Battle of Sirmium
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In the Battle of Sirmium on July 8, 1167, the Byzantine army under Andronikos Kontostephanos defeated the Hungarian army under Dénes , Count von Bács. As a result, Hungary had to cede Dalmatia and Croatia in the Peace of Belgrade .
prehistory
In the 1150s and 1160s, the Kingdom of Hungary had expanded its power in the Balkans and annexed Dalmatia and Croatia. The Hungarian expansion threatened the power of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos in the Balkans.
After diplomatic attempts to bind the Hungarian royal family to the Byzantine Empire had failed, the emperor sent his army against the Hungarians.
procedure
In the summer of 1167, the Byzantine army, led by the high commander of the Byzantine land army, Andronikos Kontostephanos, placed the Hungarian army at Sirmium on the Save River . According to the historian John Haldon, the Byzantine army, with the Sava at some distance behind, was set up as follows: Turkish and Cuman horse archers and some Western knights , all of them mercenaries , formed the vanguard. In the center was Andronikos Kontostephanos himself as well as the imperial guards, including the Varangian guards and Lombard mercenaries ( called Hetaireiai , probably lancers), as well as allies, namely armored Serbian foot soldiers and Wallachian cavalry. Regular Byzantine and allied units stood on the left wing. The right wing, led by Andronikos Lampardas , was made up of elite Byzantine troops and German mercenaries, along with a few Turkish units. Following the usual Byzantine tactics, further units were positioned behind the wings to secure the flanks and, if necessary, to encompass the enemy if the opportunity arose. Armored infantry and archers, some of Turkish origin, formed a reserve behind the center.
The Hungarians, led by Dénes, Count von Bács, lined up in a single broad line, which essentially consisted of cavalry, which always made up the strength of the Hungarian army. Byzantine sources report additional disordered infantry in the center and behind the cavalry, but presumably misinterpreted the Hungarian entourage with stable boys and servants as such.
The battle was opened by Byzantine skirmishers who were supposed to tempt the Hungarian army to advance, from which the skirmishers would back away in time. This intention succeeded and the Hungarians stormed forward on a broad front. From the Byzantine left wing, about half of the soldiers fled across the Sava, where they regrouped. The Byzantine center and the right wing withstood the Hungarian onslaught. Thereupon the Byzantine right wing advanced in a counterattack. This was followed by the regrouped part of the left wing of the Byzantines and also pushed the Hungarians back on the left flank. Now Andronikos Kontostephanos stormed forward with the center and also attacked the reserve on a broad front. The hard-pressed Hungarians recognized their hopeless situation and soon turned to flee.
consequences
King Stephan III of Hungary then had to ask the Byzantines for peace. In the Peace of Belgrade , Dalmatia and Croatia were ceded to the Byzantine Empire, and Hungary had to pay tribute and host hostages to secure the peace treaty. Manuel I had secured the northern border of his empire in the Balkans. He was also able to get hold of the important Danube fortresses of Belgrade and Golubac , which he had renewed.
literature
- Michael Angold: The Byzantine Empire, 1025-1204: A Political History . Longman 1997. ISBN 0-582-29468-1
- John Haldon: The Byzantine Wars . Tempus 2001. ISBN 0-7524-1777-0