Battle of Dyrrachium
October 18, 1081
Robert Guiscard's Normans, having crossed the Adriatic, crushed Alexios I's relief army outside the walls of Dyrrachium. The Varangian Guard was annihilated in the fight. Byzantine power in the western Balkans collapsed. Only the recall of Guiscard to Italy by his pope-versus-emperor crisis saved Alexios from a march east. The Varangian losses were so severe that Alexios rebuilt the unit with Anglo-Saxon refugees from Norman England.
In context
Also in 1081 (3 other events on record)
- Alexios Komnenos seizes Byzantine throne · Europe · Politics
- Song Dynasty Develops Early Paper Currency Systems · East Asia · Technology
- Ly Dynasty Vietnam Repels Champa Incursion · Southeast Asia · War
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in War
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.