Siege of Trebizond (1222–23)

The Siege of Trebizond in 1222–1223 was an unsuccessful siege of Trebizond, the capital of the namesake empire, by the Seljuq Turks under a certain Melik. The latter is usually identified with the Sultan of Iconium, Kayqubad I (r. 1220–1237), but also with the Seljuq emir of Bayburt Mugit al-Din Tughril Shah, or with one of Kayqubad's sons. According to the late 14th-century Miracles of Saint Eugenius (Trebizond's patron saint), the city was close to being captured, but was saved by an unusually severe winter. The Seljuq assaults were repulsed, and their army was annihilated on its retreat through the attacks of the Matzoukaites, fierce mountain tribes under Trebizond's rule. The failure of the siege led to the termination of Trebizond's vassal status to the Sultanate of Iconium, which had been in place since 1214. Trebizondian independence, however, would last only until the Battle of Yassıçemen in 1231, in whose aftermath Trebizond again acknowledged Seljuq suzerainty.