Battle of Philomelion

The Battle of Philomelion of 1116 consisted of series of clashes over a number of days between a Byzantine expeditionary army under Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and the forces of the Sultanate of Rûm under Sultan Malik Shah; it occurred in the course of the Byzantine-Seljuq wars. The Seljuk forces attacked the Byzantine army a number of times to no effect; having suffered losses to his army in the course of these attacks, Malik Shah sued for peace.

Following the success of the First Crusade, the Byzantine armed forces, led by John Doukas the megas doux, reconquered the Aegean coastline and much of the interior of western Anatolia. However, after the failure of the Crusade of 1101, the Seljuq and Danishmend Turks resumed their offensive operations against the Byzantines. Following their defeats, the Seljuqs under Malik Shah had recovered control of central Anatolia, re-consolidating a viable state around the city of Iconium. Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, aged and suffering from an illness which proved to be terminal, was unable to prevent Turkish raids into the recovered areas of Byzantine Anatolia, though an attempt to take Nicaea in 1113 was thwarted by the Byzantines. In 1116 Alexios was able to personally take the field and was engaged in defensive operations in northwest Anatolia. Basing his army at Lopadion, and later at Nicomedia, he succeeded in defeating raiding Turks in a minor battle at Poemanenon. After receiving reinforcements to his army Alexios decided to move onto the offensive.

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