Siege of Nicaea (1077)
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| Battle of Nicaea | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Byzantine-Seljuk wars | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Byzantine Empire |
 Seljuk Turks |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Byzantine emperor | Leader of the Seljuk Turks & Sultanate of Rum | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown but assumed less than Seljuk Turks | Unknown, but assumed more than Byzantine empire | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
- For other uses, see Siege of Nicaea (disambiguation)
After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Seljuk Turks had initially offered the Byzantine empire lenient peace terms for Romanos IV. However, Romanos IV was deposed, and the peace terms 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 little troops remained under the Byzantine empire could not be turned against the Seljuk Turks. The new Byzantine emperor, Nikephoros III failed to reverse these loses in Asia minor. Command of the armies of the Byzantine empire was placed under Alexius Comnenus, whom was engaged with 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. From 1077 - 1078, the city changed hands many times until it finally lay in the hands of the Seljuk Turks in 1078.
[edit] Legacy
The loss of Nicaea was bitter, but Nicaea had fallen before under the Persians in the 7th century AD and had been re-captured before. The Byzantines were unfortunate in that they had to fight the Normans in the west, whilst the Seljuk Turks when by now becoming less united and more interested in marching towards the Levant and into Syria. Nikephoros III was able to march on to Constantinople from Nicaea with the aid of its new Seljuk owners in 1078 and the Byzantine emperor Michael VII was deposed by him.
