3873 entries. Last updated May 20, 2013.

Defeat of the Byzantine Empire by Turks (August 26, 1071)


A miniature from a 15th century French translation of Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium, showing Alp Arslan, second sultan of the Seljuk dynasty, humiliating Emperor Romanos IV. (View Larger)

Defeat of the Byzantine Empire in the battle with Seljuk Turkish forces at Manzikert, and the capture of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, demonstrated to European Christians that Byzantine forces were not capable of protecting Eastern Christianity. This eventually led to the Crusades.