And All Nations Shall Gather To It - Volume I: The Abode of Peace
- Thread starter Ricard (i.e. Rdffigueira)
- Start date
Oh man, now that would be a fun story. A crusader lord, desperately trying to maintain power, converts to Islam and switches sides to try to appease whichever Muslim force is invading. It would probably go horribly, but it would be fun.
27. Inferno At The Sea (1109)
A naval battle between the Egyptian shalandī off the coast of Sidon, famed for its immense sea-walls, and the Rhōmaîoi dromons, involving "Greek Fire"
It is hard to overstate how the assistance of Constantinople helped ensure the survival of the Crusader State in its darkest hour. Unlike in later periods, when the Rhōmaîoi, having recuperated a substantial portion of their military projection in Asia, would be able to launch deep-pronged offensives to relieve the beleaguered Latin allies, in 1109, they had hardly any land forces to spare to give a direct tactical assistance in battle against the Turks in Palestine itself. Nevertheless, even if some of the contemporary – mostly pro-Norman – sources conveniently omit these details, modern historiography has come to recognize the great importance of Alexios’ contributions to the Crusader war effort during these years.
Not only the already conceived, but yet not put in motion campaign from Antioch against Muslim Aleppo would greatly relieve the Jerusalemites, by creating another theater of war to occupy the Saracens’ attention, we must also take in consideration that, due to the rampant pillaging and mayhem of the Turks, the supply lines of the Crusades had been cut off, and many of their resources, not only consumable goods, but also horses and some pack animals, as well as weapons and basic utensils to furnish their encampments, had to be brought by sea, with the unscathed ports of Haifa and Acre receiving such needed commodities by sea directly from Syria and Cyprus. Obviously, for a while, it became difficult for such resources to reach the battle theaters, but, after the Turks stationed their divided armies near Tyre and Jerusalem to besiege them, minor caravans heavily protected by militia spearmen and armored archers would travel overnight to deliver such supplies to the nearby fortresses, hoping that the scattered forces of the kingdom could be resupplied; perhaps they started believing that the Basileus Alexios would come all the way from Constantinople with his grand army to rescue them. In this regard, they were mistaken. The greatest battle of this war would actually happen in the very sea to which they looked daily in hope of a miracle.
In the previous months, the Fatimid fleets that had been ranging along the eastern Mediterranean littoral had systematically expelled the Italian merchant navies from Venice, Pisa, Amalfi and Genoa, but refused to face the Rhōmaîoi galleys coming from Rhodes and Cyprus to supply the Crusaders. As another demonstration that the Komnenoi had long since abandoned their former alliance with the Fatimids, and decided to give a serious and reliable support to their newfound Latin associates, Alexios detached almost of the whole Rhōmaîoi fleet to face the Egyptian armada. The dromons were, in most cases, brand new, because the fleet had as whole had been mostly neglected and fallen in disrepair during the long decline that followed the end of the Macedonian dynasty. When Alexios Komnenos ascended to the purple, he found almost no useful warships to face the threats of the Normans and even of the Turks, such as Tzachas Bey of Smyrna – who had grown so emboldened by the vulnerability of the Aegean Sea that he built a few ships and raided in the coast of Greece and Thrace – and was forced to depend either on mercenary service, with the Venetians being the most interested or on conscription of merchant vessels to serve as ad hoc auxiliary support.
By the late years of his reign, Alexios had invested substantial resources in the construction of a sizeable warfleet, after systematically reforming the naval shipbuilding, creating new “sea districts” parallel to the mostly defunct Theme system, and establishing individual quotas for ship construction, as well as a number of volunteer oarsmen from each of them.
In late 1109, the Rhōmaîoi had been receiving many vessels and minor flotillas of the Italians that had escaped the Fatimid onslaught, offering them safe haven in Crete. First came the Amalfitans, then the Pisans, and, in the same month, a handful of Venetian and but two Genoese galleys, most of them merchant ships. Only the Venetians so far had brought warships, and even they were not a match to the Egyptian armada.
Alexios then made a very risky bet. In hindsight, we know that he made the right call, but, considering what we know of his personality and political attitudes, it might come as a surprise that he decided to make such a dubious gamble, given the circumstances. The Rhōmaîoi fleet was not much larger than those of the Egyptians, and losing it would meant the complete annihilation of Constantinople’s hard won sea preeminence, not only would leave the coastal regions of the Empire vulnerable to offensives, but would jeopardize all of its interests and designs in Asia, because, now that were just retaking fortified settlements in central Anatolia, their whole logistical and communications network linking their European regions and the Syrian ones would likely be threatened.
Yet, it came to pass that in October 1109, when the sieges of Jerusalem and Tyre were still under way, the Rhōmaîon dromōns, assisted by some dozen Venetian and Genoese war galleys, flanked a substantial portion of the Egyptian fleet as it was departing from the port of Sidon, one of the few Lebanese metropolises that had remained loyal to Cairo, and annihilated them. The incumbent Egyptian commander, likely not expecting a maritime engagement, but a simple ressuply operation, was taken by surprise and could scantly adopt a suitable defensive formation, even more because the Greeks and the Italians attacked in the dark of the night.
Then, they sailed in a close-knit wedge formation, attracting the larger fraction of the armada off their favored port of Damietta in the next few days, and inflicted a decisive defeat. The Rhōmaîoi ships, in the previous centuries, were still based in the ancient blueprint of the Roman liburnia, but, during the Komnenoi period, were usually built in a similar fashion to the Italian galleys, which allowed for greater maneuverability. Now, the Rhōmaîoi employed a “secret weapon of sorts”, the so-called Greek Fire.
Even if in later periods the Greek Fire would become ubiquitous in the Mediterranean world, in spite of all the almost-religious secrecy needed to guard its recipe, guarded by many keys by the concerned Emperors, at the time, only the Rhōmaîoi themselves and the Arabs (but not the Turks) knew how to craft and employ it in battle. In fact, in Rhōmanía the weapon had largely become disused, due to the relative lack of hostile maritime powers after the 10th Century, and only a few Arabic polities, such as the Fatimids, used it, albeit in smaller scale, usually in sieges. In the siege of Jerusalem, Iftikhar al-Dawla had employed such fire grenades to incinerate one of the Crusader siege towers and battering rams, to no avail, as they protected them with oxen hides heavy with vinegar.
Now, the weapon’s creators, the Rhōmaîoi, had an edge even the resourceful Fatimids lacked: a means to channel a jet of fire across a significant distance with impressive accuracy, while the Saracens, and, sometime later, the Latins, would limit themselves to hurling incendiary grenades with catapults. In that specific month of 1109, these contraptions, usually siphons fashioned in gold with the head of dragons and lions, were employed to great effect against the Fatimids. The engagement lasted through a complete day into night, and it must have been such a disturbing sight, to anyone who might have witnessed the battle from the northern coast of Egypt, in the Nile Delta, the distant and abstract burning of pyres in the line of the horizon, dancing rhythmically upon the waves. The chemical compound created flames that not even the contact with sea water was enough to quench, and the flames would continue to devour the shattered remains of the destroyed Egyptian vessels, with so many charred corpses being condemned to rest for eternity in Poseidon's domain.
The unexpected but decisive naval triumph of the Rhōmaîoi in that year would assert their hegemony over the eastern Mediterranean, which would not be jeopardized for centuries. The Fatimid dynasty, whose decline under weak Caliphs would only get steeper in the next few decades, would never recover.
Their loss of naval projection would in turn produce long-term beneficial consequences to the Crusader State – one that they could not even conceive at the time – it would create a free navigation space between Europe and Asia that would foster the trade between Italy, Rhōmanía and the Levant, allowing for the safe transit of commodities and people by the formidable fleets of Venice, Genoa, and other city-republics. Considering that, until the development of the farming regions of Lebanon and Syria, the Latin-Levantine economy would be almost entirely dependent on commerce, this development would greatly increase the realm’s prosperity, even as much as they were to become integrated in the Constantinopolitan node of trade.
The triumphant Rhōmaîoi Megas Doux John Doukas [Ioannes Doukas], would return, some months later, to the docks in the Golden Horn of Constantinople with a dozen captured Fatimid warships, having left hundreds of their crewmen imprisoned in Cyprus. Immediately after the battle, however, the admiral voyaged to Tyre and disembarked a division of Cypriot marines to reinforce the Normans and Aquitanians. A few days later, he would return to Tyre, with more 500 soldiers from the ports of the Cibyrrhaeot Theme to assist them. Even Bohemond, for all his animosity towards Alexios, could not avoid a genuine sentiment of joy when he saw these cuirassed and dark-haired battle-hardened veterans that would soon become his comrades in the line of battle against the infidels.
Wow, the Byzantines doing something with their navy? That just might be the most unbelievable part of this TL so far 
But this has gigantic ramifications for the future of the Med, especially the references to the future. Italy will be slightly weaker ITTL without compelte naval domination in the east; this will have a domino effect on their neighbors. Hungary and the HRE may have an easier time of it expanding into Italian territories, for example.
However, the general effect seems to be increased wealth for all of the Christian powers. Maybe the real losers are the Muslim nations, then, who have suffered a major blow in their Mediterranean trade.
But this has gigantic ramifications for the future of the Med, especially the references to the future. Italy will be slightly weaker ITTL without compelte naval domination in the east; this will have a domino effect on their neighbors. Hungary and the HRE may have an easier time of it expanding into Italian territories, for example.
However, the general effect seems to be increased wealth for all of the Christian powers. Maybe the real losers are the Muslim nations, then, who have suffered a major blow in their Mediterranean trade.
The Byzantines not only having a good fleet and winning a stunning surprise battle against the Fatimids is a bit wanky but it's probably necessary for the timeline's theme to develop. It's a good post though, and Stranger Things have happened.
Bit of a small nitpick, but you have John Doukas (Ioannes Doukas), when surely the complete latinisation would be John Ducas (Ioannes Doukas)?
Apart from that, an amazing update and good as ever.
Apart from that, an amazing update and good as ever.
Indeed. This chapter was actually a minor footnote that I decided to give some detail, so you guys didn't think I was taking it out of my ass.
Wow, the Byzantines doing something with their navy? That just might be the most unbelievable part of this TL so far
I know, I had my concerns about the idea of a Byzantine decisive victory at sea... I took a lot of research about the state of their navy, and, apparently during John II's reign, they had a substantial fleet, but under Alexios it was mostly mercenaries and auxiliaries so I had to give a bit of a wank.
But you are correct, of course. This trend will facilitate a gradual European hegemony of the Mediterranean (with the Italians predominating in the west and the Byzantines in the east), especially considering that the current big bosses of the Maghreb - the Almoravids and later the Almohads - will want nothing with navies, hailing from a desert-nomadic background (even if the rump state of the Almoravids IOTL came to mount a fleet from the Baleares to invade Almohad dominion of Algeria).
I believe, however, that the setback suffered by Islam overall will be mitigated in the next few generations, once the fallout of the traumatic Crusader establishment settles down. After all, the Latins in times of peace won't oppose the access of the Arab, Syrian and Persian traders to the Mediterranean (they will, of course, be duly taxed). The greatest loser is obviously Egypt, especially considering that it becomes vulnerable to a maritime offensive besides a land-based one and... we'll see how this turns out.
Yeah, I thought about this too. I'd say that it was more of a contrived combination of the following factors: (1) the fleet had been reformed; (2) the defeat of the Fatimids occurred not exactly in a single engagement, but actually in two distinct occasions (ok, that's wanky); (3) the outnumbered Venetian and Genoese flotillas nevertheless packed a good punch. Anyway, I know that the Greek Fire was not some sort of super weapon (in fact, its use in open sea was very limited, due to its short range, and because it depended on calm waters), but, for the sake of dramatic development, I couldn't resist using it.
And, indeed, many stranger things have happened
I agree with you, but the fact is that I mostly use Wikipedia English articles as reference for defining the spelling and wording of people and place names (this is why I use "Seljuk" instead of "Seljuq" as some authors prefer, and "Alexios" instead of "Alexius", or "Komnena" instead of "Comnene"). This indeed creates some bizarre inconsistencies, as you pointed out, because the first name comes in English, but the surname is preserved in a Hellenophone format. This seems to be most commons regarding "Byzantine"/Roman names, such as Phokas instead of Phocas, and Nikephoros instead of Nicephorus.
In spite of this oddities, I prefer to keep using the Wiki reference to keep some consistency.
And thanks for the support!
Considering OTL Byzantine history, especially after Manuel I was an almost ASB screw, having a relatively minor wank here is fine
In terms of long term consequences, having Christian control of the Red Sea and Silk Road trading routes will dramatically reshape the direction Europe goes in.
In terms of long term consequences, having Christian control of the Red Sea and Silk Road trading routes will dramatically reshape the direction Europe goes in.
Md139115
Banned
Considering OTL Byzantine history, especially after Manuel I was an almost ASB screw, having a relatively minor wank here is fine
In terms of long term consequences, having Christian control of the Red Sea and Silk Road trading routes will dramatically reshape the direction Europe goes in.
Yeah, for starters, there’s no need to finance dangerous trips to the west across the oceans when you have a nice road open to the Indies already.
Possibly... wouldn't that be wonderful, a world without America..!
Sadly I fear someone will discover it, there's always some skinflint who won't pay the toll for heading east...
Md139115
Banned
England will finally decide to, and start colonizing North America and the Caribbean before anyone else can get in. Eventually, the territories will become too big and rebel, and the world will have a much bigger USA.
trajen777
Banned
Very well done. I felt the Byz would have to be the only ones who could be timely in saving the crusader states. As to the Byz fleet i think with the better position of the Byz state a better Navy is very prob. During Manuel reign they had a massive fleet the pretty well dominated everything.
A strong fleet should also prevent something like the 4th Crusade from happening. If they are able to maintain dominance in the straits at the very least, Constantinople should also be invulnerable from any attack from Anatolia.
Should Egypt fall to the Crusaders, I see Italians taking control of Alexandria and establishing a hub in Socotra.
Egypt would be impossible to hold fully, Sinai... perhaps. Overrun it and fortify the Sinai-(Suez)-Egypt border.
trajen777
Banned
Not sure -- the strength of the Italian states was a result of the decline of the Byz. Here they will have a border much easier to protect, have defeated the Turks, and any new Turkish tribe moving in (until the Mongols). They will be forced to keep up a fleet in the eastern med to keep the trade going. So the Italian states will be much weaker and less wealthy to project any force.