Sack of Thessalonica

Overview

The sack of Thessalonica was the capture and subsequent sack of the Byzantine city of Thessalonica by the Abbasid Caliphate and Tulunids in the year 904, led by Leo of Tripoli, a privateer and Muslim convert.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The sack of Thessalonica in 904, carried out under the command of Leo of Tripoli on behalf of the Abbasid Caliphate, resulted in recorded Byzantine casualties of 5,000. Thessalonica was the second city of the Byzantine Empire, and its sack represented one of the most damaging Arab naval operations of the prolonged Arab–Byzantine conflict. The attack demonstrated the continued capacity of Abbasid-aligned forces to strike deep into Byzantine-held territory in the Aegean despite ongoing Byzantine naval and land resistance across the wider frontier.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (1)