Manzikert, 1071 ⚔️ Battle that broke the Byzantine Empire and sparked the First Crusade

At the death of Emperor Basil II in 1025, the Byzantine Empire’s borders had  largely stabilized. The late emperor’s military campaigns have re-established Roman  control of the Balkan Peninsula. In the East, the re-garrisoning and reconstruction of depleted  fortresses had strengthened the frontier.

But between 1025 and 1067, the Eastern Roman  Empire suffered through the reign of 11 rulers, who oversaw a steady decline in imperial power.  Finally, in 1068, Romanus IV Diogenes ascended to the throne. A veteran, but also impetuous  military commander, the new emperor led two expeditions against the Seljuk Turks, a growing  threat on the eastern border.

These were met with limited success, but the fortress of  Hieropolis, near Aleppo, was recaptured. Romanus returned to Constantinople in 1070  to devote time to administrative matters, making numerous unpopular, but necessary  reforms. The command of the army in the east was given to Manuel Comnenus, one  of the best Byzantine generals.

However, a Seljuk army under Alp Arslan invaded the  eastern territory, and defeated Manuel, capturing him in battle. Artkesh, Manzikert and  Khilat fell into Seljuk hands, key fortresses near the strategically important Lake Van. With the core of his army dispersed in other theaters, Alp Arslan was not fully prepared  for all out war with Romanus.

Instead of facing a possible Byzantine attack, the Sultan offered a  peace treaty to Constantinople. This concluded, the Seljuk leadership turned its attention to the  conflict with the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. Just a year later, in the spring of 1071, Romanus  sent envoys to renew the treaty with the Seljuks.

It seemed he thought that Alp Arslan would  reject extending the treaty, and he had already begun preparations for an expedition  to retake the lost fortresses near Lake Van. Alp Arslan received the Roman envoys at his camp  while besieging Aleppo. However, during diplomatic talks, Seljuk scouts reported the advance of the  Byzantine army.

Alp Arslan rejected the treaty out of hand, raised the siege, and made way for  the Armenian border, collecting additional troops from his allies and vassals en route. Meanwhile, passing through the province of Sebasteia, Romanus dismissed his  Frankish mercenaries who had resorted to banditry while on the march, plundering  and terrorizing the local population. By June 1071, the Emperor stopped at  Theodosiopolis to resupply his army and take stock.

Some of his generals suggested outflanking  Alp Arslan through northern Armenia and taking the fight deep into Seljuk territory. Others were  in favor of digging in by fortifying local towns, reinforcing their garrisons, scorching the  countryside to deprive the Seljuks of any supplies, and waiting for the sultan’s army. The  latter option proved problematic, as the Byzantine army itself would be at risk of running out of  supplies if they lingered in one place for too long.

Thus, the order was given to march on. Leaving Theodosiopolis, the troops were tasked with collecting provisions for a two-month  campaign, including additional pack animals and carts, which considerably slowed down  the advance. But, having received reports that Alp Arslan’s army was still in northern  Mesopotamia, Romanus preferred a more methodical approach.

His plan was to take both Manzikert  and Khilat in a simultaneous attack and then wait for the Sultan to make his move. But the emperor was badly misinformed on the whereabouts of the Seljuk army. Arp  Arslan was not in Mesopotamia.

In fact, he was less than 100 kilometers away, his scouts  reporting on the Byzantine’s army every move. By August, the Imperial army reached the region  of the Lake Van. Thinking he had ample time before he would encounter the Seljuks, Romanus detached  Roussel with the Frankish mercenaries and Joseph Tarchaneiotes with the elite Byzantine tagmata  and archers, a force of some 20,000 troops, with orders to take and garrison Khilat. 

The Emperor advanced on Manzikert and took the city with the remaining 20,000 men, mainly  recruits from Anatolia, Armenia and Bulgaria, some Norman mercenaries, and Pecheneg, Turkish,  Cuman, and possibly Magyar horse archers. Alp Arslan, meanwhile, had no more than 30,000  mostly-mounted troops at his command. Of these, some 6000 were variations of heavy cavalry, while  the rest were lightly armored mounted archers.

Once the Sultan learned that Romanus had  split his force, he rode out to meet him. The Byzantine vanguard soon encountered the  forward elements of the Seljuk army. Mistaking them for a raiding party, they attacked!

As the Byzantine column kept trickling in, more troops joined the fight, but were unable to  fight off the Seljuks. A message was sent back to the rear to request reinforcements, claiming that  a substantial enemy force was on the battlefield. Romanus, frustrated that his vanguard was stuck  fighting what he thought was a raiding party, begrudgingly ordered more troops to  move to the front.

It took two hours for the men to catch up with the vanguard. Seeing the incoming enemy reinforcements, the Seljuks broke off and the Byzantines gave  chase. It remains unclear how many troops were involved in the initial clash, but it is  likely that this was a feigned retreat.

With the rest of the Byzantine column  left far behind, the vanguard soon found themselves confronted by the main Seljuk army.  A rain of arrows and the Seljuk heavy cavalry fell upon the now isolated Roman troops. What  followed was near-complete annihilation.

Very few survivors managed to escape and report back to  the Emperor, as night fell on the 24th of August. Having now realized that the ENTIRE Seljuk  army was nearby, Romanus ordered the troops to prepare for a counterattack next morning. During the moonless night, Alp Arslan likewise took advantage of the darkness to make  preparations of their own.

Seljuk riders screening the battlefield ran into and attacked a  contingent of Uze mercenaries that were separated from the Byzantine line while purchasing  supplies from traveling merchants. The Uze, thrown into disarray, hurried back towards  friendly lines where some of them were cut down by their Byzantine comrades who mistook them for the  attacking Seljuks. During the rest of the night, another 1,000 Uze mercenaries deserted with their  commander Tamis, and joined the Seljuk side.

The deployment of troops and construction of  camps was still ongoing during the next morning, 25th of August. Alp Arslan, sent an emissary  to Romanus, offering a peaceful resolution. Little did the Emperor know that the Sultan was  trying to buy time.

Roman commanders, Roussel and Tarchaneiotes, unaware of how close the Seljuk  army was, approached Khilat. While in marching formation they were suddenly confronted by a  substantial enemy force and it seems that both commanders turned about and hastily retreated. A  portion of the Seljuk army went after the enemy, inflicting losses on the rear of the Byzantine  column, but at some point they broke off the pursuit.

It is return of these troops that  Alp Arslan was waiting for, thus trying to stall by sending envoys to Romanus. Meanwhile, it is unclear if Roussel and Tarchaneiotes intended to meet up with  Romanus, who had by now changed his position and was stationed some 50 kilometers to the north.  There are no records of them attempting to scout the area to find and rejoin the main Byzantine  army – if attempts to locate Romanus were made, then they are lost to history.

Whatever took  place, the 20,000 troops under Roussel and Tarchaneiotes never rejoined the Emperor. A day later, on the 26th of August 1071, the entire Seljuk army had by now  reunited. Ironically, diplomatic talks had also broken down by this point.

Romanus ordered the army forward! Formed in three divisions, the Byzantines stretched their  lines to match the frontage width of the Seljuks. On the left were 5000 cavalry, mostly made up of  troops from the Balkans.

On the right, another 5000 Anatolian troops, mostly from Cappadocia  and Armenia. A 3000 reserve was comprised of the levies of the nobility, mostly Greek feudal  troops. Some 2000 Uze and Turkic steppe cavalry served as a screen in front of the two flanks.

Romanus had command of the 5000-strong Center Division, comprised of 500 elite Varangian Guard  troops, heavy Armenian and Bulgarian infantry and a sizeable contingent of European mercenaries. While Alp Arslan now had the numerical advantage, he ordered the men to continue a slow, strategic  withdrawal, knowing the power of the Byzantine heavy infantry and cavalry. Slowly a crescent-like  shape formed as the Seljuk’s moved back, while their horse archers moved in front to harass  the flanks of the lumbering Byzantine formation.

Being peppered for over an hour by a storm of  arrows infuriated the Byzantine heavy cavalry, to the point they ignored their own military  doctrine. While most kept their nerve, Romanus’ cavalry in the front lines broke rank  and began pursuing the nimble Seljuk horsemen. The Emperor had a notable lack of  archers and ranged missile troops, most of whom had departed with the ill-fated  Khilat expedition.

This now rendered his army weak against the Seljuks’ numerous horse archers. Byzantine cavalry chased the Seljuk horsemen into foothills to the south. Gradually lured  into the rugged terrain, they were lured into an ambush.

From the hillsides, thousands of  steppe warriors rushed down. Once the trap was shut the slaughter was complete. Despite this setback, Romanus and his generals kept their men in good order in their  southward march, with the Emperor believing that his strategy would allow his heavy infantry to  smash into the crescent-shaped Seljuk line and force Alp Arslan to commit to a pitched battle. 

But the lengthy duration of Alp Arslan’s retreat meant that the afternoon sun was waning into  the horizon, and the Emperor knew that his camp was now vulnerable to a night raid. With  the two opposing armies nearing the foothills, Romanus ordered the imperial standards to be  reversed, giving the signal for his troops to commence an orderly retreat back to their  camp. Romanus wheeled his horse around and began overseeing the slow reverse march back to  camp near Manzikert.

By now, the Byzantines were probably some 12 kilometers south of Manzikert. But turning a large army around was an extremely difficult task in any situation, and Romanus’  force wasn’t disciplined enough to effectively carry out the maneuver. The multinational  composition of his army meant that the order was given in various languages,  adding to the confusion in the ranks.

As the Sultan watched the Byzantine  army slowly crawl away, he knew this was the moment he was waiting for. Seizing the opportunity, the Sejluk Sultan launched a furious attack on the wings  of the withdrawing and mangled Byzantine army. He ordered all of his Seljuk and allied cavalry  forward, and they smashed into the backs of the stunned Byzantines.

The Seljuk reserve cavalry  rode down from the hills to join in the melee. Faced with the Muslim cavalry assault on their  flanks as the countermarch was already underway, the Byzantine right wing broke in confusion and  split off from the center and left divisions. Many of these soldiers on the right flank  broke ranks and fled for the safety of the distant fortified camp or Manzikert’s walls.

More and more Seljuk cavalry began pouring into the gap between the right and center  divisions, cutting through the broken wings and sowing panic and confusion in the  enemy’s center. With his right now flanked, Emperor Romanus looked frantically through the  melee for his reserves - but to his dismay, they were gone. Commander of the reserve force,  Andronikos Doukas, was fulfilling a plot against the Emperor, spreading word to his men that  Romanus was defeated.

The Greek reservists watched nervously from their position as Seljuk Turks  swarmed over the main Byzantine lines, and they ran back to the Byzantine camp and Manzikert. With the dissolution of the reserve line, a general rout began amongst the main formation. The  Armenian heavy infantry and European mercenaries in the Center Division now joined in the flight. 

However, about 2,000 allied Turkic cavalry remained by the Emperor’s side and were virtually  annihilated. As the Center Division collapsed all around him, Emperor Romanus soon found himself  surrounded by only his faithful Varangian Guard. Bryennios ordered his Left Division to support  the Center, but these men were charged from behind by Seljuk cavalry, who broke and dispersed the  shaken formation and forced them off the field.

The Emperor, surrounded by his Varangian Guard,  stood his ground and even began turning his men southwards in an attempt to rally his broken  units around his banners. But Romanus’ army was destroyed, and the shaken remains would  not rally. Seljuk horse archers and lancers kept off any soldiers brave enough to try  and reform their units.

The Greek reserves willfully abandoned their Emperor to his fate  before they could even join the battle. Romanus continued fighting on until his horse was  killed beneath him and, fighting on foot, he was wounded in his sword hand and taken prisoner. His  Varangian Guard stayed with him until the end, fighting to the last man.

With the capture of  Romanus, the Battle of Manzikert came to an end. Sources vary on the casualties, but anywhere  between 2 - 8,000 Byzantines had been killed, with another 4,000 captured. It is not  known how many men the Seljuks lost, but some estimates guess around 2,200.

The next day, when Romanus was brought before Sultan Alp Arslan in chains and  flung to his feet, the Sultan at first could not believe this exhausted prisoner  was the Byzantine Emperor, since the two had never met in person. Romanus was identified  by Seljuk ambassadors to the Byzantine court. With the Emperor on his knees, Alp Arslan rose  from his throne and demanded the disgraced ruler kiss the ground before him.

The Sultan  then placed his foot on the neck of Romanus, completing his ritual of subjugation. Manzikert had been a decisive victory for the Seljuk Empire, paving the way for its expansion  into Asia Minor. Meanwhile, the defeat was a catastrophe for Byzantium.

Although the loss off  troops on the battlefield was not as significant as some chronicles stated, Manzikert nevertheless  signaled the clear beginning of the end of the Byzantine Empire. It led to the loss of most of  Anatolia to the Seljuks, who would only continue pressing further into the Empire’s heartland. The defeat at Manzikert and the new threat posed by the Seljuk Turks would also  play a key role in causing the First Crusade, twenty-five years later.

Manzikert showed to the rest of Christian Europe that the Byzantines could no longer boast  for being the protectors of Christianity and Christian pilgrims in the East. Long after  the battle and its participants were gone, the shadow of Manzikert would loom large  over the dying Byzantine Empire.