Battle of Mamistra explained

Conflict:Battle of Mamistra
Date:1152
Place:Mamistra, Cilicia
Result:Armenian victory
Combatant1: Kingdom of Cilician Armenia
Commander1:Thoros II
Mleh
Stephen
Commander2:Manuel I Komnenos
Andronikos Komnenos
Strength1:7,500
Strength2:12,000
Casualties1:Light
Casualties2:Heavy

The Battle of Mamistra took place in 1152 between the forces the Byzantine Empire and Cilician Armenia, near the city of Mamistra. The Armenians under Thoros II were victorious.

Background

Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos sent his troops in order to expand the empire. 12,000 troops under Andronikos Komnenos traveled to Cilicia. Many Armenian noblemen from Western Cilicia left Thoros' control and joined the Byzantine troops. Andronikos rejected Thoros' offer of a truce, vowing that he would destroy the Armenian kingdom and imprison Thoros the same way as the Byzantines had done to Levon I, Thoros' father. The Byzantines besieged the Armenians.

Battle

Byzantine writer Niketas Choniates and the Armenian writer Grigor Erets claim that the Armenian troops, under the leadership of Thoros and his brothers, Stephen and Mleh, launched a surprise attack from the besieged city during a rainy night and defeated the Byzantines.[1] Andronikos left his army and went to Antioch.

Niketas Choniates claims that the Armenian soldiers were braver and more skilled than those of the Byzantine army. The Byzantines had to ransom their captured soldiers and generals. Surprisingly, Thoros gave the reward to his soldiers. Most of the Armenian noblemen who joined the Byzantine troops were killed during the battle.

Aftermath

The battle had a large impact on the independence of Armenian Cilicia, as the battle strengthened the position of the Armenians in Cilicia and created realistic opportunities for the creation of a new, formally and factually independent Armenian state in Cilicia.

References

Notes and References

  1. [Claude Mutafian]