7 - Cumans in Byzantine service after the Tatar conquest, 1242–1333

Summary

THE CUMANS IN THE WARS OF THEODOROS II, MICHAEL VIII AND ANDRONIKOS II

As we saw in Chapter 3, on the eve of the Mongol invasion Cuman troops were settled in different parts of the Byzantine Empire, both in Thrace and Macedonia, and in Asia Minor. The Cumans were used by the Byzantines in two capacities: as reserve light cavalry and as standing troops. The emperor John III (Doukas Batatzes) called them to arms as light cavalry on every possible occasion, and his successors after 1254 followed him in their dealings with the Cumans. We shall now briefly review the Cumans' presence in Byzantine military actions after the Tatar invasion. In 1242 the Cumans came to Thessalonike to assist Batatzes in his siege of Thessalonike. In 1256 Theodore II Laskaris left a contingent of 300 Cumans and Paphlagonians with the governor of Thessalonike. In 1259, 2,000 Cuman light cavalry fought in the battle of Pelagonia. In 1261, the bulk of Alexios Strategopoulos' troop of 800 men who took part in Constantinople's recapture were Cumans. In 1263–4, 1270–2, and 1275 considerable Cuman contingents fought in Michael VIII's European campaigns. The last mention of the Cumans, when they were settled in Byzantium by Batatzes, occurs in 1292; during Andronikos II's abortive campaign in Epeiros the undisciplined forces of the Cumans and Turks withdrew without permission.