Battle of Lemnos (1024)

Last updated

The Battle of Lemnos in 1024 was the culmination of a raid by Kievan Rus' troops through the Dardanelles and into the Aegean Sea. It was the penultimate conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the Rus'.

Battle of Lemnos
Part of Rus'-Byzantine wars
Date1024
Location
Result Byzantine victory
Belligerents
Rus' Byzantine empire
Commanders and leaders
unknown David of Ohrid
Nikephoros Kabasilas

The only source for the conflict is the history of John Skylitzes. According to Skylitzes, in 1024 a Rus' leader named Chrysocheir assembled 800 men and sailed to Constantinople, aiming to enlist in the Varangian Guard of Emperor Basil II (r. 976–1025). [1] [2] This Chrysocheir was a relative of the late Kievan prince Vladimir of Kiev, who had married the Emperor's sister Anna. [1] [2] His real name is unknown, and "Chrysocheir" is most likely a Greek translation of his name, meaning "gold-hand". Blondal proposed that it derived either from Old Norse Auđmundr, or from Old English Eadmund. [3] [4]

At Constantinople, Chrysocheir and his men were asked to surrender their weapons before being allowed into the city to enlist. The Rus' refused, and instead sailed south through the Propontis. The commander of the Dardanelles straits at Abydos tried to block their path, but they defeated him and sailed through the straits to the Aegean Sea. They then made for the island of Lemnos, where they were confronted by a much stronger Byzantine fleet, comprising the forces of the strategos of Samos David of Ohrid, the fleet of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme, and the troops of the doux of Thessalonica, Nikephoros Kabasilas. The Byzantine commanders initially pretended that they wanted to negotiate, so that the Rus' were lulled into false security. Then the Byzantines fell upon them suddenly and killed them all. [1] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil II</span> Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025

Basil II Porphyrogenitus, nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer, was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas and John Tzimiskes before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the de facto ruler until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varangian Guard</span> Elite unit of the Byzantine Army

The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from Northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mstislav of Chernigov</span> Earliest attested prince of Tmutarakan and Chernigov in Kievan Rus

Mstislav Vladimirovich was the earliest attested prince of Tmutarakan and Chernigov in Kievan Rus'. He was a younger son of Vladimir the Great, the grand prince of Kiev. His father appointed him to rule Tmutarakan, an important fortress by the Strait of Kerch, in or after 988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Constantinople (860)</span> 860 battle of the Rus-Byzantine Wars

The siege of Constantinople in 860 was the only major military expedition of the Rus' people recorded in Byzantine and Western European sources. The casus belli was the construction of the fortress Sarkel by Byzantine engineers, restricting the Rus' trade route along the Don River in favour of the Khazars. Accounts vary, with discrepancies between contemporary and later sources, and the outcome is unknown in detail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo of Tripoli</span> 10th-century Greek-born naval officer of the Abbasid Caliphate

Leo of Tripoli, known in Arabic as Rashīq al-Wardāmī, and Ghulām Zurāfa, was a Greek renegade and fleet commander for the Abbasid Caliphate in the early tenth century. He is most notable for his sack of Thessalonica, the Byzantine Empire's second city, in 904.

The Battle of Kapetron or Kapetrou was fought between a Byzantine-Georgian army and the Seljuq Turks at the plain of Kapetron in 1048. The event was the culmination of a major raid led by the Seljuq prince Ibrahim Inal into Byzantine-ruled Armenia. A combination of factors meant that the regular Byzantine forces were at a considerable numerical disadvantage against the Turks: the local thematic armies had been disbanded, while many of the professional troops had been diverted to the Balkans to face the revolt of Leo Tornikios. As a result, the Byzantine commanders, Aaron and Katakalon Kekaumenos, disagreed on how best to confront the invasion. Kekaumenos favoured an immediate and pre-emptive strike, while Aaron favoured a more cautious strategy until the arrival of reinforcements. Emperor Constantine IX chose the latter option and ordered his forces to adopt a passive stance, while requesting aid from the ruler of Georgian Duchy of Kldekari, Liparit IV. This allowed the Turks to ravage at will, notably leading to the sack and destruction of the great commercial centre of Artze.

Eustathios Daphnomeles was a Byzantine strategos and patrician who distinguished himself in the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria. He ranks as one of the most prominent and successful generals in the thirty-year war between Emperor Basil II and Samuel of Bulgaria, helping to end the long conflict by blinding and capturing the last Bulgarian leader, Ibatzes, in 1018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kievan Rus'</span> State in Europe, c. 880 to 1240

Kievan Rus', also known as Kyivan Rus', was the first East Slavic state and later an amalgam of principalities in Eastern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century. Encompassing a variety of polities and peoples, including East Slavic, Norse, and Finnic, it was ruled by the Rurik dynasty, founded by the Varangian prince Rurik. The name was coined by Russian historians in the 19th century to describe the period when Kiev was at the center. At its greatest extent in the mid-11th century, Kievan Rus' stretched from the White Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south and from the headwaters of the Vistula in the west to the Taman Peninsula in the east, uniting the East Slavic tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varangians</span> Slavic and Greek designation of Vikings

The Varangians were Viking conquerors, traders and settlers, mostly from present-day Sweden. The Varangians settled in the territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine from the 8th and 9th centuries, and established the state of Kievan Rus' as well as the principalities of Polotsk and Turov. They also formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard, which later also included Anglo-Saxons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikephoros Komnenos</span> Byzantine military leader

Nikephoros Komnenos was a Byzantine military leader under the emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII. He served as governor of the Armenian region of Vaspurakan, and is one of the first known members of the Komnenos family, which came to rule the Byzantine Empire in 1081–1185.

Nikephoros Kabasilas was a Byzantine military commander.

David of Ohrid was a Byzantine military commander.

Michael Kourtikios was a senior Byzantine military commander and a partisan of Bardas Skleros during the latter's rebellion against Basil II.

Leo Apostyppes or Apostoupes was a Byzantine military leader active in the 880s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cephalonia</span> Medieval naval battle between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Aghlabids; Roman victory

The Battle of Cephalonia was a naval battle fought between the Byzantine and Aghlabid fleets near Cephalonia, off the western coast of Greece. The battle was a major Byzantine victory, and one of the rare naval battles that took place during the night in the Middle Ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kardia</span>

The Battle of Kardia was a naval battle fought in c. 872/3 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Cretan Saracens off Kardia, in the Gulf of Saros. The battle was a major Byzantine victory.

Photios was a Byzantine renegade and convert to Islam who served the Emirate of Crete as a naval commander in the 870s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Euripos</span> Arab-Byzantine Conflicts

The siege of Euripos occurred in the mid-880s, when an Abbasid fleet, led by the emir of Tarsos, Yazaman al-Khadim, laid siege to the city. The local Byzantine commander, Oiniates, successfully defended the city and destroyed a large part of the besieging force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of the Gulf of Corinth</span> Naval battle during the Arab–Byzantine wars

The Battle of the Gulf of Corinth was fought in c. 873 between the fleets of the Byzantine Empire and the Cretan Saracens in the Gulf of Corinth. The Byzantines under Niketas Ooryphas managed to surprise the Saracens, resulting in a major Byzantine victory.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wortley 2010, p. 347.
  2. 1 2 Blondal 1978, p. 50.
  3. Blondal 1978, p. 51.
  4. PmbZ, Chrysocheir (#21341).
  5. Blondal 1978, pp. 50–51.

Sources