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Author's Note: Major PODs are marked in green. This is just a half-formed idea that I'm getting out there.

October 18th, 1081 AD: Outside of the city of Dyrrhachium.

Emperor Alexius I, having failed to ambush the Norman army under Robert Guiscard, draws up his troops with the Varangian Guard on the left flank, the Tagmata in the center and Balkan troops on the right. Guarding the wings of Alexius' army are 1,000 Frankish knights, 2,000 Turkish mercenary horsemen, as well as 7,000 horse archers sent by Sultan Kilij Arslan I of Rum. In total, this force numbers around 20,000 troops.

The Normans have 30,000 troops, including 1,300 Norman knights. Many of these troops are conscripts from southern Italy and are none-too willing to fight for Guiscard. Guiscard positions himself in the center with his son Bohemund on the left and the Count of Giovinazzo on the right.

Guiscard attempts to lure the Varangians out of formation with a feint attack by his cavalry, but Roman archers force back their cavalry.
The Turkish horse archers chase the Norman cavalry back to the beach, slaughtering many of them before being repelled by a force of spearmen and crossbowmen. The Varangians do not pursue the broken Normans and remain in formation. The Roman left and center, having broken the Norman right, attack and cut off Bohemund's forces from the main body of the Norman army. This results in Bohemund losing his head to a Varangian axe. Desperate, the Norman center attacks the Roman center, but is repulsed. The Norman army routs and is cut to pieces by pursuing Roman forces. The captured prisoners are settled in various areas of the Balkans. Guiscard himself is allowed to return to Italy in exchange for a large ransom payment and a promise to send mercenaries to serve under the Byzantine Emperor.

Alexius contents himself with rebuilding his navy, as well as mounting a few expeditions to bring Serbia and Croatia into vassalage. At this moment, the Romans could not take on the Turks. They would need outside assistance. Trade concessions are promised to the Venetians for assistance in rebuilding the navy.

1082: Henry IV of Germany, with some financial assistance from Alexius, marches into Rome and declares Clement III the Pope. Pope Gregory VII conveniently disappears. Historians suspect that he was murdered on Henry's orders. Henry is crowned the Holy Roman Emperor by Clement. However, many Cardinals do not see Clement as the legitimate Pope and instead elect Desiderius of Monte Cassino as the legitimate pope. However, nobody challenges Henry for the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

1085: Taj ad-Dawla Tutush fails to take control of Syria from Malik Shah, the Great Seljuk Sultan. Malik Shah marches on Anatolia, defeating and executing Suleiman, Sultan of Rum, and taking his son, Kilij Arslan hostage. Syria comes under more direct Seljuk control for the time being.

1087: El Cid, angry at his earlier exile from the Spanish court, essentially gives Alfonso VI the finger and offers his services to the Almoravids, who retake the city of Toledo from the Spanish. He is made the governor of Valencia for his troubles.

1088-Early 1090s: Alexius campaigns against Abul Qasim, the Seljuk governor of Eastern Asia Minor, retaking Nicea, Nicomedia and Smyrna. Owing to greater Byzantine strength, the Seljuks are forced to pull back. However, Alexius cannot project any more force into Asia Minor for the time being, and begins consolidating his gains with military settlers from the Balkans, and by promising Frankish mercenaries land and gold in exchange for providing service to Constantinople. The Seljuks are weak at this moment and lack political unity. As a result, Alexius is able to bribe some Turcoman nomads to convert to Christianity and settle in the Balkans.

Roger Guiscard conquers Sicily from the Arabs. Many Greeks in Sicily flee to Byzantium and are settled in Asia Minor.

The Pechenegs, a people from the steppes around the Black Sea raid the northern Balkans.

Alexius allies himself with the Cumans and marches north across the Danube. There, he comes upon the Pecheneg host and slaughters them. Any surviving prisoners are sold into slavery or pressed into military service in Asia Minor. Alexius quietly assists the Cumans against the Kievan Rus in exchange for Cuman mercenaries serving in his army.

1092: Malik Shah and his vizier Nizam al Mulk narrowly escape being assassinated by followers of radical Ismaili preacher Hassan i Sabah. A punitive expedition into Azerbaijan to locate Sabah is bogged down by hit and run raids from the locals. However, Sabah's base at Alamut is found and destroyed.

1093-4: In the meantime, Alexius is able to retake Seljuk possessions in the upper Meander Valley. The campaigning is slow because the Turks frequently retreat when attacked, only to reappear in the countryside after Byzantine forces have moved past. The stream of military settlers from the west is coming extremely slowly. Alexius knows that thanks to primogeniture, there are thousands of second and third sons of noblemen who have nothing to do and nowhere to go. He sends a letter to both Pope Urban II and Antipope Clement III, asking them for aid in taking Asia Minor. Nobles across France, Germany and Italy responds, especially in Germany, where Emperor Henry IV is still indebted to the Romans for their assistance more than a decade prior. Henry is eager to export the sons of rebellious nobles to a certain death in the Holy Land.

And thus begins the story of the First Crusade.



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