Battle of Mersivan
Battle of Mersivan | |||||||
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Part of Crusades | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Sultanate of Rum Danishmend | Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of France Byzantine Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Kilij Arslan I Gazi Gümüshtigin | Raymond I of Tripoli Stephen of Blois Stephen I, Count of Burgundy | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
20,000 | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown |
- v
- t
- e
- Xerigordos
- Civetot
- Nicaea
- 1st Dorylaeum
- 1st Antioch
- Samosata
- 2nd Antioch
- Ma'arra
- Arqa
- 1st Jerusalem
- 1st Ascalon
Period post-First Crusade
- Arsuf
- Melitene
- Mersivan
- 1st Heraclea
- 2nd Heraclea
- 1st Ramla
- 2nd Ramla
- 1st Tripoli
- 1st Acre
- Harran
- 3rd Ramla
- Artah
- Beirut
- Sidon
- 1st Shaizar
- Al-Sannabra
- Sarmin
- Ager Sanguinis
- Hab
- Jaffa and Tyre
- Yibneh
- 1st Aleppo
- Azaz
- Marj al-Saffar
- al-Atharib
- Rafaniyya
- Antioch
- Qinnasrin
- Ba'rin
- 2nd Aleppo
- 2nd Shaizar
- Edessa 1144
- Edessa 1146
- Bosra
- 1st Constantinople
- 2nd Dorylaeum
- Ephesus
- Meander Valley
- Mount Cadmus
- Damascus
Period post-Second Crusade
- Inab
- Aintab
- 2nd Ascalon
- Lake Huleh
- Butaiha
- al-Buqaia
- Harim
- 1st Bilbeis
- al-Babein
- 2nd Bilbeis
- 1st Damietta
- Ayla
- Alexandria
- Montgisard
- Hama
- Banias
- Marj Ayyun
- Jacob's Ford
- 2nd Acre
- Red Sea
- 1st Belvoir Castle
- Al-Fule
- 1st Kerak
- Cresson
- 2nd Kerak
- Hattin
- 2nd Jerusalem
- 3rd Tyre
- 2nd Belvoir Castle
- Laodicea
- Sahyun
- Al-Shughur
- Bourzey
- Safed
- 3rd Acre
- Philomelion
- Iconium
- 1st Arsuf
- 1st Jaffa
Period post-Third Crusade
- 2nd Jaffa
- Toron
- Zara
- 2nd Constantinople
- 3rd Constantinople
- Mount Tabor
- Machghara
- 2nd Damietta
- 1st Fariskur
- 1st Mansurah
Sixth Crusade and aftermath
- Gaza
- 3rd Jerusalem
- Forbie
- 3rd Ascalon
- 3rd Damietta
- 2nd Mansurah
- 2nd Fariskur
End of the Crusader states in the Levant
- 2nd Arsuf
- Caesarea
- Haifa
- Safed
- 2nd Antioch
- Eighth Crusade
- Krak des Chevaliers
- 2nd Tripoli
- Lord Edward's Crusade
- Homs
- Margat
- 3rd Tripoli
- 4th Acre
- Ruad
The Battle of Mersivan was fought between the European Crusaders and the Seljuk Turks led by Kilij Arslan I in Northern Anatolia during the Crusade of 1101. The Turks decisively defeated the Crusaders, who lost an estimated four-fifths of their army near the mountains of Paphlagonia at Mersivan (Mersifon).
The Crusaders were organized into five divisions: the Burgundians, Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse and the Byzantines, the Germans, the French, and the Lombards. The land was well-suited to the Turks—dry and inhospitable for their enemy, it was open, with plenty of space for their cavalry units. The Turks had been troublesome to the Latins for some days, at last making certain that they went where Kilij Arslan I wanted them to be and making sure that they only found a small amount of supplies.
The battle took place over several days. On the first day, the Turks cut off the crusading armies’ advances and surrounded them. The next day, Conrad led his Germans in a raid that failed miserably. Not only did they fail to open the Turkish lines, they were unable to return to the main crusader army and had to take refuge in a nearby stronghold. This meant that they were cut off from supplies, aid, and communication for an attack that may have taken place had the Germans been able to provide their own military strength.
The third day was somewhat quiet, with little or no serious fighting taking place, but on the fourth day, the crusaders made an intensive effort to free themselves from the trap that they were in. The crusaders inflicted heavy losses on the Turks, but the attack was a failure by the end of the day. Kilij Arslan was joined by Ridwan of Aleppo and other powerful Danishmend princes.
The Lombards, in the vanguard, were defeated, the Pechenegs deserted, and the French and Germans were also forced to fall back. Raymond was trapped on a rock and was rescued by Stephen and Conrad, constable of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The battle continued into the next day, when the crusader camp was captured and the knights fled, leaving women, children, and priests behind to be killed or enslaved. Most of the Lombards, who had no horses, were soon found and killed or enslaved by the Turks. Raymond, Stephen, Count of Blois, and Stephen I, Count of Burgundy fled north to Sinope, and returned to Constantinople by ship.[1]
References
- ^ Runciman, Steven (1987). A history of the Crusades, vol. 2: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 052134770X. OCLC 17461930.
Sources
- Runciman, Steven (1987). A History of the Crusades. CUP Archive. ISBN 9780521347716.
- Gillespie, Alexander (2011). A History of the Laws of War: Volume 1. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781847318619.
- Gillespie, Alexander (2011). A History of the Laws of War: Volume 3. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781847318411.