Özet:

The foundation of the Empire of Trebizond is indissolubly connected with the Fourth Crusade and the formation of the Latin Empire in Constantinople in 1204. At that time the territory of the Byzantine Empire was divided into a great number of states, partly Greek, partly Frankish. The three Greek States were destined to play an important part in the history of the Near East after 1204. These there Greek centers orginated the idea of the restoration of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople, and one of them successfully carried it out. The Despotat of Epirus, which in 1222 was proclaimed the Empire of Thessalonica (Saloniki), after a short period of ephemeral political success in the Balkans was crushed in 1230 by the Bulgarian king, John Asen, and forced to give up its ambitious plan to take possession of Constantinople. The two other Greek centers were the Empire of Nicaea under Theodore Lascaris and the Empire of Trebizond under Alexis Comnenus. Both of these were established in Asia Minor. But the Empire of Nicaea, geographically close to Constantinople, had a better chance than remote Trebizond to accomplish the task of recovering Constantinople

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