The siege of Trebizond in 1222–1223 was an unsuccessful siege of Trebizond, the capital of the namesake empire, by the Sultanate of Rum under a certain Melik. According to the late 14th-century Synopsis of Saint Eugenios 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 several 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 a 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 rulers.Michel Kuršanskis believes 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 1 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 the same words to date the defeat of Melik, so we can be assured the siege also fell within this period. But Lazaropoulos does not usually provide exact dates: this is the only one in his writings. Beyond providing the sequence of actions, he gives no information on 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 the Seljuks then plundered; so it is clear all three events happened over these six months between February and September 1223.Peacock, "The Saliūq Campaign", p. 147

First skirmishes The most complete account of this engagement is in John Lazaropoulos' Synopsis, although his text offers many difficulties. As Jan Olof Rosenqvist points out, Lazaropoulos drew on at least two different sources, which results in certain problems of interpretation, as well as raising the possibility that certain incidents are described twice. Moreover, Lazaropoulos has been shown to have introduced new details elsewhere that may be his own invention; the purpose of his account is not to offer an objective history but to glorify Trebizond's patron saint, Eugenios.Rosenqvist provides a brief discussion of the issues with this source in Hagiographic Dossier, pp. 50-63.

At some undefined time after the raid on Sinope, Sultan Melik brought his forces through Katoukion, which lies between Bayburt and Zailousa, where his men camped. The inhabitants explained the best route would be "beyond and outside Chaldia" because that country "is difficult of access but also abounding in warlike men, and that the march would not be easy."Lazaropoulos, Synopsis, ll. 1201f; translated in Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 313 Upon receiving this intelligence, the Sultan moved his camp to a place somewhere above the Narrow Pass (which Rosenqvist identifies with the Pontic Gates, also known as Zigana Pass).Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 407

The Emperor Andronikos had sent Theodore Polemarches with a band of reliable men to keep watch at the Narrow Pass; these encountered the advancing Seljuk force and skirmished with them. It was Theodore who sent word to the Emperor that the Sultan had arrived; Lazaropoulos observes that Emperor Andronikos was at church when the news came, and he waited until he had received the Eucharist before leading his own 500 horsemen against the vanguard of the Sultan's army.Lazaropoulos, Synopsis, ll. 1220-1230; translated in Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 315 Although his 500 horses were outnumbered four-to-one by the Sultan's scouts, Andronikos won the first major engagement, scattering the enemy; but seeing that this was only a portion of his foe, after he secured the castle of Labra, the Emperor withdrew into the city of Trebizond. The Sultan descended from the Pass and set up his camp on Mount Minthrion next to the Monastery of Saint Eugenios. Michel Kuršanskis believes the locals considered this the largest army they had ever seen.Kuršanskis, "L'empire de Trébizonde", p. 116 The Sultan's men encircled the formidable walls and set fire to the market of Trebizond, which was part of the suburbs east of the city.Likely Meydan, in the suburbs east of the city. Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 442, note on line 1254 As night fell, we are told that Emperor Andronikos Gidos left the citadel and went to pray in Panagia Chrysokephalos Church to relieve his stress. The siege now began in earnest.

Assaults and sorties

Over the next few days the Sultan inspected the walls of Trebizond, finding only the defenders' arrows. Then he made his decision and ordered the first assault. Lazaropoulos' text is unclear here, but the first assault was against a part of the walls near the citadel.This is where Rosenqvist places "Epiphaneia". (Hagiographic Dossier, p. 444, note on line 1276) The attackers were met by an equal number of defenders, and aided by the difficult terrain that prevented more than a few of the enemy from approaching and strike, they rebuffed the attack.Lazaropoulos, Synopsis, ll. 1271-1279; translated in Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 317

The next assault came the following day. The wall facing the seashore was low and judged vulnerable. Hence, the besiegers moved their tents along the shore from the Old Arsenal as far as the "Western river" — the ravine immediately to the west of the walled city.Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 445, note on line 1283 "The trumpeters gave the signal for fight, and one single cry was uttered by all the godless," Lazaropoulos writes. "The commanders placed the armoured cavalry near to the wall and behind them the slingers, the soldiers who would throw rocks, the archers and those who carried shields, and between these those who operated battering-rams."Lazaropoulos, Synopsis, ll. 1284-1287; translated in Rosenqvist, Hagiographic Dossier, p. 317