Battle of Iconium (1190)
| Battle of Iconium | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Third Crusade | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Holy Roman Empire | Sultanate of Rûm | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor | Qutb al-Din | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown, but probably higher | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Iconium(sometimes refered as the battle of Konya) took place on 18 May 1190 during the Third Crusade , in the expedition of Frederick Barbarossa to the Holy Land. As a result, the capital city of the Sultanate of Rûm fell to the Imperial forces.
Background
After the disastrous Battle of Hattin and the Siege of Jerusalem, much of the Crusader states had been seized by Saladin´s forces. Pope Gregory VIII called for a new Crusade to restore the city to Christian hands and help the remaining crusader strongholds. Barbarossa responded to the call immediately. He took up the Cross at Mainz Cathedral on March 27, 1188 and was the first to set out for the Holy Land in May 1189 with an army of about 100,000 men, including 20,000 knights (some historians thinks this numbers are exaggerate and propose 15,000 men, including 3,000 knights). He was also joined by a contingent of 2,000 men from the Hungarian prince Géza, the younger brother of the king Béla III of Hungary.
After passing through Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire, the forces arrived to Anatolia, held by the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. The turkish continously harrased the german forces, laying ambushes and usign Hit-and-run tactics. In addition, supplies were running out. Despite this, the crusaders continued their march until they reached Iconium. Frederik insited in taking the city, so on May 17th the army camped in the "garden and pleasure ground of the sultan", outside the city.
Battle
On 18th May, the imperial army encountered Qutb al-Din´s army in a pitched battle. Barbarossa divided his forces into two: one commanded by his son Frederick leading the assault to the city, and the other commanded by himself facing the turkish field army. The city felt easily, but the pitched battle was much more complicated, and it required the presence of the emperor the defeat the larger turkish force. He´s reported to have said to his soldiers : "But why do we tarry, of what are we afraid? Christ reigns. Christ conquers. Christ commands". Finally the tukish army fled, leaving the city at the mercy of the german army.
Aftermath
After the victory, the crusaders rested for five days in the city, and continued their march on 23th May, taking turkish hostages to safeguard themselves. The success of the imperial army greatly alarmed Saladin, who even dismantled the walls of the Syrian ports lest they were used by the crusaders against him. But this proved for no purpose, because on 16th June, Barbarossa died crossing the Saleph river, probably due to a heart attack. Most of his army disbanded.Barbarossa's son, Frederick VI of Swabia, carried on with the remnants of the German army, along with the Hungarian army under the command of prince Géza, with the aim of burying the Emperor in Jerusalem, but efforts to conserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of St Peter in Antioch, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Tarsus.