1238-1263 BYZANTINE EMPIRE - THE EMPIRE OF TREBIZOND - MANUEL I MEGAS MANUEL I MEGAS KOMNENOS, - AR Asper, Trebizond vf/xf

weight 2,37gr. | silver Ø ca. 24mm.

obv. Saint Eugenius standing facing, holding long cross,
O / A / ΓI / O on left, •ЄV• / ΓE / N on right
rev. Manuel standing facing, holding labarum and akakia,
∴ / M / N / Λ on left, O / KM / N on right

Manuel I Megas Komnenos was born around 1210 as the second son of Alexios I, the first emperor of Trebizond, and his wife Theodora his older brother, Johannes I Axouchos, was his predecessor as Emperor. Manuel had children by three different women four of his children reigned after him. Older scholars, like Miller and Finlay, assumed all three women were his wives, but more recently Michel Kuršanskis has argued that only two were his wives, and that Rusudan of Georgia was simply his mistress. Manuel I Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond from 1238 until his death in March 1263. At the time Manuel reigned, the Empire of Trebizond comprised a band of territory stretching along the southern coast of the Black Sea. Manuel′s reign is notable for being the first Emperor of Trebizond to issue large numbers of coins. This is important for two reasons: the first is that issuing coins in a precious metal, such as silver or gold, is commonly considered a demonstration of sovereignty by a ruler the second is that the volume of coins issued by a ruler is frequently used as an indicator of economic activity. According to Otto Retowski over 200 types of silver aspers, the characteristic coin of the Empire, were struck then, more than any other ruler of Trebizond, in addition to other silver and bronze currency. (Johannes II is a distant second, having struck around 138 types of aspers during his reign.). Trapezuntine coins circulated widely outside the empire, especially in Georgia. His coins became so common there that his name became the generic word in Georgian for money kirmaneoul is derived from ″kuros′ Manuel″ or ″Caesar Manuel″. Although Michael Panaretos, a 14th-century Trapezuntine chronicler, calls Manuel ″the greatest general and the most fortunate″ and states he ruled ″virtuously in the eyes of God″, the only event he documents for Manuel′s reign is a catastrophic fire striking the city of Trebizond in January 1253. The major events of his reign are known from external sources, most important of which is the recovery of Sinope in 1254, which had been lost to the Sultanate of Rum forty years before.
Saint Eugenius or Eugene was martyred under Diocletianus and a cult devoted to him developed in Trebizond. His feast day is 21 January. Eugenius along with the martyrs Candidus, Valerianus and Aquila was persecuted during the reign of Diocletianus (284-305) and Maximianus (305-311). The four hid in the mountains above Trebizond, but were eventually found and brought before the regimental commander Lycius. They were flogged, tortured with fire and eventually beheaded. Eugenius is credited with the destruction of the image on the ″gray hill″ overlooking the city, later known as the Mithratis. The Komnenian rulers of the Empire of Trebizond adopted the saint as the patron of their country. His alleged miracles include assisting Trebizond to repel a siege of the city by the Seljuk Turks in 1224. His image appears frequently on Trapezuntine coins. The cult and pilgrimage around this saint never really developed beyond Trebizond′s borders, although John Lazaropoulos, Metropolitan of Trebizond in the name Joseph, collected the miracles of St. Eugenius into one book in the 14th century. cf. Sear 2601 | Sommer, page 465, T3.15var. | cf. Retowski 169-182 R
Irregular flan. Rare.
vf/xf

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