Battle Of Manzikert Research Paper

Battle of Manzikert:

The Battle of Manzikert happened during August 26th, 1071, it's a battle in which the Byzantine were defeated by the Seljuq Turks. This led to the Seljuq conquest of most of Anatolia. The battle of Manzikert also marked the beginning of the end of the Byzantine empire.

Christian Perspective: The Seljuks (Muslims) were raiding the Byzantine ruled Anatolia. Which was why Romanus IV the Emperor or Byzantine at that time, led an army to "reestablish the security of the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier" (quote: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Manzikert). Romanus split up his army into two, sending some ahead to secure the fortress of Akhlât. Then he led his own army to attack the Seljuk Turks in Manzikert. But,

he abandoned Manzikert in order to reunite with his army. The army became trapped in a valley on the Akhlât road. When the Seljuk Turks came they had a battle, but they lost. And his army was destroyed, and he was taken, prisoner. The Byzantine empire was weakened so they called help from the Christians in Western Europe to help them. The Battle of Manzikert eventually led to the First Crusade.

Muslim Perspective: Seljuk Turks were led by Sultan Alp-Arslan.

He and his army wanted to conquer Anatolia, which was what the Byzantine had under control. After they attacked and got a few of Byzantine's land, the Byzantine led by Romans IV tried to secure the security of his land. But in the end, he failed, and The Seljuk Turks got most of Byzantine's

land.

Jewish Perspective: The Jews were mainly bystanders of the crusaders. The crusaders often came across places where Jews lived. The crusaders sometimes treated the Jews really badly probably because they feel like they are superior to them. Sometimes The crusaders even like raid their homes. They did that because of the anti-Semitism during this time period. Anti-Semitism basically is prejudice against Jews. Because the crusaders are Christians, they usually treat Jews really bad because they believed that Christianity replaced Judaism, because the Jewish people failed in their role as the "Chosen People of God"; which is why the Christians believed that the Jews deserved punishment. Jews were also seen as greedy, lazy, devilish, and etc. Some even thought that the "Jews used the blood of Christian children as part of the Passover holiday ritual (also known as the Blood Libel)."

Reconquista:
The Reconquista is a name given to a series of battles and wars between the Christians and Muslims for the control of the Iberian peninsula; it lasted from 718 to 1492.

Christian perspective: Wanted to take back the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims in Europe and North Africa. The Iberian Peninsula contains Spain and Portugal. The Umayyads started a new Muslim dynasty in Spain during the 8th century. All Muslim, Jews, And Christians lived together, but the non-Muslims were treated differently. For example, they had to pay special taxes.

Muslim perspective: The Muslims fought with the Christians, and they wanted to keep control of the Iberian Peninsula. But in the end, they still lost some land to the Christians. The Muslims lost pretty much all of the Iberian Peninsula except for a land in Southern Spain (happened during 1248). In the late 1400s, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand wanted to change all everyone in Spain to a Catholic country which was why they started the inquisition which basically meant they tortured a bunch of Muslims and Jews in fear that they were still practicing their old religion and not

Christianity.

Jewish perspective: The Jews were pretty much the same as the Muslims, except they did not fight for the Iberian Peninsula. The Jews just lived with the Christians and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula, in places like Spain. In 1492 they were ordered by Ferdinand and Isabella to become Catholics or leave Spain. Jews were treated badly in society because of anti-Semitism. Which was why Jews were expelled from places like France and England in like the 12 and 13th century.

Sources:

Bunting, Tony. "Battle of Manzikert." Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24 Mar. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Manzikert.
https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205742.pdf