Seljuk Acquisition of Nicaea

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Battle of Nicaea

Part of the Byzantine-Seljuk wars

Date	1064 to 1204
Location	Nicaea
Result	Seljuk Turks capture city

Belligerents

Commanders

Strength

Unknown but assumed less than Seljuk Turks

Unknown, but assumed more than Byzantine empire

Casualties and losses

Unknown

v • d • e Byzantine-Seljuk wars

Kapetrou – 1st Manzikert – Caesarea – Iconium – 2nd Manzikert – 1st Nicaea – Antioch – Levounion – Seljuk Campaigns in the Aegean – 2nd Nicaea – 3rd Nicaea – Philomelion – Campaigns of John I Komnenos – Myriokephalon – Hyelion and Leimocheir – Cotyaeum – Trebizond – Antalya – 2nd Meander Valley

For other uses, see Siege of Nicaea (disambiguation).

After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Seljuk Turks had initially offered the Byzantine Empire under Romanos IV lenient peace terms. However, Romanos IV was deposed, and the peace terms were revoked by the Byzantines. Another army sent by the Byzantines against the Seljuk Turks was defeated in 1073. Further rebellions throughout the Byzantine Empire ensured that what few troops remained could not be turned against the Seljuk Turks. The new emperor, Nikephoros III, failed to reverse these losses in Asia Minor. Command of the Byzantine armies was entrusted to Alexius Comnenus, who was engaged in suppressing various rebellions in Thrace, Epirus and Asia Minor. As the Seljuk Turks advanced from Manzikert, the peasants fled before them, ruining the already over-stretched theme system.

[edit] Nicaea

The city was a strong point for the Byzantines, not an easy prize for the Seljuk Turks. In 1077 and 1078, the city changed hands many times until it finally was secured by the Seljuk Turks in 1078. The city was taken by the Seljuks as a price for assisting the various coups that occurred during the civil war of the Byzantine Empire.

[edit] Legacy

The loss of Nicaea was bitter, but Nicaea had fallen before: it had been lost to the Persians in the 7th century and then been recaptured. However, even though the Seljuk Turks were by now becoming less united and more interested in marching towards the Levant and into Syria, the Byzantines were unfortunate in that they had to fight the Normans in the West. Nikephoros III was able to march on to Constantinople from Nicaea with the aid of its new Seljuk owners in 1078 and depose emperor Michael VII. However, the sacrifice of Nicaea was to no avail for Nikephoros who was deposed. Alexius Comnenus rose to power in 1081 and began restoring the Empire, reclaiming the city in 1097.