First Crusade

 The Eastern Roman Empire entered the  eleventh century with one of its greatest warrior-Emperors, but by the end, it  would take on a path of crisis and decay.   It was an ongoing process, peaking at  the decisive battle of Manzikert in 1071.   But how did a single defeat under the  leadership of a capable general against   a heavily outnumbered enemy lead to the loss of  the imperial heartland? This is the fascinating   story of the events that defined the history of  the Eastern Mediterranean and turned a regional   conflict into a religious one. Welcome to the  first video in our series on the First Crusade. It is the gift-giving season and if you are  looking for a great present for yourself or your   loved ones, you don’t need to look further than  the sponsor of this video Kamikoto, who provides   great Japanese steel knives to solve every cooking  situation! 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Kamikoto has an excellent offer for the  Kings and Generals fans: Go to Kamikoto.com/KG50 and use our discount code KingsAndGenerals  to get 50 USD off any purchase that you make!The reign of Basil II was the pinnacle of  the Eastern Roman Empire, as this emperor  of theMacedonian dynasty was a true warrior,  capable administrator, and cunning diplomat,who managed to endure civil war, defeats, and  corruption to eventually crush his enemies including the Fatimids, Georgia, Khazars and  most notably Bulgaria which he conquered in 1018.When he was not campaigning, Basil wrote  laws, established the Varangian guard and allied the Kievan Rus under the condition  that they accept Orthodox Christianity.The man who would later be nicknamed the Bulgar  Slayer would reign for forty-nine years and leave behind a vast treasury for his successors, all  of which would live in the shadow of his memory.The first of these would be Constantine VIII,  who ruled for three short years and despite being in his late sixties, he spent most of his  time hunting, feasting, and blinding nobles.  Factionalism and court intrigues during his reign  showed the cracks of the empire. While he was on  his deathbed he attempted to marry his daughter  Zoe to the capable military commander and loyal  duke of Antioch Constantine, but as the man-made  his way to the capitol the royal advisers changed  the selection to the old and feeble Romanos III  who was easier to control, which was the sign  that the Empire now preferred court intrigue  and plotting to merit and good leadership.  Romanos took the throne in 1028 and was eager to  prove his worth so he decided to attack his own  client state of Aleppo in July, but that ended  in a catastrophic failure, as 20000 of his men  died of heat, thirst, and dysentery. Meanwhile,  Empress Zoe was hatching her own plots, spying  on her sister Theodora and in her desperation to  get pregnant at the age of 50 took on many lovers,  while using magic charms, amulets and potions  to no avail. In 1034 Zoe had her husband drowned  in the bath, marrying one of her lowborn  lovers named Michael on the very same day. The new emperor Michael IV was scared of Zoe  and knew what she was capable of, so he had her  confined to her chambers, while doing his best to  restore the strength of the Empire. His rule saw  significant improvements in the economic sector  as well as a great victory over the Bulgarians,  who started a major revolt, but neither of those  achievements could directly be attributed to him.  On the administrative side, there was  John the eunuch who managed the finances,  while the famous Viking Harald Hadrada was the  man leading the Varangians to victory in 1041,  earning himself the nickname the Bulgar  Burner. Meanwhile, the Emperor became  ill and began to shower the clergy with  gifts to both appease them and find a cure,  as countless generals wondered why this  commoner got on the throne in the first place. Michael IV died from a natural death at the end of  the year and was succeeded by his nephew Michael  V, marking the first time in half a century  when the Empire was not ruled by an old monarch.  However, the tradition of being ruled  by an incompetent monarch continued,  as Michael immediately arrested Harald Hadrada,  banished his uncle John and later his adoptive  mother Empress Zoe, sparking a major revolt  in the capital and causing a mob to raise both  Macedonian sisters Zoe and Theodora as Empresses,  while the future king of Norway blinded  Michael, ending his four-month-long reign. The sisters now ruled the Empire, but before  long factions began to form around them  and scheme against each other, until  Zoe decided to marry for the third time.  Many candidates and former lovers were reviewed,  but eventually, she settled on Constantine  Monomachos and if the constant coronation  sounds confusing, that’s because it was.  More importantly, the tradition of handing out  huge gifts at the coronation ceremony to earn  the loyalty of the followers exhausted  the rich treasury Basil left behind. Shortly after their wedding Constantine IX  brought in his mistress Maria and exalted  her to the status of Empress, convincing Zoe to  share her throne and her bed with this woman,  leading to a convoluted situation where  the Eastern Roman Empire had an Emperor  and three Empresses, who were about to face a  wave of new and old opponents. The Byzantine  holdings in Italy were crumbling under the wave  of Norman invasions, Bulgaria was conquered,  but it no longer served as the barrier to other  nomadic people, which allowed the Pechenegs to  cross the Danube and harass the Balkans, the  Kievan Rus launched a huge invasion in 1043,  which was stopped with the use of Greek  fire. Despite all of these enemies and  two major failed rebellions the Empire continued  to expand, annexing the Armenian kingdom of Ani,  a mountainous region that would have made for a  good buffer state against the avalanche of Seljuk  conquests. Nomadic military traditions met Sunni  Islam and the combination fueled by the concept  of jihad unleashed itself on the Islamic world,  where despite being seen as barbarians by some,  the undeniable military prowess of the  Seljuks helped them unify most of the  Middle East. They have now turned their gaze  on the Orthodox Romans and Shiite Fatimids. Constantine’s reign ended in 1055 with another  calamity that will leave a permanent mark on the  Empire, the East-West Schism. The throne passed  to the only surviving member of the Macedonian  dynasty - Theodora who tried to centralise the  power, while the court engaged in intrigues and  plots. Her death a year later would bring an  end to 189 years of rule under the dynasty.  Naturally, civil war ensued and after it, Michael  VI and Issac Komnenos ruled for a year each  until Constantine X Doukas got  his chance to start a dynasty.  The court was purged, gifts and  titles were once again handed out. Meanwhile, the enemies of the Empire were only  growing stronger. In particular, the Seljuks  themselves just had a change in leadership after  the founder of the Empire Tughril died and was  succeeded by his nephew Alp Arslan. The nomads  derived their legitimacy from military success  so the new sultan decided to prove himself by  leading an expedition against the city of Ani,  which was one of the largest  cities in the world at the time.  Despite its riches and dense population, its  corrupted governor stole gold from the defense  budget and when the Seljuks arrived they found a  section of the city wall unguarded and pounced,  subjecting it to a brutal sack in 1064.  The last time the Eastern Romans suffered  a defeat of this caliber was all the way back  in 838 when Amorium was sacked by the Abbasids.  Yet Constantinople’s only response was not to send  an army and pick up the pieces, but to prosecute  members of the Armenian clergy, while focusing  entirely on the Italian lands they were losing.  This complete lack of interest in the eastern  frontier was coupled with a disintegration  of the professional army, decreased army  salaries, lack of repairs on the border forts,and reliance on mercenaries. Yet it was once again  the final act written from his deathbed that was the most influential in the eight-year-long reign  of Constantine X. Desperate to keep his dynasty in charge, the dying emperor made his wife Eudocia  swear an oath in front of all court officials that she would take no future husband and rule as  regent until their son could assume the throne.At this point in time, a massive Seljuk raid  that penetrated deep into the Byzantine territory and the important city of Caesarea was sacked,  while the empress discovered a plot by the duke of Serdica Romanos that quickly made her break the  oath she swore. Knowing how fragile her position was and unlike her husband understanding the  importance of keeping the nomadic raiders at bay, she turned to the now-imprisoned Romanos and made  him an offer. The man was to marry her and defend the Empire against its enemies or die. This was a  wise choice, considering the many noble families plotting to seize power for themselves  most notably Constantine’s brother John, who as many notable generals in the past would  defeat their foes only to gain confidence and rebel against the crown. Romanos accepted  the offer and now owed his life to his Empress. He wasted no time in preparing against one  of the greatest foes the Romans ever faced. Decades of decay and lack of funds had turned  the once fearsome army into a mob of peasants and undisciplined mercenaries, which the new Emperor  had to drill into a competent fighting force.In 1068 news spread of the plunder of Neocaesarea, so Romanos set out with a small force  and chased the Seljuks for eight days until eventually engaging the nomads slowed  down by the loot and slaves they carried. The cargo was abandoned and the Seljuks rushed  back home, making the new emperor confident. Next, he regrouped with the main army to take Hierapolis  from the Emirate of Aleppo. wisely avoiding the summer heat, before hearing of yet another raid  that sacked Amorium. His first campaign had mixed results, but the soldiers were happy that they  finally had a leader who fought alongside them, while his internal enemies did their best to focus  on his failures to protect the Roman citizens.The following year another distraction was thrown  in the mix as one of the Norman mercenaries Robert Crispin, leading a contingent of Frankish troops  rebelled against the Empire and attacked tax collectors in Edessa. He was captured and  exiled to the island of Abydos, allowing Romanos to continue his fight against the Seljuks.  A large army went on to secure Akhlat on lake Van, while a smaller force under a subcommander was  ordered to guard the border. That force was overwhelmed and the Seljuks razed another city,  this time Iconium, forcing Romanos to give chase and pick up the abandoned loot after catching  up with them. The frustration was building up as traditional tactics proved ineffective  against the lighter armed cavalry force. The Byzantine army was expensive to upkeep and  feed and while the emperor was campaigning the court was plotting, forcing Romanos to balance his  military campaign with the administrative duties.Because of that, the campaign season of 1070 was  entrusted to Manuel Komnenos, nephew of the former emperor Issac and elder brother to the future  Alexios, while the Emperor focused on the loss of Italy and monetary reforms aimed at funding the  army. Public events were restricted, the currency was debased from 87 to 70 percent gold and  court salaries decreased, which hurt his image, but allowed him to gather the resources  necessary to raise a significant army, which was needed now more than ever since Manuel  was defeated and captured by a Seljuk general who used the classic feigned retreat maneuver.  However while the noble was held hostage, h convinced the enemy general to change  sides and escort Komnenos back to the capital.The combination of active leadership in the east,  as well as the defection of a key general who also happened to be the sultan’s brother-in-law,  escalated the conflict. Alp Arslan was more interested in his war against the Fatimids, as he  considered their Shiism too heretical to suffer, but he could not neglect the Byzantines anymore,  so the sultan personally led a campaign at the strategic region around lake Van in September  1070, taking the cities of Manzikert and Ahlat, before securing the allegiance of  the Marwanids and attacking Edessa. The countryside was plundered, and the city  garrison managed to hold off the attackers, but overall Alp Arslan got what he came for and  could now divert his attention to the real foes in the south, first stopping by the city of Aleppo.  The emir of the vassal city was ordered to come out and swear an oath, but he refused, which  led to the siege of the city in April 1071.eciding to use this to his advantage, Romanos  quickly gathered his army and marched towards lake Van in an attempt to retake what was lost.  His army included the professional Byzantine core as well as Bulgarians, Pechenegs, Oghuz Turks,  Armenians, and Normans for a total of 40000. Every man was ordered to bring enough provisions  for two months, whichconsidering the size of the army and mountainous region was critical. The  host reached lake Van in August, where the emperor divided his army into two equal parts in order to  cover more ground, ease the logistical strain and simultaneously capture both Manzikert and Ahlat,  which were a day’s march apart from each other. Upon hearing news of this movement, Alp Arslan  abandoned Aleppo in May and rushed towards the lake with incredible speed, even losing  many men who drowned crossing the Euphrates.Romanos and his advisers considered this to be  an act of panic and assumed the sultan would need time to gather new recruits from his  domain, while in reality, his forced march was able to surprise the secondary contingent  sent to take Ahlat. The Byzantine force panicked and withdrew to Melitene without sending word to  Romanos. The Seljuks numbered no more than 20000 and had just eliminated an equally large and  better-armed force with their mere presence. On the next day, August 25, 1071, the Emperor who  had just taken the city of Manzikert became aware of the Seljuk presence and was baffled to find  out half of his men deserted him. He immediately sent out one of his commanders to push back the  riders, assuming it was just a scouting party. The commander engaged the enemy, but after realizing  this was the entire Seljuk army he withdrew and reported back to Romanos with two spears sticking  out of his armor. More troops were sent, but Alp Arslan once again employed the feigned retreat to  avoid casualties and captured a small squadron of men who overextended themselves. Romanos knew that  after his reforms and all of the sacked cities, this was his chance to prove himself and  eliminate the eastern threat for good so he ordered an attack against Alp Arslan, but by that  time the nomads retreated to a nearby hilltop. The real battle would have to wait so the Romans  went back to their fortified camp just outside Manzikert. Later that evening the Seljuks launched  a devastating raid, taking advantage of the new moon and harassed whoever was outside the safety  of the walls. An eyewitness account reports: “For who could get any sleep, when the danger  had drawn its sword and pointed it at us?”At dawn, another raid was launched but was  repelled by the infantry. Shortly afterwards, two messengers arrived telling Romanos that a group  of Oghuz Turks defected and joined the sultan and that Alp Arslan himself wanted to discuss peace  terms. The peace talks went on for some time, but the Emperor was aware that should he sign any  kind of deal, he would befacingarebellionback iConstantinople, so he abruptly ended the  talks and signalled for his men to form up. Romanos took the center with the cavalry and  Varangian guards, the western tagmata made up the left wing, while the right wing was comprised of  the eastern units, finally, the rear was commanded  by Andronikos Doukas, the nephew of Constantine X  and member of the family which despised Romanos.His presence on the campaign was an attempt  to ease tensions, but also as a guarantee that his father would not start an uprising  in the capital. The Seljuks deployed their units in a crescent formation, protruding at  the wings with Alp Arslan leading the center. Romanos, who was an experienced commander  and capable fighter, slowly advanced on the enemy under constant arrow fire as they withdrew.  Smaller engagements were fought, but eventually, by the end of the afternoon the Seljuks were  pushed back and the sultan’s camp was captured. Romanos quickly realized that his army was  losing cohesion and was afraid that if he didn’t reform the line in time, the enemy would rampage  throughout his camp under the veil of darkness, so he ordered the imperial standard to be  reversed, which was the command to withdraw. The fatigued, disorganized, and  distant wings were confused by this and some misinterpreted it as a signal that  Romanos had fallen. Gaps began to open and the reserve Seljuk force pounced at the opportunity  to go through them and surround the Roman forces who had just marched over 10 kilometers in heavy  armor and were struggling to organise a withdraw. Seeing this the rest of the Seljuk forces also  rejoined the fight and it wasn't long before both wings collapsed and began to flee, leaving  the center surrounded. The standard was once again reversed in an attempt to rally the troops,  but by then it was too late, the only hope left lay in the hands of the rear guard and the  Doukas family, who could prevent total disaster, as most of the men were not captured or slain, but  merely retreated. It was in that crucial moment, when Andronikos announced that the emperor was  dead and marched his men to Constantinople, spreading the word of the death of Romanos  through the cities he passed along the way. Back in the camp, the non-combatants were utterly  confused and reported: “It was like an earthquake, with howling, grief, sudden fear, clouds of dust  and finally hoards of Turks riding all around”.As darkness set in, Romanos who had  fought despite fatigue and wounds was captured and his camp was ransacked, most  escaped as the riders were hesitant to blindly chase after the enemy on the mountain roads. And  so the young Seljuk Empire matched the Sassanids in capturing a Roman emperor not far from the  last time it occurred in Edessa 811 years ago, but rather than killing or humiliating his captive,  Alp Arslan treated him well and with respect. A famous exchange reported by chroniclers on both  sides quickly followed as Alp Arslan asked how he would have been treated if he was captured, to  which Romanos replied that he would be killed in a cruel manner. The sultan instead offered  to return Romanos to his home, dressed in the fine clothing of a Seljuk noble, with an  escort and any prisoners he wanted to be freed.A peace treaty was signed, but we will never  know if the sultan anticipated what happened next, for it was the release of a presumed dead  Romanos that did irreparable damage to the Empire. Back in Constantinople the nobles immediately  tried to distance themselves from their defeated leader and deposed him, quickly replacing him with  Michael VII Doukas who exiled his mother Eudocia. They were well aware that Romanos still  commanded respect among the soldiers and began assembling their own army to  defeat him by exploiting the countryside since the royal treasury was empty. The Norman  mercenary Robert was taken out of his cell and led a makeshift army that met Romanos in battle  and defeated him, at the expense of many Roman lives. The civil war was brief and ended with the  capture of the once-mighty commander who pleaded for mercy while he was blinded. The infection  quickly set in and Romanos died soon after.The economy and manpower of the Empire were  exhausted and morale was at an all-time low. The Seljuks overran a squabbling state  riddled with usurpers and rebellion, and by the end of the decade, the Byzantine  heartland was lost. It was in this climate of desperation that a new dynasty would rise and turn  towards the west for aid when all seemed lost, hoping for financial or military assistance.  Instead, a new chapter would begin as Alexios Komnenos opened the floodgates to the crusaders.  We are going to release the second episode in our series on the First Crusade, so make sure you are  subscribed and have pressed the bell button to see. it. Please, consider liking, commenting, and  sharing - it helps immensely. Our videos would be impossible without our kind patrons and youtube  channel members, whose ranks you can join via the links in the description to know our schedule, get  early access to our videos, access our discord, and much more. This is the Kings and Generals  channel, and we will catch you on the next one