Siege of Dyrrhachium (1107–1108) 1107
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1107 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Albania | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Byzantine–Norman Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Byzantine Empire, Duchy of Apulia and Calabria | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.3242, 19.4558 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Dyrrhachium took place from November 1107 until September 1108, as the Italo-Normans under Bohemond I of Antioch besieged the Adriatic port city of Dyrrhachium, now known as Durrës. Dyrrhachium was held for the Byzantine Empire by its doux Alexios Komnenos, a nephew of the reigning Byzantine emperor, Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118).
The siege is described at length in the Alexiad of Anna Komnene, daughter of Emperor Alexios. Previously, Emperor Alexios had been heavily defeated while trying to relieve a previous Norman siege of the same city in 1081. In this siege, Alexios chose not attempt to end the siege by means of a pitched battle but attempted to weaken the Normans by dispatching sorties to occupy the passes in the Normans' rear and prevent them from foraging.
As the siege continued, Alexios attempted to spread disease in the Norman camp and used Greek fire to burn down their siege engines. Finally, Bohemond sought terms which led to the Treaty of Devol, whereby Bohemond and the Principality of Antioch became Byzantine vassals.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Dyrrhachium (1107–1108) (revision 1370740937), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Dyrrhachium (1018) 1018 · 0 km
- Battle of Dyrrhachium (48 BC) 48 BC · 1 km
- Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081) 1081 · 5 km
- Battle of Durazzo (1915) 1915 · 11 km
- Battle of Durazzo (1918) 1918 · 13 km
- Siege of Krujë (1466–1467) 1467 · 35 km
Other battles of the Byzantine–Norman Wars
- Siege of Bari 1068
- Battle of the Zompos Bridge 1074
- Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081) 1081
- Battle of Larissa 1083
- Battle of Demetritzes 1185
- Sack of Thessalonica (1185) 1185
All 7 battles of the Byzantine–Norman Wars →
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