Battle of Adrianople

The Battle of Adrianople (9 August 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between an Eastern Roman army led by the Eastern Roman Emperor Valens and Gothic rebels (largely Thervings as well as Greutungs, non-Gothic Alans, and various local rebels) led by Fritigern. The battle took place about 13 km (8 mi) north of Adrianople (modern Edirne in European Turkey, near the border with Greece and Bulgaria) in the Roman province of Thracia. It ended with an overwhelming victory for the Goths and the death of Emperor Valens.

Part of the Gothic War (376–382), the battle is often considered the start of the process which led to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. It was actually fought by the forces of the Eastern Roman Empire, which outlasted the Western by nearly 1,000 years (historians use the term Byzantine Empire to indicate the Eastern Empire after the fall of the West).

Historiography

We have a detailed account for the lead up to the battle from the Roman perspective from Ammianus Marcellinus, which forms the culminating point at the end of his history. The position in his histories and the lack of a detailed history for the following century has tended to exaggerate the significance of the battle for later historians. Ammianus's account of the battle itself, as to be expected from a losing side, is far from clear. Heat, fire and dust seem to have been particularly significant. Much of what follows about the battle itself is modern supposition.

Battle of Adrianople (1205)

The Battle of Adrianople occurred around Adrianople on April 14, 1205 between Bulgarians and Cumans under Tsar Kaloyan of Bulgaria, and Crusaders under Baldwin I, who only months before had been crowned Emperor of Constantinople. It was won by the Bulgarians, who took Baldwin prisoner.

Background

Due to financial difficulties, the Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, suggested that the armies of the Fourth Crusade deviate from their stated goal of Jerusalem. Instead of continuing onwards, on the 12–13 April, year 1204 AD, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, was captured and sacked. Numerous cultures treasures were either destroyed or stolen, such as sacred texts, relics, manuscripts, icons, archives, works of art, and wealth. The heart of Orthodox Christianity suffered irreparable damage, both from the sack and the fires caused by the Crusader siege. The capture of Constantinople created the Latin Empire, which initially only controlled the environs of Constantinople and the province of Thrace, but eventually expanded into Bithynia, Thessaly and Central and Southern Greece.

Siege of Adrianople (1912–13)

The Battle or Siege of Adrianople (Bulgarian: Обсада на Одрин, Serbian: Опсада Једрена, Turkish: Edirne Kuşatması) was fought during the First Balkan War, beginning in mid-November 1912 and ending on 26 March 1913 with the capture of Edirne (Adrianople) by the Bulgarian 2nd Army.

The victorious end of the siege was considered an enormous military success because the defenses of city were carefully developed by leading German siege experts and were dubbed 'undefeatable'. The Bulgarian army, after 5 months of siege and two bold night attacks, took the Ottoman stronghold.

The victors were under the overall command of General Nikola Ivanov, and the commander of the Bulgarian forces on the Eastern sector of the fortress was General Georgi Vazov, brother of the famous Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov and General Vladimir Vazov.

One early use of an airplane for bombing took place during the siege: the Bulgarians dropped special hand grenades from one or more airplanes in an effort to cause panic among Turkish soldiers. Many young Bulgarian officers and professionals who took part in this decisive battle of the First Balkan War, later played important roles in the politics, culture, commerce and industry of Bulgaria.

Battle of Adrianople (disambiguation)

Battle of Adrianople (378) was the main battle of the Gothic War (376–382).

Battle of Adrianople may also refer to:

Battle of Adrianople (324)

The Battle of Adrianople was fought on July 3, 324 during a Roman civil war, the second to be waged between the two emperors Constantine I and Licinius; Licinius suffered a heavy defeat.

Background

Constantine had, in a previous war (in 316), defeated Licinius at the Battle of Cibalae and conquered from him all the Balkan Peninsula, with the exception of Thrace. A peace had been arranged but the relationship between the two emperors remained uneasy. By 324 Constantine was ready to renew the conflict and when his army, in pursuit of a raiding Visigothic, or possibly Sarmatian, force, crossed into Licinius' territory an opportune casus belli was created. The reaction of Licinius to this incursion was overtly hostile and this induced Constantine to go on to the offensive. Constantine invaded Thrace in force; his army was smaller than that of Licinius, but it contained many battle-hardened veterans and, as he had control of the Illyrian region, the finest quality of new recruits.

Ottoman conquest of Adrianople

Adrianople, a major Byzantine city in Thrace, was conquered by the Ottomans sometime in the 1360s, and eventually became the Ottoman capital, until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Background

Following the capture of Gallipoli by the Ottomans in 1354, Turkish expansion in the southern Balkans was rapid. Although they had to halt their advance during the Kidnapping of Şehzade Halil between 1357–59, after Halil's rescue they resumed their advance. Main target of the advance was Adrianople, which was the third most important Byzantine city (after Constantinople and Thessalonica). Whether under Ottoman control or as independent ghazi warrior bands, the Turks seized Demotika (Didymoteicho) in 1360 or 1361 and Philippopolis in 1363. Despite the recovery of Gallipoli for Byzantium by the Savoyard Crusade in 1366, an increasing number of Turcoman warriors crossed over from Anatolia into Europe, gradually acquiring control of the plains of Thrace and pushing to the Rhodope Mountains in the west and the Bulgarian principalities in the north.