Battle of Mersivan

At the end of August 1101, the coalition led by Raymond of Saint-Gilles, William of Nevers and Conrad of Bavaria was surrounded on the wooded plateau of Mersivan. Five days of incessant attacks saw the Turkish cavalry successively break the Lombard vanguard, burn the central camp and crush the Duke of Burgundy's attempted breakthrough; Raymond only escapes by abandoning the bulk of the pilgrims, captured or massacred.

Bringing together Lombard pilgrims, French and German knights as well as a Byzantine contingent, this second army of the 1101 crusade aimed to join Raymond in Cilicia and retake Antioch. Dissensions between Lombards and knights, the absence of local guides and the decision to march across the Pontic plateau exposed the column to heat and thirst. Kilij Arslan, warned by Armenian scouts, cooperated with the Danishmend Gazi Gümüshtigin and placed his horsemen in the forests and valleys surrounding Mersivan, blocking roads and wells.

The Turkish plan combines staging of troops and control of the terrain: mounted archers besiege the main camp, preventing any supplies, while light units take up positions on the wooded heights to mow down the knights looking for an exit. On the fourth day, William of Nevers led a wedge breakthrough, but a feigned retreat attracted the cavalry into a gorge where the Turks closed the trap using stake traps and clouds of arrows. Arson fires, fanned by the summer wind, forced the infantry to break their lines, sealing the encirclement.

The losses decimated the Crusader aristocracy: Conrad of Bavaria was captured, many Lombard bishops were killed, and Raymond of Saint-Gilles lost all hope of reconquering Tripoli by land route. The credibility of the 1101 crusade collapsed, prompting Alexis I to escort the survivors by sea to Constantinople. The Latin states of the East remained without reinforcements and had to negotiate directly with Byzantium and the Italian fleets for their survival.