The Battle of Manzikert1 in 463 /1071 is an important land-mark in history in so far as it resulted in two important processes-the gradual settlementof the Turks in Asia Minör (along with the Islamisation of the heart-landsof Byzantium), and the beginning of a Byzantine desire to open its territories to western European powers for the launching of the Crusades. The causesof the battle are equally important. First of ali, there was the constant conflict between Byzantium and the central Müslim power, aggravated by thearrival of Turkish tribes and the rise of the Saljüqs in the eleventh century.Second, the Armenian territories played a significant role in providing a setting for this conflict. But one aspect of Manzikert which has never been emphasized, though not altogether neglected, is the active Fâtimid foreign policyconnected with frustrating the rise of the Saljüqs in the East. It is this lastaspect which I wish to isolate for discussion in the following pages, not somuch to contribute new information as to furnish a re-interpretation indicating possible Fâtimid machinations behind the Battle of Manzikert.2