Chaldia ( Greek : Χαλδία , Khaldia ) was a historical region located in the mountainous interior of the eastern Black Sea , northeast Anatolia (modern Turkey ). Its name was derived from a people called the Chaldoi (or Chalybes ) that inhabited the region in antiquity . Chaldia was used throughout the Byzantine period and was established as a formal theme , known as the Theme of Chaldia (Greek: θέμα Χαλδίας), by 840. During the Late Middle Ages , it formed the core of the Empire of Trebizond until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461.
21-618: Anthony Bryer traces the origin of its name not to Chaldea , as Constantine VII had done, but to the Urartian language , for whose speakers Ḫaldi was the Sun God . Bryer notes at the time of his writing that a number of villages in the Of district were still known as "Halt". Other scholars, however, reject the Urartian connection. Χάλυψ, the tribe's name in Greek , means "tempered iron, steel ",
42-469: A Syriac Christian . Whether it was his grandfather, or he himself, who converted to Islam under al-Muktafi bi-Allah in ca. 902–908 is unclear. Ibn al-Nadim described him as a master of literary style, a polished writer and distinguished philosopher of Logic despite having an uneducated father. He held various junior administrative positions in the caliphal secretariat in Baghdad , and eventually rose to
63-726: A Newman Scholar until 1964 while preparing his doctorate on the Empire of Trebizond , which he completed in 1967. From 1964 he was Research Fellow and from 1965 Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Birmingham , where he created a programme in Byzantine studies . He founded the journal Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in 1975, and the Centre for Byzantine Studies in 1976 (serving as its first director until 1994). He
84-527: A term that passed into Latin as chalybs , "steel". Sayce derived the Greek name Chalybe from Hittite Khaly-wa , "land of Halys". More than an identifiable people or tribe, "Chalybes" was a generic Greek term for "peoples of the Black Sea coast who trade in iron". Initially, the name Chaldia was consigned to the highland region around Gümüşhane , in northeast Anatolia , but in the middle Byzantine period,
105-404: A theme in its own right. Arab geographers of the 9th and 10th centuries report differently on the theme: Ibn Khordadbeh reports that it counted six fortified places, Qudama ibn Ja'far that its troops numbered 4,000, while Ibn al-Faqih writes that its governing strategos commanded 10,000 men (certainly exaggerated) and had two subordinate tourmarchai . According to 10th-century documents,
126-499: The strategos of Chaldia received twenty pounds of gold as an annual salary, of which half was paid by the state treasury and the rest came from the tax proceeds of his province, including the kommerkion tax on the important trade routes from the East that converged on Trapezus. In the early 10th century, the theme's southern portion, the district of Keltzene, was detached and added to the newly established theme of Mesopotamia . Until
147-528: The 14th century, the Empire was reduced practically to the territory of the old theme. The Empire of Trebizond managed to survive through successive upheavals by a combination of its inaccessible location, a small but capable army, and a sound diplomacy based on marriage alliances, before finally falling to the Ottomans in 1461. Even thereafter, isolated fortresses in the interior continued to resist. Only in 1479
168-693: The Conway Library at the Courtauld Institute of Art , London. This collection includes architectural images, religious and secular, across many countries and is in the process of being digitised as part of the Courtauld Connects project. Bryer was awarded an OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours for services to scholarship. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1973. Bryer's contribution to
189-505: The earliest ironsmith nations by Classical writers. Indeed, the Greek name for steel is chalybas (Greek: χάλυβας), possibly deriving from them. According to Apollonius of Rhodes , the Chalybes were Scythians . The first Greek colony was that of Trapezus, founded by Greek traders from Miletus , traditionally dated to 756 BC. Greek colonization was restricted to the coast, and in later ages Roman control remained likewise only nominal over
210-683: The eastern gains in the latter 10th century, Chaldia remained the northeastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire. During the periods 1091/1095–1098 and 1126–1140, the theme was practically autonomous from the Byzantine government. During the first period, under its doux , Theodore Gabras , the region had been cut off from the remaining Byzantine territories by the Seljuk Turks , while during the second period, doux Constantine Gabras had rebelled against Emperor John II Komnenos . After
231-514: The name was extended to include the coastal areas, and thus the entire province around Trapezus (Trebizond, modern Trabzon ). Forming the easternmost area of the Pontic Alps , Chaldia was bounded to the north by the Black Sea, to the east by Lazica , the westernmost part of Caucasian Iberia , to the south by Erzincan , Erzurum and what the Romans and Byzantines called Armenia Minor , and to
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#1732766251575252-650: The region gave the name Argyropolis ("silver town", modern Gümüşhane) to the principal settlement . The one surviving word from the Chaldian language, Kakamar (the Chaldian name for the Black Sea ), points toward an Indo-European connection. Strabo identifies the Chaldians with the ancient people of Chalybia and describes them as rough and warlike. The first local inhabitants, the Chalybes , were counted among
273-638: The sack of Constantinople in 1204 by Latin crusaders, two Byzantine successor states were established: the Empire of Nicaea , and the Despotate of Epirus . A third, the Empire of Trebizond , was created after Alexios Komnenos , commanding the Georgian expedition in Chaldia a few weeks before the sack of Constantinople, found himself de facto emperor, and established himself in Trebizond . Indeed, by
294-469: The study of the Byzantine world includes the following: Qudama ibn Ja%27far Qudāma ibn Jaʿfar al-Kātib al-Baghdādī ( Arabic : قدامة بن جعفر الكاتب البغدادي ; c. 873 – c. 932/948), was a Syriac scholar and administrator for the Abbasid Caliphate . Little is known with certainty about Qudama's life and work. He was probably born ca. 873/874, possibly at Basra . His grandfather was
315-560: The tribes of the interior. The coastal regions, however, belonged to the Roman province of Pontus Polemoniacus . Only during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) were the warlike tribes, the Sannoi or Tzannoi , subdued, Christianized, and brought under central rule. Justinian included the entire region in the newly constituted province of Armenia I Magna with Trapezus as its capital (under Emperor Maurice , it
336-439: The west by the western half of Pontus. Its main cities were the two ancient Greek colonies, Kerasus (modern Giresun ) and Trapezus, situated in the coastal lowlands. The mountainous interior to the south, known as Mesochaldia ("Middle Chaldia"), was more sparsely inhabited and described by the 6th-century historian Procopius as "inaccessible", but rich in mineral deposits, especially lead, but also silver and gold. The mines of
357-624: Was a British historian of the Byzantine Empire who founded the journal Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies and the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham . Anthony Bryer was born on 31 October 1937 in Southsea, Portsmouth . He was the son of Group Captain Gerald Bryer OBE and Joan Bryer (née Grigsby), a Special Operations Executive employee. Part of his childhood
378-572: Was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1973, Reader in Byzantine Studies in 1977, and finally in 1980 appointed Professor of Byzantine Studies, a post which he held until his retirement in 1999. In a distinguished career he has held fellowships at Athens University , Dumbarton Oaks and Merton College , Oxford. He was Public Orator of the University of Birmingham from 1991 to 1999. A number of photographs attributed to Bryer appear in
399-472: Was renamed Armenia III ). In the second half of the 7th century, with the establishment of the theme system , the region (Pontus Polemoniacus with the portion of Armenia I known as Keltzene ) became part of the Armeniac Theme , initially as the tourma (division) of Chaldia, and later as a semi-distinct duchy ( doukaton ) or archontate . By 840, and perhaps as early as 824, it was constituted as
420-632: Was spent in Jerusalem where he was first acquainted with Sir Steven Runciman , historian and Byzantine scholar. In 1961 he married Elizabeth Lipscomb, a fellow Oxford student; they had three daughters. She died in 1995 and Bryer married Jennifer Ann Banks, a fellow Birmingham academic, in 1998. Bryer died on 22 October 2016. Bryer was educated at Copthorne Preparatory School (1945–51) and Canford School (1951–55), and after completing his National Service he studied history at Balliol College, Oxford ( BA 1958–61). He remained at Balliol as
441-624: Was the region subdued, when the castle of Golacha, the last remaining Christian stronghold in Asia Minor , fell. Significant numbers of Pontic Greeks remained in the region throughout the Ottoman period, until the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey . 40°30′N 39°30′E / 40.5°N 39.5°E / 40.5; 39.5 Anthony Bryer Anthony Applemore Mornington Bryer OBE , FSA , FRHistS (31 October 1937 – 22 October 2016)
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