The Turkish Conquest of Anatolia in the Eleventh Century

Abstract

The article describes the Turkish conquest of Anatolia in the second half of the eleventh century. An evaluation of the sources (almost all Greek) and a sum- mary of the successful Byzantine defence against the Arabs is followed by a detailed account of the principal stages of the Turkish conquest. The inadequacy of the sources, which become less and less informative as the conquest pro- ceeded, means that the final and most important stage of the Turkish advance, from 1081—85, must be conjectured. Nevertheless, the general outline of the con- quest is suffciently clear. The article concludes by identifying one of the 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 of byzantine interests to the Balkans.