Battle of Antioch on the Meander

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of the Meander Valley
Part of Byzantine-Seljuk Wars
A map showing the Nicaean Empire and Seljuk Sultanate.
Date c 1211 Location Asia Minor Result Nicaean victory
Belligerents
Empire of Nicaea	Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
Commanders
Theodore Laskaris	Kaykhusraw I  †
Strength
2,000 men[1]	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

v • d • e Byzantine–Seljuk Wars Kapetrou – 1st Manzikert – Caesarea – Iconium – 2nd Manzikert – 1st Nicaea – Seljuk campaigns in the Aegean – 2nd Nicaea – 3rd Nicaea – Philomelion – Campaigns of John I Komnenos – Myriokephalon – Hyelion and Leimocheir – Cotyaeum – Trebizond – Antalya – Antioch on the Meander

The Battle of Antioch on the Meander (also known as the Battle of Alaşehir^[2]) was a military engagement near Antioch-on-the-Meander between the forces of the Empire of Nicaea and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The Turkish defeat insured continued Nicaean hegemony of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. The Seljuk sultan, Kaykhusraw I, was killed on the field of battle.

Contents 1 Background 2 Battle 3 Outcome 4 Citations 5 References

[edit] Background

Following the fall of Constantinople to the forces of the Fourth Crusade (1204) and the partition of the Byzantine Empire the Seljuq Sultan of Rūm, Kaykhusraw I, had given asylum to the Byzantine ex-emperor Alexios III. The sultan used the pretext of assisting Alexios back to power to attack Theodore Laskaris, crowned emperor in 1208, who had built up a powerbase in the former Byzantine territory of western Anatolia. This new polity was to become known as the Empire of Nicaea, though its emperors always claimed to be the rightful 'Emperor of the Romans' (Byzantine Emperor). Having failed to persuade Theodore to abdicate in favour of Alexios, the sultan invaded Theodore’s territory in the spring of 1211.^[3]

[edit] Battle

Kaykhusraw I was to pay dearly for his invasion as he was defeated and killed in a battle in the Meander Valley near Antioch-on-the-Meander. The Seljuk army was initially victorious with Laskaris' 800 Latin^[4] mercenary cavalry bearing the brunt of the casualties due to their impetuous charge; once exhausted by their onset, the Latins were struck in the flank and rear by the Seljuk forces.^[5] However, the Seljuk troops stopped to plunder the Nicaean camp,^[6] allowing Theodore's forces to rally and counter-attack the now disorganised Turks. Theodore sought out Kaykhusraw I and engaged him in single combat, killing him.^[7][8] Sources relate that Laskaris was initially unhorsed by the sultan, but he subsequently brought Kaykhusraw down by hacking at his mount's legs; once the sultan was thrown to the ground Laskaris stabbed him to the heart.^[5] The Seljuk forces were routed. The former emperor Alexios, Laskaris' father-in-law, was captured during the battle and subsequently imprisoned, ending his days in enforced monastic seclusion.^[7] Following the battle, the Turks carried the body of their sultan back to Konya where he was buried in the dynastic mausoleum.^[9]

[edit] Outcome

The battle freed Nicaea from Seljuk pressure but Laskaris' army had suffered heavily. In particular his very effective Latin mercenary cavalry had been almost destroyed. As a result Laskaris could not adequately defend his territory from an attack by the Latin Empire of Constantinople and he had to cede some territory bordering the Sea of Marmara.^[7] However, the victory gave Laskaris considerable prestige and the capture of Alexios ended internal opposition to his rule. The battle was the last major encounter between the Seljuks and the Byzantines. Ultimately, the Seljuks had failed to take all of Asia Minor. However, even though the Nicaean Empire would strengthen (at the cost of the Latins) and the Seljuks weaken, the Turks, under Ottoman leadership, would ultimately conquer Byzantine Asia Minor a little over 100 years later.

[edit] Citations

[edit] References

• The New Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V, Cambridge University Press (1995). ISBN 052136289X, 9780521362894
• Finlay, George (1877). A History of Greece, Vol. III. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 
• Holt, P.M, Lambton, A.K.S., Lewis, B., The Central Islamic Lands from Pre-Islamic Times to the First World War, Cambridge University Press (1978) ISBN 0521291356, 9780521291354
• Redford, Scott (1991). "The Alaeddin Mosque in Konya Reconsidered". Artibus Asiae (Zürich: Artibus Asiae Publishers) 51 (1/2): pp. 54–74. doi:10.2307/3249676. ISSN 00043648. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3249676. Retrieved 2008-10-02. 
• Treadgold, Warren T. (1997). A history of the Byzantine state and society. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804726302. 

Coordinates: 37°52′24″N 28°34′27″E / 37.873435°N 28.574239°E / 37.873435; 28.574239