Precursors to the First Crusade call: aftermath of Manzikert and the papal appeal for military aid (1070s)

Name: Precursors to the First Crusade call: aftermath of Manzikert and the papal appeal for military aid (1070s)
Start: 1071
End: 1080

Type Event Region Europe Time 1071–1080

After the 1071 Battle of Manzikert, Byzantine eastern defenses collapsed and Seljuk Turks penetrated deep into Anatolia;…

Timeline

1071–1072Manzikert · AnatoliaRomanos IV was defeated and captured by Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan at Manzikert; Byzantium lost most of its control over Anatolia and promptly sent a request for military aid to the Western Christian world.
1074Rome · LazioPope Gregory VII wrote to the German princes, calling for an armed expedition to aid Byzantium and Eastern Christians; though shelved due to his power struggle with Henry IV and insufficient princely response, it set a precedent for papal mobilization of Western European knights for eastern campaigns.
1075–1080Constantinople · ThraceIn the later 1070s Byzantium continued through envoys to approach Western churches and princes seeking a military alliance against the Turks; the West, due to investiture conflicts and distance, had not yet formed a large-scale expedition, but Crusade ideas were already brewing among the Church and knightly classes.