The Battle of the Meander River is a battle between the crusader army led by King Louis VII and the Seljuk troops of the Koni Sultanate in 1147 . The French army successfully repelled an Seljuk attack from an ambush near the Meander river.
| Battle of the Meander River |
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| Main Conflict: Second Crusade |
| date | december 1147 |
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| A place | Meander River ( Turkey ) |
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| Total | Victory of the crusaders |
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 France
| Koni Sultanate |
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Louis VII | is unknown |
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Content
King Louis VII led the French crusader army on its way from Europe through Asia Minor to Jerusalem . He decided to go along the coast of Asia Minor , since the defeat of Emperor Conrad III and his army at the Battle of Dorile made it clear that movement through the inner regions of Anatolia was too dangerous. In early December 1147, the French army stopped to rest [1] near the ancient city of Ephesus , before continuing through the valley of the Meander River and reaching the port of Adalia [2] .
The Turks attacked from an ambush when the crusaders tried to cross the river. They used their usual attack tactics, and then quickly retreated before the enemy could regroup and counterattack [3] . However, anticipating the attack, Louis VII placed his best knights at the forefront and on the flanks, preventing the Turks from causing serious damage [4] . The Turks suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat to the mountains. As William of Tire later wrote, the crusaders also managed to capture a number of Turks [5] . Neither William of Tire nor Odon of Deil reports the loss of the Crusaders, although we can assume that they were small, in particular, only one nobleman, Milo Nozhansky, was killed [4] .
This victory was not enough to stop the Turkish attacks. A few days after the battle on the Meander River, the French army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle of Mount Cadmus .
- ↑ William of Tire, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea , trans. EA Babcock and AC Krey (Columbia University Press, 1943), vol. 2, p. 174.
- ↑ Tyerman, Christopher, God's War: A New History of the Crusades , (Penguin, 2006), p. 326.
- ↑ Phillips, Jonathan, The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom , (Yale University Press, 2007), p. 197.
- ↑ 1 2 Odo of Deuil, p. 113.
- ↑ William of Tire, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea , trans. EA Babcock and AC Krey (Columbia University Press, 1943), vol. 2, p. 175.
- Odo of Deuil, De profectione Ludovici VII in Orientem , trans. VG Berry (New York: WW Norton and Co., 1948).
- William of Tire, A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea , trans. EA Babcock and AC Krey (Columbia University Press, 1943).
- Jonathan Phillips, The Second Crusade: Extending the frontiers of Christendom, (Yale University Press, 2007).
