The military policy of Andronikos II was fundamentally shaped by the financial constraints of the empire he inherited from Michael VIII. The treasury was empty, and the grand designs of Michael were simply no longer achievable. Nonetheless, Andronikos attempted to continue his father's military policies to the best of his abilities.
Serbia The Serbian frontier of the empire was said to have been embroiled in intermittent war for over a decade since 1282. Andronikos sent an army there in 1298, though its inability to fight a "guerrilla war" made the Emperor sign a peace with Serbia in the following year, sending his five-year-old daughter
Simonis as a bride to
Stefan Milutin.
Alexios Philanthropenos The empire's
Anatolian holdings, under attack since the 1260s, became the foremost concern of Andronikos; his attention would shift largely away from the west and towards the east. Andronikos frequently toured Anatolia to raise the population's morale and restored many fortresses there, yet this could not stem the massive flows of refugees coming into the empire's European holdings. In 1293, Alexios Philanthropenos was appointed to command and govern all armies in Anatolia, barring the
Ionian coast. He was an effective general, scoring a series of victories in 1294 and 1295 against the Meander Valley Turks. It was said that so many prisoners were taken as to lower the price of a Turkish slave beneath even that of a sheep. Other Turks surrendered and formed a part of Philanthropenos's army. The victories of Alexios Philanthropenos, in comparison to the central government's otherwise ineffective handling of the Turkish threat combined with high taxation, meant that Alexios became regarded as the foremost leader, with particular loyalty stemming from his Cretan soldiers. The soldiers from
Crete received a salary, but being "settled" in Anatolia probably also held land. It is not known, though, on what conditions they would have received this land. Reluctantly, amid massive popular support, Philanthropenos, in late 1295, accepted the challenge towards Andronikos II. Frightened, Andronikos offered Philanthropenos to become Caesar, though Alexios acted too slowly, and soon his support waned. Libadarios, the Governor of
Neokastra and a loyalist of Andronikos, bribed the Cretans to blind and capture Alexios. The Cretans would never be heard of again— though John VI mentions a mysterious village in Thrace said to have been settled by an "army from Crete" before he arrived on the political scene in 1320.
John Tarchaneiotes Following Philanthropenos, John Tarchaneiotes, a first cousin of Andronikos and an Arsenite, was sent to Anatolia. John was a general, but he was meant not to achieve quick victories but reform the military and economy of the region. It is said that many soldiers had lost their
Pronoia holdings, while others had increased theirs through bribery of their superiors and stopped serving as soldiers. John sought to end this corruption and would reassess property holdings around the
Meander Valley—a process known as
exisosis. John's reforms in Anatolia were marked by success, revitalizing the army and even constructing a small fleet. However, he faced opposition from the large landowners of Anatolia— the primary targets of his policies— as well as the Church, which condemned his support of the deposed Patriarch Arsenios. The enmity faced by Tarchaneiotes boiled over when a small number of
Pronoia soldiers accused him of rebellion before the anti-Arsenite bishop of
Philadelphia. With these treason charges pending in around 1300, Tarchaneiotes fled to
Thessaloniki and joined Andronikos II there. Tarchaneiotes's reforms would be swiftly abandoned under the combined pressure of high clerical and landowner opposition.
The Alans In late 1301, a group of
Alans (a Christian Iranic people) crossed the empire's northern frontier. The Alans, last having fought for the empire in the late 11th century, were fleeing from the Mongol hordes and sought employment in the imperial army. Andronikos seized on this opportunity and hired them as supplemental mercenaries for two planned campaigns into Anatolia. In the spring of 1302, they were supplied with money, provisions, and horses, and divided into three groups: one led by the
Megas Hetaireiarches Theodore Mouzalon to fight the Turks near
Nicomedia, another under Michael IX to march south to
Magnesia, and the third, composed of the wives and children of the warriors, to remain in Thrace. Much of Mouzalon's group deserted almost as soon as it crossed into Anatolia, indiscriminately plundering Byzantine holdings. By July 1302, Mouzalon was left with only 2,000 soldiers, perhaps half of which were Alans. Soon, a 5,000-strong army of light cavalry appeared between Nicaea and Nikomedia. These were led by Osman, the Turkish emir of
Bithynia and founder of the
Ottoman Empire. This force defeated Mouzalon on the plains near Mount Bapheus, then ravaged the empire's northwestern Anatolian holdings, accelerating the already severe refugee crisis. In April 1302, Michael IX departed for Anatolia with a mixed army of Alans and other troops. His army remained intact until it reached Magnesia on
the Hermos. But once there, without fighting a battle, the native Byzantine divisions began to desert and the Alans likewise requested permission to abandon the campaign. Michael convinced them to stay another three months and sent a request to Constantinople for more funds. After the three months, the Alans refused to stay any longer and departed for Thracian
Kallipolis. Michael was left in a dangerous position and fled in secrecy to
Pergamon. Once this came out, his army and many of Magnesia's inhabitants followed suit in a scramble for safety. The Alans were eventually convinced to return their horses and weapons to Andronikos and left the empire.
Desperation In 1303, the situation in Anatolia worsened to a point that Andronikos considered the most drastic of reforms: confiscating all the lands from churches, monasteries, single monks and the imperial entourage, and assigning it to soldiers. This would have created more soldiers with more reasons not to desert. Although there was no notable opposition to this plan, the decrepit imperial administration in Anatolia and the ever-worsening population flight prevented it from ever being realized. The remaining Anatolian population felt abandoned by Constantinople and occasionally individuals took matters into their own hands. In 1303, amidst the flight of the soldiers, an officer named
Kotertzes established an emergency defense and drew to him a following who were “as enemies of his enemies and friends of his friends”. Andronikos was incapable of aiding or stopping Kotertzes or a certain Attaleiates who with popular support seized Magnesia in 1304. Another curiosity was a certain
John Choiroboskos, known as “Pigherd”, who gathered 300 peasants in Thrace wanting to campaign against the Turks in Anatolia. Fearing that this would lead to a general insurrection, the central government imprisoned him. Choiroboskos escaped nine months later and rejoined the Anatolian refugees fighting the Turks. He was eventually captured in battle, but escaped again and fled back to Thrace. Having evidently proven himself, he was then commissioned by Michael IX, who gave him 1,000 peasants to fight the Catalans and Turks who were now in the empire's European holdings. This motley troop achieved nothing but the plunder of the environs of Thessalonica. == Fiscal policy ==