Empire of Trebizond
Trebizond, Empire of, an independent Byzantine domain on the south shore of the Black Sea that lasted from 1204 to 1461. It was founded after Constantinople had been sacked during the Fourth Crusade and most of the Byzantine Empire taken over by the Crusaders. Alexius Comnenus, of a former imperial family, took refuge with his brother David in the Byzantine port city of Trebizond (now Trabzon, Turkey).
Trebizond was the meeting point of overland trade routes from the east and sea routes from the west, and was an important commercial center. The Grand Comneni, as the ruling dynasty came to be called, made it their capital and it became a renowned center of Byzantine art and literature.
The Trebizond Empire was surrounded on the south and west by the Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium, or Rum, with which it formed an alliance to protect itself against Mongol attacks in the 13th century. When the Byzantine Empire was restored in 1261, the Grand Comneni maintained their independence.
The Grand Comneni reached the height of their power during the middle of the 14th century when they conquered the southern coast of the Black Sea. In the 15th century the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire. They annexed the Empire of the Trebizond in 1461, eight years after the fall of Constantinople.