Battle of Adrianople
Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria and his Cuman cavalry lured the knights besieging rebellious Adrianople into an ambush and routed them; the first Latin emperor, Baldwin I, was taken prisoner and died in captivity.
- Date
- 14 April 1205exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Adrianopletoday: Edirne, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Second Bulgarian Empire, Kaloyan, Cumans, Latin Empire, Baldwin I, Latin Emperor, Republic of Venice, Enrico Dandolo
- Threads
- Europe and the Mediterranean in the 13th century
- Also known as
- Адрианопольская битва; Битва при Адрианополе (1205)
In the spring of 1205, a year after the capture of Constantinople, the Greek towns of Thrace rose against the crusaders and appealed to Kaloyan for help. The Latins laid siege to Adrianople. On the eve of the battle Cuman horsemen swept down on their camp and then feigned flight, and the knights agreed not to pursue them in future. But on 14 April Count Louis of Blois broke the agreement and gave chase to the Cumans; the others followed him and rode into an ambush. The count was killed and the emperor captured. The remnants of the army were led back to Constantinople by the marshal Geoffrey of Villehardouin and the doge Enrico Dandolo, who died soon afterwards.
Defeat in the very first year of the Latin Empire’s existence showed that the crusaders would not be able to hold the lands of Byzantium: both the Bulgarian Empire and the Greek successor states rose against them.
Connections
Causes and preconditions
- Sack of Constantinople12–13 April 1204 · Balkans and AnatoliaThe Latin Empire, created in 1204, was trying to subdue Thrace
Same participants
- Battle of the Kalka River31 May 1223 · Eastern Europevia Cumans
- Reconquest of Constantinople25 July 1261 · Balkans and Anatoliavia Latin Empire
- Travels of Marco Polo1271–1295 · East Asiavia Republic of Venice
Same place
- Battle of Adrianople9 August 378 · Balkans and Anatolia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa16 July 1212 · Western and Central Europe
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 5 years of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Albigensian Crusade1209–1229
Africa
- Rock-hewn churches of Lalibelac. 1181 – c. 1221
Central and Northern Asia
- Kurultai of 12061206
South Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Construction of Angkor Thom and the Bayon1181 – c. 1218
Latin America
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Battle of Adrianople (1205)
- Wikipedia (Russian): Битва под Адрианополем (1205)
- Fine J. V. A. The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. — Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1987.
- Wikidata: Q1427630