and escorted him into the palace. As soon as night fell, however, the nobles imprisoned Michael, not wishing to be ruled by a mature and forceful monarch. Anna's Lazic troops dispersed Michael's supporters and plundered his ships. The following day he was sent off to Oinaion and then Limnia, where he was held captive by the megas doux John the Eunuch. When Michael's own son, John III, became emperor in September 1342, Michael remained in prison. John's incompetent rule alienated his chief supporters, chief of these was Niketas who marched with the army to Limnia (where John the Eunuch had recently been slain), freed Michael and returned with him to Trebizond. John III was deposed and sent to the monastery of St Sabas under a Byzantine guard, while the nobles supporting him were killed. Michael was crowned on May 3, 1344. Reign Michael granted Niketas the title of megas doux and was forced to sign the document which gave Niketas and his ministers almost all power in the Empire, promising to seek their counsel in all official actions. This constitutional experiment was short-lived, because the greatest opposition came from the people of Trebizond. They were infuriated to see the Emperor stripped of his effective authority and rose up in revolt against the oligarchy of the Scholarioi. Michael swiftly took advantage of the opportunity, and arrested and imprisoned Niketas in 1345. Also, he sent his son John off to Constantinople and then Adrianople where he was to be kept prisoner to prevent him from becoming a further focus for the discontented nobles of Trebizond. Taking advantage of the instability in Trebizond, the Turkmen attacked the Empire in 1346, capturing the towns of Hagios Andreas and Oinaion. In September 1347, the Black Death struck Trebizond, raging for seven months. Its effects on the city is unclear: Andrew Libadenos, who was at Trebizond at the time, makes no mention of the epidemic, while Michael Panaretos describes how the Black Death carried off "many: children, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, mothers, and kinsmen." Another Turkmen invasion the following year led to a three-day battle. Despite the victory, Michael's reputation as ruler was not strengthened. In 1348, the Genoese seized Kerasous, the second most important city of the Empire in revenge for a massacre of Genoese by the Trapezuntines some years earlier. In May 1349, a Genoese expedition from Caffa was launched against Trebizond. The small