Seljuk Acquisition of Nicaea

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Nicaea


caption=
partof=the Byzantine-Seljuk wars|date=1064 to 1204
place=Nicaea
result= Seljuk Turks capture city
combatant1=
combatant2= Sultanate of Rum
commander1=Michael VII
commander2=Suleyman I of Rûm
strength1=Unknown but assumed less than Seljuk Turks
strength2=Unknown, but assumed more than Byzantine empire
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown

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.

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.

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.