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Tzanichites

The Tzanichitai (Greek: Τζανιχίται), singular Tzanichites (Τζανιχίτης) and feminine form Tzanichitissa (Τζανιχίτισσα), was one of the most important noble families of the late Empire of Trebizond.

History

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The family hailed from the castle and namesake region of Tzanicha (Greek: Τζάνιχα; Turkish: Canca), near modern Torul in Turkey. Modern scholars such as Anthony Bryer and Alexios Savvides have linked the family to the Zans (Tzannoi in Greek), a local tribe related to the Georgians.[1][2] In the civil wars that tore the Empire of Trebizond in the middle of the 14th century, the Tzanichites family sided with the pro-Byzantine faction under the Scholarioi.[1] After the civil wars ended, the Kabazites family may have replaced the Tzanichitai as hereditary governors (doukes) of the province of Chaldia.[3] The family continues to be attested after the Fall of Trebizond to the Ottoman Empire: Ottoman tax registers contain references to its members up to 1515.[4]

Known members

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  • Theodore Tzanichites (Θεόδωρος Τζανιχίτης), landowner, attested in an inscription dated to 1305/6 (but as early as 1203/4 or 1210/11 by some earlier scholars).[5][6]
  • Irene Tzanichitissa (spelled Ἐρήνη Τζανηχήτησα), landowner, in the same inscription as Theodore Tzanichites.[5][7]
  • John Tzanichites (Ἰωάννης Τζανιχίτης), pinkernes of the court in 1330–1355. In 1352 he briefly seized the castle of Tzanicha against Emperor Alexios III of Trebizond.[5][8][9]
  • Sebastos Tzanichites (Σεβαστός Τζανιχίτης), megas stratopedarches, participated in a failed uprising against Empress Irene Palaiologina in summer 1340, banished to Limnia and executed in June 1341.[10][11][12]
  • Stephen Tzanichites (Στέφανος Τζανιχίτης), successor of Sebastos Tzanichites and megas konostaulos in 1344–1350.[10][13][14]
  • Michael Tzanichites (Μιχαήλ Τζανιχίτης), killed in a naval battle against the Genoese off Caffa.[10][15][16]
  • Constantine Tzanichites (Κωνσταντῖνος Τζανιχίτης), megas konostaulos in governor of Matzouka in c. 1365–1386.[17]
  • Constantine Tzanichites (Κωνσταντῖνος Τζανιχίτης), governor of Palaiomatzouka in 1415.Likely the same person as the previous.[4][18][19]
  • [NA] Tzanichites (Τζανιχίτης), landowner in Trebizond in 1433.[4][20]

Castle

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Bryer states that at Tzanicha (Canca) exists the remains of an old castle and two chapels. The castle is located on an elongated expanse of land 2 km northwest of modern Gümüşhane, and 400m above the south bank of the Kanis (Harsit) river. Both chapels contain paintings or inscriptions of Christian figures of the church.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b Savvides 2009, p. 208.
  2. ^ Bryer & Winfield 1985, p. 300.
  3. ^ Bryer & Winfield 1985, p. 303.
  4. ^ a b c Savvides 2009, p. 211.
  5. ^ a b c Savvides 2009, p. 209.
  6. ^ PLP, 27773. Τζανιχίτης Θεόδωρος.
  7. ^ PLP, 27778. Τζανιχίτισσα ̓Ερήνη.
  8. ^ PLP, 27774. Τζανιχίτης Ἰωάννης.
  9. ^ Michael Panaretos, ch. 51. Greek text and English translation in Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, pp. 24-27
  10. ^ a b c Savvides 2009, p. 210.
  11. ^ PLP, 27771. Τζανιχίτης.
  12. ^ Michael Panaretos, ch. 25, 26. Greek text and English translation in Scott Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 52 (Cambridge: Harvard University, 2019), pp. 12-15
  13. ^ PLP, 27777. Τζανιχίτης Στέφανος.
  14. ^ Michael Panaretos, ch. 38. Greek text and English translation in Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, pp. 18f
  15. ^ PLP, 27776. Τζανιχίτης Μιχαήλ.
  16. ^ Michael Panaretos, ch. 43. Greek text and English translation in Kennedy, Two Works on Trebizond, pp. 20ff.
  17. ^ Savvides 2009, pp. 210–211.
  18. ^ PLP, 27775. Τζανιχίτης Κωνσταντῖνος.
  19. ^ Bryer & Winfield 1985, p. 262.
  20. ^ PLP, 27772. Τζανιχίτης.
  21. ^ Bryer & Winfield 1985, pp. 309–310.

Sources

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  • Bryer, Anthony; Winfield, David (1985). The Byzantine Monuments and Topography of the Pontos, Volume One. Dumbarton Oaks Studies 20. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-122-X.
  • Savvides, Alexios G. K. (2009). Ιστορία της Αυτοκρατορίας των Μεγάλων Κομνηνών της Τραπεζούντας (1204–1461). 2η Έκδοση με προσθήκες [History of the Empire of the Grand Komnenoi of Trebizond (1204–1461). 2nd Edition with additions] (in Greek). Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis Brothers S.A. ISBN 978-960-467-121-2.
  • Trapp, Erich; Beyer, Hans-Veit; Kaplaneres, Sokrates; Leontiadis, Ioannis (1991). Prosopographisches Lexikon der Palaiologenzeit (in German). Vol. 11. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. ISBN 3-7001-3003-1.

Further reading

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  • Alexios Savvides (2002). "Τζάννοι-Τζανίτ-Τζανιχίτες: Το πρόβλημα της επιβίωσης ενός καυκασιανού λαού στο βυζαντινό Πόντο των Μεγαλοκομνηνών". Αρχείον Πόντου (in Greek). 49.
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