Battle of Ancyra

In September 1101, the last western corps commanded by William II of Nevers left Ancyra, unaware of the disaster at Mersivan; on the third day of march, as he descends towards the plain of Sangarios, Kilij Arslan intercepts him, cuts the baggage train and surrounds the Burgundian knights. Despite several regroupings on a hill, the column was dislocated and only a few survivors reached Sinope before being repatriated by sea.

This contingent had served as a logistical rearguard for the crusade of 1101 and transported relics, pilgrims and livestock. The Byzantine guides refused to leave Ancyra for fear of Turkish reprisals, forcing the crusaders to rely on Armenian informants. Kilij Arslan, now master of the plateau after his August victories, followed their movements and installed detachments on the wooded passes which dominated the road from Ancyra to Gangra, ready to strike as soon as the column stretched out to cross the valleys.

As at Mersivan, the Seljuks combined harassment and encirclement: mounted archers swept the wings while heavy detachments seized the convoy and deprived the Franks of water. The knights attempt successive charges to clear the path, but the Turks use the ravines to hide scissor counterattacks, isolate the banners and shoot down the mounts from a distance. The pedestrian formation, improvised around the carts, gives way under the fires and the rain of arrows, opening the way to the final massacre.

The annihilation of the Burgundian corps definitively closed the crusade of 1101: no organized force remained to try to free Bohemond or to support Antioch. William of Nevers returned to Europe with a meager procession, reporting the scale of the disaster and dissuading Western princes from further immediate land expeditions. Kilij Arslan consolidates his control of internal roads, ransoms notable prisoners and imposes new trade concessions on the Byzantines.