Editing First Crusade (section)

===Situation in the East===
{{Main|Byzantine–Seljuk wars}}

[[File:Map of the Byzantine Empire (867-1081).svg|thumb|alt=map of the Byzantine Empire (9–11th centuries)|upright=1.6 |The Byzantine Empire (867–1081)]]
Since its founding, the Byzantine Empire was a historic centre of wealth, culture and military power.<ref>Papayianni, Aphrodite (2006). "Byzantine Empire". In ''The Crusades – An Encyclopedia''. pp. 188–196.</ref> Under [[Basil II]], the territorial recovery of the empire reached its furthest extent in 1025. The Empire's frontiers stretched east to Iran, Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy in the Mediterranean Sea had been suppressed. Relations with the Empire's Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than relations with the [[Slavs]] or Western Christians. [[Italo-Normans|Normans]] in Italy; [[Pechenegs]], [[Serbs]] and [[Cumans]] to the north; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire, and to meet these challenges the emperors recruited mercenaries, even on occasion from their enemies.{{sfn|Kaldellis|2017|pp=120–141|loc=Basil II (976–1025)}}
 
The Islamic world also experienced great success since its foundation in the 7th century, with major changes to come.<ref>[[H. A. R. Gibb|Gibb, Hamilton A. R.]] (1969). "[http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0018.pdf The Caliphate and the Arab States] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601084159/http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0018.pdf |date=1 June 2023 }}". In Setton, K., ''A History of the Crusades: Volume I''. pp. 81–98.</ref> The first waves of [[Turkic migration]] into the Middle East enmeshed Arab and Turkic history from the 9th{{nbsp}}century. The status quo in Western Asia was challenged by later waves of Turkish migration, particularly the arrival of the [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] in the 10th{{nbsp}}century.{{sfn|Peacock|2015|pp=20–71|loc=The Rise of the Seljuks, c. 965 –1092}} These were a minor ruling clan from Transoxania. They converted to Islam and migrated to Iran to seek their fortune. In the following two decades they conquered Iran, Iraq and the Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were Sunni Muslims, which led to conflict in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and Syria with the Shi'ite [[Fatimid Caliphate]]. 

[[File:Varqa fighting on horseback.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Anatolian Seljuk horseman, in ''[[Varka and Golshah]]'', mid-13th century miniature (detail), [[Konya]], Sultanate of Rum.<ref>These knights were equipped with long swords and bows, and for protection used large shields ("kite-shields"), lamellar armour and ''[[hauberk]]'' mail {{cite book |last1=Gorelik |first1=Michael |title=Oriental Armour of the Near and Middle East from the Eighth to the Fifteenth Centuries as Shown in Works of Art (in Islamic Arms and Armour) |date=1979 |publisher=Robert Elgood |page=Fig.38 |location=London |isbn=978-0859674706 |url=http://warfare.6te.net/Gorelik-Oriental_Armour.htm}}</ref><ref name="AAOS">{{cite journal |last1=Sabuhi |first1=Ahmadov Ahmad oglu |title=The miniatures of the manuscript "Varka and Gulshah" as a source for the study of weapons of XII–XIII centuries in Azerbaijan |journal=Austrian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences |date=July–August 2015|issue=7–8 |pages=14–16 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305236939}}</ref>]] The Seljuks were nomads, Turkish-speaking, and occasionally shamanistic, unlike their sedentary, Arabic-speaking subjects.{{sfn|Cahen|1968|pp=66–72|loc=The First Incursions before 1071}} This was a difference that weakened power structures when combined with the Seljuks' habitual governance of territory based on political preferment and competition between independent princes rather than geography. [[Romanos IV Diogenes]] attempted to suppress the Seljuks' sporadic raiding, but was defeated at the [[Battle of Manzikert]] in 1071, the only time in history that a Byzantine emperor became the prisoner of a Muslim commander. The battle was a stinging setback that presaged notable Seljuk gains, and contributed to the call for the First Crusade.{{sfn|Asbridge|2012|pp=27–28|loc=Islam and Christian Europe on the eve of the Crusades}} Key cities such as [[Nicaea#Byzantine period|Nicaea]] and [[Antioch#Arab conquest and Byzantine reconquest|Antioch]] were lost in 1081 and 1086 respectively, cities that were especially famous in the West due to their historical significance and would later also be targets of reconquest by the crusader armies.<ref>Cahen (1969). "[http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0020.pdf The Turkish Invasion: The Selchükids] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025035747/http://images.library.wisc.edu/History/EFacs/HistCrus/0001/0001/reference/history.crusone.i0020.pdf |date=25 October 2022 }}." In Setton, K., ''A History of the Crusades: Volume I.'' pp. 99–132.</ref>

From 1092, the status quo in the Middle East disintegrated following the death of the effective ruler of the Seljuk Empire, [[Nizam al-Mulk]]. This was closely followed by the deaths of the Seljuk sultan [[Malik-Shah I|Malik-Shah]] and the Fatimid caliph [[al-Mustansir Billah]]. Wracked by confusion and division, the Islamic world disregarded the world beyond, so that, when the First Crusade arrived, it came as a surprise. Malik-Shah was succeeded in the Anatolian [[Sultanate of Rum|Sultanate of Rûm]] by [[Kilij Arslan I|Kilij Arslan]], and in Syria by his brother [[Tutush I]] who started a civil war against [[Berkyaruq]] to become sultan himself. When Tutush was killed in 1095, his sons [[Fakhr al-Mulk Radwan|Ridwan]] and [[Duqaq (Seljuk ruler of Damascus)|Duqaq]] inherited [[Aleppo#Seljuq and Ayyubid periods|Aleppo]] and [[Damascus#Seljuq and Ayyubid periods|Damascus]], respectively, further dividing Syria amongst emirs antagonistic towards each other, as well as [[Kerbogha]], the [[List of rulers of Mosul#Seljuk Atabegs|atabeg of Mosul]]. Egypt and much of Palestine were controlled by the Fatimids. The Fatimids, under the nominal rule of caliph [[al-Musta'li]] but actually controlled by vizier [[al-Afdal Shahanshah]], lost Jerusalem to the Seljuks in 1073 but succeeded in recapturing the city in 1098 from the [[Artuqids]], a smaller Turkish tribe associated with the Seljuks, just before the arrival of the crusaders.{{sfn|Peacock|2015|pp=72–123|loc=The Great Seljuk Empire and the Sultanate of Iraq, 1092–1194}}