Battle of Mersivan

Last updated
Battle of Mersivan
Part of Crusades
DateAugust 1101
Location
Mersivan, now called Merzifon
Result Seljuk victory
Belligerents
Sultanate of Rum
Danishmend
Holy Roman Empire
Kingdom of France
Byzantine Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kilij Arslan I
Gazi Gümüshtigin
Raymond I of Tripoli
Stephen of Blois
Stephen I, Count of Burgundy
Strength
20,000 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Mersivan was fought between the European Crusaders and the Seljuk Turks led by Kilij Arslan I in Northern Anatolia during the Crusade of 1101. The Turks decisively defeated the Crusaders who lost an estimated four-fifths of their army near the mountains of Paphlagonia at Mersivan (Mersifon).

The Crusaders were organized into five divisions: the Burgundians, Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse and the Byzantines, the Germans, the French, and the Lombards. The land was well-suited to the Turks—dry and inhospitable for their enemy, it was open, with plenty of space for their cavalry units. The Turks had been troublesome to the Latins for some days, at last making certain that they went where Kilij Arslan I wanted them to be and making sure that they only found a small amount of supplies.

The battle took place over several days. On the first day, the Turks cut off the crusading armies’ advances and surrounded them. The next day, Conrad led his Germans in a raid that failed miserably. Not only did they fail to open the Turkish lines, they were unable to return to the main crusader army and had to take refuge in a nearby stronghold. This meant that they were cut off from supplies, aid, and communication for an attack that may have taken place had the Germans been able to provide their own military strength.

The third day was somewhat quiet, with little or no serious fighting taking place, but on the fourth day, the crusaders made an intensive effort to free themselves from the trap that they were in. The crusaders inflicted heavy losses on the Turks, but the attack was a failure by the end of the day. Kilij Arslan was joined by Ridwan of Aleppo and other powerful Danishmend princes.

The Lombards, in the vanguard, were defeated, the Pechenegs deserted, and the French and Germans were also forced to fall back. Raymond was trapped on a rock and was rescued by Stephen and Conrad, constable of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The battle continued into the next day, when the crusader camp was captured and the knights fled, leaving women, children, and priests behind to be killed or enslaved. Most of the Lombards, who had no horses, were soon found and killed or enslaved by the Turks. Raymond, Stephen, Count of Blois, and Stephen I, Count of Burgundy fled north to Sinope, and returned to Constantinople by ship. [1]

Related Research Articles

The 1090s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1090, and ended on December 31, 1099.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1099</span> Calendar year

Year 1099 (MXCIX) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.

The 1100s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1100, and ended on December 31, 1109.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1101</span> Calendar year

Year 1101 (MCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. It was the 2nd year of the 1100s decade, and the 1st year of the 12th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1176</span> Calendar year

Year 1176 (MCLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar, the 1176th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 176th year of the 2nd millennium, the 76th year of 12th century, and the 7th year of the 1170s decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1190</span> Calendar year

Year 1190 (MCXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1096</span> Calendar year

Year 1096 (MXCVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1105</span> Calendar year

Year 1105 (MCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Crusade</span> 1096–1099 Christian conquest of the Holy Land

The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Kilij Arslan ibn Suleiman (‎1079–1107) was the Seljuq Sultan of Rum from 1092 until his death in 1107. He ruled the Sultanate during the time of the First Crusade and thus faced the earliest attacks from Christian forces. He also re-established the Sultanate of Rum after the death of Malik Shah I of the Seljuk Empire and defeated the Crusaders in three battles during the Crusade of 1101. Kilij Arslan was the first Muslim and Turkish commander to fight against the Crusaders, commanding his horse archers as a teenager.

Kilij Arslan II or ʿIzz ad-Dīn Kilij Arslān ibn Masʿūd was a Seljuk Sultan of Rûm from 1156 until his death in 1192.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert II, Count of Flanders</span> Count of Flanders

Robert II, Count of Flanders was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as Robert of Jerusalem or Robert the Crusader after his exploits in the First Crusade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)</span> Early battle during the First Crusade

The Battle of Dorylaeum took place during the First Crusade on 1 July 1097 between the crusader forces and the Seljuk Turks, near the city of Dorylaeum in Anatolia. Though the Turkish forces of Kilij Arslan nearly destroyed the Crusader contingent of Bohemond, other Crusaders arrived just in time to reverse the course of the battle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crusade of 1101</span> Smaller crusade

The Crusade of 1101 was a minor crusade of three separate movements, organized in 1100 and 1101 in the successful aftermath of the First Crusade. It is also called the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted due to the number of participants who joined this crusade after having turned back from the First Crusade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Nicaea</span> Part of the First Crusade (1097)

The siege of Nicaea was the first major battle of the First Crusade, taking place from 14 May to 19 June 1097. The city was under the control of the Seljuk Turks who opted to surrender to the Byzantines in fear of the crusaders breaking into the city. The siege was followed by the Battle of Dorylaeum and the Siege of Antioch, all taking place in modern Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida of Formbach-Ratelnberg</span> 11th- and 12th-century Austrian noblewoman

Ida of Austria was a Margravine of Austria by marriage to Leopold II of Austria. She was a crusader, participating in the Crusade of 1101 with her own army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Xerigordos</span> Battle in the Peoples (First) Crusade

The siege of Xerigordos in 1096, often Xerigordon in modern historical literature, pitted 6,000 Germans of the People's Crusade under Reinald of Broyes against the Turks commanded by Elchanes, general of Kilij Arslan, the Seljuk Sultan of Rûm. The crusader raiding party captured the Turkish fort of Xerigordos, about four days' march from Nicaea, in an attempt to set up a pillaging outpost. Elchanes arrived three days later and besieged the crusaders. The defenders had no water supply, and after eight days of siege, they surrendered on September 29. Some of the Crusaders converted to Islam, while others who refused were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Civetot</span> Battle in 1096 in Anatolia

The Battle of Civetot was fought between the forces of the People's Crusade and of the Seljuk Turks of Anatolia on 21 October 1096. The battle brought an end to the People's Crusade, before the Princes' Crusade.

The following is an overview of the armies of First Crusade, including the armies of the European noblemen of the "Princes' Crusade", the Byzantine army, a number of Independent crusaders as well as the People's Crusade and the subsequent Crusade of 1101 and other European campaigns prior to the Second Crusade beginning in 1147.

The battles of Heraclea were a series of battles fought during the Crusade of 1101 between Crusaders led by William II, Count of Nevers and the Sultanate of Rum led by Kilij Arslan I. Both battles resulted in a Turkish victory.

References

  1. Runciman, Steven (1987). A history of the Crusades, vol. 2: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN   052134770X. OCLC   17461930.

Sources