6 – Battle of Levounion (1091)
The Komenian Restoration was arguably the last hurrah for the Byzantine Empire because things rapidly went downhill upon the death of Manuel I Komnenos in 1180. From 1081 – 1180 however, three members of the same family made great strides in restoring the empire to its former glory days. The victory over the Pechenegs at the Battle of Levounion was the first major military victory of the restoration.
From the disastrous defeat to the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert in 1071 until 1080, the Byzantine Empire lost over 30,000 square miles of territory, half its manpower and an enormous amount of resources. From its perspective, the ascent of Alexios I Komnenos to the throne in 1081 was timely. After half a century of ineffective leadership, the empire finally had someone with the capability to rule.
Alexios had his work cut out for him because his enemies knew the empire was in a terrible state. The Pechenegs invaded the empire from the north in 1087 and headed towards Constantinople. Alexios knew he didn’t have enough troops to fight off the invasion, so he used his diplomatic skills (and money) to get the help of the Cumans. The nomadic tribe arrived just in time to help Alexios, and the combined might of the new allies met the Pechenegs at Levounion on April 28, 1091.
The 80,000 strong Pecheneg army was possibly shocked by the arrival of the Cumans. In any case, Levounion turned into a massacre as the Pechenegs were utterly destroyed. They had made the mistake of bringing their families to the scene, and almost every one of them were killed or captured.
Levounion was one of the most important wins in the history of the Byzantine Empire. It had been on its knees before the reign of Alexios, but the manner of the win showed the world that the Byzantines were on the road to recovery. They had almost wiped out one of their enemies and their troops started returning to Asia Minor. The empire grew wealthy during the twelfth century and enjoyed several other crucial military successes along the way.