A History of Military Engagements: The Contrasting Warfare Tactics of Frankish and Turkic-Syrian Field Armies

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to showcase the Battle of Dorylaeum, fought between the invading Frankish forces of the First Crusade and the defending Turkic-Syrian armies of the late eleventh-century in Anatolia, as a unique case study to explore the maladapted nature of the opposing factions’ modes of warfare. While the Frankish armies naturally favoured western tactics such as heavy cavalry charges and thus developed their entire marching and fighting system to protect the knightly core of their forces, their Turkic-Syrian opponents entered the battlefield in a rapid and erratic way which had led to their dominance in oriental warfare for decades prior. Upon a survey of the tactics used by both Frankish and Turkic-Syrian, based solely on the information evident through the relevant primary sources of the Battle of Dorylaeum, a twofold proof becomes apparent. Firstly, the maladapted nature of the two forces becomes incredibly apparent, stemming from the pitting of the heavily armed Frankish forces and the nomadic way of warfare utilized by their Turkic-Syrian opponents. Secondly, Dorylaeum comes to the forefront as the battle most representative of this maladapted nature; while the First Crusade is largely composed of sieges with remarkably few field battles, Dorylaeum is the first instance of both factions wielding their respective modes of warfare in a way which decided the fate of the following years of the First Crusade.