John I of Trebizond

John I Axouch
Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans
Coin attributed to John I Axouch
Emperor of Trebizond
Reign1235–1238
PredecessorAndronikos I
SuccessorManuel I
Died1238
HouseKomnenos
FatherAlexios I
Motherpossibly Theodora Axouchina

John I Komnenos Axouch[1] (Greek: Ιωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀξούχος, romanized: Iōannēs Komnēnos Axouch) was the 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,[2] 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.[3] 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.[4]

Reign and death

Little is recorded of John's reign, except that he died while playing tzykanion, a variant of polo fashionable among the Byzantine nobility, when he fell from his horse and was trampled to death.[5] His heir apparent, one Ioannikios, 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 the two were related. Rustam Shukurov has argued that Ioannikios was the brother of both John and Manuel.[6]

Whether John I issued 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.[7]

References

  1. ^ The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium (2005). Oxford University Press (2005 ed.). England: Alexander P.Kazhdan. ISBN 9780195046526.
  2. ^ Miller, Trebizond, p. 25 and note
  3. ^ Miller, Trebizond, p. 19
  4. ^ A. A. Vasiliev, "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1222)", Speculum, 11 (1936), p. 27
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Shukurov, "The enigma of David Grand Komnenos", Mesogeios, 12 (2001), pp. 131f (accessed 22 February 2014)
  7. ^ 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
John I of Trebizond
Born: unknown Died: 1238
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of Trebizond
1235–1238 		Succeeded by