The Battle of Manzikert

Introduction

The battle of Manzikert (near modern Malazgirt, eastern Republic of Turkey) took place on Friday, 26 August 1071, between the Byzantine Empire and the Great Seljuk Empire of Iran for control over eastern Anatolia. Modern scholars have come to an agreement on the general origins and course of the battle, but there is still some disagreement concerning the scope of the military disaster and the connection of the Byzantine loss to the pace of Islamization and Turkification of Anatolia. Although not the great military disaster often presented by medieval and some modern scholars, the Byzantine defeat did precipitate a Greek civil war and the Turkish occupation of large regions of Anatolia and is often described as a casus belli for the Levantine crusades. In the spring of 1071 the Eastern Roman emperor Romanus IV Diogenes (r. 1068–1071) marched east from Constantinople to shore up the empire’s Armenian frontier against Turkish raiding. In late August he split his multinational army into two forces, personally commanding the smaller contingent and camping outside of the walls of the fortress city of Manzikert near Lake Van. His adversary was the second sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire of Iran, Alp Arslan (r. 1063–1072), ruler of the most powerful Muslim state in the Near East and champion of the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. Recognizing the threat posed by the Byzantine army, Alp Arslan abandoned his campaign against the Fatimids and moved to intercept the Christian army. The battle that unfolded over the course of a day witnessed desertion, defection, and betrayal among the Byzantine troops and the capture of Romanus. The Seljuk victory at Manzikert also showcased the best of 11th-century Central Asian steppe tactics against a divided and poorly commanded Byzantine host. The decisive defeat of a Byzantine field army and capture of the Eastern Roman emperor sent shockwaves across the Christian and Islamic worlds and opened the floodgates of Turkish invasion and migration into Anatolia, strategically the most important region to the Byzantine Empire. A decade of civil war and Seljuk depredations further weakened the Eastern Roman Empire, forcing Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus (r. 1081–1118) to ask for military assistance from Pope Urban II. Seen in this light, Manzikert is often portrayed as the beginning of a series of events that eventually led to the origin of the First Crusade and Catholic occupation of the Levant. The enduring legacy of Manzikert comes from its convenient use by historians, from the medieval period to now, as a turning point in Byzantine history, a military defeat often portrayed as the beginning of the decline of Byzantium and a martial event that ushered in the cultural transformation of Asia Minor from a bastion of Christian Orthodoxy to the eventual Islamic heartland of modern Turkey. For the latter reason, the battle of Manzikert takes on special significance in the 20th century as a symbol of enduring military power and independence for the Republic of Turkey.

General Overviews

There are only a few monographs that are dedicated to the battle of Manzikert, although numerous broader studies of Byzantine warfare and the history of medieval Anatolia include sections briefly describing the origins, course, and outcome of the battle and its importance to 11th century Byzantine history. Friendly 1981 is an engaging and popular handling of the battle, while Carey 2012 relies heavily on findings of Vryonis 1971 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship) and, along with Nicolle 2013, focuses more on the strategic and tactical dimensions of the Manzikert campaign.

Carey, Brian Todd. Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527–1071. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Special emphasis placed on the origins, course, and outcome of Manzikert and assessing the impact of this defeat on Byzantium’s strategic position in the decades leading to the First Crusade. Manzikert described as a political debacle rather than a devastating military defeat. Dozens of regional maps and battle diagrams support the text.
Find this resource:
Friendly, Alfred. The Dreadful Day: The Battle of Manzikert, 1071. London: Hutchinson, 1981.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An early and popular treatment of Manzikert that emphasizes the engagement as a decisive military defeat for Byzantium. Friendly applies his Pulitzer Prize–winning narrative skills to write an engaging account of 11th-century Byzantine court politics and the rise of the Seljuks, concluding with the battle of Manzikert.
Find this resource:
Nicolle, David. Manzikert, 1071: The Breaking of Byzantium. Oxford: Osprey, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Nicolle builds on his numerous other publications on early Byzantine and Islamic warfare to produce this short but detailed treatment of the battle of Manzikert. It includes a fine chronology, maps, descriptions of Byzantine and Seljuk strategy, tactics and military equipment, color photographs, military illustrations of battle scenes, and detailed bibliography.
Find this resource:
Primary Sources

This section lists significant primary sources that deal with the battle of Manzikert and are available to Western researchers. Our understanding of this battle comes from medieval descriptions from Greek, Armenian, and Syrian sources, including Michael Attaleiates, Michael Psellus, Nicephorus Bryennius, Aristakēs of Lastiverd, Matthew of Edessa, and Michael the Syrian. Armenian and Syrian sources were often quite critical of Byzantine policies and offer their own difficulties when assessing the events surrounding the battle of Manzikert and its aftermath. Some of the most widely known translations are now dated, but there are some new translations shedding light on these sources, notably Attaleiates 2012 (cited under Greek Commentaries). There are also significant Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian on this engagement, usually contained in anthologies of historical texts. Two of the most important are presented in Zakkar 1970 and Sümer and Sevim 1971 (cited under Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian). However, a newer and indispensable source would be Hillenbrand 2007 (also cited under Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian), which contains numerous translations into English of important Muslim sources. Finally, important translations of early and middle Byzantine period Byzantine Military Manuals will also be discussed.

Greek Commentaries

Modern scholars rely on three important Greek primary sources to reconstruct the events of the battle of Manzikert. Two of these sources, Attaleiates 2012 and Bryennius 1836, are by eyewitnesses, while the third source, Psellus 1966, is the work of a high-ranking Byzantine court official and political rival to Romanus.

Attaleiates, Michael. The History. Translated by Anthony Kaldellis and Dimitris Krallis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Much of our understanding of the events of the battle of Manzikert comes from the Greek historian Michael Attaleiates (sometimes Attaliates), an eyewitness to the engagement and a supporter of Romanus. His major work encompassing the period 1034–1079 includes a detailed description of strategy and tactics used at Manzikert. Vryonis 1971 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship) maintains Attaleiates is the most reliable contemporary source.
Find this resource:
Psellus, Michael. Fourteen Byzantine Rulers: The Chronography of Michael Psellus. New York: Penguin, 1966.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Psellus was a prominent civil servant and tutor of Michael VII Ducas (Romanus’ co-ruler and successor). His account of Manzikert is hostile to Romanus and less detailed than the account by Attaleiates.
Find this resource:
Bryennius, Nicephorus. Historia. Edited by A. Meineke. Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae. Bonn, Germany, 1836.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Grandson of his namesake, Nicephorus Bryennius, a commanding general at the battle itself, Bryennius’s memoirs describe the decade 1070–1079 and provide a remarkable account of Byzantine court intrigue between the leading families of the age. Essential source for understanding the political circumstances that undermined Romanus’s command at Manzikert. Also see English translation in Hillenbrand 2007 (cited under Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian).
Find this resource:
Armenian and Syrian Commentaries

Two important Armenian chroniclers of the battle of Manzikert are by the 11th-century historian Aristakēs (Aristakēs 1985) and the 12th-century historian and cleric Matthew of Edessa (Matthew of Edessa 1982). Aristakēs’s work details the relationship between his native Armenia and the Byzantine Empire, with special emphasis on the early Seljuk campaigns of 1047–1048, the siege and capture of Ani in 1064, and the battle of Manzikert in 1071. Matthew of Edessa was an eyewitness to the events of the Crusades in the early 12th century, and as an Armenian Christian abbot, he is often openly hostile to both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, as well as towards Frankish settlers in the newly established Crusader states. Like Mathew of Edessa, Michael the Syrian was a trained cleric who wrote in Syriac about important historical events (see Michael the Syrian 1905), using three columns per page, presenting religious history, secular history, and extraordinary happenings.

Aristakēs Lastivertcʿi. History. Translated by Robert Bedrosian. New York: Sources of the Armenian Tradition, 1985.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An 11th century Armenian historian, Aristakēs of Lastiverd (sometimes Lastivertc’i) work is of particular value for students of Manzikert for its explanation of Byzantine expansion into Armenia, the collapse of the powerful Armenian Bagratid dynasty, the invasion of the Seljuk Turks, and the eventual loss of eastern Anatolia. His commentaries include descriptions of Seljuk depredations and are providential in tone.
Find this resource:
Matthew of Edessa. The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa. Translated from the original Armenian with a commentary and introduction by Ara Edmond Dostourian. London: University Microfilms International, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Matthew’s Chronicle is a crucial primary source for our understanding of Byzantine, Seljuk, and Crusader history in Cilicia and northern Syria. Analysis is providential in nature, with important details on the origins, course, and consequences of the battle of Manzikert. Also, see English translation in Hillenbrand 2007 (cited under Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian).
Find this resource:
Michael the Syrian. Chronicles, Volume III. French translation by J. B. Chabot. Paris, 1905.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Of particular interest to Manzikert scholars are the descriptions of Byzantine relations with Armenia, Syria and the decades leading up to the First Crusade.
Find this resource:
Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian

Muslim chroniclers maintained a long-standing fascination with the battle of Manzikert, with both Arabic and Persian writers describing the engagement in various levels of detail and accuracy. Scholars looking for English translations of many of these narratives in one source are well served by Hillenbrand 2007. Other important treatments of Arabic and Persian perspectives on Manzikert can be found in Ibn al-Athir 1851–1876, al-Turtushi 1991, and the collection of accounts by Zakkar 1970 and Sümer and Sevim 1971.

Hillenbrand, Carole. Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Text includes numerous translations of both well-known and sometimes overlooked Arabic and Persian sources dating from the twelfth through fifteenth centuries, including al-Turtushi, Ibn al-Qalanisi, Nishapuri, Ibn al-Jawzi, Ibn al-Athir, Sibt b. al-Jawzi, Ibn al-‘Adim, Rashid al-Din, and Mirkhwand. Includes translations from the French of important Greek sources like Aristakēs of Lastiverd, Matthew of Edessa, and Nicephorus Bryennius.
Find this resource:
Ibn al-Athir. Al-Kamil fi’l-ta’rikh. Edited by C. J. Tornberg. Leiden, The Netherlands; and Uppsala, Sweden, 1851–1876.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A 13th-century Arab historian, Ibn al-Athir wrote the definitive Arabic chronicle of the Seljuk era and relies heavily on the writings of Ibn al-Jawzi. Translated into English by D. S. Richards in The Annals of the Saljuq Turks (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002).
Find this resource:
Sümer, Faruk, and Ali Sevim. İslam kaynaklarına göre malazgirt savaşı. Ankara, Turkey, 1971.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A collection of histories compiled by two well-known Turkish scholars, focusing specifically on passages in Persian and Arabic that mention Manzikert, including four Persian battle narratives.
Find this resource:
al-Turtushi. Siraj al-muluk. Edited by S. Dayf. Cairo, Egypt, 1991.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Earliest narrative of the battle of Manzikert in Islamic sources, dating from the early 12th century from a well-known Islamic scholar writing, in the court of Baghdad, a handbook for kings and princes on how to conduct war, using the generalship of Alp Arslan as an example. See the English translation of this account in Hillenbrand 2007.
Find this resource:
Zakkar, Suhayl. Mukhtarat min kitabat al-mu’arrikhim al-arab. Damascus, Syria; and Beirut, Lebanon, 1970.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This collection of Arabic accounts of Manzikert includes Muslim chroniclers from 12th to late 14th and 15th writers Ibn Kathir, Ibn Muyassar, and al-Dhahabi, as well as those of Arab Christian accounts from al-Makin and Bar Hebraeus.
Find this resource:
Byzantine Military Manuals

Modern historians like John Haldon and David Nicolle have identified Romanus’s failure to adhere to Byzantine strategic and tactical doctrine as a main reason for the Eastern Roman loss at Manzikert (see Haldon 2008 and Nicolle 2013, cited under Military Strategy and Tactics). To better understand this doctrine, modern scholars have numerous excellent translations of Byzantine military manuals to consult. Although some of these manuals were written hundreds of years before Manzikert, they were still influential in shaping the Byzantine art and science of war in the 11th century. George T. Dennis offers three books of middle Byzantine period military manuals translated into English: Maurice 1984, Anonymous 2008, and Leo VI 2010, while McGeer 2008 adds to our understanding of Byzantine military practices with a translation of two lesser-known but influential manuals.

Anonymous. Three Byzantine Military Treatises. Translated by George T. Dennis. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Three Byzantine manuals shed light on strategy, tactics, and logistics in the middle Byzantine period. The Anonymous Byzantine Treatise on Strategy was written by a retired combat engineer around the middle of the 6th century, while Skirmishing and Campaign Organization and Tactics date from the late 10th century and describe warfare in the mountains along the Syrian frontier and campaigns in the Balkans. First published 1985.
Find this resource:
Leo VI. The Taktika of Leo VI. Translated by George T. Dennis. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Written three centuries after Maurice’s Strategikon, Byzantine emperor Leo VI’s (r. 886–912) treatise on warfare continues in the same tradition as a handbook for Byzantine officers preparing their troops for war against very different enemies and military capabilities, including steppe peoples. Work includes original 10th-century Greek text, facing English translation, and extensive explanatory notes and indexes.
Find this resource:
Maurice. Maurice’s Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy. Translated by George T. Dennis. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
First complete English translation of Byzantine emperor Maurice’s (r. 582–602) Strategikon, an influential handbook intended for the field commander. Describes in detail Byzantine weapons and armor; soldier responsibilities on the march and in camp; optimal clothing, food, and medical care; and the importance of military law and discipline for an army in the early seventh century.
Find this resource:
McGeer, Eric. Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
McGeer translates two middle Byzantine military treatises, the Praecepta militaria of Nicephorus and the Taktika of Nicephorus Ouranos, describing two military manuals used by commanders in campaigns against Arab Muslim forces in Cilicia and Syria.
Find this resource:
Bibliographical Articles Analyzing Primary Sources

Modern Western scholarship on the battle of Manzikert is shaped by the in-depth research of Vryonis 1971 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship). Vryonis has continued to write numerous articles on many aspects of the battle, including important historiographical essays presenting scholars with new views on Greek and non-Greek primary sources (Vryonis 1992, Vryonis 1998). Vryonis 2001 presents a new view of the eight-day captivity of Romanus by Alp Arslan. Manzikert is explored from the Seljuk and Arabic perspectives in Hillenbrand 1995. The Soviet historian Guseinov 1971 compares the battles of Manzikert and Myriocephalum using Syriac sources. Whitby 2007 looks at the period 1025–1204 in Byzantine history, concentrating on non-Greek sources, and is useful in its analysis of the 11th century.

Guseinov, R. A. “Iz istorii otnoshenii Vizantii s sel’dzhukami.” Palestinskii sbornik 23.86 (1971): 156–167.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Guseinov analyzes Syriac sources on Byzantine relations with the Seljuk Turks, concentrating on the battles of Manzikert and Myriocephalum. In Russian. See also Vryonis 2005 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship)for a discussion and comparison of these two battles.
Find this resource:
Hillenbrand, Carole. “Ibn al-Adim’s Biography of the Seljuq Sultan, Alp Arslan.” In Actas XVI Congreso Union Européene des Arabisants et Islamisants. Edited by C. Vázquez de Benito and M. A. Manzano, 237–242. Salamanca, Spain: Rodriguez, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A specialist on Islamic sources for the battle of Manzikert, Hillendrand’s article sheds light on the life of Alp Arslan using sources often neglected by Western historians.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. “The Greek and Arabic sources on the battle of Mantzikert (1071 A.D.).” In Byzantine Studies: Essays on the Slavic World and the Eleventh Century. Edited by Speros Vryonis Jr., 125–140. New Rochelle, NY: Aristide D. Caratzas, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Vyronis builds on his landmark history of Anatolia in transformation (Vryonis 1971, cited under Modern Western Scholarship). As the title implies, this is an article dedicated to important primary sources on Manzikert in Greek and Arabic.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. “A Personal History of the History of the Battle of Mantzikert.” In Hē Vyzantinē Mikra Asia: 6.–12. Ai. Edited by Stelios Lampakēs, 225–244. Athens, Greece: Ethniko Hidryma Ereunōn, Institouto Vyzantinōn Ereunōn, 1998.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Important historiographical essay on primary sources, this essay is especially important for its discussion on how the Seljuk victory at Manzikert was used by later Muslim scholars as a propaganda source.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. “The Greek and the Arabic sources on the eight-day captivity of the emperor Romanus IV in the camp of the sultan Alp Arslan after the battle of Mantzikert.” In Novum Milennium: Studies on Byzantine History and Culture Dedicated to Paul Speck. Edited by C. Sode and S. Takacs, 439–450. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2001.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Enlightening article dedicated to Romanus IV Diogenes’s eight-day captivity in the hands of the Seljuk sultan, Alp Arslan. Important for understanding the courtesy often showed to rival commanders and rulers by Islamic leaders in the medieval period.
Find this resource:
Whitby, Mary, ed. Byzantine and Crusaders in Non-Greek Sources, 1025–1204. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.5871/bacad/9780197263785.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Collection of fourteen essays examining important primary sources, and the problems inherent in using these sources, available to researchers on the period 1025–1204 in Byzantine history. The essayists approach from the perspective of the surrounding peoples who collided with Byzantium. Latin, Arabic, Jewish, Slavonic, Georgian, Armenian, and Syrian sources are discussed.
Find this resource:
Early Western Scholarship

Several academic journals and monographs have published articles and chapters dedicated to the battle of Manzikert throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. Since the European Enlightenment, Western scholars have described the Byzantine loss at Manzikert as a turning point in Byzantine history, but in the early 20th century, new scholarship began to challenge the notion that this battle was a devastating military loss for Byzantium. Serious Western scholarship on the battle of Manzikert begins with Laurent 1913. Delbrück 1982 (first published 1923) only mentions the engagement briefly in the work’s notes. Delbrück’s work on medieval military history challenges Oman’s acceptance of impossible troop strengths (see Oman 1991). Cahen 1934, reevaluates the battle, and Cahen’s work is often cited in various English-language treatments of this engagement in general military history works written in the mid-20th century, like Fuller 1954. Mathieu 1950 is an important article on the role of Norman and Western mercenaries in late-11th-century Byzantine warfare.

Cahen, Claude. “La campagne de Manzikert d’apres les sources Musulmanes.” Byzantion 9 (1934): 613–642.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This often cited article is an important contribution to the revisionist strand of Manzikert scholarship, but, despite its title, it misses many important Muslim sources in its reconstruction. The author is also noted for his distrust of Attaleiates, instead relying on other Byzantine sources.
Find this resource:
Delbrück, Hans. History of the Art of War within the Framework of Political History. Vol. 3, Medieval Warfare. Translated by Walter J. Renfroe Jr. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This modern translation into English of Delbrück’s 1923 survey of Western military history contains only one brief sentence on Manzikert in the narrative, but a very prescient commentary in the chapter’s notes. Here, Delbrück attacks Oman’s inflated estimates on troop strengths for both belligerents, declaring that a study of the battle based on primary sources is in order. This call was taken up in later decades in Cahen 1934, Vryonis 1971 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship), and Cheynet 1980 (cited under Modern Western Scholarship), among others.
Find this resource:
Fuller, J. F. C. A Military History of the Western World, Vol. 1, From the Earliest Times to the Battle of Lepanto. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1954.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Fuller dedicates a chapter to the battle of Manzikert, describing the political situation faced by Romanus and Byzantine strategy, tactics, and order of battle, but he includes little on the military organization of the Seljuk Turks. He relies on Matthew of Edessa as his primary medieval source.
Find this resource:
Laurent, J. Byzance et les Turcs seldjoucides dans l’Asie occidentale jusqu’en, 1081. Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1913.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Laurent was a pioneer of early-20th-century Manzikert scholarship in the West, and this work describes the military dimensions of the engagement using multiple primary sources. His scholarship was built upon by later scholars like Cahen, Vryonis, and Cheynet.
Find this resource:
Mathieu, Marguerite. “Une source negligée de la bataille de Mantzikert: les ‘Gesta Roberti Wiscardi’ de Guillaume d’Apulie.” Byzantion 20 (1950): 89–103.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Norman and other Catholic mercenaries were a common feature in Byzantine warfare (both as allies and enemies) in the 11th century. Mathieu explores the battle of Manzikert from a Latin perspective using the Norman chronicler William of Apulia’s history of Robert Guiscard.
Find this resource:
Oman, Charles. A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages. Vol. 1, 378–1278 AD. London: Greenhill, 1991.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An influential early-20th-century study of medieval warfare (originally published in 1924), Oman’s treatment of the battle of Manzikert has been surpassed by more recent scholarship, but engaged both Delbrück and Fuller in a discussion of the battle.
Find this resource:
Modern Western Scholarship

A wave of new scholarship in the West followed the 900th anniversary of the battle of Manzikert in 1971. Cheynet 1980 readdresses the battle as a political defeat, rather than a devastating military event for the Byzantines, in many ways echoing the sentiments of Vryonis 1971. Modern western scholars have also been interested in exploring the political, financial, and military issues faced by Byzantine emperors in the decades leading up to the battle (see Angold 1991, Treadgold 1995, and Haldon 1999, the latter two cited under War and Society in 11th-Century Byzantium), while Markham 2005 examines Manzikert from a military perspective. Craenen, et al. 2010 approaches the problems of supplying a Byzantine expeditionary force, using Manzikert as a model.

Angold, Michael. “The Byzantine State on the Eve of the Battle of Manzikert.” Byzantinische Forschungen 16 (1991): 9–34.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important article for understanding the political, military, and financial situation inherited by Romanus IV Diogenes when he became co-emperor, and how these factors shaped the fateful 1071 campaign east to Manzikert.
Find this resource:
Cheynet, Jean-Claude. “Mantzikert: Un désastre militaire?” Byzantion 50 (1980): 410–438.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A leading French scholar on Manzikert, Cheynet maintains the battle was not a great military disaster (the Byzantine army was dispersed rather than destroyed), and offers a reassessment of Byzantine casualties, maintaining that only 10 percent of Romanus’s army was lost, with the groups most affected being the Armenian infantry and the troops closest to the emperor.
Find this resource:
Craenen, Bart, Georgios Theodoropoulos, Vinoth Suryanarayanan, Vincent Gaffney, Philip Murgatroyd, and John Haldon. “Medieval Military Logistics: A Case for Distributed Agent-Based Simulation.” In SIMUTOOLS 2010: Proceedings of the 3rd International ICST Conference on Simulation Tools and Techniques, 16—18 March 2010, Malaga, Spain. Edited by Jason Liu. Brussels, Belgium: ICST, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This innovative collaboration between scholars at the School of Computer Science and the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Manchester and John Haldon of Princeton utilizes large-scale distributed agent-based simulations to investigate the medieval military logistics of the battle of Manzikert and generate new evidence to supplement existing historical data.
Find this resource:
Hillenbrand, Carole. Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
In her introduction, Hillenbrand discusses the historical background of the battle of Manzikert from a Seljuk and Byzantine perspective, the course of the battle, the place and date of the engagement, and how historians have treated the importance of the conflict in the 20th century.
Find this resource:
Markham, Paul. “The Battle of Manzikert: Military Disaster or Political Failure?” De Re Militari (2005).
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Markham’s article examines the battle of Manzikert from the perspective of the Byzantine campaign and concludes that Romanus’s defeat was a political failure brought on by a complex set of circumstances. A fine short treatment of the battle in line with the interpretation of Vryonis 1971.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Vyronis spends the first hundred pages of his book detailing Byzantine Anatolia on the eve of the Turkish conquests through the first waves of Seljuk raiding leading up to the engagement. Maintains the Islamization of the peninsula was piecemeal in nature, lasting centuries. Well cited, using Greek and non-Greek sources.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. “The Battles of Manzikert (1071) and Myriocephalum (1176): Notes on Food, Water, Archery, Ethnic Identity of Foe and Ally.” Edited by Gary Leiser. Mesogeios Méditerranée 25–6 (2005): 49–69.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An interesting comparative analysis of two important battles between Byzantine and Seljuk forces, both ending in Byzantine defeats. While the battle of Manzikert is often portrayed as a defeat that began the wholesale Turkification of Anatolia, the battle of Myriocephalum (sometimes Myriokephalon) is usually described as Byzantium’s final unsuccessful attempt to recover the interior of Anatolia from the Seljuks.
Find this resource:
Modern Turkish and Arabic Perspectives

Modern Turkish and Arabic scholarship on the battle of Manzikert is not often included in Western analysis of the battle. Early-20th-century Turkish histories of the engagement have been criticized for not using rigorous Western standards for citation, and the battle is too often portrayed in a patriotic light. However, modern Turkish historians have for the most part departed from this romanticized portrayal of Manzikert, as seen in Köymen 1968, Kaymaz 1972, Koca 1997, and Basan 2010; the central role of Manzikert as an original event in the history of Turkey is emphasized in Turan 1971. Relations between Byzantium and the powerful Shiʿa Fatimid dynasty in Egypt are examined in Hamdani 1974.

Basan, Osman Aziz. The Great Seljuqs: A History. London: Routledge, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Basan approaches the history of the rise of the Seljuk Empire and the battle of Manzikert in the 11th century from a nontraditional angle, emphasizing the role of native Turkish institutions over the influence of Iranian culture and Arabic Islam in shaping Seljuk culture.
Find this resource:
Hamdani, A. “Byzantine-Fatimid Relations before the Battle of Manzikert.” Byzantine Studies 2.2 (1974): 169–179.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Hamdani offers a provocative analysis of Fatimid-Byzantine relations on the eve of the battle of Manzikert, maintaining that the Egyptian dynasty would have welcomed the idea of Alp Arslan diverting his expedition to meet the Byzantine army threatening the Armenian frontier.
Find this resource:
Kaymaz, Nejat. “Malazgirt savas¸ı ile Anadolu’nun fethi ve Türklesmesine dair.” In Malazgirt Armag˘anı. Edited by Uluğ İğdemir and Türk Tarih Kurumu, 259–268. Ankara, Turkey: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1972.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Kaymaz departs from the patriotic treatment of earlier Turkish historians in this short essay to celebrate the 900-year anniversary of the battle of Manzikert. Although he recognizes the central importance of Manzikert in the eventual Islamization and Turkification of Anatolia (and its right to be celebrated), he is less enthusiastic in his portrayal of Alp Arslan as a deliberate conqueror of the peninsula.
Find this resource:
Koca, Salim. Dandanakan’dan Malazgirt’e. İstanbul: Giresun Belediyesi, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A well-respected and prolific modern Turkish historian on early Seljuk history, Koca dedicates fifteen pages to the battle of Manzikert, but his analysis does not use any Islamic primary sources, generating criticism from the Western scholar Carole Hillenbrand (see Hillenbrand 2007, cited under Muslim Commentaries in Arabic and Persian.
Find this resource:
Köymen, Mehmet A. “Anadolu’nun fethi ve Malazgirt meydan muharebesi.” In Malazgirt zaferi ve Alp Arslan, 26 Ag˘ustos 1071, 67–142. Istanbul: Millî Eğitim Basımevi, 1968.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important Turkish scholar on the Seljuk period, Köymen’s article describes the rise of Al Arslan and the sultan’s role in the battle of Manzikert, but does not distinguish between primary sources, paraphrasing, and modern interpretation in his citation.
Find this resource:
Turan, Osman. Selcuklular zamanında Türkiye:  Siyâsi tarih Alp Arslan’dan Osman Gazi’ye, 1071-1318. Istanbul: Turan Neşriyat Yurdu, 1971.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A Turkish historian, Turan devotes five pages to the battle of Manzikert in his history of the Seljuk Turks in Turkey, and casts the battle as the most important military engagement between Islam and Christianity since the 7th century, and as the moment that marked the beginning of the Turkish Islamic world.
Find this resource:
Byzantine Society, Military Organization, Strategy, and Tactics

There are numerous articles and monographs dedicated to Byzantine warfare in the middle Byzantine period (867–1204) that also cover the battle of Manzikert, as the Byzantine defeat and subsequent loss of Anatolia to the Seljuk Turks had dire military ramifications for the Eastern Roman Empire. Some of these resources emphasize Byzantine strategy, tactics, and military equipment, while others concentrate on the relationship between Byzantine military institutions and society as a whole. Many of the works listed here have taken some of their information from the numerous medieval Byzantine military manuals, and familiarity with these manuals will serve the Manzikert scholar well.

War and Society in 11th-Century Byzantium

The Byzantine resurgence under the Macedonian emperors, especially Nicephorus II, John I, and Basil II, nearly doubled the size of the empire by Basil II’s death in 1025. But in the decades following Basil’s passing, the House of Macedon was poorly served by a succession of weak emperors who invited internal revolts and neglected the army, forcing emperors to seek military assistance from foreign mercenaries. For information on the use of these mercenaries see Benedikz 1969 and Shepard 1993. This relationship between the Byzantine military and society in the 11th century is explored in a balanced treatment in Jenkins 1966. Treadgold 1995 concentrates on the connection between Byzantine finances and military readiness, while Treadgold 1997 and Haldon 1999 describe the intersection between politics, society, and warfare in 11th-century Byzantium. Still, the most comprehensive treatment of 11th-century Byzantine Anatolia before, during, and after Manzikert is Vryonis 1971.

Benedikz, Benedikt S. “The Evolution of the Varangian Regiment in the Byzantine Army.” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 62 (1969): 20–24.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This short and often-cited article details the evolution of the famous foreign imperial ax-bearers as bodyguards and elite units in the Byzantine army.
Find this resource:
Haldon, John. Warfare, State and Society in the Byzantine World, 565–1204. London: Routledge, 1999.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Well researched and cited, with extensive notes. Haldon is equally adept in describing the changing political and strategic circumstances faced by Byzantium over this period, as well as the implementation of the thematic and tagmatic military systems. Describes Manzikert as more a political defeat than a disastrous military event.
Find this resource:
Jenkins, Romilly. Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries A.D. 610–1071. New York: Random House, 1966.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This well-known study of Byzantine politics and culture begins with the reign of Heraclius and ends with a brief but balanced description of the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert. Describes the battle as politically and militarily disastrous, precipitated by court machinations and poor Byzantine generalship in the face of a capable enemy.
Find this resource:
Shepard, Jonathan. “The Uses of the Franks in Eleventh-Century Byzantium.” Anglo-Norman Studies 15 (1993): 275–305.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An important study of the role Norman and Western mercenaries played in Byzantine military affairs in the 11th century. Essential to understanding the often unpredictable relationship Byzantine emperors and commanders had with these soldiers for hire.
Find this resource:
Treadgold, Warren. Byzantium and Its Army, 284–1081. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Traces the Byzantine army’s relationship with the Byzantine state and society from the army’s reorganization under Diocletian until its disintegration after the defeat at Manzikert. The approach here is often quantitative, exploring the link between Byzantine military success and the state of the empire’s finances. The volume is essential to understanding the manpower and financial obstacles faced by Romanus IV Diogenes on the eve of the Manzikert campaign.
Find this resource:
Treadgold, Warren. A History of the Byzantine State and Society. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Chapters 18 and 19 of Treadgold’s general history of the Byzantine state describe political, social, and military history from the death of Basil II to the stabilizing of the empire under John II. Failed attempts at political and military reforms are discussed, as is the defeat at Manzikert, subsequent civil war, and reign of Alexius Comnenus.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Vryonis provides a complete survey of 11th-century Greek Anatolia on the eve of the Seljuk conquest, covering administrative institutions, commerce, great aristocratic families and their influence, demography, road systems, ethnography, and religion, and then describes the Byzantine political and military collapse at Manzikert and the decade-long civil war that followed.
Find this resource:
Military Strategy and Tactics

Byzantium’s ever-changing strategic position and innovative approaches to grand strategy is covered in Luttwak 2009. Eastern Roman tactics and martial equipment are covered in some detail in Decker 2013, while McGeer 2008 approaches these subjects through a discussion of two 10th-century Byzantine military treatises. Multi-phase tactical maps assist the Manzikert scholar in reconstructing the tactics used by both Byzantine and Seljuk Turkish forces in Haldon 2007 and Decker 2013, while Nicolle 2013 peppers its narrative with useful photographs of the topography of the battle site today. Haldon 2007 explores the logistical dimensions of the Byzantine army on campaign in the middle Byzantine period, while Hyland 1994 reconstructs Byzantine horse breeding and cavalry equipment. The role of Norman and Western mercenaries in the Byzantine army is explored in Shepard 1993 (cited under War and Society in 11th-Century Byzantium).

Decker, Michael J. Byzantine Art of War. Yardley, PA: Westholme, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Blending archaeology and historical analysis to illustrate key Byzantine campaigns, battles, and sieges, Decker’s approach is thematic, with chapters on leadership, military organization, equipment, strategy, and tactics, and he relies heavily on Byzantine military manuals. Excellent regional and tactical maps and black-and-white plates accompany the text.
Find this resource:
Haldon, John. “The Organization and Support of an Expeditionary Force: Manpower and Logistics in the Middle Byzantine Period.” In Byzantine Warfare. Edited by John Haldon, 409–452. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate, 2007.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
As the title implies, this chapter examines the Byzantine army on campaign and is useful to Manzikert scholars in its examination of logistics, especially for expeditionary armies crossing the length of Anatolia.
Find this resource:
Haldon, John. The Byzantine Wars. Stroud, UK: The History Press, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A later and more distilled military treatment of Byzantine military history focusing more on military campaigns, strategy, tactics, and logistics than Haldon 1999 (cited under War and Society in 11th-Century Byzantium). It is accompanied by excellent strategic and tactical maps, but is not well cited.
Find this resource:
Hyland, Ann. The Medieval Warhorse from Byzantium to the Crusades. London: Grange, 1994.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An experienced equestrian, Hyland reconstructs medieval horsemanship using her own analysis of archeological evidence and reconstructions of medieval equipment to give insight into both Byzantine and Central Asian cavalry and their capabilities on the 11th-century battlefield. Includes a glossary of terms and extensive bibliography.
Find this resource:
Luttwak, Edward N. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2009.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Discusses why Byzantium’s precarious strategic position required innovative uses in strategy, intelligence, and diplomacy to maintain security. The battle of Manzikert is treated under a section describing the rise of the Seljuk Turks and the decline of the empire as a political debacle rather than a devastating military defeat.
Find this resource:
McGeer, Eric. Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2008.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Describes Middle Byzantine tactics through his analysis of two military treatises, Nicephorus Phocas’s Praecepta militaria and Nicephorus Ouranos’s Taktika. Of special interest to Manzikert scholars are outstanding commentaries, analysis, maps, and diagrams of the Byzantine expeditionary army on the march, encamped, and in battle during the 10th century.
Find this resource:
Nicolle, David. Manzikert, 1071: The Breaking of Byzantium. Oxford: Osprey, 2013.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Nicolle details the Manzikert campaign through an examination of opposing Byzantine and Seljuk commanders, opposing armies, and opposing battle plans, and then describes in vivid detail the battle itself, using both Byzantine and Islamic sources. Text is accompanied by numerous color and black-and-white photographs of the Manzikert region today.
Find this resource:
Seljuk Society, Military Organization, Strategy, and Tactics

Seljuk and Central Asian society, military organization, strategy, and tactics are discussed in numerous articles and monographs. The Seljuk Turks inherited a strong tradition of mounted warfare from their origins as a Central Asian steppe people, and the conflict between the first Islamized Turks and their more urbanized southern neighbors (Abbasid caliphate, Byzantium, and later, the Catholic crusaders) has been characterized as a conflict of light infantry horse archers against civilized heavy cavalry and heavy infantry. In truth, Seljuk commanders exhibited a sophisticated grasp of siege warfare and a keen understanding of their enemies’ strategic and tactical proclivities, all of which were showcased in the Seljuk campaigns in Anatolia in the 1050s and 1060s, leading up to Alp Arslan’s victory at Manzikert in 1071.

Seljuk Origins and the Rise of the Sultanates

The conversion of the Seljuk Turks to Sunni Islam in the late 10th century and their invasion of Persia, Azerbaijan, Mesopotamia and Anatolia in the 11th century are discussed in the standard work Bosworth 1968. Köprülü 1992 and Cahen 2001 explore the coming of the Turks to Anatolia, with a focus on Muslim sources, while Basan 2010 and Peacock 2010 challenge the findings of earlier scholars concerning the relationship of the Seljuk sultanates and their Turcoman cousins. For a treatment of the Seljuk’s place in Central Asian history as a whole, see Grousset 1970 and Findley 2005. Finally, Lange and Mecit 2011 pulls together Turkish scholars from all over the world in a treatment of Seljuk politics, society, and culture.

Basan, Osman Aziz. The Great Seljuqs: A History. London: Routledge, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A broad history of the Seljuk Empire. Basan takes a revisionist stance that reassesses the influence of Persian and Islamic culture on the early Turkish sultanates. He includes a valuable discussion on the state of Seljuk historiography in the 20th and early 21st centuries.
Find this resource:
Bosworth, C. Edmund. “The Political and Dynastic History of the Iranian world (A.D. 1000–1217).” In The Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. 5, The Saljuq and Mongol Periods. Edited by J. A. Boyle, 1–202. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1968.
DOI: 10.1017/CHOL9780521069366Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A long-time standard reference on the history of the Seljuk and early Mongol periods. Bosworth provides detailed discussions on the origin of the Seljuk tribe, its conversion to Sunni Islam, movements into Iran and Mesopotamia, and raiding and invasion of Anatolia. This is an essential reference for understanding the division of the Seljuk world into numerous sultanates in the decades after Manzikert.
Find this resource:
Cahen, Claude. The Formation of Turkey: The Seljukid Sultanate of Rum, Eleventh to Fourteenth Century. Translated by P. M. Holt. London: Routledge, 2001.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Holt provides an English translation of Cahan’s original 1988 treatment of the history of the often neglected Seljuks of Rum, a Turkish dynasty that appeared in Anatolia in the wake of Manzikert, and that was often at odds with its larger and more regionally influential cousin, the Great Seljuk Sultanate of Persia.
Find this resource:
Findley, Carter Vaughn. The Turks in World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Not interested in the tactical dimensions of the battle of Manzikert, Findley locates the strategic importance of the engagement as a decisive battle that broke Byzantine border defenses and launched a new phase of Islamic expansion into formerly Christian strongholds.
Find this resource:
Grousset, René. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. Translated by Naomi Walford. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1970.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A standard text on Central Asia for decades, Grousset discusses steppe warrior society and warfare, although his understanding of the capabilities of composite bows is based on an antiquated study. He does not include any description of the battle of Manzikert itself, but there is some discussion on its role in opening Anatolia for Turkification.
Find this resource:
Köprülü, Mehmed. The Seljuks of Anatolia: Their History and Culture According to Local Muslim Sources. Translated and edited by Gary Leiser. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Writing prolifically in the first half of the 20th century, Köprülü is considered one of the founders of the Turkish study of Turkey in the modern era. He is noteworthy for his application of Western academic methods to his research. In this study, translated into English by Gary Leiser, Köprülü explores the origin and history of the Seljuks in Anatolia.
Find this resource:
Lange, Christian, and Songül Mecit, eds. The Seljuqs: Politics, Society and Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This exploration of Seljuk civilization pulls together top Seljuk scholars. Of particular interest to the Manzikert scholar are Bosworth’s chapter on the origins of the Seljuks and van Renterghem’s chapter on the early Seljuk sultans’ relationship with the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad.
Find this resource:
Peacock, Andrew. Early Seljuq History: A New Interpretation. London: Routledge, 2010.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Provides an important reassessment of the first decades of Seljuk rule, up to the death of the Alp Arslan, arguing that the Seljuks maintained closer ties to their nomadic heritage than is often represented by modern historians. Good source for understanding early use of ghulam soldiers and the relationship between the Turcoman raiders and the first Seljuk rulers.
Find this resource:
Military Strategy and Tactics

Central Asian and Seljuk military strategy, tactics, and equipment are described in general terms in Nicolle 1996 and Hildinger 1997. Smail 1995 and Bowlus 1996 explore Seljuk military capabilities from the perspective of the Latin crusaders. For a detailed discussion of Turkish bow design and the contributions of mounted archery to the Seljuk conquest of Anatolia, see Kaegi 1964 and McEwen, et al. 1991.

Bowlus, Charles R. “Tactical and Strategic Weaknesses of Horse Archers on the Eve of the First Crusade.” In Autour de la Premiere Croisade. Edited by M. Balard, 159–166. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A new interpretation of the combat capabilities and tactical limitations of Turkish light cavalry horse archers.
Find this resource:
Hildinger, Erik. Warriors of the Steppe: A Military History of Central Asia, 500 B.C. to 1700 A.D. New York: Sarpedon, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Hildinger describes the history of significant steppe cultures and their martial interactions with Eurasian civilizations over a seventeen-century span. Includes chapters on nomadism and the military characteristics of mounted horse archers. Dedicates one chapter to the Seljuk Turks and a few pages to the battle of Manzikert, echoing the view that the Byzantine army was destroyed and Anatolia lost forever.
Find this resource:
Kaegi, Walter. E., Jr. “The Contribution of Archery to the Turkish Conquest of Anatolia.” Speculum 39 (1964): 96–108.
DOI: 10.2307/2850132Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article describes in great detail the military capabilities of the Seljuk horse archers, an effective tactical system employed by the Turks at Manzikert.
Find this resource:
McEwen, E., R. L. Miller, and C. A. Bergman. “Early Bow Design and Construction.” Scientific American 264.6 (June 1991): 76–82.
DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0691-76Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This technical study of the construction and performance of premodern bows also includes a detailed discussion of composite bows, including why composite bows have superior performance over self bows (those made from a single piece of wood). Well-illustrated.
Find this resource:
Nicolle, David. Medieval Warfare Source Book. Vol. 2. Christian Europe and Its Neighbors. London: Arms and Armour, 1996.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A companion volume to Nicolle’s work on the barbarian invasions and warfare in Western Europe (David Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Source Book. Vol. 1, Warfare in Western Christendom. [London: Arms and Armour, 1995]). Nicolle provides the researcher of Manzikert with information on Seljuk strategy, tactics, weapons, armor, and a list of sources for further research.
Find this resource:
Smail, R. C. Crusading Warfare, 1097–1193. 2d ed. Edited by Christopher Marshall. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This revised edition of the original 1956 text includes a new bibliographical introduction and updated bibliography, and is still a very useful discussion of Seljuk tactics from Latin sources.
Find this resource:
Post-Manzikert Byzantium and Prelude to the Crusades

The battle of Manzikert’s role in shaping the history of Byzantium and the emerging Seljuk civilization in the years 1071–1097, from the engagement itself to the arrival of the first Catholic armies at the gates of Constantinople, are described in the following works. This period witnessed a decade of Byzantine civil war (1071–1081); unusual alliances between emperors, pretenders, and Seljuk commanders; and strife among Seljuk princes attempting to consolidate territorial gains in Anatolia. Although stability was restored under Alexius I Comnenus, his request to Pope Urban II for Catholic troops, and Urban’s subsequent call to arms in November 1095, is often considered the beginning of the Levantine Crusades. The period between the death of Basil II and the First Crusade is covered in Vryonis 1971 and Angold 1997, with more attention given to the reign of Alexius I Comnenus in Riley-Smith 1997 and Asbridge 2005. Cowdrey 1988 and Rennie 2012 delve into the role of the Gregorian papacy in shaping the idea of crusade. Frankopan 2012 reevaluates the origins of the Crusades from a Byzantine perspective, while France 1994 discusses the origins of the First Crusade with more focus on military aspects of the campaign.

Angold, Michael. The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204. 2d ed. London: Longman, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Although not strong on the connection between Byzantine military and society (see Haldon 1999, cited under War and Society in 11th-Century Byzantium), Angold’s history of the period between the death of Basil II and the Fourth Crusade offers a fine section on the early reign of Alexius Comnenus.
Find this resource:
Asbridge, Thomas. The First Crusade: A New History; The Roots of Conflict between Christianity and Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A solid treatment of the circumstances around Alexius I Comnenus’s request for assistance from Pope Urban II and the role of the medieval papacy in launching the Levantine Crusades.
Find this resource:
Cowdrey, H. E. J. “The Gregorian Papacy, Byzantium and the First Crusade.” Byzantinische Forschungen 13 (1988): 145–169.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Describes the political and social environments in the papal and Byzantine courts in the period leading up to the First Crusade. A strong examination of the rise of papal monarchy and how the papacy used the Crusades to extend secular authority.
Find this resource:
France, John. Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511562426Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The best military history treatment of the First Crusade. France describes Manzikert’s role as a casus belli for the Levantine Crusades and Catholic and Byzantine motivations leading up to the Catholic occupation of the Levant.
Find this resource:
Frankopan, Peter. The First Crusade: The Call from the East. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 2012.
DOI: 10.4159/harvard.9780674064997Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This reexamination of the First Crusade readdresses the Byzantine contribution to the origins of the First Crusade and the central role Alexius Comnenus played in orchestrating the Catholic campaign. It is particularly strong in evaluationg the political and military situation in Anatolia in the period from 1071 to 1096.
Find this resource:
Rennie, Kriston R. “Weapons of Reform: Gregory VII, Armenia, and the Liturgy.” Church History 81.02 (2012): 328–347.
DOI: 10.1017/S0009640712000625Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Interesting article details Pope Gregory VII’s efforts to unite the Armenian Church with Rome in the years after the battle of Manzikert, and for understanding the papacy’s desire for a crusade to the Levant decades before First Crusade.
Find this resource:
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The First Crusaders, 1095–1131. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A one-volume treatment of the first decades of the Levantine Crusades. Riley-Smith discusses Urban II’s call to arms and the role the papacy played in organizing the First Crusade, with a very readable account of how Alexius Comnenus used his political skills to reshape the Crusade. Well cited, with numerous black-and-white maps and an extensive bibliography.
Find this resource:
Vryonis, Speros, Jr. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Still the best examination of the Byzantine civil war precipitated by the loss at Manzikert, the invasion and migration of Seljuk Turks into Anatolia in the battle’s wake, and the role these Turks played in Byzantine politics in the final decades of the 11th century.
Find this resource:
Manzikert’s Role in Turkish Identity

The battle of Manzikert holds a special place in the history of modern Turkey as a symbol of Turkish national pride. This section will introduce scholars to the Historiography and the Art and Literature surrounding the battle of Manzikert, and its role in Turkish identity. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s part in moving his new country away from its multinational Ottoman roots toward a focused “Anatolianism” will be discussed, as will the impact of his movement’s “Turkey for the Turks” ideology on the discipline of history in the newly formed Republic of Turkey. Atatürk’s establishment of the Turkish Historical Society (Türk Tarih Kurumu) in 1930 greatly influenced the new nation’s history curriculum and instilled nationalistic values in its citizens that shaped the historiography of the young nation for decades. In this environment, the study of the Seljuk Turks, the first Turkish civilization in Anatolia, would be utilized by a new breed of patriotic historians attempting to create ties between the new Republic of Turkey and its Turkish origins. The battle of Manzikert, a decisive Seljuk victory over the Greeks, became one of the first key events in this newly conceived history of Turkey. Unfortunately, many of these early- and mid-20th-century Turkish historians did not use Western scholarly methods in their research, and they have been criticized for their often overly patriotic approaches to writing the history of Turkey. This patriotic focus was evident in the Turkish scholarship surrounding the 900-year anniversary of the battle of Manzikert in 1971. However, new Turkish scholarship on the Seljuk era and the role of Manzikert in Turkey’s national identity has shed new light on these important issues.

Historiography

For examinations on how Atatürk viewed history as an instrument to shape national identity, see Lewis 1953, Aksin 2007, and Hillenbrand 2007. Leiser 1988 contributes to this topic with a translation of the Turkish historian Ibrahim Kafesoglu’s history of the Seljuk Turks, which also includes important insights into 20th-century Turkish historiography. Gürpınar 2012 focuses on Manzikert and how this battle has been used by Turkish politicians in the 20th and 21st centuries. See Malazgirt Armağanı for a romanticized treatment of how the Turkish government approached the 900-year anniversary of Manzikert.

Aksin, Sina. Turkey from Empire to Revolutionary Republic. New York: New York University Press, 2007.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
The book contains an insightful short discussion on Atatürk’s attitudes towards the importance of creating a new historical narrative for a young Turkish republic. Helpful for understanding how the founder of modern Turkey helped shape the discipline of history in his country for decades.
Find this resource:
Gürpınar, Doğan. “Anatolia’s Eternal Destiny Was Sealed: Seljuks of Rum in the Turkish National(ist) Imagination from the late Ottoman Empire to the Republican era.” European Journal of Turkish Studies 13 (May 2012).
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Important article that briefly summarizes the historiography and meanings attributed to the battle of Manzikert and the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum throughout the evolution of Turkish nation-building and nationalism in the 20th century. An essential read to understand how Manzikert has been invented and sometimes reinvented by competing political ideologies.
Find this resource:
Hillenbrand, Carole. “The Heritage of Manzikert: the Myth of National Identity.” In Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. By Carole Hillenbrand, 196–225. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.003.0007Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This chapter is a thoughtful and balanced discussion on the evolution of 20th-century Turkish historiography on Seljuk history in general, and the battle of Manzikert in particular, with descriptions of the origins and motivations behind the patriotic and chauvinistic historical interpretation demanded by Atatürk and created by early Turkish historians. Ends with a discussion of carefully researched studies of modern Turkish historians.
Find this resource:
Leiser, Gary. A History of the Seljuks: Ibrahim Kafesoglu’s Interpretation and the Resulting Controversy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1988.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Leiser’s translation of the Turkish historian Ibrahim Kafesoglu’s history of the Seljuk Turks includes important notes on Western and Turkish research on Seljuk history through the 1980s. Highlights some of the issues Western scholars have had with early- and mid-20th-century Turkish scholarship, but also helps dispel the idea that this trend has continued into the late 20th century.
Find this resource:
Lewis, Bernard. “History-Writing and National Revival in Turkey.” Middle Eastern Affairs 4 (1953): 218–227.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
An esteemed Islamist, Lewis examines the formative years of modern Turkish historical writing. A useful article for understanding how the Turks used history for meeting national aims in the early decades of the republic.
Find this resource:
Uluğ İğdemir and Türk Tarih. Kurumu Malazgirt Armağanı. Ankara, Turkey: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1972.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This twenty-article volume was produced by leading Turkish historians to celebrate the 900-year anniversary of the battle of Manzikert. Only three of the articles address the battle directly, and those that do have a strong laudatory bend towards Alp Arslan as national hero. The collection should be seen more as a romantic nationalist treatment of the battle than a careful analysis.
Find this resource:
Art and Literature

The battle of Manzikert is celebrated in modern Turkey as a significant historical event through art and literature, with the Seljuk victor Alp Arslan a favorite subject in these depictions. See Yüzendag 2007 for a laudatory treatment of the Seljuk sultan, written in celebration of the 900-year anniversary of the battle. Two significant monuments were erected in the area around the city of Manzikert (modern Malazgirt), while numerous medallions, coins, and stamps have been issued to memorialize the battle. See Hillenbrand 2007 and Carey 2012 for more detailed descriptions of the role of art and literature in shaping modern Turkey’s perception of Manzikert.

Carey, Brian Todd. Road to Manzikert: Byzantine and Islamic Warfare, 527–1071. Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword, 2012.
Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Plate 20: 888th-Anniversary Stamp for Manzikert, featuring Alp Arslan on his white steed at full gallop. Plates 17 and 18: Equestrian Statue of Alp Arslan, 1967, at western entrance to city of Malazgirt, which commemorates the sultan’s victory and perpetuates the myth of a Seljuk victory against overwhelming odds. Plate 19: Manzikert Victory Monument, 1989, at alleged site of battle of Manzikert; monument consists of two white fluted monoliths reaching up nearly 140 feet into the air, with a walking path between them to symbolize a gate into Anatolia. Site contains stone bleachers for an annual reenactment each August of the battle by Turkish Boy Scouts in costume.
Find this resource:
Hillenbrand, Carole. Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Figure 7.4: Alp Arslan Commemorative Coin, which celebrates the 900-year anniversary of Manzikert; on obverse is a portrait of Alp Arslan, while the reverse shows a map of Turkey. Figure 7.5: 900th-Anniversary Stamp for Manzikert: Alp Arslan and Seljuk Lancers, which shows Alp Arslan accompanied by Seljuk lancers. Figure 7.6: 900th-Anniversary Stamp for Manzikert: Alp Arslan and Mounted Seljuk Archer, featuring Alp Arslan and an accompanying horse archer. Figure 7.3: Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan Triumph at Manzikert, a Turkish commemorative medallion with the words “The Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan” on the obverse and an image of mounted archers and the words “the Triumph of Manzikert 900 years” on the reverse.
Find this resource:
Yüzendag, Ahmet. “A Torch Burns in Malazgirt.” In Turkish Myth and Muslim Symbol: The Battle of Manzikert. Translated by Carole Hillenbrand, 213–214. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 2007.
DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625727.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This panegyric poem was first written for the 900th anniversary of Manzikert in 1971. It emphasizes Alp Arslan’s role as pious Muslim, victorious commander, and founding father of Turkey. Hillenbrand’s translation of the poem is accompanied by numerous insights into its symbolism. Originally published in M. A. Köymen, “Malazgirt meydanmuharebesinde rol oynayan unsurlar,” Milli kültür 8 (August 1977), 6–11.
Find this resource: