«Τραβῴδ’, Γαβρᾶ, τραβῴδ’, Γαβρᾶ, νὲ Γαβροκωσταντῖνε». Some Remarks about the Gabras Family in the Pontic Folk Tradition

The Gabrades probably descended from an Armenian family of akritai, the Christian border warlords who fought against the Muslims on behalf of the Empire, and were among the most powerful and influential lineages of Byzantium’s military aristocracy since the second half of the 10th century, despite the rebellious attitude of many of its members. The family estates were located on the north-eastern edge of Anatolia, between the themata of Chaldia and Koloneia, thus the Gabrades were among the first to face the Turks after the battle of Mantzikert (1071), but while some of them came to terms with the newcomers, others decided to fight against the invaders. Theodore (fl. 1067-1100 ca.) was the most famous member of the latter group, since he reconquered Trebizond from the Turks with his own forces, ruled the city almost as an independent ruler – albeit formally as an imperial official – and was later martyred. His alleged nephew Constantine was appointed duke of Trebizond as well (1119 ca.) and behaved just like his predecessor, acting as a sovereign prince until he was ousted during the early 1140s. Although the fortunes of the lineage gradually declined from the second half of the 12th century, Theodore and Constantine Gabras were considered as the ‘founding fathers’ of Pontic autonomy and the forerunners of the Empire of Trebizond by the local population. Their deeds soon became the subject of the Pontic popular culture, for they were sang in poems and praised in hagiographical 177 texts from the Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century. This paper examines how they were remembered in popular tradition in comparison to what is known about them from medieval sources, thus trying to understand which ‘parts of them’, either invented, reworked or historical, became part of the Pontic heritage.