The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, the theme of Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army and the capture of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes played an important role in undermining Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia and allowed for the gradual Turkification of Anatolia. Many of the Turks, who had been traveling westward during the 11th century, saw the victory at Manzikert as an entrance to Asia Minor.
Mandzikert is a city in Eastern Turkey, near Lake Van. In the Byzantine years, it was of great importance to the empire. Its strategic position for the defense of Byzantium was strengthened by its excellent fortification and formidable garrison.
It was the target of various enemies of Byzantium, especially the Seljuk Turks during the 11th century. They tried to capture the city during the years of Constantine IX the Monomachos (1042-1054), but were defeated by the city’s garrison with heavy losses. However, they came back. Sultan Alp Arslan, after successive military successes, captured the city of Ani , the ancient capital of Armenia, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1319, and after continuous efforts and the fortress of Manzikert, in 1070. Emperor of Byzantium, at that time (1068-1071), was Romanos IV Diogenes.
ROMANOS IV DIOGENES
Romanos came from an aristocratic family of Cappadocia. He was distinguished for his excellent strategic abilities and bravery, especially in the campaigns against the Pechenegs (Patzinaks). After the death of Emperor Constantine I, his widow, Eudocia, chose him as her husband, following the suggestions of her advisers. He was crowned emperor on New Year’s Day 1068. He was about 45, handsome and impressively built.
He was courageous, kind, but also a little arrogant. The surname Diogenes may have been a variant of Digenis. From the beginning of taking up his duties, he had to face many open issues, the main ones being the hostility of the Duke family, which felt wronged, because it considered that one of its members should ascend the throne, and the attitude of the theologian, philosopher and politician Michael Psellos, who during the reign of his old classmate Constantine I, emerged as «the successor of the kings». With the accession of Romanus to the throne, he preferred to hide in a monastery rather than help the new emperor.
Romanos began his reign with two years of campaigns in the East, where he had to face, in addition to the Seljuks, problems in the ranks of the army, which had reached the limits of mutiny.
Roman’s campaigns in Asia Minor in 1068 and 1069 succeeded only in recapturing Hierapolis. On the contrary, in the same period of time, Neocaesarea, Amoria and Iconium were plundered by the Seljuks.
After signing a fragile truce with Alp-Arslan, he returned to Constantinople and saw to it that money owed to the soldiers was paid and new units were trained. Thus, he gathered around 70,000 soldiers for a major campaign against the Seljuks, which would eventually lead to their removal from Anatolia. This army consisted of Romans, Normans, Germans, Armenians, Varangians (Saxons and English), Pechenegs, Turks and Cumans. On Orthodoxy Sunday, March 13, 1071, he set out from Constantinople for this long and difficult campaign.
It should be noted that Romanos had experience in military matters, but he had a serious disadvantage: the lack of theoretical training, which turned out to be a significant disadvantage.
After studying various plans, Romanus and his staff decided to attack deep into the lands held by the Seljuks.
THE CAMPAIGN INTO THE DEPTHS OF ASIA MINOR
Romanos’ campaign began with problems. He left the experienced officer Nikephoros Botaneiatis behind in Constantinople, because he suspected him of treason, and preferred to take with him Andronikos Doukas, eldest son of John Doukas, one of his rivals for the throne. The two supreme generals were Iosif Tarchaneiotis, commander of the eastern wing of the army, and Magister Nikiforos Bryennios, commander of the western wing.
Also, a Norman knight, Rouselius Frangopoulos, led a detachment of about 500 «bloodthirsty and unruly» Frankish mercenaries, while serving as opponents of the Seljuk cavalry was a motley group of Oghuz, Turks, Cumans and Pechenegs. The officer and writer Michael Attaleiatis, whose work is our most important source for this campaign, took part in the campaign as supreme military judge.
At the same time, Romanos began to become more and more distant from his soldiers. Having luxurious equipment and supplies for his own enjoyment, he seemed to care little for the hardships his men were going through.
During the march from the Ali River to Sebastia, the Varangian garrison of Romanos, which consisted of German mercenaries, the Nemitzoi, suffered losses from the local population as they looted their property. To punish them, he sent them on another mission, away from the campaign site.
But also in the rear Romanos had left considerable forces. A detachment of Varangians in Constantinople and another detachment of Frankish knights, under Crispinus at Abydos. On the western frontier of the empire, there was a danger of attacks by the Normans and Hungarians, so the Nemitians may have been sent there.
The Byzantines’ final plan was to capture Manzikert and Chliat, a town further south, near Lake Van.
Meanwhile, Alp-Arslan was heading from Palestine to Aleppo, as the Byzantines were crossing Cappadocia towards Theodosiopolis. There (in Aleppo) he was met by Byzantine ambassadors led by Leo Diavatenos and they informed him that the Roman would start a war against him. Alp-Arslan hastily left Aleppo after this event. He first headed towards Mosul, made a stop at Amida and ended up at Matiani Lake (note Urmia, Iran). He eventually arrived about 100 miles (160 km) east of the Byzantine forces at the head of a cavalry force of 30,000 men and his scouts constantly monitored the movements of the Roman forces.
ROMANOS’ BIG MISTAKES BEFORE THE BATTLE
The Byzantine forces reached Theodosioupoli (today Erzerum, Turkey). The troops were ordered to collect supplies for two months. A considerable force of Pecheneg allies, together with the Franks under Roussel, were ordered to advance towards Chliat, which Romanus considered the more difficult of his two objectives. He and the rest of the troops headed for Manzikert. But before he got there, he sent another important force, under Tarchaneiotis, to reinforce the Pechenegs and the Franks in their attempt to capture Chliat. According to Michael Attaleiatis, Tarchaneiotis’ forces included the cream of the Byzantine army, the most experienced units, among them the Varangians and a large part of the Armenian infantry under the Duke of Theodosioupoli. Tarchaniotis is another obscure figure of that period. It is assumed that he was a man of the Doukas family. As we have seen above, the Seljuks had come very close to the Byzantine troops and were watching their movements. On the contrary, Romanus and his generals were under the impression that the men of Alp-Arslan (Hero-Lion) were still a long way off.
Thus, when the forces of Roussel and Tarchaneiotis were confronted by a significant enemy force, they were surprised and followed a reverse course, towards Melitini on the Euphrates, without informing Romanos who was less than 70 kilometers away from them.
In the end, these battle-worthy Byzantine troops had no participation in the continuation of the operations, which was decisive for their course. Perhaps Tarchaniotis wanted in his own way to react to the really wrong decision of Romanos, to divide his army into two divisions.
Ignoring these events, the emperor moved towards Manzikert. Bryennius and his men captured the fortress of the city without much difficulty, releasing the Muslims who were defending it.
This probably happened on Thursday, August 24th. On the same day, a group of Byzantines was sent to Chliat to collect food. But he fell into a detachment of mounted Seljuks and was annihilated. Romanus then sent Bryennius, who was soon forced to call for reinforcements. Annoyed, Romanus sent another detachment under the Armenian general Basilakius. He, not knowing how to deal with agile horsemen, was ambushed, wounded, and captured.
Only then did Romanos realize that the Seljuks were very close, and when a man of the Vasilaki who had escaped the ambush arrived a little later, he realized the reality.
In the mid-afternoon of August 24, the Seljuks charged against Bryennius’s men, who, however, calmly organized his army, driving the enemy into disorderly flight. Although Bryennius was wounded, he quickly recovered and was able to fight the next day.
On the same night, another Seljuk «crude» attack was made against the Byzantine camp, to no avail. The next day, Romanus’ men repulsed a Seljuk detachment that tried to capture the bank of the river (a tributary of the Murat Su), where the Byzantines were encamped. Shortly thereafter, many Oghuz and Cumans deserted and joined the forces of their distant cousins, the Seljuks.
Soon after, an embassy of Alp-Arslan led by Caliph al-Muhalban from Baghdad arrived at the imperial camp with proposals for negotiations. Believing that the Seljuks were merely buying time, Romanus dismissed the ambassadors and ordered the army to move against the enemy on the morning of Friday, August 26, 1071.
THE BATTLE OF MANJIKERT
The army marched in two lines each 4-10 meters deep, with two wings covering the flanks. Ahead rode Romanus with his imperial guard. The commander of the left wing was Theodoros Vryennios and the right wing was Theodoros Alyattis. He also had with him those Oguz, Cumans and Pechenegs who had not defected. Andronikos Doukas commanded the rear guard. The organization and design was not bad. But it cannot be explained why Romanus set out for battle when he lacked the barricaded men of Tarchaneiotis. The terrain of the battlefield was flat and stony and stretched from the town of Manzikert and the fortified Byzantine camp next to them to the south. and the southeast.
Al-Arslan, who had arrayed his forces in the shape of a crescent, read a message from Caliph al-Qaim to the troops, exhorting them to fight for the faith of Allah, the justice of the believers, and the paradise of the soldiers. It was, as we mentioned, Friday, and the Muslims had just finished their prayer, as had the Byzantines, who heard the Roman promise them financial as well as spiritual rewards and their priests assure them of the righteousness of their cause.
The Byzantine army began to advance with steady step and order. The Seljuks retreated, also in order, firing bows at the wings of the Byzantine army.
Romanos, with the «central line», continued his march and in the middle of the afternoon occupied the empty camp of the Seljuks. The emperor and his men were very tired, and food and water were running dangerously low. Bryennius and Alyattis, having to face constant arrow attacks, had fallen behind, as had the reserves of Andronicus Doukas.
At some point, late in the afternoon, Romanos decided to move towards his camp. But while the center of the line was retreating in an orderly manner, some officers and soldiers of the right wing mistakenly took the retreat signal as a sign that the emperor had been killed in battle.
At that moment, the Seljuks dealt a heavy blow to Alyatt’s forces. This had the effect of encircling Roman’s men.
“The king alone, forsaken and bereft of all hope, drew his sword against the enemy, killing many and putting many others to flight. Surrounded by a crowd of enemies, he was wounded in the arm… his horse was struck by arrows, slipped and fell, dragging his rider with him,” Bryennius later wrote.
Romanos, although wounded, continued to fight bravely. But he was abandoned by his army, first by the Armenians and then by the reserve forces under Andronikos Doukas, who did not take part in the battle, either because he did not want to risk the lives of his men, or, more likely, because he wanted to «get rid» of Romanus and literally left him at God’s mercy.
It was night when the commander of the main Seljuk force, Taragi, who had lost at least 4,000 men, gave the order to stop the pursuit of the Byzantines, who succeeded in reaching the fortress of Manzikert. On the battlefield the Byzantines left plenty of booty. But the main thing is that the Roman emperor remained wounded on the battlefield!
THE BEHAVIOR OF ALP-ARSLAN TOWARDS ROMANOS
A Seljuk, next morning in search of booty, found the emperor and led him before Alp-Arslan. The captive Vasilakios confirmed that it was Romanos. The sultan ordered the Romanus to kiss the ground and put his foot on the neck of the prostrate emperor… But immediately after that he showed another face.
He hugged Romanos and told him «this is life». He gave him food and for the next few days he was treated more like a guest than a prisoner. He asked Romanos what he would do if he were in his position. He replied: «I would torture you and kill you and parade you in the streets of Constantinople.» Then Alp-Arslan, who it should be noted was watching the whole battle from a hill in the area, «threatened» that he has a worse punishment for him. «I release you,» he said to the surprised Romanos! «But I do not imitate you, as you see, in this regard, and I wonder how you advocate against this, while I hear that even the humble Christ legislates peace for you and amnesty for evil and replaces the proud, and gives grace to the humble,» said Alp- Arslan next.
Romanus immediately agreed to a peace treaty: an immediate exchange of prisoners, one and a half million gold coins, as a ransom for the emperor, and the ratification of the agreement by the marriage of a daughter of Romanus to one of Alp-Arslan’s sons.
Once freed, Romanos headed for Armenia, where he began collecting the ransom he had agreed upon. As soon as he arrived in Constantinople, he was informed that he had been dethroned.
DUKE MICHAEL ON THE THRONE – THE TRAGIC END
The Duke family made sure to elevate Michael, son of Constantine I and Eudokia, to the throne. Evdokia was arrested and exiled to a monastery on the island of Protis. Romanus, with the remnants of his army, tried to regain the throne, but was defeated at Adana by Andronikos Doukas, the man who probably betrayed him at Manzikert. The Duke’s subsequent behavior towards Romanus was merciful. He obliged him to travel about 800 kilometers to Kotyaio (note Kiutachia). There he ordered Romanus to be blinded, who lived only a few days and then died.
The moral author of Romanos’ blindness was probably Michael Psellos.
Michael tore up the treaty Romanus had signed with Alp-Arslan, who was murdered 13 months after the Battle of Manzikert. His son and successor, Malik Shah, sent thousands of Turkomans into the entire eastern half of the Byzantine empire and occupied it. The region now became known as the Sultanate of Rum.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF MANJIKERT’S DEFEAT
Modern historians (John C. Carr «The Warrior Emperors of Byzantium», John Haldon «The Wars of Byzantium», two excellent books from which we drew valuable information), agree that «the defeat at Manzikert was not the military disaster which is heralded as being and was not the end of the Byzantine army» (John Haldon).
The losses of the Byzantine forces were between 10% and 20% of men. The real disaster was of a political nature, because the capture of the emperor catalyzed the image of Byzantium, as it showed that it was not the stable and unshakable factor that everyone believed.
«… the result of Manzikert was that the Seljuk Turks became masters of a large part of Asia Minor and that the Byzantine Empire suffered a blow from which it would never recover» (John Carr).
The civil wars that followed caused greater losses and damage to the Byzantine army than its conflicts with external enemies and almost destroyed the Empire completely.
Ultimately the Empire was miraculously saved by the «last minute» Emperor, the charismatic Alexios Comnenus.
Discover more from Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
Θεματα Στρατιωτικης Ιστοριας 
Παράθεμα: The Battle of Manzikert, 26 Aug.1071 – greekalert