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:''For David, the brother of Emperor Alexios I of Trebizond, see David Komnenos. David Megas Komnenos ((ギリシア語:Δαβίδ Μέγας Κομνηνός, ''Dabid Megas Komnēnos'')) ( 1408 – November 1, 1463) was the last Emperor of Trebizond from 1459 to 1461. He was the third son of Emperor Alexios IV of Trebizond and Theodora Kantakouzene. Following the fall of Trebizond to the Ottoman Empire, he was taken captive with his family to the Ottoman capital, Constantinople, where he and his sons and nephew were executed in 1463. In July 2013, David and his sons and nephew were canonized by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Their feast day was determined as 1 November, the anniversary of their deaths. == Ruler of a doomed empire == David had played an important role throughout the reign of his older brother and predecessor John IV. He had been given the courtly title of ''despotes'', which in Trebizond designated the heir to the throne. David had participated in his brother's expeditions against the Genoese, and also fulfilled various diplomatic tasks. In 1458 he ratified his brother's treaty with the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in Adrianople, and later the same year he conveyed his niece Theodora to her husband, Uzun Hassan of the Ak Koyunlu. David ascended the throne on his brother's death, sometime before April 22, 1459. Although John IV had made his nephew Alexios his heir,〔William Miller (''Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461'', 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), p. 97) errs in stating Alexios was John's son. As Michel Kuršanskis (("La descendance d'Alexis IV, empereur de Trébizonde. Contribution à la prosopographie des Grands Comnènes )", ''Revue des études byzantines'', 37 (1979), pp. 239-247) shows, Alexios was the son of Alexander.〕 Alexios was a boy only four years old; according to Laonikos Chalkokondyles David, with the support of the Kabasitanoi ''archontes'', pushed the boy aside and took the throne for himself.〔Chalkokondyles 9.74; translated by Anthony Kaldellis, ''The Histories'' (Cambridge: Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, 2014), vol. 2 p. 359.〕 With the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the threat Mehmet II posed to the pocket empire had increased. David's brother John had spent the following years up to his death building alliances to protect the empire, with the Georgian princes to the east and with Uzun Hassan of the Ak Koyunlu, and David seems to have counted on their support. The Muslim rulers of Sinope and Karaman appear to have been enlisted as allies by John or Uzun Hassan.〔Steven Runciman, ''The Fall of Constantinople'' (London: Cambridge, 1969), p. 173〕 About this time, October 1460, one Ludovico da Bologna appeared at the court of Emperor Frederick III with two men who were ostensibly the ambassadors of Persia and Georgia; more specifically, the Persian ambassador—Nicholas of Tblisi—was the representative of George VIII of Georgia, and the Georgian ambassador—recorded as "Custopa", "Custoda", "Chastodina" and other variations—represented Qvarqvare II, prince of Samtskhe.〔The known facts of the career of Ludovico da Bologna are discussed in Anthony Bryer, "Ludovico da Bologna and the Georgian and Anatolian Embassy of 1460-1461", ''Beli Kartlisa'', 19-20 (1965), pp. 178-198〕 They carried letters signed not only by those Eastern rulers, but four more, as well as three Caucasian tribes all eager to take part in an alliance against the Ottomans. Ludovico's entourage proceeded to Venice, and either there or at their next stop, Florence, a new ambassador joined his following: Michael Alighieri, who said he was the envoy of Emperor David. In Florence, a city that was eager to build up a network of bases in the Levant, Alighieri negotiated a treaty between Florence and David of Trebizond granting to the city a consulate (''fondaco'') and trading terms that included a 2% levy on exports, as were enjoyed by the Genoese and Venetians in Trebizond. Like his ancestor, Dante Alighieri, Michael Alighieri was a Florentine, but had been trading on his own account in the Black Sea. Bryer mentions a document dated 28 April 1470, wherein the protectors of the Bank of St. George at Caffa gave Michael Alighieri safe conduct which covered his children and subordinates.〔Bryer, "Ludovico da Bologna", pp. 185f〕 Bryer treats Ludovico da Bologna's claims with a degree of mistrust and suspicion, noting Ludovico "seems to have been too glib and later obsessed with something of the attitude of a Baron Corvo towards the Church, which failed to take his personal ambitions seriously."〔Bryer, "Ludovico da Bologna", p. 179〕 On the other hand, Bryer assumes Michael Alighieri was a legitimate representative of Emperor David, although the letter he bore from David to Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy "was written, if not in Italy, from an Italian point of view, and by someone who knew Trebizond well and had recently seen David Komnenos as the new Emperor."〔Bryer, "Ludovico da Bologna", p. 197〕 William Miller, in his account of the Empire of Trebizond, likewise assumes Michael Alighieri was the legitimate representative, while ignoring the existence of the sketchy Ludovico da Bologna, who had been the primary advocate for a Christian league.〔Miller, ''Trebizond'', pp. 98f〕 With Western support against the Ottomans still unsolidified, David prematurely asked the Sultan for a remission of the tribute paid by his predecessor. Even worse, he made these demands through the envoys of Uzun Hassan, who made even more arrogant demands on behalf of their master. Sultan Mehmed dismissed them, telling they would know his answer later. That answer came the summer of the next year: a fleet under his admiral Kasim Pasha sailed along the Black Sea coast of Anatolia towards Trebizond while he led an army from Bursa eastward towards the city.〔Runciman, ''Fall'', pp. 173f〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「David of Trebizond」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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