Battle of Ancyra 1101 • High Middle Ages
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23 June 1101 French victory

Battle of Ancyra

Crusade of 1101 · Ancyra / Ankara (Anatolia) — returned to Alexios I Komnenos after capture (English Wikipedia)

Summary

On 23 June 1101 the army of the Crusade of 1101 captured Ancyra (Ankara), a Seljuk-held stronghold in Galatia, and returned it to the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. It was the crusade's main success before the run of defeats that destroyed it in Anatolia. The rout of William II of Nevers, long attached to Ankara, in fact took place at Heraclea.

Historical context

The Crusade of 1101 gathered contingents that left the West after the success of the First Crusade, intending to reinforce the Latin states. Advancing through Anatolia along the Byzantine route, the army took Ancyra from the Seljuks and handed it to Alexios I, as undertaken to the emperor.

Tactics

On 23 June 1101 the column led by Raymond of Toulouse — Lombards, French and German contingents, Byzantine troops — took Ancyra and handed it back to Alexios I, then turned north through Gangra and Kastamonu before the disaster at Mersivan. William II of Nevers marched separately towards Iconium; his column was destroyed at Heraclea Cybistra, not before Ankara.

Consequences

Ancyra returned to Byzantine control. The success led nowhere: the crusader columns were defeated in turn at Mersivan and then at Heraclea, and the Crusade of 1101 never reached the Holy Land.

Location

Place : Ancyra / Ankara (Anatolia) — returned to Alexios I Komnenos after capture (English Wikipedia)
Coordinates : 39.9208°N, 32.8541°E

Sources

This entry draws on the following references.

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In late August 1101 the army of the Crusade of 1101 was surrounded near Mersivan by the Seljuks of Kilij Arslan I, who cut off every line of retreat. It marched in five divisions: the Lombards and Italians of Anselm IV of Milan in the vanguard, Raymond IV of Toulouse with his Pecheneg cavalry, the Burgundians, the Germans, then the French under Stephen of Blois. The crusaders entrenched a camp to shelter the non-combatants, but the army was destroyed. William II of Nevers, marching in a separate column, was not present: his own defeat came at Heraclea.

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In mid-August 1101, the contingents led by William IX of Aquitaine, Stephen of Blois and Hugh of Vermandois were surprised near Heraclea of ​​Cappadocia: forced to cross a narrow gorge, they were surrounded by Kilij Arslan and his Danishmendide allies. After two days of harassing combat, the crusader columns gave way, the cavalry was isolated and the army was almost wiped out, with only a handful of lords reaching the Byzantine asylum of Germanicaea. Two distinct defeats at Heraclea Cybistra in 1101 (English Wikipedia) — Nevers then Aquitaine/Bavaria.

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On July 1, 1097, the column of Bohemond and Robert of Normandy, loaded with baggage, was attacked near Dorylaeum by the horsemen of Kilij Arslan and the Danichmendide emir. The Turks surrounded the crusaders and harassed their lines until the arrival of Godfrey of Bouillon, Raymond of Saint-Gilles and Hugh of Vermandois who, after a forced march, reached the enemy rear. Stuck between two masses of heavy cavalry, the Turkish army disbanded and abandoned its camp. Albert of Aix losses (~4,000 / ~3,000) preferred to the corpus “10,000” Turks; John France stresses imprecision (English Wikipedia).

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