Battle of Civetot
Part of the People's Crusade

Medieval illuminated manuscript showing Peter the Hermit's People's Crusade of 1096
Date21 October 1096
Location
Civetot
(modern-day Altinova, Yalova, Turkey)
40°25′54″N 29°9′22″E / 40.43167°N 29.15611°E / 40.43167; 29.15611
Result

Seljuk Turks victory

  • End of the People's Crusade
Belligerents
Seljuk Turks Crusading peasants
Commanders and leaders
Kilij Arslan I Walter Sans-Avoir †
Geoffrey Burel
Strength
20,000[1] to 60,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Light Most of the army
Battle of Civetot is located in Turkey
Battle of Civetot
Location within Turkey

The Battle of Civetot was fought between the forces of the People's Crusade and of the Seljuk Turks of Anatolia on 21 October 1096. The battle brought an end to the People's Crusade,[3] before the Princes' Crusade.

Background

After the People's Crusade, consisting of soldiers, peasants and priests, had set over to Anatolia in the beginning of August 1096, its leadership fell apart and the Crusaders split along ethnic lines. A German detachment, which had captured the castle of Xerigordos (location unknown), was destroyed in the siege of Xerigordos, in September. Thereafter, two Turkish spies spread a rumor that these Germans had also taken Nicaea. This had the effect of causing excitement among the main camp of Crusaders in Civetot to share in the looting of the city as soon as possible. The Turks were waiting on the road to Nicaea. Peter the Hermit, the nominal leader of the crusade, had gone back to Constantinople to arrange for supplies and was due back soon, and most of the leaders argued to wait for him to return (which he never did). However, Geoffrey Burel, who had taken command, argued that it would be cowardly to wait, and that they should move against the Turks right away.[1] His will prevailed and, on the morning of 21 October, the entire army of over 20,000 marched out toward Nicaea, leaving women, children, the old and the sick behind at the camp.[1]

Battle and aftermath

Three miles from the camp, where the road entered a narrow, wooded valley near the village of Dracon, the Turkish army of Kilij Arslan I was waiting. When approaching the valley, the Crusaders marched noisily and were immediately subjected to a hail of arrows.[1] Panic set in immediately and within minutes the army was in full rout back to the camp. Most of the Crusaders were slaughtered (upwards of 60,000 by some accounts[2]), including women, children and other non-combatants; only young girls, nuns and boys that could be sold as slaves were taken alive (the princes' crusade would later liberate some of these close to Antioch).[4] One of the leaders of the crusade, the knight Walter Sans Avoir, was killed in the thick of the action.[5] Three thousand, including Geoffrey Burel, were able to obtain refuge in an abandoned castle.[1]: 132  Eventually, the Byzantines under Constantine Katakalon sailed over and raised the siege;[6] these few thousand returned to Constantinople, the only survivors of the People's Crusade.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Runciman, Steven (1987). A History of the Crusades, Volume 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780521347709. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Kostick, Conor (2008). The Social Structure of the First Crusade (Illustrated ed.). BRILL. p. 109. ISBN 9789004166653. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  3. ^ Bradbury, Jim (2004). The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare. Routledge. p. 194. ISBN 9780203644669. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  4. ^ Kostick, Conor (May 2008). The social structure of the First Crusade. Brill. pp. 110, 274. ISBN 9789004166653.
  5. ^ Edgington, Susan B.; Albert of Aachen (2007). Historia Ierosolimitana, Oxford University Press. pp. 41. ISBN 0-19-920486-1. "There died Walter Sansavoir, pierced by seven arrows through his hauberk and breast."
  6. ^ Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 64. ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6.
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