Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)

Battle of Dorylaum

date	July 1, 1097
place	Dorylaion
output	Victory of the Crusaders

Parties to the conflict
Crusaders	Rum Seljuks
Commander
Bohemond of Taranto Godfrey of Bouillon Adhemar de Monteil	Kılıç Arslan I.
Troop strength
25,000-30,000 men	~ 6,000-8,000 men
losses
approx. 4000	about 3000

The Battle of Dorylaum took place on July 1, 1097 between the army of the First Crusade and the Rum Seljuks near Dorylaion in Anatolia .

background

The crusade army besieged the city of Nicaea in May and June 1097 , which finally surrendered to the Byzantines . The latter had not coordinated the handover with the crusaders, so that the crusaders were now suspicious of them.

On June 26th, the crusaders left their camp outside Nicaea . In order to facilitate the provision of food for the troops, they divided (according to contemporary sources two days before the battle) into two groups: Bohemond of Taranto , his nephew Tankred , Robert Curthose , Robert of Flanders and the Byzantine general Tatikios formed an advance division, Gottfried von Bouillon , his brother Baldwin of Boulogne , Raymond IV of Toulouse , Stephan of Blois and Hugo of Vermandois followed at some distance.

On June 29, they learned that a Muslim army was nearby after repeatedly spotting Turkish scouts watching the crusaders march. The Rum-Seljuk Sultan Kılıç Arslans I had brought in his main army and had received reinforcement troops under his ally Hassan of Cappadocia , as well as auxiliary troops of the Danish , Persian and Caucasian Albanians .

On the evening of June 30th, the advance detachment rested under Bohemond on the north bank of the River Thymbres near the ruins of Dorylaion.

The battle

On the morning of July 1st, Bohemond's units were caught by surprise and surrounded by Kılıç Arslan in their camp outside Dorylaion. Bohemond dismounted his armored riders and gathered them and the foot soldiers around the non-combatants in the center of his camp. The women were used as water carriers throughout the battle. The Muslims attacked in their usual way: attacking, shooting arrows, retreating quickly before the crusaders could get hold of them for close combat. The archers did little to the heavily armored knights, but did great damage to the horses and unprotected foot soldiers.

Around lunchtime, the divisions of Gottfried, Raimund and Hugos gradually reached the battlefield after they had received a message from Bohemond. This relief force broke through the enemy ranks and achieved that the Christian knights could oppose the Muslims in a single row. Bohemund, Tankred, Robert Curthose and Stephan formed the left wing, Raimund and Robert von Flanders the center, Gottfried and Hugo the right wing. They gathered for a massive cavalry attack and shouted: Hodie omnes divites si Deo placet effecti eritis (“Today, if God please, we will all be rich”). When Adhemar de Monteil , the bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay, came with his division and outflanked the archers on the left, the battle was decided. Adhemar captured the Muslim camp, which had been abandoned by the panicked fleeing troops, which Kilij Arslan could not prevent from retreating.

effect

The Crusaders actually got rich when they captured Kılıç Arslan's treasure, at least for a short time. The Muslim troops fled and Arslan turned to other tasks in the eastern part of his empire, allowing the Crusaders to pass through Anatolia to Antioch with virtually no harm. The march lasted almost three months in the summer heat, and the siege of Antioch began in October .

literature

Albert von Aachen : Historia Hierosolymitana.
Fulcher of Chartres : Historia Hierosolymitana.
Gesta Francorum .
Hans E. Mayer: The Crusades . Oxford 1965.
Raimund von Aguilers : Historia francorum qui ceperunt Jerusalem
Jonathan Riley-Smith : The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading . Philadelphia 1999.
Steven Runciman : The First Crusaders, 1095-1131 . Cambridge University Press, 1951.
Kenneth Setton (Ed.): A History of the Crusades. Madison 1969-1989, pp. 292 ff. (Available online) .

Individual evidence

^ John France, The Crusades And The Expansion Of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714, p. 71 "[...] The result was a gap of about 5 kilometers between the vanguard, consisting of the armies of Bohemond, Robert of Normandy and Stephen of Blois about 20,000 strong, and the main force of about 30,000. They were aware of that Kılıç Arslan was about: he had returned to the fray after the defeat of Nicaea, with an army of 6,000-7,000 mounted man, including his new allies, the Danishmend Turks. "
^ John France, The Crusades And The Expansion Of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714, p. 71 "[...] The result was a gap of about 5 kilometers between the vanguard, consisting of the armies of Bohemond, Robert of Normandy and Stephen of Blois about 20,000 strong, and the main force of about 30,000. They were aware of that Kılıç Arslan was about: he had returned to the fray after the defeat of Nicaea, with an army of 6,000-7,000 mounted man, including his new allies, the Danishmend Turks. "
^ Bennett, The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare, p. 103 "Following their successful siege of Nicaea in 1097, the crusaders split into two columns to aid foraging. The vanguard under Bohemond was attacked at Bozüyük. Sultan Kilij Arslan led 7,000-8,000 Seljuk mounted archers in an ambush, throwing the crusaders into confusion. "
^ John France, Victory in the East, p. 181 "Casualties appear to have been heavy although how far we can regard Albert's 4,000 Christians and 3,000 Turks as precise figures is a different matter."
^ John France, Victory in the East, p. 181 "Casualties appear to have been heavy although how far we can regard Albert's 4,000 Christians and 3,000 Turks as precise figures is a different matter."

[1] John France, The Crusades And The Expansion Of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714, p. 71 "[...] The result was a gap of about 5 kilometers between the vanguard, consisting of the armies of Bohemond, Robert of Normandy and Stephen of Blois about 20,000 strong, and the main force of about 30,000. They were aware of that Kılıç Arslan was about: he had returned to the fray after the defeat of Nicaea, with an army of 6,000-7,000 mounted man, including his new allies, the Danishmend Turks. "

[2] John France, The Crusades And The Expansion Of Catholic Christendom, 1000–1714, p. 71 "[...] The result was a gap of about 5 kilometers between the vanguard, consisting of the armies of Bohemond, Robert of Normandy and Stephen of Blois about 20,000 strong, and the main force of about 30,000. They were aware of that Kılıç Arslan was about: he had returned to the fray after the defeat of Nicaea, with an army of 6,000-7,000 mounted man, including his new allies, the Danishmend Turks. "

[3] Bennett, The Hutchinson Dictionary of Ancient & Medieval Warfare, p. 103 "Following their successful siege of Nicaea in 1097, the crusaders split into two columns to aid foraging. The vanguard under Bohemond was attacked at Bozüyük. Sultan Kilij Arslan led 7,000-8,000 Seljuk mounted archers in an ambush, throwing the crusaders into confusion. "

[4] John France, Victory in the East, p. 181 "Casualties appear to have been heavy although how far we can regard Albert's 4,000 Christians and 3,000 Turks as precise figures is a different matter."

[5] John France, Victory in the East, p. 181 "Casualties appear to have been heavy although how far we can regard Albert's 4,000 Christians and 3,000 Turks as precise figures is a different matter."