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The Battle of Pelekanon also known by its latinised form Battle of Pelecanum occurred on June 10-11, 1329 between an expeditionary force by the Byzantines led by Andronicus III and an Ottoman army led by Orhan I. The Byzantines were defeated, with no further attempt made at relieving the cities in Anatolia under Ottoman siege.
[edit] Clash and Outcome
By the accession of Andronicus in 1328, the Imperial territories in Anatolia had dramatically shrunk from almost all of the west of modern Turkey forty years earlier to a few scattered outposts along the Aegean Sea and a small core province around Nicomedia within about 150km of the capital city Constantinople. Everywhere the Turks were hostile and encroaching on Imperial lands. Andronicus decided to relieve the important cities of Nicomedia and Nicaea and hopefully restore the frontier to a stable position. Together with the Grand Domestic (or Imperial Chancellor) John Cantacuzene, Andronicus led the army, which was the greatest he could muster along the Sea of Marmara towards Nicomedia. At Pelekanon, an Ottoman Turkish army blocked their way. Parts of each army clashed and the Turks were driven off. However, the bulk of the Turkish army withdrew into the hills north of the battlefield and Andronicus could advance no further while it was intact. Further skirmishes resulted in the emperor sustaining light wounds while morale plummeted. When the Turks occupied the roadway behind them, the Grand Domestic arranged for the army to return to Constantinople by sea.
[edit] Consequences
An urgently required campaign of restoration was aborted. Never again did a Byzantine army attempt to regain Asian territory. The historic former capitals of Nicomedia and Nicaea were not relieved and the maintenance of Imperial control across the Bosphorus was no longer tenable. The Ottomans built up a strong base from which they eventually swept away the Byzantine Empire.
- ^ a b Bartusis, The Late Byzantine Army, p. 91 "In June 1329 he [Andronicus III] and Kantakouzenos led a major expedition into Asia with 2,000 soldiers from Constantinople, and something less than this number from Thrace. At Pelekanos their army encountered the forces of Orhan, Osman's son and successor, encamped with about 8,000 men."
[edit] References
- Bartusis, Marc C. The Late Byzantine Army: Arms and Society, 1204-1453, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
- Treadgold, W. "A History of the BYzantine State and Society", Stanford University Press, 1997.
