Matarkha, the old Tmutarakan, stands on the Taman peninsula across the strait from Korchev.
It was a Rus' principality in the 11th century, held by Mstislav and later by Oleg Sviatoslavich, grandfather of the Olgovichi, who left it for Chernigov in 1094. Byzantium then ruled it through client rulers and more directly for a while: until the end of the 12th century the emperors kept the Genoese out of "Rosia and Matracha". In the 13th century it passed to Trebizond.
The Olgovichi remember it as their grandfather's town: the Tale of Igor's Campaign has Igor set out in 1185 to seek Tmutarakan. Who holds it on 1 January 1200 is not pinned; the Cumans range the Kuban steppe beyond it.
Who holds it
- Name
- not pinned: Byzantine officers or local archons under the empire (thin)
- Title
- not pinned
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- not applicable
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Tmutarakan): "up until the end of the 12th century the imperial authorities were forbidding their Genoese trading partners access" to Matracha.
Lord in 1200
Not pinned; the empire still treats Matracha as its own (Genoese ships kept out until the end of the 12th century).
How things stand that morning
Byzantine-claimed port (thin); holder not pinned.
Communities
Greeks, Zikhs (Circassians), Alans and Cumans (not pinned for 1200).
Fairs and markets
None recorded.
Walls and castle
The old town walls of the Rus' and Byzantine periods (state in 1200 not pinned).
Trade and crafts
The strait crossing; trade between the Crimea, the Kuban, the Caucasus and Byzantium; fishing.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- 13th century (after this year)Passes to the empire of Trebizond; later the Genoese Matrega.Depends on: the fall of Constantinople
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: One line of evidence for the late 12th century (the Genoese exclusion); no holder named.
On the map: Point only; the Taman peninsula is anchored to the Byzantine claim.
Primary sources for Byzantium
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- History of Niketas Choniates, Niketas Choniates (about 1185 to 1217, in stages, with a final revision in exile at Nicaea after 1204). The central narrative for the Byzantine Empire under Alexios III Angelos: the Bulgarian and Vlach war under Kaloyan, the breakaway of Ivanko in the Rhodopes and his capture by treachery in 1200, Dobromir Chrysos at Prosek and Strumica and the emperor's campaign and settlement with him, the Cuman raids into Thrace, John Komnenos the Fat's one-day revolt at Constantinople on 31 July 1200, the loosening of imperial control in the provinces and the rise of Leo Sgouros, and the court's fiscal abuses. Read online
- The Capture of Constantinople, Gunther of Pairis (about 1205 to 1210). Written at the Cistercian abbey of Pairis in Alsace from the account of its abbot Martin, who preached the crusade at Basel in 1200 (Gunther gives the sermon) and led a contingent from the Upper Rhine. Read online
- The Conquest of Constantinople, Robert de Clari, knight of Picardy (about 1205 to 1216). A rank-and-file crusader's account that begins with the preaching of the crusade and the taking of the cross in 1199 to 1200 by the counts of Flanders, Blois and Champagne and by the Picard lords, among them Peter of Amiens, Robert's own lord, then the negotiations with Venice. Read online
- The Palace Revolution of John Komnenos (31 July 1200), Nicholas Mesarites (1200 or soon after). An eyewitness narrative of the one-day coup of John Komnenos the Fat at Constantinople on 31 July 1200: the crowning of the usurper in Hagia Sophia, the mob's plunder of the Great Palace, the stand of the palace clergy and the guard at the church of the Virgin of the Pharos, where Mesarites was skeuophylax, and the recovery of the palace by Alexios III's men that night. Read online
- History of the doges of Venice (about 1229, with a continuation). The earliest surviving Venetian narrative close to the events. Read online
- The Conquest of Constantinople (Villehardouin), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (about 1207 to 1213). Opens with the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly and the tournament at Ecry (28 November 1199) where Theobald III of Champagne and Louis of Blois took the cross, then the taking of the cross by Baldwin of Flanders, Hugh of Saint-Pol, Geoffrey of Perche and others through early 1200, the assemblies at Soissons and Compiegne in 1200, and the six envoys sent to Venice in the winter of 1200 to 1201. Read online
- The History of the Seljuks of Rum, Ibn Bibi (Nasir al-Din Husayn ibn Muhammad) (about 1281 to 1285, at Konya). The main Seljuk narrative for Rum begins with Kilij Arslan II's partition of the sultanate among his sons and his death (1192), Kaykhusraw I's first reign at Konya, his deposition in 1196 to 1197 by Rukn al-Din Sulayman II, Kaykhusraw's wanderings to Cilician Armenia, Aleppo and Constantinople, Sulayman's reduction of his brothers' towns (Tokat, Malatya, Amasya, and Ankara by 1204) and his Erzurum and Georgian campaigns. Read online
7 more in the sources library for The Balkans and Byzantium.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.