The biggest question concerns the location of the initial Saljuq camp in the foothills and the direction along which the Saljuqs withdrew during Friday. By then his army had reached the first foothills and he was faced with a dilemma. Equipped and maintained at their own expense, they maintained themselves on campaign from their own family resources to which they might hope to add booty. It includes a fine chronology, maps, descriptions of Byzantine and Seljuk strategy, tactics and military equipment, color photographs, military illustrations of battle scenes, and detailed bibliography. The local population also suffered some plundering by his Frankish mercenaries, whom he was obliged to dismiss. 
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Clearly Alp Arslan saw his captive as a valuable diplomatic asset. On the other hand, for several years these measures seemed effective.
Manzikert 1071: The breaking of Byzantium
Marwanid amirate vassal of the Byzantine Emperor until Followed more cautiously by Bryennios, Basilakes charged in pursuit of the now retreating Turks, went too far ahead, fell into the almost inevitable ambush and was captured. A part of the Oghuz people, known as the Toquz-Oghuz, was ruled by a ,anzikert elite, which nevertheless included many Christians, Buddhists and Muslims.
Pan-Orthodox Ministries on Homelessness. Meanwhile, similarities between local Christian and Muslim military elites were remarkable in the eastern frontier regions.
An early and popular treatment of Manzikert that emphasizes the engagement as a decisive military defeat for Byzantium. If there is any truth in this, it may indicate that the Saljuq pursuit of the fleeing Byzantines reached that point where the road north-westward from Manzikert crossed a significant tributary of the Murat River.
Furthermore, this location blocked the approach of any relief force osprry the south or east. Nikephoros Bryennios The Elder became a field commander and was widely considered one of the best tacticians manzikdrt the Byzantine army. Presumably this was why Romanos was taken by a man who had seemingly lost his horse and was not presented to Alp Arslan until the Sultan had returned to camp the following day. The number of commanders and officers captured in the battle was clearly significant and it has been suggested that as many as 20 per cent of the total troops may have been captured, though the majority were mznzikert released.
No one is going to be Greek for us. Yet the chroniclers do agree that, by the time Romanos was released, he and Alp Manzjkert were behaving like friends. Turkic mercenaries defected to the Seljuk side.
He noted that the Byzantines: Romanos ordered his men to assemble provisions for a two-month campaign in an area where food and fodder would be scarce. Furthermore, they might enable the Byzantine army to press farther east, even retaking the province of Vaspourakan. Territory lost between AD and In an age when omens and portents were taken very seriously, a number of disturbing events were recorded by subsequent chroniclers.
Whatever the truth of the matter, Romanos Diogenes and those who remained with him now made a stand, hoping to stem the Saljuq attack and enable the army to regroup or escape. And they put iron fetters on his hands and round his neck, and set one hundred Turks to keep guard over him. Jay Hambleton rated it really liked it Aug 16, Military Disaster or Political Failure? Nevertheless, the Saljuq Sultanate was plunged into civil war before Malik Shah could consolidate his position.
Perhaps having heard from Norman mercenaries who survived the battle of Manzikert, William reported that the Emperor Romanos distributed his wealth to the troops.
Doukas had escaped with no casualties and quickly marched back to Constantinople, where he led a coup against Romanos and proclaimed Michael VII as basileus. Some members of the Varangian Guard were similarly left in Constantinople.
Manzikert The breaking of Byzantium by David Nicolle
Whether they really totalled almost half the army seems doubtful. Anna Komnenewriting a few decades after the actual battle, wrote:. Medics and the litters for injured men, which had long been a feature of Byzantine armies, were sent to collect the wounded, all bringing back news of a rout. Revolt seemed to follow revolt and it was these years of chaos that really drained the military and financial capabilities of the Byzantine Empire. Precisely when the Emperor attempted a peaceful accommodation with the new Norman rulers of southern Italy is unknown, but it was either during the preparations for the great expedition or shortly after it set off.
Romanos was unaware of the loss of Tarchaneiotes and continued to Manzikert, which he easily captured on 23 August; the Seljuks responded with heavy incursions of bowmen.
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