The siege of Nicaea was the first major battle of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

, taking place from 14 May to 19 June 1097. The city was under the control of the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

who opted to surrender to the Byzantines in fear of the crusaders breaking into the city. The siege was followed by the Battle of Dorylaeum and the

Siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

, all taking place in modern Turkey.Runciman, Steven (1969).
Chapter IX. The First Crusade: Constantinople to Antioch.
In Setton, Kenneth M.; Baldwin, Marshall W. (eds.). ''A History of the Crusades: I. The First Hundred Years''. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 288–290.

Background

Nicaea Nicaea (also spelled Nicæa or Nicea, ; ), also known as Nikaia (, Attic: , Koine: ), was an ancient Greek city in the north-western Anatolian region of Bithynia. It was the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seve ...

, located on the eastern shore of Lake Askania, had been captured from the Byzantine Empire by the Seljuk Turks in 1081, and formed the capital of the

Sultanate of Rûm The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. ...

. In 1096, the

People's Crusade The People's Crusade was the beginning phase of the First Crusade whose objective was to retake the Holy Land, and Jerusalem in particular, from Islamic rule. In 1095, after the head of the Roman Catholic Church Pope Urban II started to urge faith ...

, the first stage of the First Crusade, had plundered the land surrounding the city, before being destroyed by the Turks. As a result, sultan Kilij Arslan initially felt that the second wave of crusaders were not a threat. He left his family and his treasury behind in Nicaea and went east to fight the Danishmends for control of Melitene.

Crusader siege

The crusaders began to leave

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

at the end of April 1097.

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (; ; ; ; 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a preeminent leader of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100. Although initially reluctant to take the title of king, he agreed to rule as pri ...

was the first to arrive at Nicaea, with Bohemond of Taranto, Bohemond's nephew Tancred,

Raymond IV of Toulouse Raymond of Saint-Gilles ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), also called Raymond IV of Toulouse or Raymond I of Tripoli, was the count of Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and margrave of Provence from 1094, and one of the leaders of the First Crusade from ...

, and Robert II of Flanders following him, along with

Peter the Hermit Peter the Hermit ( 1050 – 8 July 1115 or 1131), also known as Little Peter, Peter of Amiens (French language, fr. ''Pierre d'Amiens'') or Peter of Achères (French language, fr. ''Pierre d'Achères''), was a Roman Catholic priest of Amiens and ...

and some of the survivors of the People's Crusade, and a small Byzantine force under Manuel Boutoumites. They arrived on 6 May, severely short of food, but Bohemond arranged for food to be brought by land and by sea. The crusaders put the city to siege beginning on 14 May, assigning their forces to different sections of the walls, which was well-defended with 200

siege tower A Roman siege tower or breaching tower (or in the Middle Ages, a belfry''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. Dorling Kindersley Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). Siege towers were invented in 300 BC. ) is a specialized siege ...

s and sent a message to Raymond telling him to hurry his advance to aid the siege. Bohemond camped on the north side of the city, Godfrey on the south, and Raymond and Adhemar of Le Puy on the eastern gate.

Defeat of Kilij Arslan

On 16 May the Turkish defenders sallied out to attack the crusaders, but the Turks were defeated in a skirmish, losing 200 men. The Turks sent messages to Kilij Arslan begging him to return, and when he realized the strength of the crusaders he quickly turned back. An advance party was defeated by troops under Raymond and Robert II of Flanders on 20 May. On 21 May the crusader army defeated Kilij in a pitched battle which lasted long into the night. Losses were heavy on both sides, but in the end the sultan retreated despite the pleas of the Nicaean Turks. The rest of the crusaders continued to arrive in the last weeks of May;

Robert Curthose Robert Curthose ( – February 1134, ), the eldest son of William the Conqueror, was Duke of Normandy as Robert II from 1087 to 1106. Robert was also an unsuccessful pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of England. The epithet "Curthose" ...

(accompanied by

Ralph de Guader Ralph de Gaël (otherwise Ralph de Guader, Ralph Wader or Radulf Waders or Ralf Waiet or Rodulfo de Waiet; before 1042 – 1100) was the Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Lord of Gaël and Montfort (''Seigneur de Gaël et Montfort ...

) and Stephen of Blois arrived in early June. Meanwhile, Raymond and Adhemar built a large

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

, which was rolled up to the Gonatas Tower in order to engage the defenders on the walls, while

sapper A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...

s mined the tower from below. The tower was damaged but no further progress was made.

Byzantine arrival

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

Alexios I chose not to accompany the crusaders, but marched out behind them and made his camp at nearby Pelecanum. From there, he sent boats, rolled over the land, to help the crusaders blockade Lake Ascanius, which had up to this point been used by the Turks to supply Nicaea with food. The boats arrived on 17 June, under the command of Manuel Boutoumites. The general Tatikios was also sent, with 2,000 foot soldiers. Alexios had instructed Boutoumites to secretly negotiate the surrender of the city without the crusaders' knowledge. Tatikios was instructed to join with the crusaders and make a direct assault on the walls, while Boutoumites would pretend to do the same to make it look as if the Byzantines had captured the city in battle. This was done, and on 19 June the Turks surrendered to Boutoumites. When the crusaders discovered what Alexios had done, they were quite angry, as they had hoped to plunder the city for money and supplies. Boutoumites, however, was named ''dux'' of Nicaea and forbade the crusaders from entering in groups larger than 10 men at a time. Boutoumites also expelled the Turkish generals, whom he considered just as untrustworthy. Kilij Arslan's family went to Constantinople and were eventually released without ransom. Alexios gave the crusaders money, horses, and other gifts, but the crusaders were not pleased with this, believing they could have had even more if they had captured Nicaea themselves. Boutoumites would not permit them to leave until they had all sworn an oath of vassalage to Alexios, if they had not yet done so in Constantinople. As he had in Constantinople, Tancred at first refused, but he eventually gave in.

Aftermath

The crusaders left Nicaea on 26 June in two contingents: Bohemond, Tancred, Robert II of Flanders, and Tatikios in the vanguard, and Godfrey, Baldwin of Boulogne, Stephen, and Hugh of Vermandois in the rear. Tatikios was instructed to ensure the return of captured cities to the empire. Their spirits were high, and Stephen wrote to his wife Adela that they expected to be in Jerusalem in five weeks. On 1 July they defeated Kilij at the first Battle of Dorylaeum (1097), and by October they reached

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...

; they would not reach

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

until two years after leaving Nicaea.Letter from Stephen to Adele, 1098. In Munro, D. Carleton. (1902)
Letters of the crusaders. rev. ed
Philadelphia, Pa.: The Dept. of history of the University of Pennsylvania. pp. 5–7.

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Anna Comnena, '' Alexiad'' *

Fulcher of Chartres Fulcher of Chartres ( in or near Chartres – after 1128; ; ) was a priest who participated in the First Crusade. He served Baldwin I of Jerusalem for many years and wrote a Latin chronicle of the Crusade. Life Fulcher was born . His appointment ...

, ''Historia Hierosolymitana'' * ''

Gesta Francorum ''Gesta Francorum'' (Deeds of the Franks), or ''Gesta Francorum et aliorum Hierosolimitanorum'' (Deeds of the Franks and the other pilgrims to Jerusalem), is the name given to one of a family of Latin narrative accounts of the First Crusade. It ...

'' (anonymous) *

Raymond of Aguilers Raymond of Aguilers was a participant in and chronicler of the First Crusade (1096–1099). During the campaign he became the chaplain of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Provençal army of crusaders., vol. IV, p. 1009. His chroni ...

, ''Historia francorum qui ceperunt Jerusalem'' * Mayer, Hans Eberhard. ''The Crusades''. London: Oxford University Press, 1972. * Nicolle, David. ''The First Crusade 1096–1099: Conquest of the Holy Land'', Osprey Publishing, 2003. * Pryor, John H. ''Logistics of Warfare in the Age of the Crusades'', Ashgate Publishing Ltd. 2006. * Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher. ''The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicaea, Siege Of (1097) Nicaea 1097 Nicaea 1097 Sieges of the Byzantine–Seljuk wars 1090s in the Byzantine Empire

Alexios I Komnenos Conflicts in 1097 History of Bursa Province Nicaea

1097 in Asia