Battle of Bapheus
| date | July 27, 1302 |
|---|---|
| place | Between Nicomedia and Nikea , Bithynia |
| output | Ottoman victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Georgos Mouzalon |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 2000 | 5000 |
The Battle of Bapheus ( Turkish Bafeus Muharebesi , Koyun Hisar Muharebesi , Koyunhisar Muharebesi , Yalakova Muharebesi ) took place on July 27, 1302 between the Ottoman army under Osman I and a Byzantine force under Georgos Mouzalon. The outcome of the battle, which ended in an Ottoman victory, heralded the complete conquest of Byzantine Bithynia by the Ottomans. According to Halil İnalcık , the Ottoman state received its characteristic imprint in this battle.
Strategic background
Osman I took control of the Turks around 1282 and carried out raids into the border areas of Byzantine Bithynia for the next two decades. In 1301, the Ottomans besieged Nikea , the former capital of the Byzantine Empire . The Turkish raids meant a famine for the port city of Nicomedia , as the constant attacks prevented the harvest from being brought in.
In the spring of 1302, Emperor Michael IX. (ruled from 1294/95 to 1320) his troops on a campaign to Magnesia , today's Manisa . The Turks avoided a field battle because of the size of the army. Michael wanted to force the Turks to battle, but his generals dissuaded him. Instead, the Turks resumed their raids and trapped the emperor at Magnesia. His army disbanded without a battle as the men returned to their families to protect them from Turkish raids. Michael was forced to retire by sea.
battle
To counter the threat from Nicomedia, Michaels co-emperor Andronikos II. Palaiologos (ruled 1282-1328) sent a Byzantine army (about 2000 strong) under the megas hetaireiarches Georgos Mouzalon over the Bosporus to liberate the city.
In the plain of Bapheus ( Greek Βαφεύς ; not localized, perhaps east of Nicomedia, but within sight of the city) the Byzantine troops met 5,000 Turkish horsemen on July 27, 1302, who were commanded by Osman himself and through Turkish allies Paphlagonia and the region of the Meander River were reinforced. The Turkish horsemen attacked the Byzantines and broke their line of battle, forcing Mouzalon to retreat to Nicomedia.
consequences
Bapheus was one of the first victories of the emerging Ottoman Empire and of great importance for its subsequent expansion: the Byzantines lost control of rural Bithynia and withdrew into their fortresses. Because of their isolated location, these fell one after the other to the Ottomans. The Byzantine defeat also caused a wave of emigration of Christians from Asia Minor to the European parts of the empire, which shifted the demography in Asia Minor in favor of the Turks. Together with the disaster at Magnesia, which allowed the Turks to establish themselves on the Aegean coast , Bapheus heralded the final loss of Asia Minor for the Byzantine Empire. The Ottoman conquest of Bithynia was nevertheless a gradual process; the last Byzantine possession, Nicomedia, fell to the Turks in 1337.
literature
- Mark C. Bartusis (1997): The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society 1204-1453 , ISBN 978-0-8122-1620-2
- Halil Inalcik: Osman Ghazi's Siege of Nicaea and the Battle of Bapheus , in: Elisabeth Zachariadou , The Ottoman Emirates (1300-1389). Halcyon Days in Crete I: A Symposium Held in Rethymnon, 11-13 January 1991 , ISBN 960-7309-58-8
- Alexander Kazhdan (1991): Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium , ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6
- Angeliki E. Laiou (1972): Constantinople and the Latins: The Foreign Policy of Andronicus II, 1282-1328 , ISBN 0-674-16535-7
- Donald MacGillivray Nicol (1993): The Last Centuries of Byzantium, 1261-1453 , ISBN 978-0-521-43991-6
Individual evidence
- ↑ Halil İnalcık , "Osman Gazi'nin İznik Kuşatması ve Bafeus Muhaberesi", Osmanli Beyliği (1300–1389) , Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları, 1997, ISBN 978-975-333-067-1 , p. 97
- ↑ a b c İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi. Kültür İşleri Daire Başkanlığı, "Halil İnalcık'ın Keşifleri ve İki Örnek: Bafeus / Koyunhisar ve Pelekanon", Türk tarihçiliğinde dört sima: Halil İnalcık, Halil Sahillioğlık İnalcık, Halil Sahillioğür İlti İlti İlti İlti İlti İlti İlti İltişık , Mehmet Gençstanbul. Yayınları, 2006, p. 40.
- ↑ Sezai Sevim, Osman Gazi ve dönemi , Kültür Sanat Turizm Vakfı Yayınları, 1996, p. 17.
- ↑ Payitaht Bursa'da kältür ve sanat: sempozyum kitabı , Osmangazi Belediyesi, 2006, ISBN 978-975-97781-9-4 , p. 16.
- ↑ "Prof. İnalcık: Osmanlı 1302'de kuruldu: Ünlü tarihçi Prof. Dr. Halil İnalcık, Osmanlı'nın devlet niteliğini 1302 yılında Yalova'daki Bafeus Zaferi sonrası kazandığını söyledi." , NTVNSMBC , July 27, 2009.
- ↑ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 1539-1540
- ↑ Nicol (1993), pp. 125-126
- ↑ Bartusis (1997), pp. 76-77
- ↑ Laiou (1972), p. 90
- ↑ Kazhdan (1991), pp. 251, 1421
- ↑ a b Nicol (1993), p. 126
- ↑ Laiou (1972), pp. 90-91
- ↑ Laiou (1972), pp. 91, 122
- ↑ Kazhdan (1991), p. 1484