Cover photo : John II in full imperial regalia, Byzantine low relief sculpture in marble, early 12th century. source

Text by Ilias Anagnostakis

John II Komnenos (1118-1143) is considered one of the most capable emperors, and perhaps the one who perceived the magnitude of the Turkish threat for his empire more than anyone else. Indeed, in 1130, after decisively dealing with the Petchenegs (Veria, 1122), defeating the Serbs (Visegrad, 1125), and repeatedly defeating the Hungarians (1128/9), he decided to finally address the Turkish problem. Specifically, he focused on the Danismendids of Paphlagonia and Pontus, who had flooded the region since the mid-1080s. His father, Alexios, had dealt more with the Turks on the western coast and the central plateau, which were more dangerous at that time.

However, by 1130, the situation had escalated in Paphlagonia, where it was “filled with Turkmans” . The Danismendid emirs of Gangra, Kastamonu, and Ankara conducted constant raids into imperial territories beyond the river Sangarios and in Bithynia, under the general supervision of Malik-Mohamed-ibn-Ghazi, from Neocaesarea in Pontus. In the spring of 1130, with operational headquarters at the vast camp (Aplikton) of Lopadion, in the fertile valley of the Rhyndakos River in Eastern Bithynia, John set out with 40,000 men. He crossed the Sangarios, entered the mountainous and forested Paphlagonia, and after fierce battles with the nomadic Turks in “mountains and valleys, under rain and many hardships” (Kinnamos, 224-8), he drove them out of Western Paphlagonia. He began besieging the well-fortified Gangra, which he captured by late summer 1130, executing all Turks found there. John destroyed mosques, dug up Turkish cemeteries, repopulated the city (which had been turkish since 1086) with Greeks, “as many as he could find” (Kinnamos 224-11), and returned to Constantinople.

Turkish resistance, however, was far from being considered broken. During the winter of 1130/31, Turkomans led by Emir Yinal again captured Gangra, while other Turkish nomads conducted major raids, even reaching Troas, “pillaging everything.” Once again, with over 50,000 men, the Emperor marched against Gangra, “leveling everything in his path.” This time, the city had a powerful Turkish garrison, well-supplied for months. Nevertheless, John, after years of preparation, possessed a powerful arsenal of siege weapons, including 29(!) trebuchets (rotating-arm machines with fixed counterweights), some of which were 20 meters high, with arms of 10 meters, a firing segment length of 8 meters, capable of launching projectiles weighing 90 kilograms up to 150 meters with a rate of one shot every 30 minutes. They were operated by crews of 200(!) men (Manganarioi/Lithopalmi). It is not surprising that between May 1131 and late June 1131, John launched over 9,000 projectiles of all types at the heavily fortified Gangra, “reducing its walls to dust.”

This time, the Turks surrendered, and John limited himself to executing ordinary soldiers, expelling the Turkish civilians (who were not very numerous), and converting 11(!) Turkish emirs to Christianity in a splendid ceremony in Constantinople. After settling matters in Paphlagonia, John made raids from the north to Ankara, “exterminating the nomads wherever he found them”. However, the major challenge was Kastamonu, the cradle of the Komnenos family, and the Western Pontus, “teeming with Turkmans.” Indeed, between 1132-5, John, with tens of thousands of men and many horses, accompanied everywhere by his impressive siege train, cleared the entire southern coast of the Black Sea, massacring almost all Turkish settlers in Paphlagonia, Pontus, and other shores, over a vast area from Amastris, Sinope, to Trebizond, while advancing at least 200 km inland, wiping out nomadic settlements and especially herds, as without them, the Turkmans (as well as the Plains Indians of the 19th century) were practically immobile. Kastamonu was besieged, recaptured, lost, and besieged again 4 times(!) as the Turks did not give up, despite their horrific losses (perhaps over 100,000 warriors and civilians according to Clive Foss. Meanwhile, in a true display of warrior prowess, John alone transported projectiles weighing 45(!) kilograms to his personal trebuchet, hurling them into Kastamonu.

In any case, the Imperial army broke every Turkish line of defense, and in 1139/40, John felt ready for the most significant undertaking: the conquest of Neocaesarea in Pontus. This city, which had turned from a “prosperous and wealthy city” into a den and stronghold of the Turcoman emir Melik Muhammed Ghazi, who had ravaged everything in Pontus, while his raids reached as far as the Sangarios. As Bryonis says: “The appearance of the Greek army in the winter of 1139/40 once again spread terror throughout the East. Turkish leaders were so consumed by fear that ‘when the Emperor attacked Neocaesarea (November 1139), the wrath of the Turks against the Christians flared up in all the territories they held. They killed anyone who mentioned the Emperor’s name, even accidentally, and took his children and his house. Many were killed in Melitene and elsewhere until the Emperor left.” Indeed, John lifted the siege in May 1140, as the winter was incredibly harsh, and supplies had run out. Regardless, John II Komnenos’ campaigns against the Turks from 1130 to 1140 were crowned with tremendous success. The Turcomans of Northern Asia Minor were annihilated, and the coasts remained predominantly Greek in their entirety until the 1290s.

Primary Sources

John Kinnamos, “The Deeds of John and Manuel Comnenus”.

Bibliography

J. Birkenmeier, “The Development of the Komnenian Army: 1081–1180”, publ.Brill, Leiden, 2022.

S.Bryonis, “The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of Islamization from the Eleventh through the Fifteenth Century”, Berkeley, publ. University of California Press, 1971.

C.Foss, “Cities, Fortresses and Villages of Byzantine Asia Minor”, publ. Routledge, 1966.

C.Foss, “Survey of medieval castles of Anatolia I: Kutahya”, publ. British Archaeological Reports, 1985.