Siege of Dyrrhachium (1107–1108)

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, 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. Emperor Alexios, who had been heavily defeated while trying to relieve a previous Norman siege of the same city in 1081, now allowed the siege to wear on and avoided a pitched battle, while dispatching detachments of his army to occupy the passes in the Normans' rear, thus preventing them from foraging. As the siege continued, with the defenders using Greek fire to burn down the Norman siege engines, famine and disease spread in the Norman camp. Finally, Bohemond sought term. The resulting negotiations led to the Treaty of Devol, whereby Bohemond and the Principality of Antioch became Byzantine vassals.