Battle of Manzikert - Background

Background

Although the Byzantine Empire had remained a strong and powerful entity in the Middle Ages, the Empire began to decline under the reign of the militarily incompetent Constantine IX and again under Constantine X—a brief two year rule of reform under Isaac I Komnenos only delaying the decay of the Byzantine military. It was under Constantine IX's reign that the Byzantines first came into contact with the Seljuk Turks, the latter attempting to annex Ani in Armenia. Yet, Constantine IX secured a truce between Byzantine Empire and the Seljuks. The truce lasted until the year 1064 when Seljuks conquered the Armenian capital at Ani. Constantine X did much discredit to his predecessor—in 1067 Armenia was taken by the Seljuks, followed by Caesarea.

In 1068, Romanos IV took power and after a few speedy military reforms he entrusted to Manuel Komnenos (nephew of the late Isaac I Komnenos) to lead an expedition against the Seljuks, allowing him to capture the city of Hierapolis Bambyce in Syria. A Turkish attack against Iconium was thwarted when a Byzantine counter-attack from Syria ended in victory. Yet, the campaign ended in a debacle when Manuel was defeated and captured by Seljuks. Despite the failure of the Byzantium campaign, Alp Arslan had been quick to seek a peace treaty with the Byzantines; he regarded the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt as his main enemy and had no desire to engage with the Byzantines in unnecessary hostilities. Hence, a peace treaty was signed between the Byzantines and the Seljuks in 1069.

In February 1071, Romanus sent an embassy to Alp Arslan to renew the treaty of 1069. Romanus’ envoys reached the Sultan outside Edessa, which he was besieging. Keen to secure his northern flank against Byzantine attack, Alp Arslan happily agreed to the terms. Abandoning the siege, he immediately led his army to the city of Aleppo to attack the Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. However, that offer to renew the peace treaty was in fact a key element of Romanus' plan, aiming to distract the Sultan long enough to allow Romanus to lead a large army into Armenia and recover the lost fortresses before the Seljuks had time to respond.