View source for Siege of Nicaea

{{Short description|Part of the First Crusade (1097)}}
{{Other uses|Siege of Nicaea (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Siege of Nicaea
| image       = Nikája3.jpg
| image_size  = 200px
| caption     = 13th-century miniature (BNF Fr. 779)
| partof      = the [[First Crusade]] and [[Byzantine–Seljuk wars]]
| date        = 14 May – 19 June 1097
| place       = [[Nicaea]] (present-day [[İznik|İznik, Turkey]])
| result      = [[Crusades|Christian]] victory
|territory    = Nicaea restored to the [[Byzantine Empire]]
| combatant1  = [[Crusaders]]<br/>[[Byzantine]]
| combatant2  =   [[Sultanate of Rûm]]
| commander1  = [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond of Taranto]]<br/> [[Raymond IV of Toulouse]]<br/> [[Adhemar of Le Puy]]<br/> [[Godfrey of Bouillon]]<br/> [[Robert II of Normandy]]<br/> [[Robert II of Flanders]]<br/> [[Stephen, Count of Blois|Stephen of Blois]]<br/> [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred of Hauteville]]<br/> [[Hugh, Count of Vermandois|Hugh of Vermandois]]<br/>[[Eustace III, Count of Boulogne|Eustace III of Boulogne]]<br/> [[Baldwin I of Jerusalem|Baldwin of Boulogne]]<br/>[[Manuel Boutoumites]]<br/>[[Tatikios]]
| commander2  =  [[Kilij Arslan I|Kilij Arslan]]
| strength1   = '''Crusaders''':<br />~30,000 infantry<br />~4,200–4,500 cavalry<ref name=Nicolle>Nicolle, ''The First Crusade 1096-1099: Conquest of the Holy Land'', p. 32 "Eventually the Crusader forces outside Nicaea numbered around 4,200–4,500 cavalry and 30,000 infantry, excluding non-combattants."</ref><br />
'''Byzantines''':<br /> 2,000 light infantry and naval support<ref>Crusades: The Illustrated History, by [[Thomas F. Madden]]</ref>
| strength2   = '''Nicaean garrison''':<br /> Unknown, but sizeable
'''Kilij Arslan's relief force''':<br />~10,000, mostly mounted archers<ref name=Pryor>Pryor, ''Logistics of Warfare in the Age of the Crusades'', pp. 49–50 "In addition, the besiegers made several efforts to storm the walls and they won a victory in pitched battle over the relieving army of Qilij Arslan, a force some 10,000 troops, mostly mounted archers."</ref>
| casualties1 = Unknown
| casualties2 = ~4,000
| campaignbox = 
{{Campaignbox Crusades Battles}}
{{Campaignbox Byzantine-Seljuk War}}
}}
The '''siege of Nicaea''' was the first major battle of the [[First Crusade]], taking place from 14 May to 19 June 1097. The city was under the control of the [[Seljuk Turks]] who opted to surrender to the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] in fear of the crusaders breaking into the city. The siege was followed by the [[Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)|Battle of Dorylaeum]] and the [[Siege of Antioch]], all taking place in modern Turkey.<ref name=":58">Runciman, Steven (1969). "[http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0024.pdf 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.</ref><ref>The Siege of Nicene. In Asbridge, Thomas (2004). ''The First Crusade: A New History. '' Oxford University Press. pp. 118–131.</ref>

==Background==
[[İznik|Nicaea]], located on the eastern shore of [[Lake İznik|Lake Askania]], had been captured from the [[Byzantine Empire]] by the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] in 1081, and Nicaea formed the capital of the [[Sultanate of Rum|Sultanate of Rûm]]. In 1096, the [[People's Crusade]], 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 I|Kilij Arslan]] initially felt that the second wave of crusaders were not a threat.<ref>Savvides, Alexios G. C. (2006). "Qilij Arslān of Rûm (d. 1107)". In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. p. 998.</ref> He left his family and his treasury behind in Nicaea and went east to fight the [[Danishmendids]] for control of [[Malatya|Melitene]].<ref>Tahsin Yazici, "[https://iranicaonline.org/articles/danesmand-amir-gazi-taylu-gms-tigin-ahmad-or-mohammad-danesmand-d Dāneśmand]". ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', Vol. VI, Fasc. 6, pp. 654–655.</ref>

==Crusader siege==
The crusaders began to leave [[Constantinople]] at the end of April 1097. [[Godfrey of Bouillon]] was the first to arrive at Nicaea, with [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond of Taranto]], Bohemond's nephew [[Tancred, Prince of Galilee|Tancred]], [[Raymond IV of Toulouse]], and [[Robert II of Flanders]] following him, along with [[Peter the Hermit]] 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, 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 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]] (accompanied by [[Ralph de Guader]]) and [[Stephen, Count of Blois|Stephen of Blois]] arrived in early June. Meanwhile, Raymond and Adhemar built a large [[siege engine]], which was rolled up to the Gonatas Tower in order to engage the defenders on the walls, while [[sapper]]s mined the tower from below. The tower was damaged, but no further progress was made.

==Byzantine arrival==
[[File:Gesta Francorum - Liber II (Siege of Nicaea).webm|thumb|Reading of the contemporary description of the siege, from the Crusader's perspective, ''[[Gesta Francorum]] - Liber II'' in Latin with English subtitles]]Byzantine emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos|Alexios I]] chose not to accompany the crusaders, but he 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 was being used by the Turks to supply Nicaea with food. The boats arrived on 17 June, under the command of [[Manuel Boutoumites]]. 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 of Normandy|Adela]] that they expected to be in [[Jerusalem]] in five weeks. On 1 July they defeated Kilij at the first [[Battle of Dorylaeum (1097)|Battle of Dorylaeum]], and by October they reached [[Antioch]]; they would not reach Jerusalem until two years after leaving Nicaea.<ref>Letter from Stephen to Adele, 1098. In Munro, D. Carleton. (1902). [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007135585/Home Letters of the crusaders. rev. ed] Philadelphia, Pa.: The Dept. of history of the University of Pennsylvania. pp. 5–7.</ref>

== Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[Anna Comnena]], ''[[Alexiad]]''
* [[Fulcher of Chartres]], ''Historia Hierosolymitana''
* ''[[Gesta Francorum]]'' (anonymous)
* [[Raymond of Aguilers]], ''Historia francorum qui ceperunt Jerusalem''
* Mayer, Hans Eberhard. ''The Crusades''. London: Oxford University Press, 1972. {{ISBN|0198730152}}
* 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. {{ISBN|0754651975}}
* Riley-Smith, Jonathan Simon Christopher. ''The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0812280261}}
* {{Runciman-A History of the Crusades|volume=1}}
* {{Setton-A History of the Crusades | volume = 1 }}
* {{A History of the Byzantine State and Society}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicaea, Siege Of (1097)}}
[[Category:Battles of the First Crusade|Nicaea 1097]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Byzantine Empire|Nicaea 1097]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Byzantine–Seljuk wars]]
[[Category:1090s in the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Sultanate of Rum|Nicaea]]
[[Category:Alexios I Komnenos]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1097]]
[[Category:History of Bursa Province]]
[[Category:Nicaea]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Crusades|Nicaea]]
[[Category:1097 in Asia]]