9 – Battle of Bapheus (1302?)
This was an important battle in history because it represented the first of many Ottoman victories over the regular Byzantine army. Osman, I became Sultan of the Ottomans in 1282 and began raids on the Byzantine territory of Bithynia which lasted for the next two decades. The situation was looking grim for Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos who was one of the longest-serving Byzantine rulers and also one of the worst.
From the moment he became a leader, in 1282, he made a series of poor decisions that damaged the empire in the long term. A prime example was his debasement of the Byzantine currency which ended up severely damaging the economy. Once he realized that the Ottomans were bent on taking Byzantine territory, he ordered one of his generals, Alexios Philanthropenos, to push back the enemy in Anatolia.
However, Alexios rebelled against the emperor and was blinded for his troubles. As a result, his campaign ended, and the Ottomans laid siege to Nicaea in 1301. In 1302, Emperor Michael IX Palaiologos (who was co-ruler with his father) marched south to Magnesia and met the Turks. His army was apparently so large that the Turks avoided battle. Michael wanted to fight but made the mistake of listening to his generals who advised him not to engage.
The emboldened Turks resumed their attacks and penned Michael’s army in at Magnesia; the co-emperor was forced to flee by sea. For some reason, Andronikos believed that 2,000 men would be enough to deal with the enemy in Nicomedia, but as usual, he was wrong. On July 27, 1302, the Byzantines met a 5,000 man army under Osman I at Bapheus and were comprehensively defeated.
The Byzantine commander, George Mouzalon, retreated and it marked the beginning of a string of losses. They lost control of Bithynia, and the area’s Christian population fled to Europe. It was the start of Ottoman gains in Asia Minor; a conquest which was completed 27 years later.