Explain why Emperor
Alexius Comnenus
appealed to the West for
help in 1095.
Alexius hoped to recover the territory lost after the battle of Manzikert in 1071
Alexius had seized the
throne in 1081 and had won
some victories but but he
was seriously stretched in
defence and lacked armed
forces to make further
progress
There was a long tradition
of western soldiers serving
as mercenaries for
Byzantium, most noteably
the Emperor's Varangian
guard
Pope Gregory VII had tried to mend
relations with Byzantium after the Great
Schism of 1054, he had tried to organise military help in 1074
Relations between Alexius and Pope Urban II had been improving and both men
saw advantages in the Emperor's plea; Alexius would gain trained, armed soldiers
to drive the Seljuks from Anatolia, while Pope Urban would gain prestige and
help pacify western society
Short-term issues
Long-term issues
This was a time of opportunity for Alexius because of divisions
within the Muslim world:, including the divisions between Sunni
and Shia Muslims and between the Seljuk Turks of Anatolia - Kilij
Arslan the Sultan of Rum against his Danishmend neighbours.
Success was also a possibility because of the death of the Seljuk leader
Malik-Shah in 1092, N.Syria was now a war-zone, riven by civil war