The battle of Rodosto ( bg, Битка при Родосто) took place in February 1206 in the town of Rodosto (today

Tekirdağ Tekirdağ (; see also its other names) is a city in Turkey. It is located on the north coast of the Sea of Marmara, in the region of East Thrace. In 2019 the city's population was 204,001. Tekirdağ town is a commercial centre with a harbour ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) between the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

led by Emperor

Kaloyan Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ioannitsa or Johannitsa ( bg, Калоян, Йоаница; 1170 – October 1207), was emperor or tsar of Second Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Peter II of Bulgari ...

and the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

. It resulted in a Bulgarian victory. After the Bulgarians annihilated the Latin army in the

battle of Rusion The battle of Rusion ( bg, Битката при Русион) occurred in the winter of 1206 near the fortress of Rusion (Rusköy contemporary Keşan) between the armies of the Bulgarian Empire and the Latin Empire of Byzantium. The Bulgarians ...

on 31 January 1206 the remnants of the shattered Crusader forces headed to the coastal town of Rodosto to seek refuge. The town had a strong Venetian garrison and was further supported by a regiment of 2,000 troops from

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. However, the fear of the Bulgarians was so great that the Latins panicked with the very arrival of the Bulgarian soldiers. They were incapable to resist and after a short battle the Venetians began to flee to their ships in the port. In their haste to escape many boats were overloaded and sank and most Venetians drowned. The town was looted by the Bulgarians who continued their victorious march through eastern

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...

and captured many more towns and fortresses.

References

1206 in Europe Battles involving the Second Bulgarian Empire Battles involving the Latin Empire 13th century in Bulgaria Bulgarian–Latin Wars Conflicts in 1206 History of Tekirdağ {{battle-stub