5. Michael Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond on two occasions, the first of which lasted just a single day
Michael Megas Komnenos was the son of Emperor John II of Trebizond and himself reigning as Emperor of Trebizond on two separate occasions. The second lasted from May 3, 1344, CE to December 13, 1349, whilst the former spanned less than a single day: July 30, 1341. In 1341, Michael returned from exile with the support of a political faction to assume the imperial throne, which was at that time inhabited by his niece: Anna Anachoutlou. Arriving in Trebizond on July 30, 1341, Michael was greeted as the legitimate heir and with the support of the populace and much of the nobility was proclaimed Emperor. But the public support of the nobility proved to be little more than a facade, not wishing to be ruled by a competent and mature male ruler and preferring instead his young niece. Consequently, on his first night as emperor Michael was imprisoned, his supporters scattered, and the following day Michael was sent into exile and captivity under the Byzantine Grand Duke John the Eunuch. This imprisonment endured even when Michael’s son, John III, became emperor in September 1342.
However, John III proved an incompetent monarch and was rapidly deposed, resulting in the freeing of Michael and his coronation on May 3, 1344. Yet this still change in status proved of limited value to Michael, for Niketas, the noble who had orchestrated his ascension, forced the new emperor to elevate him to the rank of Grand Duke and sign away much of his power to his ministers. Although Michael successfully fought back, imprisoning Niketas in 1345, Trebizond entered a period of significant decline. The Turkmen attacked the Empire in 1346, the Black Death decimated the population in 1347, and the city of Kerasous was lost to the Genoese in 1348. In poor health and advancing age, the discredited Michael was deposed on December 13, 1349, fittingly, by Grand Duke Niketas, and forced to become a monk. Despite attempting in 1355 to regain his throne one last time, he was refused entrance to his own former capital city and died in exile in Constantinople.