---|---|
| Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans | |
 Coin attributed to John I Axouchos | |
|
Emperor of
Trebizond Claimant Byzantine Emperor | |
| Reign | 1235 – 1238 |
| Predecessor | Andronikos I |
| Successor | Manuel I |
| Died | 1238 |
| Dynasty | Grand Komnenoi |
| Father | Alexios I |
| Mother | possibly Theodora Axouchina |
John I Komnenos Axouchos [1] [2] ( Greek: Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀξούχος, romanized: Iōannēs Komnēnos Axouchos) was Emperor of Trebizond from 1235 to 1238. One editor reads the text of the chronicle of Michael Panaretos as stating that John ruled six years; although William Miller follows Fallmerayer in assuming this was a mistake for three years, [3] another possible solution is that John was co-ruler with his predecessor Andronikos I Gidos for three years then ruled alone for three more.
Background
He was the eldest son of Alexios I of Trebizond and a woman the primary sources do not identify; some writers have named her Theodora Axuchina[ citation needed]. Miller suggests that he was perhaps a minor at the time of his father's death in 1222, for his father was succeeded by the throne passed to Alexis' son-in-law, Andronikos I Gidos. [4] During the Siege of Sinope, one of the sources states that Alexios has "grown sons in Trebizond who are capable of governing", so it is clear John was born before 1214. [5]
Reign and death
Little is recorded of John's reign, except that John died while playing tzykanion, a variant of polo fashionable among the Byzantine nobility, when he fell from his horse and was trampled to death. [6] His heir apparent was one Ioannikios, who was confined to a monastery and John's second brother Manuel I ascended the throne. Since Fallmerayer, most historians have assume that Ioannikios was John Axouchos' son, but Panaretos' Chronicle does not state how Ioannikios was related to John Axouchos. Rustam Shukurov has argued that Ioannikios was the brother of both John and Manuel. [7]
Whether John I issued the silver coins, or aspers, is disputed since some recent authorities believe the coins attributed to him better fit with the aspers struck during John II Megas Komnenos on numismatic grounds. [8]
References
- ^ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6. (see ODB)
- ^ William Miller, opines that "Axouchos" appears to have been a family name of the Komnenos, "for it had been borne by a Persian, who had been Great Domestic at Constantinople". Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era, 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), p. 24
- ^ Miller, Trebizond, p. 25 and note
- ^ Miller, Trebizond, p. 19
- ^ A. A. Vasiliev, "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204-1222)", Speculum, 11 (1936), p. 27
- ^ George Finlay (The History of Greece and the Empire of Trebizond, (1204-1461), (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1851), p. 338 n. 1) discusses the possible locations of the hippodrome of Trebizond where John died.
- ^ Shukurov, "The enigma of David Grand Komnenos", Mesogeios, 12 (2001), pp. 131f (accessed 22 February 2014)
- ^ A.A. Gordus and D.M. Metcalf, "Non-destructive Chemical Analysis of the Byzantine Silver Coinage of Trebizond", Archeion Pontou, 33 (1975-1976), p. 29
External links
- Vougiouklaki Penelope, "John I Grand Komnenos", Encyclopedia of the Hellenic World: Asia Minor