Great Byzantine defeats - Part VI - Battle of Pelekanon

Battle of Pelekanon (1329)

After the civil war in Byzantium that occurred between 1321 - 1328, a younger generation of nobles came to power, led by Emperor Andronicus III Palaeologus (Ruled from 1328-1341) and his best friend and collaborator, and later emperor, John Cantacuzenus. 

The new emperor, and his close associates, have properly assessed that the Ottomans are the greatest threat and that the territory of Asia Minor will determine the fate of the Empire.

In the late spring of 1329, that is, the first war season after the takeover, they led a not so large army to Nicaea, the glorious Byzantine city in which two ecumenical councils were held, and which was then under the Turkish siege.

This was the first time that some Byzantine emperor goes into direct conflict with the Ottoman ruler, and in this case, it was Orhan I (ruled from 1324-1361). This heroic endeavor, worthy of all praise, ended unsuccessfully for the Romans.

First, in the skirmish near Pelekanon, one arrow hit Andronicus III in the leg. He was immediately dispatched to Constantinople, and thus, he did not participate in the decisive battle, which took place the next day.

On June 11, 1329, the Turkish troops, situated near Pelekanon, a city on the east coast of the Marmara Sea, encouraged by the confusion among the Byzantines caused by emperor injury, inflicted a heavy defeat to Byzantine troops. John Cantacuzenus remarkable composure didn’t help at all, and he barely saved the rest of the army. He scarcely saved his own head.

However, comparing this defeat with the Byzantine disaster at Manzikert in 1071, that is often done in the scientific writings, in spite of certain similarities that are very appealing, is somewhat unjustified. The collapse of Romanos IV Diogenes and Byzantine troops, like it was said, was an event of global and historic significance, while the failure of Andronicus III Palaeologus and John Cantacuzenus is just one of the final forms of long-weaned historical flows, and as such, it doesn’t have nearly the weight of Manzikert collapse.

It turned out that the campaign from 1329 was, in fact, the last serious effort of the Byzantines on the eastern front. The remaining Byzantine cities in Asia Minor where left to their own fate and temperament the Islamic invaders.

Great Byzantine defeats - Part I - The Battle of Adrianople

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Great Byzantine defeats - Part IV - Battle of Manzikert

Battle of Manzikert (1071)

Throughout its history, Byzantium had misfortune to, roughly speaking, constantly fight wars on two fronts, east and west. In the East, the enemies of the Empire were at first the Persians, then Arabs and finally the Turks, Seljuks and Ottomans.

In the 11th century, Byzantium was dangerously threatened by an invasion of Seljuks who easily broke the Arabian forces in Asia, conquered a number of areas, penetrated through Mesopotamia and conquered caliph’s capital Baghdad. Soon, the whole part of Asia to the borders of the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, belonged to the Seljuk. They penetrated Armenia, ravaged Cilicia and with invasion of Cappadocia, they made it clear that they have intensions to occupy Asia Minor.

Precisely at that time, the Emperor Constantine X Doukas (ruled from 1059-1067) died, and his widow Eudokia, under the pressure of one part of the public, married the Roman general Diogenes who was the only one capable to take action against invasive Seljuks.

The new emperor, Romanos IV Diogenes (ruled from 1068-1071) was skilled military leader and he immediately went to the East. His campaigns in 1068 and 1069 could be called relatively successful, but his third campaign ended with heavy defeat.

In the summer of 1071, two armies collided, the Byzantine - which consisted and of many foreigners (Frankish, Russians, Pechenegs, Uz, Normans) - and Seljuk led by sultan Alp Arslan (ruled from 1064-1072). The battle was fought in Armenia, near the town Manzikert, which is near Lake Van. It was thought previously that the battle occurred on August 19, 1071, but based on the data of the Byzantine Short chronicles, the event was placed a whole week back, on August 26, 1071.

The facts from preserved sources - Byzantine, Eastern and Western - are considerable contradictory so it is not easy to discern what has happened. There is no doubt that the Byzantine army was numerically stronger than the Seljuk, but it was also diverse and less disciplined.

The impression is that the Byzantine emperor clearly underestimated the opponents and that he split his army so that one part of it - the Normans, led by Commander Roussel de Bailleul - did not participate in the battle, and were directed on the other side. Furthermore, when the battle began, they have retreated to the west.

In the first phase, the Byzantine cavalry attacked and the Seljuks retreated, pretending to flee, but then they unexpectedly turned and caught their enemies into a trap. However, the majority of the Byzantine army attacked those Turkish detachments, forcing them to retreat, and safely returned to their camp.

The next day, sultan Alp Arslan managed to draw on his side a number of Uz units, a tribe related to the Seljuks, but that was still far from victory. Therefore, he proposed a truce, but the terms offered by the Romanos IV Diogenes were unacceptable.

When the battle began anew, the Byzantine army, under the command of the emperor, struck at the center. Just then, Andronikos Doukas, Emperor's old rival, spread the word that emperor is defeated. He immediately left the battlefield and caused general chaos and retreat. Romanos IV Diogenes found himself surrounded by Seljuks and desperately fought until he was captured.

Today, researchers believe that one of the reasons for Turkey's victory was and the fact that they used their archers more cleverly.

In the beginning, the defeat was not that heavy. Byzantine losses were relatively small, and Alp Arslan treated the captured Byzantine emperor like a true knight and signed an honorable peace with him. However, the Roman disputes turned this event into a disaster with unforeseeable consequences. Opposing party at Constantinople, led by John Doukas, a father of Manzikert’s traitor, and Michael Psellos, performed a sort of coup, and placed Michael VII Doukas (ruled from 1071-1078) on the throne.

Upon his return from Turkish captivity, Romanos IV Diogenes reached out for the protection of his royal rights. This initiated a civil war. Eventually, his opponents captured and blinded him on fraud by not keeping their word.

On news of Romanos blindness and death, in 1072 the Seljuks began to penetrate Asia Minor because the contract that they signed several months ago, was no longer valid. Byzantium didn’t have enough strength to stop the Turkish invasion and, in just few years, they conquered most of Asia Minor. They won even Nicaea, a town not far from Constantinople. The participants of the First Crusade returned it to Byzantium only in 1097.

Battle of Manzikert was a significant turning point in Byzantine history and an event of global historical significance.  It marked the arrival of the Turks in Asia Minor, and the foundation of their Sultanate of Iconium state (Rûm), on one side, and gradual turn of focus of Byzantium on the European area, on the other side.

In 1971, the modern Turkey celebrated this event in a special way, with a great public holiday. They celebrated their ninth centenary.

Great Byzantine defeats - Part V - Battle of Myriokephalon

Great Byzantine defeats - Part I - The Battle of Adrianople

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Great Byzantine defeats - Part I - The Battle of Adrianople

Byzantium is the only state that continuously survived from ancient times to the dawn of the modern age. Byzantium existed for more than a thousand years, and experienced great rises and deep crisis.

In this vast period, Byzantium has undergone a long way, from world force that was spread across three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa – to the dwarf state in the eastern Mediterranean, which can be compared to a infirm organism with a huge head - Constantinople.

In comparison to the surrounding nations, the Persians, Goths, Avars, Bulgars, Pechenegs, Russians, Arabs, Cumans, Ugrians, Serbs, Turks (Seljuks and Ottomans), Byzantine history knew many victories, but also a fair number of heavy defeats ...

Here are some of those great defeats.

The Battle of Adrianople (August 9, 378)

In 375, the Huns have started an invasion on the area between the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea, and suppressed the Goths, who then lived on that territory (present southern Russia).  Western Goths (Thervings) arrived on the borders of the Roman Empire, and Emperor Valens (ruled from 364-378) allowed them to settle in the Thracian diocese.

Due to constant abuses by the Romans, they soon started an uprising.  Eastern Goths (Greutungs) and a group of Huns joined with the Western Goths, and the whole Thrace was flooded with barbarians.

In those dangerous moments, Emperor Valens left the eastern battlefield, where he was in war with Persia, and rushed to the Balkan Peninsula.

The battle with the barbarians occurred near Adrianople (Edirne), on August 9, 378.  The Roman army was completely defeated.

Ammianus Marcellinus, the best historian of the fourth century, gives an exciting description of this battle: 

“And while arms and missiles of all kinds were meeting in fierce conflict, and (Goddess) Bellona, blowing her mournful trumpet, was raging more fiercely than usual, to inflict disaster on the Romans… Then the two lines of battle dashed against each other, like the beaks (or rams) of ships, and thrusting with all their might, were tossed to and fro, like the waves of the sea. And by this time such clouds of dust arose that it was scarcely possible to see the sky, which resounded with horrible cries… while with mutual blows of battle-axes, helmets and breastplates were dashed in pieces. The plain was covered with carcases, strewing the mutual ruin of the combatants; while the groans of the dying, or of men fearfully wounded, were intense, and caused great dismay all around.”

Valens himself, who lacked no courage, died on that battlefield.  According to some, an arrow dangerously wounded him, and caused his death, but his body was never found. Some say that he was burned in a farmhouse that the Goths put on fire, not knowing that the wounded emperor was inside.

Ammianus Marcellinus compared this defeat with the Roman defeat in the battle of Cannae, the famous battle in ancient history, when on August 2, 216 BC, Hannibal defeated the Romans.

Great Byzantine defeats - Part II - The Battle of Yarmouk

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The Old Man Who Was Creating Trouble!

When the Romans, in 189 BC, defeated the army of King Antiochus III of Syria, at Magnesia in Asia Minor, they demanded that Antiochus military adviser, the famous military commander Hannibal (247-183 BC) is immediately handed over to them.

But, the cunning Hannibal fled to Crete, and then for a time hid in Asia Minor.

Roman soldiers eventually managed to find him...Realizing that there is no way out, Hannibal took a bottle of poison which he always carried with him and drank the deadly liquid.

"Let us relieve the Romans from the anxiety they have so long experienced, since they think it tries their patience too much to wait for an old man's death"

Those were the last words of Hannibal.

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