John III of Trebizond

John III Megas Komnenos (Greek: Ιωάννης Γ΄ Μέγας Κομνηνός, "Iōannēs III Megas Komnēnos"), (c. 1321 – 1362) was Emperor of Trebizond from September 4, 1342 to May 3, 1344. He was a son of Emperor Michael of Trebizond (who had reigned for a day in 1341) and Acropolitissa, a daughter of Constantine Acropolites.

John lived most of his life in Constantinople where his father had lived since c. 1297. When Michael became Emperor of Trebizond for a day in 1341 and was quickly deposed and imprisoned by Grand Duke John the Eunuch of Limnia, John was still in Constantinople. However, in 1342 the leaders of the "Scholarioi," Niketas and Gregory, visited him there and persuaded the young man to come with them to Trebizond and take the throne. With the approval of the Byzantine government, the group set out for Trebizond in September 1342 after enlisting the support of three Genoese galleys, bringing their little fleet to a total of five ships. After a short but fierce fight John and his supporters captured the city on September 4, aided by a popular uprising in their favor. After the coronation of John III as emperor, the deposed Empress Anna Anachoutlou was strangled, and her noble supporters executed or exiled shortly following John's coronation.

John III turned out to be a weak and dissolute ruler, who cared only for entertainment, self-indulgence, and luxury. He did not bother to show any concern over his own father who was still being held captive by Grand Duke John the Eunuch. On the latter's murder, Niketas marched to Limnia where he released Michael from captivity and then returned with him to depose Michael's son. On May 3, 1344 John was banished to the monastery of St. Sabas (where he was kept under a Byzantine guard) and his father was installed as emperor for the second time.

The deposed emperor was eventually transferred by his father to Constantinople and then Adrianople in 1345. He escaped from there in c. 1357 and made his way to Sinope, where he died in 1362.

References

*W. Miller, "Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era", Chicago, 1926.