Editing Trabzon (section)

===Empire of Trebizond===
{{Main|Empire of Trebizond}}

The [[Empire of Trebizond]] was formed after a [[Byzantine–Georgian wars#Georgian expedition to Chaldia and the founding of the Trebizond Empire|Georgian expedition in Chaldia]],<ref>A. A. Vasiliev, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2846872 "The Foundation of the Empire of Trebizond (1204–1222)"], ''Speculum'', '''11''' (1936), pp. 18f</ref> commanded by [[Alexios I of Trebizond|Alexios]] [[Komnenos]] a few weeks before the [[Fourth Crusade|sack of Constantinople]] in 1204. Located at the far northeastern corner of [[Anatolia]], it was the longest surviving of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] successor states. Byzantine authors, such as [[George Pachymeres|Pachymeres]], and to some extent Trapezuntines such as [[John Lazaropoulos|Lazaropoulos]] and [[Basilios Bessarion|Bessarion]], regarded the Trebizond Empire as being no more than a [[Lazica|Lazian]] border state. Thus, from the point of view of the Byzantine writers connected with the [[Laskaris|Lascaris]] and later with the [[Palaiologos]], the rulers of Trebizond were not emperors.<ref name=":0">Finlay, George. The History Of Greece From Its Conquest By The Crusaders To Its Conquest By The Turks And Of The Empire Of Trebizond, 1204–1461, By George Finlay. 1st ed. Edinburgh: W. Blackwood and sons, 1851. Print.</ref><ref name=":1">Vasilev, A. A. The Foundation Of The Empire Of Trebizond 1204–1222. 1st ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Medieval Academy of America, 1936. Print.</ref>

{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | align = left
 | width1 = 220
 | width2 = 220
 | image1 = Hagia Sophia Trabzon.jpg
 | caption1 = [[Hagia Sophia, Trabzon|Hagia Sophia]]<br />(now Ayasofya mosque & museum)
 | image2 = Hagios Eugenios Trabzon 2.JPG
 | caption2 = Hagios Eugenios<br />(now [[New Friday Mosque|Yeni Cuma Mosque]])
 | footer = The young empire required new buildings to honor its name. Their architectural style differs from previous Byzantine architecture, while still retaining many features. Caucasian and Eastern Anatolian influences are especially evident in Hagia Sophia.
}}

[[File:Fresco of Comneni at Agia Theotokos, Trebizond..jpg|thumb|Fresco of Alexios III between his wife and mother at the [[Panagia Theoskepastos Monastery]], as drawn by [[Charles Texier]]]]
Geographically, the Empire of Trebizond consisted of little more than a narrow strip along the southern coast of the [[Black Sea]], and not much further inland than the [[Pontic Mountains]]. However, the city gained great wealth from the taxes it levied on the goods traded between Persia and Europe via the Black Sea. The Mongol [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|siege of Baghdad]] in 1258 diverted more trade caravans towards the city. Genoese and to a lesser extent Venetian traders regularly came to Trebizond. To secure their part of the Black Sea trade, the Genoese bought the coastal fortification "Leonkastron", just west of the winter harbour, in the year 1306. The Venetians likewise built a trading outpost in the city, a few hundred meters to the west of the Genoese. In between these two Italian colonies settled many other European traders, and it thus became known as the "European Quarter". Small groups of Italians continued to live in the city until the early decades of the 20th century. One of the most famous persons to have visited the city in this period was [[Marco Polo]], who ended his overland return journey at the port of Trebizond, and sailed to his hometown [[Venice]] with a ship; passing by [[Constantinople]] ([[Istanbul]]) on the way, which was retaken by the [[Byzantine]]s in 1261.

[[File:Pisanello - St George and the Princess of Trebizond (detail) - WGA17878.jpg|thumb|right|Fantastical depiction of Trebizond by [[Pisanello]] in a fresco of the [[Sant'Anastasia (Verona)|Sant'Anastasia]] church in [[Verona]], painted between 1436 and 1438]]
Together with Persian goods, Italian traders brought stories about the city to Western Europe. Trebizond played a mythical role in European literature of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. [[Miguel de Cervantes]] and [[François Rabelais]] gave their protagonists the desire to possess the city.<ref>'The lure of Trebizond' by [[Antony Eastmond]], in ''Byzantium's Other Empire: Trebizond'', p. 22, 2016, Istanbul</ref> Next to literature, the legendary history of the city – and that of the Pontus in general – also influenced the creation of [[paintings]], [[Play (theatre)|theatre plays]] and [[operas]] in Western Europe throughout the following centuries.

The city also played a role in the early [[Renaissance]]; the western takeover of Constantinople, which formalized Trebizond's political independence, also led Byzantine intellectuals to seek refuge in the city. Especially [[Alexios II of Trebizond]] and his grandson [[Alexios III of Trebizond|Alexios III]] were patrons of the arts and sciences. After the great city fire of 1310, the ruined university was reestablished. As part of the university [[Gregory Choniades]] opened a new academy of astronomy, which housed the best observatory outside Persia. Choniades brought with him the works of Shams al-Din al-Bukhari,<ref>[http://islamsci.mcgill.ca/RASI/BEA/Shams_al-Din_al-Bukhari_BEA.htm "Shams al‐Dīn al‐Bukhārī"]. Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers''.  New York: Springer, 2007, pp. 1047–1048. Retrieved 12 January 2018.</ref> [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]] and [[Al-Khazini|Abd al-Rahman al-Khazini]] from Tabriz, which he translated into Greek. These works later found their way to western Europe, together with the [[astrolabe]]. The observatory Choniades built would become known for its accurate [[solar eclipse]] predictions, but was probably used mostly for [[astrology|astrological]] purposes for the emperor and/or the church.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/29570856/Astronomy_in_the_Trebizond_Empire Astronomy in the Trebizond Empire] Ahmet M. Zehiroğlu (trans. by Paula Darwish). from Trabzon İmparatorluğu 2016, Trabzon.</ref> Scientists and philosophers of Trebizond were among the first western thinkers to compare contemporaneous theories with classical Greek texts. [[Basilios Bessarion]] and [[George of Trebizond]] travelled to Italy and taught and published works on [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], starting a fierce debate and literary tradition that continues to this day on the topic of national identity and [[global citizenship]]. They were so influential that Bessarion was considered for the position of [[Pope]], and George could survive as an academic even after being defamed for his heavy criticism of Plato.

The [[Black Death]] arrived at the city in September 1347, probably via [[Kaffa (city)|Kaffa]]. At that time the local aristocracy was engaged in the [[Trapezuntine Civil War]].

In 1340, Tur Ali Beg, an early ancestor of the [[Aq Qoyunlu]], raided Trebizond. In 1348, he besieged Trebizond, however he failed and lifted the siege. Later on, [[Alexios III of Trebizond]] gave his sister to [[Qutlugh bin Tur Ali|Kutlu Beg]] son of Tur Ali Beg, and established a kinship with them.<ref name=faruk1>{{TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi|title=AKKOYUNLULAR XV. yüzyılda Doğu Anadolu, Azerbaycan ve Irak’ta hüküm süren Türkmen hânedanı (1340-1514).|url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/akkoyunlular|author=Faruk Sümer}}</ref>

Constantinople remained the Byzantine capital until it was [[Fall of Constantinople|conquered]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Sultan [[Mehmed II]] in 1453, who also [[Siege of Trebizond (1461)|conquered Trebizond]] eight years later, in 1461.

Its demographic legacy endured for several centuries after the Ottoman conquest in 1461, as a substantial number of [[Greek Orthodox]] inhabitants, usually referred to as [[Pontic Greeks]], continued to live in the area during Ottoman rule, up until 1923, when they were deported to Greece. A few thousand [[Greek Muslims]] still live in the area, mostly in the [[Çaykara]]-[[Of, Turkey|Of]] dialectical region to the southeast of Trabzon.<!--Use modern name here!--> Most are Sunni Muslim, while there are some recent converts in the city{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} and possibly a few [[Crypto-Christians]] in the [[Tonya, Turkey|Tonya]]/[[Gümüşhane]] area to the southwest of the city. Compared to most previously Greek cities in Turkey, a large amount of its Greek Byzantine architectural heritage survives as well.

{{wide image|Cassone Conquest of Trebizond Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso.png|900px|The [[Cassone]] with the 'Conquest of Trebizond' by [[Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso]], on display at the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York. Painted just after the fall of the city, it depicts Trebizond<!--Old name--> as being equal to [[Constantinople]] (at the far left). Even the battle displayed in between the two cities was mostly a fantasy. The city held a legendary place in Western European literature and thought throughout the late medieval period and the renaissance, with a lasting influence that can be felt even to present times.}}