Battle of Sirmium

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Sirmium
partof=the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire


caption=Emperor Manuel I Komnenos
date=July 8 1167
place=Sirmium, Serbia
casus=
territory=
result=decisive Byzantine victory
combatant1=Byzantines, supported by Cuman, Italian, Serbian and Wallachian [John Kinnamos, "Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus".] units.
combatant2=Hungarians
commander1=Andronikos Kontostephanos
commander2=Dénes, count of Bács
strength1=~25,000 men
strength2=~15,000 men
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown, likely quite heavy

The Battle of Sirmium or Battle of Zemun (Hungarian: "zimonyi csata") was fought on July 8, 1167 between the Byzantine Empire (also known as Eastern Roman Empire), and the Kingdom of Hungary. The Byzantines achieved a decisive victory, forcing the Hungarians to sue for peace on Byzantine terms.

Background

During the 1150s and 1160s, the Kingdom of Hungary had been expanding its territory and influence, with a view to annexing the region around Dalmatia and Croatia. This was the cause of some tension with the Byzantine Empire, centred on Constantinople, which viewed Hungarian expansion as a potential threat to Byzantine dominance in the Balkans. The Byzantine emperors launched invasions against Kingdom of Hungary and regularly aided pretenders for the throne.

Manuel I Komnenos also found a diplomatic, dynastic way to bind the Kingdom of Hungary to the empire. In 1163, under the terms of an existing peace treaty, king Stephen III's younger brother Béla was sent to Constantinople to be raised under the personal tutelage of the emperor himself. As Manuel’s relative (Manuel's mother was Hungarian princess) and the fiance of his daughter, Béla became a "Despotes" (a title newly created for him) and in 1165 he was named as an heir to the throne, taking the name Alexios. Since he was also the heir to the Hungarian throne, a union between the two states was a distant possibility. But in 1167 king Stephen refused to give Manuel control of the former Byzantine territories allocated to Béla-Alexios as his appenage; this directly lead to the war that ended with the Battle of Sirmium.

In 1167, Manuel appointed his nephew Andronikos Kontostephanos, the "Megas Doux", to the command of his field army, with orders to bring the Hungarian army to battle.

Battle

During the early summer of 1167, the Byzantine army under Andronikos managed to lure a combined Hungarian force to battle near Sirmium. According to Byzantine Historian John Haldon (who refers to the Byzantines as Romans, in deference to their status as the continuation of the eastern Roman Empire), the disposition of the two opposing armies was thus:

"Kontostephanos drew up his forces in three divisions, as usual, at some distance from the river Sava, to his rear. The main battle line was shielded by a screen of horse archers - Turks and Cumans - and some western mercenary knights, who had made up the vanguard of the army. The centre, which had constituted the rearguard on the march, was commanded by Kontostephanos himself, and consisted of the imperial guards units, including the Varangians and "Hetaireiai", units of Italian mercenaries from Lombardy (probably lancers) and a unit of 500 armored Serbian allied infantry, as well as the Wallachian Cavalry. On the left wing, which had been the second division on the march, were the regular Roman and allied units arrayed in four taxiarchies or 'brigades', and on the right - the third division on the march - were placed the elite Roman units and German mercenaries, together with some Turkish units. Behind each wing division, and following standard Roman practice, were placed units to cover the Roman flanks or to outflank the enemy and take him in the rear should the opportunity arise; and behind the centre was drawn up the reserve, three taxiarchies of infantry and archers, with a number of heavily armoured Turks, probably infantry also.

"The Hungarian commander drew his army up in three divisions in a single broad battle line. Although the Byzantine sources say that he mixed infantry and cavalry without distinction, this most probably reflects a battle order with infantry drawn up in the centre and behind the cavalry, upon which the Hungarians clearly relied for the effectiveness of their attack." In fact contemporary Hungarian armies lacked infantry. The Byzantine sources probably referred to servants and other camp followers as infantry.

"The battle commenced with the Roman light-armed troops skirmishing forward to harry the opposing lines with arrows and persuade them to mount a charge, before which they were to retire. This was successful, and the whole Hungarian line surged forward. The Roman left wing, with the exception of two brigades, was immediately pushed back and broke in feigned rout towards the river, where it quickly reformed. In the centre and on the Roman right the charge was held. The Roman right then counter-charged, and at the same time the regrouped Roman left-wing units also charged, smashing into the Hungarians who were pinned by the two taxiarchies which had not withdrawn. Kontostephanos now counter-attacked in the centre and ordered forward the infantry reserve along the whole front, driving the Hungarian forces back. The enemy divisions then began to break up in disorder and the whole Hungarian army turned to flight."

Aftermath

The Hungarians sued for peace on Byzantine terms. According to Michael Angold, they had to "accept Byzantine control of Dalmatia and Croatia, as well as the Fruška Gora; they agreed to provide hostages for good behaviour; to pay Byzantium a tribute and supply troops." The Battle of Sirmium completed Manuel's drive to secure his northern frontier.

When Manuel's own son was born, Béla was deprived of the title despot and his position as heir to the imperial throne. In 1172 Stephen III died and Béla, with the help of emperor Manuel, seized the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary. Béla had to swear that he would never harm Manuel and he remained loyal to the Empire until Manuel's death, but then he conquered lands previously held by the Byzantines.

Footnotes

Bibliography

*Haldon, John (2001). "The Byzantine Wars". Tempus. ISBN 0752417770
*Angold, Michael (1997). "The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History". Longman. ISBN 0582294681