III. The Beginnings of Transformation

BEGINNINGS OF TRANSFORMATION
it was one of the cities Alexius rebuilt. 62
Because ofits geographical location
and Turkish pressure from the north, the city was largely isolated in terms
of land communication. John Comnenus made two expeditions in the
regions to the north of Attaleia in order to settle conditions there, but
evidently he achieved only partial success. 63
By the time of the Second
Crusade (1147), Attaleia was so hard pressed by the Turks that the
inhabitants could not cultivate their fields and as has already been
mentioned they had to bring grain by sea. 64
During the revolt of
Andronicus Comnenus (1182) the sultan ofKonya subjected the city to a
severe siege. 65
The mountainous regions to the east ofthe river valleys, which separate
the Anatolian plateau from the coastal districts, constituted areas of
almost continuous strife. This geographical district, stretching from
Dorylaeum in the northwest to Iconium in the southeast came to be a
no-man's land which Greeks, Turks, and Crusaders repeatedly devastated.
On the northern edge of this region the Bithynian towns and countryside
experienced numerous raids immediately following the battle of Manzikert.
Nicomedia, recaptured by the Byzantines in the late eleventh century,
was still a "lofty ruins" set among thorns and bushes in the mid-twelfth
century. 66
Nicaea, while yet in the hands of the Turks, was besieged by the
emir Burzuk for three months, 67
and shortly thereafter by Buzan. 68
reconquest of the city by the Crusaders entailed some difficulties, for the
unruly troops of Peter the Hermit pillaged the houses and churches en
route to Nicomedia. In the north the depredations begun by the Norman
mercenary Roussel terminated in the destruction of both towns by the
Turks who left them desolate ruins. 69
The
The Turks once more laid siege to
Nicaea in 1113, when they ravaged Bithynia and the Propontis. 70
In the
latter half of the twelfth century the pressure of the Turks about the
Bithynian region, as well as an abortive rebellion against Andronicus
Comnenus, brought some hardship to Nicaea. 71
Prusa experienced
practically the same history as Nicaea down to the end of the twelfth
century. The fate of eastern Bithynia, however, is not at all clear, with the
solitary exception of Claudiopolis which almost fell to the Turks but was
62
Anna Comnena, III, 142. Al-Idrisi, II, 134, refers to it as the "Burnt," and remarks
that it is built away from the old site, but this probably refers to Side. See A. M. Mansel,
Die Ruinen von Side
879-918.
(Berlin, 1963); Mansel, "Side," P.W., Supplementband, X (1965),
6 3
Nicetas Choniates, 17-19, 50. Cinnamus, 7, 22. Theodore Scutariotes-Sathas,
190-191, 208.
6 4
William of Tyre, XVI, xxvi.
65
Nicetas Choniates, 340.
6 6
Odo of Deuil, pp. 88-89.
6 7
Anna Comnena, II, 72.
6 8
Ibid., II, 74. Matthew of Edessa, p. 203.
6 9
Anna Comnena, II, 210. Attaliates, 267-268. In the days ofMichael VII this region
had become " . . .
7 0
Anna Comnena, III, 164.
7 1
Nicetas Choniates, 363-371, 658.
. . ." Gesta Francorum, pp. 6-9.
152