Field of Glory II: Medieval - Swords and Scimitars

The Byzantine Empire began the 11th century in a strong position - they had pushed their frontier eastwards against the fragmented Muslim emirates, and had completely destroyed the Bulgars in the Balkans. All that was to change in 1071, when they suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Seljuq Turks at the Battle of Manzikert. These nomadic conquerors had recently converted to Islam, and had swiftly established a Sultanate ruling from Afghanistan to Palestine. Following Manzikert they took nearly all of Anatolia from the Byzantines.

As the Byzantine Emperor Alexios Komnenos struggled to stem the Seljuq advances, he ap