Oh... Whoops srry BC
Oh and also even if arslan is dead it is ASB for Constantinople to be taken unless the city willingly submits.. and impossible for crusaders to crush the Turks who have hundreds of thousands of soldiers....A Gilded Cross
- Thread starter DjBaraca
- Start date
Oh and also even if arslan is dead it is ASB for Constantinople to be taken unless the city willingly submits.. and impossible for crusaders to crush the Turks who have hundreds of thousands of soldiers....
Maybe after the death of Arslan the Sultante is at civil war and weakened. I've not much knowledge about the Turks in this time period, but if I'm not wrong the Turkish invasion of Anatolia was just a raid and they were hardly settled in the coming years.Oh... Whoops srry BC
Ah Du Quense Bryeinnods are the family who had Nikephros rule as Emperor of the Romans after Michael Doukas Falls from Power, Komenians think of Isaac Kommenos, Alexous, John, Manuel, Kommenian Restoration, Digenes think of Romanos family
Lol Srry but that's ASB in fact Alps son would immediatly become sultan and in otl his son was a brilliant general who engineered the fall of Byzantine Anatolia, Plus he owned the Fatamids, Crushed the Abbasids and put down the pesky Persians, plus plz an army of some 300k Turkish soldiers versus a contemporary medieval Euro army of some 60-100k which side do you think will win, also Muslims were the mos tech advanced at this time period...
An original and very interesting PoD.
While it's big picture and long term stuff, I'm very interested to see the development of the Church here. Gregory VII was responsible for the greatest internal reforms in Church history - reforms he will probably have to forego in order to whip up support for his crusade. I suspect a Reformation about two centuries ahead of schedule here...
While it's big picture and long term stuff, I'm very interested to see the development of the Church here. Gregory VII was responsible for the greatest internal reforms in Church history - reforms he will probably have to forego in order to whip up support for his crusade. I suspect a Reformation about two centuries ahead of schedule here...
Romanus IV was Emperor of the Romans from 1068-1071. Actually, he was co-emperor and had risen to the power by marrying the Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa. He had several enemies within the Empire and the aristocracy, inluding the Emperor Michael VII Doukas. IOTL, after the Battle of Manzikert, he was captured and blinded by Andronikos Doukas in Cilicia, 1072. He would die en route to Constantinople due to his eye's infection. ITTL he managed to escape to Italy.
Nikephoros Bryennios: I'm not sure which Nikephoros he means here. I think it is the father who attempted an revolt against Michael VII but was defeated and blinded. His son married Anna Komnena, daughter of Alexius.
John Komnenos: father of Emperor Alexius I Komnenos.
Alexius I Komnenos: Roman Emperor from 1081-1118.
Isaac Komnenos: possible alt John II Komnenos.
Manuel I Komnenos: Roman Emperor from 1143-1180, grandson of Alexius I.
As I said, I'm pratically ignorant about the Turks in this time period. The First Crusade was successful though and it retook several cities of Asia Minor and the Holy Land.Lol Srry but that's ASB in fact Alps son would immediatly become sultan and in otl his son was a brilliant general who engineered the fall of Byzantine Anatolia, Plus he owned the Fatamids, Crushed the Abbasids and put down the pesky Persians, plus plz an army of some 300k Turkish soldiers versus a contemporary medieval Euro army of some 60-100k which side do you think will win, also Muslims were the mos tech advanced at this time period...
oh btw about Nikephros I meant Nikephoros Botanietas
it's
Perfectly acceptable here is some more info, reason first crusade did so well was because After the death of Malik Shah the Seijuks got plagued with civil war that greatly weakeaned the Islamic empire, a civil war was happening in fatamid lands, Abbasids were weak as he'll, Seijuk sultanite was fighting for it's life against Kwarazemids, in itl the reason Antioch fell to crusaders was due to bribery of a gaurd, afterwords by dumb luck the crusaders
made a huge Muslim army flee, then went on to take Jerusalum by a miracle and completly ASB, so yeah first
crusade was only succesful for those reasons so I agree have a crusade in 1100s I could see Jerusalum recaptured but before 1100 ASB...
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Holy crap I leave for like 5 minutes and I get like twenty comments. Sick!
So lets get this stuff out of the way first.
First the Sejuks are under the firm control of Arslan first son Malik I Shah, but his younger son Kultamish is starting to get ideas about taking the throne since he never got Anatolia to rule. So there is potential for a civil war within the Sejuk Empire. Yet for the time being they remain much stronger than the crusaders hope to ever be.
As for Sicily and its friends beating back the Turks and the Fatimids together is and conquering large amount of lands. They will be able to make small gains in the holy land like Acre, Tyre, Jaffa, Tripoli etc. And they only gain that after the Kultamish makes his move for the throne, the Fatimids main general begin to fight within themselves (Hassan-i Sabbah amoung them).
The Byzantines, as I will keep calling them. Romanos IV regains the throne as many of you have probably figured out by now. He does this through a traitor, who opens the gate and senators kill Michael IV to save their own skins. Yet when Romanos IV dies (not going to spoil how but it will be bloody), things go to hell Nikephoros Breynnios a general in the army who served at Manizkert and father of the man of who married Anna Komnena, usurpers the throne killing Romanos son. Over time he begins to be seen as collaborating with the crusaders too much (see Venice and Normandy), and Alexius I and Issac I revolt against him bringing the empire into a long civil war, which Komnids win.
The Pope reforms or lack there of will lead to an earlier reformation (about late 1300s early 1400s) and a more bloody war of religions
I hope this will answers some questions.
So lets get this stuff out of the way first.
First the Sejuks are under the firm control of Arslan first son Malik I Shah, but his younger son Kultamish is starting to get ideas about taking the throne since he never got Anatolia to rule. So there is potential for a civil war within the Sejuk Empire. Yet for the time being they remain much stronger than the crusaders hope to ever be.
As for Sicily and its friends beating back the Turks and the Fatimids together is and conquering large amount of lands. They will be able to make small gains in the holy land like Acre, Tyre, Jaffa, Tripoli etc. And they only gain that after the Kultamish makes his move for the throne, the Fatimids main general begin to fight within themselves (Hassan-i Sabbah amoung them).
The Byzantines, as I will keep calling them. Romanos IV regains the throne as many of you have probably figured out by now. He does this through a traitor, who opens the gate and senators kill Michael IV to save their own skins. Yet when Romanos IV dies (not going to spoil how but it will be bloody), things go to hell Nikephoros Breynnios a general in the army who served at Manizkert and father of the man of who married Anna Komnena, usurpers the throne killing Romanos son. Over time he begins to be seen as collaborating with the crusaders too much (see Venice and Normandy), and Alexius I and Issac I revolt against him bringing the empire into a long civil war, which Komnids win.
The Pope reforms or lack there of will lead to an earlier reformation (about late 1300s early 1400s) and a more bloody war of religions
I hope this will answers some questions.
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Yep, your TL is boomingHoly crap I leave for like 5 minutes and I get like twenty comments. Sick!
Divide et Imperas
Of course Emperors Romanos IV and Nikephoros III will try to take something from Italy, eg Apulia or Sicily itself, won't they? Sicily will be busy in the Holy Land and probably the King will be locked up while defending a siege or something else. They are getting themselves into real trouble, unless the Rhomanians (this is fine! Keep calling them this way. Even Greek is preferable to Byzantines
) have not enough money and armies to do it.Maybe Nikephoros gifts Cyprus to the Crusaders? And who is this Isaac? Emperor Isaac I Komnenos died in 1061. By the way, where did you get the info about John, father of Alexius I?
EDIT: Isaac Komnenos, brother of Alexius and first Sebastokrator? Or is he one of the sons of Alexius?
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Minor nitpicking DJ, Nikephoros III last name was Botanietas Arent Bryiennos. Two completly different people I think...
Edit: Oh wait Forgot about Nikephoros the elder
Edit: Oh wait Forgot about Nikephoros the elder
Issac is the son of Alexius due to butterflies his name becomes instead John.
Nikephorous will be seen as backing the crusaders as he allows some territorial (Cyprus, Corfu, etc to Normans) and trade concessions(Venetians begin to dominate the markets in Constantinople) to the Crusaders. The info about John I gained from a couple of books I have and some stuff I found on google.
Also Update soon!
Nikephorous will be seen as backing the crusaders as he allows some territorial (Cyprus, Corfu, etc to Normans) and trade concessions(Venetians begin to dominate the markets in Constantinople) to the Crusaders. The info about John I gained from a couple of books I have and some stuff I found on google.
Also Update soon!
A Gilded Cross
The Resurrection of Romanos IV
Romanos IV entring the palace after the Siege of Consantinople
The Resurrection of Romanos IV
Romanos IV entring the palace after the Siege of Consantinople
News of the Siege of Thessaloniki travelled fast. It was not long until the news was heard in Consantinople. When the Byzantine people heard of the news of Romanos IV return panic erupted in the street. Riots were regular and senate was in panic, some openly talking of betraying the emperor to save their own skins. Michael VII executed those that would go against him. Meanwhile outside the Theodoisian walls, Romanos IV was ridding a new wave of popularity; the success of siege and the death of cruel general Andronikos Doukas made him more popular than he could dream. The city of Adrianople fell with little struggle and Romanos IV received warm welcome into the city, allowing for the Crusaders to gather their breath and plan for the upcoming siege. Romanos IV needed a quick siege to prevent the armies of Asia from intervening, yet for this too work they needed to cut of Constantiople from outside world. To do this Domencia Selvo proposed that he would take the fleet and blockade the city, and Romanos IV with the army would surround it.
It did not take them long to reach Constantiople. But while the crusaders hoped for a quick siege, the great Theodoisian walls would prove to be a much greater challenge, than expected. Everything the Crusader threw against them was beat back with little to no effort. Attempts to smash them down were futile. For a while it seemed like it would be years before the city fell. Yet series of events seemingly unrelated helped bring the fall of Micheal VII. First came a round of disease, the compact and dense conditions of city made it a breeding ground for disease and it rapidly spread throughout the city, killing the influential Nikephortizes who was the minister of finance. Without his minister guidance Michael VII fell into despair. Then a young commander and noble of part of the garrison know only as Nestor Branas. Nestor was disgusted at how the Emperor did nothing while people died in the streets, and offered to open the gates for the city as long as the Crusader did not pillage it and he was to be given the titles and large estates. Stephen II and Romanos IV accepted the offer with no hesitancy, though this came to the regret of Robert Gusicard, and Radovan of Croatia who had wished for riches that came from pilage. On the night of August 14 1073 a reasonable sized force of French, Hungarian, and Norman Knights lead by the brave and aggressive Radovan of Croatia and the Noble and Ambitious Eustache of Boulogne entered the city. Slowly they crept through the city, and were quickly able to massacre the guards on the walls. Radovan climbed to the highest tower, as the gates open Radovan grabbed a flame and light the single. He turned to his men a shouted these famous words “Deus lo vult” (God Wills it). With that cry one of the most brutal events of the crusade began. With an uncontrollable energy the Hungarian, Croatian and Norman crusaders ransacked the city breaking into churches and hopes stealing hundreds of artifacts. Romanos IV and Stephen II rushed to head of army and ordered them to stop. When they came close to the Hagia Sophia Romanos IV pulled his sword and ordered that if any of the crusaders entered the temple that the Roman Army would execute them all. From the inside of the palace, the senator began to panic they knew the end was near. A few senators rushed toward the Emperors Chambers and with sheer weight of numbers and coin (it is likely that the guards were bribed to let them in) burst into the room and executed Michael VII stabbing him repeatedly. It took a good 2 hours to regain control of the knights, and stop the pillage, but the damage had been done. Romanos IV rode forward towards the imperial palace where the sniveling senators who presented the usurpers body greeted him; the throne was finally his yet despite his glorious triumph his victory was bitter sweet.
Upon regaining the throne the army of Asia under the command of Phileratos Brachimios congratulated Romanos IV for regaining his throne upon the reception of the news of Michael VII death. Several important figures in Micheal VII court including the hated Caesar John Doukas where executed in streets. Yet with all of the armies of the empire in and around the capital coupled with news of the civil war and the Crusaders intentions caught the eyes of the ambitious Kutalmish. Kutalmish was the second son of Alp Arslan and often felt he would be a better ruler than his brother Malik Shah I. Kutalmish saw an opportunity to prove his name as much better candidate for sultan that his brother and he hoped that if that he could prove himself as victorious general then people would flock to his cause. For Malik Shah I he saw it as an opportunity to get rid of his brother, and gave him his blessings. With that Kutalmish declared war of the Byzantine Empire and the Crusader. The war for Asia Minor, and the souls of two empires had begun.
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Excellent, I really love where this tl is going. Powerful France in the west and Byzantium in the East, I hope! What are your plans for after the crusades?
Scipio
Scipio
Nice update! This is getting more interesting than ever! It's a shame that you call them Byzantines though
. Look at this post to see my thought on the time-scale
This office is called Grand Logothete
.
Ok, this is ASB. Manzikert was fought on August 26, 1071. Time travel?
Look at this post to see my thought on the time-scaleNice update! This is getting more interesting than ever! It's a shame that you call them Byzantines though
This office is called Grand Logothete
. Ok, this is ASB. Manzikert was fought on August 26, 1071. Time travel?
Yeah Romanos and time traveling crusaders traveling through time to stop evil when it may rear it's ugly face.
Yeah sorry my bad that was a typo it should say August 14 1073 my bad, I edited it to say that nowI wil change it back to Rhomania or Greeks in the future
A Gilded Cross
The First Action
The Battle of Bithynium painted by German monks during the 1100s
Kutalmish invasion of Roman Asia brought the Crusaders into a much large war and divided their approach on how to deal with the crusade. The initial target was the city of Jerusalem and that fact was still true yet the fact remain that with the entrance of the Sejuk Empire into the war complicate problems. It also provided a challenge to Romanos IV that he war not ready nor capable to face. The last war against the Turks was a disaster for the Romans and lead to his exile. Now that the Turks attacking the empire again crushed the hopes for a smooth succession for Romanos. Even without the great Alp Arslan the Sejuk Turks were still a formidable threat to the Byzantine Empire. Yet a further problem brought on by the invasion was presented to the Romanos. That problem was the crusaders. The Crusaders were getting feed up with the Roman Empire and it’s troubles, they wanted to get to Jerusalem and fast. They did not want to put up with fighting another country’s war, Or as Robert Guiscard saw it, another distraction. Robert Guiscard was in every right one of the biggest opponents to Romanos IV. Their rivalry dated back to the conquest of Naples by the Normans. At over the course of the Crusade the tensions between the two, sky rocketed, to the point of open hostility. Yet it would not be that big of a problem if he had the same amount of troops as say Prince Radovan of Croatia, yet Robert and his fellow Norman Richard the Count of Capua had one of largest body of troops of the entire army beside maybe that of the French crusaders or the Hungarians, all of which were veterans of conflicts with the Sicilians and the Greeks. Robert began to argue that the crusaders leave the empire and using the Venetian fleet sail to Levant and take Jerusalem right then and there. For a time he gathers a large amount of followers in this cause including prince Radovan, Yet Romanos begged the crusaders to stay appealing to Domenica Selvo and Stephen II. In the end Romanos was victorious at least for the time being. The armies of the Crusaders and the Empire gathered and prepared to meet Kultamish and the armies of Sejuk Empire. The first of such conflicts was at the battle of Bithynium in modern day Greece. The Allied army at the time was divided into three entities the first under the command of Romanos IV, Eustache, and Alexios Komenos the son of John Komenos who had died at the siege of Constantinople. This group was tasked to march north to Trebizond the march south and cut off the reinforcements and the main army into coming into the empire. The second lead by Robert Guiscard, Lambert of Hungary, and Radovan of Croatia was to march south and secure Armenia before meeting with the reinforcements from Sicily that would be lead by King Roger I himself. The last group would be lead by the Frankish crusader Stephen II of Blois, Domenica Selvo, and the loose cannon general Phileratos Brachimios. It was the last group that would meet the Turks at Bithynium.
The accounts of the battle are scarce, but from what historians know was it did not take place at Bithynium but a couple miles east. With nothing near by to be a landmark chroniclers called it the Battle of Bithynium because there was nothing better to call it. The battle began when the Crusaders marching from Bithynium saw the Turkish camp. The Crusaders sought to capture the Turks off guard. Stephen took a large group of crusaders and marched around a small mountain range. The other side of the army marched forward toward the edge of a ravine and waited for the battle to start. The signal was lit and the crusaders attacked. Yet something went wrong, the attack should have come as a surprise. It should have in all accounts crushed the Turkish army. Yet the Turks knew it was coming and was ready for them. The speed the Turks were able to organize themselves was astonishing, and to this day no one knows how it happened. What happens next is what can be best described as a massive melee. The Turks despite the hectic reorganization fought and stood their ground. The crusader morale began to drop and Phileratos Brachimios was injured with an arrow through the chest. Realizing that the Turks held the upper hand (having complete control of the right flank and were refused to break in the center) fell back to Bithynium to regroup. When scout scouted the area the next day the found it to be deserted, Kultamish shocked at the attack retreat back towards his supply lines in Sivas. The Battle of Bithynium was a pyrrhic victory for the Crusaders, they would spend the next couple of month regrouping and recuperating from the battle. But for the armies of the Turks it was only the first in a series of battles against the Crusaders that would culminate at the battle of Malatya.
Sorry if this update and the last were subpar but I recently hurt my hand which is making it hard for me to type, so some things might mistakes might have slipped by.
The Crusader Army in the south was facing a problem with supplies around the time of the battle. The pillaging done by Kultamish army during his scorched earth campaign in central Anatolia had practically destroyed the supply train for the Crusaders in the south. Forcing to relying on hunting and scavenge in region to survive. Thus as Crusader army approached the city of Caesarea, the Hungarian Prince Lambert offered to take a small portion mostly made up of Hungarians and Greeks and a large number of non-combatants (priests, doctors, traders, etc) to the city to negotiate a deal for some supplies. So Lambert travelled north towards the city of Caesarea with a force of 10 000 men and 5000 non-combatants the main army under Robert Guiscard not far behind. After a couple of days journey they set camp in the near the town of Talas which in it self a short journey day journey to Caesarea. At the same time the Sejuk Turks were marching towards the city when scouts stumbled upon the Crusader army. Seeing a perfect opportunity to deal a blow to the crusaders he sent his entire army of 50 000 men to surround the Crusaders. This force of 50 000 was mostly made up of horse archers was able to complete this task in short order and waited in the darkness till dawn to begin the attack. In the Early morning of November 5 1703, the Turkish army attacked. One chronicler, Eudes de Vezelay, describes the attack. They came from the mountains, from hills, and from the darkness itself. They came like demons from hell sent to collect the dammed. The killed all in their sights knights, peasants, even men of the cloth.” To protect the non-combatants from the Turkish charges he ordered his heavily armored Hungarian Knights to surround the camp. With some trouble Lambert was able to gather the majority of the non-combatants and unarmored soldiers in the centre of the camp. Women who were rescued provided the water to the soldiers, and some even fought with the knights when one fell. The Turks attacked in their usually fashion charging in shooting their arrows and retreating, yet this had little to no effect on the heavily armored. Lambert sent a couple of through a gauntlet of Turkish troops to tell Robert of the attack. Gradually the crusaders fought to the point were their backs were against the Zamanti River. The river provided and marshlands around it prevented the Turks from charging in the area giving time for the crusader to reinforce their flanks. Yet overtime the constant attacks and the sheer volume of arrows did their damage the knights armour protected them yet it was bound that out of the mass of arrows one would find a hole in the armour, more than 2000 men meet their ends in this way. Then as all hope seemed lost the reinforcements arrived. Lead by Richard of Capua a group of 200 knights charged through the lines and fought their way to Lambert bringing news that the rest of the army was shortly behind them. Richard arrival brought much needed reinforcement and hope to the Hungarians. The Turks became more aggressive pushing the knights to banks of the river. Then Robert arrived with the main army and smashed into the rear of the Turkish army. Lambert and Richard gathered their knights and Lambert standing in front of the army said this to the knight “If God wills it, you will all become rich men”. The ferocity of Hungarian attack was not enough to break the Turks. The battle turned into an slug fest, until the Rearguard lead by Radovan charged the Turkish line breaking into their camps lighting it on fire and steal priceless artifacts and treasures. Kultamish fled for his life after Radovan charge, and shortly afterwards the Turks fled after the horror of seeing their camp raided. The Battle had lasted for a total of 8 hours and had claimed the lives of about 5 000 Crusaders and 6 000 Turks. With this victory the Crusaders entered the city of Caesarea as heroes were they stay till the had the supplies they had but by that time a message sent to Robert Guiscard had arrived. The message was simple, King Roger I was coming.
A Gilded Cross
Battle of Talas
A contemporary Painting of the Battle of Talas
Kultamish journey from Bithynium was an expedient and deadly one. Kultamish began the use of a tactic that would famously be used by the Crusaders and Damascus against the Great Oriat Empire, by the Russian Tsar Vladimir VI against Vaclav Masaryk during his great invasion of Russia. This tactic name would be coined by the great Assassin King Malik al- ibn Attash shortly after abandoning the city of Mosul by saying these words ‘May power of the divine, scorch the earth until nothing is left. Let the Heretics and Pagans feast on the charred remains of the life seek to deprive us of, let them know the fear and hunger we feel now.” Kultamish burned all of the crops, forests and livestock anything that could help the crusaders on his retreat. This tactic proved to be crucial in delaying the advance of Stephen II army, which were force to stay in Bithynium. Yet it would lead the to a direct confrontation with Normans and Hungarians. Battle of Talas
A contemporary Painting of the Battle of Talas
The Crusader Army in the south was facing a problem with supplies around the time of the battle. The pillaging done by Kultamish army during his scorched earth campaign in central Anatolia had practically destroyed the supply train for the Crusaders in the south. Forcing to relying on hunting and scavenge in region to survive. Thus as Crusader army approached the city of Caesarea, the Hungarian Prince Lambert offered to take a small portion mostly made up of Hungarians and Greeks and a large number of non-combatants (priests, doctors, traders, etc) to the city to negotiate a deal for some supplies. So Lambert travelled north towards the city of Caesarea with a force of 10 000 men and 5000 non-combatants the main army under Robert Guiscard not far behind. After a couple of days journey they set camp in the near the town of Talas which in it self a short journey day journey to Caesarea. At the same time the Sejuk Turks were marching towards the city when scouts stumbled upon the Crusader army. Seeing a perfect opportunity to deal a blow to the crusaders he sent his entire army of 50 000 men to surround the Crusaders. This force of 50 000 was mostly made up of horse archers was able to complete this task in short order and waited in the darkness till dawn to begin the attack. In the Early morning of November 5 1703, the Turkish army attacked. One chronicler, Eudes de Vezelay, describes the attack. They came from the mountains, from hills, and from the darkness itself. They came like demons from hell sent to collect the dammed. The killed all in their sights knights, peasants, even men of the cloth.” To protect the non-combatants from the Turkish charges he ordered his heavily armored Hungarian Knights to surround the camp. With some trouble Lambert was able to gather the majority of the non-combatants and unarmored soldiers in the centre of the camp. Women who were rescued provided the water to the soldiers, and some even fought with the knights when one fell. The Turks attacked in their usually fashion charging in shooting their arrows and retreating, yet this had little to no effect on the heavily armored. Lambert sent a couple of through a gauntlet of Turkish troops to tell Robert of the attack. Gradually the crusaders fought to the point were their backs were against the Zamanti River. The river provided and marshlands around it prevented the Turks from charging in the area giving time for the crusader to reinforce their flanks. Yet overtime the constant attacks and the sheer volume of arrows did their damage the knights armour protected them yet it was bound that out of the mass of arrows one would find a hole in the armour, more than 2000 men meet their ends in this way. Then as all hope seemed lost the reinforcements arrived. Lead by Richard of Capua a group of 200 knights charged through the lines and fought their way to Lambert bringing news that the rest of the army was shortly behind them. Richard arrival brought much needed reinforcement and hope to the Hungarians. The Turks became more aggressive pushing the knights to banks of the river. Then Robert arrived with the main army and smashed into the rear of the Turkish army. Lambert and Richard gathered their knights and Lambert standing in front of the army said this to the knight “If God wills it, you will all become rich men”. The ferocity of Hungarian attack was not enough to break the Turks. The battle turned into an slug fest, until the Rearguard lead by Radovan charged the Turkish line breaking into their camps lighting it on fire and steal priceless artifacts and treasures. Kultamish fled for his life after Radovan charge, and shortly afterwards the Turks fled after the horror of seeing their camp raided. The Battle had lasted for a total of 8 hours and had claimed the lives of about 5 000 Crusaders and 6 000 Turks. With this victory the Crusaders entered the city of Caesarea as heroes were they stay till the had the supplies they had but by that time a message sent to Robert Guiscard had arrived. The message was simple, King Roger I was coming.
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A Gilded Cross
The Battle of Malatya pt 1
Eustache de Boulogne leading the charge against the retreating Turks
The Battle of Malatya pt 1
Eustache de Boulogne leading the charge against the retreating Turks
After the battle at Talas the Turikish army marched east towards their camp of Sivas. At Sivas reinforcements under the command of Ghazi ibn Danishmend, meet up with the Turkish army. Danishmend provided the much-needed reinforcements that the Turkish army needed, especially after the battle of Talas. Now with reinforcements Kultamish began to march his troops south to take out the Crusader army that had defeated him at Talas. Hearing of the news of the Turkish reinforcements Romanos IV and his army quickly marched south to cut of the Turkish army, attempting to prevent it from reaching the Crusader army in the South.
Meanwhile in Egypt a young man of influence approached the Caliph Al-Adfal Shahshanshah, with a proposal. This man was none other than the famous ancestor and creator of the Hassassin order, and one of the founders of the Attesh Dynasty that would one day rule and dominate the Middle East for 200 years, Hassan i Sabbah. He was destined to change the world. Yet not just yet. Hassan i Sabbah was a close friend to the older brother of the Caliph Nizar. Nizar was overlooked the throne by his father for unstated reason, yet many believe it was his estranged relationship with his father that lead to this. Both were followers of a sect called Isamili. Hassan had come under influence of this sect shortly after arriving in Eygpt and after meeting Nizar during his tour of the Caliphate managed to convert Nizar to the sect, though Nizar would keep this secret through out most of his life. Both Nizar and Hassan realized the threat that the Crusader posed to the Caliphate, and Nizar an open proponent of intervention and armed conflict with the crusaders begged his brother to intervene or at lest give him an army to do so. Yet Al-Adfal refused to believe that the crusaders were an actual threat and believed that the Seljuk Empire would crush them before they reach the boarders. Yet Nizar was insistent of the threat the posed and begged for an army to deal with the threat. During one of the sessions with the Caliph was Hassan i Sabbah, there due to influence of the Nizar, made his proposal. As Nizar began to pled once again, Hassan interrupted he said that he could deal with the threat if he was given small army of 10 000 soldiers. Hassan i Sabbah was able talk circles around the Caliph and his advisors and after a couple days of discussion he was made head of a small army tasked with dealing with the threat. Had Al-Adalf had known what Hassan was capable of and known that Nizar was willing and going to betray him it is likely he would had never given him the army. Yet he did not know of this and thus the rise of one of the Middle East greatest commanders had begun.
Back in Anatolia a battle was about to begin that would decide the fate of the Roman Empire. Romanos IV had foolhardily attack the Seljuk army outside of the city of Malatya. He was hoping that if he struck hard enough then he could deal the deathblow to the Turkish army and redeem himself after his crushing defeat at Manizkert. The Turkish had divided their force using Dansimend army as a rearguard for the main army. So it was this in mind that Romanos attacked the Turkish army. Yet Romanos miscalculated the actually size of the main Turkish force and the proximity of the Danismend rearguard. Romanos first gathered control of the heights nearby the Turkish camps and set up his archers and artillery on the ridge above the battlefield. Then he placed his main force at the bottom of the valley and prepared for the battle. When the Turkish came they briefly attacked the Crusaders and fell back. Confused Romanos sent Alexios Komenos and Eustache of Boulogne to chase down the Seljuk army. Yet Romanos was completely unprepared for what was going to happen next. The Seljuk army turned around and charged the knight. It was a trap! Kultamish was aware of how deadly the Crusader and Roman archers could be to his army so he decided to lure the main Crusader out of the range of the archers. One Roman chronicler Nestor of Philadelphia described the event. “ They ran as if the Devil himself was upon them, and a righteous fury over took the men as they smelt victory. Yet as it had seemed that if we had won, God as if to punish us for Romanos return to Greece, betrayed us. They turned around and charged they began to chant and scream words in a language we cold not understand. We knew not what to do, in a moment we had gone from a absolute victory to crushing defeat.’ The Battle turned into a bloody melee, Eustache was injured a lance had pierced his upper arm and was saved by a group of French crusader who were able to get him out of the battle and away to safety. Alexios Komenos was able to hold out yet knew with out the rest of the army he would be doomed. Thus he sent a message to Romanos demanding that he come to his aid or lose everything he worked for. Romanos IV took a small force and left a sizeable portion with Nikephoros Byrennios. Romanos IV arrived at the battle with his small cavalry force with the fate of the empire and the crusade at stake he charged.
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