Battle of Mersivan

The Battle of Mersivan was fought between the European Crusaders and the Seljuk Turks led by Kilij Arslan I in Northern Anatolia during the Crusade of 1101. The Turks decisively defeated the Crusaders, who lost an estimated four-fifths of their army near the mountains of Paphlagonia at Mersivan (Mersifon).

As the Crusaders were marching towards Mersivan they were organized into five divisions, the Lombards and Italians in the front led by Anselm IV who was followed by Raymond IV of Toulouse with Pecheneg cavalry. After Raymond were the Burgundians led by Count Stephen I of Burgundy and Duke Odo I of Burgundy. Behind the Burgundians came the Germans led by the German constable Conrad followed by the French led by Stephen of Blois. The army moved sluggishly as all the soldiers, camp followers, and horses were all weak. Due to the massive size of the army, communication between each of the contingents was slow, making the march discoordinated. As the army marched towards Mersivan, they had found themselves surrounded by a Seljuk army led by Kilij Arslan I himself who quickly surrounded the Crusaders in order to block off any routes of escape. In reaction to the Turks, the Crusaders created a camp inside the encirclement and filled it with the camp followers while the soldiers deployed themselves around the perimeter of the camp with the intention of protecting it. During the first of these, which fell on a Friday, the Turkish archers positioned themselves on the various flanks of the camp; from there, while emitting "ferocious shouts", they unleashed intense volleys of arrows, then hastily retreated to make room for other groups who, from a different position, repeated the same tactic.