| Battle of Laodicea (1147) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Crusade | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Holy Roman Empire | Sultanate of Rum | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Otto of Freising Bernard of Carinthia † | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Laodicea was a military engagement during the Second Crusade. The German contingent led by Otto of Freising was ambushed and destroyed near Laodicea by the Seljuk Turks.
The German king, Conrad III, crossed Anatolia with his army. The German army was divided into two, one led by the German king himself, which had the knights and infantry, while the second force was led by Bishop and brother of the king, Otto of Freising which consisted of infantry and camp followers. The second contingent was to take the coastal road. On October 25, 1147, the main German army led by the king was ambushed by the Seljuks at Dorylauem. The German force was destroyed and the king was wounded, forcing him to retreat back to Byzantine lands. [2]
The second German force took the coastal route through the Aegean Sea. They then turned to Alaşehir where they arrived at Meander River. The Germans did not have proper boats to cross the river, so they were forced to pass by themselves, which weakened and exhausted their forces. [3] Weakened, they headed towards Laodicea up to Gediz River hoping to rest and gather supplies there. However the Germans were ambushed by the Seljuks, inflicting heavy losses on them. [4] [5] Count Bernard of Carinthia was killed alongside the majority of his men. [6] Otto was forced to retreat to the coast, marching towards Antalya. [7] [8] The Germans faced exhasution, starvation, and thirst, forcing them to kill their horses and cattle. Seeing this, the Seljuks attacked them. Showing no sign of resistance, only a handful of men survived and reached Antalya. [9] Otto reached Antalya and traveled to Jerusalem through the sea, while others slowly made their way to the Levant using coastal roads. [10]
The 1090s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1090, and ended on December 31, 1099.
The 1140s was a decade of the Julian Calendar which began on January 1, 1140, and ended on December 31, 1149.
Year 1147 (MCXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Year 1112 (MCXII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Year 1211 (MCCXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Year 1148 (MCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Year 1074 (MLXXIV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
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