Α tale from the Byzantine Empire: Manzikert
The Chronicle of the Disaster.
The years between 1025 and 1078 were crucial for the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire. The 600 -then- years old Empire was unsure if it could protect its lands. It turned out it could not for many years...
December 15, 1025. Emperor Basil II "The Bulgarian-Slayer" dies. He had defeated the Bulgarians and the whole Balkans southern of the Danube River were under Imperial control again. He expanded the Eastern borders as well. He made the Empire really wealthy and had given the Empire and the capital, Constantinople, as strong as ever. He was planning to invade Sicily, but, unfortunately for his Empire, died.
The next Emperor was Constantine, brother of Basil. He reigned only for 3 years, until November 15, 1028. His reign was marked by his failure to assert his authority over the nobles, something that Basil was absolutely successful. He also avoided government business as much as possible.
November 15, 1028. Constantine dies, the next monarch would be his daughter, Zoe. But she didn't really rule at all. She had previously married Romanos Argyros, Prefect of Constantinople, accordingly to her father will. Romanos III made huge expenses for construction of new buildings and to make gifts to the church. He also set a lower taxation, and the Empire's economy was in a very bad condition. In 1030, he led an expedition against the Emir of Aleppo, but he was defeated. However, in 1032, a very popular general, Georgios Maniakes, captured Edessa. Unfortunately for the Emperor, that did not help to recover his reputation. Instead, Maniakes became very popular in Constantinople.
April 11, 1034. Romanos Argyros dies and Zoe marries and makes Emperor Michael IV. He suffered from epiliptic fits. He was hadsome and clever and Zoe made him Emperor as soon as she saw him. He made a successful campaign against the Bulgarians and could have done more, but he died young.
December 10, 1041. Michael IV the Pahlagonian dies. He and Zoe had adopted Michael Kalaphates as heir to the throne. He was hated by the people because he banished Zoe in a monastery. That's why he died, in the hands of the mob.
April 11, 1042. After Michael Kalaphates died, Zoe and her sister, Theodora, reigned for two months. But Zoe married again. The new husband and Emperor was Constantine Monomachos. During his reign, the vast majority of the lands in Italy were lost and the number of the troops became dangerously low. He faced Maniakes and but, fortunately for him, Maniakes died. Immediately after his death, a Russian fleet attacked the Empire, but was defeated. In 1045, Michael annexed Armenia, but that turned out to be one of his biggest mistakes. The Kingdom of Armenia was something like a buffer zone between the Byzantines and the Seljuks. Now, these two shared the same border and, sooner or later, they would be enemies. In 1046, they did came into contact with the Seljuks for the first time. In 1048, they faced each other in battle, but truce was signed. In 1055, he disbanded the troops from Armenia to save money from the Imperial Treasury that was bleeding. That was the turning point. In 1047, Constantine faced a rebellion in the Balkans. He managed to take control of it, but the Empire was weakened there (as well). In 1048, the Pechenegs invaded the Balkan territories of the Empire. In 1054, the Greek and the Roman church stopped to co-exist. The Great Schism, a consequence of the differences between the East and the West, was a fact.
His reign was a disaster.
January 11, 1055. Constantine IX is finally dead. Theodora is ruling alone. She asserted her authority over the nobles but used her position to punish her personal enemies, something the people did not like. She died in the September of 1056. The next ruler would be Michael Bringas. Nothing remarkable happened during his reign, mostly because he didn't reign long. In Minor Asia, Isaac Comnenus had gathered army and faced the army of the government in the Battle of Phrygia. Soon after, he became the new Emperor.
September 1, 1057. Isaac Comnenus is crowned Emperor in Constantinople. The only military expedition he made during his reign was the expedition against the King of Hungary in 1059. After this campaign, he concluded peace with the Hungarians. He reigned form the throne because of health problems.
November 24, 1059. The new Emperor is Constantine X Dukas. He was chosen as heir by the previous Emperor as a reward for supporting him in the rebellion during which he had become Emperor. He disbanded the remaining Armenian army, along with a portion of the Eastern Anatolian one. This resulted in the reduction of the military power of the Empire by 50,000 men. During his reign, all the remaining territories in Italy were lost, except from Bari. In 1064 and 1065, the Seljuks finally started making raids in Anatolia. He died in 1067. His heirs were his two sons, under the regency of their mother, Evdokia Makremvolitissa.
January 1, 1068. Romanos Diogenes marries Evdokia Makremvolitissa and becomes Emperor. He led expeditions against the Seljuks in 1068 and in 1069. Both were successful, as the Seljuks were driven beyond Euphrates. In 1070, he stayed in Constantinople for two reasons. First, there was no need to make another big campaign as the two previous were successful. Second and mostly, the Dukas family were aggressive towards him, because he had "stolen" the regency of the throne from them. In 1071, news arrived that the area near the Lake Van had been raided many times by some Turkic tribes. Romanos IV Diogenes decided to lead an expendition once more, believing that behind these raids, was the Sultan of the Seljuks.
Towards Manzikert
Romanos led a huge army to face the supposed enemy. The chronicles of the time mentioned even 1,000,000 soldiers but it is likely that they were 60,000-100,000 soldiers and the rest were a huge baggage train.
June, 1071. The Imperial Army arrived at Theodosiopolis. There, some generals suggested staying there waiting for the Seljuks and some others departuring to Armenia and the fortress of Manzikert. It was finally decided to continue the advance and the Emperor's order was to gather food and supplies for two months.
Before they arrived at Manzikert, the Emperor divided his army in two. The first army would be led by himself and would go to Manzikert to stop an invasion from the East. The other army would be under the commands of the general Tarchaniotes and would go to Achlat to stop an invasion from the south.
The Emperor and his army arrived in Manzikert, and the Seljuk garrison surrendered immediately.. In the meanwhile, the Seljuk army under the Sultan Alp Arslan arrived in the area. A peace offer was presented to Romanos. He rejected, and set his troops in a battle formation.
His army was consisted of about 30,000 troops. He commanded the centre, mostly consisted of the Varangian Guard. The left wing was under Vryennios and the right wing under Alyates, both of them having cavalry. The rear consisted of the infantry, under Andronicus Dukas. That was a great risk for the Emperor, because Andronicus was one of his major opponents in the battle for the throne. However, Romanos thought it would be better to take him in the campaign and have him under control, than leaving him in Constantinople where he could do many things to dispose the Emperor.
August 26 Afternoon, 1071. The army under the commands of the Emperor advances forward, towards the Seljuk army, which was formed in a crescent formation. The wings of the Seljuks were making damage with arrows to the wings of the Byzantines, consisted of French and Norman knights. These knights, annoyed by the arrows, attacked the wings of the Seljuks and fell into traps. Romanos kept on advancing but, night was coming and he ordered his troops to get back to the camp in Manzikert.
August 26 Evening, 1071. That was the moment Alp Arslan was waiting for. The main part of his army attacked the Byzantines. Most of the mercenaries fled, presuming that the sign of the retreat meant that the Emperor was dead or captured. This allowed the Seljuks to isolate the cavalry and the Varangian Guard from the infantry. The situation could be set under control, if Andronicus did not announce that the Emperor was dead. So, the infantry followed the mercenaries and routed. The only soldiers left in the field of the battle were the Emperor and the Varangian Guard.
The Outcome
August 27, 1071. The Emperor was presented in front of the Sultan. Truce was signed, with not bad terms for the Empire. The Empire would give 1,500,000 nomismata and 360,000 nomismata annually and would give Manzikert, Edssa and Antioch. Also, one of Romanos' daughters would marry the son of Alp Arslan. The Sultan gave Romanos about two hundreds soldiers to claim the throne. The Empire raised some more troops, but was defeated by John Dukas in Dokeia. Romanos went to the fortress of Adana, where he was sieged by Andonicus Dukas. He surrendered due to starvation. He was blinded and died in the island of Proti.
October 24, 1071. Michael VII Dukas is crowned Emperor. Evdokia Makremvolitissa is disposed.
In 1073, the government sent an army under Isaac Comnenus, brother of the future Emperor Alexius, to face the Seljuks, but he lost and he was captured. The next campaign, led by John Dukas, faced the leader of the Western Mercenaries, who tried to make an independent kingdom in Galatia. He won and tried to take the throne. The government's solution to the problem was to recognise the Seljuk authority in the Asia Minor, so the Seljuks, along with an army under Alexius Comnenus, attacked John Dukas
and captured him in 1074.
Soon the Seljuks gained all of Asia Minor except from the cities near Constantinople and Trebizond. This led Alexius Comnenus to call the West for help. The rest is known.
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Originally Posted by Romanos IV
But it's interesting never the less. IMO Manzikert was the most decisive defeat of the Byzantine empire and the one that lead to its collapse.
