Expedition to Iconium (1146)

Last updated
Siege of Konya (Iconium)
Part of the Byzantine-Seljuk wars
DateSpring 1146
Location
Near Iconium, (now Konya), Turkey
Result Seljuk victory
Belligerents
Byzantine Empire Seljuk Turks
Commanders and leaders
Manuel I Komnenos Mesud I
Casualties and losses
20,000 killed Unknown

The Expedition to Iconium was a military campaign launched by the Byzantine Empire against the Seljuk capital of Iconium in the spring of 1146. The army besieged the city, but failed to capture it.

Contents

Background

In 1143, the Danishmendid Sultan Melik Mehmed Gazi died, which resulted in a civil war between Melik Zünnun and his uncles Yağıbasan and Ayn el-Devle, which ended in the division of the Danishmend lands between them, with each three ruling their own territory. The Seljuk Sultan Mesud I decided to take advantage of the civil war and invade the Danishmendids. [1] [2] Mesud captured Sivas (Sebastea) and Yukarı Seyhan from Yağıbasan, defeating him, and captured Adana and Elbistan (Plastentia) from Ayn el-Devle; he then besieged Malatya (Melitene) from Melik Zünnun from 1143–1144, [3] [4] realizing they could not withstand Mesud's attack, they allied with the Byzantine Empire, which put Mesud in a two-front war and forced him to withdraw. In spring 1145, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos launched his first expedition but retreated upon getting ill or upon learning his sister Maria Komnene was ill. [5] Upon this hasty withdrawal, the Seljuks thought the Byzantines were having internal problems and weren't ready to have a long conflict, which encouraged them to attack the Byzantines, which alerted Manuel and prepared him to attack them. [6]

Expedition

In the spring of 1146, Manuel prepared his expedition against the Seljuks; he then forced his way to Philomelion. The Seljuks made several ambushes during his journey; however, they were all repulsed with losses on the Seljuk side. [7] [8] He then reached Philomelion and successfully defeated the Seljuks there. Although Manuel was wounded in the heel, he burned the town and took the remaining Christian population there, [9] [10] Manuel then headed for Iconium, Alarmed by Byzantine victories, Mesud divided his forces into 4 groups, one to protect the capital, the second stationed at Lake Tatta to ambush the Byzantines behind, the third at Outskirts of city and the last to slow down the incoming Byzantines, during their march, the Byzantines were still being ambushed by the Turks which inflicted losses on the Byzantines, they finally arrived at Ikonion and began ravaging the Outskirts of the capital, the Seljuks could only skirmish them from the walls, Manuel then besieged and surrounded the city, but failed to capture it, he prolonged the siege, however, he heard the news of an upcoming Crusade to the east, which prompted him to retreat. [11] [12] [13]

During the retreat, he passed some of the rugged paths that caused the Byzantine march to be slow and unorganized, and for that, it was a chance for the Seljuks; they ambushed the Byzantines and inflicted heavy losses on the center of the army, which killed the commander Kritopolos. This attack split the army, which caused panic in the rear while they had no place to hide. Manuel attempted to reorganize his forces but failed due to heavy attacks. Manuel successfully reached safety after having great difficulty dealing with the Seljuk ambush; [14] [15] according to an anonymous Seljuk-nama, it claims that the Byzantines lost as many as 20,000 men. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1147</span> Calendar year

Year 1147 (MCXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manuel I Komnenos</span> Byzantine emperor from 1143 to 1180

Manuel I Komnenos, Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus, was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean. His reign saw the last flowering of the Komnenian restoration, during which the Byzantine Empire experienced a resurgence of military and economic power and enjoyed a cultural revival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Myriokephalon</span> 1176 battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks

The Battle of Myriokephalon was a battle between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks in the mountains west of Iconium (Konya) in southwestern Turkey on 17 September 1176. The battle was a strategic reverse for the Byzantine forces, who were ambushed when moving through a mountain pass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilij Arslan II</span> Seljuq Sultan of Rum

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">Danishmendids</span> Turkish Beylik in northeastern Anatolia

The Danishmendids or Danishmends was a Turkoman beylik that ruled in north-central and eastern Anatolia from 1071/1075 to 1178. The dynasty centered originally around Sivas, Tokat, and Niksar in central-northeastern Anatolia, they extended as far west as Ankara and Kastamonu for a time, and as far south as Malatya, which they captured in 1103. In early 12th century, Danishmends were rivals of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, which controlled much of the territory surrounding the Danishmend lands, and they fought extensively against the Crusaders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andronikos I of Trebizond</span> Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans

Andronikos I Gidos, Latinized as Andronicus I Gidus or Gidon, was an Emperor of Trebizond (1222–1235). He is the only ruler of Trebizond who was not a blood relative of the founder of that state, Alexios I Megas Komnenos. George Finlay suggests he may be the same Andronikos who was a general of Theodore I Laskaris. During his reign, Trebizond successfully withstood a siege of the city by the Seljuk Turks, and later supported the Khwarazmshah in the latter's unsuccessful battle with the Seljuks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac Komnenos (son of Alexios I)</span> Sebastokrator of the Byzantine Empire

Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus was the third son of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and Empress Irene Doukaina. He was raised to the high rank of sebastokrator by his older brother John II Komnenos in reward for his support, but they later fell out, as Isaac began to covet the throne.

Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus, was the third son of Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos by Irene of Hungary. He was bypassed by his father in favour of his younger brother Manuel I Komnenos for the succession, leading to a tense relationship between the two brothers after. He participated in the campaigns of his father and brother in Asia Minor, and was a fervent adherent of Patriarch Cosmas II of Constantinople, but little else is known about his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine–Seljuk wars</span> Series of conflicts in the Middle Ages

The Byzantine–Seljuk wars were a series of conflicts in the Middle Ages between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire. They shifted the balance of power in Asia Minor and Syria from the Byzantines to the Seljuk dynasty. Riding from the steppes of Central Asia, the Seljuks replicated tactics practiced by the Huns hundreds of years earlier against a similar Roman opponent but now combining it with new-found Islamic zeal. In many ways, the Seljuk resumed the conquests of the Muslims in the Byzantine–Arab Wars initiated by the Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates in the Levant, North Africa and Asia Minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Axouch</span> Byzantine general

John Axouch or Axouchos, also transliterated as Axuch, was the commander-in-chief of the Byzantine army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos, and during the early part of the reign of his son Manuel I Komnenos. He may also have served as the de facto chief of the civil administration of the Byzantine Empire.

John Komnenos, later surnamed Tzelepes, was the son of the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos and grandson of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As a young man he followed his father during his exile and wanderings across Asia Minor and the Levant, when for a short time he was married to a daughter of Leo I, ruler of Armenian Cilicia. After the reconciliation between his father and his uncle, Emperor John II Komnenos, in 1138, he returned to the Byzantine court, but defected in the next year to the Danishmendid Turks during a siege of Neocaesarea. From there he moved to the court of the Sultan of Rum, one of whose daughters he married. According to later, and likely invented, tradition, the Ottoman dynasty hailed from one of his offspring.

The Battle of Hyelion and Leimocheir saw the almost complete destruction by the Byzantines of a large Seljuq Turk army. The Seljuq army had been raiding Byzantine territory in the Maeander Valley in Anatolia, and had sacked a number of cities. The Byzantine force ambushed the Turks at a river crossing.

Alexios Axouch or Axouchos, sometimes found as Axuch, was a 12th-century Byzantine nobleman and military leader of Turkish ancestry.

John Roger or Rogerios, also known as John Dalassenos, was a Byzantine aristocrat of Norman descent, son-in-law of Byzantine emperor John II Komnenos and Caesar. In 1143, he unsuccessfully conspired to seize the throne.

The Battle of Constantinople in 1147 was a large-scale clash between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the German crusaders of the Second Crusade, led by Conrad III of Germany, fought on the outskirts of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople. The Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos was deeply concerned by the presence of a large and unruly army in the immediate vicinity of his capital and of the unfriendly attitude of its leaders. A similarly sized French crusader army was also approaching Constantinople, and the possibility of the two armies combining at the city was viewed with great alarm by Manuel. Following earlier armed clashes with the crusaders, and perceived insults from Conrad, Manuel arrayed some of his forces outside the walls of Constantinople. Part of the German army then attacked and was defeated; according to British historian Michael Angold, they suffered heavy losses. Following this defeat the crusaders agreed to be quickly ferried across the Bosporus to Asia Minor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yağıbasan</span> Melik

Nizamettin Yağıbasan, or simply Yağıbasan was the sixth ruler of Danishmendids and the uncle of Melik Zünnun.

John Komnenos Kontostephanos was a Byzantine aristocrat who served as provincial governor and military commander under his uncle, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos.

Theodore Vatatzes or Batatzes was an aristocrat and military commander in the Byzantine Empire during the reigns of John II Komnenos and Manuel I Komnenos.

Emir Gazi or known as Emir Melikgazi was the third ruler of Danishmendids and the elder son of Gazi Gümüshtigin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melik Zünnun</span> Anatolian Bey

Melik Zünnun was the fifth ruler of Danishmendids.

References

  1. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, Malazgirt'ten Vatana Anadolu Selçuklu Devleti Tarihi, p. 212
  2. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, The Eastern policy of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Manuel I 1143-1180, p. 115
  3. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 212
  4. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 115
  5. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 116
  6. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 116
  7. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 212
  8. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 118
  9. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 212
  10. Magdalino, Paul, The Empire Of Manuel I Komnenos, 1143 1180, p. 42
  11. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 213
  12. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 119
  13. Magdalino, p. 42
  14. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 213
  15. Mahmud Sa'eed Imran, p. 120
  16. Zeki Atçeken & Yaşar Bedirhan, p. 213