|
The Siege of Trebizond in 1222–1223 was an unsuccessful siege of Trebizond, the capital of the namesake empire, by the Seljuq Turks under a certain Melik. According to the late 14th-century ''Synopsis of Saint Eugenius'' of John Lazaropoulos, the city was close to being captured, but was saved by an unusually severe storm. The Seljuq assaults were repulsed, and their army was annihilated on its retreat through the attacks of the Matzoukaites, fierce mountain tribes under Trebizond's rule, and Melik was captured. Historians of Trebizond have traditionally seen the failure of this siege as leading to the termination of Trebizond's vassal status to the Sultanate of Iconium, which had been in place since 1214.〔For example, William Miller, ''Trebizond: The last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era: 1204-1461'', 1926 (Chicago: Argonaut, 1969), pp. 23f〕 However, more recent scholarship that considers the context of Seljuk Turkish history suggests that this battle should be seen as one episode in a struggle between Trebizond and Iconium over control of Sinope, the northern coast of Anatolia, and access to the Black Sea and its hinterlands that lasted for most of the 13th century.〔Claude Cahen, ''Pre-Ottoman Turkey: A General Survey of the Material and Spiritual Culture and History c. 1071-1330'', 1968 (New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 2014), pp. 166f, 284; Michel Kuršanskis, ( "L'empire de Trébizonde et les Turcs au 13e siècle" ), ''Revue des études byzantines'', 46 (1988), pp. 109-124; A.C.S. Peacock, ("The Saliūq Campaign against the Crimea and the Expansionist Policy of the Early Reign of'Alā' al-Dīn Kayqubād" ), ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 3rd series, 16 (2006), pp. 133-149〕 The details of the siege and the events leading up to it are preserved in four sources: the chronicle of Michael Panaretos,〔 the ''Encomium of St Eugenius of Trebizond'' by Constantine Loukites, the chronicle of Ali ibn al-Athir,〔Peacock, "The Saliūq Campaign", p. 146〕 and most extensively, the ''Synopsis'' of John Lazaropoulos.〔John Lazaropoulos, ''Synopsis'', ll. 1141-1599; translated by Jan Olof Rosenqvist, ''The Hagiographic Dossier of St Eugenios of Trebizond in Codex Athous Dionysiou 154'' (Uppsala: University Press, 1996), pp. 309-335〕 A possible fifth one is the Syrian chronicler Ibn Natif, who refers to a conflict dated around 1230 between Sultan Kaykubad and "Laskari" where Kaykubad won the first battle but lost the second; R.M. Shukurov has tried to identify those conflicts with this one, but Peacock is probably right in identifying them as a confused report of the 1214 Siege of Sinope.〔Peacock, "The Saliūq Campaign", pp. 146f〕 In his edition of Lazaropoulos' work, Jon Olof Rosenqvist notes a number of problems in Lazaropoulos' account, which led Rosenqvist to argue that he used two sources, one he identifies as consisting of hagiographic materials, and a second Rosenqvist speculates was an "epic composition in verse" comparable to the ''Digenis Akritas''. He suggests the image of his astrologers who, upon being asked for advice, consult an astrolabe, could have come from this lost epic, as it was "a standing element in medieval Turkish epics such as the fourteenth-century ''Melikdanismendnameh''." Rosenqvist goes as far as to identify some words and phrases that may have come from the epic verse, although admitting "for purely statistical reasons a certain amount of such verse fragments -- perhaps even complete verses -- should be expected in an given amount of average Greek prose." 〔Rosenqvist, "The Hagiographic Dossier", pp. 60-63〕 The most detailed account of the siege and the events leading up to it is that of Lazaropoulos; unless otherwise stated the following narrative is based on what he wrote. == Background == On the ascension of Emperor Andronikos I Gidos in 1222, the Empire of Trebizond faced a serious rival in the adjacent Seljuk Sultanate of Rum. One of Andronikos' first acts was to negotiate a treaty with Sultan Melik, which stipulated peaceful relations between the two rulers.〔Michel Kuršanskis believes that this treaty was a renewal of the one Andronikos' predecessor negotiated. (Kuršanskis, "L'empire de Trébizonde", pp. 114f)〕 However, Melik's vassal Etoumes, ''rais'' of Sinope, broke that treaty when he plundered a ship bearing ''archon'' Alexios Paktiares and the taxes of Trebizond's province of Cherson; in response Emperor Andronikos ordered a retaliatory raid on Sinope. The Trapezuntine fleet anchored off Karousa (modern Gerze)〔Kuršanskis, "L'empire de Trébizonde", p. 115 n. 24〕 and pillaged the countryside up to the marketplace of Sinope, seizing the ships in the harbor and killing or capturing their crews. ''Rais'' Etoumes was pressured to ransom the captives by releasing Paktiares, the ship and its goods, and the expedition returned to Trebizond elated by their success. When word of this attack reached Sultan Melik at Iconium, he decided he could not bear this attack on his chief port on the Black Sea, and he mobilized his army at Erzurum. Emperor Andronikos learned of the Sultan's mobilization, and prepared for the coming conflict, gathering soldiers "from Soteropolis and Lazica to Oinaion"—which is commonly assumed to define the borders of the Empire during his reign. Both sides were prepared for the coming conflict.〔Lazaropoulos, ''Synopsis'', ll. 1183-1192; translated by Rosenqvist, ''The Hagiographic Dossier'', p. 313〕 The date of the attack on Sinope and the ensuing siege of Trebizond can be determined from three sources: John Lazaropoulos, Michael Panaretos, and Ali ibn al-Athir. John Lazaropoulos dates these events to the Byzantine year of the world 6371, in the second year of the reign of Andronikos I Gidos;〔Lazaropoulos ''Synopsis'', ll. 1151-54; translated by Rosenqvist, ''The Hagiographic Dossier'', p. 311〕 the Byzantine year started on the first day of September and ended on the last day of August, and because Alexios I died 1 February 1222, it is clear the second year of the reign of Andronikos began in February 1223, Lazaropoulos' dating points to some time between February 1223 and September of the same year. The chronicle of Michael Panaretos uses exactly the same words to date the defeat of Melik,〔 so we can be assured the siege also fell within this time period. But Lazaropoulos does not usually provide us with exact dates: this is the only one in his writings. Beyond providing the sequence of actions, he provides no information how much time passed between the rapacious acts of Etoumes, the Trapezuntine raid on Sinope, and the beginning of the siege itself, making it possible the first two happened earlier—perhaps years—before 1223. Fortunately our third source, Ali ibn al-Athir, mentions that in 1223 a ship of refugees from the Mongols sank off Anatolia which was then plundered by the Seljuks; so it is clear all three events happened over this six-month period between February and September 1223.〔Peacock, "The Saliūq Campaign", p. 147〕 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「Siege of Trebizond (1222–23)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|