Tea Karchava

Abstract

The disintegration of the unified Georgian kingdom in the fifteenth century and the accompanying internal political tensions appear to have resulted in the deliberate destruction of a considerable body of local Georgian sources. The fall of Constantinople likewise led to the loss of countless books, making the study of the past of peoples belonging to the Byzantine civilizational sphere considerably more difficult. Consequently, the introduction of a broader range of European sources into scholarly circulation, including works produced by émigrés, can add important new dimensions to the study of Georgia’s past.

Theodore Spandounes (fifteenth–sixteenth centuries) was a descendant of Greek émigrés who, like many of their compatriots, settled in Italy, particularly Venice, after the fall of Byzantium. He was the author of an Italian-language treatise, On the Origin of the Ottomans and the History of Their Rulers, inspired by impressions gained through direct contact. His depiction of events from the perspective of a prominent late Byzantine family remains compelling, an effect reinforced by both the purpose of the work and its intended audience. Spandounes sought, on the one hand, to provide the Christian West with comprehensive and objective eyewitness information about the origins, government, social structure, religion, and customs of the Ottomans and to warn it of the threat emerging from the East. On the other hand, his work also provides information about potential allies in the Eastern Christian world. Due to the breadth and diversity of its information, the treatise constitutes a valuable source for reconstructing the period.

Although he remained an Orthodox Christian, Spandounes considered cooperation with the Roman Curia necessary for maintaining the relevance of the late crusading ideal and consequently served as an adviser and confidant to several popes.

According to his account, the author’s mother was the granddaughter of George Kantakouzenos, a prominent early fifteenth-century Byzantine aristocrat, military figure, and adventurer. Although modern scholars approach Spandounes’ testimony with caution and have criticized his occasionally arbitrary treatment of facts, the information he provides concerning the matrimonial alliances of his ancestors remains noteworthy. Historians attribute to Spandounes the statement that one of George Kantakouzenos’ sisters, Irene, was married to the Serbian despot Đurađ Branković; another sister, Helena, to David, the last emperor of Trebizond; while a third, unnamed sister is said to have been the wife of a Georgian king.

This version has encountered well-founded scholarly objections, and Georgian narrative sources do not allow the information to be conclusively verified. Nevertheless, a comparative analysis of European materials and evidence preserved in the charters of fifteenth-century Georgian kings enables us to propose new interpretations both concerning the origins of this tradition and the complex circumstances surrounding the fragmentation of the Georgian kingdom.

Byzantine émigrés in Europe were among the principal advocates of the idea of a new “crusade” against the Ottomans, at a time when the fall of Constantinople was still a relatively recent event. In this context, the author’s awareness of the geographical and cultural-civilizational scope of his ancestors’ matrimonial ties with Byzantine ruling circles could have served as a kind of guide for those seeking allies among Eastern Christians for the creation of anti-Ottoman coalitions.

During a period of turbulence caused by the conspicuous Ottoman advance both in the Balkans and further east—an era marked, on the one hand, by attempts to form anti-Ottoman alliances and, on the other, by policies based on economic interests and strict state rationality—information of this kind provides a more evidence-based understanding of Georgia’s geopolitical positioning, foreign-policy orientations, and international contacts.

Keywords: Byzantine diaspora; European accounts of Eastern Christians; matrimonial alliances as an instrument of political partnership.