11 June 1329
The retreat to Philokrene
At dawn on 11 June the Byzantine army begins to withdraw along the coast toward Philokrene. Orhan’s horsemen come down from the hills and attack the columns. A rumour spreads that the emperor has been killed or mortally wounded, and the withdrawal turns into a rout with heavy Byzantine losses.
Kantakouzenos gathers the survivors at Philokrene and takes them back to Constantinople by sea. Andronikos III gives up the campaign, and no later Byzantine army tries to win back the lands in Asia. Nicaea and Nicomedia are left without relief.
A galley on an icon from Kimolos, probably of the 14th century, showing the relics of John Chrysostom brought to ConstantinopleWikimedia Commons, unknown painter, Public domain (Galley.jpg)
Sources
- John VI Kantakouzenos, Histories, book 2.
- Donald M. Nicol, The Reluctant Emperor: A Biography of John Cantacuzene, Byzantine Emperor and Monk, c. 1295–1383 (1996), 32–33.
- Warren Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society (1997), 761.
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