Empire of Trebizond

Timeline

1. 1204Trebizond · Southern Black Sea coastAfter the fall of Constantinople in 1204, the brothers Alexios I Komnenos and David Komnenos proclaimed themselves emperors at Trebizond on the Black Sea's southern coast, founding the Empire of Trebizond. Controlling the Pontic coastal corridor, the empire relied on Silk Road branch trade and mountain defenses to maintain relative independence among the Mongols, Genoese, and neighboring Turkic powers.
2. 1461Trebizond · Southern Black Sea coastIn early 1461, Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, eight years after conquering Constantinople, marched east and besieged Trebizond. The last emperor David Komnenos tried to delay through tribute and marriage diplomacy, but the Ottoman navy blockaded the ports and the army besieged the mountain city; the empire's territory had shrunk to the vicinity of the capital, its survival in imminent danger.
3. 1461Trebizond · Southern Black Sea coastOn 15 August 1461, David Komnenos opened the gates and surrendered, and the Empire of Trebizond formally ended. Mehmed II first placed David and his sons and nephews under house arrest, then had them executed in 1463, extinguishing the Komnenos imperial line. The empire's 257-year rule was over; the southern Black Sea coast came under direct Ottoman administration, and the Byzantine political tradition came to a complete end.