The Turkish conquest of anatolia in the eleventh century

Abstract EN

The article describes the Turkish conquest ofAnatolia in the second half of the eleventh century.

An evaluation ofthe sources (almost all Greek) and a sum-mary ٠/ the successful Byzantine defence against the Arabs is followed by a detailed account of the principal stages ofthe Turkish conquest.

The inadequacy ٠/ the sources, which become less and less informative as the conquest pro-ceeded, means that the final and most important stage ofthe Turkish advance, from 1081-85, must be conjectured.

Nevertheless, the general outline ofthe con-quest is sufficiently clear.

The article concludes by identifying one ofthe main causes of the debacle: the failure of imperial governments from Basil II (976~1025) to grasp the importance of defending Anatolia, as evidenced by the shift ofbyzantine interests to the Balkans.