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For centuries, the story is often told the same way.

Muslim armies advancing, borders expanding, empires falling in their wake.

But history is rarely that simple.

In the middle of the 11th century, it was not Muslim forces marching deep into Europe. It was the Byzantine Empire, one of the longest lasting Christian empires in history, mobilizing a massive

army and moving east towards the territory of the Seljuq Turks.

They were determined to reclaim a land they believed was rightfully their own and to crush the

threat of the new Muslim Empire. The year is 1071. The location is Manzikert. Let us take a step back and set up our context.

Who were the Seljuks?

The Seljuks came from a nomadic horse people from Central Asia,

related by blood and ethnicity to the Mongol Empire.

And after embracing Islam, within three generations, they had conquered many of their

Muslim neighbors, including the powerful Ghaznavid dynasty that we discussed in the last episode.

Under the grandson of Saldjuk, Togr al-Begh, they ruled an empire that included Khorsan,

Western Iran, and the entirety of Mesopotamia.

However, after the death of Dugul-Begh, the Seljuq Empire came to an end everywhere, except in Anatolia.

Seljuq power moved on to Al-Arsalan, and Al-Parsalan was the one who captured the Byzantine province of Ani.

The Byzantine Empire, frustrated by the frequent incursions by the Seljuks, assembled a large

army under the Emperor Romanus to establish security under the Byzantine Empire's eastern frontier.

Hence, in the spring of 1071, Romanos led this army into parks of what is now Armenia

...