The Siege of Nicaea

The crusaders arrived at the city of Nicaea in May of 1097 and found the city heavily fortified with large walls. After gathering there forces they began to strategize for a way to take the city. "The size of the crusading force which placed the fortress of Nicaea under siege during the late spring of 1097 is generally agreed to have been well in excess of the 14 000 effectives against whom a defensive force of 3500 archers and crossbowmen might have been considered a credible deterrent" (Bachrach). Seeing the considerable defense of the city the crusaders and Byzantines elected to place the city under siege. Siege is the process of surrounding a city and cutting it off from outside supply. This proved difficult in Nicaea as the city had a large lake bordering one side of it and the crusaders had a lack of proper ships and naval equipment to blockade the lake and attack from that side.

The sieging force dug in on the three landward sides of the city and prepared to starve the city into submission. However, "all attempts to starve out Nicaea were useless, because inhabitants were finding ways to smuggle in supplies from across this lake" (Daileader). The smuggling efforts kept the siege from advancing and began to drive strife between the Byzantines and the crusaders and led to the Byzantine emperor Alexius I to begin to strategize for his own terms of the surrender of Nicaea. He had boats built and brought to the lake where Byzantine troops then entered the city and began to negotiate with the Turks. Alexius arranged a surrender to Byzantine control without telling the crusaders as he was worried they would raze the city and pillage the spoils for themselves. Alexius successfully convinced the Turks that a surrender to the Byzantines was much preferrable to one with the crusaders and as such on June 19th, 1097 the city of Nicaea was handed over to Byzantine control and the crusading force was not allowed to enter. "The very first victory within the Barons’ Crusade was, largely, a defeat for Crusader-Byzantine relations. The mistrust had grown even worse" (Daileader). Nicaea is one of the first signs of major problems in the relations between the Crusaders and the Byzantines. The Crusaders felt betrayed by an emperor they had sworn fealty to and the Byzantines continued to not believe that the oaths would be honored. "There is no doubt that Alexius was entitled to have Nicaea returned to him, but the way in which he kept his western allies in the dark about negotiations with the enemy, and even in the end prepared them for an attack which served only his own ends, was hardly in the spirit of Christian cooperation" (Anna). The Byzantine emperor saw his opportunity to improve his own power and ensure promises were kept and elected to take it. In return he sacrificed relations and trust with the Crusading force, both of which would not be properly repaired.

Works Cited

Bachrach, Bernard S. Some Observations on Administration and Logistics of the Siege of Nicaea. Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd, 2005, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1191/0968344505wh320oa, Accessed 8 Mar. 2023.

Bernett, Rich. “The High Middle Ages: The Siege of Nicaea by the Crusaders.” Wondrium Daily, 3 Nov. 2020, https://www.wondriumdaily.com/the-high-middle-ages-the-siege-of-nicaea-by-the-crusaders/.

“Episode 215 – the Siege of Nicaea.” The History of Byzantium, 19 June 2020, https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/2020/06/19/episode-215-the-siege-of-nicaea/.

Reading, The University of. “Anna Comneno, the Alexiad and the First Crusade.” CentAUR, University of Reading, 1 Jan. 1984, https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/85094/.